"I still don't see why you brought those sunglasses," Hannah said, the couple shivering in their spots at the bus stop. A hard snowfall buried the two in a white blanket, slowing traffic and keeping the Swiss neighbors indoors. 

"I still don't see why you picked Switzerland for our honeymoon," Angus replied, snow glittering his hair. Hannah reached a hand up and brushed it off, getting her coat wiped off in return. 

"You could have picked some place different, some place warmer." Checking for anymore snow on her shoulders, Angus put arm around them. His feet shuffled in place, making the only tracks left visible in the blizzard. Only one car was on the road, and it was parked. More like stuck under a mound of snow. Two or three people took to the streets for work or afternoon shopping. "With sun, and beaches, and women in swimsuits for you to look at."

Angus choked out a cough. "As divine as that would be, Hannah Ruth, I think spendin' time with my own wife is far more appealin'," he said giving her a smile. It grew when a certain idea hatched in his mind. "Of course, if you decide you want to wear a swimsuit I've no problems with that ya' know."

Giving him an undecided look, Hannah reached to the ground and picked up a handful of snow. Angus squirmed around from the snow pouring down his shirt. "Or you could wear the swimsuit. A bikini perhaps?"

"You think I'd look good in one?" he laughed shaking the snow out. Picking up a handful himself he poured it down the front of her shirt. One moment bled into the next and soon both were rolling on the freezing ground, courtesy of Hannah tackling the man down. Angus' sunglasses rolled around in his pocket when he removed them to see his opponent better. With snow and ice in hair, mouths, and other various places, the two made the most of the grey winter and the wait for the bus. The wrestling match turned into a snowball fight once they regained their upright positions. 

"Hold still so I can aim properly!"

"So you can miss without an excuse?" he laughed. Taking a step backward Angus slipped, grabbing onto Hannah to steady himself. It did no good as both landed on the ground in a fit of giggles. Both hearts were beating in a frantic rhythm, faces flushed with cold embarrassment. Running a hand through her hair, Angus watched her laugh, trying to catch the breath she took away from him. The snow really wasn't so cold anymore. Finally Hannah noticed Angus' daydreaming and lowered her volume. 

"What?" He shook his head.

"Nothin'," he murmured. Hannah's cheeks were bright red, her nose like that of a certain reindeer. Her lashes fluttered innocently, Angus' grin creeping up from the opposite side of the hill. One hand palmed her cheek, bringing her face closer to his own. "You're just...just...ya' know..."

"I'm what?"

He brought his lips closer to her, whispering against her own: "Cold."

Before she could respond Angus' other hand palmed the back of her neck, a handful of snow covering it. Squirming out of his grasp she shivered, the man taking his turn to laugh solo. "It's not funny!"

"If you were in my shoes you'd think it was." He stood up and offered his hand to Hannah, who took it with a sneer.

"You think you're so clever."

"Well..." he shrugged. Brakes screeched close by, Hannah turning to see the bus pulling up. 

"Angus?"

"Yeah?" Hannah pointed over his shoulder. The doors opened to a small, heavyset man in his late thirties driving the bus. Angus smiled at the man and receiving none in return, he took Hannah's hand and helped her on the bus. 

The only people on it were a woman and her daughter, both with blonde curls. The daughter had a few ribbons in her hair, however, to match her pink coat. Angus and Hannah took the seats in the very back, sitting down as the doors closed. With a sense of curiosity, the little girl turned around in her seat to watch the two. Her nose peaked over the top of the leather, grabbing on with her hands as the bus began to move. 

She hid her face as Angus noticed her, and gave her a little smile. Two seconds later she reappeared, this time Angus giving her a wave. She hid behind the seat again. Just as before she showed her face a third time, a sort of game beginning between the two. Every time she looked behind the seat Angus would be making some sort of face or doing something funny with his hands. Hannah observed the pair, feeling a pit in her stomach. The scene made her laugh no doubt, and the bond Angus easily made with children warmed her up, but something about a child, taking care of them, taking care of a baby...

Hermione was easy enough to take care of. She didn't cry at three in the morning or need feeding every few hours. If she ate that much, she'd be the size of four rabbits. Something about animals were easier to look after for Hannah, easier to have sympathy for. But seeing Angus play with the child, seeing him laugh...

Her heart jumped.

What if her child ended up like she did? The daughter of a mother who took away any friendships she might form, move them away to America, forcing her to live her life as a captive, her only kisses from the lips of a cigar? 

