Unlike Elsa, the cold bothered me a whole damn lot.

I wasn't a winter girlie, that was for sure. Give me sunshine and sweltering heat any day of the week over freezing my butt off. Not to mention all these layers made me feel like a bear about to enter hibernation.

Pulling my hat, scarf and jacket off, I stuffed them into the locker eagerly. This was the last day of school before winter break and I was more than ready to binge some cringe Christmas movies. While cuddling my boyfriend, of course.

Thinking of him brought an instant smile to my face. And then my chest squeezed when I remembered what my Dad told me, after insisting he drive me to school today.

There would be no cuddling or kissing under cosy blankets for me this Christmas.

I leaned my forehead on my locker with a sigh, disappointment coursing through me with a vengeance. Why was I even surprised? There was no such thing as a good winter.

A crash above me vibrated the door of my locker and I turned around quickly. My heart gave that familiar squeeze as soon as I saw who it was.

Noah was leaning against the locker, arms crossed above my head.

"Hi," I said, grinning up at him.

"Hi," Noah replied, a wicked smile pulling his lips up.

My eyes narrowed slightly. That was his I did something mischievous smile.

"What?" I asked, carefully.

He didn't say anything, but his grin got wider. And then he motioned upward with his head. I leaned back and looked up to where he was gesturing. My heart instantly went into overdrive.

Clutched in his hands, right above my head, was a familiar green plant with white berries.

"A mistletoe?" I asked, even thought it couldn't really be anything but.

"Mhm," he said, clearly proud of himself for this little surprise. "Know what it means?"

Of course I knew what it meant. Every person on Earth probably knew what it meant, especially the enthusiastic romance book readers such as myself.

"How about you remind me?" I teased, and tilted my head playfully.

Noah's eyes seemed as bright as his smile when he leaned down, eyes focusing on my lips... and then pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

He pulled back and I pouted, unsuccessfully trying to hide my disappointment.

"That's it?"

I would have attempted the puppy eyes, but for some reason I always looked more like a tarsier doing that than an adorable pup.

Noah chuckled and leaned back in, pressing his cheek against mine.

"Not even close," he whispered into my ear.

His hands slid from their place against the locker. The one holding the mistletoe trailed down, and once he reached the small of my back he pressed me closer into him. His other hand gently brushed down my hair, and he grabbed a strand, pulling it closer to him and taking a deep breath.

"Did I tell you how much I love your shampoo?" he mumbled, his voice slightly hoarse and I felt my legs go weak.

"Yes," I croaked, growing more and more impatient that he was speaking instead of using his mouth for other more important things.

He brushed the strand of hair behind my ear, trailed one finger down my neck, and then brushed his fingers up, his thumb caressing my cheek as his other fingers raised my chin. The touch was both gentle and possessive.

"And did I tell you how much I love–"

I almost groaned in frustration, and raised my hands up to clutch his collar.

"Will you shut up already?"

He chuckled, and leaned even closer, so close I could feel his breath along my face.

"Yes, ma'am."

His lips pressed against mine softly. The world around us seemed to fade, as my hands found their way to the back of his neck, fingers intertwining in the soft strands of his hair.

I sighed into the kiss and he let out a low groan. The kiss deepened, and for a second it felt like we were stuck. Suspended in this moment in time, lost to the intoxicating taste of each other.

"You guys do remember you're in school right?" Melissa's tired voice chastised us.

Prying away from his lips, I turned a sheepish smile to her. Noah just sighed and leaned his forehead against me for a moment before moving away, his arm wrapping around my waist.

"Unfortunately," he said in such a somber voice that I chuckled and Melissa rolled her eyes.

"I thought you weren't into PDA," she said, and narrowed her eyes at me.

"I'm, uh, I wasn't," I said, pressing my lips together.

It was funny how things changed when you were in love. Things you once rolled your eyes at were now things you did as others rolled their eyes.

As a smart man once said, how the turn tables.

"Here, you can have this, works like a charm," Noah said, handing Melissa the mistletoe as she stared at him in confusion. "You're meeting Tara after school right?"

She stared at him for a few more seconds, and then back down at her hands that now held the green bundle of romance. I could see the moment she realized what he was saying because her cheeks instantly turned red and she coughed a bit, likely choking on her own spit.

"I don't need that," she muttered while putting the mistletoe careful into her bag.

Sure. She definitely wasn't going to use that, at all.

"You coming?" Melissa asked, gesturing in the direction of our first class. Shit. I was so distracted with kissing him that I forgot to actually talk to Noah.

"I'll catch up, I need a minute," I said and Melissa nodded, making her way toward our classroom.

