I drove up the old driveway, that is, the driveway that used to be mine, in Jack's car. It's been weeks since I last came to this house, Ash's home. My room has been cleared for months, ever since I moved in with Riley. But given the circumstances, coming back home for a visit was just what I needed.

The key was still in my keychain. It was the one that stood out most because being the crazy cousin he is, Ashton didn't realize it and ordered a key decorated in a pink color with purple dots. I laughed; remembering the day he showed up with the key for me. He was so embarrassed by it.

My hand turned the knob, opening the door to let myself inside.

"Hello?" I called out. "Ash it's me!" The door was closed behind me.

It was always a surprise to see come into the house and not knowing what you'd walk into. Today, today was probably the craziest I've seen yet.

Pine. Pine was everywhere! Boxes, old and new, opened and closed, we're all over the place.

Ash was in the back, holding up the biggest Christmas tree I've seen. The tree seemed to be winning in their fight for support. Oh Ash..

"Uhh.. What happened?" I asked, moving a huge door reef from my way. "It looks like Christmas threw up in here?"

Ashton grunted, surprisingly standing up the tree in the corner of the living room behind the two window sills. He sighed, admiring his work before turning back to look at me.

"Pass me that box." Ashton called out, reaching his hand out towards the object behind me.

I turned around, finding the box of lights he wanted and handing it back to him.

"Thanks."

He looked stressed. Hair was a mess, he wore baggy gym shorts and a t shirt. Again, full of pine leaves.

Was Ashton decorating for Christmas?

Ashton never decorated. The holidays are his least favorite times of the year. Even as kids, Ash would be that one kid sitting out on every family event. He was least jolliest person I've ever met.

"I thought Ashton Green didn't do Christmas?" I couldn't help but chuckle, dropping my bag onto the couch chair by the tv.

"Did you get Matt's text?" He asked looking back at me.

I furrowed my eyebrows, shaking my head no.

Ashton began to speak as I pulled my phone out, quickly scrolling through my messages. I've been so busy with Jack that I've completely lost track of my phone.

"His father let him throw this year's Christmas party.. And guess where Matt asked to have it..." He continued.

My eyes widened.

"Here?" I paused. "Why?"

"He said my house has Character..?" Ashton looked back at me with the same expression I had on my face. Confusion.

What the heck was Matt thinking? This house is nice and very well cared for. Not to mention, it's fully renovated but that still doesn't mean it could fit 200 of Nebraska's most successful men and women in it.

"He said it was going to be a small gathering, nothing as extravagant as what his father throws."

Ashton began to speak as he opened the previous box he asked me to hand him.

"And they put you to decorate?" I couldn't help but laugh. This is honestly the worst thing Matt can do to Ashton.

He opened the box and pulled out some Christmas lights. Little was he aware of that those were the falling Christmas lights that belong outside, not on the tree. A small laugh was released from my mouth as he continued to throw the lights over the Christmas tree.

"You do know those are the lights for outside, right?" I chuckled, moving a box away from my walkway.

Ashton sighed, trying hard to hide the fact that he made an obvious mistake.

"Zo, would you help me?" He asked, praying hands coming to his front.

I laughed with the reaction, immediately nodding my head. "Of course, Ash. But before we start.." I asked. "What's for lunch?"

Ashton looked around, clearly, it would be nothing. "Just order something online." He pointed over to his opened laptop.

I nodded, taking the laptop in my hands and settling into the couch. We debated back and forth for a couple of minutes before we settled on Chinese. Once the order was placed, I closed the laptop and moved over to one of the boxes to begin unpacking.

Minutes turned into hours and before either of us realized, it was already dusk outside.

"Turn the heater up, it's freezing in here." Ashton shivered, finishing setting up some of the last Christmas decorations over the chimney.

I obeyed, walking over to the thermostat just across the room, I turned on the heater. It was really cold in here. Droplets of snow were even falling down from the sky above us. I wore only a long sleeve shirt and jeans as well as some fuzzy socks I borrowed from Ashton. Yes, my cousin has a weird obsession with fuzzy socks and has over 50 of them.

