Beneath The Seasons

[3]Frosty Relationships

The door barely clicks shut behind Axel before the tension in the room starts to ease. I let out a long breath I didn't realize I was holding and glance around at the chaos left in the wake of the group meeting. Nate and Will are still here, lounging on the couch with Rory and Abby, while Nick is trying to wrangle Ella's unicorns back into their box.

I plop down onto the nearest chair, my head spinning from the day's events. The awkward project meeting, and now seeing him actually bond with Ella-my brain feels like it's about to short-circuit.

"Hey, Liv," Nate calls from the couch, pulling me from my thoughts. "You okay? You've been kinda quiet."

"Yeah, just... processing everything," I mumble, rubbing my temples. "It's been a weird day."

"No kidding," Abby agrees, rolling her eyes.

I snort, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, 'interesting' is one way to put it."

As if on cue, the sky outside darkens even more, and thick snowflakes start to fall. I glance out the window, watching the snow swirl around, and groan.

"Great. A snowstorm is exactly what we need right now."

Nate chuckles, nudging Will. "Looks like we're stuck here for a while. Might as well make ourselves comfortable."

"Yeah, don't worry about rushing home or anything," I say sarcastically, but there's no real bite to my words. Despite everything, there's something oddly comforting about having everyone here.

Rory, ever the peacekeeper, smiles warmly. "Well, at least we've got each other, right? We can make the best of it."

"Sure, if by 'best' you mean arguing over who gets the last slice of pizza," Abby quips, earning a laugh from everyone except Nate, who's too busy scrolling through his phone.

"You all right, Nate?" I ask, trying to sound casual.

He looks up, his expression unreadable. "Yeah, just thinking about stuff."

I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate, but he just shrugs and goes back to his phone. Typical Nate-always holding things back.

"Well, don't think too hard," I joke, trying to lighten the mood. "We've got a snowstorm to survive."

I glanced over at Axel, who was sitting across from me, his usual scowl firmly in place. For a moment, I thought about telling him to just go home, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the curiosity about why he was still here or maybe it was something else, something I didn't want to think too hard about.

Ella came bounding into the room with a huge grin on her face, totally oblivious to the awkward vibes. She made a beeline for Axel, holding out one of her coloring books. "Axel, look! I colored this one all by myself!"

Axel's expression softened for just a split second before he put on his usual cold mask. "It's... nice," he said, his voice gruff but not unkind.

Ella beamed at him like he'd just given her the best compliment in the world, and I couldn't help but smile a little. Seeing her so happy made it hard to stay mad at anyone, even Axel.

The room falls into a comfortable silence, the kind that only happens when you're snowed in with nothing better to do. Abby and Rory start chatting about some show they're obsessed with, while Will and Nate argue over some game they're playing on Nate's phone. I watch them, feeling a weird mix of contentment and frustration.