HANGING THE LAST MISTLETOE

Summary: Lara Fielding is all grown up and about to attend another Christmas wedding. Her older brother, James, is marrying the love of his life, Lily Mills. In the midst of all the preparations and plans for the wedding, Lara gets caught up in her own winter romance. But what happens when she falls for someone...who loves someone else?

A/N: Well, I'm back! :) This is my last installment on the mistletoe series, and after a year of hiatus since Forget the Mistletoe, I've decided to post this one and just in time for Christmas! :)

+Read, Enjoy, and Review+

Prologue – Caught Looking and Falling

Thirteen year old Larissa Fielding laughingly shook her head at the sight of her best friend, Czarina Sanchez. It was Friday afternoon and the track and field just finished their practice. Czar had a huge smile on her face, even though she was limping slightly.

"I am in love!" she announced happily.

Marianne Stewart nudged Lara, rolling her eyes. "Did you hear that?"

"What happened to you?" Lara asked grinning as she nodded her head towards Czar's bandaged foot. "Aren't you supposed to be not walking on that?"

"It's nothing," Czar responded flippantly barely looking at her foot. "I am in love! Did you hear me? I think I just found the guy I'll spend the rest of my life with!"

"And yes, he is physically manifested in the gorge-body of Reynard Quinton," Lara announced teasingly, cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone. 'Gorge' was a shortcut for the word 'gorgeous,' which they all used when referring to cute guys.

Marianne scoffed. "Czar, seriously, Reynard? He's so-"

"-so amazing, so talented and just so…breathtaking," Czar breathed as she melted down on the bench in front of them.

Lara and Marianne shared knowing looks, and burst out laughing.

"You've got it bad!"

"Ooh, Czar is in love!"

"I'm serious!" Czar exclaimed indignantly but she was still smiling. "Joining the track team was so worth it!"

Lara couldn't believe crushing on some guy would be reason enough to join something so demanding like a track team. But as Czar put it, she had nothing to lose and there was no problem in trying. Now, she was ecstatic that she got to see Reynard almost everyday of the week because of daily practices.

"You think I should join the drama club too?" Marianne asked, her eyes glinting.

"You should!" Czar blurted out eagerly, while nodding her head vigorously with eyes so wide. "You'll feel so lucky and so happy to be spending all those times with him."

"Too bad though," Marianne muttered wryly, "because I don't think Mr. Clemens hangs around the club. He only sits in the faculty department, approving plays or whatever." Her current crush was the school's drama club moderator, a six foot 'hunk' as Marianne put it, with soft curly hair. Lara wasn't sure how her friend knew his curly hair was all soft but she didn't bother asking.

"I think he's the first most uninvolved club moderator I've ever heard of," Lara remarked, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "Most drama club moderators are so into directing the upcoming play or whatever. Plus, he is definitely not gay."

"I heard he was forced into it," Marianne said proudly, as though she was sharing a big secret. "Some of the club members told me. He was supposedly volunteering for some other club but the school lacked teachers so he was placed in the drama club."

"That's sad," Czar muttered. "It's a good thing Reynard's not the moderator of the track team."

Lara snickered. "She sure has a one-track mind."

"Must be love," Czar responded without missing a beat. She had a dreamy look on her face and Lara had no doubt she was imagining running side-by-side on the track while holding hands with Reynard.

"So, what happened to your foot?" she asked Czar, concerned.

Czar sighed deeply. "Well, Coach Torres was screaming instructions left and right that I decided to tune him out-"

"How does an athlete tune out his, or her, coach?" Marianne wondered incredulously. "I mean, isn't that the number rule of what not to do in sports?"

"He was getting on my nerves," Czar retorted heatedly, "and trust me, not just mine. Anyway, because I tuned him out, I kind of focused on other things and-"

"Your roving eyes fell on the fine form of Reynard?" Lara guessed playfully.

Marianne chuckled. "He was probably bending over and doing stretches."