The heater was turned on and Ashton turned on the chimney.

Soon enough, it began to warm up again. There were boxes everywhere, fully unpacked. The leftovers from our lunch laid across the living room coffee table. All the Christmas decorations were now fully up. Ash and I sat on the living room couch, our feet over the coffee table with our matching socks being the center of attention. Our eyes looking out at our work in admiration.

"You know, this doesn't look bad at all." Ashton nodded, smiling around the house.

"Admit it, you lowkey love Christmas decorating." I chuckled.

"Maybe after today.. I think I do." He smiled back at me. His mug of hot peppermint coffee raise up besides him. Eyes looking down at mine for me to bring up too. "Good job, Zo."

I smiled, clinking my mug gently against his before we brought it back up our lips.

Immediately, the front door opened. Our heads turned around from the backboard of the couch to view the front door that suddenly came in flooding with people.

Sarah was first, trying to remove her key from the doorknob. She was laughing, retorting a sarcastic comment back at Cameron who was the first to walk in. Behind him was Shawn, laughing along with them. Johnson in the background messing with his beanie. Riley walked in finally removing her scarf.

All of their actions suddenly stopped the moment they looked up and around. Confusion struck each and every single one of them.

"What the..?"

"Um.."

These were all words that fell from our friend's mouths.

Sarah closed the door behind her and put the keys back in her bag. They stood still at the entrance, removing their winter clothes but still keeping an eye out for the newly decorated room.

"Hey guys!" Ashton smiled, waving at them from the couch we were in.

"Uh.. Ash?" Cam continued. "You do realize your house has turned into a winter wonderland.. Right?"

"You like it?" He stood up, leaving his mug back in the coffee table to walk up to our friend's. I did the same, following after him.

"It's just... We thought you didn't like decorating...?" Sarah continued.

"Is this because of what Matt said?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, Man." Ashton nodded. "But now that I look at it, I don't know why I haven't done this before?"

"Because you lack effort." Cam joked, playfully shoving Johnson on the shoulder into agreeing with him.

"Haha..." Ashton stated sarcastically. "Zoey was actually a big help."

He turned to me the second I arrived to our group of friends. I smiled back at them and they each gave me a warm embrace, greeting me. With everything that's been going on with Jack, it's been hard to catch up with our friends. They'd come by, yes, but all at different times or none at all because they do have their work schedules, dates to go on, and lives to live. It's been Lin since I've had them all in the same room together.

"Hey, Zo, how's Jack?" Riley rubbed my arm.

"He's doing really good actually. He's even beginning to walk around the house." I nodded.

"Is he here now?" Johnson asked.

I shook my head no. "I left him sleeping back home. I was actually on my way back from the grocery when I decided to stop by and see this.. Mayhem." I chuckled.

"Well the place looks great, you guys." Shawn smiled.

"Thank you." Ash and I both replied at the same time.

"Oh my gosh..." Sarah's eyes went down to our legs. "Are you seriously wearing Christmas themed fuzzy socks?" She chuckled.

Ash and I looked down at our feet before glancing back at each other and continued laughing.

"He has a collection guys." I commented.

"Dude, you can't be saying that stuff out loud like that." Ash shook his head.

"Aw, can I borrow a pair?" Riley pouted. "I want to get with the groove." She joked.

"Sure!" I smiled, taking her by the hand. "I'll even show you the collection!"

Riley smiled, taking my hand as I pulled her closer in my direction. Ash looked back at me with wide eyes.

"Please make yourselves comfy... Does anyone else want a pair of fuzzy socks?" I called from the hall.

Everyone seemed to want one, only making Ashton more embarrassed than he already was.

* Christmas Day *

I struggled walk out of the bathroom wearing my dark jeans and black thigh high boots only. My top was covered in my bra, but I had no idea what I was going to wear to this Christmas party of Matt's.

All of my clothes were here scattered around Jack's and Sam's house for there was barely any space. It was impossible to find an outfit in these conditions, but I had to make it work.

