"You know...we've never really had a real date." I said to Cecilia, running a hand through my hair. Cecilia looked at me. "I guess we really haven't." She agreed. She cracked a smile. "You know, with you and I being in and out of the hospital so often."

She was wearing her red knit hat again. I let it slide, of course. It was cold, and we were sitting outside.

It had been about a week since Cecilia's first day of treatment. She was due back in a couple days, so the doctor could see how she was doing. Then, she would either get another day of treatment, or she'd have gone into remission.

To be honest, I was hoping that she would go into remission. Then it would give her time to...well...be herself.

Of course, remission wasn't any guarantee of the complete disappearance of her cancer. It was too unpredictable, and none of us wanted to get our hopes up. But it would be nice for all of us if it just kind of...went away for a while. Maybe Cecilia could regrow some of her hair, because I know that she really missed it.

"We can go before you need to go back to the doctor." I suggested awkwardly. Cecilia picked up a little snow in her gloved hand and packed it into a sphere, which she then placed on the step we were sitting on.

She looked at me for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed. "Where would we go?"

I shrugged. "You can decide."

She packed another snowball, this one smaller than the previous one, and set it on top of the first one. "I'm not sure I want to decide." She answered slowly.

"Why?" I asked, watching as she picked up more snow. "I don't know." She said, carving someone into the last snowball with her finger. I watched her, confused, unconsciously tracing the scars on my left arm with my right hand. She set the last snowball, now very small, on the first two. I noticed that she carved a smile into the one on top. I smiled.

"A snowman," I mused, "cute. Just like you."

"That was cheap." Cecilia said, her mouth twitched slightly. She was trying not to smile.

"No. It would be cheap if I didn't pay for our first date. I did something rather clever."

She laughed, but her smile faded rather quickly.

I knew the treatment was really taking a toll on Cece. I knew that she was upset that everyone knew she had cancer. I knew she hated the way that people looked at her and talked to her now, like she was made of glass. Fragile.

Of course, this girl was anything but fragile. But it seems to me like humans view anything that has experienced some sort of serious disease as fragile. It really can be anything but the truth though.

"I've got an idea." I announced. Cecilia tilted her head. "What is it?"

"A surprise." I replied with a grin.