"Damnit where are they?" Lydia hopped up and down frantically peering out the window. Chris laughed. "What are you having a secret affair with Andrew?"

"No I'm hoping that they left Alanah at the airport." She replied tartly as Stephanie started laughing. "I'm not joking either."

"I know."

Since the brothers were in so much trouble with their girlfriends and Chris, they decided it would be a joint effort to collect Vanessa and Andrew from the airport. Alanah was thrilled with the idea of an afternoon with Edge without Integra around and had sweet talked her way into going too. Edge had agreed, but insisted that Sean come along. Stephanie doubted that Edge was gonna get back in Integra's good books any time soon.

Integra joined Lydia at the window. "How much longer do you think they'll be?"

"God only knows. Hang on..." Lydia leaned so far out the window that she fell into the garden bed. "Oh shit. Mrs C isn't gonna like that. VANESSA! YOU SKANKY HO, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"LYDIA!!" A tall blonde woman leapt out of the drivers seat and flew towards the brunette. They hugged tightly, while Christain blinked and turned to Edge. "She never greets me this enthusiastically."

"That's because you're a clueless yit." Lydia called. Vanessa winced. "No sweetie I didn't need that eardrum. And Lyd?"

"Yeah?"

"Go easy on the poor guy. He feels terrible. And I mean it's new years eve right? Trust me, those two will get it together tonight if I die trying." Vanessa said with a grin. "Now go forgive your man while Integra introduces me and the blonde bimbo here to the rest of them."

Stephanie watched in amazement as Vanessa grabbed the hand of who she assumed was Andrew, and dragged him over to where Chris was attempting to string up som party lights. Integra followed with a grin. "Chris, this is Vanessa, owner of that goddmaned van and the beefcake beside her is Andrew."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Chris smiled. "Andrew... you're the one Lydia's doing vodka shots with tonight?"

"And every other party." Andrew laughed. "It's currently a best of three competition. I won at Halloween, she won at Christmas, and tonight it's the grand final."

"Well good luck man. Although I've seen Lydia in action, she'll destroy you." Chris teased. Integra rolled her eyes. "Steph! Get out here and meet the destructive duo."

Stephanie followed Chris and Lydia's example and climbed out the window, jumping over the flowerbed that had already been trampled by the rest of the young adults.

"Destructive duo?" she questioned with a smile. Andrew looked like he could do a hell of a lot of damage given the chance, despite the disarming smile on his face. Vanessa, dressed in ripped jeans and an open flannel shirt over a long sleeved top, looked like she couldn't harm a fly.

"Yeah the destructive duo." snickered Lydia, wandering over with her arms around Christain. "Drew's broken more hearts and shattered more female egos in Northern America than Casanova and Rudy Valentino combined and multiplied by 89."

"Shut up Lydia." he replied embarrassedly. Vanessa grinned. "You're just pissed cause she is the only girl to turn you down since puberty. And the fact that she can drink you under the table."

"So what's so destructive about you?" Stephanie asked Vanessa, who grinned. "I do martial arts. Plus I have a temper and I'm a brat. Not a good combination."

"Vanessa's what is termed by the male population as 'a ball breaker' according to this lovable goof."

"You called me that?" Vanessa glared at Christain. He nodded sheepishly. She broke into the grin. "Damned straight I am blondie, and don't you dare forget it!"

Stephanie laughed, taking an instant liking to the young woman. "I'm Stephanie."

"And obviously I'm Vanessa." Vanessa said, rolling her eyes. "Lydia! Get me a coffee wench!"

"Dream on bitch! Get it yourself!" Lydia called back. Chris watched the two supposed friends in surprise. "Are they always like this?"

"Oh hell yeah. It's a good thing their so close. Or maybe it's because their so close that they talk to each other like that." Christain answered shaking his head. "I will never understand the female species."

"You're first mistake is even trying bro." Edge replied wistfully, watching Integra talking to Andrew. Chris rolled his eyes. "How long has this bullshit about Alanah been going on for?"

"About six month or so."

"You three have gotta sort this out." Chris pointed out. "Does Alanah mean anything to you?"

"Not really. She's a friends younger sister, that's it." Edge sighed. Vanessa smirked. "Hey Integra! Get over here now!"

