The closer we got to home, the more anxious I became. It'd be the first time seeing mom and dad in two years and knowing that mom tried to invite Howie meant I was going to have to bite my tongue on all the fights I'd want to start.

It never did any good to tell her how angry she made me. There was always some victim card she played that made me out to be the cruel and ungrateful daughter. I knew she was wrong, but getting through to her was like talking to a brick wall. It was better to save my breath.

Snow started to fall as the sun was setting and I sighed. If it got too thick, we'd have to stop for the night. I couldn't tell if that would be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, it'd be one less night spent at home. On the other, I'd be sharing a room with Jade for the night. Not that we'd have to share a room I suppose.

I peeped over at him and felt an unexpected warmth bloom in my chest. Swallowing it down fast, I sat up a bit straighter. "Are you still okay to drive? You need to rest or something?"

"Na, I'll be fine until we get there. As long as this snow doesn't get heavier."

It did get heavier though. Heavy enough that the car in front of us was barely visible. Jade seemed relaxed, one hand on the wheel, going slow and seeming almost serene.

"We should stop for the night," I suggested, bracing for a stupid response.

"If you want?"

Not what I was expecting. I thought for sure he'd say something suggestive but perhaps because of our earlier tiff, he didn't want to set me off again. The thought made me a little sad. I liked when he flirted with me. Not that I'd admit that.

"You don't feel nervous driving when it's like this?"

He shrugged, still watching the road. "I can handle it if you need me to. Or I can stop if that makes you feel better. I don't mind all that much, Doll. I'm not in a hurry to be anywhere."

"Uh, right," I said, sounding all sorts of stupid. Now I had no idea what the hell I wanted. "Well I guess we can stop."

Jade gave a simple nod and at the next exit, he got off the freeway and started driving slowly through the dark and rural road, heading toward a small township. We were only about two hours from home but because of all the stops today, we hadn't made time like I wanted to. It was dark, snowing and I didn't want Jade driving if he was tired. It was better we stopped.

"Shit," Jade gasped and I barely had time to let out the scream in my chest when a deer ran across the road in front of the car.

Jade slammed on the breaks and before I could process it, we were spinning, sliding and then rolling. It happened so fast, I'm not sure when it happened but I ended up with my head being covered by Jades hands as the car rolled down a bank.

When it came to a stop, we were both gasping. Jade slid his hands from my head, down onto my face. It was dark, too dark to see.

"Doll," he sounded breathless. "You hurt?"

"No," I said. "I don't think so. You?"

"No," he didn't drop his hold on my face. "Well, not really. Probably a bit bruised but nothing major."

Eventually he let me go and I leaned back in my seat. It felt like we'd landed the right way up, perhaps on a bit of a lean. The headlights had gone out and the engine was off. This was not good.

Not good at all.

Jade had been shuffling around and then his phone light lit up the car. "Hang on, I'll check on the situation outside. Fuck knows how far we are from the road."

He pushed his door open, climbed out and disappeared. The car descended into silence as I kept an eye on his little phone light moving through the dark outside. I did not want to think about the fact that we might be stuck here. There was no way. It was freezing already.

Jade came back a minute or two later, snow clinging to his clothes, his lips going an almost blue and his jaw clenched tight. He tried to start the car but all it did was whine.

"Well," he clutched the steering wheel. "We're down a bank, which I was able to climb and make it back to the road but there's no chance we're getting the car out of here. And the road is dead so I don't know how long it would be before someone drove past. We definitely can't wait out there, or walk. Too dangerous."

"Shit, Jade—"

"My phone doesn't have service," he interrupted, looking at his screen. "Try yours?"

"Mine died half n hour ago."

He tipped his head back. "Fuck."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it'd take this long to get there. I don't have a car charger and I just—"

Jade leaned across the centre and cupped my chin. "Doll, breathe. Don't apologise."

I let out a breath. "How bad is the damage to the car?"

"It's not good. I'm sorry."

I sighed and avoided looking at the dark windows in case the face of nightmares appeared out of nowhere. "Not your fault."

"Come on doll. Let me have it. You're being too nice."

Tears started to well up in my eyes and I quickly looked away, pulling back from the gentle grip he had on my chin. It was all starting to weigh on me. The fact that I was stupidly unprepared for a long trip, one I haven't done in years. The fact that we were not getting out of here with my car tonight. The fact that it was likely no one would see us down here until the morning. It was cold, dark and selfishly, I just wanted to crawl into my bed and know that I wasn't in this mess at all.

"Dahlia," Jade sounded worried as I hid my eyes behind my hands. "Doll please don't cry."

