(A/N:
Okay. So I felt sorry my two lovebirds and decided to write this.
It's a long-ish chapter because I need to tie up a bunch of loose ends, but just bear with me and we'll get back to the actual story.
This chapter picks up from Christmas so those with short memory spans may want a recap.
Ethan has visited Izzy on christmas morning and presented her with a home recorded CD and a very sweet kiss under the mistletoe.

Go back and re-read the Christmas chapter if you need to.
But this is what probably should have happened....)

A couple of days after Christmas Ellen was sat on my bed eating gingerbread and drinking mulled cider. I had just played Ethan's CD to her.

"Izzy. You've got it bad!" Ellen said as the wistful music toned out and Ethan's voice was quiet.

I had listened to it every night before going to sleep.

"I know," I whispered and lay back on my bed, letting the CD run.

"It's like you are sat in mid air looking at angels and farting rainbows," Ellen said.

I laughed.

"I do not!" I giggled

"Yeah, you do. All I have to do is say 'Ethan' and your eyes glaze over," She teased.

I looked at her.

"Just like that!" She said triumphantly.

I was about to say something back when there was a sound I hadn't heard before on the CD.
A fresh set of scuffling and a faint sigh before Ethan's voice came out of the speakers again.

"So.. Izzy. I wish I had the courage to say this to you face to face.
Okay... here goes...
Izzy. You have turned my life into a weird chaos. You make me feel alive in ways I never knew were possible. So.. what I'm trying to do here is ask you if you'd like to go out with me. Just us two. ...on a date.
Because.. well.. I kinda like you... a lot.
If you don't feel the same way, just pretend this message never happened and I'll be happy being just friends... it's just.... I'd like us to be something more...
Just thought I'd let you know," Ethan's voice said from my nightstand.

I sat staring at Ellen for the longest time untill she started squealing and jumping on me.

"I need to see him!" I said breathlessly as Ellen squeezed me.

I threw her off and ran to the lounge.

"Mum... I need to borrow the car," I said.

She looked at my wide-eyed face.

"Why?" She asked.

"I need to see Ethan," I said, unconsciously bouncing on my toes.

"Okay?" My mum replied doubtfully.

"Ethan's in love with Izzy," Ellen grinned from behind me.

My mum tilted her head at me.

"Okay... but you might wanna change out of your sweats," my mum said pointing to my no-efforts-made outfit. Complete with food stains.

A quick phone call to Simon for an address and a shower, before changing into jeans and a pretty jumper, later I was sat in the car. Heading for the opposite side of town, thinking that this was the journey he had driven a few days before and wondering if he'd had the same thoughts I was having.

My heart was pounding so hard I had to stop in the parking lot of a supermarket a few blocks from his house and run a few rounds around the car before driving the last mile or so.
Parts of me was praying he was out with his family on some traditional auntie-visit.
I pulled up on the drive, recognising his battered old car along two other, newer ones. A quick look showed a child seat in one of the cars.
I took a tentative step up onto the porch and listened to whatever sounds from inside.
There was noise.
Chaos.
Mayhem.
From somewhere the sound of someone randomly hammering out notes on a piano. Somewhere else, someone was doing scales on a flute.
And from a window above me, was the sound of Beethovens Romance no.2.
Played on the violin.
I stood quietly listening with my head tilted and a smile. Feeling the magic of the music lifting me up.
Connecting me with him playing it.
Suddenly the door was flung open and a young man looking shockingly similar to Ethan stared at me with golden brown eyes.

"Did you ring the bell?" He asked.

I must have looked confused.

"No point in ringing the bell here. We won't hear it. Most people walk straight in," he grinned.

"Oh," I said.

"You looked like you were waiting. Come in," he said and waved me in.

I followed him into a hallway full of shoes and coats and the guy held his hand out for my coat.

"You here for Selma?" He asked subtly checking me out.

I felt a faint blush.

"Err.. no... I came to see Ethan," I mumbled.

He stopped, stared at me and a wide grin spread across his face before he hung my coat on a hook. I saw he was in his socks so I took my shoes off and set them to the side.
I looked up at him again to see a bright smile.

"You're Izzy!" He stated with an amused look on his face.