After gaining the attention of her mother who whispered something to her in French, the little girl turned around in her seat and faced the front, Angus putting his hands down from making devil horns. No words were exchanged on the bus, eventually stopping on a street with a grocery store. No one else came on, the couple in the back remaining quiet. 

With a gruff sigh, the driver pulled the bus up to the next stop, opening the doors in front of a miniature restaurant. Taking her hand, Angus led Hannah off the bus back into the snow. "Thanks for the ride," Hannah said, knowing the man probably didn't speak English. 

Inside was much more crowded than the weather would suggest. Tables wall to wall were filled with families and couples, some platonic, others romantic. Three tables behind a velvet curtain were available at the very back, Angus taking the only one with a salt and pepper shaker. Hannah sat down, removing her wet coat. "Sorry 'bout that," Angus said grinning like a schoolboy. 

"Better hope I don't start a food fight in this place," Hannah said. "It's only fair."

"And have us kicked out?"

"And not have to pay the bill?" Angus tilted his head. 

"Hmm...depends on what's for lunch. Anything look nice?" he asked picking up a menu. Hannah took one for herself. 

"This soup would look real good in your hair." Angus' eyes peeked over his menu. 

"You're kiddin', right?" Hannah didn't answer. "Hannah?" A waitress came over breaking the inquiry. 

"Bonjour, welcome to our little cafe," she said with a smile. "Any drink I can get for you?"

"Tea is fine, for both of us," Angus said looking to Hannah for confirmation. She nodded while the waitress wrote it down. "With milk, please."

"Of course," she said leaving the table for the kitchen. The restaurant wasn't fancy, much more cozy. The tablecloths were red and white checkered, while pale blue curtains hung from every window. The snow stopped falling, a little bit of sun coming out. 

"Know any French?" Angus asked looking over the menu again. 

"Only a couple of rude things," Hannah responded. "Not swear words, but awfully rude."

"Rude?"

"I can tell someone to go to hell but that's not exactly table talk, you know?" Angus laughed. 

"Could come in handy. But I mean, you don't know anything on this menu? Recognize any food?" Hannah's fingers tapped against the menu, her tongue clicking against her teeth. "That a no?"

"I know escargot isn't anything I'm interested in," Hannah muttered to herself. "But...ooh! They have peach cobbler!" Angus looked down at his own menu, scanning the lines trying to find it.

"Isn't that more of a dessert?"

"Like either of us are ones to turn down a dessert?" Thinking of raiding the dessert table a while back with his brother, Angus stuck his tongue between his teeth in a sly grin. 

"Alright, fair enough. We'll both get one."

Two napkins covered in cobbler sat on two plates scraped clean of the dessert. Both guests gaining half a pound and feeling tired but slightly happier, they stayed a bit longer to rest and talk. A bit of sun had come out from behind the clouds, the falling snow ceasing as the afternoon wore on. Minute by minute the busyness of the cafe had dwindled, leaving the two a bit more comfortable. Angus set his mug down, his third cup of tea finished. "You allergic to peaches?" he asked.

Hannah looked to him in confusion before glancing down where he was looking. The spots on her arms were faded, yes, but in their place little red marks had appeared. She took her hands away from them, and folded them on the table. "No, I'm not," she answered. "I hadn't realized I was scratching them so much."

"What's wrong with them?"

"Just itchy, that's all." She took a sip of her own tea, her second cup. "I think they're still healing, maybe, or maybe I just have a rash."

"Still healin'?" Angus asked with skepticism. "Eh, I dunno, are you sure you're not allergic to peaches?"

"My mom is, but I know I'm not. I've never had a problem before, and this isn't the first my arms have itched." Angus frowned.

"How long have they been like this?"

She shrugged, rubbing a palm up and down her arm to smooth out the sore skin. "I don't remember when it started, but I'd say..." She shrugged again. "A few months now?"

"You didn't tell me?" Hannah looked down at her plate, hiding from whatever face Angus had. He didn't continue, instead watching her in silence, letting her answer if she wanted to. When she didn't, he held out his hand. "Let me see."

Slowly she showed him her arm. He took it gently in his hand, ghosting his thumb over the skin. Small flaky patches overlapped the faded burns. A few were looking much better than they had, the blackened marks returning to their pleasant pink. Bringing her wrist closer he pressed his lips to it, hoping to leave a better mark behind. Hannah took her arm back, taking a drink of her tea again. "What do you think?"

"I think your skin's rather soft," Angus answered despite the eye roll Hannah gave him. "Maybe not all of it, but it doesn't bother me."

