'A Snowy Fate' Wii Deleted You AU

Realization

Austin and I spent the next hour traversing the mountain. A couple of times we tried to ask some people where we could leave or where we were, but all of them told us the same thing; get to the top of the mountain and we could get a bus down from there. I was getting quite tired at this point and was lagging a few meters behind Austin. We had been walking for ages.

"Come on, pick up the pace!" Austin turned back and glared at me. 

"I'm sorry I'm tired!" I sighed and kept going. We trudged through the snow for another hour, until we were both extremely exhausted. We came out into a more open space and sat on top of a huge mound of snow. Below us were some skiers battling against raging winds. I was just glad the wind wasn't up where we were. The skies were starting to clear and soon we had a beautiful blue sky over our heads. The view from up there was incredible- I could see fields of snow stretching for miles. 

"Okay, maybe it is time for a break," Austin huffed. I could tell that he was tired, which was a surprise. I spotted a fresh patch of snow a little down the mound and I suddenly got an overwhelming urge to step into it and watch my foot sink in. It seemed satisfying. I got up and started advancing down the mound, when Austin stopped me. 

"Hey, what are you doing?!" he asked.

"What? I'm just going down to play in this fresh show." I gestured to the patch of snow. I saw a smile form on Austin's face as he let out a small chuckle. I was surprised; for once, his smile looked...genuine. However, he quickly shook his head and got rid of the smile, hiding his true emotions as usual.

"Here, at least let me help you down. You're so skinny I'm worried you'll fall." He said it as an insult, but it really didn't sound like one. He said it sort of...gently...and as if he didn't mean the insult. I was bewildered; Austin was...helping me? He'd never even talked to me without insulting me or trying to hurt me, and now he was helping me? What was he thinking? Before I could think of anything else, he took me by surprise when he swiftly grabbed me by the waist and lowered me down onto the fresh patch of snow. My heart started racing. He was being like a normal person for once. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all? My face got all hot and I was embarrassed after that. Suddenly I got a really funny idea. 

"Hey Austin, wanna make snow angles?" I said, jokingly. 

"Don't you mean snow angels?" he asked. I started to chuckle and tried hard not to laugh while answering.

"N-no, I mean snow angles!" My voice went all wobbly as I tried to keep my laughter in. I flopped into the snow and fell into a 90° angle shape with my body. Austin understood the joke and burst out laughing- like he hadn't laughed in years. (Honestly that last part might've been true...) After he forced himself to calm down, he pulled me back up and we both lay down on our backs to stare at the clouds. 

"Y'know..." he began saying. "You're actually not that bad." 

My eyes went wide. Was I really hearing this? Sweat trickled down my forehead as I thought of a response.

"Haha, yeah...neither are you," I said. I finally began to realize that perhaps this was a turning point for Austin and I. Perhaps, we could start over and forget about the past. He was actually kind of nice...in a way. 

I suddenly got a pang of guilt from what I did to him. I started to regret my actions a lot. However, I decided not to bring it up... it was better saved for when we got back.