::Alex::

I stared at the table in mine and Rian's kitchen. It was covered in a variety of different bottles of alcohol.

"Do you think we have enough?" I asked Rian who came up behind me.

In reality I knew the table was beginning to look like a liquor store stockroom.

"I think it's safe to say we definitely do," Rian laughed.

I nodded, going over to the refrigerator and crossing get booze off of our New Year's Eve party to do list. There wasn't much left on the list aside from cleaning up the house and truth be told I was holding off on that as long as possible.

"Where's Cassadee?" I asked, noticing Rian's girlfriend was missing.

"Oh. She went to shower before we went to dinner," Rian shrugged.

I raised an eyebrow. "She's showering again? I distinctly remember fighting with her over the shower this morning."

"I don't know," Rian shrugged again. "I don't question when my girlfriend wants to shower."

I eyed him.

"Okay. Fine. She's avoiding you," Rian caved.

"What? Avoiding me? Why?"

"Well," Rian started, pausing for a second. "We kind of saw Lina at the mall earlier."

"Okay," I said confused. "Just because Lina and I aren't dating anymore doesn't mean Cass can't talk to her..."

"Right," Rian nodded. "Stay with that."

"Okay..."

"Cassadee pretty much invited Lina to the party tomorrow."

I nodded slowly. "That's-"

Cassadee peered her head around the corner, clearly never having went to shower.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

I had to laugh. "You guys are being a little dramatic. It's not the end of the world."

"It's not?" Cassadee asked, walking in to the room. "I just felt bad. She said she didn't know what she was doing for New Year's. She said all her friends had plans. I assumed that was because they're all coming to this party and I just felt bad and told her she should come here. I'm really sorry if that's a problem but I just figured there's going be so many people here you'll never-"

"Cass!" I interrupted her. "Stop. Really, it's fine. I wouldn't want her to be alone either."

Rian scoffed.

I looked at him. "Is there something you want to say?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Liar."

"Fine. I just think of course you don't want her to be alone and we're most likely about to embark on Alex and Lina version 6.0."

"Really?" Cassadee asked confused. "I thought you really liked that high school teacher."

"She's a guidance counselor," I corrected, "and I do really like her."

"Yeah and you also really like making out with Lina on Christmas," Rian chimed in.

Cassadee gasped and I felt my jaw drop. I was really hoping Rian would be my only friend to know about that.

"Thanks Ri," I rolled my eyes. "Cass, it was nothing. It was Christmas and we just got carried away."

She nodded and patted me on the shoulder.

"You're in quite a pickle, huh?"

I sighed. "Yeah. It looks like it."

"You didn't invite Brook to the party, did you?" Rian asked.

I shook my head. "I was planning on asking her today but now I guess I really can't, huh?"

Cassadee frowned. "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine," I shrugged. "She was going to say no anyway. She's still got half of Brooklyn coming to her parents' house."

"She's got a big, Italian family from Brooklyn?" Rian asked.

"Yes," I nodded slowly.

"That must be scary for you," Rian laughed.

I rolled my eyes, walking from the room.

"I'm not really worried about that right now."

What I was really worried about was how I was going to figure out how to make it through New Year's without any Lina drama. I should also probably try to figure out what the hell was going on there because Brook was in my life now too and the last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt. Truthfully, I didn’t want Lina to get hurt either.

::Brook::

"Hey!" I chirped, climbing into Alex's car when he picked me up the day before New Year's Eve.

"You finally beat me," Alex laughed, leaning across the car and kissing me quick.

"Yeah. I figured out when you text that you’re down the block, that really means you’re already here. Now I can avoid that awkward moment when I open the door and jump, startled to see you standing there, even though I always know you're going to be there every time," I said putting on my seatbelt and settling back in the seat.

Alex had a cute frown on his face. "But I love that part!"

I laughed, reaching over and adjusting the air vents to blow the heat in my direction.

"So what's on the agenda today?"

"Well, I have a few errands to run for tomorrow. I hope you don't mind."

I shook my head. "I don't mind."

Truth be told, after the other night when he showed me his tour schedule, I was content spending whatever time with him I could before he left.

Fifty-two days apart, with only three days in between to see each other, was going to be difficult but I had to figure we'd only really knew each other barely two weeks, so how bad could this really be?"

