When Winter Came (CrankGamepays Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty

Ethan's POV

By the time noon hits, Winter is on her sixth cup of coffee and still isn't really awake. Her messy hair falls over her eyes as she sighs and stares at the counter. "Are you okay?" I ask as I hug her from behind, gently rubbing her arms with my thumbs. She grumbles some incoherent repose that makes me chuckle. "Sweetheart, those aren't words." I inform her. She chuckles quietly at this.

"I'm okay, just too tired to function." She repeats, this time to where I can hear it. I smile and lovingly kiss her neck before pulling away.

"Then go back to bed." I reply with a comforting smile. Winter smiles back and nods before thanking me and heading upstairs to go back to sleep. That's when I realize that she had left her phone on the counter. I was about to call out to her to tell her, but curiosity gets the best of me. I sit on the couch and press the power button.

I'm greeted by a picture of a watercolored flower with the words, "What if I wake up tonight and you were real?" in a pretty gold font written at the bottom f the flower. I swipe open her phone and to my surprise, she didn't have a password. I smile to myself and go to her messages.

Why am I snooping through her phone? No idea. Why am I not stopping when I know I should? Because I'm a terrible human being who doesn't know how to control their curiosity.

Her texts were clean, almost boring. Mom, dad, Markimooper, Hayley, FelixPie, Bijuu Senpai. I laugh lightly at the last one and shake my head. I move on to her call history and it's about the same thing. Boring.

I decide to go to photos yet and scroll through what literally seemed like phases. The most recent photos were of the two of us, or of the guys being idiots. Or me being an idiot. There was a lot of that. After that was a lot pastel aesthetic photos, them some pictures that looked like they were taken at a ComicCon of some sort. As I'm scrolling up, there's one photo that catches my eye. Since it was minimized so that you could scroll them all in bulk, I couldn't exactly take it out. I clicked on it and the moment I did, my cheeks flushed a bright pink.

"Well then...." I murmur. I could feel the embarrassment overwhelming me. The heat quickly rose through my cheeks and to the top of my ears. The worst part is. I couldn't even move or stop staring at the photo. So for a good five minutes I probably sat there and stared at her nude. That's when I finally snapped out of it, quickly closed the app and turned her phone off, setting it face down on the counter.

Unfortunately at this point, the photo was burned into my retinas and I don't think I can ever forget it. I rub my eyes as slowly feel my heart rate returning to normal, but the image never leaves me. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Ethan!" I chide myself. "That's not appropriate!" I continue with a sigh. I try my sharpest to forget it, but to no avail so after a while of trying to distract myself with literally anything, I give up and stretch, heading upstairs to take a shower.

I sneak through my room where Winter sleeps peacefully and quickly grab some clean clothes before going back into the bathroom and turning on the water. I strip down and step into the warm water with a sigh of relief at the relaxing sensation. I let my eyes fall shut and the water runs over my blue hair and into my face. I smile softly as the liquid cascades over my body quickly.

"Hi, Ethan." My eyes snap open to see Winter in the bathroom with me and she was slowly pulling her clothes off.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I yell in confusion as I cover myself.

"Taking a shower with you, what does it look like?" The brunette replies, her tone serious and yet playful at the same time.

"Why!?" I continue to inquire, averting my eyes from her now naked body with red cheeks.

'So much for getting those pictures out my head.' I think to myself.

"Because I need a shower, I had a nightmare and I don't want to be alone." Winter retorts calmly as she steps in the shower next to me. I turn my back to her in embarrassment, my heart racing faster than ever before.

"Is this you making a move on me?" I ask, my face feeling like it's on fire.

"If I were making a move on you, you would know. You wouldn't have to ask." She murmurs just loud enough for me to hear. I keep my back to her and that's when I feel her arms around my waist as she presses her bare chest to my back. If it was even possible, I blush more.

"W-Winter, what are you..." I'm silenced by her cold arms wrapped around my body and her faced nuzzled into my back.

"Please, don't talk." She requests. I could hear what seemed to be between concern and hurt in her voice so I do as she requests. I can't exactly figure out why I did what she wanted me to, but I did. I think it's because I love her...

Without thinking, I turn and pull the shorter girl against my chest as my eyes fall shut. Her body get cold, cold compared to the water at least, and I could tell that she was just as shocked by my actions as I was, but I didn't pull away. I could tell that she needed to be comforted and I was going to go that for her. No matter what it took. I would.