⌜ chapter fourteen ⌟

"Hey, Letty?" Eric gets her attention at the store, and she turns to him. "What are you guys doing for Christmas this year?"

"I'm burying Reggie in the backyard after I kill him." She says, and his eyebrows furrow as he gives her a puzzled look. "He won't shut off the Christmas music, and he's driving me up a wall."

"Oh. Well, I was just thinking... You wanna get out of town for a few days during your break from school?" He asks,

"What?"

"Look, I know we're not together, but a couple that was in here a few days ago was talking about this inn just outside of town. They said that it's really nice with all the snow, and I thought it'd be cool if we went. You could probably get some pretty good pictures out there. I've got some money saved up, and I wanna go... No one I'd rather go with than you." He says, and she smiles.

"I've gotta run it by Alec. He took care of all the paperwork to be my legal guardian a couple weeks after we all moved in together, and he's being a pain in the ass." She tells him, and he nods. "But I think it'd be really great if we get to go."

"Great." Eric smiles. He's been wanting to do something like this with her ever since they got back from their Summer on the road, so he made a savings fund specifically for an opportunity like this one.

A few days later, Letty and Eric are on their way to the inn that he was talking about, and the snow storm's getting worse. Soon, it's so bad that he can hardly see the road ahead of them. He shakes his head as he stops the car and then looks over at Letty.

"I think we're gonna get stuck." He tells her, and she nods as she looks around at the snowfall that's steadily getting heavier and heavier.

"Yeah, it's not lookin' good." She agrees, and it's not long before the blizzard has the car buried in about four or five feet of snow.

"We're trapped in an icy tomb of frozen death!" Eric looks at Letty, and she chuckles because of his mild panic.

"Never been snowed in before?" She asks, and he shakes his head.

"Not in a car." He says. "Have you?"

"Once, when I was little. I was with John and the boys." She tells him. "It was kinda fun, actually."

"What do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do right now." She says as she looks at him. "We have to wait for the plow to come through and dig us out."

"But you had fun last time?" He asks, hoping for a distraction.

"Well, we were all kids, and we had no idea what was going on. John didn't seem worried, so we didn't have any reason to be." She explains, and he nods.

"And you're not worried now?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"No. I'm not worried." Letty smiles as she looks at him. "Come sit in the back with me."

"Oh? And what are we doing back there?" He asks as he watches her climb from the passenger seat.

The brunette chuckles as she sits down. "Just come here, you adorable idiot."

Eric climbs into the back as well, sitting beside her. She then scoots closer to him, and he wraps his arm around her as she turns on the seat so that she's facing him. She rests her head on his shoulder, and he takes a deep breath as he leans his cheek against her forehead. His hand is on her leg and she closes her eyes as her fingers curl around his sweater.

"This definitely isn't how I wanted this trip to go, but I can't say I mind how it's turned out too much." Eric says, and she smiles as she nestles into him.

"I'm just happy that I get to be with you. I don't care where we are."

"Things have definitely been looking up recently." He says. "You seem happier. And I love seeing you smile more often."

"I am happier." Letty smiles as she pulls her head back and looks at him. "I'm in a way better place with my brother — both of them, actually. I get along really well with Tyler and Reggie, and I can't believe how much help they've been with everything... And things between you and I are definitely better. It feels like our relationship is growing too. I mean... It wasn't so long ago that you would rather have broken that necklace yourself than get it fixed for me."

"I was just insecure about it." He tells her. "I didn't understand why it meant so much to you. I didn't understand what it meant to you. It was just a gift to my girlfriend from another guy. And it had this connection to a part of your life that you kept from me; he had a connection to a part of your life that you kept from me. Now that I understand why you kept those secrets, it's easier to understand your connection to the necklace for what it actually is and not for what I thought it was. The more I learn about you, the more I understand why you kept things the way you did."

"I'm sorry I kept so much of myself a secret from you." Letty says, and he shakes his head as he looks at her. "It wasn't about you. I was afraid to accept myself."

"I know." He says, reaching for her hand. "And I understand that now. You don't have anything to apologize for."

The brunette smiles as she looks into his light brown eyes. "I know it might not always seem like it, but I do know how lucky I am to have you in my life." Letty tells him, and he smiles as he looks at her. "And I absolutely adore you, Eric Matthews."

"I love you." He whispers before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

—

The teenagers walk in through the front door at the Matthews' house, and his parents look up. "I thought you two were headed to that inn." Mr. Matthews says, and Eric nods.

"We were, but we got stuck in the storm, had to wait to get dug out." Eric explains. "I didn't want to risk it happening again, so we just came back."

"Well, you two must be starved." Mrs. Matthews says as she stands from the couch. "I'll go warm you up some soup."

"I'll get you some blankets." Her husband says as he gets to his feet as well.

