*This is set before Matthew and Stephanie were married and engaged*

"Stephanie? Where are you, Stephanie? Come out, come out wherever you are?"

Peeking out from behind a tree, Matthew's tufty brown hair was a sharp contrast to the pure white snow that littered the ground.

Overnight, a flurry had hit the city of New York and the normally greyish city had turned it into a winter wonderland. Stephanie had woken him up at eight in the morning, full of energy. She bounced around the room, still in her pyjamas. Matthew had frowned in confusion for a while, unsure of her excitement until he looked out the window and saw the blanket of white that covered the city. It was everywhere – no cars could be seen travelling from place to place. She kissed his nose before skipping off into the kitchen, singing wildly about how her work had been cancelled due to the snow.

A massive grin had come across his face at that moment and that infamous sparkle of mischief returned. Crossing to the other side of the bed, Matthew heaved open the small window that acted as a light source. It was stiff as it had not been opened in a while but he managed – although his muscles made it quite clear that they weren't used to this kind of treatment. Reaching out into the cold air, Matthew grabbed a small fistful of snow from the windowsill and then closed the window once again.

Stephanie stood on a chair, peering out of the window that was a little too high up for her to get a proper look at the snow through. She bounced on the balls of her feet, the excitement clear to anyone who looked at her. Matthew stopped for a minute, just admiring how gorgeous his girlfriend was. Her brown hair was hanging down onto her shoulders and her bare feet poked out from underneath her pyjama bottoms – the slight tan of her skin acting as a sharp contrast to the snow white of her clothes.

He would never understand why she had decided to stay by his side, even when they lived in a tiny box of an apartment. He wanted to give her the world but the world was too terrifying and too expensive for them to handle right now. Every weekday, she would leave the house and go work hard all day – bringing in the money they needed to survive. He would send out job applications all morning and then head out to various auditions but nothing ever worked in his favour. She was the sole thing keeping them afloat – both economically and mentally.

Shaking his head, he moved forward quietly until he stood right behind her. With one arm, he grabbed Stephanie by her waist and pulled her against his chest, laughing as she let out a small squeak of surprise. Her heart raced for a moment before she realised it was Matthew. She turned to give him a kiss, only to receive a face full of snow that numbed her nose almost instantly. A shriek erupted from her chest and she wriggled out of her boyfriend's grasp, wiping her face free of the freezing snowflakes with a fiery expression in her eyes. Matthew burst out laughing, his infamous dolphin like laugh echoing around their apartment. Sniggering, he backed away from Stephanie before he got tackled for inflicting such suffering upon her.

"MATTHEW! I'm going to kick your butt, just you wait!"

He grinned at the challenge, gesturing for her to try him. She shook her head, walking into the bedroom and grabbing her clothes. Soon, they ventured outside into the snow – Stephanie dragging Matthew towards the nearby park with a determined expression on her face. It was hard to tell when they stopped walking on pavement and transitioned onto the grass but the crunching of the snow under their feet was satisfying no matter what the ground consisted of. They ran across the snow together, the trail they left behind bringing a feeling of childish joy that they had lacked in their life up until now.

"You have twenty seconds to hide Matthew before I'm going to get my vengeance on you! Sweet, icy vengeance."

Chuckling, Matthew jogged off into the park – heading towards the cluster of trees that loomed nearby. Stephanie stood by the informational sign, taking a moment to stare at the world around her. She had been to the park countless times yet it always looked so different when it was coated in snow. It was as if the snow gave the area a new lease of life, something it had been missing before. Snow-inspired hope and joy, playfulness and excitement. The rest of Stephanie's life, outside of her time with Matthew, lacked all of those things. She struggled to get out of bed some mornings because the thought of her soul sucking job depressed her so much. However, she'd roll over in bed and come face to face with Matthew's sleeping form. His peaceful face, comfortable by her side, was the reason she got up in the morning. She never wanted him to not be peaceful. She wanted to give the world to him, for him to find what he truly loved and to support him for every day they got to spend together.

The trees in the park had lost all their leaves months ago, leaving only the thin branches behind. They glistened in the morning light as the rays bounced off the icicles that had formed overnight. Staring up into the sky, Stephanie looked through the icicles as if using them as a lens would reveal some great truth about the world around her. Maybe the ice was trying to tell her about the inevitability to change and destruction, how things would melt and fall away over time no matter how hard you tried to preserve them. Her eyes followed a droplet of water as it fell; tracing its path to earth as if it was a part of her. As it hit the ground, she closed her eyes and envisioned exactly what she wanted. When she fell to earth in the future, she wanted to be by Matthew's side. No matter what happened to them, she wanted to be with him. Through thick and thin.

Matthew peered around the tree, trying not to get spotted but also desperate to know where Stephanie was. Maybe she was creeping up behind him; maybe she had given up and gone home? He crept from tree to tree as if he was a character in a Metal Gear Solid game. The snowball that he had clutched in his hand began to melt in response to his body heat. His gloves were slowly being soaked through, sending shivers up his arm as his skin came into contact with the freezing liquid. However, he was determined not be caught off guard. He could hear someone walking nearby, the crunching of the snow allowing him to pinpoint their location. Shuffling along, he placed his feet carefully – wincing with every loud noise that he made. Jumping around a tree's trunk, Matthew raised his arm to throw a snowball but was startled to see nothing there. All that remained were footprints.

"Where did she go?"

The question was very quickly answered.

SPLAT.

Matthew screamed in surprise, his heart racing as an unknown figure jumped out from the very tree he had just been hiding behind. They had thrown a snowball directly at his face, a bullseye. The freezing snowball slid down his face, bits of it breaking off and melting on his skin. Raising his hands, he wiped the remaining snowflakes off and faced his attacker. Stephanie giggled, unable to control her laughter at the completely hilarious expression that Matthew had on his face. Plus his scream had been so high pitched that she was sure the nearby dogs could hear it. Her eyes gleamed with mischief and her cheeks were flushed from the exhilaration of hunting down her boyfriend.

"You sneaky little madam! How long have you been following me?"

Stephanie merely grinned at him, zipping her lips shut as if it was a big secret. In reality, Matthew had been so focused on trying to be as sneaky as Snake that he'd just not seen her walking through the forest. Plus, it didn't help that Matthew was wearing a bright green jacket. He wasn't the most subtle of people but she loved him anyways. She stopped for a moment at that thought. She loved him. From his goofy puns to his strong work ethic, she loved every single part of him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him that was certain. Instead of continuing to laugh at him, she placed her hands on his chest and stood on her tiptoes – placing her lips onto his and moving them softly, as if he was as temporary as the snow around them. Matthew was startled for a moment but enjoyed the kiss nonetheless, pulling Stephanie closer to him and wrapping his arms around her – as if he could protect her from the world.

When they broke apart, both of them slightly out of breath, Matthew only had one thought in his mind. He didn't want to waste this opportunity the world had given him. Today was a sign. He wasn't spiritual but the universe seemed to agree with the thought he'd been having for a while. Hopefully, she did too. He was going to ask her to marry him.

A/N

This is a shorter one. However it was requested by sisijwidhsj so I hope I did your request justice <3

I did want to take a second to thank you all so much for all your support on each and every piece. We're getting over 100 reads per piece and that is phenomenal to me. You're all so kind in the comments and supportive and it makes it a joy to write for you all. 

Next week is a random prompt inspired story so we'll see how that goes! Have a great week guys.

Much love,

Caitlin (@caitlingtlive on twitter)