Home for Christmas

"Zane! There's someone here to see you!" her mother's voice echoed up the stairs, and Zane couldn't help but instantly get nervous. She didn't get visitors, ever. She didn't even get visitors where she actually lived most of the time.

"Who is it?" Zane called back down, and she heard a masculine chuckle from the doorway.

"It's one of those cute Leto boys!" her mom called, and she knew she was blushing instantly. Of course her mom would remember them. While Shannon wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world to say the least, she'd maintained a pretty close friendship with his younger brother Jared. She knew full well that their friendship had only started because Jared had felt bad about how his brother had been treating her all those years ago, but he'd ended up being one of the only people from her hometown that she actually still talked to and cared about. She peeped her head around the corner at the top of the stairs and was relieved to see that Jared was the one her mom was standing there laughing with.

"Jay!" she called, more excited to see him than even she'd expected herself to be.

"Freckles!" he called, opening his arms as she hurried towards him. Normally she hated that nickname. Her freckles had been one of the things she'd been teased most about in high school for some reason. Jared had started using the nickname as a joke to make fun of her tormentors, but somehow it had stuck through the years. She hugged him tightly and he laughed. "I feel like maybe you missed me."

"I missed you a ridiculous amount, Mister Rockstar," she told him, and he laughed.

"I'm sorry I missed you last year," he said, and she nodded slightly. The last time she'd been in town he'd been on tour with his and Shannon's band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.

"I heard you saw my brother yesterday," Jared said as they sat on the couch in the living room. She rolled her eyes at him.

"I saw him," she said and he nodded.

"He told me you'd 'gotten hot'," Jared said, his eyes sparkling in amusement.

"Fuck him," she said, and he laughed but she could feel his eyes boring into her.

"You think he got hot too, don't you?" he asked a moment later, and her eyes flicked up to his and then avoided him completely.

"I never thought he was unattractive. That was never the problem," she told him, and he nodded again.

"He's changed, Z. I promise he's not such an ass anymore. I wouldn't be able to put up with him if he was. The band completely changed his life," Jared said, and it was her turn to nod.

"That's great, but I'm not exactly in a forgiving mood."

"I'm not asking you to forgive him. I'm asking you to give him a chance."

"Is that why you came over here?"

"No..."

"But it's part of the reason?"

"Maybe..."

"You're the worst."

"Yeah, well fuck you," he joked, play-punching her on the shoulder. "Give him a chance, Freckles. He'll surprise you. I promise."

"You want me to... what? Go on a date with him?"

"No. Just go get coffee. Give him a chance to apologize," he said, and she looked him in the eye. He smiled at her and nodded encouragingly. "C'mon, Freckles. He'll surprise you. I promise."

"Fine," she said hesitantly, rolling her eyes when he got excited. "I'll give him half a chance."

"Good! I'll give him your number!" he said excitedly, and she couldn't figure out why he was so happy about the whole thing. It could absolutely be true that Shannon was a completely different person than he'd been when she'd known him. She knew that was fully possible. What she didn't buy, though, was that somehow she'd end up having a new opinion of him. Call it holding grudges or whatever else you want, but he'd hurt her, and not just in a simple way either. His actions had shaped most of her entire life. There were so many things that had changed for her because of how he and his friends had treated her and it would be nearly impossible for her to just forget about all of it.

That's what she thought, anyway.