A/N: Day one already passed, and I'm already behind. Story of my life. Welp, my chapters will probably be late, but hopefully the rest of the chapters are shorter. Enjoy, and let me know what you think. Comments, votes, and follows are appreciated <3 I already am in love with Ethan and Wesley, hope y'all do too :)

Chapter 1

Ethan hated the drive home. He wasn't even sure why his family had invited him to spend the holidays, considering how it always ended, with arguments, slurs, and often a long drunk ride home listening to that scornful Christmas music.

It was why he had moved 5 hours from his childhood home, away from that town that always found one way or another to spit on him. Whether for dropping out of high school, vandalizing people's cars, or from that time he kissed Lucas Brahm under the stars in front of the entire sophomore class during Winter Formal.

His knuckles on his old beat-up car's steering wheel turned white at just the memory of that night. How it had turned into some witch hunt, accusations flying left and right. Ethan's cheek burned where Lucas had punched him silly. It hadn't been his fault Lucas had the softest lips in the entire school, and that they were more divine and beautiful than Ethan's girlfriend at the time.

Needless to say, he hated how all of the Christmas songs his car played had to do with kissing, just to add to the taunts.

He shouted a curse word before turning off the radio, knowing damn well that Christmas songs would be the only thing any of these damn channels would play this time of year.

Ethan had debated whether or not to just forget about Christmas dinner, but seeing his childhood dog, Lucy, and the horses were enough incentive. He wouldn't have minded sleeping in the stables just to avoid his judgmental family. At least with the animals, they didn't care who Ethan kissed, didn't care that he had dropped out shortly after sophomore year.

Even after taking up volunteer firefighting, Ethan was appalled that that hadn't seemed to stop the questions and concerns from his relatives. It wasn't his fault that his older siblings and parents had set the bar so damn high, being attorneys, doctors, his uncle, a politician working in DC. Like being a firefighter was a bad occupation, he had risked his life on many accounts, even helped to evacuate thirty people from an apartment fire two years ago. He had argued a couple of Christmases ago that his job, even as a volunteer had been more fulfilling than taking other's money, or being corrupt to fight for policies that weren't inclusive in the slightest. But they never saw that.

All they ever saw Ethan as was a high school dropout, queer, and a total loser.

So why had he even bothered to go there, back to a place that hated him? Ethan had no fucking clue. He could have easily just ignored, even delete the message. Maybe even block his sister's number, even if it had been the only number of his family he had kept saved. Maybe it had been the photo she sent, but maybe it was an obligation. With mom's diagnosis, Ethan knew that it was probable she wouldn't be here next year, so he assumed that was why he insisted on going back. Even if the weather was shit, and his car was struggling to trudge alone, he felt that this would be his, and their last chance to make amends.

Ethan knew it was pointless. Nothing would change that his mother was a prick when it came to his lifestyle choice, one Ethan never had a say over, it just had happened. But he thought maybe, with the cancer running through her body, maybe she'd show some mercy. Appreciate him for even a minute while he was there.

So he took the long way home, travelling through some random and sparse towns, somehow circling around as he got lost. He was planning on arriving late, just in case he needed an excuse to leave again, like he always did.

His car's check engine light had come up, but that was never a big worry of his, as it did this quite frequently. His car had been a hand-me-down from his siblings, pushing Ethan's age at this point. He planned to squeeze every ounce of life it had, and it didn't faze him at all as he drove past another small city. It had been larger than some of the commuter towns he'd passed and appeared to have a town hall and library in the center. He hadn't passed a lot of cars, but it could have been the amount of snow and ice on the roads.

He drove unbelievably slow, enough that he could watch the crazy people walking under the eaves of the roofs of the shop, some even skipping and holding their hand out to feel the snow as it fell steadily. It made him feel incredibly sick, to see these happy couples enjoying the holidays. How they could enjoy being in freezing temperatures, and the possibility of frozen pavements that could cause serious injuries, Ethan had no idea.

With his car struggling, Ethan decided to stop by the lake he had seen from a distance. It had seemed like a beautiful spot, and he wondered if it was even more beautiful in the summer, where everything wasn't so gray and white. He parked his car on the side of the parking lot, putting it in neutral as he stared out the window. He couldn't see maybe past thirty feet, but he could see the shore of the frozen lake. Just enough where he could assume the rest of the lake was frozen

He wasn't sure how long he had spent just watching the snow, wondering if maybe he could use a snowstorm as an excuse for running late again, or maybe the icy roads. Either way, even if he had shown up on time, they probably would complain about his presence being there. Honestly, Ethan wondered if they'd even miss him at the party.

The snow was falling harder now, and the dark cloud hovering near the mountain peak looked nothing short of ominous. Maybe it was better if Ethan didn't show up, rather turn around and head back to his tiny apartment closer to the city. Or even crash at his station.

Just about ready to put his car in reverse, Ethan noticed a figure at the shore of the lake. He blinked because obviously who would've been that stupid to be out here in the freezing cold.

He could see another figure, a smaller one next to him, but they disappeared out of sight. Ethan wondered if this town really was chock full of winter junkies, happy for the cold and the holidays.

When he turned to look, he could see the figure coming closer, a man waving his arms around frantically. Even through the howling wind and pelting snow, he could hear him shout, "Help! Are you there?!"

