Together Let's...

The very first snow of that winter found Alex stood outside the front door and wrapped up in what he’d deemed his warmest apparel. It was twenty-nine degrees (or maybe a little less), snow had been falling since noon, and it didn’t look like either of those things was going to change for the better at any point within the foreseeable future.

He wasn’t totally sure what had possessed him into standing outside to wait for Jack’s arrival. His face and joints hurt from how cold it had gotten (meaning that his skin was red, numb, and he could feel his nose starting to run), and he knew damn well before he’d even crossed the threshold that that was how it was going to be—after years of living in the same place, with the same seasonal changes, he’d started to pick up on the fact that snow meant few good things for him.

It was as the young Briton was contemplating turning around and marching his stiff frame back into the house to either watch for his boyfriend’s car from the window or put off the next thing on the list for another day that Jack was finally pulling down the road. A shaky grin took over Alex’s face as he waited for his partner to park, and as soon as the engine was cut, his tired limbs were shuffling themselves forward.

“What the hell are you doing standing out here, dimples? It’s literally freezing. There is snow falling onto the gro—”

Jack was cut off as cold hands reached out and tugged him down to meet colder lips. He did his best to back away, having gasped at the suddenness and the extreme difference in temperature, but all Alex did was chase the warmth that spread across his skin.

“The next thing on the list,” Alex started, their lips still brushing together gently, “is to kiss when it’s snowing, remember?”

And Jack did remember, but—

“We could’ve kissed in the house when it’s snowing, you dumb ass. It never said anything about being in the snow.”

Alex leaned back a few inches to look at his boyfriend. “Huh,” he said slowly, nodding his head as he put a little more thought into what he’d been told. “Well… too late now. You owe me another kiss for calling me a dumb ass.”

Jack could only shake his head and manhandle the younger boy to stand in the opposite direction before pushing him toward the door, muttering a soft, “I’ll give you whatever you want as long as you get me out of this fuckin’ cold.”