"What's up Nessa?" Integra asked, joining the group. Vanessa smirked happily. "Edge wants to talk to you."

"So talk." Integra crossed her arms and looked at him coldly. Edge shifted uncomfortably. "Not here. In private."

"Anything you have to say can be said in front of this group." Her voice was ice cold. Chris and Christain winced in sympathy. Edge looked like he'd been hit. "Baby, please..."

"Give the guy a break." Vanessa looked at Integra hopefully. She rolled her eyes. "Fine." Halfway to the front door, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Are you coming or not?"

With a sigh, Edge followed. Chris laughed. "Poor guy."

Stephanie winced as Integra's shouts came through the thin walls. She and Edge had been fighting for a while now. It had turned into a giant event, with Lydia, Christain, Sean and Alanah getting involved.

"It's not my fault you're insecure and don't trust him!" Alanah shouted back.

"It's not Edge I don't trust it's you!"

"Well that makes me feel better." Stephanie snickered at the relief in Edge's voice. "Alanah, really, I'm flattered that you seem to believe that you're in love with me, but you barely know me. I do care about you, but only as a friends little sister."

"Get the hint bitch?" Lydia said angrily. There was a light knock on the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Stephanie sat up on the bed in surprise as Andrew entered the room. "Oh hey. I was expecting someone else."

"I'm not intruding am I?" Andrew motioned at the door. "Cause I can leave if you want?"

"No, it's ok. Just laying here staring at the roof and trying not to listen to the chaos." Stephanie laughed, wincing again as Edge yelled "Oh for gods sake Integra listen to me! The only thing here threatening our relationship is the fact that you consider her a threat! She means jack shit to me, I've told you this before! Why won't you believe me?"

"That poor girl is getting ripped to shreds in there." Andrew observed quietly. Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Poor girl my ass. Have you seen her in action? This will do her the world of good."

"Or it could make her worse." He suggested. Stephanie looked at him in surprise. "How so?"

"Rejection can have two effects. You either realise that the rejection was serious and the other person has no interest in you at all. Or you convince yourself that the other person does return your feelings, but is covering them up for some reason. You try to figure out that reason and eliminate it from the picture."

"So in this case, Alanah would see Edge's relationship with Integra as preventing him from admitting his true feelings for her and would therefore, try and break them up?" Stephanie surmised. Andrew nodded. "Yeah. It's a shame cause she is actually a nice kid and could probably have any guy she wanted. But the one she wants is completely out of her reach."

"Oh well, shit happens." Stephanie was shocked at how little sympathy she had for Alanah. "Where's Vanessa and Chris?"

"Vanessa's getting ready for the party. And before you ask, yeah, it will take her three hours." Laughed Andrew. "I'm not sure where Chris is, last time I saw him, he was playing on the Atari with the stereo cranked up to avoid listening to the domestics. So you and Chris are living together right?"

"That's right." Stephanie didn't see the need to inform Andrew that while they were living together, they were not living together in the way he implied. He looked her over slowly with a smile. "Well, he's a lucky guy then. How'd you two meet?"

~Uh oh.~ thought Stephanie with a sinking feeling. ~Questions about the past.~ Since she didn't know what Chris had told anyone, and didn't intend to share more than was absolutely necessary. "I was in urgent need of a place to live and an acquaintance who was aware of my situation set things up."

"If you don't mind me asking, what was your situation?" Andrew looked concerned. She bit back a sigh of impaitence. "It's not something I really want to talk about. Nothing personal, but as far as my past concerned, my life began when I moved into Chris's flat."

"That bad huh?"

"Yeah." They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a bit longer. "So how do you know Edge and Christain?"

"Ah, here we go. I grew up down the road from Vanessa. We were good friends, the whole bit. Nothing romantic ever happened though. One day, when we were about 14, maybe 15 she comes in to tell me that her penpal is coming to visit in a few weeks. A month later, I duck around to borrow a movie and the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen in my whole life was laying on the couch watching TV."

"Lydia." Stephanie said with a smile. Andrew nodded. "I fell in love on the spot. Or what passes for love at that age. Tried everything I could to win Lydia over, but no dice. I was devestated for about three months, then I met the most adorable girl called Wendy and promptly forgot Lydia."