"Hey man.." The door swung open and San walked in with his vision focused on his phone.

A loud gasp fell from my mouth making his eyes dart up. My hands grabbed for a T-shirt I found over Jack's bad and pressed it against my chest.

"Hey, Zo.." He teased, eyes looking at me with his seductive smirk.

"Sam!" I watched him, still not moving from the door. "What do you want?"

"I was hoping to stumble into Jack.."

All of a sudden a figure stepped behind him, patting him on the shoulders. Sam spun around, eyes widening at the look of Jack.

"I'm right here, Bro." Jack smiled, looking back at me then back at Sam. We all know Sam plays his seductive ways with just about any girl he could find. What's funny though, is watching him get caught.

"Hey, Jack..." He smiled. "Just the man I was looking for."

Jack pulled up a smile full of sarcasm before patting his cousin's chest. "Stop looking at my girlfriend." He warmed through his smile. "Now get outta here!" Jack pushed his cousin away, walking into the room before shutting the door his inpatient self.

Jack turned around after I heard him lock the door. His tall figure now looking down at me still holding up his T-shirt to my chest. Jack looked so handsome.

He was all better by now. The doctors cleared him from his physical therapy and everything saying how well he's already been doing. The boy was glowing now. His hair was much fuller, darker even. Skin was back to its natural tan. He wore a navy blue tux, tight all around. His undershirt was a white fancy one; unbuttoned up completely to the top. He was clean and smelled amazing. That boy was anything but ordinary.

"Sorry about Sam." He spoke.

"You don't have to apologize, Jack." I shook my head. "We all know what Sam is like." I joked.

Jack nodded his head, agreeing with me. "Yeah but he still has to remember who you are—And what I can do to him with my fist." He joked, bringing his knuckles up to a tight clench in front of him.

I smiled, thanking him with my eyes before I sighed again.

"Ugh, I don't know what to wear!" I sighed, removing his t shirt from in front of me to throw it back in his bed.

I looked down at the drawer where some of my clothes were. They glanced from there over to the luggage I had on the floor.

Suddenly, I felt warm hands touch my bare back. My head turned, smiling over my shoulder as Jack's lips pulled into a smirk.

"Who says you have to wear anything?"

* * *

We arrived at the party almost an hour late. Ashton was going to kill us. The night before he sent us all a message, to make sure we were all here on time for Michael was going to make an appearance. This morning, same thing. He sent reminders out to everyone all morning and all afternoon. This meant the world to him. I can't believe Jack and I backfired that with our own guilty pleasures.

Oh well... Here goes nothing....

The front door was opened and I allowed myself in.

The house was crowded with people, more than I think we're capable of fitting into the room. This was Michael Espinosa's idea of a small gathering?

"Who the heck are all these people?" I leaned into Jack, speaking through a gritted smile. People were watching us.

"I have no idea..." He replicated my actions, smiling back as a man and a woman passed us and smiled.

We glanced at each other and took a step further inside. All the decorations stayed in tact. Small Christmas lights illuminated the house. Every single person in the room seemed important, their clothes played a big factor on that. The men were all wearing suits, woman dressed fancy in long dresses and furry coats.

What the heck did we just walk into?

I finally decided on a shirt to wear. A long sleeve, off the shoulder cozy grey sweater. Looking around, I decide to myself that I was way under dressed.

Great, Zoey.

My eyes wandered around, hoping to land on one of my friends. Luckily, I spotted Riley's golden locks in a heartbeat.

"Come." I took Jack by the hand, urging him to follow behind me. We elbowed our ways through the crowd of people until we reached her. As we got closer I noticed she was along with Johnson and a very important looking business guy.

They bursted our laughing. Riley's eyes immediately darting away to land on me. She immediately gasped before excusing herself.

"Zo!" She took a step forward. "Dude you're finally here! What the heck took you so long?"

Her big eyes glanced from both Jack and I, eyebrows arching before she grew aware of the reason. "Ah.. You were at a party of your own, huh?"

