Snow in our hearts

'Uff, damnit!' I cursed under my breath after I took a wrong step and fell face-first into the half-a-metre snow. At this point, I would do anything for a hot bath.

My original plan was to visit my family, which meant returning to the dump I call my home town. It was a cute little village with only a few houses splattered across some hills. Everyone knew everyone, and you surely couldn't keep a secret without the whole village knowing it in at least a week.

I often considered it annoying, especially as a teenager trapped in a hormonal rollercoaster. But when I was 18, I moved to another town and rarely visited anymore. Only in the holidays. Just like now.

With some grumbling, I got up and shook the snow from my jacket and tights. Wrong timing to wear a skirt and no trousers. At this point, I was shivering from the cold, from the harsh wind blowing snowflakes into my face. The darkness of the night had settled on the outline of the hilly land, only the stars sparkling on the sky tent. All colours of the sunset have gone; all the light had vanished. Only a few streetlamps were trying to guide me down the street. But even though they tried their hardest, they were too much covered in snow as if I had any direction on where to go.

I sighed, adjusted the bag, and continued tramping through the white. I didn’t come far. The wind picked up speed, and soon, the curtain of snowflakes was so thick that I could neither see the street lamps nor the street. I stopped in my tracks and padded my red cheeks. My fingers had gone numb, and my hair seemed to freeze with every snowflake catching up in it. All I saw was white, no house, no way. I had no chance to make it to my parents under these weather conditions.

Without further thinking, I turned on the spot and made my way to the next house I could find. My parents thought I would come tomorrow; therefore, I could crash somewhere without them worrying where I was. After some minutes, I found the front porch of a small house, mild light burning behind the window. I blew out a relieved breath as I raised a shivering hand to ring the bell. Nothing happened. I waited.

Suddenly, the door flew open, a familiar face appeared before me. I recognized dark brown eyes, freckles sprinkled on tanned skin and dark hair framing a handsome face. My heart missed a beat for a second, my eyes wide open with surprise. Edward…

‘Goodness, Amber, what are you doing out here in the cold?’ he shouted in concern, his eyebrows furrowed. ‘Get in here, you must be freezing!’ Before I could say anything, he grabbed me and pulled me into the hallway. The door fell shut behind me. ‘Come on, let’s get you out of these clothes before you get sick.’

In one swift motion, he was in front of me. I sucked in a breath at how close he suddenly was. His cologne filled my nostrils, reminding me how good he smelt. His hands wandered to my neck to fetch the zipper and open my jacket. Usually, I would have done that by myself, but I was either too caught off guard or frozen from the cold.

Seconds later, he had taken my jacket, scarf, hat and gloves and hung them up to dry. Only now did I notice that my clothes had gotten wet from the many times I fell into the snow. The coldness had settled deep within my bones, my skin feeling clamped, too tight. I clenched my jaw in an attempt to stop my teeth from chattering.

Edward scrutinized me from head to toe, his forehead wrinkling. Then he shook his head. ‘You definitely can’t stay in those clothes,’ he stated, the corners of his mouth twitching. His gaze wandered to my bag. It was a rather old one and wasn’t made of the most robust material. My whole bag was wet from the snow, soaking my clothes too. Rather than waiting for some response, he took my hand and guided me up the stairs. His fingers were warm, his thumb skimming the cold surface of the back of my hand. My heart started pounding a little faster, warmth spreading in my chest.

He showed me to a bedroom with a broad bed, a desk and wardrobe and many drawings hanging on the wall. I had nearly forgotten what a talented artist he was. Drawings of women and men, paintings of animals and landscapes were all across his bedroom, his desk a chaos of pencils, paint brushes, acrylics, watercolours and papers.

He let go of me and opened the wardrobe, his eyes scanning the content. His hands snatched for a sweater, a pair of sweatpants, socks and boxer shorts. ‘Here,’ he said with a mild smile, handing me a pile of clothes. ‘That should be warm enough. I’m not sure if you also need some underwear, but you can wear mine for now.’ A warm smile tugged at his lips as he went to the door. ‘I’ll make you some hot chocolate. You still like some whipped cream on it, right?’ I nodded just before he closed the door.

