Jessie officially hated high heels. Sure, they improved her posture, she noticed it in every reflective surface they passed, but the ache in the soles of her feet was so not worth it. It didn't help that they were a size too small.

"Could we change clothes first?" she asked Sam who was leading them towards the entrance hall.

He threw a glance over his shoulder, possibly noticed the grimace of pain on her face, and nodded. "Sure. We'll wait for you guys."

"Hallelujah!" Jimmy exclaimed. "Goodbye inhumanely tight pants."

Jessie giggled. She'd miss the pants. Jimmy was the kind of guy who was meant to wear tight stuff, but never did. Though to be honest, she didn't want other people to see as much of him as she did, or know him as well as her.

They went up the stairs and finally reached the drawing room in which they'd temporarily deposited all the luggage. The moment Jimmy closed the door behind them, she sat on a coffee table and took of the heels.

"All those sofas and chairs and you sit on the table," Jimmy said, an amused smile on his face.

She threw a shoe at him. "Shut up, it was closest to the door. I can't wait to get back in my normal clothes. Not to mention put some socks on."

"Tell me about it. Well, not the socks part." He threw his getup a disgusted look. "There's a reason people invented n larger pants."

She giggled and turned away from him, her fingers grasping at the lace of her corset, her eyes already searching for her rucksack in the pile. She identified it quickly and went for it, still pulling at the string. The damn thing should have loosened by now, but there was no improvement, just the need for more air. When she pulled harder and only felt the corset tightening, she realized what she'd done.

"Damn it," she said, jumping around, trying to reach the obvious knot.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked, confused.

She whipped around to face him, ready to curse medieval fashion to hell and back, but froze when she saw him. He was already wearing jeans again and the white shirt was completely unbuttoned. He'd changed with the speed and stealth of a ninja.

She pushed her jaw back up, deciding to ignore how hot he looked. "I have no idea how I managed to tie this thing, but now I can't untie it and it's driving me mad."

Jimmy didn't say anything, just tilted his head and stared at her. She quickly checked that everything was still in place, but the corset hadn't moved.

"Are you going to help or not?"

He snapped out of it and strode to her. "Okay, turn around and let's see what I can do."

She obeyed and lifted her hair so that he could see what he was doing.

"How on earth did you manage to tangle it up so bad? I might need to cut it off completely," he mumbled, pulling on the strings.

"I don't care, it's not mine. I just want this devilish device off and as far away from me as possible."

"Don't worry, one way or another, it's coming off. I might even manage to solve the problem without using anything sharp-- And here we go!"

Her lungs expanded and she could finally breathe again as the pressure on her rib cage loosened considerably. She breathed greedily, grateful when Jimmy started pulling at the sides of the corset, freeing her much faster.

He suddenly stopped, but his fingers lingered on her back. The gentle touch sent shivers down her spine and at that moment she knew they shouldn't go any further because it felt too nice, too intimate and her corset was three seconds from falling off.

So she turned around and put her hand on his chest, intending to push him back. Except the feel of his skin, still unusually hot, under her palm sent all coherent thoughts out of her head. Before she knew what she was doing, she pulled him to her and kissed him. He kissed her back, once again deep and passionate like it was only the beginning, The force of it had her stepping back, falling into a sitting position over the small table as her hands fumbled with his shirt, trying to push it over his shoulders.

"Damn. Sorry to interrupted."

Jessie's eyes shot open and she pulled away from Jimmy, hugging the corset against her chest. Kyle stood in the doorway, one hand covering his eyes.

"I would've walked right out, but people are waiting downstairs and I actually want to have a quick word with you guys before Jerry turns into fussy mother hen again."

Jimmy's posture relaxed and, without a word, he took off his shirt and passed it to her so she could drape it over herself. "Okay. Come right in. You can look now."

Kyle lowered his hand, grinning, and Jessie didn't know if she wanted to laugh or smack him in the face for interrupting them.

"Can I go change before our conversation?" she asked.

Both guys shrugged, so she picked up her rucksack and hurried to the door opposite from the one leading into the hall. Once she entered, she wasn't disappointed. She'd wound up in a master bedroom, fully furnished, with a massive king size bed with a blue canopy. Every surface was clean, the sheets seemed freshly laundered and there was a freshness to this room that the rest of the castle seemed to lack. It was also one of the few rooms with a window overlooking the grounds. Of course, right then it overlooked a curtain of snow, but she wasn't there to admire the view. She'd get the chance because she was so calling dibs on that room.

She quickly pulled on her jeans and a tank top, followed by a warm pair of socks and her boots. Even if she'd pulled out a sweater, she ended up draping the shirt over her shoulders. It wasn't as warm, but it had caught Jimmy's scent.

When she stepped out, Jimmy was already dressed in a black t-shirt and sat on the couch, one arm draped over the back, while Kyle was still standing.

"What's up?" she asked, sitting on the table again.

