Thin Ice Underneath Pure Snow

Jack stood in his kitchen one mid December morning, looking out his window at the thick blanket of snow that covered the ground, he didn’t hear Taylor as she came from their room and stood beside the open door: “Hey”. She greeted softly: “Hey”. He answered back not turning around. She walked in a few paces: “Didn’t realise the snow’d get this bad overnight”. “Surprised you didn’t see it as soon as you woke up”. “No, I wanted to come in here as soon as I got up”. She looked down at the floor: “I missed you last night”. Jack let out a long breath: “I missed you too”. He replied, a fraction above a whisper: “C-can I…. Can I hold you now”? Jack hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. Taylor walked over and wrapped her arms around Jack’s, intertwining their fingers, he tensed up for a second before allowing himself to relax into her, she planted a kiss on his shoulder: “Can you believe it’s almost Christmas already”? Jack let out a small chuckle: “I can actually, this is the first time it’s snowed in December in years, we’ve got all the decorations up, I spent hours online the other day trying to find you the perfect gift”… Taylor giggled: “Well when you put it like that”…. They fell silent: “I do know I don’t deserve you JJ”. Taylor said after a few minutes, Jack sighed: “Not again Tay I”- “No, baby I mean it, you shouldn’t be giving me anything let alone the perfect gift, but things are gonna change I promise, new year new me and all that cliche crap”. She let out a titter: “I love you, I really, really need you to believe that”. “It’s hard, I want to believe you, b-but”.. he trailed off: “I know, I know, but I’m going to spend every single day from now on showing you that ok”? She hugged him tighter as he closed his eyes, soaking it all in: “I love you too”. He breathed out: “More than anything, Probably more than I should”. Taylor tittered again, nudging him a little: “Definitely more than you should”. She turned him around to face her fully: “But I appreciate it, I appreciate you”. She gave him a long deep kiss which he returned. 

A short while later Jack and Taylor sat at the table eating breakfast and listening to the radio: “So here it is merry Christmas everybody’s having fun, look to the future now it’s only just beguuuuuun”! Taylor sang along, spreading her arms out dramatically, Jack smirked: “Yeah, alright Mariah Carey you’re not auditioning for The X factor, least I hope not anyway sounding like that”. “Oi”! Taylor chastised playfully, nudging him with her foot underneath the table: “Don’t be mean, we can’t all be Broadway stars like you you know”. Jack raised an eyebrow at her: “My offer to train you still stands you know”. “Nah you leave me and my atrocious singing alone, who do you think has more fun on karaoke nights”? “The people that go up on stage and treat it like a professional concert or the people who aren’t trying, who are just letting loose”? Jack nodded: “Mmm whatever helps you sleep at night babe, wouldn’t wanna be as pretentious as me anyway would ya”? Taylor laughed, reaching over to rub Jack’s hand across the table: “Aww baby you’re not pretentious, in fact, lemmie hear you sing right now, go on”. Jack paused: “Come on, you know you want toooo”! Taylor teased, Jack sighed smiling: “Snow is falling, all around me”…. He began as Taylor tapped her hand on the table to the beat: “children playing, having fun, it’s the season, love and understanding, Merry Christmas, everyone”. “Ohhhhhhhg”! Taylor joined in. Jack laughed as Taylor clapped for him: “Very sexy baby”. “Thank you thank you I’ll be here all year”. “Oh not long then”. Taylor quipped before taking another sip of coffee, she then sagged in her seat: “I don’t wanna go to work, can’t we call in sick”? “Have a snow day”? Jack glanced out the window: “Mm, can’t imagine many people being willing to travel in this”. He turned back to her with an excited smile: “Shall we call in and find out”? Taylor smiled eagerly too: “Ok, you first”. Jack picked up his work phone and found his friend’s number: “Hey mate”… “Yeah I know you should see it from our house”! He chuckled: “No, sorry mate, but listen do you know if anyone’s in today”? “No”? “Fantastic”! Taylor smiled wide: “Yeah Tay and I we”- He huffed in frustration, rolling his eyes: “Geez you’re so embarrassing”. He laughed: “Ok ok fine whatever I take it back”. He mouthed “not” to Taylor making her giggle: “Yep ok, see you then, thanks mate, bye”. He hung up. “Yay”! Taylor clapped: “Ok your turn”. Taylor snatched her phone up from the table and hurried to find her friend’s contact: “Hey Ellie”. “I know, bet you’re happy”. She giggled: “Yeah it’s lovely to look at but not to travel in”. “Yeah ok we’ll see but I actually called you to see if you’ve heard from Mandy about work”. She sighed: “You know I call you for other things stop being so clingy”. She laughed: “Uhuh, sorry ignore me you know what I’m like in the morning”. Her smile grew: “Ok great”! “Yeah, yeah you too”. “Don’t worry we will”. “Ok, yeah love ya too bye”. She hung up with a huff: “Ugh that girl”. Jack laughed: “You’re so confusing, one minute you like her the next minute you don’t, make up your mind will you”? “I like her when she’s not being annoying, anyway enough about her, snow day”! She raised her coffee cup to him and he clinked his against it: “Snow day”.

