Shattered Girl (Emmy)

A couple of days later, when Patrick got back from a "family meeting," the six of us sat down to plan our holiday activities. Patrick's parents had invited us for Thanksgiving, and as much as I loved spending the day with Patrick's family, I just wanted to stay home. After more debate, Patrick decided to go to his parents, and the rest of us would stay here. The twins had finals and needed to study, so Drew, Mike, and I offered to help them. "Are you sure you're ok with us not going to your parents?"

"Yes, I'm alright with you telling us what you need," Patrick said sternly. "Would I like you with me? Of course, but I'm more concerned about what you need. We see my parents a lot. They will understand."

"I would like to do Christmas here," I said, and they all looked at me. "It will be our first Christmas together, and I want it to just be the six of us. Seven because I would never leave Darren out unless he has someone to spend Christmas with, then he should. I just want it to be us."

Drew, Patrick, and Jake all exchanged looks. I caught my lower lip between my teeth, but Mike gently freed it. "Don't stress; we'll figure it out. But I agree; I think it should just be us."

"We could do it here since this is our place, or I can get the lake house from my parents. Whatever you want." Patrick said.

Jake grinned. "Main does have a lot more snow than we get here."

"Lots of room for play Josh murmured, and I couldn't help but grin. The closest club was in the city; we hadn't gone to more than a couple of munches. While we met some members, not having time to go was getting old. We needed to make time to go.

"Then we all agree, Christmas is just us, no matter where we have it?"

"Yes," the guys all agreed, one at a time, and I left my seat, climbing over Josh to hug him and Jake simultaneously. They each kissed me slowly before handing me off to Mike, who kissed me soundly before Drew pulled me into his lap for his kiss. Patrick was next, and he pressed the softest kiss on my lips.

"We will all work on pooling our resources to figure out these threatening messages and who's sending them. We will get answers and resolve this so no one can hurt you..."

"Or any of you," I reminded him, and Patrick let out a long breath as he looked at the others, but he finally nodded.

"So they can't hurt any of us."

Though we had talked about this before, for some reason, that had me sagging in relief. Patrick was a fixer, and Mike and Josh were protectors. Drew and Jake would do whatever they thought was necessary, too. I just didn't want any of them to get hurt.

"Good," Jake said.

"Tonight, it's pizza and video games. The top two players get Emmy. The losers can watch."

Darren, who had just entered, cleared his throat.

"Yes," Darren said. I will order the pizzas and bring down some sodas and water after they are delivered. Then I will retire for the evening."

I glanced at him, but his disapproval was focused on the guys. He gave me a wink, and I grinned. "You're the best, Darren. Thank you." "For you, Miss Emmy. Anything."

"Hey," Jake protested. "When did Emmy become the favorite?"

Darren just looked at him pointedly. "Now go begin your games. I will bring down the food shortly."

Technically, the twins still had homework but quickly forgot about it as we headed to the game room. I made a detour to my room to change into comfortable pajamas, fuzzy socks, and a hoodie. Despite the central heat and several fireplaces, it was officially cold now, and I liked being comfy.

Drew pulled me into his lap and covered our legs with a blanket. Jake and Josh set up the consoles so we could all play.

It was adorable and funny, and by the time the pizza arrived and Darren brought in the drinks, we were all yelling at each other as we raced around the track. I won more than once and cost all the guys points. I tried to be fair, though. I only went after who was in the lead, especially considering they all ganged up on me.

We stayed up late, sneaking into the kitchen to make popcorn and grab sodas after the pizza. My stomach was full, and it was possibly one of the best nights we'd had together since the accident. We were us again.

By the time we called it a night, I was yawning, and it didn't matter who got to sleep in bed with me since I was already half asleep. Patrick and Drew had ended up with the two highest scores, but Patrick gave Mike his spot.

"Movie preference?" Josh asked as he reached for the remote, and Jake tucked me in. I settled back against Drew and tangled my fingers with Mike's.noveldrama

I had no idea what movie got picked because I was out within minutes.

Later the following day, the twins and I sat around the kitchen table. Darren had cleaned up breakfast, leaving us with fresh coffee. Patrick had disappeared into the library to take a phone call from Conner. Mike and Drew were downstairs in the gym working out since it was still too icy to run outside.

I leaned against Josh's shoulder, waiting for the coffee to kick in fully.

"What is the plan for today," I asked. As much as I loved the idea of sleeping in, I somehow never managed to sleep past nine in the morning.

"We stick to the plan we discussed last night," Mike said, sliding into a chair beside me. "You get upstairs with the twins and help them with whatever they need to study. Later, we will go to the gym, and you can do some yoga to get your mind off things. Then you can shower, and I will fuck you against the wall until you can't stand upright. If you're still stressed after that, I will eat you out until all the stress is gone."

His grin grew as he spoke.

"I almost hope you're stressed enough to need lots of attention and TLC."

I giggled. "I'm not going to argue with that." I leaned closer and kissed him when Darren cleared his throat.

"Miss Emmy, Mr. Josh, and Mr. Jake have already gone upstairs. If you hope to get them to do any work, you had better get up there before they get distracted. The canoodling will have to wait until later."

He said it with such a serious face that I couldn't help but grin. "Thanks, Darren." I stood up, took the tumbler of coffee he had made for me, and turned to go upstairs.

"Cock block," I heard Drew mutter as I reached the staircase.

"It's good to work for it, Mr. Drew. It builds character. Now, don't you have a list of things you must also take care of?

When I got to the top of the stairs, everything was quiet. "Come on, boys. The more we get done this morning, the more time we have to play this afternoon.