I nodded in surprise. How did he know who I was?

"Come on," he said with a smirk and led me into the house.

A woman came through from the kitchen and stopped.

"Who have you got there, Mio?" She asked.

The boy stopped. The woman's steel grey eyes measured me.

"Mum... This is Izzy. She came to see Ethan," he grinned as if he'd planned it out himself.

"Oh, my... So that's what you look like," the woman smiled.

I held my hand out.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

She took my hand with a warm smile.

"I'm Rose. He's upstairs. Just follow the sound of the violin," she grinned.

"Thank you," I replied and headed up the stairs.

"Well... She's pretty...," I heard his mum say as I headed upatairs.

I was flattered but it seemed a bit weird how they seemed to know me.

The walls along the stairwell were covered in babyphotos, family photos and a few diplomas for musical achievement.
I stopped for a moment to see if I could pick Ethan out in any of them while at the same time trying to figure out what to say to him.
There were a few pieces of Japanese art on the wall too. Some looked vintage. A quick look at the family photos had me chuckling. Ethan's dad was clearly of Asian descent. Suddenly all of Ethan's unique features, his cheekbones, the skintone, everything that made him so different from everyone else made sense. I giggled softly to myself at the thought of my geisha sketches at home. What a coincidence.
I saw him in a few photos. All awkward teen with a violin in a portrait next to four other similar portraits. The other boy, Mio, could have been Ethan's outgoing twin if it wasn't for the eyes and a few subtle differences.
I looked at Ethan's shy smile in the photo and felt a writhing knot of happy nerves at the thought of seeing him in just a few seconds.
All the while I was stood there, the music flowed down to me from the violin.
I got to the top of the stairs and went to the door where I heard the music. I knocked, trying to calm my heartbeat.
The music stopped and I considered for a second turning and running down the stairs, when the door opened and a messy looking, cute as hell and confused Ethan looked out.
A smile spread across his face.

"Izzy?" He said.

"Hey," I replied not knowing what to say.

"Izzy!" He said again and his smile changed into something between a question and a hope.

I stood there looking at him.

"Who let you in?" He asked.

"A boy. Mio?" I said uncertainly.

"Good. I mean... It could have been Selma. Or Mum," he said scrunching his nose up.

I laughed. His face described his feelings towards his family.

"Ok. Come in," he said and led me into his room.

It was a typical messy boy's room, but every wall had a poster of an instrument and there were guitars and music notes everywhere. On the wall hung an electric violin next to a ukulele. On his desk were coursebooks, sheet-music and three picture frames.
One of his family, parents and five kids.
One of the band from the Christmas gig in town.
And one from the photo shoot of Ethan twirling me over his shoulder with Odd and Simon laughing in the background, my hair spread like a fan and Ethan's face turned over his shoulder towards me with a mischievous smile.
He must have asked Freddy for it. I couldn't remember giving him a copy of it.

I took in the multitude of musical stuff and the guitars placed around the room. A violin was sat with it's bow on the desk and a notestand was set up.

I looked back at him.

"Sorry 'bout the mess," he said apologetically.

"No worse than mine," I shrugged feeling awkward as hell.

I mean. He had told me he liked me. More than liked me. In a recording. And I knew.
I felt.
My fingers, my skin, my heart was longing to touch him. My lips were missing his.
But I had to figure out where we were heading before I could give in to my impulses.

"Err... I think we need to talk," I said and saw his face drop into disappointment.

"Talk...." he said as if that was the most evil word on the planet.

I laughed quietly. Definitely the wrong thing to say.

"Wrong wording... but yeah," I said.

"So... Talk?" He asked and pointed to his desk chair for me to sit.

He seated himself on the edge of the bed and I decided to be brave. I sat next to him, folding a knee up so I could face him.

"So... Basically... All my life I've only had Simon and Ellen. They're my best friends. And now I have Oddball and you," I started.

He nodded.

"Friends," he said as if he was preparing for bad news.

"And I'm so scared of losing that friendship with you. Because I've never... Ethan, what if it doesn't work out?" I asked.

He slowly turned to face me. His eyes swirling with a million questions before one surfaced.

