When Stars Burn

Chapter Twenty-Two: Star Light, Star Bright

A/N: Hello everyone! First off, I want to thank everyone who stayed with this story week after week. It's not my usual but Star had to be written—for all her brutal control and shattered soul. I hope that she was somehow able to show a side of us that doesn't always shine in the light. And I hope that Julian's tenacity was able to inspire us to never give up on those we love.

You might find the end scene similar to one in a different story but I couldn't pick a better setting. 

Anyway, hope you enjoy this last chapter.

Happy reading!

***

There wasn't a lot of time to dwell on family drama in the week that followed.

Julian's team had a competition the day after the party and then the rest of the week had been our finals. We barely had time to make plans for Christmas break.

I'd decided to come home and stay in Vegas throughout Christmas. It was going to be painful but I was determined to make some semblance of a family holidays happen. It was my way of stating that I wasn't turning my back on them. There were a lot of things to fix and I happened to be the person best fit in our family to do it whether I liked it or not. My father had offered to help and I might hold him to it someday. I'd already agreed to let him fully fund my college degree but I just wasn't sure what that extra help would look like when it came to that side of my family.

Right after Christmas, I was going to head back to Cobalt Bay and attend the intimate family dinner Selene was putting together for New Year's Eve. I already declined staying at my father's house. Marina might be civil to me and Hailey might not be given much of a choice but to deal with me but I wasn't ready for that constant proximity quite yet. Gareth reluctantly agreed to let me stay at the townhouse as long as I came to visit on a daily basis at least until the end of the holidays. Julian was coming back up from his parents' house after New Year and we'd have about a week together, just hanging out and getting ready for classes again.

Despite being busy with exams and holiday plans though, we managed to turn up Friday night for the Christmas party that the Lighthouse was throwing for its staff and the many different teenagers it gave shelter and support to.

Julian came with me and even managed to talk Kit and Nisha into volunteering along with us. It was a lot of work—from setting up to organizing dinner to keeping the entertainment going—but we actually had a good time.

Well, most of us did.

My one little hiccup was Hailey who also showed up tonight with Selene. I didn't think she was going to be here at all tonight but she came dressed simply and seemed to be mostly herself. One brief glance was all she gave me before she plunked herself down behind the soundboard. She surprised me by actually playing appropriate holiday music all throughout the night. It was a good sign, I guess, that she wasn't trying to yell me out of the place but it was still awkward. Good thing I had plenty of distractions—Kit and Nisha's reconciliation being one of them.

"The two of you can't seem to stop making googly eyes at each other all night," I murmured to Nisha as I handed her the last couple of gift bags I was unpacking from a box. The party had pretty much wrapped up and we'd been manning a small table by the door where guests could stop by to pick up a giftt bag on their way out. They were small bags filled with an assortment of baked treats and mini essentials—just a little something to help the guests take the holiday spirit home with them.

Kit was across the floor from us, helping Julian and another guy collect some of the vacated chairs and tables and folding them into a pile by the wall. He and Nisha were constantly catching each other's gazes and smiling so much I was expecting cartoon hearts to pop out of their eyes.