It Was Winter When You Kissed Me

Two small children held hands. Their cool breath flowed up into the air. It was in the middle of winter, in Wisconsin, and it was cold. The two children had gotten lost in the woods, near the girl's cabin. She was shivering, and he was too.

"Tris, I'm cold," the little girl whined. The boy stared at her. She was hatless, and her coat wasn't zipped up, and her dark brown eyes were watering. The boy laughed, and zipped up her coat, and took off his beanie hat. He put it on her head, and let his fingers linger in her soft brown hair. "Here, Rue." He pulled the hat down further on her head.

Rue shuddered. "Your hands are cold," she said. Tris nodded. "I lost my gloves." Rue stared down at her glove-clad hands. Rue slipped off one, and tugged it on Tris's hand. "There. Now, you have a glove. And, with our hands that don't have gloves, we can hold hands." Tris nodded. He grinned his crooked grin, and held his bright red hand out. Rue giggled. She slipped her hand in his, and began to walk.

"Wait, Rue, can we mark this place?" Tris asked, not moving. Rue stopped and turned. "Okay, but with what?" Tris scanned the area. Under a pine tree, there was no snow. "Let's draw a heart under that tree," he insisted. Rue smiled. "Sure."

They scurried under the humongous pine tree and stuck their fingers into the dirt. They began to draw a heart, and then, when their fingers met, the heart was done. Rue looked up, and so did Tris. Their eyes met, and Rue saw that Tris's shining blue eyes were glowing. His smile was large. "There," he said. Rue nodded, and laughed.

"After this." Tris leaned in, and kissed his friend on the lips. Rue's lips were cold, and tense at first, but relaxed. Tris back away, and Rue was blushing, her face redder than his.

"I'm cold, can we go now?" she asked. Tris held out his hand again. Rue grabbed it, and together, with Tris guiding, they found their way back to the cabin, their fingers entwined, and warm.

~Eight years later~

Of course, after eight years of harsh, lashing, and licking rain and snow, that heart didn't stay. It was erased from the surface, and sunk down into the dark chocolate soil. And, so did the relationship of two people, Rue and Tris. Their close bond from before loosened, and loosened, and then, it snapped. The two didn't talk to each other, and when they did, it was only a mere exchange of hellos.

A certain boy, named Tris did not want it like this. He wanted Rue to be his, and he remembered when they were stuck in a forest together, and when they drew a heart in the ground.

~

"Tris, where are we going?" Rue asked sourly. She tightened her peace scarf around her neck. Tris pushed her forward, not speaking.

"Tris Quinn, if you do not tell me, I will throw rocks at you for the rest of your life!" Rue threatened with a hint of playfulness. Tris smiled, this is how he wanted it to be, actually, maybe a little more. "Do you remember what happened eight years ago here?" he asked. Tris guided Rue to the left.

She stopped, and Tris tripped into her. They tripped, and Rue landed on top of Tris. Her eyebrows were up, and her eyes squinted. Tris loved when Rue was thinking.

"Um...I don't remember..." she began. Tris sighed. He rolled out from under Rue, and he laid, looking up at the condense sky. She rolled next to him, and shuddered.

"Tris, I'm cold," she said, a teasing look in her eyes. Tris turned, and saw that Rue had unzipped her parka, and tucked her hat in her pocket. She was anxiously smiling. Yes, Rue remembered, and was hoping Tris remembered. "I do remember, you know," he whispered to her. "Then, tell me, what happened next."

Tris reached up and slipped off his hat. He rolled on his stomach, and gently put his hat on Rue's head. He zipped up her coat, and when the coat was almost all the way zipped up, Rue stopped him. "You didn't have gloves," she teased. Tris grinned, and bit his gloves off. "And, you did have gloves, Miss Rue." She giggled, and took the nudging gloves away from Tris's freezing, and red hands. She slipped them on.

"Your hands are cold," Rue observed. Tris nodded, and blinked like a little puppy. "I gave them to the girl I love." Rue was quiet for a moment. She then wrestled one of the mittens off and pulled it onto Tris's big hand. "There, now we both have gloves, loverboy. And, we can hold hands with the hands that don't have a glove."

Rue slid up into a sitting position. Tris sat up too, and stared intently into Rue's eyes. She was staring back at him. "What happened next?" she asked. Tris took Rue's hand. He folded her fingers so only her index was pointing.

"Lets draw a heart, right here." Rue shrugged. "Okay."

Then, they stuck their fingers into the wet and chilly snow, and drew a heart in between where they were sitting.

When their indexes met, Rue locked her index with Tris's. She wrapped her hand in his and leaned in, her eyes closed. Tris leaned in too, and Rue tackled Tris onto his back. She opened her eyes. "Got you," she giggled. Tris shrugged, "Guess so."

Rue wrapped her arms around Tris's neck. She leaned in, and pressed her lips on Tris's.

His lips were warm and soft, not cold and hard like before. Rue kissed harder, and Tris returned the kiss. Rue began to titter, and lifted her head away.

"That didn't happen. I remember, you kissed me."

"Oh right. Then, come here." Tris used his gloveless hand and tilted Rue's head. He caressed her face with his gloved, snow-matted hand, and said, " You know, I'm glad you're back." Rue's eyes were smiling at him. "Me too. Oh, and, one, two, three, four." Tris laughed. He remembered eight years back, that was the way they said, "I love you."

" One, two, three, four too." Tris tilted his head and gently nudged Rue's head to his. Their lips met, and they kissed, until the moon came up, the stars out, and they couldn't feel their toes and mittenless hands.

When the big moon came up, they started on their way back to their cabin, their hands tightly entwined.