"Typical men." laughed Steph. Andrew glared at her in mock anger. "I'm not finished yet."

"Oh do forgive me." Came the sarcastic reply. He laughed "Forgiven. Quite a few years down the track, I'm wrestling the Indie circuit. Do you know that indies are?"

Stephanie laughed outright. "I certainly do."

"Cool. Anyway I'm wrestling the indies and my promotor calls me and says "We have two new guys we wanna trial, would you mind wrestling them on Saturday?" Like the nice guy I am, I say yes. Saturday rocks around and my tag partner and I are lined up against these blondes. The match is going well, fairly evenly paced and I'm standing on the apron of the ring, leaning against the ropes watching the shorter of my tow opponents beating up my tag partner and suddenly a vaguely familar voice in the pitifully small audience yells "Come on Cage! Beat the crap outta him!" I look around and there standing on her seat screaming, is Lydia."

"Anyway, to cut a long story short, I completely lost concentration, losing the match, the other two guys got a few more gigs with that particular promotion, Lydia and Vanessa renewed their friendship, I began persuing Lydia again, but discovered she was interested in one of the guys I'd been wrestling the night we ran into each other at the match."

"Christain." Stephanie stated. Andrew nodded. "Yeah. So as far as Lydia goes I'm two for two and not quite brave enough to try again."

"Smart move."

Andrew and Stephanie turned around in surprise at the new voice. Chris stood in the doorway, looking annoyed. Andrew raided an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"It shows bad survival instincts to mess with someone else's woman." came the cold reply. Stephanie hid a smile as Andrew paled a little and stepped back from the bed. "So how's Vanessa's beauty regime going?"

"She wants me to do her hair. What do I know about doing women's hair? Shut up Steph."

"I never said a word!" she protested remembering the nights in front of the TV when Chris would brush and play with her hair, braiding it and trying outrageous new styles. They shared a smile that didn't go unnoticed by Andrew, who clenched his jaw. Vanessa had told him that the gorgeous brunette was flatting with Chris, but it was a strictly Platonic relationship. Obviously she was wrong, because those were not the smiles of two close friends. He turned on his heel and stalked out, asking himself why all the good ones were taken.

"Edge! Get out of the goddamned shower! I need to wash my hair!" Lydia shouted angrily, banging on the door. A muffled shout of "In a second!" came out of the bathroom, followed by Integra, clad in an old bathrobe. She leaned over to Vanessa and whispered something that sounded like "You were right. Make up sex is the best."

"Is she serious?" Stephanie asked, sounding a little shocked. Lydia shrugged. "Don't ask me. I've never tried it myself. Although maybe..."

"Oh it is. It's great." Vanessa nodded. Steph shook her head. "I mean.. they just.. in the shower.. with us waiting to use the bathroom?"

"More than likely." Lydia grinned as the water stopped. "And good on them. God knows, they're not likely to get any privacy anywhere tonight."

"EDGE!" Shrieked Lydia. "GET OUT OF THE GODDAMNED BATHROOM!"

The door opened slowly and Lydia and Vanessa burst into applause. "It's about time. What do you two need?"

"A few hair pins and such." Stephanie replied. Lydia nodded. "Middle drawer. Nessa?"

"Oh I just thought I'd watch you in the shower and wish you weren't straight."

"Ok, you want to talk about something. Park in the bathtub." Lydia turned on the water, muttering "If they used all the hot water....Steph, lock the door on the way out."

"Sure thing."

"And Steph?" called Lydia with a grin. Stephanie stuck her head around the door. "Yeah?"

"Nice pants. Chris is gonna freak."

Smiling back, Stephanie locked the door as she shut it behind her. Back in her room, she sat on the bed as Chris kneeled behind her and started brushing her hair. "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"Well either you do my hair, or I do yours." threatened Steph. "I love what you did to Vanessa's hair and it's not like you've never done it before. Besides - I trust you."

"How much?" A little smile played over his lips as he tied off a braid. Stephanie thought for 2.3 seconds. "Completely. Why?"

"Because Vanessa invited a couple of guys she met on a work trip to the party and there's nowhere for them to sleep so Lydia offered them my room and said thatIwouldjusthavetobeagentlemanforonceinmylifeandshareyourdoublebed." Chris said in a nervous rush. Stephanie frowned. "What?"

