18 Days

2. Day Two;; Beautiful Disaster

I woke up to the sound of a loud, obnoxious knock at my door. Well, at first I didn’t think it was at my door, but when it happened two more times, I managed to drag myself out of bed and over to my door.

In my sleep-induced haze, I didn’t think to check through the peephole to see who it was. I flung the door open, and was greeted with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. I was awake in an instant, greedily grabbing for the Starbucks cup. Unfortunately, the cup was being elusive and floated away from my grasp.

“What, no moan of pleasure at the sight of such a commodity?”

I eyed Marc warily, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the doorframe. “How about you give me that cup now and I’ll moan your name?”

He rolled his eyes, his façade crumbling. As he laughed, he handed over the coffee he brought for me, and I allowed him into my basement apartment.

We settled into my small kitchen, him sitting at the table and me leaning up against the counter. “So, my deliciously diabolical defenseman, what brings you to my place so early in the morning?”

Marc furrowed his eyebrows at me. “Chels, it’s one in the afternoon.”

At the little revelation, I quickly looked to my left. Sure enough, it was one p.m. “Wow. What time did we actually get to sleep last night?”

The chair scraped lightly against the tiled floor as he stood up. “I don’t know about you, but I was asleep by eleven.”

He stood before me, his height challenging me. I welcomed said challenge with a smile. I had previously been slouched against the counter, but I stood straight. “Oh that’s right. Last night I dreamt I ravished you raw.”

He leaned casually against the counter, supported by his right hand, “Oh? And how did that go?”

I pursed my lips. “Marc, if you buy me coffee, you can’t try to seduce me and then steal back said coffee.” I kept eye contact with him as I drank the rest of the coffee.

“I’m going to have a shower, skipper. Try not to go through my drawers.”
---
After I snuck from my bathroom into my bedroom wearing nothing but a towel, I began to dig through my closet for something to wear.

“Chels, I’ve got a surprise for you,” Marc sang through my door.

After I did up my pants, I threw open my door. “I just got dressed, Marc.”

He rolled his eyes, leaning against the doorframe. “This involves you wearing more clothes.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What involves wearing more clothes?”

It was then that he pulled his hands out from behind himself. It was just a bundle of fabric. “What is that?”

“A hat,” he said, pulling a black knit hat over my head, “to keep your ears warm.” Next, he pulled out a pair of mittens, to which I put on myself. “And mittens, to keep your hands dry.” The last thing he clutched in his hand was a scarf – my scarf – in his hands. “And a scarf to pull it all together.”

After he wound it around my neck, I was still confused. “Why do I have to wear this?”

He gestured with his head at a window. “Look outside.”

I did as I was told, and was pleasantly surprised. “It’s snowing, Marcus!” I yelled, enthused at the sight of the fluffy virgin powder.

I felt as giddy as a child, as I skirted across the hardware floor and nearly bumped into him. “You made it snow?” I gasped gleefully.

He nodded, completely serious. “I spent the entire weekend trying to figure out how to solidify rain.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and grabbed his sleeve. “Come on Marcus, let’s go outside!”
---
It was a beautiful day outside. Regardless of the fact that it was snowing like crazy, the sun was out. It was one of those rare days in New York, but I would take what I could get. My breath still came out in wispy white puffs, but Marc and I had managed to walk all the way to Central Park without complaining of freezing appendages.

We had been walking down a path, when I heard the joyous laughter of children. Due to the fluffy new snow, my brain automatically made the connection. “Wollman Memorial Skating Rink!” I squealed. “Come on!” I took off before he had a chance to respond.

“Chelsea!” I heard him call after me.

“Yes?” I yelled, stopping to face him.

As he was running to catch up with me, I’m not sure what happened, but before I knew it, he was sliding towards me. He tried to stop himself, but his feet came at me, and kicked my feet out from under me. As I fell forwards, he was already on the ground, waiting to break my fall.

My forehead connected with his jaw, and as he groaned due to my weight, I groaned due to the pain that spread through my forehead. My elbow also connected with his stomach, and his groan turned into a wheeze. I grabbed onto his jacket, pushing my head as far into his shoulder as I could to relieve the pressure in my forehead.

Marc inhaled sharply. “Chels?” He asked softly.

“This is all because I kicked a soccer ball at you, isn’t it?” I mumbled into his jacket.

I moved uneasily as his body shook with quiet, restrained laughter. “I swear this was completely accidental.”

I finally looked up at him, scowling. “Bullshit.” And then I grabbed a fistful of snow and shoved it down the neck of his jacket.

I then rubbed my gloves over his face, and was rewarded with a pink tinge to his skin. “Oh baby,” I crooned, “you’re pink!”

He spluttered, wiping away what snow he could. “Chelsea Marie, you better run like a fucking jack rabbit.”

My eyes glittered in anticipation at the tone of his voice. He wasn’t angry, but I still shrieked as he shoved snow at me. I scrambled off him, taking off towards the skating rink again. There were scattered skaters around, not enough people to be in my way as I stepped out of the snow and...

…slid down to my ass as soon as I tried to run on the ice.

I was startled at my sudden lack of height, which ended my laughter. Marc, on the other hand, found it the funniest thing in the world, as he slid to a clean stop in front of me.

At the look on my face, however, he clamped his mouth shut in an effort to stop laughing. However, his eyes gave him away. He held his hand out to me, palm up. I broke eye contact first, accepting his hand and allowing him to pull me up.

I could feel the seat of my jeans beginning to soak through from the wet surface of the ice (much to my dismay), and I had to check to see how bad the damage was.

The Gods of Misfortune must’ve been on my side, because I slipped again as I was turning around to check out my ass. He immediately cracked up laughing again, and I released the arm I had grabbed in order to stay up right. I fumed. I did not like people laughing at me.

My hands connected with his stomach as I attempted to push him. He was solid, catching my hands as I once again tried to retaliate. I was defiant to the end, pulling on my hands so I could attempt to maul him once I was free. He, however, was having none of this, and pinned my arms in between us in a giant bear hug.

“Marcus,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Chelsea Marie,” he sighed, swinging us back and forth.

He moved his arms up so they were around my shoulders, and my hands were free. “Kidney shot!” I declared, grabbing at his side.

He didn’t flinch.

“Kidney shot!” I tried again.

Again, no reaction.

He released me. “Chelsea, that isn’t where your kidneys are.”

I grinned widely, showcasing all of my teeth.

He took a step back. “What?”

I took a step forward, no longer angry with him. I guess he, on the other hand, thought I had a psychotic breakdown and was about to produce a meat cleaver from nowhere and slice him up. “Marcus!” I cooed, “We just had our very first hug!”

He folded his arms across his chest, trying to turn away from me. Was it just me, or did his face get just a little bit more colour? I shuffled my feet until I was standing at his side. “Am I making you blush?”

“Chels.”

“Marc.”

“Don’t do this.”

“I am, aren’t I?”

“No, you aren’t.”

“Out of all the quirks I have, you blush because we hugged?”

“I am not blushing.” This time, the finality in his voice made me drop it. But the proverbial bell also saved him because my stomach grumbled. His blush had disappeared, leaving only the pink from the cold. He was avoiding eye contact with me, and I sighed. Linking arms with him, I pulled gently to get him moving.

“Let’s go waste an entire pay cheque of mine on food.”