SANTA TELL ME ( JOE KEERY ) [SLOW UPDATES]

TWO

CHAPTER TWO - DAY TWO

ARIANA sniffled her nose, she was already cold and she wasn't even outside yet. She clutched her skis close to her side, the streamlined edge digging in just below her bra line, as she carefully stepped down the steps, scared she would fall or hit the walls, or the stair railing with her skis. Surprisingly for an old lodge the paint and wood were not chipped, but instead had the polished traditional look and feel that Ariana adored. Both the Grieves sisters were infamous for their clumsiness. Ariana sighed as the rest of her family waited at the bottom of the long, never-ending stairs. It was seven am and the Grieves were spending their morning skiing, something Whitney and her mother loved to do. Whilst the other two members of the family weren't so keen on it. Both her and her father were similar in the way that they'd rather spent time relaxing in the lodge or exploring the place instead of doing sports in the freezing outdoors, especially this early. However her mother and Whitney were the louder and more controlling parties when it came to what the family would do; and the other two were too passive and unbothered to argue. To be honest Ariana wasn't really fussed with whatever they did, she was easy to please and submissive to decisions; she was like this with all decisions for example meals with friends; she'd just go with whatever they had planned, like she was still a still child sometimes.

Once she reached the ground they all walked to the large doors ready to engulf themselves in the early winter air, Ariana still cautiously tiptoeing. There was something about the whole lodge in general that made the atmosphere beautiful whether it was early or late, cold or warm. Ariana was so preoccupied watching her feet that when she looked up she saw the mysterious boy from yesterday walking in the double doors. He held the door open for her family, a smile on his face as they all thanked him returning the facial expression. He was completely unaware of her and the link of the family, not recognising the three from the previous day. But when his clear gaze landed on Ariana the grin widened, brightening up his face and adorable eyes.

"Hey! I'll catch up with you!" She called to her family, waving her free hand around in a brushing manner, as she breezed towards him a smirk on her face. He let the door swing shut (once the other Grieves family members had began walking toward the skiing area) as he waited mirroring the same smirk, shoving his hands in his coat pockets, a strand of his flopping hair falling over his forehead. He looked exactly the same as yesterday with the same coloured jeans, same boots and same warm, fleeced coat done up just enough to see the white t-shirt peeking beneath. Yet his hair looked more dishevelled and that caused Ariana to stare at it for a moment too long. She tightened her grip on her skis until she reached him, then she leaned them on the wall beside him, feeling that the weight would tire her arm out and that she'd end up hitting someone with them.

"So you're Mr Suitcase, huh?" She breathed sarcastically with a slight giggle, tilting her head, her smirk growing.

His did too as he spoke, his tongue slightly licking his lower lip without him meaning to.

"I prefer to be called your knight in" His pondered for a while, his face lightly crinkling up as he thought "In snow. It's way smoother" His eyes and nose scrunched up as he said it, his head tilting too.

"Ahh" She nodded, with an underlying chuckle in her joking tone "My knight in snow. I like it, very inventive. And festive. The girls must go crazy" She added the last two sentences casually as if they were parts of a shopping list, with a small tilt of her head. She felt much lighter now from dropping the weight and the cramping began to seep into her arm.

"Oh they do" He agreed with a modest nod "But I'm a very loyal knight to you, you see"

She giggled cutely, and shook her head, strands of dirty blonde hair falling from her loose, low bun and whipping her face from the movement. She was about to respond with a witty comment, the conversation seemed to come naturally between the pair. But a snowball crashed into the window of the doors, behind the boy, smashing and spreading all over the glass; causing the pair to jump and the boy almost knocking the skis over. They both curiously peered out the window, the snow crumbling and sliding down the glass allowing them to see the girl standing about three feet away outside.

"Ariana, hurry up! Mum won't leave dad's side and I need you to ski with me! By the time you get out here the snow will have melted and I'll have died of starvation! Come on!" The older Grieves sister called, sighing and flailing her arms about. Her skis laid beside her in the snow and she was warm in her large boots and purple duffle coat.

"I better go" Ariana laughed awkwardly, feeling as if the situation was deja vu, as it mirrored the interaction they had had the previous day.

He nodded as she picked up her skis from beside him, angling them cautiously again, so she would fit them out the door and avoid hitting anything.

He opened the door for her, over exaggerating the gesture and holding his right arm out pointing to it as if he was a doorman at an expensive restaurant. They looked into each others eyes and both smiled sweetly before her sister shouted her name again, causing Ariana to waltz out. Before she followed Whitney she turned her head back to look at him, with a smirk, as he still held the door open, watching her with a dreamy look.  She called to him, her words forcing swirls of physical cold air to whisk in her face,

"Thank you once again, my knight in snow"