"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" I step back.
He brushes his fingers through his hair, ruffling it slightly to get rid of the snow. "Hi to you too." His gaze meets mine and he offers me an impish grin pushing his glasses up his nose.
Spencer holds up a plastic bag I hadn't noticed in his hand before. "My mom strongly believed, the way you start your new year is the way that year will mostly be like. And spending an entire year being sad, just because you didn't have ice cream for one night didn't seem right."
I blink a few times and a disbelieved laugh stumbles out of me. "Are you serious? But how? Everywhere is closed."
He shrugs and holds out the ice cream tub for me.
"For me?" I squeal and he rolls his eyes.
"No, actually the ghosts in your house gave me a call, demanding it."
The initial surprise fades, giving place to excitement. I giggle getting the tub from him. "Thank you," I say in a singsong voice.
A grin breaks across his face as he watches me with an unreadable expression. He takes a step back, pushing his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Well-" he starts.
I frown, my smile faltering. "You're leaving?" I fail to hide the disappointment.
"Yeah," he replies with hesitance.
"Do you have to be somewhere?"
"Not really, I was going back to my place."
"Will you stay?" I softly ask, holding his gaze. He opens his mouth, ready to object and I put on my most convincing puppy dog eyes and add, "Please."
He stares at me hard; I can practically see the engines turning in his head. After a long moment, he sighs, "Okay."
I grin as he enters my apartment.
"Where did you find this from?" I shut the door behind him as he moves to remove his black coat, revealing the collar of a white button-up shirt under a black sweater.
I glance at my clothes, a pair of grey sweatpants, with tiny reindeers all over them along with a light pink shirt. Compared to him, I'm absurdly underdressed.
"You could have given me a heads up, I look like shit," I mutter as I walk to the kitchen.
He laughs as he hangs his coat and turns to me. "You look great for a night of movie binging."
I roll my eyes and take out the tub from the plastic bag and my eyes widen again. "Is this from..." my voice trails down as I turn the tub and just as expected, I see one of the most famous chef's initials and the hotel he works in at the bottom of it and my mouth hangs open.
"It was a block away from my place... he owed me a favor, so it wasn't that hard to snatch that."
"Wow," I mumble. The sweetness of his act swells my heart, warmth washes over me in pleasant and unexpected waves. I can't chase away the grin. "He's one of my favorite chefs... I used to go to that hotel quite often." I move around the kitchen picking two spoons. "Do you want a bowl or something? I'm going to eat it right away if you don't want us to eat from the same place."
He shakes his head and pushes his hands into his pockets. "No, thanks, I don't want any."
I snort. "Don't worry, even if you put on a few pounds, you'd still look better than the rest of the professors." I walk to the couch and he chuckles, following behind me.
"Is that so?"
I hum and flump down on the sofa, pulling the blanket away, he sits next to me. "Why are you so much younger than the rest? Why did you get your Ph.D. so fast?" I ask as I open the lid.
"So now graduating on time is a bad thing?"
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just pointing out how all the other professors are old with big bellies and fading hairline."
"Actually it's just here... I've had professors who were my age right now when I was a student." He stares at the TV screen. "You weren't exaggerating about the rom com part?"
I giggle as I put a spoonful of ice cream, enjoying the rich flavor of chocolate melting in my mouth and I moan in approval. "This is too good." I point at it and take another spoon.
He deeply gazes at me. I fail to decipher his thoughts and emotions, but for tonight, I don't want to delve deep into anything.
So I let it slide and throw the TV remote at him. Spencer catches it mid-air and gives me confused look.
"Choose something, this one sucks. And if the one you chose was shitty, I'll choose the next one. We have the entire night."
"How about we try to find the worst movie?" he suggests as he flips through the options.
I jump in my seat. "The one who finds it wins."
"And what does the winner get?" He glances at me sideways.
I burrow time by filling my mouth with another spoon of ice cream, thinking. "The winner gets to ask something, anything, from the loser. And the loser can't refuse to answer, or give it."
He halts, contemplating, as he narrows his eyes for a moment before giving in. "Okay."
I grin. "Prepare yourself, Spencer Wright, 'cause you're about to lose."
He laughs. "Don't be so sure about that."
And we set on finding the worst movies, at some point, he takes off his sweater and somehow we end under the blanket together. Too soon, the clock's hand travels across the face of the watch and we're only seven minutes away from midnight.
I pause the movie. "Let's go to the rooftop to see the fireworks." I jump up from my seat and pull him up too.
He groans but gets to his feet. "It's been snowing nonstop, we won't be able to go up there."
"But we have to try," I tell him and hurry to my bedroom, picking up the nearest coat and slipping into it.
By the time I come back, he has his sweater on and is wearing his coat. "You sure you won't get cold with that?" his eyes travel from my head to toe. I give him a nod as I put on my boots.
"Let's go," I whine, pulling his hand.
He laughs. "When did you start being so pushy?"
"I don't want to miss the fireworks."
We step out of my apartment and climb up the flight of stairs, leading to the rooftop. As Spencer had expected, I fail to open the door to the rooftop. No matter what either of us does, it doesn't budge.
My face falls and he huffs, "I told you. Not to mention, who builds a door that opens in the wrong direction"
I pout, glaring at the door. "We had to try though," I mumble.
