Authors Note: Thank you to my friend Ella for inspiring this chapter! #loveher <3
"Thanks Frypan." Fry passed me two cups of steaming hot chocolate. I guess they had been able to shovel enough snow out of the kitchen to make simple meals. Nothing crazy.
"Anytime y/n." He went on to pass more of the sweet treat to everyone else. Our day in the snow had been a wild success. Everyone laughed and played until the light ceased to exist. Chuck and I's snowman, which we named Mr. Berkshire reached to be six feet tall. We had spent a good hour crafting him. He was the fanciest snowman out of them all, with a proper scarf and hat.
Gally kept trying to kiss me the entire day. I suppose it was to really sell the annoying couple thing but now it was getting irritating. Gally would practically try to makeout with me every time Zart walked by or came close. I had grown sick of it and now just pushed his face away everytime he'd try. Gally was over by his builder friends sipping on his own drink so I knew this would be perfect timing. I snuck out of the homestead, cups in hand, looking for him.
"Hey stranger!" I called out, heading over to the army of snowmen. Zart sat in the middle of the ring that had been created, just staring off into the distance. "Long time no see huh." He looked up at me, but gave no reply. "I brought you something." I held out the drink earnestly. Breathing a sigh of relief when he took it, I sat down next to him.
We drank in silence. Snowflakes had fell on his eyelashes, making them look so pretty. His face was still that standard ruby red. I hoped he would say something. Anything. But he didn't. He just sat there, looking straight forward. We both had finished our drinks and that's when I spoke up.
"I have an idea." I gripped onto his mittened hand, pulling the boy up with me. He looked hesitant, rubbing his lips together. "Come on." I pulled on him with both of my own hands. "I'll show you." Zart gave in, letting me tug him along. It was only when we reached the edge of the pond is when I stopped. It had been frozen over, thickly I hoped. We tossed our gloves off for the next part. "Let's go."
Carefully, hand in hand, we took small delicate steps until we reached the middle. I laid down, he followed my actions. The stars looked so beautiful, dotting the sky like a thousand freckles. The pond felt cold on my back, like a giant ice pack. Ice making my hands stick to it if I wasn't careful. I turned my head to look at Zart, our fingers brushing against each other. He had a beanie on and was staring up at the sky, his breath fogging up the air.
"Are you mad at me? You can be honest." His eyes met mine. "Call me a bitch if you want to." Zart gave me a sad smile. Guilt pushing into my heart. I wanted to hug him, tell him everything was going to be okay.
"I know you're worried about me y/n." His fingers interlaced with my own. My heart started to beat just a little faster. "You don't need to feel bad." My hand was given a little squeeze. "I'll be fine." My lips twisted as I wondered if I'd hurt him badly. "Promise." I let go of his hand and rushed him into a tight hug, my head on his chest.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"Don't be." He paused, his chest rising and falling. "Y/n I know that-"
"Y/n?! Is that you?!" I shot up from Zart to see a shadow weaving through the trees...a shadow I assumed to be Gally. Zart and I got to our feet to see Gally on the pond's bank. I brushed some of the fresh fallen snow off my hair. "With, Zart?!" I had been caught...but I don't think I should've felt that way.
"Don't freak, we were just talking." Giving Zart an apologetic look I said. "I'll see you later okay." He nodded, allowing me to leave. After a tedious walk back to the shore Gally grabbed me by the shoulder.
"What was that about?" He asked.
"Nothing." I shrugged, looking back at Zart one last time. We walked to the treehouse, deciding to turn in for the night. Correction, I walked, Gally interrogated.
"What were you doing with him?" An edge eating at Gally's tone.
"None of your business." I replied, crossing my arms.
"I think it is my business." Something flared up inside me. I spun around to him, stopping in my tracks.
"No it's not. I don't have to tell you my favorite color if I don't want to. I don't have to tell you anything. I was talking to a friend and that's all you need to know." His eyebrows furrowed. I continued the walk, him stomping behind me.
"You weren't just talking you were touching him! You were practically on top of him!"