"Speaking of tomorrow," Alex started and I couldn't help but notice he sounded nervous. "Rian and I are throwing this huge party for New Year's. We've done it for the past few years we've lived together. They tend to get pretty out of control. My kitchen looks like a liquor store right now-"

"Alex," I interrupted. "Did you have a point?"

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to ramble. I guess I'm just wondering, hoping really, if you'd want to come by."

"I'd love to, Alex," I frowned, "but I have to be with my family. It's kind of a big deal that we're all together."

"I figured," he nodded. "I just didn't want to be rude and not invite you."

I raised my eyebrow. "So, it was a pity invite?"

"No!" he gasped. "Not at all. It was more pity on myself. I knew you weren't going to be able to go. I asked anyway because I really want you there."

I smiled. "I'm sorry. I really do wish I could be there."

"It's okay. I'm not taking it personal," he said, pulling into the party supply store parking lot.

"This will probably be our best date yet," Alex laughed, slipping his bare hand into my mitten-covered one as we walked into the store.

"I'll try and contain my excitement," I smiled, squeezing his hand. "What are we getting?"

"Here's my list," he said, holding up the piece of paper in his other hand.

I snatched it from him and read it over.

"This isn't so bad," I decided leading him in the direction of the first thing on his list.

About forty-five minutes later, we had gotten everything on Alex's list and were loading the bags and balloons into his trunk. We probably would have been able to be done in twenty minutes but we kept goofing off with the different toys we found throughout the store. It had been such a long time since I had silly fun like that.

"Hey," Alex started. "You're probably really good at this. Would you want to help me put up these decorations in the house?"

"Sure," I nodded. "I think I can manage."

"Wait... That probably makes me sound like such a dick. Hey Brook, help me set up for the party you're not even coming to. I'm sorry. You don't have to."

I laughed. "Don't be silly. I love that kind of stuff. I don't mind. I promise," I assure him, shooting him a smile for good measure.

"Awesome," he smiled back, driving in the direction of his house.

We pulled up in front of his house a few minutes later and he let out a loud sigh.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Rian knew I was coming back with all this stuff. He should have left the driveway open for me."

"R-Rian's home right now?" I asked, nerves kicking in suddenly.

"Yeah. Rian and his girlfriend, Cassadee, are inside. Is that a problem?" he asked, killing the engine.

"Problem? There's no problem," I said, shaking my head quickly.

"Are you sure? Your eyes are all wide and wild."

I sighed, undoing my seatbelt. "I guess I'm a little nervous to meet your friends."

Alex rolled his eyes at me.

"Well, that's just ridiculous. They're going to love you."

I shrugged. "I hope so."

I leaned over and kissed me quickly. "I'm sure of it."

I smiled big, my nerves instantly washing away as I let him kiss me one more time.

"We better get inside now," Alex said glancing out the window and up at the sky. "It looks like it's about to pour."

I nodded and we both quickly jumped out of the car and gathered everything from the trunk and even more quickly went into the house as it began to lightly drizzle.

When we walked in, a small girl, who I assumed was Cassadee, was vacuuming while, who I took to be Rian, was moving furniture around for her to get under. When they saw us, they immediately stopped what they were doing and the power to the vacuum was cut off.

"You must be Brook!" the girl squealed running over to me and hugging me tightly. "I'm Cassadee."

"Cass, please don't scare her away," I heard Alex say from behind me.

I smiled as she let me go. "It's uh, nice to meet you."

"I'm Rian," the boy said, extending his hand and shaking mine.

"Brook," I smiled.

"Don't be nervous," Rian whispered in my ear. "Any friend of Alex's is a friend of ours," he finished, wrapping his arm over Cassadee's shoulder.

"Thanks," I smiled and it was lame but I did feel less nervous.

"Brook has offered to help decorate for the party tomorrow," Alex said, dragging the bags that we'd set down by the front door into the kitchen.

Rian and Cassadee exchanged looks I didn't quite recognize.

"Are you going to be able to come?" Cassadee asked.

"No," I said sadly. "I have a ton of family in town. They’d probably disown me if I bailed. New Year's Eve had kind of always been a big deal for them.”