"Lydia informs me I'm sleeping in here. With you. She said we had to share the double bed, but I'm more than happy to sleep on the floor." Chris said hurriedly. Stephanie laughed. "Are you entering the shot competition?"

"Not sure yet. Depends on if Lydia's doing the official competion or just shotting with Andrew." Chris said thoughtfully. Stephanie laughed. "Let me guess, if she's in the competition then you won't be?"

"Exactly!"

They laughed, then Steph turned serious. "I'm quite prepared to share the bed with you. Just don't hog the blankets!"

Chris's reply was cut off by the airhorn that Lydia had informed everyone would mean the offical start of the party. Stephanie laughed. "Finished?"

"Nearly done." Chris slipped a final rubber band around a braid. "It's nothing fancy, but it's sorta elegant, and will keep your hair out of your face when dancing or crawling around the room."

He jumped off the bed and offered Stephanie his arm. "Shall we depart?"

"Let's."

They walked out of the room and downstairs to what promised to be one hell of a party.

10b

"What are they up to?" Chris asked, bringing over more shot glasses. "And where did Lydia get these?"

"14. Stole them from various clubs and pubs around town." Christain replied, not taking his eyes of his wasted girlfriend. Lydia grinned at Andrew. "Baby, ya already knows that I can drink ya under the um, the thing we're sitting at now..."

"Table?" suggested Matt Hardy with a grin. She nodded. "Yeah that's it!"

"Having fun?" Integra weaved her way over to where Stephanie was sitting. She nodded. "Yeah, it's not so bad. Been to worse."

"Good! Get up and dance!" she commanded. Stephanie laughed. "I'm not much of a dancer."

"Neither is anyone else. Apparently Jeff likes to think he can, but he's not that good." Integra giggled. A shout from the shot table made everyone look around. "Crown me bitch!"

"Sounds like Lydia outdrank Andrew." Laughed Edge as he and Chris joined the girls. He and Integra grinned at each other. "Again!"

"How ya feeling after that Lyd?" shouted Vanessa. Lydia stuck her middle finger up and yelled back "Just great thanks Vanessa."

Chris grabbed Stephanie by the wrists and pulled onto her feet. "Come on Princess. Dance with me."

"I don't know..." She hesitated. Edge smiled. "I'll change it to a slow song, it's a lot easier."

They moved into the centre of the room and waited for Edge to change the music. When the new song started, they laughed nervously, before Steph slipped her arms around Chris neck. He put his arms lightly around her waist, blushing as she teased "You held me tighter than that when we were riding Bertha."

Integra and Edge joined them on the dancefloor, followed by Lydia and Christain, Andrew and Vanessa, Alanah and Matt. Stephanie looked around with a smile. Integra and Edge were talking quietly, Lydia looked ready to fall asleep on Christain's shoulder and Matt looked as though the middle of the dancefloor was the last place he wanted to be.

"See? It's not that hard!" Vanessa elbowed Chris. He and Stephanie both laughed, neither of them seeing the wistful look on Andrew's face.

"Can you believe it? Only 22 minutes till the New Year." Chris said. Vanessa snickered. "Yeah and Lydia's still concious."

"How does she do it?" Asked Jeff in surprise. "19 vodka shots, plus everytime I see her she has a drink in her hand."

"She's been drinking straight coke for the last 45 minutes." Edge said quietly. "Although come to think of it, Integra hasn't noticed there's no vodka in her raspberry, so maybe that was a good idea."

"Right." muttered Chris, suddenly distracted. Stephanie had been dancing with Andrew and he'd been keeping a close eye on them. Now they'd disappeared and he had no idea where to.

"Thanks, I was worried that the only thing left to drink was bourbon and I don't drink." Stephanie confessed, sitting on the kitchen bench and watching Andrew pour a coke. He laughed. "There's usually extra soft drink just in case. Thank Edge for that, he doesn't drink either. Having a good time?"

"Yeah it's a little tamer than I thought it would be, but I'm having fun." Stephanie remarked. He handed Stephanie the plastic cup. "Got any New Years Resolutions?"

"Yeah, to hunt for a job. Make things easier financially, maybe we could even move to a better area." She said wistfully. Andrew raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with the current one?"

