Lizzie
December 2020
It's snowing.
It's. Snowing!
I open my eyes at five-thirty in the morning and notice this amazing fact as soon as I glance outside the window, through a slit between the curtains.
"Aaron. Aaron, wake up," I whisper-yell, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him.
He mumbles, "What, what's going on? You okay?"
"It's snowing," I reply, excited. "I wanna go outside."
He blinks a few times, groaning as he stretches his back. "Can't we wait for when we leave with the others?" he asks, his voice still hoarse from the night.
"Nooo, I wanna go now," I cry like a kid. "Please, please, pleeeease?" I beg him, lying on his chest.
He sighs, rolling on his stomach and trapping me under his body. "Can you wait, like, an hour? I really like how warm this bed is."
I groan. "I'm going now."
"Half an hour and we'll go."
"Aaron, you're annoying," I complain, helplessly lying there.
He chuckles. "Touché."
"Don't pretend to know French for one second, you little shit. Je vais te tuer (I will kill you)."
Aaron frowns and glares. "Salope (Bitch)."
I gasp, exaggerated. "The audacity. And since when do you speak French?"
Aaron rolls his eyes. "My mom was born in Québec. Elle m'a appris le français (She taught me French)."
I raise my brows. God, that's hot. "So I can't talk shit about you?"
"Non (No)."
I sigh. "Putain (Fuck)."
"How do you know French?"
"My parents made me take it since I was a kid. They have many business owners and associates from France," I explain. "Can we go see the snow now?"
"Hm. No."
"You're an ass."
He hums, chuckling as he lies down next to me. Annoyed, I plant my cold foot on his bare back, making him flinch forward and hiss. "Fine! We can go see the motherfucking snow."
I grin. "Yay."
———
"Aaron, man, you look like shit. Did you sleep?" Logan asks at breakfast, sitting in front of his best friend at the table.
I press my lips together to avoid laughing when Aaron glares at me. "Not enough," he states, tired.
Logan looks at us both. "She kept you up all night?" he asks, malicious.
"Please, Lizzie, explain to the group why I look like a zombie this snowy fucking morning," he tells me, folding his arms and staring at me.
Davina coughs, "He's grumpy, huh?" She shuts up when he shoots her a dark look.
I roll my eyes at him. "It was snowing and I wanted to see the snow."
"At what time?" Aaron presses.
"Early."
"How early?"
I sigh. "Five-thirty in the morning."
"Five-thirty in the fucking morning."
"I wanted to see the snow!"
"I wanted to sleep," he retorts.
Logan and Davina laugh at us, bickering about something so stupid. As we're eating, someone stops by our table with a tray in hand.
"Archie, hey," Logan greets him.
"Hey, guys. Can I sit with you?" he asks kindly.
"Sure," I reply. "I'm gonna get another cup of tea. You want something, guys?"
"I'll come with you to grab a coffee," Davina tells me, getting up from her chair and walking with me. When we're a bit far from the table, she comments, "Aaron looks like he's about to bite Archie's head off."
I chuckle. "Yeah, I know. I feel so bad for him. He's a nice guy."
"He really is. He's becoming part of our group and I'm really happy about it," she notes.
"Yep." I pour myself some tea and wait for her to do the same with her coffee. "So, how are you doing?"
Davina gives me a quick look. "Me? Oh, I'm fine. I just don't know how to feel about Cam, you know? I kinda wanna punch her in her perfect face." I nod, understanding. "I can't believe she did that to you."
"Same. I wouldn't have had a problem with them being a couple, really. I just hate that they both went behind my back. And for so long, too," I admit, sipping my hot drink. "I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed. Especially in Cam."
She hums. "Me, too."
"Dav," I call her. "If you ever need anything, ask me, okay? I want to be there for you."
She nods. "Thank you. Really."
I smile at her, and then we walk back to the table, where Aaron hasn't stopped glaring at poor Archie. As I sit down, I elbow him in the ribs, gaining his attention.
"What?" he asks me.
"Stop looking at him like that."
He arches a brow. "Like what?"
