25 | TOUCH THE SKY
IF there was one thing that Winter loved about Auradon, it was the hundreds upon hundreds of miles of forest surrounding it. Despite the population moving to more technological means, the ancient magical forests which had stood for centuries were never touched. The many forests still stood as strong as they had for thousands of years.
After the dramatic events from last night, everyone involved had slept in. Winter herself had not woken up until just past eleven. Once she showered and was picking through her closet for a tie, Winter was greeted with the sound of her phone ringing.
Walking away from her closet, Winter curiously peeked at her phone only to see it was Mal calling.
"Hello?" Winter answered, sitting back on her bed only in her underwear.
She had long since made sure her curtains were drawn and her door was locked. Winter mindlessly twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers, being careful as to not cause her hair to start turning white.
"Yo, Winter," Mal said with an air of excitement, "Ben, Evie, and I are going riding through the forests, want to go?"
As the daughter of royalty, Winter knew had to ride horseback. Most AK students did.
That was why the school stables were so big, many students chose to bring their own horse with them so they could go riding whenever they felt. The forest was large and easy to wind up lost in, so most students made sure to stay on the trails. However, a handful of students knew their way around the large forest, so they did not need to stay on the trails and were able to adventure as they pleased — Winter was included in this mass.
While Winter did not bring any horse with her, it was not an issue for her to borrow one of the school horses to ride. She had a personal favorite horse whom she rode nearly every time she went out to the forest.
Stewart was a large black and white spotted Percherhon horse. Winter claimed time and time again that Stewart was the most beautiful horse she had ever seen — though many begged to differ as they thought his white spots were quite odd. What made it better was that Stewart was the sweetest thing that Winter had ever come across, despite his daunting size, Winter knew he could never hurt a fly.
While he was not technically hers, he was as good as. Winter had already made plans with the Fairy Godmother to purchase Stewart as soon as she graduated and have him sent to Arendelle. Money was not an issue — being royalty, Winter was filthy rich.
As much as she would love to have him with her in Ahtohallan, Winter also knew that it would be far too cold for him up there — so Arendelle was the next best place.
Winter absolutely loved riding through the forest on Stweart's back, she could spend hours out there simply exploring. She never got lost either, the wind was always on her side and she practically grew up in the Enchanted Forests anyway.
Though, she had not yet got to go riding this school year as she had been so busy with everything else going on. Not only that but — though she would never admit it out loud — she had a feeling with the barrier from the Isle being down that the forests were no longer as safe as they used to be. There was no telling whether a villain was lurking out there or not.
Then again there was the fact that most villains were no longer accustomed to the Auradon forests as they once were, so perhaps they would not be out there.
Ben was one of the few people who were able to stray away from the trails like Winter and not get lost. Because of his love for riding, he had taken Mal on multiple occasions as well as Evie who enjoyed riding as well.
Winter was with them the first time they went riding as Mal and Evie had not been able to ride a horse on their own yet. On the Isle, horses and riding were non-existent.
Ben had Mal riding with him and Winter had Evie. Evie and Mal loved it — Mal more so than Evie as Mal simply loved the forest. Mal and Evie now knew how to ride horses on their own, so Ben and Winter no longer had to accompany them.
However, Ben still liked riding with Mal.
"Winter?" Mal snapped Winter out of her thoughts. "Riding? You in or...?"
"Yep, I'm in, when are you guys going?" Winter questioned.
"Twenty minutes good?"
"Yeah," Winter said before they hung up.
Immediately, Winter threw herself back at her closet with an excited skip in her step. Tucking a plain shirt into a pair of breeches, Winter was quick to tie a black belt firmly around her waist. She hummed while zipping on an equestrian jacket over her plain shirt.
Bending down, Winter put on a pair of socks and shoved her feet into a tall pair of boots. Brushing her hair back in a low ponytail, the long strands falling down her back — Winter was quick with slipping on a pair of riding gloves.
They were not her usual silk gloves, but they would do. Winter did not bother with a helmet, as she never did when she went out in the woods. Dangerous? Perhaps. But did Winter care? No.
Grabbing a small bag, Winter packed a few snacks that she had lying around the room along with two bottles of water. Throwing her compass inside, Winter scrambled around her dorm room searching for the last thing she would need for her ride.
"Aha!" Winter cried while pulling her journal out from under her bed.
It must have fallen off her dresser and got kicked under her bed. Her journal was used for one purpose only. That purpose was for her homemade map. Winter had her own maps in her journal of the forests of Auradon, it showed all of her favorite spots and the best routes to take and a bunch of other things.
