Beauty and the Beast

8

It was stupid, so stupid that she left without a coat on because it was a whiteout, and as soon as she got on the horse and she started it got slightly colder as the horse galloped and the wind became stronger. The horse was struggling against the snow and the branches and the bats as they were flying all around them. Stevie felt the horse fall and an icy cold encompassed her legs as she realized that the horse, not being able to see had ended up in the water. She gasped and tried her best to spur the horse on. Eventually, through her boots, she felt the pinpricks of the cold icy water and she knew that what was coming probably wouldn't be a good thing. She started to sob then and the horse finally got on dry-ish land again. 

And one point the horse was struggling so bad that it started to buck and it threw Stevie off as it's reign caught around a tree branch. It was hard for her to move but she fumbled against the horse trying to climb back on it and untangle it but it kept bucking and at one point Stevie's head hit the tree and she passed out. When she woke up there was a pack of wolves encircling them growling and snarling, and she couldn't figure out why they weren't attacking them, but she stayed still to the best of her numb body's ability.

***

Back at the Castle, Lindsey came busting down the stairs into Mick and John. 

"Where is she?" He asks.

"I think the question we should be asking is what did you do." Mick crosses his arms glaring at Lindsey.

"I caught in her in the west wing and I may or may not have choked her. A little bit. I didn't hurt her did I? I need to find her and apologize." He begs.

"Lindsey, she just ran out. Wasn't wearing a coat or anything." John points to the door.

"She's out there without a coat. At eight o'clock at night...the wolves." Lindsey says hurriedly grabbing his heavy winter coat off of the coat rack and his rifle from the gun rack all of which were conveniently placed in the entryway. 

He had gone hunting with his father and his brothers several times and one thing was for sure. The wolves were vicious and she could very well get eaten. With that and the fact that she wasn't wearing a coat in mind he quickly made his way out into the winter storm. 

When he found her, he saw the wolves circling and the horse slightly panicked. The only reason they weren't eating was that the Alpha wasn't there so he fired off the gun and the dogs scattered. But then they quickly turned their attention to him and they started attacking. He was picking them off one by one to get to Stevie and he could see that she was slowly developing Frostbite. She was crying and they shared a look before he flung her over his shoulder and quickly untangled the horse. He was carrying the gun in the hand that was holding Stevie and as they started their trek back to the castle a wolf jumped at Lindsey causing Stevie to scream. He somehow managed to fire the gun and then as the wolf fell Lindsey let out a loud scream. He had been scratched deeply and Stevie could just make out the blood dripping onto the snow from the opposite arm. 

Stevie was shocked to say the least and all she did was held onto him as tight as she could and cried into his shoulder. 

***

When they got back to the castle Lindsey had placed them both in front of a roaring fire and Christine started wrapping her in many blankets. After she sipped some tea and warmed up for a while, she saw Lindsey examining his bicep and slowly dabbing at it with a dry towel. 

"You're hurt." She says after a moment. 

"I'm fine." He states. 

"No, you're not you're going to make it worse. Here." She says shoving a rag into some boiling water. 

Once she wrung it out she slowly made her way over to Lindsey and pulled his hand away from it. She placed the hot rag on his arm and he screamed.

"THAT FUCKING HURT!" After he bellowed the servants jumped and started slowly inching out of the room, not wanting to witness what would happen when he blew his top. 

"Well if you'd hold still it wouldn't hurt as much." She spits. 

"If you hadn't of run away this wouldn't have happened." He growls.

"IF YOU HADN'T CHOKED ME I WOULDN'T HAVE RUN AWAY!" She bites. The servants slowly, shocked at her outburst, started going back to their original spots in the sitting room. 

She had been there for six months and she had acted like a servant and a prisoner for those six months. Now she was asserting dominance to prove she was an equal and the bystanders were thrilled. 

He goes to say something but he shrinks back into his chair. "Well, you shouldn't have been in the West Wing." 

"Well, you should learn to control your temper." She replies. "This might sting a little." 

He winced while she cleaned up her wound but he let her do as she pleased. It was while she was dabbing at her arm that she said. 

"Thank you, Lindsey...for saving my life." 

"You're welcome." He responds looking at her. 

Once his arm was bandaged up, Lindsey bites his lip and looks at her. "Um, Steph...can I call you that?" 

"Sure." She nods wrapping up further into the blanket. 

"Would you like to make Hot Cocoa with me?" He asks.

"Make hot cocoa with you?" She inquires. 

"Yeah, my mom and I used to make hot cocoa together all of the time. I'm 35 years old not and I was like ten then but when I miss her even if it's the hottest day of the year I make it and it helps me think of her." He explains.

"I would love to make Hot Cocoa with you." She smiles as he beams and stands up. 

She follows him into the kitchen and they get to work. 

***

While they're drinking their hot chocolate she curls up next to him on the couch in front of the fire and he starts strumming his guitar. The sweet melody of him playing ultimately makes her fall asleep against his non-injured bicep and when he hears the sweet snore coming out of her mouth, he stops strumming and makes himself comfortable wrapping his arm around her completely.