Cassadee frowned but I couldn't help but notice a look of relief in her eyes.

"That's too bad."

"So," Alex interrupted, unleashing all the balloons from the big plastic bag that held them together. "Where should we start?"

::Alex::

About an hour had passed and all the decorations for tomorrow were put in their place. Brook was pretty good at giving direction on how we should do everything. I figured it had something to do with her school experience. Plus she just seemed like the crafty type.

It didn't take long before I noticed her and Cassadee forming some kind of bond and it made me happy that she got along with my friends, seeing how big a part of my life they all were.

After the decorating was done, we all decided that we were starving so we ordered in a pizza and sat around the living room watching a movie while we ate.

"See, that wasn't so bad, now was i?" I asked Brook when I pulled up in front of her house later that night. "You and Cass seem to be BFFs already."

She laughed a little and undid her seatbelt. "She's really sweet. I like her. Rian, too."

I smiled. "Good. One band mate down, two more to go."

"When do I get to meet the other guys?" she seemed a little nervous as she asked this.

I shrugged. "Probably not until we get back from tour. Jack's in Lebanon with his parents, like I told you, and Zack's in California. I think his parents went there for the holidays."

She nodded. "And they're the only friends you have?"

"No," I shrugged. "But they're the only ones whose opinion on you truly matter."

She smiled. "I know what you mean. You'd probably really only have to impress Jenn as far as my friends go. My family would be the problem."

"Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of," I said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry," she shrugged. "I think we have some time before that will become an issue, right?"

"Right," I nodded and for a moment the only sound in the car was that of the heavy rain pelting the windshield. "So, there's absolutely no way you can come by tomorrow, right?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I really, really wish that I could."

"I know," I forced a smile. "I just figured it was worth a shot to ask one more time," I said, undoing my seatbelt.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Walking you to the door," I answered, my hand on the door knob.

"No," she shook her head. "Don't be silly. It's pouring. I can make it on my own."

"I don't mind," I assured her.

"I know but I do. Really, it's okay. I won't think of you as any less of a gentleman if you just say goodnight here," she insisted.

"Okay," I said, giving her an over-exaggerated frown. "Goodnight, Brook," I said, leaning over and kissing her.

I was pleasantly surprised a few seconds later when I went to pull away, Brook wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer and deepening the kiss.

It definitely lasted a lot longer than I could have imagined and after a while I could feel some of my muscles begin to tense from the awkward angle we were at leaning across the front seat of my car.

"Wow," Brook said, a little out of breath, as she pulled back. "I really should get inside now."

I stared at her for a second, my heart racing in my chest. "Yeah, just give me one more minute," I said, grasping her facing between my two hands and closing the space between us and crashing my lips to hers again.

I inwardly congratulated myself a few moments later when I'd successfully slipped my tongue into Brook's mouth and she happily met mine with hers, a small moan slipping passed her lips.

She pulled back suddenly and I watched as she stripped off her heavy winter coat and my eyes widened when she crawled across the front of the car and sat in my lap, her lips instantly connecting with mine again.

I tried not to think too much of it and I tried to not be too much of a guy but she was basically killing me as she pushed herself up against me and grinded her hips against mine. I don’t even think she realized she was doing it.

I gripped her hips tightly, hoping to be able to control her movements but it only proved to make it worse and finally I knew I had to stop it before we did something stupid.

"Brook," I said, turning my head to the side and trying to catch my breath.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her lips now grazing my cheek and all the way to the side of my neck.

"Nothing," I said, my breath hitching in my throat when her lips made contact with the skull tattoo behind my ear.

"Then why'd you stop?" she asked, pulling away and sitting back all the way so she was leaning against the steering wheel.

"I just didn't want to do anything stupid, you know?"

She nodded slowly and I could see her cheeks had started to turn pink with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, crawling back into the passenger's seat.

"Shit, no," I hissed. "You don't need to apologize. It was fine."

"Just fine?" she asked, her eyes snapping up to me.

I shook my head. "Of course it wasn't just fine. It was amazing; definitely one of the top make out sessions I've ever had."

"Really?" she asked, biting back a smile.

"Definitely in the top two."

"What other time is in your top two?" she asked as she narrowed her stare at me.

