Boy Like Me.

6:45pm, guests were arriving every minute. Clad in heavy coats and colorful scarves with small gifts in their mitten-covered hands. Liam and Kendrix had been taking turns answering the door and helping guests with their coats. The house was soon filled with many people all chattering away drinking eggnog, hot chocolate, or red wine.

"Mom say's she wants you to start the caroling thing at seven." Liam said as he walked over to Kendrix handing her an empty green plate. The blonde girl nodded and looked around with a bit of hesitation seeping through her smile.

"Caroling? That's gonna be fun!" Ashley giggled adjusting the sleeves of her white turtleneck. Kendrix licked her neck and rolled up the sleeves of her baby blue sweater. "Is something wrong?" Ashley asked and Liam looked to his sister with furrowed brows.

"Nervous?" he asked and Kendrix nodded quickly. Ashley and Liam laughed lightly telling her she'd do fine, but her face still got a bit red and eyes wide. "Don't worry you'll be fine, you love singing and I have to sing with you too." Liam said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks." Kendrix smiled.

"And me too," Ashley jumped in holding up her hand causing the siblings to laugh. "I wanna sing Little Drummer Boy!" she cheered and Kendrix nodded. Liam gave her a thumbs up when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Liam said heading for the door trying not to bump into the many people. Once he got to the door he fixed up his hair and put a smile on his face. Swinging the door open he looked out finding Ryan standing there with two others behind him.

"Merry Christmas," Ryan smiled and Liam laughed gesturing for the three to walk in. The room had a warm glow and warm feeling, with glittering decorations or bells, ornaments, ribbons, and bows. Candles were lights on the tables of food and garland was wrapped around the stair rails. "You know Benjamin Burke and this is Molly Johnston." Ryan gestured to the two adults to the right of him.

"Yeah nice to see you again Mr. Burke, nice to meet you Ms. Johnston." Liam said shaking their hands that were cold from being outside.

"Thank you for inviting us Liam," Benjamin smiled handing him a silver gift bag. "That is actually for you, my gift to you for helping Ryan." The handsome man dressed in a red button down and white tie that was printed with candy canes.

"Aw, thank you, Liam smiled looking at the gift. "Make yourselves comfortable, the food and drinks are by the bay windows and we're going to start caroling at seven in the living room by the piano." Liam said pointing across the room to a black piano in the corner.

"You know I've been here four times and I have never noticed that piano," Ryan laughed staring at the black piano. Liam shrugged with a smile and the two adults went on their way to mingle with some of the other people. "So caroling? You sing?" Ryan questioned and Liam nodded as he placed the gift he had received on the table of the dining room.

"Hey you made it," Matt said walking up holding a cup of eggnog. "Merry Christmas." He smiled and Ryan smiled back as they bumped their fist together. Kendrix and Ashley joined shortly after.

"Nice guitar Kendrix." Ryan complimented seeing the mahogany colored instrument with golden colored strings. Silver colored butterflies decorated the neck along with flower petals.

"Thank you," she smiled looking down at her guitar then back at Liam. "What are we singing first?" she questioned him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Let It Snow," Matt suggested and Kendrix agreed with that looking to her brother. "This is my favorite part of the night." The teen grinned while the others chuckled.

"Well let's do this thing." Kendrix said walking out into the living room pushing her way over to the black piano. Ashley and Matt trailed behind her while Liam and Ryan stayed behind. The spiky haired teen dressed in a blue and white polo raised an eyebrow at Liam, he seemed a bit off.

"Are you alright?" Ryan asked nudging him with his hand.

"Yeah I'm just daydreaming." Liam admitted and Ryan smiled leaning over giving him a light kiss on the cheek. The shaggy haired teen blushed and looked up at his crush. A few moments later Liam found himself closing his eyes as Ryan slowly lowered his head down to him.

"Liam! Hurry up!" Kendrix called from the living room. Ryan let out a breath and Liam laughed lightly getting on his toes kissing Ryan on the lips for just a few moments. Ryan smiled and they separated heading into the living room where Kendrix was urging them to come over. "Excuse me everyone!" Kendrix called out and everyone looked over starting to quiet down.