"I know, it's pathetic," I sobbed. "I'm just... it's a lot. I'm not that delicate. I'm just—"

"I know," Jade said and I looked over to where he was slipping his phone into the sun visor so it lit up the car and he didn't have to hold it. "Hopefully if someone does go past, they see the light. It's not much, but..."

"Yeah," I wiped my face.

"Look, I'm going to say something that might piss you off, please know that's not my intention."

I watched him cautiously as he swallowed hard.

"We have to get naked and cuddle."

"Jade!"

"Listen, I'm not going to pretend that doesn't sound hot as hell," he gave me a quick once over and I reacted to it as if we weren't in this nightmare of a situation. "But it's more for surviving the cold than the pleasure of being close to your body."

"Fine, fine," I relented. It was the best way to keep warm. I knew that. I hated it. But I knew it was true.

We both climbed into the back and laid the seats flat so the trunk became part of the space and gave us more room. All of the luggage was pushed as far back as it could go and created a little barrier against the trunk window. It was unsettling to know that if anyone were outside of the car, they could see in, but we couldn't see out. I double checked the locks for the fifth time.

Jade wasted no time, pulling his sweater and then his shirt over his head. His bare chest was chiselled and covered in goosebumps. Quickly, he lifted his bum and slid his pants off, leaving him in boxer briefs.

"Those can stay on," I snapped a little too fast.

Jade chuckled. "I wasn't going to take them off."

"Good. Good. Yeah."

"Your turn."

"No."

He quirked a brow and stared at me. Yeah I was being ridiculous. I had a nice powder pink bra and underwear set on. I'd pretend it was a bikini for the duration of this nightmare.

"Ugh, fine." I slid my coat off, the sweater I'd slipped on earlier and my turtle neck. The cold hit my skin and I started shivering.

As fast and as graciously as possible, I slid my sweat pants off and finally braved looking at Jade who was making no effort to hide where his gaze was resting. The dim white light of his phone wasn't the brightest, but it was enough.

"Jade..."

"You look good, doll. I'm not even going to pretend you don't look so fucking good."

My stomach turned into a pile of mush and I waved him off. "Come on, let's get it over with."

"How close is too close, doll?"

I glared at him. "Don't even think about putting your hands in a red zone."

"You mean pink?" He winked at me and I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, pink."

He tilted his head and opened his arms. "Doll, I'd never take advantage of a situation like this. But don't blame me if you feel something firm. I can't be held responsible for my body's natural reaction to a gorgeous woman lying in my arms in her sexiest underwear."

"Oh, Jade," I scoffed with laughter. "These are not my sexiest underwear."

He groaned. "Don't tell me that."

As we shifted to get closer, I caught the flash of his tattoo. The one on his rib he'd told me about. My eyes practically fell out of my damn head and I put a palm against his shoulder to keep him still and in the light while I stared at it.

"Oh," he realised what I'd seen. "Yeah."

The tattoo was my sketch. An exact replica of a picture I'd drawn when we were in middle school. Two hands creating a pinky promise. The promise that we'd made during the summer. When he swore if I ever needed to be taught something new, he'd call a truce on our endless bickering and he'd teach me.

At twelve, it was just a silly little promise. I put a hand across my mouth and traced the tattoo with my other one. Goosebumps flared across his skin at my touch.

"You put this on your skin?!"

When I looked up, he was already watching me, shadows cast across his beautiful face. He nodded.

"Why?"

"Because teaching you new things and watching you learn and achieve something because of the way I'd taught you, it gave me a sense of purpose that I'd never really felt before," he explained. "I'd always kept that sketch, I kind of wanted to remind myself that there was something out there that made me feel like I was doing something worthy. I started looking for coaching positions a while ago and then when I was in New Zealand and wanted to get a tattoo that really meant something to me, that was it."

The sentiment made me feel things I'd never felt before. I was still touching his rib and realised I should probably stop. The fact that this whole revelation had happened while we were in our underwear did not evade me.

Jade sat so still, watching me with hooded lids. With his eyes still on mine, he pulled me into his arms and laid us both down, skin to skin and then he covered us with his coat, my coat, a blanket on the back seat and all of our clothes. His arms came back under the covers and he wrapped them around me, encasing me completely. My heart was practically thundering out of my chest as my cheek rested in the crook of his neck.

It wasn't long before the heat of our bodies did what it was supposed to. I was still chilled but not to the point of shivering uncontrollably. Jade rested his chin on my head and his thumb made slow strokes on my back, grazing the strap of my bra every so often.

Weirdly, I'd never felt safer.

"In the morning," Jade whispered. "The sun will be out, we'll get dressed and head up onto the road. There will be more traffic and we'll get some help. I promise."

I nodded, not feeling as if the earth was falling out from under me anymore. In fact, I was quite content, right where I was.