Snowed In

The air was chilly, as it had been for the past few hours. It felt like the longer they stayed in the lodge, the colder it got and the less likely it became that they were going to get rescued. Brenna hated it, but she felt like they were walking down a long, dark tunnel with no opening. It felt like there would never be a light at the end.

With the lights burnt out, caused by the dying generator which could no longer keep the lodge alive, everyone had refused to move. They spoke on occasion – little fleeting sentences and thoughts – but real conversation had all but died. There was no joking or happiness, because they all felt like they were doomed.

They could pretend all they wanted, but there was a hopeless feeling filling the air of the room. It made everything thick and dark, and all Brenna wanted was to go home.

Zayn seemed to feel this inside her and he reached his arm out to her. It wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest, allowing her to breathe in the spicy smell of his cologne, which still lingered on him after all this time.

Brenna wished that she could just melt into Zayn. That he could keep her warm and safe from anything they came across. She knew he couldn’t, because he wasn’t invincible and neither was she, but having his arm around her made her feel the safest she’d been in a long time.

“How are your fingers?” he asked, taking his free hand to wrap them around hers. He rubbed his hand over the icy tips of her fingers before bringing them to hips lips. His warm breath fell against them, and Brenna almost sighed at the feeling.

“You know,” Harry said, the tone of his voice insinuating the joke that was about to follow. “They say that the warmest place is down a man’s pants, next to his,” he paused, raising his eyebrows, “you know.”

Sam groaned, slapping Harry across his chest, while the rest of the group chuckled.

As soon as the mood was lightened just a tad, a roaring wind came through one of the openings, blasting through the entire room. It whistled as it blew and sent a chill through everyone’s bodies.
Zayn pulled Brenna closer to him and attempted to shield her face with his chest.

When the wind blew away, and with it all their hope, Zayn leaned his lips towards Brenna’s ear, whispering to her.

“It’s going to be okay, Bren. I promise.”

Brenna wanted to believe him. She tried to believe him. But she just couldn’t. No one else looked like they had any hope, so why did he have to keep pretending?

Leaning her face up towards Zayn’s, she whispered so only he could hear. “I don’t want to die like this, Zayn. Not here. Not like this.”

Zayn reached his hands out to her face, cupping her head in his hands. His eyes shot straight into hers, attempting to look into them despite the fact that the lack of light made it difficult.

“You won’t, baby. I promise,” he whispered, his warm breath hitting her lips as he spoke. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Brenna bit her lip as she looked into his deep honey eyes. She’d waited so long for him to look at her like that – for him to call her baby – and now that it was here, she couldn’t even enjoy it. She’d never get a chance to spend a warm summer day with the only boy she’d ever loved. She’d never get to do a lot of things with Zayn. Far more than she was willing to admit.

“It’s not fair,” she whispered again, her voice cracking at the end. “It’s not fair.”

“I know,” Zayn said as he brushed a finger against her cheek. “But we’re going to get out of here. Someone will come looking for us.”

Brenna nodded, but she still wasn’t sure if she believed him. She just kept seeing the hurt look in his eyes and she wanted to make it go away. If pretending she had hope did that, it was something she was willing to do. She could pretend she didn’t feel like she was on her deathbed as long as it let her see Zayn smile again.

“Where do you want to go?” Zayn said, as he pulled the blanket up past her neck.

“What?”

“For our first real date. Where do you want me to take you?”

Brenna chuckled. “I don’t know, Zayn.”

“Anywhere in the world. You name it and I’ll take you there.”

Biting her lip, Brenna paused for a moment, as her thoughts raced over all the places she and Zayn could travel to. All the places they’d likely never get to visit.

“New York City?” she questioned, tilting her head to the side.

Zayn smiled at her, the grin finally reaching up to the wrinkles by his eyes. “You got it.”

He placed a soft kiss against her lips, holding her there for a brief moment. It was strange that she knew he was freezing like she was, but he felt so warm when he was pressed against her.

All she wanted to do was stay like that forever, and for a fleeting moment she thought that if they were going to die in that place, she’d have felt if even for a moment, what it was like to be loved.