"Like you wanna set him on fire," I answer.
"I'm not."
"You kinda are," Logan cuts in, overhearing our conversation.
"No, I'm not! Right, Archie?" he turns to the guy, who widens his eyes. "Am I scaring you?"
"Huh—"
"See? He's fine. We're fine. We're cool, yeah?"
"Aaron, for God's sake." I roll my eyes, annoyed. "I'm sorry about him, Archie. He's not as bad as he seems."
"Of course, I'm not. Why would you say I'm bad?"
I mimic a mouth with my hand and close it, bringing my fingers against my thumb. "Shut up."
"Excuse—"
I repeat the movement. "Hush."
He stares at me with wide eyes. Then, his gaze darkens and he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. Although I look away, I can still feel his stare burning my skin.
There's an awkward silence for a while. "I'm sorry if I caused some issues."
My eyes turn soft. "You didn't do anything, Archie. He's just acting like a cranky asshole. I promise he's actually a sweetheart on the inside."
Aaron can't hold back the little smirk when I use that same adjective that he gave me since we met.
Archie nods, pressing his lips together. "Still. I don't wanna get between you two. You're kinda the best couple in the whole school," he comments.
With a choked scoff, Davina retorts, "Wait till you see Cam and Nate."
A loud, sharp sound reaches us, followed by a deep gasp. "What have I missed?!" Logan yelps after dropping his cutlery on the plate.
"Jesus, Logan," Aaron swears, squinting his eyes at the annoying sound.
"Can we not?" I ask.
Davina ignores me. "Nate slept with Cameron."
"WHAT?!" The whole dining room turns towards him. "Sorry. What?!" he then whispers.
I shake my head, unable to contain a giggle. "D, will you do the honors?"
"Gladly."
She proceeds to update our friend on the events of the last few days.
———
That afternoon, we all ride on the bus towards the ski slopes.
We're all wearing the perfect gear to walk and stay in the snow. Now, I doubt anyone looks good in thick pants, large boots, and oversized coats. So, tell me, how the fuck does Aaron still look amazing?
He's dressed in all-black, standing out in the white snow of the mountains. His cheeks are a bit redder than usual and so is the tip of his nose. I squint my eyes a little, staring at him, and notice something new which makes me gasp loudly.
Aaron turns to me, lost. "What?" he asks innocently.
"You have freckles?!" I note.
Aaron furrows his brows and shrugs a shoulder. "Yeah. You didn't know?"
"I never noticed."
"I guess the cold makes them stand out more."
I grab his cheeks and pull him towards my face, placing us so close our eyeballs nearly touch. It doesn't matter, though. The motherfucker has freckles.
"What are you doing?" he whispers, and I can see every subtle shade of his green eyes. Sage, Emerald, forest...
"You're just so pretty. Leave something to us mortals," I point out, resting my forehead on his.
His sinuous lips curl into an honest smile. "You're pretty, too. So, stop it."
"I don't have freckles."
"You have other things."
"Like what?"
Aaron presses his lips together to suppress a laugh. "Oh, you know... Things."
I pull back and arch a brow, folding my arms. "Give me an example."
"I can give you two pretty big examples," he answers, winking.
My frown deepens. And then, it clicks. My jaw hangs open and my arms fall on my sides. "You're gross!"
He throws his head back and laughs, curling a bit on himself when I hit his shoulder. "What? It's true!"
"You're such a man, Aaron. You suck."
"So do y—"
"Don't even," I halt him, raising a hand in front of his face. "I'm gonna go find our less horny friends."
"I'm coming with you."
"Your shoelace," I tell him, pointing at the loose tie in the snow.
He looks down and crouches on the snow to tie it. As he does that, I grin and bend down.
"Hey, gorgeous," I call him. "Watch out."
As his eyes turn to me, I slam the handful of snow I grasped on his exposed nape. He hisses, straining his neck at the freezing water probably reaching his back as well. "Fucking— Lizzie, you're dead!"