After breakfast Taylor and Jack sat on the sofa watching TV, Taylor laying her head on Jack’s lap: “JOEY DOESN’T SHARE FOOD”! she yelled along as they watched friends, they both then laughed while Jack played absentmindedly with her hair: “What would you do if I suddenly reached over and took all your chips without any warning”? Jack smirked: “Drink all your Prosecco”. Taylor gasped then sat up: “You wouldn’t”.He shrugged: “Guess we’ll have to see won’t we”? “Fine, then I’ll just have to drink all your beer”! “Oh please you hate beer”. “Not as much as I love revenge”. Jack laughed: “Then I’ll eat all your dessert”. Taylor shrugged: “Ok then I’ll just make sure to get something you really hate”. Jack raised an eyebrow at her again: “I can love revenge too you know”. “Even when it comes to pineapples”? Jack made a face: “Fine, you win”. Taylor  smiled: “I always do”. Taylor laid down once more, her head resting in Jack’s lap. They turned their attention back to the TV: “Hahaha, she seemed quite fun despite her criminal offence”. “Mm”. Taylor turned her head to face him: “What’s up”? “Nothing I just, I like seeing you like this, relaxed and happy”. Taylor smiled at him: “I like it too”. Jack lent down and kissed her tenderly. Taylor sat up again: “So, what shall we do after this”? She wrapped her arms around his neck: “I could give you a massage”. She gave him another long, slow kiss: “Show you just how much I love you”. She kissed his neck: “How sorry I am about everything”. She gently nibbled at his ear lobe: “How much I appreciate you”. He sighed gripping her tighter to himself: “Tay”… She batted her eyelashes at him: “Is that a yes”? Taylor immediately hopped off the sofa and began massaging Jack’s feet, she pressed her fingers deep into his feet, toes and in between, Jack sighed in satisfaction: “How’s that”? “Wow”… “Yeah”? “Mmhmm”. Jack nodded, leaning his head back. Taylor slowly moved her hands up to massage his ankles: “Mmm, gosh you’re amazing”. “I know, maybe later I could give you a full body massage”. Jack stilled suddenly: “Sorry no, not if you’re not ready, I mean”-  He sat upright to look at her: “No, no it’s fine… Maybe…. maybe we could work up to that”? Taylor smiled softly at him: “I’d like that”. “Me too”. Jack smiled back.

That afternoon they lay in the snow, looking up at the clouds: “Wow, good thing you didn’t spend all night out here last night, you’d have died of hypothermia”. “Or pneumonia”. Jack joked back: “Or frost bite”. She laughed: “Hey can you imagine, dying of frost bite while eating Frosties”. Jack laughed too: “That wouldn’t be grrreat would it”? They both laughed at that before falling into comfortable silence: “I wonder if the snow’ll still be here when Monica comes”. Taylor mused.  Jack chuckled: “Hopefully not, we’d eventually have to commute in this”. “Haha yeah true, how long’s she staying again”? “About a week”. Taylor’s face fell a little: “What’s with the face”? “I thought you were excited”. “I am, it’ll be great to see her again it’s just…. I know we need a buffer but”- “That’s not the only reason”! She turned to him: “No”? “No course not, I genuinely wanted us to show her round, we haven’t seen anyone from uni since we graduated”. “You’re right, I’m sorry, besides, soon enough needing a buffer won’t even be a factor anymore”. Jack smiled back: “I hope so”. They both turned back around to lay on their backs: “Do you remember our wedding day”? Jack started: “Course I do, happiest day of my life”. Jack smiled: “Mine too, you looked so beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen”. He sighed, taking her by the hand: “Today’s been great Tay, but I don’t want this to just last a few days or weeks, I want this to last forever, I want it to be like how it was at the beginning, how it is for those fleeting weeks when everything feels right, I’d give anything for it to stay like this”. Taylor sat up: “And it will”! She moved closer to him and stroked his cheek: “I’m never gonna hurt you again ok”? “Please don’t be scared”. She whispered, Jack swallowed hard: “I trust you… I mean, at least I think I do”. “You will”. She kissed him tenderly: “Ok, enough sad talk”. Jack decided once Taylor pulled away, he then through a snowball right in Taylor’s face, she squealed in surprise: “What was that for”?! She asked wiping snow from her mouth, Jack laughed: “Didn’t wanna be sad all day did I”? “Did you just say all that stuff to catch me off guard”?! “Well no but it helped”. “Oh I’m so getting you back”. Jack chuckled: “S’wat I’m counting on ba-“ “He was cut off with a handful of snow thrust back in his face. Taylor grinned triumphantly as Jack wiped the snow from his face: “Right come here”. Taylor screamed and leaped out of Jack’s grasp. he took off after her, hurling snow at her as he went. The two spent hours playing in the snow together before deciding to go inside, maybe they were on thin ice, but somehow the snow made almost anything seem possible.