"Thanks." Hannah scratched a bit again.

"If ya' keep scratchin' it won't get better," Angus said pointing at her. "Ya' think lotion would help?"

Hannah grabbed her napkin tightly in her hand to keep it occupied. "It wouldn't hurt to try." 

A few minutes passed as the two sat in a comfortable silence. Angus' eyes were closed, his head tilted back, arms crossed over his chest. Hannah slowly emptied her tea mug, making sure to keep the napkin in her hand. After a while the itching stopped. "You ready to go?" Angus asked keeping his eyes closed.

"If you are," Hannah responded. Angus opened one eye to look at her.

"We can go anytime you're ready, it don't matter a pinch to me," he said. "Don't let me make your decisions." Hannah nodded and stood up, setting her napkin down to grab her coat. Angus followed suit, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

"I can pay for my meal if you want," Hannah said buttoning her coat. 

"They cost the same, you don't have to."

"I don't want you paying for everything." Angus took the money from the wallet, holding it a while as he looked at Hannah. 

"Would it be polite for a man to pay for his lady's food," he said, thinking of how to word his sentence. "if beforehand he asked her out on a date?" Hannah mulled it over. 

"I suppose," she said. "I guess it doesn't matter who pays," she decided. 

"An' if I asked you out on a date," Angus continued. "would you be willin' to let me pay for the meal? Both of them?" His eyes sparkled something Hannah recognized. Gentlemanly mischief. 

"If you really wanted to, then...yeah, you could." He grinned, his heart turning a cartwheel when she smiled back. 

"Well then..." He stepped around the table, the grin still lingering like a school boy talking to his crush, took her hand in his and held it an inch from his lips. "may I have the pleasure of takin' you out for a date?" A little nervous Hannah laughed, turning red when her hand was pecked. 

"I'd like that," she finally said. Angus set the money on the table and put his wallet back in his pocket, keeping her hand tight in his own as they left the cafe. 

"So where would you like to go next on our date?" Angus asked holding the door open for her. 

"The snow hasn't melted," Hannah observed, holding a hand over her eyes to check the blue sky. 

"Well it is only ten degrees out today," Angus said wrapping an arm over her shoulders. Deciding not to pour any more snow on his hair, Hannah instead tickled his side. 

"We could take advantage of it," she suggested. Angus frowned, uneasy about the giant grin Hannah had. 

"I'm not very good at this, ya' know," Angus said, keeping his balance by holding the girl. Hannah slowly moved one foot after the other, also using him to stay upright. 

"You were pretty professional when we skated in London a while back," Hannah replied, refusing to let the man go. Angus wiggled a bit, having trouble fixing his coat with Hannah latched on so tight. 

"There were rails, we were indoors, I was younger then," Angus argued. He nearly slipped. 

"So was I, and it usually goes, the more you do it, the better you get."

"So what's your excuse?" Angus asked, laughing like a child at her frown. The pond they found wasn't big, only a few people could skate on it at a time. But with the unfavorable temperatures and the busy work week, no one else was out there except the two of them. And that suited them just fine. A light wind kissed their faces, Hannah shivering at the new sensation. "You cold?"

"I'm not used to my ears being so cold," she said. She examined his hair. "Your hair is getting longer than mine, people might get us backwards."

"Maybe if I stuffed a couple snowballs up my shirt, then..." Angus shrugged as Hannah laughed. "Then maybe I'd look like a woman. My hair used to be much longer than this, back when...after you left, a few years after you left."

"I'll bet you looked real cute," Hannah said minding her step on the ice. Angus brought a hand to his hair, puffing it up.

"You should have seen it, magazine cover worthy," he said. "Knock those models off their feet, an' put me in." 

"It's probably not safe without skates here." Angus looked up and saw still no one by the stand, the whole place completely deserted. The two took step after step with generous care, the pond still in place without a single crack. 

"Well if either of us fall through the other has to pull a Superman an' save 'em then," Angus said tightening his grip. "I can use all my excess weight as an anchor to pull you out."

"Maybe we'll float," Hannah said. "We won't sink an' we'll just be very cold instead."

"Floatin' like two rubber ducks." It was quiet a while before Angus leaned closer to talk in Hannah's ear. "Quack." She laughed, surprised by the sudden noise from his mouth. "Quack, quack."

"What are you doing?"

"Come on, do it. Quack quack."

Hannah's quacks were a little too realistic giving Angus a serious case of the giggles. "Why are you laughing at me, you started it!"