Once the man saw that Ethan's lights were on, he quickly ran as fast he could in the inches of snow before running up to his car.

"Jesus!" Ethan, startled by the man's outburst and sudden strides, leaned away from the window. "What the hell? Get away from my car!"

"Please!" He knocked on the window. Ethan couldn't see the crazy man's full face, his parka covering half of it, the snow hiding the rest of his features. "My dog! Please help me!"

Ethan was used to being begged for help, after all that's what happened during most emergency calls. But as soon as the man said dog he was intrigued. He hated distressed animal calls, so much that Ethan would put on his gear in record time when those were announced. After all, it was the closest he'd ever get to being a veterinarian like he wanted, helping animals in need.

He hesitated at first, after all this crazed man could have been a serial killer, especially with the fact he was walking his dog in the freezing cold. Like what kind of sick person would do that?

His jaw clenched as the desperate man continued to pound on his door. Ethan finally relented, opening his window just a crack with his manual window lever.

"Please, help me!"

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" Ethan shot back. "It's snowing."

The stranger leaned in, almost in disbelief that the window had opened at all. "My dog. She's fallen in. I-I can't lose her, please help me."

Ethan blinked before he realized what he was talking about. He looked out the window, a portion of the lake he could see had fractured ice, a small figure could be barely made out. "Shit."

Ethan without another moment of hesitation undid his seatbelt, opened the door, nearly hitting the other man as he stepped out, immediately regretting bringing another winter jacket. Ethan opened the trunk of his car, knowing he'd have some supplies that could help in aiding the dog. He had learned the hard way that he should be prepared for any kind of emergency, even off-duty.

The desperate man followed him like a lost puppy, as he watched Ethan grab out a coil of rope, an extendable pole, and a towel.

"You just have this lying around in your car?" The man asked, following Ethan to the shore of the lake.

"Do you want me to help your dog or not?" Ethan said rather harshly, before feeling his teeth chatter. "Fuck, it's cold. Hold this."

The man held onto the towel, as Ethan assessed the situation. He could spot the dog, a long-haired Border Collie from the looks of it. Ethan had known over 500 breeds of dogs at one point, from his childhood obsession with animals and wanting to be a vet. The dog's head was still above the surface, thrashing about as it tried desperately to hold onto any solid ice, water splashing about. She was about 15 yards away, which wasn't terrible but was still a concern.

"How deep is this lake?" He asked the man.

"I don't know!" The man shouted. "What does it matter?"

Ethan sighed, before looking around. He couldn't tie the rope to a nearby tree, as the rope wouldn't reach her, so he took off his jacket until he had just a white tee on. The cold was chilling, but the jacket would only get in the way if Ethan fell in too. "Hold my jacket."

He tied one end of the rope on the pole, before tying the other around his waist.

"What are you- are you insane?"

"Hold this," Ethan ignored him, handing him the pole. "When I tell you to pull, pull. Don't worry, I'm a firefighter."

The man watched as Ethan approached the frozen lake's edge, wondering how on Earth this was going to work. Ethan knew that this wasn't entirely a good set up but with what little he had, this would suffice if he could reach the dog, and the ice didn't fracture from his weight. It had sustained her weight, but Ethan weighed easily over a hundred pounds more. He tested his weight, before deciding it's best to crawl his way there.

The man at the shore watched with bated breath, as Ethan inched his way over to his dog.

Ethan was about halfway when the cold was affecting his movements. It was freezing, but as he saw the dog struggling to keep it's head up, he pushed on. So long as he could reach her collar, pull her out, things should be alright.

He'd face far more stressful events, like the large apartment fire, or with any of the major car accident he had assisted with. But the stakes were high, and Ethan didn't want to let this dog down.

Luckily, she had managed to keep her head above enough to where Ethan quickly grabbed her collar. He repositioned himself to grab the nape of her neck, reaching his other hand around her chest under her front legs, only to find that she only had one.

Three legs? Ethan had a short lapse in focus, taken aback, before keeping a steady hold of her. She struggled a bit before relaxing, realizing she wasn't sinking. Ethan, despite the cold making his joints and muscles stiff, pulled as hard as he could, managing to get her front half of the body onto the ice. He moved his hand to push her romp all the way out. That had been the easy part. It was getting the dog, exhausted and freezing back onto the solid ground without breaking more ice, and then getting their body temperature up enough to make sure nothing internal was damaged. He took a breath before tugging on the rope, holding onto the dog.

"Pull!" He shouted, hoping the man would be able to hear. "Pull the line!"

It took a second before Ethan could feel the tension of the rope around his waist. Slowly but surely they were moving closer to the shore. The dog was shivering violently, just as Ethan was, the ice dragging along his bare arms making them feel numb.

They had gotten about halfway when Ethan had felt the ice starting to shatter. Fuck, he thought. He needed to get the dog back on the shore, but it appeared he was testing the ice too much with both of their weights together.

The ice beneath him gave way, the cold water seeping into every pore of his body. Ethan regretted taking the jacket off, even though it wouldn't have helped warm his body even a fraction.

But Ethan wasn't about to give up on this dog like his town and his family did. No, he was going to make sure he helped this animal regardless. He was going to save her, that was for sure, no matter what.