Czar blushed. "H-he was not…doing such a-a thing!" she stammered.

Lara and Marianne both turned to each other and high-fived. "I can't believe you are so easy to read!"

"Yeah, you were definitely checking him out!"

"Well, you did say he had a fine form," Czar countered, her chin held up smugly. She crossed her arms, and then continued her story. "I thought I'd run somewhere in his general direction, so he could see me. I did but-"

"You stumbled and fell down-" Lara began to speculate.

"Then you sprained your ankle?" Marianne finished, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Are you two going to let me finish my story?" Czar exclaimed, scandalized. "I didn't realize you were this annoying!"

Lara stared at Czar pointedly. "Excuse us? We learned from the best."

"Yeah," Marianne added, nodding her head, "you do that to us all the time. It's only fair we do that to you."

"Fine," Czar muttered sheepishly. She raised her hands in surrender. "Well, anyway, I didn't actually sprain my ankle. It's actually just a- what's the word?" she paused to think, "It's a rouse."

"What do you need a rouse for?" Marianne asked, confused.

Lara feigned shock. "And I didn't know you knew the meaning of the word!"

"Stick a sock in it," Czar quipped, making a face at Lara. Then she faced Marianne and said haughtily, "I'll talk to Marianne because she takes me seriously-"

Marianne blinked, and feigned ignorance. "I'm sorry, I was?"

Czar threw up her hands and reached for her foot. She furiously removed the bandage around her foot. "I can't believe you guys are ruining my happy moment!"

"Okay, sorry to burst your balloon, we won't anymore," Lara promised with a grin.

Marianne nodded beside her and grinned too.

Czar sighed. "Well, as you can see," she held up the bandage and showed her foot, "I'm perfectly fine. But Reynard thinks I'm still in pain. I just pretended to, because he wouldn't even look at me while I was running!"

Probably too busy warming up, Lara started to say but she bit back her tongue.

"You're kidding? What if he sees you know?" Marianne squeaked, looking wildly around.

"I wouldn't worry," Czar said dismissively. "He's still at the track, doing laps. God knows he'll be there for another hour." Then as an afterthought, she added dreamily, "He is so dedicated."

"Well, I guess you're going to have to walk around in crutches for a few days, huh?" Marianne commented matter-of-factly. "It'll be hard to avoid Reynard during school hours," she pointed out.

"Not really," Czar replied slyly, "I know half his schedule. But anyway, I don't care if I have to wear this for a couple of days. Those couple of minutes with Reynard fussing over me was so worth it!"

Lara shook her head again at Czar's antics. "You should teach a class on How to Get Your Crush in Ten Days!"

Czar grinned. "You think they'd offer a class here?"

With the track practice done, all three of them headed home together. When Lara arrived home, her parents were already home. They were at the living room, with a spread of papers in front of them. "Hi guys," she greeted, kissing her parents. "Where's everyone?" she asked teasingly, knowing full well where everyone was.

Her eldest brother, James, still lived with them because he was working for their family business, Fieldings on Occasions. They had a small office inside the house to allow for working while at home but there was also a main office in town where most people go to for reservations.

Her second eldest brother, Simon and her older sister, Andrea, were both in college. Simon was already a senior while Andy was a freshman. They lived on campus because it was a two-hour drive away from home, and would only come home during the weekends.

As if on cue, James strolled in the kitchen, carrying a stack of papers. "These are the order sheets from last year," he declared as he carefully placed the stack on the coffee table. He glanced at Lara and smiled, "Hey, you."

Lara crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on the doorframe. "Gosh, Mr. James Fielding, always the responsible working man," she said with a teasing tone. But even though she teased him a lot, she was definitely proud of her big brother.

"Don't start with me, Lara," he quipped, "one day you'll be exactly where I am now."

"And where would you be?" she taunted.

"Hopefully, raising a family of my own with a beautiful loving wife," he replied easily, with a wink at her.