"I can't stay in this bulky jacket." Letty says as she takes off the big coat that she's wearing.

"You want me to grab you one of my sweaters for you?" Eric asks.

"I think I'll be alright with the blankets." She tells him. "My hands are what's freezing."

"Here." He takes her hands in his as he moves closer to her, his fingers curling around hers. "You know, I was afraid if we were stuck out there any longer, we were gonna have to resort to that old trick about using our body heat to keep us from freezing."

"Mm. Mhm." The brunette nods, a small smirk on her face. "You mean, that one where they say you can use skin to skin contact to keep warm?" She pulls her hands from his and rests them on his chest as she moves closer to him. "Conserve body heat by cuddling up together with nothing between our bodies?"

"Uh-huh." He nods, and she can feel his heartbeat quickening under her palm.

"Yeah, it's too bad that plow showed up when it did." She says. "Same thought occurred to me."

"You wanna go back out there?" He asks, his hands finding her waist so that he can pull her against him, and she laughs as she shakes her head.

"Here you go." Mrs. Matthews walks back into the living room, and Letty takes a step away from him as she lets her hands rest at her sides. "A hot bowl of soup to warm you up."

"Soup sounds like a great way to get warmed up." Letty says, her dark eyes still on Eric's much lighter ones.

"You are an evil, evil girl." He whispers as she walks past him.

"How about some hot chocolate after our soup?" The brunette asks as she turns to look up at him, and a smile spreads across his face as he nods.

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds perfect." He says, and she smiles as they both go to sit down on the couch in front of where his mom left the soup on the coffee table.

A little while later, Letty's in the kitchen making their hot chocolate, and Eric walks in with a smile on his face. Her dark eyes narrow skeptically as she watches him walk over to her, and his grin widens as he looks down at the brunette.

"Such a mischievous look." She muses, and he nods.

"Look what I found." Eric says as he pulls his hand from behind his back and raises it over their heads. Letty chuckles as she looks up at the plastic mistletoe. "So many childhood years trying to use this to get you to kiss me at Christmas. All I ever got was a kiss on the cheek."

"I was too nervous to kiss you for real." She says as she meets his gaze again.

"Well, what about now?" He asks, and she smiles as she then rests her hands on either side of his face.

Eric drops the mistletoe onto the counter before placing his hands on her hips, and she closes her eyes as he leans down. He then presses his lips firmly against hers, and she smiles into the kiss as he pulls her body flush against his. Letty's hands move up to tangle in his hair, and then her arms wrap around his neck as he deepens the kiss

The two teenagers quickly pull apart when they hear someone clear their throat. "What's going on in here?" Mr. Matthews asks as they both turn to look at him.

"Um..." Eric rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as his ex steps behind him, using him as a shield so that she doesn't have to look at his father. "We're gonna have some hot chocolate." He says as she leans into his back, her hands over her face.

"Uh-huh." He nods. "Toss me the mistletoe, and we'll never talk about this again."

"Deal." The teenage boy picks up the plastic Christmas decoration before throwing it to his dad, and then Mr. Matthews leaves the kitchen to go and find his wife.

"Have I died of embarrassment yet?" Letty asks, and Eric chuckles as he turns to look down at her. She leans into his chest as he then wraps his arms around her.

—

"Ooh! This is exactly the shirt I saw in that window, and told you I wanted, and made you buy it, and now I have it." Mr. Matthews says as he holds up the flannel that he just pulled out of a box.

"Yeah." His wife nods, a smile on her face. "You-You like it?"

"I love it." He tells her. "But I do kinda miss the surprise element."

"You think we'll ever make it there?" Eric whispers as he walks up behind Letty, standing directly behind her right shoulder. "Buying presents for each other and pretending we don't know what's inside when we open 'em up?"

"I hope so." The brunette smiles as she turns her head and looks up at him. "You really think you can wait for me to fix myself? No matter how long it takes?"

"I'm a patient man...when what I'm waiting for is worth it." He says as he wraps his arms around her shoulders, and she leans into his chest. "And I've never met anyone more worth waiting for than you." He kisses her head as she smiles.

"Okay, folks." Mr. Feeny gets their attention as he grabs the camera. "Everyone get together now, real close. Look right here, into the camera." He instructs as they all gather around the couch.

"Get away from me, Reggie!" Letty smacks him when he tries to hug her. "I wanna sit next to Jon for the picture."

"Why are you so mean to me?" The older boy questions as she settles onto the floor beside her teacher, and Mr. Turner laughs as he looks at her.

"Why are you Satan?"

"Shut up, both of you." Tyler tells them as he and Alec stand behind the couch, gathering with the Matthews, Shawn, and Topanga.

After setting the timer, Mr. Feeny quickly joins the others, and they all smile at the camera.