"I don't know all what hobbies you had growin' up, what you did in your bedroom by yourself-" He stopped to get back on track after laughing up a storm with the young woman. "but-but I think I have every right to laugh at whatever the hell that was."

Hannah inched her way off the ice, Angus following her lead, the both of them stepping onto the powdery snow. One cloud still glided in the sky, barely covering the sun. Keeping his arms around her, Angus led her to a bench laden with icicles underneath. Taking comfort in a place to sit and the other's embrace, they relaxed a few minutes in an icy silence. 

The sounds of traffic crawled the streets in the distance. The air sat fresh and crisp upon their skin, upon their smiles and closed eyes. Angus' wool coat brushed against Hannah's cheek, warming her up instantly. It was a long while before any of them spoke. "You sure you slept enough?" Angus asked turning his head.

"Mmhmm..." Hannah mumbled into his arm, her breathing slowing down to that of falling snow. Her bangs fell in her face, Angus taking a minute to brush them away, admiring the picture they covered. Her pale skin had pinked over the year ever since moving away from Travis. While still skinny, frightfully so, Angus always made sure she had enough to eat at dinner. Something that Travis never considered.

"You ready to go back, any more sights ya' want to see?"

"Mmmm."

"I can't understand grizzly bear, ya' know," he teased. Removing her arms from around his waist she reached into her pocket, searching around for something. After a minute of fruitless rummaging, Angus spoke up. "You cravin' a cigarette?"

"My nose is running," Hannah said checking her right pocket a third time. 

"Your pockets can't be that deep, they're probably empty."

"I packed a tissue before we left, I had one in here!" Something caught Angus' eye as he turned his head towards the pond. 

"Is that it?" There among the white fluff, was a white cloth, inching its way along the ground as the breeze blew across the wintry park. Hannah's lips formed a perfect pout.

"Unfortunately." Giving Angus a side eye, and giving a longing look to his coat sleeve, she grinned and wagged her eyebrows up and down. 

"Not a chance, Hannah Ruth, not a chance." She slumped in her spot. "You catchin' a cold or somethin'?"

"No, it's just cold out."

"Maybe we ought to head back to the hotel, where it's warm." Once again burying her face into Angus' shoulder, she mumbled a noise of content. Content to stay right where she was. Perhaps she was frozen to the bench, but Angus didn't have to know. "You'd prefer to dry your nose on my coat then?"

I'm warm enough right here," Hannah insisted. At least, that's what Angus thought she said, it was hard to hear with wool in her mouth. 

"I think a hotel bed would be much better, ya' know..." Angus began thinking. With time and a cold chill gluing him to the bench, his thinking turned to scheming. "Or...it doesn't have to be a bed ya' know..."

Slowly, Hannah raised her head from Angus' arm and raised an eyebrow at him, the smile growing ever wider. "I'm not so sure I do," she said.

The Cheshire held out his hand to her. Like a gentleman. "C'mon, then."

After standing, playing, skating, and sitting in a snow blanketed town, the warm water was welcome to embrace him, breathe life again into his numb fingers and toes. It burned, as expected, yet it still found more appeal than shivering on the couch. At length he got used to it, and sat in the bathtub quite content, arms spread along the rim behind him. 

It wasn't a large bathtub by any means, but it was bigger than the one in the main bathroom of his apartment for sure. It was a white clawfoot, curved like a boat on the tile floor. A separate shower stood next to it, various of bottles of shampoo on the other side of the door. The bath was wonderful to sit in, after making sure no previous guests had left anything behind from their visit. Hearing the door knob turn, he quickly turned his attention to it, waiting rather eagerly for his company to arrive. Swiftly closing the door behind her, Hannah locked it, stepping up to the bathtub. Angus wrinkled his nose. "You're not gettin' in with that on, are ya'?" Hannah fiddled with the cord of her bathrobe. 

"Obviously not, but...I didn't want to parade around the hotel room like-that, you know," she said. Angus snorted to himself and shifted so there was room for her to sit down next to him. Instead she stood there, gazing at the water uneasily. 

"What?"

"Um..." Hannah turned red, unsure how to phrase her question. "Would you mind closing your eyes before I get in?" Angus looked at her in disbelief.

"Aw, come on!"

"I'm serious! I'd feel better if I wasn't watched." Angus still looked at her, wondering if he was going to have to bathe with a blindfold from now on. "I'd do the same for you if you asked."

"I'll close my eyes," he agreed, "but as soon as you're in the water I'll have to open them because not watchin' the waves gets me sea sick." He gave her quite the cheeky grin at her eye roll. "I'm not gonna gawk at ya', if that's what you're nervous about.

