I honestly love this chapter so freaking much it makes me all smiley.

Winter's mom's clothes were, unfortunately, way too small for my thick thighs and broad shoulders so I'm forced to opt for Winter's gray sweats and long sleeved pink Adidas shirt. I tie the pants as tight as I can and I'm pleasantly surprised by the level of comfort I'm experiencing at this moment.

Squeezing my wet hair with the towel they gave me, I stare at my reflection, turning to the side to inspect the way I look in these clothes. The pants are a little baggy and the shirt could be a short dress on me but other than that the colors look good and the pink makes my skin look brighter than usual. But that could just be the dim lighting from my phone flashlight and the single candle lit on the back of the toilet.

With a sigh, I gather my clothes and blow out the candle, not wanting to be the cause of the Bakers' house burning down.

After finding the laundry room and tossing my clothes in the washer, I make my way downstairs in search of Winter and Dakota but I have no luck in finding them.

"Dakota!" I yell, waiting for a reply but receiving none from him.

"I think he's in the bathroom in my parents' room." A voice says behind me, causing me to jump about two inches off of the ground.

"Oh my word, you scared me half to death." I breathe, looking up the stairs at Winter as I inspect his signature devilish grin. In the back of my head I can't help but think how cute he looks in his Christmas pajama pants and Harvard hoodie. He must have change while I was getting dressed.

"Sorry." He chuckles. "I was just in my room gathering some more blankets. I figured we could all sleep down in the living room...you know, just in case."

"Right..." I bite my lower lip, tucking my hands in my armpits as a cold chill comes over me. Within the last few hours, the temperature has gone down in here significantly and, I suppose, I'm just now feeling it.

"Are you cold?" Winter asks, concern seeping into his voice.

"Uh...no. I'm fine." I tell him even though my feet are freezing on the foyer floor, my toes feeling like ice cubes without my socks.

"Yeah right. Come up here and I'll find you a sweatshirt." He gestures calmly.

For some reason, I don't even respond. I just wordlessly follow his command and walk up the stairs, my phone lighting the way. I silently wonder about my battery percentage and when I'll need to charge my phone, my heart slightly panicking before I remember that we have a generator and also gas to go with it.

Following closely behind Winter, I come to a door with a road sign on it, the words crossed out on it and Winter's name painted over in a surprisingly aesthetic way.

"Where did you get the road sign?" I inquire curiously in a slightly teasing tone.

He opens the door, looking over his shoulder briefly with a wink. "That's a story for another day."

"Oh I see." I laugh, following him inside.

My eyes adjust to the dark when my phone suddenly shuts off. "Dang it." I hiss, "It's dead."

"Oh." Winter says calmly. "Well I have a lighter and a few candles in here I can light. Just give me a sec."

"Okay." I nod, watching his darn silhouette as he reaches into his pocket and before I know it, a small flame lights up his face, casting a shadow on the wall and window behind him. I squint narrowly and see my own window, the curtains still pulled closed.

Soon enough, there are four Bath and Body Works candles fully lit and providing a golden glow of light throughout the room.

Shoving the lighter back into his pocket, he turns around with a sheepish smile. "My mom used to work at Bath and Body Works before she became a yogi instructor." He shrugs, obviously thinking I cared about him owning several candles.

"To be honest, I find it kind of...nice that you have a bunch of candles." I say softly, walking over to his dresser where a photo of him and his family sits in a thin white frame. "This must be your parents." I say, touching the glass lightly.

He stands behind me, looking over my shoulder. "Yep that's them." His breath hits my ear, warming the cold skin.

"You're an only child?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. You're really lucky to have a brother by the way. Growing up, all I wanted was a sibling. But my mom had some complications with my birth and she had to get her tubes burned to prevent any more danger." Winter explains and I can hear the disappointment in his voice for himself but also a genuine compassion for his mother.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been really hard for her...and you." I set the photo down, careful not to be my clumsy self and knock it over.

"Nah." He sighs. "We're okay, no need to apologize. My mom and dad have
talked about adopting but they've never actually taken the necessary steps to do so."

I lick my lips, the skin feeling dry in the cold room. "Still. Disappointment is one of the worst feelings to have because it means you had a hope that was crushed and that's a painful thing." I look at him with an understanding smile.