I pressed his clothes to my face, taking in his scent while closing my eyes. I couldn’t believe he remembered such a small detail… I changed into his clothes, his sweater hanging loosely down my body. They were cosy and cuddly, just like when you were sitting in front of a lit chimney, embraced with a blanket and some hot drink in your hand.

I slowly made my way down the stairs, searching for Edward. I heard some whistling and followed the sound to the kitchen. He was standing behind the counter with a soulful smile as he prepared two cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream. He whistled some Christmas song as he grooved through the kitchen. Cute.

‘Oh, you’re a fast one!’ he exclaimed as he perceived me standing in the door frame. ‘I’m nearly ready. Take a seat at the table!’ I did as he said, and only a few minutes later, a cup of hot chocolate stood right before my nose. He grinned at me before leaving into another room. He indeed was much more hectically than I remembered.

All at once, I felt a blanket getting wrapped around my shoulders. My head turned to my left, my cheek brushing his loose curls. I felt my cheeks getting red as he tugged me carefully into the blanket, his breath grazing my skin. His eyes were dark, full of emotional depths I hadn’t seen before. His gaze lingered on me for a while before he slowly straightened up again and sat down beside me.

‘Are you feeling better now?’ he questioned, leaning his head to his shoulder. His dark hair fell into his eyes as he grinned a lopsided grin. ‘You looked half frozen before!’

I gave him a light smile, my cheeks still cold from outside. ‘Yes, thank you, I’m better now,’ I assured him as I took some sips of my hot chocolate. He had always made the best. ‘And thank you for the clothes and the drink. That was very considering of you.’ He shook his head with his mouth twisted into a grin.

‘It’s no problem,’ he let me know. ‘It’s the best I could do for you. And you rock my clothes better than me anyway.’ I blushed at his comment, my gaze finding my cup. Edward had always made me compliments when we were still teenagers. He was a charmer but one with the manners of a gentleman. That was probably the reason I fell in love with him. With his easy way of making you feel welcomed, with the way he listened to you and acknowledged anything you told him. He was wonderful. Inside and out. And even though I never felt more understood than with him, I never dared to confess my love for him. All in fear that he would reject me.

‘It’s nice to see you again, Amber,’ he set to speak. My gaze snapped back to him as I felt him taking my hand. ‘I thought about you the last few days, wondering how you’re doing.’ Compassion and longing were mirrored in his eyes as he perceived me. Edward and I hadn’t seen each other in years. I was rarely in town, and he was busy working. We never found the time before to do something together.

‘Well, as you can see, snow isn’t my territory,’ I commented, making him laugh.

‘I know.’ He chuckled, giving me a cheeky look. ‘I always had to drag you out of your house to make you go skying or ice skating with me!’ I stuck my tongue out at him, causing him to give me a playful look.

‘Well, that might have worked when we were younger, but you wouldn’t get me anywhere today!’ I dared to say, knowing how this would turn out.

‘Is that so?’ He smirked.

‘Yes,’ I assured him, making a proud face.

‘I bet I could carry you to the living room.’

‘Yeah, sure.’

‘I’ll prove it to you.’ He already stood beside me before even finishing the sentence.

‘Edward, what are you-?’ I began, but my voice was drastically cut off as he swooped me up into his arms from the chair. One hand was placed under my knees, his other hand right below my shoulder. He started carrying me to the living room, ignoring my attempts to escape his grip. He laughed as I struggled in his arms and chuckled as I scolded him. ‘Edward, let go of me!’ I shouted, knowing he wouldn’t budge.

‘Okay,’ he just said before his grip loosened.

I screeched as I thought he would drop me on the floor and wrapped my arms around his neck to break my fall. Again, I heard his laughter as he held me close.

‘I thought you wanted me to let go of you,’ he mocked me.

‘Oh, you cheeky-!’ I wanted to scold him, but then I saw how close we were. Our noses were nearly touching, our lips only separated by a breath of wind. The time slowed around us; all noises stilled. I only heard our hearts beating in a race against one another. He exhaled a long breath.

‘Hey, Amber…’ he whispered, his voice low and hoarse.

‘Yes, Edward?’ I breathed, my words nearly unhearable.

‘May I do something mad?’ He had come even closer, his lips brushing mine so softly as if made out of silk.

‘Yes, you may…’ My words were nothing but mumbling as he kissed me.