Melody followed Austin out of the house as she carefully held the puppy; the cold air helped clear her foggy head a little. 

What was Austin doing here already? The stupid party wasn't until this weekend; she didn't think she'd see him before then. She was not ready for his handsome, tall self to be standing her in her kitchen and the facial scruff. What's that new sexy thing!?

The dog started licking her hand obsessively, "it's okay," she soothed it.

Way to go, Mel, you're stressing out a puppy, she scolded herself. Austin was already getting into his car, and she hesitated. Would he think it was super weird if she wanted to drive separately?

"Bell, are you coming?"

"Uh yeah," she answered both his and her question and hurried to his car.

He got in and started it up; the last time she'd sat next to Austin in his passenger seat, she was maybe sixteen, and it felt so weird.

The puppy was playful and cute, so she distracted herself with it.

"What's your name, little guy?" She asked, and he wiggled in response. "Maybe Romeo? No.. teddy bear"-

"You can't name him," Austin stopped her. "He probably already has a name."

"Well, I don't know it, so I'm giving him one," she said.

"You'll confuse him," Austin countered, "when we find his owners and they call him his real name."

"One day of being called a different name isn't going to hurt him," she said, "he's too little to retain his name anyway."

"No, he's not."

"Is too," she rolled her eyes, "You went to med school, not animal school."

"He's such a know it all, isn't he?" She cooed at the happy pup as she picked him up.

"I haven't seen you in five years, and you throw a brush at me and then insult me?" He said in a teasing tone.

"It's not an insult, if it's a fact," she retorted, "you've always been a know it all."

"Have not," he said as he stuck his tongue out at her; she couldn't help but giggle at it. It felt a bit like old times. The puppy got excited when she laughed and started jumping all over her lap.

"Careful, Rudolf!" She told him.

"Rudolf?" Austin slowed down as they reached Main Street.

"It's festive."

"You're still a Christmas dork, I see." He scoffed.

"Watch it, Thorne!" She threatened.

"Oh, sweet! The hot chocolate cart is already set up!" Austin's eyes widened in excitement as they drove by the colorful stand. There was a small line waiting behind it. It was only set up for the holidays. It was the richest, creamiest; most magical drink one could have.

"Oh yeah, it's been all week," she said.

"First stop, then!"

"How are they going to help with the puppy?" She asked.

"We need fuel to walk around."

"...and as a doctor, you recommend sugar?" She teased.

"As a doctor, I recommend balance," Austin said. "Have the chocolate and add a few minutes to the run."

"The only running I do is to the bathroom when I've had too much wine," Melody admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Mell Bell, drinking wine," he shook his head like that was crazy.

He'd always see her as a kid, wouldn't he?

He maneuvered his car to the back alley, where a parking lot sat. Austin pulled up to one of the front-row spots and parked.

"This is for residents only," she warned him.

"I live in one of the apartments, the one above the diner," he told her.

"You already have a place? How long have you been here?" She asked.

"Got in last night," he said as he got out.

"Only you would already have a place, day one." She scoffed at that.

"I can't take credit; Rafe set it up." He explained, "he called me as soon as he heard the renter left."

Rafe was Austin's best friend; he was also Sadie's older brother and, most recently, Melody's boss at the diner. 

"You're living above the diner?" She nearly groaned; of course, he was.

"Yeah, why's that bug you?" He asked, giving her a look. 

Oops, so he could still read her moods after all this time, it seemed. 

"It doesn't," she shrugged it off as best she could. "It's just a coincidence. I'm working at the diner a few nights a week."

"Rafe never mentioned that."

"It's new."

The puppy started to yelp and whine. "I think he's got to go pee."

They both got out and set the puppy down near a snow bank. Austin stood on the other side in case it ran off. He did his thing and then ran right back up to Melody.

"He likes you!" Austin grinned as she picked up the puppy again.

"He's cute," she held him up and kissed his little nose. He then licked her face, and she giggled at it.

"Let's go find his owners," Austin led the way to Main Street. The cobble stone roads and sidewalks were freshly plowed of snow. A handful of people were walking around shopping and chatting. 

She followed him while carefully holding the puppy. They stopped when they reached the hot chocolate cart.

"You better grab the drinks while I hold him." She directed as she struggled with the wiggly pup, "he's trying hard to run free."

"Double chocolate with as many marshmallows as they'll give you?" Austin asked with that damn lopsided grin of his. Darn, if it wasn't as adorable as it ever was.

"Please," she attempted an easy smile back at him, but it didn't work. She could see a flicker of concern in his eyes before he turned to go. He knew her so well even all these years later. She couldn't fake a smile for him.

He returned with two colorful paper mugs of hot chocolate. He had a candy cane sticking out of it; he liked peppermint. Hers was full of way more marshmallows than they ever gave her! A girl must be working the stand; she thought as she glanced over.

Austin took the puppy from her and tucked him under one arm as he held his mug with the other. She used both hands for hers and sipped it slowly.