"You sound like you have had some experience in that area." He says with his back turned to me, his hands shuffling through some sweatshirts in his closet.

"I guess I do." I admit.

"Here throw this on." He suddenly turns around, tossing me a pink hoodie with a small Hollister symbol on the chest.

"What's with you and pink?" I laugh, looking at his side profile as he picks up, what looks to be, a cordless radio from his nightstand and begins fiddling with it, quiet static filling the room.

I watch his lips as they perk into a smile, dark hair falling over his eyes as his hands turn the knobs. "I like pink. It looks good on you." He says nonchalantly.

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning, a warm feeling spreading through my chest from the casual compliment. The kind of compliment you would give a stranger or to a person you've just met but don't know what to say so you just begin complimenting their appearance. Or even just to be kind to a friend.

For a moment though, I allow myself to believe that the handsome boy standing in front of me with the gorgeous green eyes has looked at me and imagined me in pink, picking it out on purpose just so he could see me in it; in his own pink.

"Thanks." I reply casually.

"Sure thing, Sam." He says back, finally setting down the radio when a Frank Sinatra Christmas song comes on, his long fingers twisting the volume knob until the song is halfway loud but not loud enough to be overwhelming, a sparkle in his eye as he looks at me.

"I love this song." I say, partly because I don't know what to say. It is a nice song though.

"Really? Me too. Frank Sinatra is amazing and Michael Buble gives me the feels too." He walks towards me as he speaks.

"What the heck you're such a weirdo." I chuckle.

"Let's dance." He holds out his hand with a cheeky smile, his teeth looking even brighter from the candlelight.

My eyebrows raise skeptically. "You're crazy."

He doesn't respond, his eyes rolling. My eyes widen when he takes me hand and pulls me slightly closer before placing it over his shoulder, and then the other one as well. I laugh a little when he smirks goofily, his hands placed on my waist.

There's still plenty of space between us so I don't feel uncomfortable but I can't deny that what's going on is logically very strange.

"What are you doing right now?" I laugh again, angling my head back to see his eyes are closed as we sway to the music.

"Sh. This is the good part." He pats my waist as he shushes me, my lips closing tightly when he begins to hum along with "White Christmas".

"Oh my Lord." I mumble, placing my head on his chest as I chuckle at his behavior. I'm bewildered and pleasantly surprised at his comfort level with me.

"Come on, sing with me. Live a little." He takes my hand before giving my a spin.

"First of all," I say as I spin awkwardly, "you are humming not singing. Second, this is super weird."

"Oh come on, Sam. Haven't you ever just wanted to dance in the bedroom of some random guy in the middle of a snowstorm slash power outage to a Frank Sinatra song?" He jokes with an amused expression, pulling my back to his chest.

"Oh yes because that's exactly what I dream about every night. Being stuck with a jazz fanatic who wears Christmas pajama pants." I say, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

Winter feigns offense. "What's wrong with my pajama pants?"

"Nothing. They're, uh, very cute." I share my real opinion but purposely deliver it with a joking spirit.

"Ah man I really thought you'd dig them." He grins at me.

"Well better luck next time, my friend." I sigh.

The sing ends quicker than I remember and Winter gently steps away, switching the radio off. I tuck my hair behind my ear as I watch him.

"We should take this downstairs with us just in case there's news about the roads and stuff." He says, grabbing the small box.

"Good idea." I agree.

"You want to grab the blankets in my closet and on my bed for me?" He asks.

"Yeah sure." I nod, walking over to the closet. "So...I was wondering where you hung that mistletoe. Just out of curiosity." I lick my lips again, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible as I grab about four blankets from the shelf in his closet, moving over to the bed.

"Why do you want to know?" He asks, standing next to me, using one hand to help me gather up his dark gray comforter.

"No reason, just curious is all." I shrug, keeping my eyes on the task at hand.

He pauses, pushing the rest of the blanket towards me. "Well I think I'll keep this secret to myself. You know, just in case Dakota finds out and tries to trap us there." He jokes with a lighthearted chuckle.

"You have a point. Sorry about him by the way. He'll probably keep making stupid jokes and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." I say quickly, stumbling over my words.

As we walk out of his bedroom, the candles blown out, he says, "Nah it's okay. It doesn't make me uncomfortable at all."

I smile to myself. "Good."