"I need to strategize and I need you two for that," Kyle said, turning to Jimmy and pointing at him. "You're bunking up with me tonight."

Jimmy feigned surprise. "And miss all of Billy's melodious snoring? Never in a million years."

"Jessie, I want you to share with Kay this time," Kyle continued, completely ignoring Jimmy.

"Um, sure, okay." Not that she minded. Hell, she'd been dying to talk to Kay alone since forever, without Tina's moping shadow around. Even if lately she didn't seem so mopey anymore.

"The luggage should stay here, too. Would make it a lot easier to maneuver. Also calling dibs." He pointed to the bedroom she'd just come out of.

"Hey, no, I want that room," Jessie protested. "I was there first."

"Ha ha!" Jimmy said, pointing at her.

"What are you laughing at? I'm calling dibs," Kyle replied.

"But didn't you just say..." Jimmy's voice drifted off just as her jaw hit the floor.

The planning. All this meticulous planning had an obvious reason they'd both missed. And now, she suddenly felt like laughing.

"Was about damn time," Jimmy muttered, but she could tell he was one second away from beaming.

She didn't bother to hide it, she just grinned like a maniac and gave Kyle a very obvious wink. "Sure, I'll make sure to bunk up with Kay."

"So, anything special planned?" Jimmy asked casually.

"Yes. Get off your butt and you'll see downstairs."

Jessie frowned as she followed Jimmy and Kyle out, wondering what exactly he had planned for the night that could be seen downstairs by everyone. At first glance, nothing, since the group had moved into one of the adjacent sitting rooms, waiting there surrounded by classy furniture.

"Finally," Jerry said, standing and rubbing his hands together.

Jessie knew him well enough by now to tell that he was worried she and Jimmy had been up to no good. Which wasn't exactly a stretch.

"Great," Sam said. "Now that we're all here and the castle is finally empty, we can decide how to split--"

"I have a better idea," Kyle announced. "Let's have an outdoor training session."

Absolute silence followed his words.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a snowstorm out there," Billy pointed out.

"It actually stopped snowing. And we know it's going to get worse and we'll be stuck inside anyway. Why not take advantage that we can still go outside to train a bit?" Kyle shrugged as if it was no big deal. "We can search the castle later. We won't have anything better to do anyway."

More silence followed and Jessie couldn't believe this was Kyle's idea of special plans. She also couldn't believe she actually agreed with him and thought it was a decent idea.

"He does have a point." Sam said evasively, as though he could relate to Kyle's logic, but didn't want to have him pushing them around.

"Must we really?" Jerry asked. "We're already a little burned out."

"This place has great sleeping conditions," Jessie found herself saying. "We'll get proper rest for once. And physical exercise leads to deep, peaceful sleep."

Jerry pursed his lips as if keeping in a string of dejected cursing and Kyle gave her a discreet wink.

"So it's settled," he said. "I'll go make an obstacle course and Jimmy and Jessie can show you all the magnificent rooms upstairs so we can all fight over them."

Yes, it was time for her and Jimmy to work their discreet magic and arrange everything accordingly. Jessie felt mighty proud of herself for making things easier for her best friend. Of course, she immediately regretted her kindness once the training started.

What followed was too much running through the snow and tripping over hidden obstacles. The cold air burned Jessie's face, but she braved it and did her best to complete the course and then fend off Kay in hand to hand combat. She had gotten much better over the months she'd trained and even if Jessie could still win, it was becoming increasingly harder.

Everyone had improved a lot, including Jerry who'd actually managed to overpower Billy and force him headfirst in the snow. It had been the cause for much laughter and applause after which it was back to the drawing board with partners changing and genders mixing.

She ended up training with Jimmy since Tom still moved with difficulty, and she had to say she'd missed sparring with him. Maybe it was because it reminded her of how they met, or because it involved a lot of touching, but she felt she was getting better with each fight.

"You're really starting to give me trouble," Jimmy mumbled after she'd locked her legs around his waist and forced him to the ground.

"Trouble is my middle name."

He grinned as he got to his feet. "Really now, what is your middle name?"

"Simone," she answered, using the same trick on him and knocking him down again.

Giant snowflakes started raining from the sky the moment Kyle switched it up to a snowball fight. Even if everyone finally relaxed and enjoyed it, it didn't last long. Twenty minutes later, it became impossible to see anything and they were in serious danger of getting buried in snow. So Jerry called it quits and insisted that everyone go get something to eat and then sleep.

Jessie couldn't wait. All she could think about was how she wanted to take a shower and sink into a proper, clean bed. After all, she had it all to herself.

❄❄❄

Finally updating this. The next one will come sooner because I pretty much have half of it already done in the form of a RIFOY bonus. So yes, you know what's coming. 

Meanwhile... yeah, I'm stumped. We're just going to get out of the comfort zone soon enough. I promise you that. Because there isn't that much longer. It's too close to Christmas.

So yeah, leave me your thoughts and hit that magic star.