I smiled, passing her coat back to her and leaning over to kiss her again gently. "The other night on my couch."

She shook her head at me again, laughing slightly, before leaning over and kissing me one more time.

"Goodnight Alex," she said, climbing out of the car. "Don't forget to text me when you get home," she reminded me, flipping up her hood as the rain continued to come down.

"Of course," I said, waving as she shut the door.

The second her back was turned to me, I jumped out of the car and ran after her.

"Alex!" she yelped when I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her towards me. "What are you doing?"

"I wasn't quite done with that goodnight kiss," I said, looking down at her and adjusting her hood that was blowing off from the wind.

"Oh really?"

"Really," I said, leaning down and lightly pecking the corner of her mouth. "Night Brook!"

I took about four steps away from her, towards my car, when I heard her laugh.

"That was it?" she yelled to me over the rain and the wind.

I turned around and shrugged. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something is wrong," she said with her hands on her hips. "You don't run after a girl to kiss her in the rain and kiss her like that. I kiss my grandmother like that!"

I laughed, taking a few steps closer to her again. "Okay, so how was I supposed to kiss you?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "It might not be worth it if I have to tell you," she challenged with the smallest hint of a smile on her face.

"Oh well," I shrugged. "I'll call you tomorrow," I said, the smirk on my face betraying me as I turned to walk away again.

I counted less than three seconds before Brook ran after me. I turned around just in time for her to crash into me. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even on purpose and she just slipped on the wet grass.

"You okay?" I asked, reaching down and wiping some of the rain droplets from her face.

"Uh huh," she said before grasping the front of my coat in her hands and pulling me down to her, crashing our lips together.

My hands started on her face and quickly moved to her waist so I could pull her close. We'd kissed plenty of times now but there was definitely something different about this one. A good different, though. A really good different.

"And that's how you're supposed to kiss a girl in the rain," Brook said with a giggle once she finally pulled away.

I nodded. "Noted."

::Brook::

"It's interesting how you could be shivering and looked so flushed at the same time," Jenny said as soon as I walked into the apartment.

"Flushed?" I asked, confused, taking off my soaking wet coat and hanging it on a hook next to the door. "It's cold outside."

"Yeah, exactly," she sat up on the couch. "Yet you somehow look slightly overheated."

I shrugged. "It's raining. I ran to the door."

"No," she shook her head. "That's not it either."

"Jenn, where are you going with this?" I sighed, sitting down and pulling off my boots.

"You're all I just spent the last twenty minutes making out with my hunky, rockstar boyfriend in the front seat of his truck flushed."

I rolled my eyes. "He's not my boyfriend and it wasn't twenty minutes," I corrected her. "How do you even know that happened, you creep?"

She turned to the side and pulled back the curtain to the window that faced the front of the house. "I had a front row seat."

"Really, Jenny?" I groaned.

"I didn't mean to. I sat down and noticed you guys pull up and after a few minutes when you didn't come up, I looked out again. I saw you whip off your coat and jump into his lap. For a second I wasn't sure I was looking in the right car."

"Jenn..." I groaned.

"And then I saw you take it to the front lawn...It was impressive."

"Please stop talking," I said, standing up and feeling my cheeks heat up again.

"Why do I have to stop talking? I just want to know when you turned into such a little harlot. I'm proud!"

"I'm hardly a harlot," I rolled my eyes. "I don't know what got into me, okay?"

Jenny narrowed her eyes at me. "Did he?"

"Did he what?"

She bit her lip. "Did he get into you?"

I gasped and stood up from the couch. "Oh my gosh, Jenn. No, he didn't!"

"It wouldn't be the worst thing," she called after me as I disappeared into my room to change into dry clothes.

Alex and I had only been on a handful of dates and he was about to leave for almost two months. It was hard enough controlling my feelings around him. The last thing I needed to go and do was make everything even more difficult with sex.

Just as I was about to walk out of my bedroom to brave another round of twenty questions from Jenn my phone buzzed with a text message. I figured it was Alex texting that he was home.

I thought about it and tonight takes the cake.

Definitely the best make out session ever. <3
***

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Spice Girls - Wannabe
Brook's outfit.

More to come soon. The more feedback I get, the quicker these will go up. :)
XOXO