Played.

24: "Okay, Here Goes."

"Close your eyes."

"What? Why?"

"Stop asking questions." I placed my hands over his eyes from behind.

"I can't see."

"That's the point, honey."

I guided him carefully through the backyard, leading him around the side of the glistening pool, and further down, to the grassy area.

"Are you ready?" I asked, slowly sliding my hands off his eyes, and resting them on his shoulders.

I smiled, as we both stood outside, in the two degree weather, surrounded by thousands of beautiful, angelic flakes, cascading from the sky, each one twirling and spinning gracefully. They laced the ground, glittering in the dim light coming from the runway lights on either side of the backyard.

From behind, I positioned myself on my tiptoes, placing my chin on Marcus' shoulder, and flicking my eyes to look at him; his mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide. He looked adorable, like a little kid opening presents on Christmas day.

"Maddie, it's amazing." He breathed.

Somehow, he made it sound like this was his first snowfall, which I doubt, since he came from Canada.

We stayed there, frozen for a few minutes, until out of nowhere, Marcus moved away and ran down to the back of the yard. His sudden movements made me lose my balance. I gradually regained it, then raced after him.

"What are you doing?" I shouted to him.

There was no reply.

"Marcus, where are you?"

Still no reply.

Splat.

I felt a cold, hard substance hit the back of my head. I turned around, seeing a small pile of snow in the shape of a lopsided ball. Finally, it clicked; Marcus wanted to have a snow fight.

Thinking about my plan of action, I quickly dropped to the icy floor, gathering up ammunition in the form of snowballs. I spun, trying to locate Marcus.

Gotcha.

He was hidden behind a tree. Pretending I didn't see him, I ran and hid myself behind another tree, that had a direct view of his. I prepared one of my weapons, throwing it at his face.

Hit.

I heard him shout, and saw him run out from behind the tree, in my direction. Oh shit, I've been found. Abort mission. I charged out, throwing my snowballs at him, all at once. He did the exact same. We both dropped to the floor, throwing sloppy piles of snow at each other, in an attempt to win.

Marcus collected a large pile of snow, and springing to his feet, he dropped the whole thing on top of me. The coldness surrounded me, falling from my hair, and travelling down my clothes, making me scream and curl up on the floor to protect myself.

"Okay! Okay! I give up!" I surrendered.

"Ha! I knew I would win!" He stretched out a hand to lift me up.

I sat up, taking it and pulling him down to the floor next to me.

"Hey, no fair! I was trying to help you." He said, pulling me back down, so I was lying on my side, and wrapping his arms around me.

"Don't touch me, loser!" I laughed, trying to escape.

"Shut up!"

"Let go, it's cold!"

It was then he realized that all I was wearing was a thin sweater and skinny jeans, which the melted snow could easily get through. He stood up, brushing himself down, and helped me up.

He took off his jacket, draping it around my shoulders. "You must be freezing."

"No, you take it, you'll get cold."

"I don't care. Keep it, I've got another sweater on." He started to rub up and down my arms, rapidly trying to generate heat.

Giving up on that, he drew me into a tight hug. I put my arms around his waist, pulling him in closer, he felt warm and nice. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, but eventually, I slipped back, looking up at him.

"You've got a little snow in your hair." I laughed, running a hand through his wet hair.

"Would you look at that, so do you." He smiled, pushing part of my hair back, off my face.

Everything went still. There were no noises, no movements, no space between us.

Suddenly, our foreheads were against each other, our noses almost touching. I looked at his chocolate eyes, with a familiar feeling in my stomach. He pushed his face forward, steadily, his lips brushing off mine. I felt weak. I moved my hand, that was tangled in his hair, and used it to gently push his head forward further, so that our lips collided.

It was soft and beautiful, our lips moving as one. His lips were warm and inviting, making me want more. His tongue slowly danced across my bottom lip, and slipped into my mouth, which I gladly opened, to join my tongue, performing a perfect routine together. It was so beautifully in sync, I couldn't help but inwardly smile, never wanting it to end.

I continued to slowly run my hand through his hair, bringing the other one up to join it, putting it on the back of his neck, and playing with the hairs on the bottom of his hairline.

The tingles in my stomach exploded into sparks. It was confirmed. My idea was comfirmed. I pulled away, my eyes slowly fluttering open, only to be met with his enchanting pair.

At first, there was silence.

"Marcus -."

"Maddison, there's something I want to tell you."

I sensed something important coming on, he only ever called me by my full name when it was serious. I nodded my head ever so slightly, encouraging him to go on.

"Okay, here goes." He exhaled heavily. "I -. I -. Oh, fuck it. I like you, a lot. And I know we're best friends. And I hate that. I hate that I have to pretend like I don't want to kiss you all the time. I hate that I have to pretend like I don't want to hold you in my arms and just lie there all day, doing nothing. I hate that I have to pretend like I'm okay whenever we're together, because, honestly, I'm not. I just -." He sighed.

"This is so soppy, but you're honestly the most beautiful person I've ever met. It's everything about you. Not just your perfect face, with your pretty eyes, soft lips and glowing skin, but your perfect personality too. The way you're cute and sassy and silly, all at the same time. I adore the way you blush when you get embarrassed, like you are right now, sorry." He laughed, trailing a finger along my cheek.

"The way you can always make me laugh with your lame jokes and stupid sense of humour. You're so weird, like, a total freak, but I love it, and I woudn't change any of it for the world."

"And I know this is a real shit and cheesy way of telling you, you know; out in the snow, at night, boy holds girl, it's like something out of those chick flicks that you love so much, and I'm sorry, I -."

"Shut up and kiss me." I crashed my lips back into his, feeling the warm sensation I had felt only moments ago. It was just as perfect as before, but this time, it just felt right.

He broke the kiss first.

The snow was still falling heavily around us, making it seem magical, it sure felt like it.

Marcus looked at me. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, Maddison Court, will you be my girlfriend?"