"Nothing exactly, it's just... oh who am I kidding, I doubt I've ever adjusted from the way I used to live to the way I live now. You can take the girl out of the snobbery, but you can't take the snob out of the girl, or something like that."

"I sincerly doubt that you'd be a snob." Andrew glanced at Stephanie from under hooded eyes. She laughed. "Maybe as a kid, but since I left home, then definately not."

He leaned against the bench next to Stephanie and looked at her. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. "So what's your New Years Resolution?"

"I'm not sure, maybe to finally find a girl who cares about me as much as I care about her."

"Excuse me?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Mr Broken more hearts than Casanova and Valentino?"

Andrew laughed self conciously. "Vanessa was just being a bitch. She's quite good at that. I've had a few relationships, but none that were ever serious - in my eyes anyway."

"Ah, I see what you mean."

"So what about you? You got a special guy in your life?" Andrew decided to cut to the chase. Vanessa had told him that Steph and Chris definately weren't in a relationship, so if he was interested then just go for it.

"I'm not in a relationship, but there is someone in my life who I think is pretty damned special." Stephanie replied slowly. "It would be unfair for me to get involved with anyone else when I feel this way. I'm sorry, you seem like a great guy, but..."

He looked up at the roof for a minute, before speaking. "I understand." Andrew smiled bitterly. He started walking back into the party. Stephanie called out to him. "Hey Andrew?"

He stopped, but didn't turn around. "Yeah?"

"You'll find the right girl one day. I'm sure of it."

"I think I already have." He whispered to himself. Chris saw Andrew walk back into the party, looking downcast. He smirked to himself. Rejected! He felt kinda guilty about his his relief at his friend's obvious misery. Looking around, he noticed that Stephanie hadn't come back to the party. Checking his watch, Chris saw that it was 5 to 12. In the kitchen Stephanie was still sitting on the bench, her head in her hands. Chris put an arm around her waist and asked "Are you ok?"

"I feel bad. I hate hurting people." She said softly. Chris hugged her. "You gotta be true to your heart princess. It's that simple. There's no point in stringing him along and then leaving him, it would make you feel worse." Stephanie nodded slowly. "Now come on. It's nearly midnight and I wanna be with the best looking girl at the party when the new year starts."

Giggling, Stephanie let Chris lead her by the hand into the party. Chris sat on and armchair and pulled Steph onto her lap and started tickling her. Laughing, she grabbed his hands and headbutted his shoulder.

"30 seconds!" shouted Jeff. Stephanie grinned at Chris. "To this year being as... interesting as last year."

"25!"

"To new and long lasting relationships." Chris supplied. On the other side of the room, Lydia raised her champange flute. "To Romeo & Juliet in the armchair, for hopefully getting their shit together."

"I'll second that!" Integra clinked her glass against Lydia's. Christain rolled his eyes. "I'd like to toast the two of you for keeping your noses out of it, but I can't."

"17!"

"To my baby brother for saving us from having to get everyone to shut up for the countdown." Matt grinned, toasting Jeff, who stuck his middle finger up at Matt and replied "To my older brother who's penchant for women who can kick his ass getting us invited to this party. 10!"

"9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone shouted. Lydia pounced on Christain, tripping over Integra and Edge. Chris laughed and grinned at Stephanie. "Happy New Years Princess."

"Happy New Year Lionheart." Steph replied, surprising herself by leaning forwards and brushing her lips lightly over Chris's. He tightened his arms around Stephanie's waist and deepened the kiss.

On the other side of the room, Vanessa elbowed Lydia in the ribs. "They did it. Does that look like two people who are not deeply in love?"

"If you ask me it looks like any two people at a party." Christain replied. Integra slapped him upside the head. "Don't be a fucking idiot!"

Stephanie and Chris broke apart, oblivious of the cheers and applause of the others. Chris curled Stephanie's hair around his fingers. "Wow."

"I'll say." Steph smiled at him. Chris looked away, then back. She placed her hand on his cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Steph..." he hesitated, then decided just to say it. "I love you."

Her jaw dropped and a smile spread across her face as she hugged him tight then kissed him passionately. When they separated, Chris laughed. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"I love you too."