It was Winter's own little pocket of fun, something that she had not shown anyone. When Winter was at home, her personality took a complete 360 from when she was at Auradon Prep. Her small trips in the forest normally brought forth Winter's true persona — as being in the forest felt like being back at home.
Smiling, Winter put her journal in the bag just as a knock came from the door. With a deep breath, Winter clicked the bag shut and threw it over her shoulder before walking to open door the door.
Swinging open the door, she was greeted by a smiling Mal, Ben, and Evie.
"Hello," Evie cheered with a large smile, her dimples on full display.
"Hi guys," Winter smiled, she took note of the riding gear they were wearing.
Ben's looked more like Winter's in the sense that it was traditional, but Evie and Mal's had an Isle spin on it. Colorful breeches and jackets, heavy boots, chains clattered about the pockets.
Honestly, Winter quite liked it, it was... festive.
"Doug isn't coming?" She tilted her head to the blue-haired girl.
Like her, Evie and Mal were not wearing helmets, but Ben was. He always liked to say "safety first" and tried to convince Winter to wear a helmet on multiple occasions. He knew Evie and Mal were a lost cause, but he was hoping Winter may one day have a little sense of safety when it came to riding.
Evie pouted while shaking her head. "No, Doug had a chess club meeting,"
Generally, when Winter joined them on a ride — it was considered a double date plus Winter. It was a double date because it was Mal and Ben on one horse, Evie and Doug on another, and then Winter on Stewart.
Along with that, Winter nearly always split from the two couples as soon as they hit the forest, choosing to explore on her own. The others never said anything about as they knew that Winter liked exploring the woods and they were also technically on a date, so they did not want to make her feel like a fifth wheel.
"Hmm," Winter hummed, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her.
The hallway was not too busy, but there were a few students walking around. She noticed Lonnie's door from across the hall was open and heard Jane, Carlos, and Jay's voice from within.
"They're doing a 'study group', we asked Carlos and Jay if they wanted to come, but you know how they are with horses," Mal explained, seeing where Winter's gaze was trailing.
"Though I don't really know how much studying they are actually doing," Ben added suspiciously, hearing the loud laughs coming from inside.
Winter smiled at the thought of Jay and Carlos with horses. While Carlos was good with animals, he could not ride a horse to save his life. Jay would not even try, he had barely seen the horse before walking in the other direction muttering a solid "nope".
"Let's get going, it's already almost twelve and we want as much daylight as we can get," Evie smiled causing Winter to nod.
When they went riding, it was best to be back at the school before nightfall as — especially now with the barrier gone — it was not the smartest choice to be in the woods at night. It was because of this that they liked having as much daylight as possible so they could spend plenty of time in the forests.
"Yeah," Winter smiled.
"Do you want a helmet, Winter?" Ben asked innocently as they started toward the stairs.
"No, I'm good," she smiled as Ben groaned.
Mal snickered, but suddenly the group stopped in front of a certain door. Winter looked at the three in confusion at their sudden stop, but then understanding flickered across her face.
"What are you guys doing?" Winter hesitantly asked in a quiet tone, not wanting the people inside to hear her.
More so Harry Hook to hear her. They were all standing just outside his, Uma, and Gil's dorm room after all.
Evie and Mal shared mischievous looks while Ben only shrugged apologetically.
"We figured we would try and invite Uma," Ben explained.
"Not Harry or Gil?" Winter's words were rushed and tinged with nervousness.
Mal smirked as Evie leaned against her.
"I mean, if they want to come they're more than welcome, but we were focusing on Uma," Evie said in an equally as innocent tone.
Here was the deal, Winter had slowly been growing accustomed to Harry attaching himself to her hip every time he had the chance. As much as she hated to admit it, she was secretly growing to like it — and that was unacceptable.
Not only that, but Winter knew that if Harry joined them on this ride, he would probably end up riding with her. Winter truly was not sure how comfortable she was being out in the woods all alone with Harry. Sure, she could stay with the group, but she really did not want to. She wanted to explore — she wanted that nostalgic feeling of being home.
Unfortunately, that could not happen if Harry was with her.
Winter was smart though. She realized that alike to Jay and Carlos, Harry probably would not be all that interested in riding a horse. That was if he did not know she was going to be there. As vain as it may have sounded, Winter had a sneaking suspicion that he would jump at the chance of being able to sit so close to Winter and wrap his hands around her waist.