"So, where should we start?" She asked.

"Let's sit and drink our hot cocoa. Then we'll start going from shop to shop." He motioned to a little bench nearby. She followed him and sat down. He held the Rudolf in his lap, who was trying to get at Austin's drink. He laughed as he held it up and away from the pup.

"Should've named him, Trouble," Austin mentioned.

"He did destroy an amazing gingerbread house." Melody agreed.

"I liked the wine cork for the chimney." He said, and she laughed. "I told my mom that was brilliant!"

"Bell...I'm sorry we lost touch." He said suddenly. 

"It's fine; we both got busy," she said quickly, "I'm sure med school was intense. London all that."

"Still, I should've reached out." He said with a regretful note in his voice.

Oh, for the love of Santa, she silently begged him, please, do not bring up that night.

"I was a drunken idiot that night and-"

"Damn it!"

"Huh?" He looked over with a confused expression.

Oh shoot, she yelled that out for real.

"Uh, I burned my tongue," she said quickly, her cheeks flushing bright red anyway. "Anyway, it's fine, Austin; we don't need to talk about it."

"But we never really talked again after, " he frowned. "I know it was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault," she stared into her cup to avoid looking at him. "I shouldn't have"-

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," he shook his head. "I was supposed to look out for you, and I almost- anyway... I'm sorry."

"You thought I was someone else," she mumbled. "Once you knew who I was, you were clear."

He just had to bring it up, didn't he? The most humiliating night of her life. 

"Anyways, it was forever ago. I nearly forget about it." She tried her best to sound believable. "I got so busy with college. Probably not even close to how busy you were, though."

"The last eight years seemed just to fly by," he agreed, "it's still no excuse for not checking in with you. Can we be friends again? I missed us, Bell."

She felt her heart twist at his words. Thankfully, he didn't bring up her confession from that night. However, it might've been nice for him to acknowledge how harsh his rejection was. He never acknowledged it, even when he tried to talk to her at Christmas a few weeks later. He kept apologizing for the almost kiss, making it clear he'd never want her like that. He didn't have to feel the same way, she got that, but he could've been kinder about it. 

She always suspected it angered him that she risked their friendship. He'd have a right to be angry, she did risk it, and she wrecked it too. The whole thing was a mess, but truthfully, she missed his friendship. It was like a hole without him in her life. 

"I missed us too," she said quietly, "I'd like that."

Even though it would be torture all over again, she'd rather suffer as his friend than continue not to have him in her life. If he brought it up again she'd dismiss it as a childish crush, she'd never let him know how pathetic she was over him, for so long.

"Good," a relieved smile took over his face. "Let's go find this guy's home then, huh?"

"Yeah, let's." She stood up, as did he. They fell into step together on the sidewalk as they walked.

All the storefronts were already decorated with garland and lights. She loved this town this time of year. They stepped into the bakery first, aptly named A Crest of Bread.

Mrs. Marlin's honey-brown eyes lit up when they walked in. "Oh, my word! Austin Thorne?" The old woman smiled brightly at umm, "I heard you were coming home!"

"You heard right; great to see you again, Mrs. Merlin." Austin flashed her a kind smile. Then his eyes found the brownies she'd just baked, and he looked over at Melody.

"Can I get the biggest brownie you have?" Melody asked, and the older lady laughed gleefully as she picked one out.

"Some things never change," she said as she handed Melody the paper wrapped  brownie. "This one is on me." She added when Austin started to reach for his wallet. Melody broke off a big piece and handed it to Austin, who looked at it like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Yum!" Austin's eyes closed happily as he bit into it. "Now remember"-

"You just sampled Melody's. You would never buy a brownie your mom didn't make." Mrs. Merlin was smiling at that.

They'd been doing that since they were kids. Austin would never risk hurting his mom's feelings by buying someone else's baked goods.

"Has anyone come by about a puppy?" Melody gestured to the bundle of cuteness in Austin's arms, "he found this guy outside my house."

"No, dear, they haven't," Mrs. Merlin said, "you could always check in with the other shops, though. I'm someone knows something."

They headed out and were just about to walk into the Santa's Gift Shop when a few people dressed like elves came running last them.

"Sorry running late!" One of them said he whizzed on by.

"Better hurry and join your people, shorty," Austin teased her, and this time, she stuck her tongue out at him. "Hilarious, Thorne."

"I thought so." He smirked as they walked further inside. Santa was already there greeting kids, and it was busy inside. The puppy was getting over-excited quickly; lucky Austin had a good hold of him. He took the puppy back to outside, and Melody checked in. The owners didn't know anything either. 

Her phone rang just as she was leaving the store. She didn't recognize the number, so it was probably a spam call. "Hello?"

"Hi, uh, Melody?" A guy's voice came through the line.

"This is Melody," she spoke as she left the store. "Who is this?"

Austin motioned for the candy shop across the street, and she nodded and walked with him.

"It's Trent. We met earlier."