"What if what doesn't work out?" He asked, not for the question but because I was being vague.

"Us! You and I. What if I tell you that you make my life a chaos too and it turns out to be a bad idea? It would cause trouble with the band and I'd probably lose your friendship... I don't know if I wanna risk that!" I muttered.

As I spoke his smile slowly widened.

"Do you always worry about maybes and possible bad outcomes?" He asked.

I nodded.

He laughed.

"And you're worried about the band?" He asked with a smiling frown.

"Yeah... I don't want to mess things up," I replied feeling very shy.

"Izzy..." he said softly and took my hand.

I still hadn't dared looking straight at him.
I looked up.
He was sat there with eyes locked on mine and a smile that had me smiling back.

"You're worried about screwing up the band?" He repeated.

"Silly...I know," I said quietly.

"Not silly. You're overthinking. But I think it's cute," he smiled.

"Cute?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Actually... I've been trying to get up the courage to ask you out for weeks. And then Odd said he thought you might actually be into me as well... I had to try something," he said quietly looking down, with a very embarrassed blush.

"I had to explain to Simon why I needed your address today," I said.

"And what did you tell him?" Ethan asked.

"That I had to go claim a christmas wish," I laughed softly.

Ethan looked at me with a lifted eyebrow.

"The mistletoe kiss," I mumbled.

He stared at me for a moment. I tried to stay calm as our eyes locked, but those pesky butterflies were making it difficult. His eyes narrowed for a second.

"So... what did you wish for?" He asked.

I could see a big smile and a brightness gradually light up his face. He had put himself out there. Recorded his own feelings.

Drawing a deep breath I prepared to hand him everything I had.
My heart, my soul, my future, my hope, my wish.

"You," I replied almost without a sound.

His eyes widened and his mouth fell open before he blinked a couple of times.
I studied his eyes for a second before I nodded.
He fixed on me trying to remember where he was before he turned to me, lay a hand on my cheek and drew my face to his.
Again my heart beat harder than ever and my farm of buzzard butterflies had been joined by a herd of mountain goats running around.

"You were my wish too," he whispered the second before our lips met. This time I didn't let myself stiffen up. I allowed myself to feel his soft lips on mine, his breath on my face and I gently met his kiss with my own. Finally being able to run my hands through his hair, I felt his fingers draw patterns on my neck and his other hand on the skin over my jeans. I shifted, without beaking the kiss to get closer to him, feeling his lips part in a smile that matched mine. The kiss deepened without becoming hungry, toungues met and greeted without that awkward battle for dominance and all the butterflies were having a hell of a party.
Feeling dizzy and drunk, I never wanted this kiss to end, but somehow it did and I found myself sitting with my forehead on his staring into an endless ocean of grey.

He held me to him and my hands were rested on his neck.

"So... I guess that means yes to a date?" He said with a soft laugh.

"Just one?" I asked in a pretend insult.

"As many as you want," he said and kissed me again.

The kiss was interupted by the door opening. Ethan looked at the door in annoyance.

"Mum wants to know if she's here for dinner," a brown haired, pretty girl about my own age asked.

Ethan looked at me and I shrugged.

"Yeah. Izzy is staying," he said.

The girl looked at me with a tilted head.

"Good. I'm Selma, by the way," she said.

"Hi. Izzy," I said and stood to shake hands.

"I know. Saw you in town square," she grinned.

"You took the photo!" I stated.

"Bingo," she replied.

"Did you have more photos? I mean. Could I use any for promo?" I asked.

"Izzy?!" Ethan huffed.

"Head of posters remember?" I winked.

Selma studied me carefully before looking at her brother for a second and then back at me.

"I'm happy you got yourselves together. He'd have been a moody wreck if it hadn't worked," she said bluntly.

"Selma!" Ethan muttered.

"It's true! You've never been like that before," Selma grinned.

"Like what?" I asked.

"All twitchy and moody and obsessed," Selma smirked.

I threw a look over my shoulder at the embarrassed boy still sat there.
He met my eyes with a shrug so I just gave him a quick smile.

"I'm gonna go so you two can be all cute in peace," Selma laughed.

Selma left and Ethan stood up with only inches between us.

