A/N: Something a little bit more fitting with the festive season, I hope. Merry Christmas.

It was pouring with rain. With rain came the cold in the mountains. The clouds hung low, disguising the true magnitude of what they were veiling, painting a different, softer landscape with tufts of fog weaving in and out of the trees.

He looked over to her, watching her navigate her way confidently along the narrow road, winding up further into the side valley and deeper into the forest. The windscreen wipers shifted to a slower pace as the rain let up just when they left the main road and the car drove along a steep, bumpy dirt road. Eventually, she pulled over, parking the car in a small patch beside the road.

She turned the key in the ignition, silencing the engine and pulled the handbrake, before turning to him with a warm smile.

"Ready?"

He smiled back at her. "Ready."

She pulled the hood of her coat up and over her cap and got out of the car. He mimicked her movements and he breathed in deeply, closing the car door. The air was chilly, clean, the scent of the wet dirt road and wet grass comforting on this cool late November day.

He heard the car boot open and mere seconds later, two front paws landed on his chest, her excited dog wagging his tail, barking playfully at him. She laughed, before calling the dog over and putting him on the lead.

They walked side by side for a few minutes, up the dirt road, before a narrow foot path branched off, disappearing into the trees. She let the dog off the lead and he happily bounced around, nose on the ground, following this scent and that, never wandering too far and circling back to them.

He followed as she led them into the dense forest. The path inclined and got steeper and steeper. They stepped over tree roots and rocks, occasionally they had to hold onto the branches of the trees as the rain had washed out some of the path, making it slippery.

Eventually, she turned right and off the path, leading him through some trees, a little slope down. And then she stopped. He came to a halt next to her, taking in the view. It was magical.

They stood on the verge of a scene right from out of a fairytale book. Moss covered the trunks of trees that once had fallen down, small and big fir, pine and lark trees. As it was the end of November, the needles of the lark trees had turned from green into a luscious golden colour and had started to fall off before winter, covering the whole forest floor with a warm carpet.

But what peeked through the trees was also amazing: right there in front of them was an edge, showing them the view of the entire valley and the jagged cliffs of the majestic mountain range that rose up opposite them. The rain had stopped and the clouds were lifting.

"Wow," he whispered.

After the chaotic and hectic last few months, this was like finally finding peace. He felt himself standing a little straighter, more relaxed, grounded and secure as some of the stress fell off his shoulders. As his body started to relax, his mind followed, although reluctantly.

He was grateful to Jared, for intervening and for driving him here to her. Four days ago his little brother dumped him on her doorstep along with a bag of clothes. Jared had squeezed his shoulder warmly and then left.

He'd been here with her for the last four days, not leaving the pull-out couch other than for the toilet and a shower. But this morning, after watching him with crossed arms from the doorway, she had thrown clothes in his face. She told him to have a shower and get dressed. Her voice left no room for discussion and quite frankly, he didn't have it in him anymore to rebel.

So here they were, after he made himself smell like a human again. And he was grateful that she took him out here, to blow out the cobwebs from his mind. It felt amazing.

"Do you like it?" she asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He turned to her, pulling her into his side. "I love it, it's absolutely beautiful. This is your favourite place?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "It is my special place. Somewhere where I come to think, to be grounded. I thought you might like it, too," she continued softly.

He placed his finger under her chin and made her look at him. His eyes glowed with warmth and affection. "I do. Very much so."

She hummed and sighed when his arms encircled her and she pressed her face into his chest, breathing in deeply. She turned her head to rest her cheek on his chest and they stood admiring the mist lifting from the ground, up into the trees, before it disappeared and revealed the whole clearing they were standing in.

"When did you discover this?" he asked.

Her coat softly creaked as she let go of him to pet her dog who had jumped up to her in excitement.

"Actually, Rufus here found it for me," she smiled. "I drove up the little dirt path because I wanted to explore it and as soon as we got out of the car, Rufus was hell bent on leading me this way. He stopped in this meadow and looked at me. He knew I needed this so much that day."

"What had happened?" Shannon asked quietly.

She patted the dog who sat back on his haunches, looking up at her, head slightly tilted to the side, ears perked.

"When my mum died... My mum loved little flowers. And the day Rufus brought me here, the very day she died, this meadow was full of these beautiful little flowers, yellow, white, pink, blue - it looked amazing. It was... as if she was giving me a hug, telling me it's alright. If that makes sense?"

He engulfed her in a big hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Of course it does," he said, his voice a little rough.

She stayed in his embrace for a moment longer, before pulling away and they started making their way out of the clearing, along a different path that led them into the forest and up the mountain again, before gently sloping down to where they had parked the car.

They got in and she turned the car around, driving back down the mountain road. It didn't take long to reach her home, a tree house. It was small, with one bedroom, a bathroom, an open kitchen and living room with a wood burner. The view was stunning, particularly now that it was late autumn. The surrounding forest was still speckled with golden needled larch trees and further down in the valley red, golden and brown dots of the leaf trees painted a beautiful picture. The last warmth before the impending winter.

Shannon had loved that house from the moment he laid eyes on it.

Rufus had a big drink from his bowl and then curled up in his bed by the log burner. Shannon laid out the fire and lit it, whilst she washed her hands and started to prepare dinner. It was getting darker outside sooner. Another sign of winter's imminent arrival.

After dinner she joined him on the couch, the fire crackling as the moon shone through the big window. His hand was resting on his thigh when hers slipped into his, interlacing their fingers.

She didn't say anything. He loved that about her. Never pushed him for anything, never had in all their years of friendship. She knew he'd talk once he was ready. The thing was, he didn't really know how to talk anymore. He'd bottled things up for so long now, he didn't even know how to function as a normal human being anymore.

"What now?" he suddenly asked into the quiet room.

Her eyes found his, her thumb rubbing slow circles on the back of his hand, causing his skin to break out in goosebumps. Despite him wearing a jumper.

"Now... you start to heal."

He huffed, looking down at their hands. "How the hell am I going to do that?"

She leaned forward, cupping his cheek to make him look at her. In her eyes he found nothing but understanding.

"You already are."