Our Story - A Christmas Novel

Snowed With You

The snow wasn't just falling—it was straight-up attacking the town like it had beef with everyone's weekend plans. The wind whipped sideways, the sky was gray in that "I warned you" tone, and of course... the bus chose today to be late.

I stood under the sad little metal bus shelter, watching my breath fog like I was auditioning to be a dragon. My toes were numb. My fingers? Betraying me. My dignity? On thin ice—literally.

That's when he walked up.

Elias Park.

Yeah. That Elias. The one with the soft dark hair that always looked hand-styled by the universe, the boy who laughed with his entire face, the boy who seemed to generate his own gravitational pull.

He stepped into the shelter, brushing snow off his shoulders like some dramatic winter prince, and when he glanced up, his eyes landed on me.

"Yo, Maddison," he said, breathless from the cold. "Bro, it's freezing—my eyelashes are about to snap off."

I snorted. "You're so dramatic."

"And?" he fired back, grinning.

God, that grin. I swear it could melt the snow if it tried hard enough.

A gust of wind blasted through the shelter, and I accidentally shivered so violently I looked like a vibrating phone. Elias blinked at me, then lowered his gaze in that way he did whenever he noticed something quietly.

"You cold?" he asked, voice softer.

"I'm good," I lied. Terribly.

He raised a brow—Elias never believed anything I said when I used that tone. Then, without warning, he unzipped his jacket.

"Here," he said, already draping it around my shoulders like it was the most normal thing in the world. "You're literally shaking, dude."

The second the warmth hit me, I swear my soul respawned. His jacket smelled like cedar soap, mint gum, and something warm I couldn't name. Something very him.

I froze—not from cold, but from the fact that Elias was now standing closer, watching me tuck into the jacket like a burrito.

"This is unfair," I muttered. "You're tall. Your jacket is like... a wearable house."

He laughed, and the sound rang like a little spark in the winter air.
"Yeah? Then stay in it for now."

"You'll freeze," I protested.

He shrugged. "I run warm."

And it was stupid, and tiny, but my heart did a whole gymnastics routine because he said it like he genuinely didn't mind giving it up if it meant I wasn't cold.

Outside, the snow piled up. The bus remained a myth. But inside that tiny shelter, wrapped in Elias's jacket, standing close enough to feel the warmth rolling off him...

Yeah. Maybe getting snowed in wasn't the worst thing that could've happened.

He looked out at the road and sighed. "We're definitely gonna miss first period."

"Tragic," I deadpanned.

He nudged me with his elbow. "You're so fake. I know you don't even hate it."

"...Okay maybe I don't hate it," I admitted, staring at the falling snow instead of at him.

There was a beat of quiet—warm, soft, comfortable. Then—

"Good," he said, voice low, smile tugging at his lips. "I don't hate it either."

I pretended that didn't make my stomach do a backflip.

And we stood there, close enough to share breath, warm enough to forget the storm, pretending we weren't thinking about the way his jacket wrapped around both of us like something neither of us wanted to break.