"So cinema after dinner?" He asked.

"Back row?" I asked and raised my hands to rest on his neck.

"Yeah. And a really crap film," he grinned and leaned down to kiss me again. I couldn't believe my intense luck as my heart beat heavily and his hands clutched me to him.

We came downstairs to see Rose in the kitchen.

"All sorted?" She asked.

Ethan looked at me with a small, happy, smile before he nodded.

"Good!" She said and pushed a paper towards him.

"You need to sign this," she said.

"I'm not sure... I mean..." he started looking between me and the paper.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's an entry form to a prestigious scolarship contest for young classical musicians," his mum said.

"The price is a year at the conservatory in Vienna, " Ethan mumbled.

"Sounds ambitious," I said, feeling a slight twinge at the idea that he could be leaving me. But I also hated the thought that I mught be holding him from his dreams.
He looked at me with doubt.

"But if I win I'll be going to Vienna," he said again.

"And if you don't enter, you won't be going at all," I said.

He looked at me with doubt and tenderness.

"We'll figure it out," I said and squeezed his hand softly.

He nodded and took the pen before signing the form.

His mum nodded at me with an approving smile.

- New years eve -

We were celebrating new years in my basement living area. I had set up drinks and food as the gang came crowding in.
I looked up from my rearranging of various drinks to see "my" three boys descend the stairs followed by Ellen.

I grabbed the first of three bottles of champagne and handed the bottle to Oddball assuming his drummer-hands could handle a cork.

Ethan sent me a blatantly questioning look and I gave him a bright smile back. We had agreed to keep it between us intill we knew exactly what we were doing. I was having a hard time keeping the happy smile off my face. All I wanted to do was to run over and kiss him.

Once Odd had gotten the bottle open I sat next to Ethan handing him a glass. He took it with a smile.

"Ok?" I asked.

"Yeah. All good!" He said with a secretive smile.

I patted his leg, because that was the closest thing to me, unsure of what else I should say. His hand crawled behind me and I felt his fingers start to draw circles on the skin over my jeans. The simple touch had my heart racing.

The rest of them sat and I picked up the top plate in the stack and handed it to Ethan.

"Fingerfood! I've set it out on the dresser. Pick what you want," I said.

"Pick what I want? Anything? Your signed John Lord album?" Ethan asked with a subtle smirk.

"Anything edible!" I giggled and nudged him.

He looked at me with a studious expression before leaning in.

"Are you edible? Coz I kinda wanna taste you right now," he whispered.

I couldn't fight the blush or the giggle. And I knew that if I turned to look at him, kissing would happen. His breath on my neck already had my knees shivering.

I lifted my eyes to see Oddball sat leaned back in the armchair, hands folded over his belly and a very knowing smirk plastered on his face. His dimples were so deep it looked like you could poke a finger straight through.

"So... Did you get anything interesting for christmas Izzy?" He asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

Simon was looking between Ethan and me in disbelief.

"What the holy fuck?" Simon asked.

I looked at Ethan who was looking very guilty.

"I think we need to tell them," he said.

Ellen was smiling and whispering something in Simon's ear. His face flickered from confusion to understanding to something akin to neutral.

"You'd better treat her like a princess," he said pointing at Ethan.

"I will," Ethan said looking into my eyes, and the delicious shiver down my spine told me everything I needed to know.

Long after midnight, I was in my bed with a nearly naked Ethan, both of us laughing at the not so subtle noises coming from the guestroom.

"Ignore them? Or see if we can drown them out?" Ethan asked with his mouth on my neck.
The tip of his toungue was drawing circles on my sensitive skin, driving me to the brink of insanity.

"Drown! Definitely drown," I said on a half moan.

Ethan lifted up to look at me.

"As you wish," he grinned.

***
The day of the scolarship contest had arrived and I had been led backstage to calm his nerves.
I stopped at the distance where he could see the tips of my shoes.
It was up to me to get him out there.
Slowly he lifted his eyes to my face. He was even more nervous than normal and his eyes were pale to the point of almost being colourless.

"Hey you," I said quietly.

"Izzy," he said on a whisper and stood up.