Lara straightened. "Ooh, is she someone I know?"

Mr. and Mrs. Fielding weren't looking at them but they were both smiling discreetly as they sorted through the papers. Clearly, they were listening and by the looks of their faces, they knew more. Lara gasped and ran to her brother. "Are you going to propose?" she demanded eagerly.

James grinned and chucked her chin. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

As he walked out the living room, Lara turned to her parents. "Mom, Dad! What's he talking about? Is he going to propose, finally after all these years?"

They merely shrugged at her, secretly smiling still.

Lara rolled her eyes. "Fine, keep your secrets. I'll soon find out!"

She left the living room, heading to the kitchen, although she already knew the answer. Usually, silence meant a yes in her family, and she bounced inwardly with delight.

She hadn't seen Lily Moira Mills, her brother's girlfriend since forever, in ages. And she couldn't wait to see her now with this exciting piece of news. Of course, she wasn't going to tell Lily that her brother was on the verge of proposing. After all, she didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Ooh, maybe the next time I see Lily, she'll already be engaged!

It often amazed her how her brother and Lily were still together after all these years. It was almost five years ago since they first got together at Lizzie Daniels and Jordan Mills', who was Lily's older brother, wedding. Lara had somehow been there to witness how Lily and James fell in love with each other.

And from what she knew, Lily also, as an eight year old, witnessed how Lizzie and Jordan fell in love with each other. Lara contained her unbridled delight in remembering all these love stories. She knew she was being foolish but she couldn't help but think…

If Lily saw Lizzie and Jordan fall in love, and had a hand in causing it; and if she herself saw Lily and James fall in love, and also had a hand in causing it, maybe she too would…fall in love soon?

But that would mean I would have to find a guy whose name starts with a J, and a little girl whose name starts with an L, Lara thought glumly. But then she shrugged her shoulders, pouring herself a glass of milk. She was only thirteen anyway.

As she was adding cocoa powder to the milk, James walked in the kitchen. "You want to come with me? I'm going to pick up Andy and Simon from school."

Lara began mixing her drink. "You sure sound very patriarchal to me."

James laughed. "On a second thought, why don't you just stay here and help Mom and Dad with the inventory?"

"James, I'm thirteen, not thirty," Lara retorted as she reached for a portable thermos and poured in her drink. "I'm going with you!" she announced happily as James, chuckling, went to tell their parents.

"We'll have dinner ready when you come back," Mrs. Fielding promised as the two of them walked out the front door.

"You know," Lara remarked as they got in James' car, "you'd think because we are catering business, our meals would be catered too. Czar and Marianne always wonder why we have to do our cooking."

"Because," James replied as he backed the car out the driveway, "number one, it would be too expensive, and number two, Mom and Dad are the cooks behind our catering business. They just have found other cooks and taught them how to cook."

"It sure sounded easy enough when Mom explained it to me," Lara joked as she sipped her drink. Then, she turned mischievously to her brother, "So, are you going to propose?"

James groaned.

"Yeah that's right. I have, about, four hours to get the answer out of you, and you should know how persistent I can get," Lara said tauntingly, adding an evil laugh to prove her point to him.

"I'll be tight as a clam," he replied firmly.

"Yeah well, clams may be tight, but just use a trusty knife, pry them open and ta-dah!"

"You know," James began with a chuckle, "I think that's the reason why some people find us weird."

"What, opening clams?"

"Instead of using common phrases like 'shut up' or 'give in, loser,' we always put food references in our sibling quarrels," he continued to explain.

"Well, anyone who knows us will understand." Lara shrugged. "Besides, I don't care if some people think we're weird. It's their fault if they're minding other people's businesses."

"Kind of like what you are doing?" James asked, smugly.

"I'm not minding other people's business! Anyway, we're just being metaphorical with our food references. And we don't do it all the time anyway," Lara said with a meaningful look. "So are you going to spill or do I have to gut you up like a fish?"

