Your Eyes Shine Like The Stars At Night

December 23 finally arrived, meaning we were back in Maryland. The ten of us, including Brittany and Matt, were hanging out at Alex and Rian’s house. We had just gotten settled into our own homes, then all came back to their house to hang out. Zack was staying with Alex and Rian during the break that way he could spend the holidays with his friends and family in Lutherville.

“Who’s excited for Christmas?” Rian yelled.

“ME!” Jack and Seth both replied in unison, raising their arms.

“You assholes better have gotten me something good,” Alex complained, earning a gasp and a slap from Brittany.

“Don’t be so rude, Alex!”

“I was just kidding!” he defended, raising his hands in surrender.

“Whipped,” Zack laughed, causing Alex to pout.

“That’s right he’s whipped,” Brittany cooed, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and kissing his cheek, trying to embarrass him

“Like an old married couple,” Darren joked.

“What about you, Jack? Scarlett got you tied to the ball and chain yet?” Josh wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Jack glanced at me nervously, not sure how to answer. “Yeah, Jack? Do I have you whipped?” I smirked.

“Um, um…”

“That means yes,” Rian laughed.

“Like you aren’t with Kara,” Jack muttered.

“Yeah, but at least I can admit it,” Rian said with dignity.

“That’s okay, Jack! I’ll loosen the leash a little bit every once in a while,” I teased, kissing his cheek.

-------

“Hey, Mom!” I squealed, running to the front porch where she was with open arms.

“Scarlett! I’ve missed you so much, honey.” She hugged me tightly, flashing me a warm smile. “Oh, you look so good.”

“Thanks. I’ve really been working on…you know…” I trailed off.

“I can tell. You don’t look so thin anymore,” she noticed. I was still thin, but not frighteningly thin, liked I used to be. I was getting healthier, all with Jack’s help. He was watching me, making sure I ate and taking care of me.

“Your father’s in the garage. He can help get your bags into the house,” she informed me.

While I was on break from tour, I was going to be staying with my parents. I hadn’t ever gotten a chance to move out of my parents’ house after high school because they didn’t trust me on my own, especially with my eating disorder. They kept an eye on me, much like Jack was doing now, and that’s how I got better before I relapsed on tour.

I scurried to our two-car garage, seeing my father working on his car. “Oh, Scarlett, I didn’t know you were home!” he exclaimed, shutting the hood of the car and catching me in a hug.

“We got home earlier today and all of us hung out at Alex and Rian’s for a while,” I nodded.

“Now, Alex and Rian are…?”

“Oh, they’re both members of All Time Low,” I said, knowing he knew that we toured with All Time Low.

“Okay, I always forget names,” he chuckled. “So did Sandra tell you about Christmas dinner at her house?”

I sighed. “Lucas told me. But yeah, I know about it.”

“Are you going?” Even our parents knew about the tension between Sandra and I. They had made several attempts at getting us to speak to one another, but they all failed. Neither Sandra nor I would budge.

“I guess,” I shrugged. “Jack’s coming, too.”

“So tell me about this Jack fellow,” he coaxed, sitting on a bench against the wall.

“I don’t know…he’s nice, he’s funny…”

“I have to say, I’m rather excited to meet him,” he smiled.

“Oh God, Dad. Please don’t grill him like you did to my boyfriends in high school,” I begged.

“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try to bite my tongue. How about that?” he laughed.

“Fine,” I rolled my eyes.

-------

“Merry Christmas Eve!” Jack erupted as I stepped into his house the next day.

I laughed. “Merry Christmas Eve to you too, Jack.”

He walked over, engulfing me into him and kissing my lips. “How’s it been staying with the parentals?”

I plopped onto his couch, him sitting next to me. “Boring,” I whined. I wrapped my arms around his torso and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“We could have lots of fun if you stayed at my house,” Jack replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I slapped his chest playfully. “I don’t think so.”

“Damn.” We watched some movie or other for a while, neither of us really paying attention.

“So are you sure you want to go see my family tomorrow?” I questioned.

“Definitely. As long as you come to meet my family afterwards.”

“I can do that,” I nodded. “But just be warned, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into by agreeing to this. My family are a bunch of whack jobs,” I warned.

He shrugged. “Can’t be worse than my family. My brother Joe is a horndog, so he’ll probably hit on you all night, and my sister May is a bitch, so she might try and start a cat fight with you,” he chuckled.

“Good to know.”