"Come on, we're all friends."

Hannah nodded, asking Angus once again to close his eyes. He did so, tapping the rim of the tub with his fingers. With shaky hands, Hannah untied the cord of the bathrobe and hung it on the door. One foot after the other, she climbed in the bath and sat down, the water sharp and hot against her cold skin. She had to get used to it. 

Angus opened his eyes, smiling at the welcome company. "Glad of you to join," he said moving his arm off the rim to settle around her shoulders. Hannah held her arms around herself, the flaky patches soothed in the heat of the bath. She rested her head on the young man's shoulder, relaxing as much she could. The heat of the water combined with the comfort of her best friend and husband next to her, her heartbeat slowed down, and her breathing grew quiet and steady. Nuzzling into him, she let the quiet of the room give her imagination room to grow, and before she knew it she was drifting off. 

Angus leaned his head on hers. Keeping as quiet as he could he shifted in the bath so they were both leaning against the back of it. He closed his eyes letting himself get some sleep, only sleep wouldn't come. There's something about sitting up in a bathtub that leaves a knot in your neck. Hannah suddenly moved again, fluttering her eyes open to look at him. She hid her face in his shoulder, yawning a bit, moving her arms to hold him like a teddy bear. "I seem to remember you thinkin' this wasn't a good idea," Angus whispered amused. 

"I can change my mind," she mumbled back. He ran a wet hand through her hair.

"See, this ain't so bad, is it? I ain't so bad. Ya' warm enough?" She sighed, perfectly content to stay where she was. Again. Instead of answering, Hannah's breathing began to sound a little asthmatic, only just slightly. Her inhales were quick, and Angus didn't hear her exhale. "Hey, you alright?" Moving her head away from him as quick as she could, she lifted an arm to sneeze into, scaring Angus into hitting his elbow on the side of the tub. "Damn, you could have warned me next time!" he said nursing his sore elbow. 

With a hand on her nose, Hannah scooped some water with the other hand and poured it over his head, giving him an apologetic kiss on the cheek. "I can't always explain I'm about to sneeze, they come when they want! I am sorry about your elbow though. Are you okay?" She turned her head away when Angus used two hands to pour water all over her head.

"Me? I'm feelin' great, how 'bout yourself?" Hannah splashed the water outside of the tub trying to scoop up the most water her little hands could carry. Angus pushed a wave of water over her, distracting her from winning. Her hands were taken into his, restraining them as he shook his hair out, drops of water spraying everything within radius, especially Hannah. 

The splashing match had left both parties out of breath from laughter and companionship, and soaking wet, the bathroom an absolute bog. A half hour later after Angus started the bath, he pulled the plug from the drain and let the water run away from them, having had enough of their childishness. The only clean towel left under the sink was a brown beach towel, taller than either of them when held upright. Helping Hannah step out of the bathtub, still laughing from Hannah accidentally splashing water into her mouth, he found the towel and let Hannah dry herself off with it. When all was dry save for her hair, the towel changed hands and Angus used most of the other side to dry himself. 

When he finished he put the towel around his shoulders, holding his arms out for a hug. "Come here," he said. "I think you won that little war of ours, ya' think?"

Hannah stepped into his arms, Angus hugging her so the towel encircled the both of them. "After nearly drowning myself, sure. I suppose I could say I bested you." He smiled as she hugged him back. "How's your elbow?"

"Better," he said. "But, ya' know, it'll never be the same after you maimed it with your sneeze, of course."

"It was an accident!"

"Mmhmm, don't doubt that," he laughed to himself, knowing good and well his being smug riled up the girl. Water dripped off his hair onto the floor, a puddle below them from their feet and the tsunami they had created. Letting himself relax in her arms, he continued. "Ya' see now? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

She answered by nuzzling into his shoulder again, suddenly feeling chilly from the deprivation of warm water. Any minute the heating to the hotel room would kick on, meaning the sun was going down and the temperatures would drop. The couple was getting hungry as well, their meal at the cafe wearing off. If Hannah thought sneezing in the bath was bad enough, it was high time she ruined a second romantic moment between the two when her stomach announced its hunger. 

Laughing into Angus' shoulder tickled him and he laughed too. "That wasn't me," Hannah mumbled.

"All of Switzerland heard that, Hannah Ruth," he said, grinning at her amusement. Knowing they'd soon have to get dressed and make dinner, he kissed her shoulder and closed his eyes, savoring the moment just a little while longer.