The one thing Cherish both loved and hated about Christmas break was how busy and packed it was. Always go, go, go; someplace to be, someone to see, never a moments rest. It made the first day back to school a day that sleeping through classes was not only strongly desired but definitely warranted.

After a packed trip to Montreal, the long trip home and evening of being kept from sleep by the guys, Cherish was just about finished stuffing supplies for her next trip into her car. It would be a long drive, but well worth the fun they'd all have once there.

Audrey had invited all her friends up to her parent's chalet at Blue Mountain. Though they normally rented it out for ridiculously steep prices during holidays, this year they'd finally given in to Audrey's begging. So while they stayed with some friends in a nearby chalet, Audrey and her friends would be having a three day end of year bash.

Cherish stuffed the last of the bags into the back of her car, and watched as they finished doing the same with Seven's truck. With all the stuff they were taking with them, they had to take both vehicles. Cherish was thankful that the long trip would not be made awkward by being Seven's presence. Well technically it wasn't him that made it weird, it was the constant sideways glances and knowing looks from their friends that made it so. That and the fact that they were constantly being asked what was going on.

Cherish had thought that Harper and Delia would ride with her, but she supposed expecting Ian to travel for three hours without his girlfriend was asking too much. She rolled her eyes as he clambered into the back seat of her car beside Delia.

In the passenger seat was Seven's guitar case, strapped in with the belt as if it were a person. He'd even gone far as to tuck a blanket around the case. It had become her traveling companion because there was no space in the cab of his truck for it.

Leaning against the side of her car, Cherish watched as Juss returned from his coffee run. He shoved one tray into Seven's truck at Harper and handed the other to Ian through the open window. Grinning, he hopped in beside Harper as Seven finally closed the truck bed. "See you guys a in a bit!"

Sliding into her car Cherish flicked on the music and pulled out of Ian's driveway. She had a three hour drive ahead of her and she wasn't looking forward to the sweet sounds of lips smacking behind her.

-.-

"So Rish, what's going on with you and Sev?"

Cherish rolled her eyes in answer, glaring at Ian through the rear view mirror. She knew he would ask at some point, surprised it had taken him an hour and a half to get to it. Then again, he and Delia had been a little preoccupied.

"Come on! I know something's going on! Everyone does! Just because you two are so good at making it look like nothing's going on, doesn't mean we believe you!"

Delia giggled as she nodded in agreement, "Ian told me about yesterday- so cute! And Juss told me earlier about the thing at the mall before Christmas."

"The thing at the mall? What happened at the mall?" Ian's reaction was almost comical.

"They were cuddling-"

"You guys are never going to leave this alone are you?" Cherish sighed. "Deals, did Juss also tell you that Sev was trying to get rid of the stalker girls he used to work with? That's why the whole mall thing happened."

Ian banged his head on the seat behind him, "And how are you going to excuse yesterday?"

"Excuse? No excuse. I was sleeping and he was staying out of Jo's way."

"Sure, but on the same bed?"

"I don't know why. I was sleeping, ask him about it."

"I did, and he said the same thing!" Ian whined childishly.

"Oh my goodness! We both said the same thing- we must be lying! Geez, E, we're not hiding anything. Trust me, if anything changes, you'll know."

Either Ian and Delia both accepted that as an answer, or realised that she'd injure one or both of them if they persisted.

-.-

Her legs were sticking straight up into the air. She supposed they would find her soon. Not that she'd know when, because she couldn't see a thing. Not to mention, her face was way past unbearably frozen and well into so numb she wasn't sure it was there anymore.  At that moment, blinded by the snowbank her head was buried in, she was cursing herself for allowing Delia to convince her to try snowboarding.

If her feet weren't stuck to the darn board, she'd be able to get up herself. Instead, she would be found in this humiliating upside down position. Screw that, she thought, and started wiggling to get herself out. Though as numb and snow-blind as she was, she couldn't tell if she was getting out or digging in further.

The more she wiggled, the more she started to feel her body and, good grief, parts of it hurt! She was about to let her fear of what that pain meant stop her from moving, when she broke free of the snowbank and slid a little further down the hill. She was stopped by a tree that thoughtfully grabbed her by the head. It might have hurt had she been going fast enough, or if her board hadn't caught another tree.