Again, I cursed my stupidly palpitating heart.
The damned man was dressed in a formal tuxedo.
Black trousers, white shirt, white vest, coat tails, shiny shoes and topped off with a bow tie.
My suit obsession just hit jackpot and my jaw hung slack.
I wasn't sure if there were butterflies or buzzards wreaking havoc in my stomach.
He was just plain and simply beautiful.
Slowly my eyes wandered up to his ghostly pale face, unusually exposed with his hair slicked back, shiny with gel.

"Oh, fuck!" I exclaimed.

"What?" He asked.

"You look illegal!" I whispered, awestruck.

Somehow, this beautiful man was mine.

There was a serious look in his eyes as he took a step closer to me.

"I don't know if I can do this Izzy!" He said quietly.

"Yes you can. You are going to knock their socks off," I grinned and ran my hands down his front.

"It's a year. In Vienna. Without you," he muttered.

I smiled and put my hand in my pocket.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," I said and showed him the flyer for the Institute of fine arts in Vienna.

Ethan laughed quietly.

"You would go with me?" He asked.

I nodded.

"See... they have a course in human anatomy," I said.

"And we could share a flat... and study some extracurricular human anatomy," he smirked and bent down to kiss me.

"I could live with that," I grinned and kissed him back.

"Thank you," he mumbled with his nose rubbing on mine.

"Just... one thing..." I started.

"Anything," he whispered.

"Any chance of you wearing this.... tonight?" I asked quietly running my fingers over the lapels of his tuxedo.

"The tux?" He asked with a frown.

I nodded, licking my lip.

"You are seriously weird, but, yeah... if the tux does it for you... I'll wear a tux," he laughed and kissed me again, just as his name was called.

"I love you," I said and I went back to join all our friends and family in some embarassingly loud behaviour as he walked on stage. I blew him a kiss and got a happy smile back.

Next to me, Simon was shaking his head in exasperation. He and Ellen had lasted only a few weeks untill they realised it was all physical attraction and no actual emotions involved.
My perpetually single best friend was again single.
Something about him did however tell me he wasn't entirely happy, but he just shrugged when I asked and told me he'd be all right.
As Ethan left the stage with his violin, Simon turned to me.

"What happens if he wins?" Simon asked.

I grinned and showed him the folder for the art institute.

"You'd go with him?" Simon asked, sounding weirdly surprised.

"What's the alternative? Stay here and miss him?" I asked.

"But... what about me? And Obstruction?" Simon asked.

"You've got Odd," I said.

"Are you suggesting I should start fucking Oddball?" Simon asked with a laugh.

"Sorry dude... not my type," Oddball grinned from next to Simon.

"Why not?" Simon asked sounding slightly insulted.

Oddball raised an eyebrow in an amused question.

"Hey.. if both Izzy and Ethan are fucking off to Vienna... we have to find something to fill the void," Simon winked at him.

"And here I thought we were in it for the music," Oddball laughed.

"Anything goes," Simon grinned back.

"You ain't all that, Simon," Oddball laughed.

****

The Rose Garden had a lounge with a piano and a pair of stools set up for us as we arrived for an acoustic gig. I sat down to tune my guitar when Ethan came over and took it from me.

"I'll do that in a minute. Right now I need you to come with me," he smiled.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I want you to meet my grandma," he said and took my hand to lead me through a door and down a corridor where he knocked on a door with a waving cat on it.
He opened the door and brough me into a room full of japanese arts and artifacts. There was even a traditional butsudan shrine of ancestors on a shelf. In a chair sat a tiny asian lady with a bright smile.

"Hey, Baba. I've got Izzy with me today," Ethan said.

"So I see," the little lady replied and waved me forward.

Subtly, Ethan pointed to a footstool in front of her so I sat down on that bringing me slightly lower than her in height.

"So. You're the girl who's twisted my grandson's head. Took him long enough to bring you here," she smiled.

"Izzy's been busy on her art projects, Baba," Ethan muttered.

"Yes. Your study of Kabuki theatre. Did my photos help?" She asked.

"The photos were very helpful. Your parents must have been good performers," I nodded.

"Yes. They were famous in their own way. We travelled the world on tours when I was a child," she nodded.

