Edited 4/17/09. No major changes, I just cleaned up the grammar and formatting.

Ch 1: An Invitation and a Guitar Lesson

"Hey Warren, you're coming to our Christmas party, right?" Will sat himself down on the school steps next to his best friend.

Warren looked up from his book, a bit startled by Will's sudden appearance, particularly because he had been purposely ignoring all background noise in the hopes of blocking out Ethan and Zack, who were sitting on the steps behind him complaining about something Coach Boomer had done. It had only been a few months since they had stopped Royal Pain, and he and Will had gone from being enemies, to not-enemies, to friends, and Warren still wasn't used to Will and his friends always being everywhere he was.

"When is it?" Warren closed his book, marking the page with his finger.

"Christmas Eve. It starts around five," Will could already tell Warren was going to say no.

It wasn't really a surprise. Warren just wasn't a social person, and Will didn't see any reason why he should have to be, but he thought he would ask anyway. Their annual Christmas party, while fun for the adults, usually didn't have enough kids his age for Will's liking.

"I'm working," Warren shook his head, then reached up absently to flick his hair behind his ear when it fell in his face.

"On Christmas Eve?" Zack looked astonished.

"I always work Christmas Eve," Warren shrugged. "We don't celebrate it, and Mom's never home for it, so there's no reason for me not to."

"Well, now you have a reason," Layla said matter-of-factly as she and Magenta joined the group.

"Or," said Warren, ignoring Layla kissing Will, then settling herself in his lap. "I can work, and one of the waiters who actually has a family they want to spend time with can get the day off," Warren opened his book again. "Anyway, I get time and a half for Christmas Eve."

"Sweet," Magenta sat herself down on Warren's other side. "You should dye your hair green for Christmas," she separated out the two red strands from the rest of his hair.

"I don't dye my hair," Warren signed and went back to reading.

"That is so unfair," Magenta scowled.

"Zack!"

Zack jumped and pressed his hand to the strings of his guitar, stopping the noise abruptly. Josie was not surprised. Zack's parents had bought him a guitar, partly to humor his latest phase and partly in hopes of him actually learning a useful skill. Thus far, all he had succeeded in doing was annoying people. He only knew one cord, and his guitar was ridiculously out of tune.

Josie had been watching for the last twenty minutes from the den across the hall as Warren's shoulders inched up higher and higher, agitated with the noise Zack was making. She was not at all surprised when he turned and glared at him.

The kids were sitting in the living room, supposedly doing homework, although Warren and Ethan seemed to be the only ones actually working. Her oh-so-studious son was sprawled on the couch, bending and unbending the prongs of a fork, which Josie wasn't all that sure she was happy about. Layla and Magenta were in the middle of a discussion over the social status of female super heroes, which as far as Josie could tell, had nothing to do with the chemistry homework Warren and Ethan were trying to wade through. Zack was sitting on the floor trying to convince everyone the noise he was making was music. Josie was about ready to take the guitar from him herself.

"Give," Warren held his hand out for the guitar.

Zack was understandably hesitant. Will, on the other hand, was about to break down into hysterics.

"Now."

The glare did Zack in, and fearing for his own safety more than that of his guitar, he handed it over. Josie had to admit, she thought the guitar was toast. Warren settled the instrument on his lap as if he had been handling it all his life and proceeded to tune it in a little under a minute and a half.

"Keep it in tune," he handed it back to Zack who had relaxed visibly when he realized Warren wasn't going to incinerate anything. "You're bad enough as it is. And learn another cord."

"Which one?" Zack ran his fingers over the strings, and it was much less grating.

"I don't care," Warren went back to his homework.

Will burst out laughing, and Josie returned to her paperwork.

Having Warren dragged into their lives had left Josie in a constant state of reevaluation. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he did something unexpected, and she had to rearrange the picture she had of him in her head. She had had to scrap the notion of him being short tempered, scrap the notion of him being a bully, and she had even had to scrap the notion of him being a loner. He was, without a doubt, extremely guarded when it came to his private life, but he seemed to enjoy company of the right kind.

So Warren Peace was nothing Josie would have ever expected him to be, and she was feeling him out as they went. Sometimes, it still startled her to see Barry Battle's son sitting in her house and laughing with her own baby boy, but judging by how close he and Will had gotten in only a few months, she was going to have to get used to it. Steve was still struggling with it. He and Warren had a truce of sorts going at the moment, where they just tried to stay out of each other's way. Warren still had some issues with Steve. In fact, he still had some issues with both of them, but at least he made an effort to be polite, and for now that was enough.

"Ethan, aren't you suppose to be home by six?" Will asked.

Ethan glanced at his watch. "Oh shoot. I have to go," he started throwing books into his backpack. "Tell me if you figure out number seven."

"Uh-huh," Warren didn't sound like he expected to.

Within fifteen minutes everyone had trickled home, leaving just Will and Warren in the living room. Warren leaned back against the couch Will was laying on and stretched his arms over his head.

"You should come by after you get off," Will said randomly.

"I won't be off until nearly eleven," Warren, amazingly enough, followed.

"That's alright. Even if most people have gone home, we'll still be awake cleaning up so we don't have to on Christmas Day," Will nudged Warren lazily with his knee. "I'll save you some cake."

"Like I ever leave work hungry," Warren snorted.

The truth was, he didn't want to go. A party like this would mostly be superheroes, and Warren had no desire to spend the whole evening with everyone knowing who his parents were, whispering behind his back, and being superficially polite to him, if they even bothered with that much. He didn't have the patience for it. He'd rather spent the night at the Paper Lantern with people who actually liked him.

"I'll see," he said, and even as he said it, he knew he was going to end up knocking on

Will's front door at 11:30 at night, on Christmas Eve, so he could help clean up after someone else's party.

The funny thing was, it didn't bother him all that much.

"Great," Will grinned at him, already knowing he would be there. "I'll save you some of those little sandwich things Mom makes too. They're really good."

Warren sighed and hit Will in the face with a pillow, just so he wouldn't have to look at his knowing smirk.