#*tfc

Trish exited the driver's side of the van to walk around and climb in the back, Jason sighing in the passenger seat before following suit. She handed off the keys to Dick at the back as she made her way around.

Gar shuffled to the back of the van with bags stuffed under his arms and hanging in his hands. "You okay there, bud?" Dick asked, holding in a chuckle at the sight of him.

"I'm good," Gar dropped the bags in the back of the van with a relieved sigh. "I swear, she packed rocks."

Now Dick chuckled knowingly, rearranging the newly added bags before closing up the back door. Gar made his way into the van and pulled the side door shut as Dick slid in behind the wheel.

Trish leaned forward between the front seats and pressed buttons on the stereo as the vehicle's engine was started. "What are you doing?" Savannah asked, in the passenger seat.

"I made a road trip CD," Trish grinned, before pressing play.

She sunk back into her seat in the second row, buckling in again before snuggling into Jason's side where he sat by the window. The van's speakers blasted a festive beat that had half the van groaning.

The sounds of disapproval and rue echoed up to the front seats almost in perfect unison, causing Dick and Savannah to chuckle, sharing a knowing look. "Seriously, Trish?" Talia shouted from the back.

Donna checked her watch, "It's still November for almost twenty-four hours."

"Grouches! All of you!" Trish sat up, turning in her chair to see the back. "The only way you're changing this music, is if you climb over this seat and fight me."

Darcy pressed her hand to the side of the van and gave it a shock, causing the stereo to shut off almost instantly, along with the rest of the vehicle. There was a moment of complete silence.

Then, in unison, the van erupted with a rueful shout, "DARCY!"

After six hours trapped in a van together, subjected to Christmas tunes the entire drive, it was a relief to finally reach the ranch Trish had told them all about.

They stopped before the wide gates at the start of the driveway, many yards from the first building on the property. Trish gave Dick the key to the chain and he climbed out to unlock the gates.

"Where's the fucking house?" Donna questioned, pressed to the window to get a better look. "All I see is a barn and snow."

"Please tell me we all have our own rooms," Darcy spoke up.

Trish giggled a little in anticipation, "Don't worry, there's plenty of the room. The house is back by the trees."

Dick returned to the vehicle and they drove through the gates. It was a long driveway of snow many yards toward the trees, passing a barn and two outbuildings before the house was visible.

The Titans in the vehicle were in awe of the home. It was risen to accommodate a small hill at the back, with a large half circle porch in the front. A wooden set of steps lead up to a small porch and the large front door.

"It's big," Talia commented, leaning to see through the window.

"Huge," Donna corrected.

As the van's engine was turned off, Gar and Trish were pushing open the side door, the first to climb out into the thick snow. "Wha- hold on!" Dick twisted in his seat to see them, trying to catch them before they ran off.

Darcy and Jason climbed out to join them despite Dick's fatherly attempt to round up the teens, and the four raced their way to the front door. "Well, this should be fun," Savannah quipped, before opening her door. "I'll go find them."

"Alright. I'll start getting the bags unloaded," Dick nodded.

Talia piped up, "I'll help."

"I'll help, too," Donna volunteered as well.

Dick, Talia, and Donna joined at the back of the van to begin carting in the many bags they'd brought along on the trip. Savannah ventured inside the house to find out where the teens had gone.

She was momentarily taken aback by the look of the inside. It was an open floor plan for the first level, with a staircase leading up to the second level just off the front entrance.

The walls and floors were wood, with silver accents, and comfortable white couches positioned in front of the large fireplace in the living room. The living room was in front of tall windows that gave view of the front porch.

It was homey with a warm feeling. Voices from above echoed out a second before Darcy popped out of one of the bedrooms. "I want a room with a good view," she said, over her shoulder.

"This is a good view," Gar pointed out, following her out of the bedroom.

She poked her head into the room next door, "Mm mm, this one's better."

Darcy disappeared into the room and Gar sighed prior to following. "They're all just trees," he mumbled to himself, before going in as well.

Savannah chuckled softly and climbed the stairs to the second level. Just then, Dick lead the precession of bags being carried in and dropped in the living room. Talia and Donna followed shortly behind, all three with bags in both hands.

Trish came from the kitchen with a box of matches, "I'll start a fire! It's getting chilly."

She skirted past them to the fire place in the living room and the luggage carriers went out for another load. It only took one more to get them all in the house. Once they were in, Dick called everyone down to the living room.

"Okay. Everybody find your bags, then take them upstairs to your rooms. We'll decide who sleeps where as we go," he instructed.

Gar and Darcy took their bags to the center room, Jason and Trish to the far left, and Talia and Donna took the room at the top of the stairs. Dick and Savannah elected to take the only bedroom on the first floor, across the level by the fire place.

Trish was successfully starting a hearty fire, getting the house toasty. Dick elected to go out and bring in more firewood for the night while Savannah volunteered everyone else to start dinner.

Dinner, however, was whatever they could find in the kitchen. So the remaining six attacked the cupboards and refrigerator. They threw out ideas based on what they found, collectively deciding on spaghetti as the best option.

They were practically swimming in pasta. Savannah chopped onions and garlic while Gar, Donna, and Talia shaped meatballs. Jason used a can opener to open sauce cans and Darcy manned the pot of water on the stove.