James wasn't able to control his laughter.

It was almost seven o' clock in the evening, and after almost two hours of asking James if he was going to propose, he didn't budge at all. Lara didn't give up, and instead, taunted him that his silence meant a yes. He merely shrugged and smiled.

Lara reached for James' mobile phone and called Andy first. "We're here, you old hag!"

"Oh, hang on, come on up," Andy chirped to the phone, "Fifth door to the right. I need some help carrying stuff."

As Lara hung up, she turned to James. "She needs help carrying stuff. Fifth door to the right, she said."

"Alright," James nodded as he turned off the car and walked out. "Call Simon too, and stay here. I don't want you wandering out at night."

"Aw, how very loving, caring and fatherly of you," Lara commented, batting her eyelashes at him. She stepped out too, not wanting to be inside the stifling car. As James walked up to the dorm rooms, she dialed Simon's number. He answered on the fifth ring.

"What's taking you so long?" she demanded by way of greeting.

Simon was whispering. "I'm at the library, okay? And I'm just finishing up some books. Get Andy first."

"We're already here, so we'll get to you in, about," Lara estimated how long it would take to get Andy's things, "ten minutes?"

"Cool, I'll be ready then." Then, Simon hung up.

Lara held the phone in her hand and gazed around the nearly empty campus. There were still a few students, she assumed they were students even though they looked a bit old, walking around. She glanced behind her to see if James and Andy were coming down but no sign of them.

She checked the backseat to see if there was anything that needed to be moved in the trunk, but since James was very neat and orderly, there was nothing else to do. She leaned against the car door and breathed in the hot June weather.

She had three more years until she finished high school to able to go to college. Czar and Marianne were always complaining that she thought about college too early. After all, they still had a long way to go before finishing high school. But Lara always explained it was because she was the youngest of four children. Seeing her siblings go to college, Lara couldn't help but feel envious.

She knew college was more serious than high school. Andy had always said high school was all about fun, and college was all about the real world. Lara guessed that she had to agree since college meant majors and thinking about careers. She barely knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, although she figured, there was the catering business.

Three years to go, she thought, I still have a long way to go.

She heard sounds from behind her and saw James with Andy. "Hey, Andy!"

"Hey you old hag," Andy greeted her with a smile. "Thanks for helping," she added sarcastically.

"James said I should stay and guard the car," Lara retorted innocently with a Cheshire grin. "He thinks I'm still eight years old."

"Like you're supposed to leave an eight year old with an empty car?" Andy scolded James. "That's dangerous!"

"Yeah," Lara agreed, "he didn't even tell me to lock the doors."

"I implied it when I said I didn't want you wandering out at night!" James exclaimed indignantly. "You two are a bunch of…" He didn't finish his sentence.

"Charming sisters?"

"Beautiful and loving sisters?"

"No, more like the two evil step-sisters of Cinderella," he finished grimly.

Andy and Lara looked at each other, feigning shock. "Now, don't tell us you're Cinderella? Is Simon your fairy godmother or is he your Prince Charming?" Andy teased.

"You two really are annoying beyond measure," James remarked, shaking his head as he went over to the driver's side of the car. "So, where's Simon?" he asked Lara.

She batted her eyelashes at him again. "Well, Cinder Girl, your Prince Charming is at the Ball but I'm afraid you can't go there because it is us who are only allowed, not mere servants like you. Instead, you are to drive us there!"

Andy chortled. "You're going to have to scrub the floors and the gutters too."

James sighed exasperatedly at them. "I think I like the food references more."

"What food references?" Andy asked curiously.

After telling James that Simon was at the library, they all got in the car and Lara explained the food references to Andy who laughed. "Oh yeah, we are prone to that. Even Mom and Dad," she said.

As James parked the car in front of a three story building, where books could easily be seen through all the windows, he turned to Lara. "You want to get him?"