"How exciting," I said trying to think of polite conversation.
This old lady was very important to Ethan and I wanted to make a good impression.

"They were musicians," she said with softness.

"That's where you get your talent from, huh?" I asked Ethan.

The old lady laughed.

"Oh yes. And from Rose. She is quite gifted. My son is tonedeaf. Sometimes I think that fate skipped a generation and poured it all into Ethan," she laughed.

"He is pretty awesome," I grinned and earned myself another laugh.

"That, my child, I think we agree on," she giggled and followed up with a smile at Ethan.

"You ready for some music?" Ethan asked and stepped forward to lend his grandma an elbow for support up from the seat.
She nodded and accepted his help as I opened the door.

"I like her. She has a good energy," I heard the old lady whisper.

"I knew you'd say that," Ethan murmured back.

We got back to the living area and the journalist was talking to one of the staff who pointed us out. Before we knew it, she had taken photos of us and was writing down our info.

Ethan was looking at me before we started with a mischievous smile.

"What?" I asked.

"Just wondering if our kids will have any talents," he grinned.

"Our kids?" I asked.

"Yeah... our kids..." he mumbled into my hair with a laugh.

I turned myself to see a wide grin on his face.

"First, education. Kids later," I replied with a wink.

"Good plan," he whispered softly.
He was staring at me for a long time and I wondered if he had forgotten the audience.

"Music?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. Music," he mumbled as he sat on his stool with the guitar and a happy little smile.

****

We were gathered in the band room when Simon came in with a clever smile.

"How do you guys feel about becoming rock stars?" He grinned.

Three confused faces looked at him.

"There was a scout at Rock Central. We've been offered a recording contract!" Simon nearly bounced.

"What!?!?!" I asked.

"Yep. Five song promo. Radio play. A single and possibly a tour," Simon grinned.

A few days later we were in Mr. Summer's office with the preliminary contract.

"Are you telling me you are in a relationship, Mr. Harris?" Mr. Summers asked.

"Not yet. But Izzy and Ethan are," Oddball grinned.

Mr. Summers frowned and studied us carefully. I nodded in confirmation.

"Do you think you can keep it unofficial? It's easier to market you as single," he asked.

"We could try," I replied.

"Try to keep you two unofficial? Yeah right!" Simon laughed.

"You can go a day without touching?" Oddball asked with a grin.

Ethan shrugged.

"They will never be able to do that!" Simon chuckled.

Mr. Summers frowned again before nodding with a smile.

"Yeah... We'll figure something out," he chuckled as my hand linked with Ethan's.

Later, I cornered Odd.
The mood had been a bit low since Elsie died and we had tried our best to keep Oddball going. By the looks of it, he was on his way up again.

"Not yet?" I asked.

"Yeah... not yet," he grinned.

"Who? When?" I asked.

"Just this guy from the sound tech course," Oddball said with the first wholehearted smile I had seen for a long while.

"When do we get to meet him?" I asked.

"You might not," Oddball said.

"Why?" I pestered.

"Because... I really like this guy, but I don't really know how to tell him," Odd said self conciously.

"Ask him out?" I asked.

Oddball shook his head.

"I need to kinda let him know what team I'm on and find out if he likes me first," Oddball laughed.

"Of course he likes you! You're Oddball. The one and only!" I giggled.

"Yeah. Dressed in black. Not exactly an obvious candidate. And what if I've misread the signs and he's not gay?" Oddball explained.

"You'll figure it out," I said.

"Yep... if not I might have to take Simon up on his offer," Oddball laughed.

"Yeah. He could do with someone to tame him too," I sighed thinking of all the women he'd been randomly picking up after gigs and at parties since breaking up with Ellen.

Ethan came over and put his arms around me.

"You ready to go home?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just need to figure out how to out Oddball to his crush," I grinned.

"Not crushing. He's just cute," Oddball muttered.

"Oh. That's easy enough. Wear your Judas priest t-shirt and say how the lyrics mean a lot to you," Ethan said.

"Sometimes I am really grateful to have you as my best friend! You are a genious!" Oddball laughed, caught Ethan's face between his hands and kissed him.

"You're cute and all, but I think I prefer Izzy," Ethan laughed.