Bête Noire

Marley somehow managed to get her brother's dog, Bella, into the elevator finally with a grin. It was December 24th, Christmas Eve. Marley was excited; she loved Christmas. It was one of her favorite times of the year. She even argued less with Brian over the Christmas period.

As soon as the doors of the elevator opened, Bella ran across the corridor while Marley carefully walked out, grabbing the leashes properly of her two new dogs. "Bella, come here!" Marley ordered as she opened the door to her loft, and Bella ran in first. She was already lost from sight when Marley followed her through.

From somewhere in the loft, she could hear annoyed shouts. Bella had obviously found one of the guys and probably decided that they needed help. Marley laughed and kicked the door shut behind her.

"Hey M, can I..." Jimmy trailed off as he walked into the room and stared at the newest family members in surprise. Marley just grinned wider at him. "The others are going to..." He trailed off as Johnny, Zacky and Brian walked into the room. "The others are going to what?" Zacky asked suspiciously.

Jimmy wordlessly pointed at Marley and her new furry friends. They followed his pointing finger and groaned, "Marls!"

"Merry Christmas!" Marley yelled, letting the leashes go and allowing the two baby huskies to run over to the guys. They crouched down to say hello, instantly forgetting their slight anger. "I thought that we were meant to meet any foster dogs before you brought them home." Jimmy said as the male husky, Shay, thoroughly sniffed him.

"Oh, these two aren't foster dogs." Marley informed, earning a glare from Johnny. "Tell me that you're kidding." He groaned along with Zack as Marley simply grinned at them. She held her keys out to Jimmy, "Can you get the sack of food out of the back of the jeep for me?"

"You and Kay are probably the only ones I can't say no to on your faces." Jimmy grumbled and took the keys from her, making Marley reward him with a million dollar smile.

On 25th December, Marley was woken up by four guys and three dogs crushing her. "What the fucking hell?!" She complained. "It's Christmas!" Jimmy screamed down her ear. Marley screamed back in excitement, shooting upright and locking hands with him, bouncing up and down. Jimmy was the only person she knew over 21 who got excited as she did about Christmas.

Eventually, the duo calmed down enough to take note of who was actually piled on her bed. Jimmy was directly in front of Marley, practically sitting on her lap. Johnny was on her left, still looking rather sleepy with Pinkly laying across his lap. Zacky was trying to balance on the edge of the bed. Brian was on the end corner, staying on by holding onto Shay as he tried to lick Johnny's feet.

The bedroom door burst open for the second time that morning. "Did somebody say bundle?!" Yelled two voices that sounded dinstinctly like Kay and Hilary's. Almost instantly they were joined by them, Derek, Matt and Val.

"Why'd you give Kay and Hilary keys to the loft?" Zacky groaned, making the girls gasp and throw the nearest cushions at him.

That evening, Marley laughed at the face Kay pulled as she clicked the camera at her and Jimmy. "Am I going to regret giving you that?" Jimmy asked as she turned the camera in Johnny's direction. Marley shrugged and continued to click away on her new camera.

"Probably." Matt commented from the couch. He was looking sleepy, probably because of the huge meal that they'd just finished eating. Everyone was at the loft. In addition to the five of them that lived there permanently, Marley's living room was currently hosting Matt and Val, Kay, Lacey, Gena, Hilary and Derek. Her and Matt's parents would be there in about half an hour too. And the Berry twins were also on their way.

As she looked around at everyone as they laughed, joked and drank beer or wine, Marley smiled. This was why she loved Christmas so much. It was the day in a year that no matter what, she always spent with the people closest to her.

"Hey Hilary, think fast!" Zacky yelled, chucking a present at her head. He probably underestimated her reaction time. "Huh? Wha- OUCH!"

Everyone almost simultaneously burst out laughing or snorted as the present hit her in the face. Thankfully it was a soft present, so she didn't bitch too much. Hilary squealed in delight as she unfolded the neon blue t-shirt with her initial printed at the back.

"Oh, I love you Zacky." She thanked him for the present. "Everyone loves fatty Zacky." Brian commented from his chair with a laugh. Marley and Hilary glared at Brian for the comment before Marley jumped onto him. "Don't you bully my Zacky," she said warningly.

To hide his surprise at Marley's sudden reaction of jumping onto him, Brian looked at her with a smirk just to hide the genuine smile that was tugging at the corner of his lips. When he realized that his power of speech was back, he spoke up. "I'm afraid that's how it's gonna be from now on, Denise." Brian smirked, secretly hoping that Marley would kind of snap back at him; he missed her fiery side way too much.

But surprisingly, Marley gave out a totally different reaction instead. "Gena, hand me that makeup kit." Marley said calmly, pointing at the makeup kit Kay had got her. Brian wiggled and tried to get free, but Kay pinned down his legs. For such a small girl, she was surprisingly strong. Gena handed Marley the kit and she set about attacking Brian with it. And not in a nice way.

Eventually, Brian managed to get free of Marley and Kay. He ran for the nearest mirror, terrified about what Marley had probably done to him. He groaned as he caught sight of his reflection. He looked like a panda due to the mess Marley had created while trying to make a smokey eye.

"Goddammit! Denise, I'm going to kill you!" He turned to find her taking a picture of him on her new camera, while simultaneously doing the victory bump and grind with Kay. Brian forced himself not to laugh at the sight.

When Marley caught sight of his expression, she paled slightly. "I'm so going to get you for this!" Brian grabbed an eyeliner and began to chase her. He did not appreciate being done up as a drag queen. Marley squealed and began to run around the living room, no doubt still clicking pictures off on her camera.

Brian had managed to pin her down to the floor and tried hard not to get carried away by the fact that she smelled like white roses. Marley tried to wiggle under him to get free, but at the same time she didn't want to. Her heart was beating rapidly against her chest and wondered what Brian felt at that very moment.

She put her hands on his muscular arms as an attempt to push him away, but it seemed totally impossible. Not because she was less stronger than he was, but because she actually liked how close he was to her. Only if she could tell him...

"Oh dear god, we always seem to arrive at the most inappropriate of moments don't we." The voices of Jason and Matt Berry made both Brian and Marley realize that the others were present in the loft too. "MB and JB Diz!" Jimmy screamed excitedly before engulfing the twins in a hug.

"Merry fucking Christmas dude!" The brothers replied with the same amount of excitement while Matt shouted angrily at Brian from where he was sitting at. "Gates, get off my sister!" Val quickly shut him up with a kiss, not wanting her husband to ruin the moment her friend and sister in law were having.

"I'll let you go this time," Brian almost whispered in a deep voice, sending slight shivers down Marley's spine. He had no idea where he got the courage to do what he did next, which was planting a soft kiss on Marley's cheek.

The moment Brian's lips landed on her skin, Marley felt blood rush to her face. She closed her eyes instinctively as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Denise." She heard him say against her skin, and let out the breath she was holding in for a long time.

"Merry Christmas, Brian." She let out breathlessly, and Brian looked straight into her eyes longingly. It was no doubt that desire was burning in both of them, but neither of them were courageous enough to swallow their prides and just admit what they felt for each other.

"Jesus Christ, Syn, get off Marls before I come and kick your ass!" Matt hollered once more as his brotherly persona took over his weariness. Brian and Marley shared a look with each other before laughing silently at Matt's words. Even though secretly neither of them wanted to, they got up and joined the rest of the crew.

Notes

So, I did my part and updated.

Now u guys do your part and leave a comment ;)
Maybe then I'll think about updating soon :p