My eyes widened as I heard Jack chuckle behind me. I gripped her hand, pulling her closer before I asked. "Where's Ash?"

Riley opened her mouth to speak when suddenly another voice cane joining in.

"Yo!" Johnson spoke with his arms wide open. "Did you guys remember we had an event tonight? Ash is gonna kill you two."

"It's only been an hour." Jack shook his head. "He probably never even noticed we were here. Just look at this crowd." His arms reached out, looking around.

"Oh.. He's noticed." Johnson chuckled, nodding his head.

All of a sudden, a loud shout was heard making all our heads dart up.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

A crowd of people moved aside in order for Ashton to make his way up to us.

I took a step back closer to Jack I fear of what he'd do. These events mean the world to Ash.

"Ash.. Before you get upset..." I continued.

"Oh, I'm already upset." He nodded, head glancing back to Jack. "Do you know how many people want to speak to you, G? A lot!"

"Really?" He smiled.

"Yes. All night, you and Shawn are all they want to talk to about the school and all."

"Oh.." Jack's eyes looked down, expression changing completely.

"I told them you weren't ready.. But they keep insisting." Ash explained. "I had to blame it on your not so more injuries as to why you weren't here."

"It's fine Ash, I'll talk to them." Jack shook his head.

"Jack, are you sure?" I turned around, worry clear in my eyes. It's almost been a month but that event was a really serious and traumatic experience. We still wake up at night screaming in our sleep. I doubt he's ready to share—I know I'm not.

Jack look down at me then back at our friend. He replicated a small smile on his lips before nodding his head. "I've accepted what happened. And if it'll be good for the band and the guys..."

"Wow, this all you man..." Ash continued. "I was just letting you know what these guys want to know."

"It's fine." Jack shook his head.

Ashton shrugged. "As long as you're okay with it."

"Take me to my first interview." Jack clapped his hands, preparing himself for what was about to happen.

Patting him my the shoulder, Ashton took Jack away. He called out for Johnson's name too and together the three guys were done.

This is going to be an interesting night..

* * *

"I can't believe we actually made it through tonight." Can sighed, throwing his body onto the living room couch chair.

"That was more exhausting than I thought it'd be." Johnson knocked out in the sofa besides him.

"Well I hope you're not too exhausted..." Shawn patted Johnson's shoulder. "We still gotta clean up this mess."

"Ugh..." Sarah sat on the ground besides Cam's seat. "Can't we just hire a cleaning company."

"No Sarah, we can't..." Shawn exclaimed. "Fame or no fame, we still have to clean up after ourselves." He walked besides his sister, handing her his hand for her to stand up. She growled, standing up and taking the black garbage bag Shawn was holding with his other hand. She walked away with him moments after.

I was sitting on the kitchen countertop, arms around Jack's shoulder as he stood besides me. We couldn't help but enjoy everything going on in the living room. Our friends acting childish as soon as the clock stroke midnight.

"Guy..." Matt walked in from the kitchen. "Tonight was amazing! Thank you so much for allowing me to have the gathering here."

Ash walked in behind him. We all smiled and commented how it was no big deal.

Ashton, who was now besides him patted his shoulder. "So tell me, Matt Man, was anyone interested in us?"

"Yes." He nodded. "But.."

"Oh no.." Johnson sighed as he stood up from the couch.

"Relax, nothing we haven't discussed before..." Matt argued. "I still believe Miami is your next big step."

"We already talked about this." Cam interrupted. "We're not leaving our home.. Our family."

"We are Omaha Boys." Ashton discussed. "We're not leaving."

Matt looked at all the guys whose expressions all ready about the same thing. Seeing he had no argument in this, Matt shrugged. "Alright, no Miami. But people still liked you. I've had a couple of magazine publishers who want to do a story on you guys and some for television interviews."

"Alright!" Ashton smiled.

"But nothing too big.. Nebraska television." Matt explained, not to enthused with it.

"We'll take them. It's still something." Ashton nodded. "Right guys?"

Everyone nodded but no seemed as excited. Yes, I understand that leaving home is hard. I had to do that not so long ago either... But I was coming to a place where I knew people. Miami.. We don't know anyone in Miami.