It was simply how Harry Hook was.
"Okay," Winter smiled, slowly walking away from the group and toward the stairs, "I'll just wait by the stables then..."
Evie grabbed Winter's arm before she made her escape — Winter only sighing at the feel of Evie's nails through the arm of her riding jacket. Pulling Winter back toward them, she once again gave her a bright smile.
Yes, Evie was definitely determined to get Harry and her together. Her bet time was approaching and she wanted to win the money.
"No, no, we all want to walk together!" Mal grinned brightly as Ben once again gave her an apologetic look.
Winter sighed heavily and rested herself against the wall next to the door. It was her next best option as she was not exactly visible from where she was leaning next to their door unless they looked left.
Shaking his head at the girls, Ben raised his hand and knocked loudly. Winter bowed her head, not believing how bad her luck was. It was as though Harry Hook was around every corner Winter turned, he did not even need to try and he seemed to just fall in front of her.
Now was a perfect example of that, was Harry trying to find her? No, this was all Evie and Mal's doing.
Jonah's words about the bet going on for a relationship between her and Harry suddenly came to the forefront of her mind. Winter was willing to wager this was why Evie and Mal were trying so hard — they wanted to win.
There was a sound of shuffling from inside accompanied by a groan. The door swung open to reveal Uma who looked as though she had just woken up, the girl still in pajamas with a sleeping cap on. She yawned, gazing at the three in front of her through weary eyes.
"Yes?" She asked in a groggy tone before furrowing her brows at what they were wearing. She had never seen riding gear and found it rather odd to look at. "What are you guys wearing?"
"You guys are still sleeping?" Ben asked with disbelief, Winter raising a brow of surprise as well.
In the room behind her, it was dark as the blackout curtains were drawn and the lights were off. Evie and Mal looked as though they were expecting this. Uma did not notice Winter's form leaning on the wall to the left of her.
"Yeah, we were out late last night," she explained, "and Gil, Harry, and I did not end up actually going to bed until after five..."
"Why?" Ben tilted his head while Uma only shrugged.
"I don't know, we were just hanging out—"
"Nevermind that, do you want to go horseback riding with us? You have never been, so we figured you would want to maybe come?" Mal questioned before Evie piped up.
"Yeah, it's actually really fun!"
Well, Uma now knew why they were wearing those outfits.
"No," Uma deadpanned, "riding a horse does not sound fun. I am more of an ocean gal..."
"You have not even seen a horse," Evie pouted, "I'm telling you it's really fun!"
"Yeah, Uma, come with us, I'm sure you'll have a blast. The forest is beautiful, you really have not had a chance to lookat it other than Audrey — and you probably did not have time to really get a feel for the scenery..." Ben awkwardly trailed off at the end causing Uma to narrow her eyes looking to the king oddly.
She popped her hip out while pursing her lips and crossing her arms. The large t-shirt she wore swayed, a clear sign it was either Harry and Gil's. Her shorts, Winter noticed, were not so much as shorts but rather either Gil or Harry's boxers as well.
She was amused at the thought but not exactly surprised. The three were close and now that they were rooming it was a no-brainer that Uma would probably steal some of their clothes.
"Miles upon miles of woodland nothingness?" Uma scoffed. "I don't think so."
"It really is not that bad—"
"Aye," Winter breath caught in her throat as Harry appeared behind Uma in the darkroom, a loud yawn escaping him. "What's the big idea here? She already said no and I's be tryin' to sleep! Stop forcing her to do something she ain't want to do—!" Evie smiled brightly at Harry's cranky words, clapping her hands and rolling on the balls of her feet.
Uma crinkled her nose at Harry's morning breath. The shorter girl giving Harry a grossed out expression from where she stood in front of him.
Winter's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red as she took into account that Harry was not wearing a shirt. He simply wore a pair of black joggers and nothing else — his raven hair far messier than usual but somehow it made him look even more attractive.
Winter swallowed, seeing multiple tiny scars and such running up the length of his torso. However, she felt the scars only added to his beauty, but what truly caught her attention was the six-pack of abs. She swore she felt drool coming from her mouth, the girl taking a sharp intake of breath at Harry Hook.
Her thoughts were taking a not-so-appropriate turn at Harry's shirtlessness. Not to mention, the tan boy looked incredibly warm — almost as though he was his own heater. Winter shuddered, nearly melting on the spot.