"So? Why do you care?!" I spat. His attitude over me was really getting under my skin. I started the climb up the ladder. One foot in front of the other. Slamming the door behind me when I got to the top. Just as I fell on to my bed. He swung the door open. Anger so evidently shown on his face, practically radiating off of him.
"Thanks for keeping the door open for me."
"No problem." I shot back. Maybe he was acting. Maybe the whole day had been pretend. Maybe he was really good at playing the jealous boyfriend. Clinging onto that hope, I gave him an out, forcing a smile onto my face. "Aw man that was so good! You're better at this than I thought!"
"What?" Idiot. I started to strip off my socks, wet from the snow.
"You know, at this fake dating thing." I tossed my socks in the general vicinity of my things. "Maybe tone it down on the jealousy though."
"Y/n-" He stopped himself. "Thanks, you're a really good actor too. Sorry if any of that stuff upset you." I contemplated on what to say next.
"You're forgiven." My body ached to be in pajamas. "The stuff I wore last night got all wet. Do you have anything I could borrow?" He pricked up at my question.
"I've got like a whole bunch of stuff over there." Gally pointed at a box. "So just take your pick." I got off the bed to search through his things. Sitting on the floor I found deodorant, underwear, shirt, flannel pajama pants (I tossed the last two aside). Still curious I poked around till I found something very interesting.
A notebook. I started to flip through it. The first few pages were blank. No lines or anything. This wasn't a notebook. It was a sketch pad. I turned a page to catch a tiny glimpse of someone's face when the book was snatched away from me.
"Hey this is mine, not yours." Gally clutched it towards his chest, like I had just smacked his child. "Don't touch it." Now when you tell someone who gets everything they want they can't have something it makes them want it way more. My eyes focused on it.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing." A blush started to creep up his neck.Β I hopped up to my feet.
"Let me see it then. Just give me a little peak."
"No."
"I bet you draw naked people huh." I snapped my fingers. "Or dicks! Maybe you have an obsession with drawing genitalia like Seth fromΒ Super Bad!"
"Who's Seth?"
"Your mom's boyfriend." I said flatly. "Now let me see." He held it out of my reach when I tried prying it away from him. "Come on Gal Pal give me a looksie."
"No-" He was cut off when I jabbed him in the lower ribs with my finger. The sketch book sailed out of his hands landing on an open page.
"Haha!" I cried out in triumph, sliding down on the floor. My hands almost there...when Gally ripped the page out. He seized possession of it once again, crumpling the page up and shoving it down his pants. He stormed over to the window while holding eye contact. He chucked his precious book towards the back of the deadheads. My mouth gaped open at his protectiveness.
"Don't bother going after it. You'll freeze to death."
"Okay psycho." I murmured turning to change.
"Woah." Gally soon became distracted from my shirtless figure.
"Turn around pervert." I ordered, continuing to strip.
"Sorry. I'll uh change too." Once we had both had our new clothes on is when I jumped into my bed. My skin sated by warm, welcoming covers. Gally sat on his sleeping bag below me, about to get in when I stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
"About to sleep. You?"
"Gally it's freezing. You're gonna sleep in that?"
"Well where do you want me to sleep y/n? The roof?" I decided to show some kindness. Gally was my friend and all.
"Come sleep next to me." I demanded, patting the unused side of the bed.
"Y/n I'm not gonna-"
"Come over here now or I'll bite you again. I've seen Twilight Gally, Edward could never compare to me." We stared back and forth at each other for a good minute. "What are you waiting for?"
"You're serious?" Gally started to stand up.
"Get in or I bite. If you sleep in your sleeping bag I'll wake up and find that you died from pneumonia. What would I do then?" Reluctantly Gally finally came onto the bed, settling into the free space. There was space to be apart but I let him stay arm to arm with me. We'd probably need the body heat anyways.
I snapped off the lantern, my head falling onto his shoulder. It was true, Gally did run hot. Even now in the glade's small blizzard his temperature melted my skin. I shut my eyes, relishing the heat. I was sleepy for once, the only problem was this time Gally was restless.
"Y/n why'd you pass out?"