After getting the fire going, Trish browsed the shelves against the opposite wall for a movie to watch after dinner on the large television above the fire place. It would be a perfect way to end the day, to relax after the stressful trip.

So she snagged one she thought all would enjoy and then went to get blankets from the linen closet upstairs. Meanwhile, the six in the kitchen were working together to finish up the spaghetti.

It was a miracle, Savannah thought, that they'd gotten through it without a food fight. Gar and Darcy put the cooked noodles and sauce with meatballs in separate dishes and carted them to the dining room just off the kitchen.

Donna and Talia were tasked with setting the table, while Savannah went to get Dick and Trish. Jason had excused himself long ago to use bathroom and never returned. At least, not until it was time to eat.

Trish slapped a hand against the back of his head as they entered the dining room. "You were supposed to be helping," she chided.

"I did!" he defended, rubbing his head as though it actually hurt. Trish knew very well that it didn't.

"For five minutes!"

"Alright, both of you sit down and shut up," Talia silenced the bickering teens.

Jason sat in the first available seat, but Trish rounded the table to sit at the opposite side. The other Titans filed into the dining room and found seats at the table in the minutes following.

The dishes of food started getting passed around the table and the group made small talk as they did. "I thought we could all watch a movie after we eat," Trish announced, glancing around the table.

Gar shrugged, "I'm down."

"What movie is it?" Donna asked, wrinkling her nose.

"It's the fam-"

Trish's reply was cut short when a rogue meatball thumped against her forehead dead-center before falling into her plate and rolling off the table. Glaring across the table, she shrieked, "Jason, you little shit!"

Jason only looked across at her smugly. Dick, eyes moving quickly between the two, spoke up. "Okay, enough. No more flying food-"

The normally hospitable blonde threw a fistful of noodles at the boy across from her, ignoring Dick's words of warning. Some of the noodles slapped Darcy's front in their wild hurtle toward Jason.

In retaliation, she sent multiple meatballs back at Trish. Trish, wide-eyed, dove out of her chair to the floor for cover. Talia shrugged with a 'what the hell?' expression before squishing a meatball against Donna's cheek.

Dick was shouting, "Hey! Everybody cut it out!"

But no one was listening. And if they were, they didn't care. Sighing heavily, he dove out of the way of the flying food and made his way to the kitchen, where Savannah had gone to hide. 

Gar was taking cover beneath the table as the others decorated the walls with meatballs and noodles. Trish flew across the table at one point, colliding with a sauce covered Jason on the other side.

The pair toppled backward and clattered to the wooden flooring. Darcy gasped, "Oh my god!"

"What the hell, guys?!" Gar startled, wide-eyed.

Jason and Trish grappled with each other on the floor while Talia and Donna, now covered in sauce as well, shoved meatballs into each other's faces at the other end of the table.

Darcy got up from her seat and hurried out of the way of the wrestling teens, seconds before Dick reentered the dining room. "That's enough!" he said, before wrapping his arms around Trish.

He heaved the girl up to her feet, pulling her away from Jason. "I had nothing to do with this," Gar nervously pointed out, only his head visible over the edge of the dining table.

"I know, Gar," Dick assured the boy. Then he glared at Trish - still huffing in his arms. "But what the fuck, Trish?"

"He threw a goddamn meatball at me!" Trish answered, frustrated.

"Let's all cut the shit and get cleaned up," Savannah spoke loud enough for all to hear. "It doesn't matter who started it. It's over."

Trish yanked herself away from Dick and stormed off to her room. Donn, scrapping beef off her chin, commented, "Well, that was fun."

Sighing, Savannah went to find cleaning supplies. Darcy, Talia, and Donna headed upstairs to get cleaned up and change their clothes. Lastly, Jason climbed the stairs, taking his time in going to his room - which he shared with Trish. 

Savannah draped a blanket over their legs and got comfortable against Dick's chest, the pair on the couch adjacent to Talia and Donna's, with Gar and Darcy wrapped up in a wool blanket on the floor.

The six Titans sat waiting in the living room with the start of the movie on pause. All that was missing was Jason and Trish. After a few minutes, Jason sauntered into the living room and sat down in front of the couches. "Where's Trish?" Dick questioned him.

"She's making cocoa," Jason answered.

"You guys make up?" Donna inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Jason replied, leaning back against Dick and Savannah's couch, "I'm not at liberty to discuss our sex life."

"Good god," Darcy wrinkled her nose.

Savannah sat up and grabbed a pillow from across the couch, then whacked it against the back of Jason's head. "Do it again," Talia said, glaring. "I won't tell Trish if you won't."

"Tell me what?" Trish asked, entering the living room with a steaming mug of cocoa in her hands. 

Talia looked away and Savannah settled back into her previous position, and in unison the girls both answered, "Nothing." Trish's eyebrows knitted curiously as she reached the couches.

"That they're abusing me," Jason corrected the answer through clenched teeth, rubbing the back of his head - genuinely this time.   

Dick snorted, "Just don't be a dumbass."

"Okay, okay," Trish sat next to Jason on the floor. "Play nice."

"Says the girl who dove over the fucking table a half hour ago."

Trish sent a glare in Dick's direction. Savannah, sighing heavily, broke the tension by pressing play on the moving. "Thank god," Donna exhaled, settling into the couch.