"I'll give the people a call tomorrow, start booking you guys." Matt explained, holding his phone up in the air. "But before I go, I'm going to rush up to your restroom."

Ashton nodded his head, allowing him to pass him and go down the hall to where Matt was already familiar with it. We were all alone in the living/ dinning room again.

"Well don't just stand there!" Ashton looked at us. "Let's get cleaning!"

I sighed, patting Jack's shoulder before he helped me down from the countertop. We each grabbed a bag and assigned ourselves a room in the house. Jack and I took the kitchen. We were all exhausted, even me for a change. Tonight involved a whole lot of repetition. The guys were even more exhausted than us, Jack probably the most of all. I wasn't with him for every talk but I was there for enough to know that every single person in the room asked about the shooting. His answer: I'm okay. Thank you for asking. But no details were spared. Nothing personal at least. Jack tried to tell the people pretty much everything the news already said. He told me in between walks and snacks that the incident at my school didn't define him, and it didn't define the band. Tonight, it was about the band. So every now and then, when he saw the conversation was becoming too much like a story telling one, he switched it for something about the guys. It worked out really nicely for him.

"Are you tired?" I asked him, picking up the cups from the countertop and gently accommodating them on the sink.

Jack shook his head, dropping some napkins onto a black garbage bag. "Not really. You?"

"No." I shook my head. "You did really good today." I commented, looking back at him with a smile.

"Why thank you." He chuckled.

"I'm glad it turned out good for you guys." We continued our small talk.

"Yeah, me too." He nodded. "And what about Miami?" He asked me.

"Miami?" We remained doing our tasks as we continued to talk.

"Yeah I mean— Do you think it's a good idea?" He asked me.

"Are you thinking about moving?" I looked at him.

"Well, I love Omaha. But I think Matt has a point." He nodded. "I don't know, there's just so much out there. Omaha can only offer so much."

I remained silent, continuing to clean the countertop instead. Even though I agreed with Jack. I had no say in this whatsoever. It's the guys who have to decide on that together, and Ashton is committed to staying.

A loud knock was heard on the door. All our heads turned to it, confused as to who it could be at this time.

"I got it!" Sarah shouted. She was closest to the door and opened it so willingly. No one else really seemed to pay anymore attention.

Until...

"Oh my God!" Sarah gasped, dripping everything to the floor besides her.

All our heads looked up. I'm a matter of seconds everyone started up to the door besides her. Jack and I were probably one of the first ones to get to the scene. Our heads popping through each side of Sarah. At first we saw nothing... Then, we noticed her attention was focused on the ground.

"Oh my God!" I gasped, hands over my hanging mouth as I noticed what was on our door step.

"Is that...?" Jack continued.

I finished his sentence. "A baby.."

"What is it?" Cam asked, poking his head besides me. He too shared the same reaction. "Oh, what the—"

"Bring him in!" I exclaimed back at Sarah. "It's freezing outside!"

Jack immediately got down on one knee and picked up the little baby who remained still in it's basket. Jack brought the baby inside and Sarah rushed to close the door. He made his way over to the living room coffee table. Our friends slowly began to come into the scene.

"Whatcha got there?" Johnson asked, throwing a dirty rag over his shoulder. "Oh.. Holy Sh—Is that a child?"

"What's with all the commotion?" Shawn asked, walking out from the bedrooms and into the living room. His eyes went into immediate shock when he saw us surrounding the baby on the coffee table.

My heart began to race. What the heck is this baby doing here? Who would leave this baby here? Out in that horrible cold weather for who knows how long?
But really question here.. Was why? And which one of these guys has an explanation for it..?

"Ashton...!" I called out. "Come here!"

"Alright, which one of you forgot to wear a condom?" Sarah crossed her arm, looking over at all the guys.

My head immediately farted over to Jack. He noticed the fear in my eyes that maybe, just maybe this baby could be his.

"Jack?" I asked.

"No, Zo." He shook his head. "This baby is not mine, I can promise you that."