I run away, laughing. I look back, having a déjà vu of the day I went for a run in very tight clothes and he chased me. Jeez, it feels like ages ago. Aaron makes a snowball, and he throws it at me. Seeing it coming my way, I crouch down and avoid it. Someone else is hit, though.
I bite my lip, watching Henry slowly turn around to face me and Aaron, now standing next to me with a worried look. "Oh, shit," he curses under his breath.
I open my mouth to speak, but Henry stops me with a glare. "I don't wanna know."
"Sorry..." both Aaron and I apologize.
Henry shakes his head and looks up, as if he could speak with God. "Lord, have mercy on me."
We decide to walk away, still chuckling at the mistake made.
Logan, Davina, and Archie are all sitting on the ground, not worried about the snow because of their waterproof gear. As they see us approach, they raise their hands to greet us.
I sit down on the only free spot, next to Archie. Aaron, pulling his brows together, forces his ass between us, sitting in two square inches of space, where his shoulders barely fit.
I roll my eyes, sighing, and slide to the side to create more room. "Annoying as usual," I tell him.
"If you find me so annoying, you can ask someone else to teach you snowboarding," he teases, bumping my shoulder with his.
"All right. Hey, Archie—"
"Not what I meant," he seethes through his teeth.
We're still talking when Henry calls everyone and tells us to divide into groups, based on how good of snowboarders we are. Needless to say, I'm with those few individuals who have never done any snow sports, whereas Aaron is with the best.
"Each of you newbies will have a teacher from our veterans here. Choose wisely. The others can come with me for some warm-up training. We will meet back here in two hours. Let's get to work, everybody," Henry explains to the team, sparing me and Aaron a warning look. Don't worry, Henry, we won't cause any trouble. I think.
Aaron walks up to me with his arms folded. "So, ready to sweat?"
"Not really...? I don't even know where to start," I admit, noticing how the girls are jealous of my teacher. Y'all can kiss my ass, bitches.
"And I'm the jealous one, huh? You're looking at them like you could set them on fire with a glare," Aaron tells me, smirking.
I roll my eyes. "Come on. Show me the basics."
———
Aaron shows me more than the basics. That's why, by the end of the two hours, I'm panting on the ground, lying in the snow.
"Tired?" he asks me, as though we hadn't just snowboarded for an hour and a half, and spent the other thirty minutes warming up and walking up and down the steep side of the stupid mountain. How does he still look nice after all of that?
I glare at him between deep breaths. "I hate this so much."
He scoffs, offering me a hand to stand up. He urges me to get back on my feet. "Come on. I'll buy you a hot chocolate."
I get up and look at him with puppy eyes. "With whipped cream?"
He sighs. "With whipped cream."
"Yay! My parents never let me have it," I explain my excitement, hugging his neck with my arms.
"Your parents really suck."
"Hey."
"They do."
I hesitate. "Yeah, they do. You don't get to choose your family, though."
He nods. "Guess not. But you do get to choose who to love, right?"
"Well, yes and no. But it's a conversation I can't have on an empty stomach." I give him a too-broad smile.
He shakes his head, chuckling. "Let's go get that hot chocolate with whipped cream."
"You know I love you, right?" I tell him, smiling.
"I love you too, sweetheart." He tilts my chin up and kisses me so gently, so softly, I feel my knees tremble. My heart turns so warm I'm scared I might melt the snow around me.
I will never, ever get tired of Aaron's kisses. I can't believe someone that seemed colder than the ice surrounding us, is actually the exact opposite and has a heart of gold.
There's got to be a catch. He can't be perfect. He has to mess up, eventually. That's what happens in every couple, right? Everything is good, until it's not.
Or maybe I'm just being paranoid and the way he looks at me now actually means that there's not one bad part of his soul that will make him hurt me. Ever.
Although... At the end of the day, love is like a drug. Once you try it, you can't stop wanting it. And once you have it, you never want to get rid of it. Because people would go to any lengths to avoid losing it.
But have to know how to manage it and not let it consume you... And the other person.
Is he capable of that? Am I? Is anyone able to realize when love becomes addiction?
———
A/N
Question for y'all: is there a character you'd like to see more often?