"What are you doing up here?"
James looked over his shoulder.
Maggie stood on the porch below, bundled in an oversized winter coat that nearly swallowed her whole. Moonlight reflected off the fresh snow surrounding the cabin, making the clearing almost bright enough to read by. Her breath drifted upward in small white clouds as she squinted toward the roof.
"I could ask you the same thing."
She crossed her arms against the cold.
"I woke up and you were gone."
James smiled faintly.
"So you came looking."
"You weren't in your room."
"I wasn't."
"You weren't in the living room."
"Nope."
"The kitchen was empty."
"I noticed."
She rolled her eyes.
"You're impossible."
"So I've been told."
Maggie glanced toward the ladder leaning against the side of the porch roof.
"Are you coming down?"
James looked back toward the dark woods.
"I wasn't planning on it."
"Good."
She grabbed the ladder before he could ask why.
"What are you doing?"
"Coming up."
"You'll freeze."
"I'll freeze with company."
Before James could argue, Maggie had already climbed halfway up the ladder. He sighed, shifted over, and offered a hand as she stepped onto the roof.
"Careful."
"I've got it."
She settled beside him, wrapping the blanket she'd carried over both of their legs before either of them acknowledged she'd done it.
For several minutes they sat in silence.
The woods stretched endlessly before them, interrupted only by the faint outline of the frozen lake in the distance.
James rested his bow across his lap.
Maggie's crossbow lay beside her, within easy reach.
"What are you doing up here?" she asked again, her voice quieter this time.
James kept his eyes on the tree line.
"Watching."
"For what?"
"I don't know."
She waited.
Finally he sighed.
"I can't shake the feeling."
"The one from this morning?"
He nodded.
"It doesn't make any sense."
"No."
"But it's there."
"I know."
She looked out into the darkness herself.
"I kept thinking I'd see someone."
"So did I."
"But I never did."
"Neither did I."
The wind whispered through the pines.
James pulled the blanket a little tighter around his shoulders.
"Sometimes I feel uneasy," he admitted quietly. "Sitting out here like this... it lessens that unease."
Maggie turned to look at him.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"I know it sounds stupid."
"It doesn't."
"It probably does."
"You've been protecting this place for almost five years."
He smiled without looking at her.
"Closer to six."
"You don't just stop doing that."
"No."
She studied his face in the pale moonlight.
"You think somebody's out there."
"I do."
"Even though we didn't see anyone."
"Yeah."
She followed his gaze into the trees.
"What if you're wrong?"
"I hope I am."
"And if you're right?"
James was quiet for a long time.
"Then I hope they leave us alone."
Another silence settled between them.
Comfortable.
The kind that only existed between people who no longer felt the need to fill every empty space with words.
Eventually Maggie spoke again.
"You know..."
"Hm?"
"I don't think I could've done this."
James glanced over.
"This?"
She gestured toward the dark forest.
"The world."
"If I'd been by myself."
He looked back toward the trees.
"You would've figured it out."
She shook her head immediately.
"No."
"I think you would've."
"I wouldn't."
Her answer came so quickly it caught him off guard.
"I would've died."
James frowned.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
She wrapped her hands around the edge of the blanket.
"I was barely holding it together when your family found me."
He said nothing.
"I kept telling myself I was surviving."
She laughed softly.
"I wasn't."
"You are now."
"Because of you."
James looked at her.
"No."
"Yes."
"My parents..."
"They gave me a home."
She smiled.
"Harry and Jonas gave me brothers."
"Elliott gave me a little sister I never asked for."
James laughed.
"That's fair."
"But you..."
She hesitated.
"...you gave me a reason to wake up every morning."
James forgot about the woods.
Forgot about the cold.
Forgot about the feeling that had driven him onto the roof in the first place.
All he could see was Maggie.
She smiled nervously.
"What?"
He shook his head.
"I was just thinking..."
"What?"
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"This is probably the worst timing in history."
She laughed.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"No."
"It doesn't."
He looked down at the bow resting across his knees before letting out a slow breath.
"Merry Christmas, Maggie."
She smiled.
"Merry Christmas."
"You got the only boy your age with a crush on you."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Maggie's mouth opened slightly.
"...What?"
James closed his eyes for a second.
"Well..."
He laughed awkwardly.
"I definitely pictured saying that differently."
She stared at him.
"You have a crush on me?"
He looked back at her.
"Maggie."
"What?"
"I rebuilt your room."
"You rebuild everything."
"I found you a guitar."
"You found everyone a guitar?"
"I volunteered for every perimeter check you were on."
"I thought you liked walking."
"I do."
"But..."
He smiled sheepishly.
"I mostly liked walking with you."
Maggie blinked.
"You idiot."
James frowned.
"...Me?"
"I've been flirting with you for weeks."
"You have?"
She laughed so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes.
"Oh my God."
"What?"
"You really didn't know."
"I thought you were just being nice."
"I thought you were just being nice."
They looked at one another.
Then, almost at the same time...
They both started laughing.
The sound echoed softly across the frozen clearing before disappearing into the woods.
James shook his head.
"I guess we're both idiots."
"The biggest."
He smiled.
"So..."
"So?"
"Now what?"
Maggie looked at him for a long moment.
"Come here."
He blinked.
"What?"
"I said..."
She reached over, grabbed the front of his coat, and gently pulled him toward her.
"...come here."
Their first kiss was hesitant.
Neither of them knew exactly what they were doing.
It lasted only a few seconds before they both pulled away at the same time.
James smiled first.
Maggie buried her face in her hands.
"Oh my God."
"What?"
"I can't believe I just did that."
"I'm pretty glad you did."
She peeked at him through her fingers.
"You are?"
"I've wanted to do that since your birthday."
Her cheeks turned bright red.
"My birthday?"
"The guitar wasn't subtle."
She laughed.
"No... it really wasn't."
James leaned back against the roof, looking up at the stars.
"Merry Christmas."
Maggie slipped her hand into his.
"Merry Christmas."
For the first time all day...
The feeling in the pit of James's stomach disappeared.
At least for a little while.