"Thanks for coming to our Christmas party, we think everyone has arrived," Liam began as he stood beside his sister. He looked to her and then smiled looking back out at the crowded room of people. "So we're going to start some caroling." Everyone started to clap and cheer as Kendrix put her guitar strap over her head. Liam looked to her and nodded. She smiled and strummed a few notes getting the feel for it.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful," Kendrix started in a sweet and gentle voice the guitar strumming relaxing and smooth. She turned to her brother who nodded. "And since we've got nowhere to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" they sang together and everyone swayed and quietly hummed along with the tune. The siblings both smiled as they sang, the crowd started to get into it.

-&-

9:30pm the party was finally starting to slow down. After forty minutes of caroling, two hours chatting and eating, people were becoming tired. The party was planned to end at ten and by the looks of it, that's exactly what was going to happen. Liam decided to excuse himself outside into the cold winter air just to clear his head.

He was still thinking about the e-mail. Should he tell Ryan? What would happen if he did tell him? What if the Harvey family didn't want Rahne to know about Ryan? Did they even know about him? All these questions had been boggling with throughout the party. Everyone noticed that he wasn't acting like himself, but he couldn't help it.

Liam sighed softly and pulled his hands up to his mouth blowing on them and rubbing them together. It was a very cold night, with a full moon and glittering white blankets of snow. He looked at the icy streets and trees lining his yard, it was a really nice scene with the Christmas lights glowing.

"Aren't you cold?" Ryan asked while he pulled on a black glove. Liam looked over at him and shook his head pursing his lips. "Well you're pretty tough then." The handsome boy smiled leaning against the porch railing facing Liam.

"I think it's nice," he explained and Ryan nodded his head. "Did you have fun?" Liam asked looking out at the colorful Christmas lights. Ryan nodded his head looking out as well. He glanced up at the starry sky with a half moon.

"You're family," Ryan spoke up, but then stopped. Liam looked at him seeing Ryan had a disgruntled look on his face. "I'd give anything to have what you have, I'm almost bitter towards you." Ryan explained and Liam furrowed his brows shaking his head.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your family," Liam explained placing a hand on Ryan's wrist. He pushed his fingers through Ryan's and soon they laced together. "I lost a brother in a car crash." Liam told him.

"You mean Joey?" Ryan asked and Liam nodded feeling a bit sad thinking about his brother. He loved parties and entertaining people; he wanted to be an actor or musician. If he were still alive Liam would swear Joey would be doing just that. Pressing his lips together in a firm line Liam turned to Ryan. They stared at each other for a moment their fingers still laced together. "Kendrix told me a bit about him. You guys were close, weren't you?" he questioned.

"Very," Liam smiled nodding his head. He looked up and his eyes widened at the site of one of the mistletoe branches Ashley had brought. "She would." Liam chuckled softly shaking his head. Ryan have him a confused look and Liam pointed upwards. Looking at the ceiling Ryan smiled and slowly returned his eyes to Liam's baby like face.

"Well we shouldn't break tradition." Ryan smiled and Liam agreed closing his eyes as Ryan's hand gently lifted to his face. He stroked Liam's cheek with his thumb and passionately pressed his lips onto Liam's.

Getting onto his toes to deepen the kiss Liam smiled as Ryan put his other hand on the rail of the porch and pushed Liam against it. Liam lifted his hands to run through Ryan's hair as the kiss become hotter, sweeter, and loving. Their hearts were racing, their tongues tangled together, and their minds only on each other. They slowly parted and Liam pulled playfully on Ryan's lips to entice him a bit. Ryan smiled and pecked him on the lips. Liam rested his hands on Ryan's shoulders and smiled up at him while Ryan leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

"I," Liam looked away and Ryan stared at him with a soft stare. "How long have we known each other?" he questioned.

"Four months." Ryan told him and Liam nodded slowly.

"Did you see this happening?" Liam asked him with hope in his eyes.

"No," Ryan shook his head and Liam frowned. "However I'm glad it did." He smiled and Liam bit his lower lip looking down at the ground between them. A second later a snowflake landed on his cheek and Ryan wiped it away. They moved away from each other and looked up snowing the white snow flurries dance in the air and land on the ground. It was a beautiful and romantic night.