Hearts ✓

B O N U S - T W O

Jake's door was sealed shut.

I pulled the orange cardigan, which was one of two layers I had between myself and freezing cold, and pulled it closer towards my face. Its' skin tight form help gave me the warmth and coverage I needed during this freezing temperature.

A snowflake fell onto my fingertip. It looked nothing like how people described it, no crystal sparkles, no diamond shape, just a plain white lump. Still, it the shiver traveled through my body, like a flammable liquid catching fire. I was freezing once more.

It was December now, and today, I was heading over to Jake's house for us to snuggle up during winter. He had offered to come over or walked with me, but I told him I needed the fresh air, which was true, I had been cooped up in my room way too long.

I exhaled slowly, watching as the white smoke dissipated into the air. I balled up my freezing fist and pounded on his door again, and a moment later, Jake opens the door.

He's wearing baggy pants and a hoodie, he's not wearing slippers though. He waves me in. "Hey, Callie."

I follow him inside, still seemingly unable to grasp the beauty of his house in one glance, every time I try to use my mnemonic devices to remember every detail perfectly, I never get a single detail memorized right to the dot. I still love looking at it because to me, it's intriguing. I had been over here several times over the past few months leading up to the holidays and vice versa, I had definitely warmed up to Jake's house though.

Jake seemed perfectly cooped up on his own, snuggling between at least seven pillows, and god knows how many duvets. He's facing his laptop, watching some video on the topic of 'stunt fails', and is currently lost in admiration. I giggle quietly as I watch him intently, he glances up momentarily only to smirk at my response and face back down.

"What do you feel like doing." He asks, not lifting his eyes off the brightly lit screen, the colors pixeled, because apparently, that's the way he enjoys it.

"I really don't know," I say, sarcastically. "How about a long freezing walk."

Understanding my point of desperately needing warmth, he pats the empty spot next to him and motions me over, "Grab the popcorn, will you."

"Lou, can you get the popcorn!" I call, as I lay next to Jake, he chuckles and shakes his head at my ingenious response, slowly, he moves aside so I can catch a glimpse of the screen.

Moments later, Lou comes in all jumpy with excitement, Caty stuck on her phone slightly behind her, and hands over the bowl of popcorn to me. Jake flashes his little sister a thankful smile, and we continue to watch internet gibberish that Jake seems to casually find.

"It's the" Caty choruses.

"Caty. No." Jake shrinks into the blanket out of embarrassment, until I laugh quietly, and plant a kiss on his forehead.

"It's the," She continues.

"No. Stop this instant."

"It's the most wonderful," She smiles knowingly. "TIME OF THE YEAR!"

"Why am I the only boy." Jake groans, as Caty, Lou and I all share a joint laughter. When his sisters tease him, Jake's cheeks flush into a shade of crimson.

"Okay everyone, my girlfriend and I are going to step away from my psychotic sisters and head over to my room." He grunts. "Take note: away from my sisters."

Luckily for Jake, his room happens to have a door connecting to the terrace. Leading me in with a blindfold, Jake carefully maneuvers his steps so I don't trip on anything unnecessarily, or bump into a wall.

Eventually, I feel myself being led to a place separated by a door. The unknown location is outdoors and comes with a lot of wind. I notice that I'm shivering subtly, but I choose to ignore it. I'm standing on the terrace. Slowly, I can feel the blindfold being untied delicately, Jake's warm breath is sending chills down my spine as he unties the knot.

My breath is taken away at the sight. I've never seen the view from Jake's terrace before, it's breathtaking. A pool is located parallel to the form of Jake's house, and surrounding it are freshly trimmed trees, giving off a slight breeze along with, the regular winter cold.

"Jake."

But he doesn't wait, he presses his body against body, his muscular frame shielding me from any danger, and his eyes, they're staring into mine. Suddenly, leans in presses his lips against mine while we're leaning over the balcony of the terrace. We're nowhere near falling, though, and for a good two seconds, all the weight on my shoulders seems to lift up leaving me free. "Merry Christmas, Callie."

I catch my breath. "Merry Christmas." I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders as he wraps his arms around my waist, and I lean my head on chest, right above his heart, where I can hear the simultaneous breathing.

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Okay, this might've not been the best bonus chapter, given it took me way too long to write and the fact that I now have the plague known as 'writer's block', I simply don't have any ideas of what to write, so if your up to it, feel free to spam my inbox with creative ideas.!

Currently, I happen to be sprawled on the couch located somewhere in my house, and I'm basically catching up on stories I've written as a child. Though I seem to have no intention to republish these homemade creations that I've crafted, twelve-year-old Soph seems to already have a knack for writing hopeless romantic stories and plot inconsistencies.

Rekindling the most ~way to formal~ greeting written at the end of a chapter my twelve-year-old self had written is

Yours truly,

Soph