This was getting ridiculous! How long had she been lying there waiting? She wished she could call one of them on her cell and yell at them for not getting there sooner. But, if that had been a viable option she'd have done it when she fell in the first place. Sadly, her phone was about a quarter mile up the hill in the glove that had come off when she'd grabbed for the tree branches in hopes of stopping.

"Rish?" a body came barrelling down the hillside. "Fucking skis!" She heard the click of the skis being kicked off and then the unmistakable sound of someone running, crashing wildly toward her. "Cherish! Are you okay?" Seven's face popped into her vision.

"I don't know," she chattered.

"Oh My God!" Seven collapsed near on top of her in some semblance of a hug, a rush of words pouring out of him. "Delia said she came down after you, and when she didn't see you at the bottom, she figured you'd had enough and went back to the cabin. But we couldn't find you and we tried calling you like a million times! Then I checked if you returned your board and they said they hadn't seen you and we panicked!"

"I lost my glove somewhere up there, my phone was in it," she said rather lamely, slowly registering everything he'd said. The flurry of his words had been an adrenaline fueled mess of French and English and her numb brain took much too long translating it.

Seven nodded as he sat up and peered at her, "Yeah, I know, that's how I found you." He handed her the glove, with her phone still safely tucked inside, and set to releasing her boots from the board. "Seriously, though, are you okay?"

Suddenly overwhelmed by the whole situation, and the fact that it was Seven who'd come crashing through the woods to save her, Cherish couldn't stop the chattering rambling coming from her mouth. "I don't know. It hurts, but I can't even tell how bad it hurts because I'm so fucking cold! Am I making any sense? I can't even feel my face, I feel like I'm not even saying words right now- am I saying words?"

"You're speaking Franglish, but yes, you are saying words." Seven gently separated the board from her feet and proceeded to feel her legs up.

"Ummm?"

"Doesn't hurt, does it? If it does, it might be broken."

Cherish shook her head and felt a wave of relief when that didn't hurt either. So her pain, it seemed, was all in her back and shoulder. She tried to sit up, but stopped fast. Not because Seven had yelled, "Don't move, Idiot!" but because of the pain shooting up the wrist of her uncovered hand. "You could be seriously hurt and moving will only make it wor-" Seven looked up in concern when Cherish whimpered. Her eyes were scrunched shut and she was biting her trembling lip hard. "Rish?"

"My wrist," she squeaked.

Seven didn't say anything right away, instead helping Cherish sit up all the way and pushing her weight off the wrist. "Could be broken? But on the bright side, it's been iced for a while, so it's not too swollen!"

-.-

Cherish frowned as she made her way up to Audrey's chalet. Of course, it had to be her to sustain the first- and probably only- injury of the trip. This was why when Delia had wanted to try skateboarding and had asked for a partner, Cherish had refused. The only thing she could honestly say she was coordinated at was walking, and sometimes dancing, in heels.

She was thankful at the very least, that with so many people passing through the chalet, the door wouldn't be locked. It really saved her the awkwardness of of trying to unlock it with her wrapped hand. No sooner than she'd pushed the door open was she attacked by a hoard of concerned female friends. The guys, she knew from the phone call Seven had received in the infirmary, had all gone out.

"Is it broken?"

"What the hell happened?"

"Sev wouldn't tell us anything!"

The only one who wasn't waiting to fawn over her injury was Audrey. The minute Cherish uttered the words, "It's only a sprain, nothing serious," Audrey wedged herself between Cherish and the others.

"Bien, because you are so late! We don't have enough time to get ready for the party."

Cherish raised an eyebrow, since when did Audrey ever need help with getting ready for a party? Everything appeared to be ready anyway. Delia and Melanie frowned, "Audrey! You could ask how she's doing first."

"Pourquoi? If she was not okay, Tracy would not have left her side."

Cherish flushed when the other girls only agreed with Audrey's reasoning. Wait...

"Tracy?" Delia and Cherish asked at the same time.

"Oui." Audrey answered, looking at them funny, "Tracy Severin, the one who ran out of here like a mad man when you were missing, the one who stole some kid's skis and went tout vite down the hill to find you, the one who signed you in to the infirmary. That Tracy."

Delia giggled uncontrollably, and Cherish nodded; so that's why no one knew his real name. Because while his name was perfectly fine in french, in English it was considered a girl's name. She wondered how Audrey came to be in possession of that tidbit of information; she filed it away to tease him with it later.