Never had she wanted to jump into Harry Hook so bad. She wanted to so badly to hop into his arms and cuddle into him. If she could, she would pull him right into the sheets of his bed and snuggle him.
Winter was normally cold — the cold never bothered her. However, she absolutely loved warm things and cuddling with Harry at the moment with how warm he appeared was an urge that Winter was having a very difficult time fighting.
Harry himself was still staring at the three in front of him through bleary eyes, but he frowned at their clothing. While he snored like a horn, he was also a very light sleeper. He was the one who heard the knock and woke Uma to go get the door.
He also was unable to sleep with the loud conversation going on, so he was stuck listening in on it. From what he had heard, he was losing out on his sleep for something incredibly pointless. Harry had intended to get at least two more hours of sleep.
"Harry! You can come too! Gil can come if he wants as well!" Evie cheered while Winter was still fighting against herself from the left.
She also noticed that Harry did not have on his usual thick eyeliner. While Winter loved the eyeliner — she also thought he looked amazing without it.
Oh, who was she kidding? Harry Hook was hot no matter what he wore. And when he was shirtless... well, it was better that he did not know what he did to Winterfell Frost. Because if he did, Winter had no doubt he would use it to his advantage and have Winter wrapped around his finger in seconds.
Then again, not that either of them knew it at the moment, but it was a two-way street. If Winter so much as flashed her stomach, Harry would be on his knees.
"Gil be sleepin' like a rock, he won't be awake anytime soon," Harry said just as a loud snore from Gil rebounded around the room, "and I ain't interested in no pony-ride," Winter nearly snickered at the word pony-ride, riding with Winter horseback was anything but that. "I want to sleep — now leave," Harry said in a tired manner, not caring if he was rude.
Luckily, he still had not noticed Winter and Winter hoped it stayed that way. After getting one more eyeful of his abs and before Evie, Mal, or Ben could say anything to persuade the two, Harry slammed the door in their faces.
Winter snickered lightly from where she was leaning. Pushing herself off the wall, Winter began sauntering toward the stairs with a bounce in her step.
It looked like it would just be her and Stewart out there.
"That's a shame," Winter giggled lightly, Ben following after her.
Evie and Mal; however, remained in front of the door with determined expressions over their faces.
"He didn't even see you," Evie pouted, glaring as Winter practically danced down the hall and away from the Sea Three's room.
"Girls, maybe we should just leave them. They're obviously tired today, I'm sure they'll be more willing another time," Ben scratched the back of his neck from where he stood next to Winter.
Winter nodded in agreement with him, crossing her arms and popping out a hip as she gazed at the stubborn VK girls. Evie ignored them, turning back and knocking on the door quite loudly.
There was a loud male grunt from inside accompanied by Harry's thick accent.
"Oi, leave us alone!"
Winter felt bad, it sounded as though they were truly trying to sleep.
"Guys," Winter sighed, being cut off by Evie.
"Come on, it'll be fun—!" Evie stopped short as the door suddenly swung open, revealing a completely ready Uma.
She was wearing a pair of dark leggings and a chained-patchy t-shirt. Her braided hair was no longer covered by a sleeping cap, but rather pulled back into a ponytail. Her leather-clad hands tapped against the doorframe she was standing by, her heavy-booted foot tapping against the ground.
"Fine," Uma groaned, "you already woke me up and I won't be able to go back to sleep unlike those two," she jutted a thumb in the direction of the darkened room behind her.
Evie and Mal gave each other looks of astonishment while Ben and Winter's jaw fell open. How in the world was Uma able to change that fast?
"How did you change that fast?" Mal said while Evie looked at her in an impressed manner.
Uma shrugged, "I don't know, I always get ready pretty quick."
Mal slowly nodded while Evie snapped herself out of it. "Hmm, is Harry joining us?" The Evil Queen's daughter questioned.
"Uhm, probably not?" Uma said in a questioning tone, looking back into the darkened room to try and see what Harry was doing.
He was splayed on the bed, his head turned to glare in the direction of the open door where the light was seeping in.
"I will be in here sleepin' me ass off—" Harry screamed from his place on his bed.
"—That's too bad," Evie frowned, pulling Uma out of the doorway and in between her and Mal. Uma tossed a glare her way, not too fond of being dragged like that — but she was trying to be nice, so she did not say anything.
With a smirk, Evie started closing the door causing Harry to sigh in relief and shut his eyes. "Sorry, Winter, I guess Harry will not be riding with you..." It was comical the way Harry's eyes snapped open just as Evie shut the door.
