Michael POV
"What was that all about?" I asked Geoff who was now sitting down typing on his phone.
"Nothin." He said.
I watched as Jack took out his phone that was now vibrating and Ryan was already typing away on the small screen in front of him.
"Uh.. Okay."
I reached over to my phone sitting on my desk and checked for any updates but there wasn't any.
I set my phone back down and turned to face to typing men.
"Whatcha..." I said getting up and slowly walking over to Geoff,"Doin..?"
He leaned back in his chair raising his phone so I couldn't see what he was typing.
"Hi Michael." He said.
Other than Geoff's words the room was silent except for the clicking of small keys.
My feet carried me over to Jack who set his phone down on his lap so I couldn't see anything.
"Jack.."
He ignored me so I moved to Ryan who sat there staring at the lit up screen in front of him.
Immediately I sighed and walked back toward the door in search of Ray.
I walked out the door and into the empty halls.
"Ray.." I said, my voice echoing in the ghost town.
I could have sworn people were just walking by like two seconds ago.
Eventually my feet brought me to the very table I was at before and I found Barbara and Ray talking.
"Hi.."
"Oh hi Michael." Ray said scratching his head.
Barbara smiled at me and together we all sat in silence.
After a while I decided to break the said silence.
"So I know I could have waited but I wanted to know why everyone was so concerned with their phones right now?"
"What do you mean?" He asked.
I shrugged,"I don't know. I mean everyone's ignoring me and stuff. So I guess-. Well you had a call right?"
He nodded,"Yeah."
I pointed at Barbara with a confused expression as if asking why he was here then.
"Oh!" Barbara said laughing,"Ray needed a place to talk on the phone in private so he sat here."
"It isn't that private though."
I made more hand gestures to the surrounding environment and it was pretty open.
Everyone was so interested in their texts and calls and yet I wasn't getting anything.
Normally I receive non stop notifications but as of right now I haven't gotten anything.
Which was weird to me.
"Well..." I mumbled,"I'm just. Yeah."
I turned away from the table and I could hear Ray slightly laugh behind me as I walked away.
As I reached the entrance I passed a couple of windows and I stopped in my tracks to double take.
Was that snow? In Texas?
What month was it.
I thought it was fall not winter.
I walked up to the window and sure enough it was snowing outside.
"Guy!" I shouted running into the office.
"Guys."
No one answered and they were all still typing.
"GUYS."
Still nothing.
I sighed,"Geoff?"
"Geoff come on. What did I do. Why are you ignoring me."
He still didn't reply so I left the room and ran all the way to Ray who was still with Barbara.
"Ray!"
"Michael!"
"Barbara!"
I laughed,"Yes Barbara we see you."
"Really, cause I can't see myself."
"It's called a mirror." Ray replied and I smiled.
"But anyway what's up?"
I was practically huffing out of breath from running all the way back.
"It's snowing outside."
"Really?" Barbara said grinning and I nodded.
"Yeah. I tried to tell Geoff and them but they didn't reply."
"Dude." Said Ray,"SNOW BALL FIGHT!"
I laughed and together we both ran back to the office to grab sweatshirts while Barbara did the same for herself.
The gents still ignored us while I scrambled to throw on my hoodie.
"Oops. I left mine with Kerry." Ray said and I grinned.
"Idiot. Go get it."
"I'm lazy."
He moaned while I laughed at him.
"By the way. Isnt it still fall?"
He shook his head,"To be honest I don't know anymore. And isn't this Texas?"
I nodded at him.
It was true. It was snowing, in Texas.
We've gotten snow before but snow like this isn't common at all.
I fixed the hoodie eventually and pulled on the hood while he ran out the door to find Kerry.
"I'll meet you outside!"
I laughed and agreed as I walked out the door.
The place was literally a winter wonderland.
It must have been snowing all day by now because it was caked on the streets.
I felt the crisp cold air pierce my thin hoodie but the cold was the least of my worries.
I looked over to see kids across the street at a nearby park in the distance.
I put my hands in my pockets as I walked around in the snow, my shoes almost falling off with each step.
I heard laughter and I turned to follow the voices.
I was brought to the other end of the building and I ran around the entire thing before reaching my destination.
"Burnie?" I asked seeing him alone in the snow with his back toward me.
He then turned around at my voice and greeted me with a hello.
"What're you doing here?"
"Well..." He said, a smile forming on his face.
He then revealed a handful of snowballs and tossed one at me, it hitting my chest before falling into small shards.
I laughed,"What was that for?"
"SNOW BALL FIGHT!" Ray shouted running around the opposite corner with snowballs in hand.
He slipped on ice below him before regaining his ground and pulling himself up.
Ray laughed,"That didn't go well."
"Fucking idiot." I mumbled before he pelted me with soft snow.
Come one come all, Barbara and everyone else in the office rounded the corner with snow balls too.
I ducked to bypass one thrown at me by Barbara but then was his plainly in the face with another one.
I reached down and picked up the cold snowflakes, compacting them into a ball and throwing it into the distance.
Everyone was laughing and I couldn't stop myself from laughing too.
The sun shine through the clouds even though it was snowing for some odd reason and it was beautiful.
Everything was white and the sun reflected off the snow layered on the ground.
You could see everyone's breath in the air, the white fog forming around everyones faces while they talked.
"In coming!" I heard someone shout before Joel fell from the sky into the snow below him.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to admire the man.
"Joel?"
He didn't reply but then immediately sprung to life throwing snow at the people around him.
I laughed and threw some back.
I did take some hits here and there but that was okay because I was having fun.
Eventually Geoff joined my side after gaining ground on me.
"So was this why you ignored me?" I asked and he nodded huffing for breath.
"Yeah. And this."
