Snowed In (1)

t w e n t y - f i v e

When I wake up, my eyes blink rapidly to adjust to the light gleaming through the window. I immediately sit up, wincing from the painful kink in my neck. Standing and gently pushing Winter's arm off of me, I stand back with a small sleep smile on my face. I rub my tired eyes as I look at his sleeping figure.

His dark hair is disheveled from sleep and his lips are slightly parted as he inhales and exhales gentle breaths. His thick eyebrows are pulled together as he dreams and he shifts a little bit, his head lulling in the direction my head once was. When his head finds nowhere to rest, he wakes up in a jerk and his eyes slowly open like a thick and heavy curtain.

I watch him look over to my previous spot with confusion before his eyes glide over and onto my figure standing over him. Feeling a little bit creepy for watching him sleep, I give him an innocent smile. His response is immediate, a sloppy grin thrown into his handsome face.

I fight a smile when his hand reaches out and his finger curl around the fabric of the t-shirt I borrowed from him. He gently tugs me towards him and pats the spot next to him. I shake my head with a grin. "I want to see what it looks like outside. Maybe the plows cleared some snow out last night." I whisper, careful not to wake Dakota who somehow fell onto the floor last night bundled in a blanket as he drools profusely on the large rug.

He looks up at me, tilting his sharp chin defiantly. "That can wait." His voice is low, muggy, and smooth. It reminds me of the left side of a piano; low and melodic.

I look down at my bare legs, cursing myself for not changing into pants to prepare for the cold winter night. "Okay maybe I can rest for a little while."

"Just for a little while." He echoes, pulling my down next to him and wrapping me in his blanket. My cold legs touch his warm arm as I pull them to chest and I'm about to apologize but before I can, he grabs my ankles and placed my legs onto his lap. My lips press together to contain my smile when he begins rubbing the skin, the friction warming them up.

"Better?" He asks in a hum of a whisper.

I nod. "Yeah, thanks." I lay my head on his broad shoulder, taking the smell of his cologne and the leftover smoke from the fireplace in the fabric of his sweater.

"Are you ready for all of this to be over?" He suddenly asks me. For a moment my heart freezes, misunderstandings his words and for a split second thinking he means us. My heart pounds in relief when I realize he's speaking about the snow storm.

"Yeah I guess I am." I sigh, tucking my hair behind my ear, placing my hand flat on his chest.

"You guess?" He chuckles, the bravado vibrating my hand. "We're in the middle of a weather catastrophe and you're not ready for it to be over?" His tone is light and teasing.

"I didn't say that I don't want it to be over. I said that I guess I'm ready for it to be over. It hasn't exactly been a horrible experience being locked in here with you, you know." I inform him casually.

His large hand moves down my calf and warming every cold inch of skin it touches. It wraps around my left foot, rubbing circles into the heel. I've never had a guy rub my feet before and I've certainly never met one that's okay with rubbing my prickly legs so I feel slightly uncomfortable with this.

But as his hand moves smoothly over the skin, pulling at my toes gently, his expression remains nonchalant as if he doesn't mind doing this for me at all and even seems to be doing it subconsciously.

"Yeah it's been nice." His head leans to the side, resting it on the top of mine. "But after this we'll actually get to hang out."

"You're right." I reply. "Do you think that after this things will be...I don't know, different?"

"Why do you seem so worried that after this is over that I'll somehow not like you anymore or not want to hang out with you?" He asks my bluntly, rubbing comforting circles into the arch of my foot.

My jaw ticks to the side as I think. "I don't know...I think I'm just worried that's all."

"Don't worry about that, Sam. I know for a fact that even if this storm had never happened, I would be completely infatuated with you either way." Winter confesses, his hand coming to a stand still.

I swallow, trying to contain my grin at his words. "Really? But how do you know that? We might not have ever spoken."

"Maybe not." He shrugs, my head bobbing slightly, "But I don't need to talk to you to know how special you are. When I saw you acting like a lunatic in your bedroom I knew you were someone I had to know." He laughs.

My hand slaps his chest lightly. "I was not acting like a lunatic...but I guess I see your point. We're neighbors so I suppose it's only natural we'd end up friends sooner or later."

"We're more than friends, Sam." Winter picks up his head, bringing my attention to his face.

"I know." I respond quietly, my eyes looking back and forth between his.

"Does that still scare you?"

"It never scared me, Winter." I give him a small smile. "It's just been a little too good to be true and it's taken me a little bit to come to terms with my feelings and to admit that they're real. I know it sounds cheesy but that's the truth." I explain with, what a hope to be, an honest expression.

"Well at least I know you're not planning to break my heart into a million pieces." He jokes, wrapping the blanket tighter around us to ward off the cold.

I laugh, shaking my head. "If anything, it would be the other way around."

"Why is that?"

"Because there's no way I'd ever do anything to lose you." I say, immediately feeling embarrassed of the cheesy sentence.

"You look so red." He laughs, rubbing my cheeks with the pad of his thumb. "I feel the same way, don't worry."

I chuckle along with him. "Sorry sometimes I just get a little uncomfortable with talking about my feelings."

"I understand." He rests his head atop mine once again.

We don't say anything else as I lay against him, his breathing slowing until I'm positive he's fallen asleep. I carefully lift my eyes, my eyes running over his clear skin and long lashes.

After a few minutes, I hear Dakota stirring from his spot on the floor and soon I hear him speak, "I dreamt that you and Winter were confessing your love for each other and then you got married and I was single for the rest of my life and didn't have abs anymore." He says groggily.

I laugh quietly. "Don't worry, we didn't get married. And I doubt you'll be single for long. We're twins, you have to follow everything I do including fall in like with someone."

"Fall in like? Sam, that's not a thing." He sigh, rubbing his eyes and regarding mine and Dakota's current state with an upturned nose.

"Well I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm in love with Winter. Sure, I like him a lot and it could lead to love but to say I'm already in love with him is extremely fast." I snort.

"You speak the truth, wise one." Dakota tells me, pushing himself back up onto his half of the couch and opening my laptop. "Now to finish the movie."

My eyebrows pull together in confusion. "You're finishing Tangled?"

"How else am I supposed to find out whether she figures out that she's the missing princess or not?" He mumbles, looking annoyed.

"Okay, geez, go ahead then. I'm going back to sleep." I state, closing my eyes.

"Yeah whatever. I'll just be over here third wheeling like usual."