Winter released a groan of frustration from where she was down the hall while Ben gave her an apologetic look. Uma turned and noticed Winter for the first time, the dark-skinned girl tilting her head at Winter's outfit.
Uma mentally cursed, realizing now why Evie and Mal were so stuck on Harry coming. It was because of the damn bet. If Harry and Winter got together within the next two weeks, then Evie would win. If they got together in the following two weeks then Mal would win.
Uma's bet time was in six weeks—and seeing how much money was on the line — Uma was routing for Winter to take her time. Uma only hoped Winter did not take longer than the six weeks to fall completely for the charm of the pirate.
Winter watched as Uma held up a hand, slowly bringing her fingers down as though counting. As soon as her last finger was brought down, the door to the room was practically ripped open and a shirtless Harry stuck his head out.
He narrowed his eyes, having a sneaking suspicion that Evie was lying to him about Winter being there as he did not see her before, but alas — the moment he turned his head left he was met with the sight of her standing just next to Ben down the hall.
Her warm brown eyes were wide, the girl blushing as she looked away from Harry's shirtless nature. She swallowed, playing with a strand of her hair that was tied in her low ponytail. Harry himself racked his gaze down her body — humming in delight at the way the breeches were squeezing her legs.
She utterly entranced him as she always did, but the way the riding gear was squeezing her only made Harry want to reach out and touch her all the more. Suddenly, the thought of riding horseback where their bodies would be pushed up against each other with little room sounded quite appealing.
Seeing as he did not know how to ride a horse, Harry imagined she would be the one in front. Though, Harry absolutely did not have an issue with this as he mused on the way his hands would grip her.
Harry was still an Isle pirate, the pirate prince as some had even taken to calling him. Despite this, Harry was no true prince — his manners were definitely not that of Auradon standards, so it was understandable that Harry had nothing against pretty much groping Winter on a horse ride.
He shivered at the thought, reluctantly bringing his gaze back up to her face. He rose a brow at the way she could not look at him and how her face was flushed right red.
But why—?
It was then Harry remembered that he was shirtless and that his abs were on full display. The pirate could not help but preen a bit at the pale girl's reaction — his pride for his body only skyrocketing. He was basking in the way her face was turning bright red and how she was unable to stand still.
Tousling his hair, Harry leaned against the doorframe with a flirty smirk, not daring to take his blue eyes off Winter.
"Why, duckling..." Harry started in a mischievously innocent tone, "whatever is the matter?"
Winter blushed more, biting her tongue to stop a squeak from coming out of her mouth. She refused to let her gaze wander over him again, a pit forming in her stomach. Ben coughed uncomfortably from next to her, Mal and Evie snickering while Uma simply rolled her eyes.
"Nothing at all, Harold," Winter's voice was embarrassingly high-pitched, the girl mentally counting ten in her head.
"See somethin' ye like?" Harry taunted in a flirtatious tone, allowing his eyes to stop at her legs. God, he really wished he could get her to wrap those legs around his waist so he could feel her up while shoving his tongue down her tongue. " 'Cause I certainly see somethin' I like, I will definitely be coming on that horse ride now," Harry's words caused Winter to take a sharp intake of breath.
"I will wait for you all by the stables!" She exclaimed, turning around and racing down the stairs, unable to take the tension any longer.
That and she was not sure how much longer she would be able to keep her gaze averted from Harry's delicious body.
Ben watched her go with pursed lips while the three VK girls laughed. Looking back to Mal in a confused manner, Mal only shook her head at Ben who was sometimes too pure for his own good. Then again, she truly did not understand how seeing as once she got him going he was quite literally a beast in the sheets.
Harry let out a deep chuckle, biting his lip at how good Winter's backside looked in the breeches. He would need to convince her to wear tight bottoms such as that more often.
Harry's gaze was forcefully ripped away from Winter's ass by Uma hitting him upside the head. He cried out as he looked down at his captain, Uma rolling her eyes and tilting her head in the room.
"Get dressed and see if Gil wants to come—" Uma started only for another loud snore to come from the room causing her to cringe, "—or maybe not, I doubt he'll wake up,"
Harry nodded, his previous tiredness now completely vanished at the sight of Winter in breeches and a tight jacket. Not to mention — while her hair was not down — it was not in a bun. Harry could run his fingers through the ponytail if he so wanted.
Or, he thought mischievously, he could do what he did when he first met her all those months ago and rip that hair tie right out.
With that thought, he was turning into the room with the intention of getting dressed.