As the Snow Falls

Chapter 9

"Do you want some hot chocolate?"

"What?" I heard Cassie, but I knew she couldn't mean hot hot chocolate. I didn't think that was possible with our situation.

"I found a thermos and a can of mix, and boiled some water earlier... so we have hot chocolate!" The grin on Cassie's face is adorable and I can't resist kissing her.

"I would love some hot chocolate. You're just full of surprises, huh?"

"I've got a few up my sleeve." She grins before moving out of my arms to grab the thermos and two mugs. I already miss the feel of her in my arms but try to brush the thought from my mind. I was obviously getting too attached, way too fast.

Who says it's way too fast?

Stop that.

Cassie passes me one of the mugs before slipping back into her spot and I tuck an arm around her before sipping my drink. "This is actually pretty good, Cass. Thank you." I press a kiss to the side of her head.

"You're welcome. I'm glad it all worked out, I was kind of stressed that you wouldn't like all of this."

"People don't normally take the time to do things that they think I'd like... so this is all amazing and I love it."

Cassie smiles up at me before turning back to the TV. I take another sip of my drink as we watch, savoring every second here. I didn't know how much longer we had here together, but I wasn't going to waste a minute.

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"Okay, just remember. I've got a good grip on this, and you will definitely not have to stay out there for more than a minute. Maybe too. And that's only if you fall. Which you won't."

"Wow, Cass. I feel so much better! You're not that great at pep talks, baby." I giggle, pressing a kiss to her lips.

"You know, I'm gonna let that insult slide since you said 'baby'." She laughs.

After our movie, we'd found some rope in the kitchen that's normally used for boxes of food, but we'd tied it together for our next adventure. And by adventure I mean me climbing out the window to see if we can walk on the snow, with the rope tied around my waist. I was not excited in the slightest.

"Here," Cassie says, shrugging out of my coat. "You need this more than I do right now."

"But..." I start.

"I'll take it back once you're back inside, safe and sound." She says, taking on a serious tone. I really didn't want to do this, but I'd rather I do it than have her do it. And as silly as it seemed, it was one of our only current escape options. We had to see if it was possible.

"Okay. Here goes nothing." I step forward sort of awkwardly thanks to all my layers and step onto the chair. The snow has slowed significantly since I last checked, but it was still coming down enough that we were still worried. The snow was deep, resting just below the bottom of the window. I'd stopped guessing how deep it was. Once my other leg is out the window, I sit on the sill for a moment to prepare myself. Then as gently as possible, I set my foot down.

The snow crunches beneath my shoe, but it only dents a few inches before stopping. Carefully, I put all of my weight on my foot before letting go of the window and taking a step. I sink a little further on this step, but feel confident that I won't go further.

"I think that there must've been some rain with the snow so it froze the top layer!" I call out to Cassie. I don't dare turn around, but know she's watching intently from the window. The goal was for me to get to a window on the building across the street, to see if it would open. Or if anyone was inside. Or just to see if we could make it across the snow. Whichever came first, really.