He motions with his hand for me to move away from the door and I watch him with confusion.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," I hear him mutter under his breath as he sets his entire force on the side that the door handle is. By the time he's breathing heavily, the door opens an inch and again excitement buzzes in my entire body.
With much more force, he opens it a bit more, finds a shovel and pushes it through the small gap, and moves away the snow that's blocking the door's path.
In a matter of minutes, the door opens wider and I hurry to the rooftop and drag him with me, grinning so hard that my cheeks begin to hurt.
The snow reaches my knees and the chill settles in bone-deep, I shiver from the icy bite of the cold, but the excitement keeps my insides warm. "Thanks," I beam at him as I plod through the snow.
He rolls his eyes. "We could have seen it from the window, or you simply could have told me sooner and I could've driven us to my apartment."
"But you opened the door." I point out as I stop near the ledge.
Spencer stands next to me, pushing his sleeve up he squints down at his watch. "Two minutes," he announces.
I grin and nod, looking up at the sky I shut my eyes letting my emotions freely course through me, as the snowflakes fall on my face gently. Please be a good year. I chant in my head.
And I hope you're doing well up there Dad, I'm okay over here. I'm strong, just like you said. I'm making peace with your decision. One day, everything will be okay, but till then I won't stop trying. I will not give up.
I open my eyes, another shiver runs down my spine, making Spencer frown down at me. Small white dots cover his glasses and I bite my lip to stop myself from giggling.
"Are you cold? I can go back and bring something warmer for you."
I shake my head and lean to him, the warmth of his body soothing and pleasant against the wrath of coldness. Hesitantly he wraps his arm around my shoulder, running his hand up down my forearm.
"By the way, I won," I tell him with a grin and look up to see his face.
"No, you didn't."
I laugh and suddenly an idea pops into my head. "How about we both won?"
He draws his eyebrows together.
"We both will get to ask that one thing, whenever we want," I suggest.
He squints at me as if mulling over the idea. I guess we both know it's not the best idea, especially given our circumstances but he sighs and nods. "Okay," he mumbles hesitantly and my smile widens.
"Time?" I ask.
He checks his watch again. "A minute."
I gasp. "Oh my God, I forgot to make a wish."
"Wish?" he repeats with surprise, looking down at me.
"Yeah. New Year's wish. Hurry, or it'll be too late." I feel his chest rumbling with his chuckle. "I'm serious," I tell him as I squeeze my eyes shut, going through all the things I want.
"Gracie, come on."
I open my eyes and look up at him. "What? Don't look at me like that. It works, New year's wish always comes true. Now hurry." I clasp my palm over the frame of his glasses and he laughs.
"Okay, okay." He holds his hands up in defeat and I take my hand away, grinning.
I inhale deeply, the cold air rushes in through my nostrils, freezing everything in its way in and out of my lungs as I close my eyes again.
I wish everything works out, that the solution gets published and I get the prize money and by the end of the year, have a new business started and running. And Spencer Wright, oh God, can I wish to have him too? More than my professor, long after the solution is published. Please, please.
By the time I open my eyes, Spencer has his phone out and holds out for me, we count down together, distant voices carry over the night as everyone counts down the final seconds.
I gaze up at the dark night, in a flash just as the distance voices begin shouting happy new year, vibrant colors burst in the black sky.
"Wow," I murmur, leaning to Spencer. He lays his hand around my shoulders without hesitance, pulling me closer to himself, and much bigger fireworks than the ones lighting up the night, go off in my stomach and chest.
As the last of the fireworks go off, I turn to him. "What did you wish for?"
The emotion flickering behind his beautiful dark blue eyes leaves me breathless. For a moment I'm convinced he wants to kiss me, but he doesn't move and a sad smile curls his full lips. "For the impossible."
I furrow my brows with confusion. Before I can inquire further he adds, "And you?"
I grin cheekily at him. "I'm not telling you, it might not come true." I hold out a finger and he shakes his head, his smile widening.
For a moment, I let myself admire him, taking in his features, the smile that steals my breath away each time, deep eyes I can never get tired of gazing at, and just him. I don't know what I would have done without him.
I hope he stays in my life.
At that moment, I let my urges overtake me and get on my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his cheek in a soft kiss, lingering a bit longer than justified. Even though he tenses, I don't back away and instead wrap my arms around him, rest my head on his chest and hug him tightly, deeply inhaling his cologne scent.
I mumble, "Thank you." The sound of his heartbeat pounding against his ribcage has me wondering whether I have the same effect on him, that he has on me. "Thank you for everything."
Hesitantly, he envelopes me in a hug, and a smile spreads across my face as he gently pats my shoulder. I pull away and look up at him, his beautiful face.
Our eyes lock, he arches an eyebrow quizzically as I step back and smile at him. "Let's go back inside I'm freezing."
And he laughs, saying he told me to wear something warmer, but he doesn't know the very sound of his laughter has my heart racing and warmth flooding my veins.
I truly wish he stays in my life, forever and ever.
∞ ∞ ∞
I hope the chapter wasn't too long for you guys =)
Anyway, tell me your thoughts on them! Do you think Gracie's wish(es) will come true?
And what do you think our prof wished for?
Sooo... I hope you enjoyed this soft chapter, thank you so much for reading! *.*
Next update will be tomorrow
Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading <3