"Merry Christmas!" Mrs Hunter said as she and Mr Hunter came into Nick and Sarah's house on Christmas morning.

"Merry Christmas to you too mom," Sarah said with a smile, taking her presents from her mother.

Nick came down the stairs at the sound of their arrival and smiled. "Happy Christmas," he said to them. "Are you staying for lunch with us?".

Mr Hunter shook his head. "Sorry Nick but we've already got plans for lunch. Thanks for the offer though,".

Sarah opened her presents and grinned. "Clothes, make up and videos. Thank you both!".

"Glad you like them honey," her father said. "And we got a little something for Nick too,".

Nick took the present from Mrs Hunter and thanked them. He opened it to see it was a couple of video games and a nice shirt. "Thanks," he said gratefully. Over the past couple of weeks he had been living with Sarah he had seen her parents several times and they were being very nice to him. But it wasn't the same story with his own parents. He hadn't spoken to them at all and when they had tried to call, he or Sarah had hung up.

Sarah and her parents got into conversation but Nick felt left out. He went into the kitchen and checked on the turkey which was cooking. He poured himself a drink and sat at the counter flicking through a video-game cheats book Sarah had gotten him. He was a little disappointed that she hadn't got him much but he was just pleased to be with her.

"We're going now, are you sure you two don't want to have Christmas lunch with us?" Sarah's mom said as she and Mr Hunter walked to the door with Sarah.

"Thanks but our's is already cooking," Sarah said. "Bye!".

As they left, Sarah joined Nick. "What's up?" she asked.

Nick smiled. "Nothing, I was just reading this. It's cool- I'll have to try out some of these cheats,".

Sarah looked down at her bathrobe. "I'd better get dressed!" she exclaimed. "Keep an eye on the turkey will you baby?". She then went upstairs with her new clothes.

Nick sighed, even though he loved being in Sarah's company, it didn't feel like a proper Christmas. He missed his family. I should call them, he though. Pausing to make sure Sarah was out of earshot he picked up the phone and dialled their number.

It rung for a while then someone answered. "Hello?". It was Aaron.

Nick heard footsteps. Sarah had come down! "Hello...".

"Who are you talking to?" Sarah asked, coming into the room and picking up her new jeans that she had left in the room.

"My family," Nick whispered.

Sarah strode over and pressed the hang up button. "Remember what I said! They don't care about you so don't bother calling!" Sarah said in an annoyed tone.

"But I just wanted to wish them a happy Christmas," Nick said weakly. "You got to say it to your parents...".

"That's because my parents care. They didn't take me out of school at twelve and send me overseas with a bunch of strangers to make money!".

"I guess you're right.." Nick sighed.

Sarah went back upstairs to get dressed and Nick sat in silence. Despite Sarah turning him against his family, he still wanted to talk to them. And the other guys... he couldn't help wanting to call them too, but he knew it would upset Sarah. I'll just call Brian, he decided. he felt guilty about them falling out.

He picked up the phone and dialled Brian's number.

"Hello?" answered Leighanne.

"Hi Leigh is Brian there?" Nick asked quietly so Sarah couldn't hear.

"Nick hi!" she said. "Sure I'll just get him. Oh by the way happy Christmas!".

"Same to you,".

"Frack, hi!" Brian said happily. "I'm glad you called. How's your Christmas going?".

"OK," he said. "So you and Leigh?".

"We're having a wonderful time," Brian said. "I asked her to marry me last night and she said yes. And today I gave her a little Chihuahua as a present today, a friend for Tyk!".

Nick smiled. "That's great man,".

They talked for a few minutes but then Nick heard Sarah coming down the stairs. "I gotta go, she's coming!" Nick whispered.

"OK, talk to ya soon," Brian said. "Bye!".

"Bye!".

Sarah walked in with a scowl on her face. "I heard your conversation," she told him.

"You did?" Nick gulped. "Well I was just wishing Brian a happy Christmas...".

"Like he really cares! He thinks you're a nuisance, Nick. He doesn't think of you as a friend. Just the kid in his band that he has to look after,".

"That's not true!" Nick protested. "I know you don't like him after everything that's happened but he's still my friend,".

Sarah grabbed the vase of flowers from the table and threw it at the wall. "Don't talk to him!" she yelled.

Nick ducked to avoid the broken pieces of vase flying across the room. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"You'd better be!" Sarah said, grabbing him by his shirt. "Brian hates me. He'll do anything he can to turn you against me. If you love me you'll respect my wishes and not speak to him again. He's poisoning your mind with shit about me that's not true so don't listen to what he says,".

Nick struggled to get out of her grip. "OK OK!" he whined. "I won't,".

"Promise?" Sarah asked.

Nick was silent, he didn't want to promise this because he still wanted to talk to Brian. "Uh...".

Sarah grabbed his hair. "Say it,".

"Ouch! OK, fine. I promise not to listen to Brian or talk to him again,".

Sarah yanked his hand from behind his back and uncrossed his fingers. "Say it again," she said threateningly.

Nick sighed. "I promise not to listen to or talk to Brian again," he said sadly.

Sarah let him out of her grip and smiled. "That's better Nick," she said with a sweet smile. She then walked into the living room and sat down to watch TV.

Nick sat in shock and shook his head. He didn't know what to think.

Later on Nick and Sarah sat silently eating their Christmas lunch. "This tastes good," Sarah said to break the silence.

Nick didn't answer, he just looked down at his food and ate.

Sarah sighed. He's mad at me, she thought. I'd better say something to put things right. "Nick?" she said quietly.

He looked up. "What?".

"I'm sorry," Sarah said, putting on an innocent, sad face. "I over reacted when you called Brian. I didn't mean to get so mad, but I was scared!".

"Scared of what?" Nick asked, puzzled.

Him persuading you to leave me before my career gets anywhere! Sarah thought secretly. "Well you know he hated me and would do anything to see the back of me. I thought he's tell lies about me and that you would believe him...". She pretended to blink away some tears.

"Oh I'm sorry baby," Nick said, falling for her little act. "I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose. How can I cheer you up? Don't cry baby!".

Sarah gave him a weak smile. "Oh don't worry baby, just knowing your not mad at me anymore is enough to make me happy again!".

Nick got up and went over to her to give her a hug. "Let's not fight again," he whispered, stroking her hair.

They went back to eating their lunch, Nick thought about what she had said. She's right, Brian is trying to turn me against her. She had every right to get mad at me! I bet my family are trying to turn me against her too. They always tell me what to do and I always obey them. Well, not any more. From now on I do what I want to do.

Sarah opened a bottle of champagne, it had cost a lot of money and she had used Nick's card to buy it. "Let's have a toast," she suggested, pouring it into two glasses.

"To a happy future together," Nick said, lifting his glass.

"To success in everything," Sarah added. Especially in my career, Sarah thought secretly. Now she had Nick totally in her control doing whatever she wanted, she knew success and fame could not be far away...

The next (and last) story in this series- Don't Want You Back