"Am I allowed? Lara asked. "I don't have a school ID."

"You only need it if you're going to borrow books," Andy said reassuringly. "Hurry up, will you? Or I'll have to skin you alive."

"I think I like the fairytale references," Lara muttered as she got out the car and up the stone steps towards the library doors. Pushing it open, she looked around for Simon. She then only realized how foolish she was because she had no idea what floor he was on.

Deciding than rather going back to the car to call up Simon again, she was going to check each floor instead. She carefully scanned the faces looking for her brother, not wanting to look like a stalker. At the second floor though, she recognized his black and brown backpack, looking in between the rows of bookshelves when she found him.

"Hey, Chipmunk," she hissed. It was one of her nicknames for him because Simon was part of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked, surprised.

Lara shrugged. "It was my face. The guard took one looking at my dashing looks and let me in," she answered, striking a pose for him.

He made a face at her. "Yeah right," he muttered. "Just let me borrow some books."

Lara nodded as he headed towards the Librarian's Desk. She was scanning through the books, not looking where she was going, when she backtracked onto someone. There was a series of loud thuds as several hardbound books fell on the floor.

She whirled around, her face pale with embarrassment. "Oh no, I'm so sorry!"

A tall black haired guy looked at her surprised before he suddenly bent down to the floor to retrieve the books. Lara followed suit, and helped him pick up the books, some of which were so old that yellowed pages had scattered away from the peeling book cover.

"It's okay," he mumbled as he retrieved the books.

Lara reached for a thin bundle of pages, held together by some scotch tape, under the bookshelf, groping blindly with her hand. "I didn't see you," she muttered through gritted teeth as the pages seemed to be moving farther away from her reach.

He knelt down and bending close to the floor directed her. "Just a little to the left…"

Lara snatched it with her fingers and pulled it out. "Here you go, pages fifteen to…" She flipped to the other side, "Forty-five."

He smiled as he took it from her, and inserted it inside one of the decaying books. "Thanks," he said softly, standing up. While his other hand was laden with the books, he held out his other hand to help her up.

"No problem," Lara replied as she gingerly took his other hand, feeling self-conscious as he pulled her up. "It was my fault anyway. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Now that she saw his face clearly, she realized he was cute. Biting her lip and looking away, she decided he was handsome. Or, try gorgeous, she thought frantically as she smiled nervously at him. Gorge!

"Hey, let's go."

She turned to see Simon behind her. Turning back to Mr. Cute Handsome Gorgeous Book Guy, she smiled apologetically at him. "Well, sorry again about the whole-" She gestured towards the books, "book thing," she finished lamely. "I think they survived the fall."

He grinned at her. "Yeah, they're still pretty tough."

Lara walked backwards slowly, sadly thinking this was the last time she was going to see him unless she'd drive two hours everyday just to stalk a library. She waved at him again, and rushed to Simon who was waiting for her.

As her brother ushered her out, a hand on her back, she had time to glance over her shoulder.

Mr. CHG Book Guy was peering past the side of the bookshelf, looking at her. His brow was furrowed as he watched them leave. Realizing he had been caught looking, he managed to smile at her again before Lara heard another series of loud thuds.

I think those poor books fell again, she thought wryly, her heart skipping a beat as she proudly realized he had been looking at her too.

Well, how was that?

Hehe, it's been a while so gotta reorient ourselves with all the people involved! (As in, story1 was about Lizzie Daniels and Jordan Mills; story2 was about Lily Mills, Jordan's younger sister, and James Fielding; now, it's about Lara Fielding, James' younger sister...aaand some special guy!) Teehee.

Plus, I changed the titles a bit, to get the feel of them being a trilogy of some sorts. Struggled a bit with the second story because I think I titled it in a wrong way...I mean, I don't want you guys to forget the story entirely. Haha! Anyway, chapter 1 in a week, hopefully! Hehe. :)