I wasn't here 9 months ago. And looking at the size of the baby, it's probably a good 3-4 months old. Jack had a whole different life. Anything could happen.

"My guess, is Cameron." Sarah looked back at him.

"Me?" He pointed at himself, eyebrows furrowing. "Why me?"

"You've had a pregnancy scare before.." She retorted.

"So?" He exclaimed. "If anything, I've been even more careful."

"What is it?" Shawn asked.

The baby was wide awake, big blue eyes staring around at every figure in the room as it sucked on its pacifier.

"Alright guys, thank you for all your help but Ima need you guys to go.." Ashton was heard chuckling as he walked back into the room. "Cassidy is coming to spread some Christmas cheer if you know what I mean.." He laughed.

All our bodies turned around, clearly displaying the baby on Ashton's coffee table. His eyes went wide.

"Okay, um.. Why is there a baby in my coffee table?" He pointed down at it.

Riley appeared from the other room behind Ash. Like everyone else, her eyebrow arched.

"Uh-Oh.." She shook her head. "Which one of you if in trouble?"

"Okay, okay.." Johnson controlled us. "Everyone, stay calm... Maybe this child doesn't belong to anyone.. People drop off kids on other people's doorsteps all the time.."

"What kind of neighborhood do you live in,  Johnson?" Jack asked.

"Okay, so people drop off kids in footsteps. But this is a house full of guys? You could smell it from a mile away?" Cam arched his brow. "Who would leave a baby in conditions like that?"

All of a sudden, the room got loud. Ash and Riley made their way up to the coffee table and soon enough they started screaming. Every guy began to argue on why not they weren't the possible father. The noise and all the commotion ignited something in the child, yet in the heat of the moment, no one seemed to notice.

The baby's little face began to pout. Almost immediately, tears began to fall down its cheeks.

"You Guys!" I exclaimed. Moving over to the little basket, I reached my hand out to grab it.

"ZO!" They all exclaimed.

The baby's cries were now prominent as the room got quiet from their arguing. My hands were only inches apart from the fully clothed, fully warm baby.

"What?" I looked at them. Was it not obvious what I was trying to do here?

"You don't know where that baby's been?" Ashton reached his hand out.

"Ash, it's a baby?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "The poor thing is crying because of your arguing!"

"He has a point, Zo." Cam nodded. "That baby could have anything. Why else would they leave the kid on the front door of some strangers house?"

"Obviously, there's another side to story." I retorted, picking up the little figure of the crying baby and holding it close to my chest.

The baby continued to cry, hard. The baby's lungs were strong, just as they should be. It cried with its every might.

"Shhh..." I tried to calm it down, gently rubbing my hand over its back.

"This shit can't be happening.." Ashton sighed, running a hand frustratedly over his head.

"Look!" Riley pointed back at the basket. "There's a note.."

We all watched as her take hold of the paper, slowly opening before her eyes skimmed through it.

"It says:

I don't know what I'm doing. And I'm still not sure if this is the right thing... But I had to try something. Here I hand you our son. His name is Mason, and as of the 5th, he'd be 4 months old. I've been trying to get you alone to talk about this, but it was clear you didn't want to speak to me. I don't know what else to do. Right now, this baby's best chance is to grow with a group of people that I know will love and support him no matter what. I've seen first hand the way you are with your friends, with your family. That's something I never had, and I wish for my child to have someday. My career is failing. I can no longer provide the support our son needs. This isn't easy for me to do, but like I said before, it is his best chance. I am sorry I never told you about him. I thought life would be easier that way. Please take care of him.

-A"

"A?" Shawn furrowed his eyebrows. "Who's A?"

"There's more.." Sarah held up more papers. She glanced at them before her eyes went wide. "It's the baby's birth certificate."

"So who's the father?" Jack asked.

Sarah's eyes turned to the corner of the room and landed on one specific person. Our eyes went wide.

"The baby's name is Mason Green..." She spoke. "Ashton... You're on the papers.. This baby—is your son..."

What on Earth?