Stephew One Shots (MatPat x Stephanie)

A White Christmas

For the first time in years, the Patricks were having a white Christmas. Snow fell gently outside the window of Stephanie's parent's house, making the warm glow of the wood fire seem that extra bit comforting. Love and laughter echoed through the house as family caught up on time spent apart, unable to stop smiling at the loved ones who they finally got to spend time with.

But it wasn't long before the reality of work called Matthew away to work on scripts for upcoming theories, although he promised not to be long. After some joking remarks, he finally set off for the spare bedroom where he and Steph were staying. He pulled out his laptop and got comfy, also arranging some hand-written notes next to him. Giving a soft sigh he got to work, figuring the sooner he got this done, the more time he could spend with Steph and her family.

Soon words were smoothly flowing from his fingers, the gentle clacking of the keys barely audible over the music playing through his headphones. He got lost in his ideas, surrounded by words delicately piecing the theory together. Time no longer mattered and he was absorbed in his work. He didn't hear the knock on the door, and so jumped when it opened and the familiar face of his wife appeared in the doorway.

"Hey stranger," she joked, and he noted the slight smirk she made from startling him.

"Hey darling, how long has it been?" Matt stretched, suddenly feeling the stiffness in his back and legs.

"Three hours. Time to take a break?" She asked, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Maybe, but first I'll just-"

"Oh, come on Matthew, it's Christmas tomorrow! I know you've still got work to do, but I kind of wanted to enjoy the snow a bit while it's still light out," she said, the sweet look on her face enough to melt his heart.

"Okay, okay," he smiled, holding up his hands slightly in surrender, "I'll finish this sentence, save, close up and then get ready to brave the cold."

"Don't take too long, or else I'll start building a snowman without you," she teased, getting a false gasp of shock in response. The two continued joking as Steph pulled out both of their 'going out in the snow' outfits and Matt made good on his promise to finish up script writing.

It wasn't long before he swung open the front door, the cold air hitting them in an unpleasant blast. There wasn't heaps of snow, but just enough to have a bit of fun. Although the low temperature was a mildly unpleasant necessity for the snow, at least they were well prepared for it.

What started as the two of them making a snowman quickly devolved into a full-blown snowball war. Each was pelting the other with compacted balls of snow, while also trying to dodge those being thrown at them.

There was a satisfying thunk as Steph managed to hit Matt while he was "reloading", which caused a groan of mild irritation. But while Steph was busy giggling, she ended up with a bunch of snow directly to the face, causing her to let out an involuntary shriek at the freezing cold sensation as it spread across her face. This, in turn, only made her more determined to get revenge, doing so in hitting Matt right where she knew some would manage to work its way under his collar and down his back. Her actions earnt her a forebodingly cheeky look from her partner, which translated in her mind as run. So she did, her mind echoing back to many similar snowball incidents over the years as she ran as fast as the snowy ground would permit her.

Suddenly the ground became slippery, causing the cautious Steph to slow down. But Matthew was hot on her heels with a handful of snow, and nothing was going to slow him down. As he got closer and closer, he kept calling out the he was catching up to her in her cautiousness. He was only a few steps away when he slightly miscalculated his next step, his weight just a little too far forward. He was sent tumbling straight into Steph's back, the two of them falling into the snow. Matthew landed on top of her, consciously trying to fall as gently as possible and immediately removing his weight from her body. For a few seconds time froze, both staring into each other's eyes as Matthew's face hovered just inches above Stephanie's. Their panting breath appeared like fog in the cold air, a pink flush on both their cheeks that wasn't just from the cold. Everything seemed to stop for just a moment, and suddenly a spark of passion could be felt out in the cold. But just as Matt closed his eyes and was about to lean in, Steph scooped up a handful of snow and pushed it firmly into the right side of his face.

"Hey!"

Her laughter echoed loud and clear as she took in the stunned and displeased look on his face, however her victory was short lived as the favour was swiftly returned. Wiping the snow from her cheek, she didn't hesitate in scooping a handful of snow and just throwing it in his general direction as they both stood to continue in battle. Continually retaliating each other's attacks, they eventually were both covered in melting snow and full of laughter, their thirst for revenge finally satisfied and replaced with a happy tiredness. Calling it a truce (although Matthew insisted he won), they took to dusting the snow off each other. As the sun began to set, the snow was lit with a golden glow, lighting what was their battlefield in beautiful hues.

Matt took off his scarf in an attempt to shake off any snow before it decided to sneak down his shirt. But before he could even think twice it was suddenly wrapped behind Steph, pulling her close into a gentle kiss. The spark of passion returned between the two, warming them from the inside despite the biting wind. The kiss deepened, both enveloped in the comforting familiarity of each other and swept along by the crackling fire that spark had transformed into.

"Still passionate about frostbite prevention, huh?" She said with a wink once their lips were apart.

"I'm always an advocate for frostbite prevention if it means kissing you, Stephanie," he replied, obviously trying to be charming, which got him an eye roll and light shove.

"You are hopeless, Matthew Patrick," she shook her head, smiling none-the-less.

"Hopelessly in love with you," he replied without missing a beat.

"Oh jeez."

"You know it's true."

"Just because it's true doesn't make it any less cheesy," she replied, pretending to gag at his sappy antics.

"But you love cheese!"

"Oh my gosh Matthew!"

"What?" He asked, feigning innocence.

Stephanie let out a short laugh of disbelief, "Oh, don't act coy with me."

"I wasn't acting fishy at all!" He replied, hand to his heart.

"Are you serious," She gave him an unimpressed deadpan look.

"Get it?" he asked, laughing at his own joke, "Fishy because coy sounds like koi, the fish-"

"I didn't need the explanation to understand how horrible that pun was," Steph interrupted.

"Hey! The internet loves my sense of humour!" He retorted defensively.

"Keep telling yourself that, buddy."

The two of them kept up the playful back and forth as they walked up to the back door, Matt holding the door open for her.

"I love you, you dork," She said as she passed him.

"I love you too, light of my life," he replied to a sceptical look, but then was surprised by a peck on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Matthew."

"Merry Christmas Eve, Stephanie."

A/N: Merry Christmas!!! Or Happy Holidays/Appropriate Holiday Greeting if you don't celebrate Christmas!

Okay, I know I'm a bit late, but better late than never, right? It doesn't help I'm working on other projects like a murder mystery event, which hopefully will be cool but is currently just time consuming. I was hoping to write something longer for the holiday season and post it a bit earlier but oh well!

I hope you all have/had a wonderful Christmas, and that you continue to have an awesome holiday break period! I may or may not post something for New Years as I'm going down to my Auntie's house which is a long way away so I probably won't bring my laptop. But you never know! If I don't, then Happy New Year too!

See you in the next chapter!

~Lark