I was surprised when he shoved me down into the snow that lay on the ground.
My clothes stuck to the caked on ice and I couldn't get back up.
"Geoff please."
I heard him laughing along with others laughing.
I could make out the reference of snowballs flying over my face as I stared at the sky.
And then a hand appeared in my face to help me up so I took it.
"Your gonna have to pull harder than that."
I laughed as I was freed from the ice and I was pulled up to face my savior.
"Than-"
His face all too familiar, wheat colored hair spotted white with snowflakes.
His green eyes, the snow making them appear grey.
It was Gavin.
"Gavin?"
He nodded,"It's me."
"What are you doing here?"
He smiled his crooked smile,"I'm home."
I looked directly at him, eye level because we weren't that much off in height.
"Gavin what happened to England?" I said silently yet smiling.
"I just was-"
At that point I didn't care what he had to say. I reached out and hugged him in the snow.
He was surprised at first but I felt his arms wrap around me.
His body heat combining with mine to warm me even though we were surrounded by white snow.
I held onto him, my chin on his shoulder and his on mine.
I felt my eyes shut and start to burn but I wasn't crying because I was sad. I was happy.
I didn't let go and neither did he. We just hugged in silence while everyone around us was cheering.
Eventually someone got bored and threw a snowball at us, it hitting us both in the face.
I pulled away from his body, not fully but just enough to look at him.
"Gavin I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything." He said,"I'm sorry for what I did."
"Me too Gavin. I messed up. I shouldn't have lied to you."
He nodded,"And I'm sorry for yelling at you. You went through all that trouble to find me and I turned you down."
I smiled and felt my cheeks become warmer,"What about Meg?"
He smiled back at me,"I realized who I loved Michael. And in the end I rather spend the rest of my life with you by my side."
I felt my smile break out into a grin. More than a grin. My teeth showed and my jaw hang slightly open.
I felt Gavin's hands on my arms and mine on his and everything seemed perfect.
My body was no longer chilled from the cold and I had no intentions on my surroundings.
Every word from other people, all the laughter and joy. It all faded and the only thing I could focus on was Gavin.
Which was normal for me.
I only heard his voice. I only saw him. And everything slowed.
I didn't hesitate before speaking,"Gavin I love you."
He grinned and his face was flushed a slight shade of pink.
"And I love you too Michael."
I hugged him one more time before a snowball brought us back into reality.
We both pulled away to face the crowd of people.
"Was this planned?" I asked and Gavin chuckled.
"Well technically I couldn't get a flight because of all of this." He said pointing to the snow around us.
"But it only started snowing today. Why did you wait a month?"
He sighed,"I was an idiot and I wasn't sure if you would take me back."
"Gavin I would do anything for you."
He smiled at me and, get this, I reached out and grabbed his hand.
Our fingers attaching perfectly together and he didn't hesitate before holding my hand back.
"We knew about it for a long time Michael." Geoff said a couple of meters away.
"How long is a long time?"
"A long time." Ray answered for him.
"You little shit." I said to Ray laughing,"I can't believe you knew."
"Why the hell do you think I got on skates? For you. So that you wouldn't think too much about that prick." Geoff said pointing Gavin by my side.
He chuckled, his voice ringing in my ear.
His high pitched annoying yet graceful voice.
And I loved it.
I loved everything about him.
"And that's also why I've been so interested in your conversations with Barbara." Ray said jumping up and down in the snow.
"And we all knew about it." Burnie said smiling.
"Gavin planned everything." He finished.
I looked over at him,"You planned for me to be shoved into snow? I could have died."
"If you died I would find a way to see you again."
I smiled at the British idiot to my side before Joel threw a snowball at us.
"Hey idiots!" Barbara yelled and we both turned to her.
"Kiss!" She yelled grinning.
I laughed and looked at Gavin who shrugged.
Before I could say anything I felt his hand gently grab hold of my face and his other pulling me closer to him.
Once again I was warm with his body heat, our bodies now touching.
And then I smiled putting my arms around him and forcing my lips onto his.
Our mouths colliding yet soft and gentle.
I felt him smile into the kiss and I could help but to smile too.
My arms held onto him in a bear hug while he held onto my chin.
Our mouths fitting perfectly, both smiling I couldn't help but to slightly chuckle with my eyes closed.
He pulled away making me pout,"Why're you laughing Micool."
"So we are adding the L back?" I smiled.
He was silent yet blushing.
We were still a tangled mess and I opened my eyes to look at him.
His green eyes looking into mine.
"I was laughing because I realized how long I've loved you."
He smile turned into a smirk and he put his arms back around me before colliding our lips once more.
The crowd around us roared and cheered with applause and this time we both laughed into each other's mouths.
"I love you Gavin."
"I love you too Michael. Forever and always."
After that all I could think about were his words and the way he said them.
He was serious and I knew he meant them.
We pulled away but not before hugging and holding onto each other for a few more minutes.
That was all I really wanted all along.
I wanted him to be mine yet I was selfish and too stupid to realize what I had done.
But everything turned out to be okay.
Gavin had gotten an early flight this morning and just barely made it before the snow got worse.
Turns out he had wanted to come home for a couple of weeks now but he wasn't able to.
But I didn't care if I had to wait months to see him.
This moment was all I needed to last me a life time.
I didn't care if I was Free-Falling because in the end I'd rather Free-Fall for the rest of my life if that meant Gavin would be by my side.
I would do anything to keep him here and that's what had happened.
After we pulled away from each other everyone had congratulated us and Gavin explained he planned on staying with us.
That was a few months ago and now I'm able to look over and see Gavin by my side at all times.
He will always be there for me.
I just hope I'm able to do the same for him.
Free-Falling... forever and always right?