Run from your problems, but you cannot run from yourself.

"It's Christmas Eve!" LP cheered as she threw up a puff of snow. It would be a wonderful white Christmas in Colorado this year. The chilling blizzard hadn't let up and was stilling raging on. We had a few leftover sugar cookies, and I was joyfully munching on an ornament shaped cookie. In the cream colored sitting room, I sat curled up on the couch and watched through the large back windows as a bouncing mess of blonde hair blended into the snow banks that rose and fell like waves frozen in time. A taller ginger haired boy followed in her wake. Although I occasionally joined my little sister in a good-nature snow ball fight, I mostly chose to relax inside with a cup of coco steaming in my hands.

Austin came over and sat next to me, handing me my own mug. A swirl of whip cream peaked the delicious drink. I took a long whiff before cautiously enjoying my treat. Austin somehow had managed to not burn down the house with this simple concoction. Whenever it came to him and a stove, I had to watch over his shoulder with a fire extinguisher in hand.

"Merry early Christmas." He raised his white mug. I smiled and tapped my edge against his. The Christmas music hadn't ceased to gently fill the air for the past few days. It filled the house with cheer when it was silent, and provided a warm comfort to the chilly air.

With White Christmas playing in the background, I watched Alan and LP outside. As Alan turned around, he was hit squarely in the chest with a packed snowball. My sister had a good aim.

"I'm betting on Alan." Austin murmured happily. He drew a blanket up over his legs, throwing one side over mine in the process. We scooted closer together to enjoy each other's presence.

"I don't know. LP has a fairly accurate aim." I teased. I thought back to the day before. Alan and Austin offered to run out and get groceries while the storm let up a little. LP and I were hanging out outside with a project in mind.

Two hours later, LP and I managed to dig a large pathway of snow tunnels under the deep banks. The most impressive one was by the far back of the yard. There was a little led with a six foot drop off into an area that was normally covered by weeds. The area sloped downwards, but we managed to make a tunnel that went from the drop off to connect to a tunnel by the porch.

It was surprisingly warm under the seven feet of snow. Austin could barely touch the top of the largest drifts. As we studied the fight going on, I watched my sister near the edge. I held my breath. If she fell and got stuck, it would be near impossible to get her out.

Alan beaned Lily-Pearl right in the chest. She jumped backwards and Alan froze for a second as my little sister disappeared from view and fell off the edge. Alan was on his hands and knees, trying to search for her in the snow.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a tree shake a little. Suddenly, I knew her plan all along. When she reappeared by the porch, she crept up behind the ginger. With a well aimed chunk of snow, he fumbled over the edge in surprise. My sister could barely breathe, she was laughing to hard.

"Told you LP was clever." I shook my finger at Austin. He was laughing as well.

A few hours later, my mom announced we were going over to my grandma's house for the traditional Christmas dinner. She was feeling well enough to continue to host it, but I felt that this would be her last year.

"Boys, you can come along, if you want." My mom told Alan and Austin. They were sitting, trying to be the good children, as my sister and I went upstairs to get dressed. This was one of the only days of the year I would wear a dress.

I went over to my closet and flipped the switch to the lights. I quickly changed into my nice outfit. It was a dress of soft white fabric that fell to my knees. The straps barely covered my shoulders and a small red bow tied it in the front. Since it was snowing, I threw on a nice shrug over the dress to give me a bit more protection.

LP and I walked back down the stairs. The snow had seemed to let up a slight bit, but it was beginning to cover the freshly scraped driveway. Austin and Alan had decided to go as well.

Two hours later, we were all laughing around the dinner table. Twenty cousins, two cat impressions, and four jokes later, Austin and Alan had finally become a little more comfortable. My cousins, all the same age as Austin enjoyed talking about what his music.

All the while, everyone avoided the topic that we were missing one person.

"So you, scream?" My uncle asked. Austin nodded, confident with his ability.

"Yes, sir. Our band falls under the genres that deal with screaming as well as singing." Alan attempted to explain. Everyone looked a little uneasy, but I stuck with them.

"It has a very positive message behind it." I tried to add in. The two boys threw me a grateful look. Our conversations took a turn for the better after that. After a few hours into the night, we went home and departed from the mayhem.

As soon as we got home, I went upstairs to slip back into short and a shirt. When I came back downstairs, I found LP and Alan fast asleep on the couch. Austin looked like he was on the fast track to being dead asleep as well. The tangle of bodies in the living room stirred slightly before falling back to sleep again. The lights on our tree twinkled merrily. It was only ten at night, and I decided to head into the kitchen.

I found my mom there. She was stirring a cup of hot chocolate. It was the drink of the angels in the winter months. She handed me a cup quietly. I thanked her and took a seat at the bar.

"They look asleep." She noted. I yawned and nodded, taking a sip of the hot drink.

"LP and Alan are dead asleep and Austin might be, I think." I thought to myself. I rubbed the spot on my ribs where I was shot. It was many months ago but ached occasionally. My mom started to head out of the kitchen before turning to me.

"R, do the guys like beanies? I thought I would add them into our Christmas this year with a few presents." She asked quietly. I smiled. Tomorrow would be fun.

"I'm sure if you gave them a blank piece of paper, they would love it." I told her. She thanked me and walked back to her bed.

I took my turn to leave. I might want to get Alan and Austin to head downstairs soon anyways. As I walked through the halls, I passed a glance out the window. A dirty grey truck was slowly rolling down the street. I barely saw through the windows, two figures. Both had dark hair and were bundled in jackets. The truck slowed by our house, and I watched it go back up and out of my sight.. The car had no headlights on.

That's odd. I thought to myself, but decided against questioning it further. Instead, I went to bed.

Notes

Hey guys! Another new chapter with Christmas Eve at Rae's house! Cookies, coco, family, and an unusual truck....

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