When Audrey grabbed her by the good hand and led her toward the stairs, Cherish realised what kind of getting ready for the party she'd meant. "Audrey! I can dress myself!"

"Uh- no! You are going to look good tonight!"

"And I don't normally?"

Audrey took Cherish's chin in her delicate fingers, "You always look good, Cherie, but it's New Years," she winked. "You know what I mean."

Cherish wondered why Audrey was making that face at her, as if she was only helping with something that Cherish had asked help for.

Cherish growled in frustration for what was probably the fifteenth time, not that Audrey showed any indication of having noticed. She had laid out an array of clothing options for Cherish, citing Cherish's penchant for short shorts and tank tops as good reason to doubt fashion sense. With a grudging acknowledgment, Cherish had chosen the wine coloured lace wiggle dress with the low back.

She had hoped that would be it, but Audrey had manhandled her into a chair and was sitting on her while doing her make up. Cherish didn't mind the make up being done for her, what she did mind, was the implication that she needed the help. As if she couldn't do a good enough job of her hair or make up. She'd only been doing it for herself for the past 8 years or so. But somehow, in all of the girls' minds, she couldn't do good enough job to grab a guy's attention... again.

Audrey had given her a very glam old Hollywood look, but Cherish didn't know what all the girls hoped to achieve by it. Audrey's lips, pursed at Seven's lack of reaction, betrayed her disappointment. Perhaps she and the others had hoped for a reaction similar to the one he'd had before Christmas in the lingerie change room.

Cherish hadn't told them about that yet, but she was considering doing it now, to take the frowns from their faces. Audrey and Melanie exchanged slightly disheartened shrugs and then disappeared into the party. Off to find their midnight kisses, Cherish assumed.

-.-

When the double zeros flashed onto the TV screen, Cherish watched as the crowd erupted into cheering and spontaneous kissing. Ian and Delia, Cash and Jacqueline, Audrey and her new boy-toy and even Juss was mashing faces with one of the Montreal hotties. That was the thing she'd always hated about New Years Eve wasn't it?

Everyone was kissing and she was left feeling like an awkward lonely loser. This was usually about the time she'd slip away to the restroom; a drink refill was seeming very enticing right now. Turning, she smacked right into Seven, who'd been standing behind her. He looked a little out of place, as a single body unattached in the mass of making out couples.

"Oh, uh sorry, Rish."

Cherish smiled as she steadied herself, "I didn't know you were right there, Sev. I was just going to look for you."

It was clear he was surprised at her words, even looking little confused. Cherish braced herself; if she didn't do it now, then she'd only be dragging it out longer. She popped up onto her toes, swinging her arms around his neck to close the distance between them, "Happy New Year, Seven."

By the blush on his face when she stepped back, she guessed she might have misjudged her peck on the cheek and come a lot closer to his mouth than she'd intended on doing. To his credit, the blush was fleeting.

"Happy New Year, Pumpkin." Leaning forward, he just barely brushed his lips against her mouth, like he was afraid she'd break again.

She tried to decipher his expression as he looked out over their friends. It was clear he'd followed her lead, but he didn't have even the hint of the emotion she'd have expected to see on his face. As Cash waved at her over Jacqueline's shoulder, she understood Seven's expression. He had returned her misplaced kiss as Cash or Jeb might have, as a quick friendly unromantic peck. Now she could tell he was feeling a little awkward under her inquisitive gaze.

"So, uh, time for New Years resolutions?"

She knew he was just trying to make conversation and disperse the heaviness that could easily settle over them. After everything that had happened this past year, he wasn't entirely wrong in assuming that things would get weird. She hadn't thought about resolutions though, and she paused a second to reflect on what kind of resolution she should make.

Seven took her silence as an opportunity to babble about overdone resolutions and she was sure he half expected her say something stupid like do more homework or drink less. "Yeah, so I figure I'm going to try and talk to my sister more and save up some more for, you know, after school. What about you? What's your resolution?"

After a thoughtful pause, Cherish peered up at him and said, "You."

* Title song by Reverend Horton Heat

Maybe, maybe, I"ll post the second half of chapter 37 tomorrow.  Maybe '^_^'

TRANSLATIONS:

Bien- Good
Pourquoi?- Why?
Tout vite-  all fast /really fast