"The naked guy!?" She blurted out, and Trent laughed while Austin shot her a curious look. She really needed to get better about thinking inside her head.

"Sorry to call you out of the blue. Your mom gave me your number."

"Of course she did," Melody rolled her eyes, although, to be fair, she did tell her she'd take his number. Only so she'd have a date to Austin's party, though.

"I hope it's okay she did?" He said nervously.

"Oh yeah, it's fine," she assured him. Austin kept glancing at her curiously.

"I was hoping I could take you out sometime. Dinner or something?"

That was bold, but...if she wanted to ensure Austin didn't suspect her feelings, seeing someone should work, right? 

Right, she decided.

"Well, that depends," she smirked a little, "will you be wearing pants?"

"What?" Austin was staring now; she ignored him.

"You don't like my fruit bowl?" He asked, and then she chuckled; okay, so naked guy was kind of funny.

"It was a very nice fruit bowl," she commented.

"I promise to wear pants; I'll even wear a shirt."

"A shirt, too!? You're such a charmer, Trent."

"What can I say?" He laughed, "so can I pick you up tomorrow, around seven or so?"

"Sure, that sounds fun," she agreed.

"Great, I'll call when I'm on the way over."

"Okay, see you then."

"Who was that?" Austin asked the second she clicked off the phone.

"My date for tomorrow night," she said casually as she stepped into the next one, Kringle's candy Shop. Austin and Rudolf were right behind her.

"Why was he talking about not wearing pants?"

"It's an inside joke."

"Have you been dating him long?"

"No, we just met," she continued walking up towards the clerk.

"Is that Austin Thorne!" The busty brunette behind the counter looked up happily when they stepped up. "I heard you were coming back!"

"Hey, Jess, right?"

"Jen, actually," her smile dimmed a little.

"Sorry," Austin said sheepishly.

"Oh, it's fine; you were a year ahead of me anyway." She smiled, "here for some candy?"

She hadn't even so much as glanced at Melody yet. So obvious, ugh.

"No, actually, we were wondering if anyone has come in looking for a puppy," Austin explained as he held up Rudolf.

"Oh my gosh, he's adorable!" Jen gushed. "I can't say they have, but wow!"

"Yeah, he's cute," Austin said distractedly. "We should get going then, thanks."

He turned to leave, "Come on, Bell."

Sheesh, what crawled up his butt? She couldn't help but feel slightly smug at Jen's annoyed expression. She probably wasn't used to being dismissed.

"You should try the pet shop!" Jen called after them as they left.

"Pet shop is a decent idea," Melody admitted as they stepped back outside.

"I don't get why you'd be talking to that guy about being naked if you just met."

"What? You're still on that?" She asked.

"Seems perverted or something." He muttered.

"He's not a pervert!"

Rudolf started to whine, so she held her arms out, and he jumped from Austin to her.

"How would you know? You just met him?" 

"Thorne, you sound like my dad, actually worse, he would be telling me to date the naked guy," Melody commented. 

 "But...he's talking about being naked and not wearing pants!" Wow, that really bugged him, what in the winter? 

"I was the one that called him naked guy, and it's because he was naked when we met." She clarified. 

"What!?" Austin stopped right outside the store and narrowed his eyes at her. "I know we just became friends again, but I'm not letting you go out with some creep."

"Let me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean it like that," he looked increasingly flustered, and the puppy was getting wiggly. "I just, I don't want you to get taken advantage of or"-

"Austin," she cut him off, "It's been five years. I'm almost twenty-three; I'm not a kid anymore."

"Yeah, I've noticed," he mumbled.

Huh? Her eyes widened slightly, and he was averting his gaze.

Rudolf yelped then, and she quieted and comforted him. Austin silently started walking in, but the tension remained in the air.

"There's the little runaway!" The pet store owner said as soon as they walked in.

"You know him?" Melody asked with a little chuckle as they stepped further inside.

"We took in a rescue that had some pups a month ago." He explained, "Earlier, we did a big adoption event. That one ran off, and I couldn't leave the shop to look for him."

"Told you we should call him, Trouble," Austin said as she handed him over to the store owner. She frowned a little when he cried and whimpered. He set him down so the little guy could run. He did for a moment and then came right back to Melody's and whined at her feet.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Rudolf," she knelt and pet his head; when she stood back up, he whined again. This time he ran to Austin and pawed at his legs.

"You said he's up for adoption?" Austin asked as he scooped him up.

"He sure is!"

"You're thinking about it?"
Melody's face lit up.

"Will you come by a lot and help?" He asked her.

"Yes, please adopt him" she begged. 

"I'd love to," Austin looked back at the shop owner. "How much for him?"

"That little guy left here and went found you two. I can't charge you a thing, he's all yours."

"Wow, thank you!" Austin looked over at Melody, "you want to help me grab some stuff for him?"

"Yeah, for sure!" She chirped, "I'm so excited for you. You got a puppy!"

"No Bell, we got a puppy."