"What's up?" Noah asked, a frown on his face.

"I'm going to my grandma's for the holidays," I blurted it out, and pressed my lips together.

His eyebrows raised for a second and then a slow smile showed on his face.

"That's fine, love. You had me scared for a second there," Noah said, placing a kiss to my forehead.

"It's not fine. We had plans for the holidays, we were gonna watch the worst Christmas movies we could find, and go on date, and–"

Noah stopped my little rant by wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. He laid his forehead on top of my head and gave me a light squeeze.

"Hey, we have all the time in the world to do all of that. I'm not going anywhere... and it's good to spend time with the people you love that might not have as much time left."

His voice was soft with a familiar tone of longing and sadness lingering. A tone that used to sound enigmatic and mysterious before I knew him, but now it was crystal clear what he was talking about.

The past that made him happy. The present that caused him pain. The future he dreaded facing.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking–" I pulled away just enough to look into his eye.

"Don't do that. Nothing to apologize for, you know you don't need to tiptoe around me. I just want you to be yourself with me."

"I am myself with you." I assured him. And I was. He was one of the few people I felt completely comfortable being myself with and knowing I won't be judged no matter what.

I just wished I could be a better myself, though.

Work-in-progress, I reminded myself. I was a work-in-progress and that was completely fine.

"Good," he said, the softest expression on his face as he bent down...

And then the bell rang and we both jumped apart.

"Shit, we have to go. I'll see you at lunch! " I said, gave a quick peck to his cheek and turned away before I could be tempted to do more.

The light breeze in the night air sent a shiver up my spine as I laced up my skates. The ice rink was sparkling as if it was magic, a special place from fairytales where dreams could come true.

Of course, there wasn't any actual magic involved, but the soft glow of the fairy lights, the mistletoes, and earthy decore made it easy to pretend.

As did the boy next to me. One I'd long since believed stepped straight out of one of my romance novels.

It was hard to believe the boy was mine.

"You ready?" Noah asked as if he could read my mind.

"I think so," I said, lacking confidence but full of determination.

I hadn't actually been ice skating in at least 2 years. They say it's like riding a bike, but even on a bike I end up with a skimmed knee every so often.

At least with this, I had someone to lean on.

We waddled to the ice rink, holding hands. My feet hit the ice and it was definitely a wobbly start. But the more I moved the easier it got, and soon we were gliding across the ice with huge smiles on our faces, as the holiday music blared from the speakers.

Looking around, it felt like we were part of this winter dance, our laughter harmonizing with that of the other skaters. Their faces lit up with joy and wonder and happiness. Couples. Families. Friends. Everyone enjoying their last days before Christmas.

I felt my chest squeeze in an uncomfortable way and intertwined my fingers with Noah's firmly. As if I could just interlock them like that and freeze them in place so that we could never let go.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, a small frown on his face.

Ah, he always read me like an open book.

"How I won't see you for Christmas," I said, somberly.

He was quiet for a second, and then he glided in front of me, taking my hands in his. My eyes widened a bit seeing him skate backwards, half expecting an imminent collision, but Noah seemed as sure of himself as usual, a soft smile on his face.

"We can pretend today is Christmas," he said, as if it was the most normal thing.

"I don't think we can do that," I muttered and pursed my lips.

"Says who?"

"Uh, tradition?" Wasn't it bad luck to celebrate Christmas before the date? Or was that for wishing people happy birthday before their birthday? Or maybe it was just the seeing the bride before the wedding?

Damn, I never realized there were so many rules about events until I started thinking about it.

"We can make our own tradition," he said and shrugged. Simple solution to what seemed like a big problem to me.

"That's... I like that, yeah," I said before letting out a gasp. "But I didn't bring your present today!"

"That's fine, we can exchange gifts when you're back," he said and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Christmas is about being together with the ones you love."

My heart hiccuped. No matter how many times I heard the L word, it still made me react the same. It wasn't like we'd ever directly said 'I love you' but the sentiment was implied through little moments like this. Moments that had become the most precious core memories.

"The ones you love, huh?" I teased and pushed him gently.

He grinned and shrugged, pulling me back into him. Only he clearly hadn't thought it through, because our skates collided and in the next moment we were falling to the ground.

Noah landed on his ass and then I landed on top of him. A curious sense of deja vu passed through me. And it was obvious why. We'd been here before, him and me.

"Are you okay?" Noah asked, brushing his hand along my cheek gently.

"Just fine," I said and then grinned. "I mean, you have me falling for you."

His eyebrows raised for a second as he processed my words and then he burst out laughing.

"That's my line," he said and pinched my cheek.

He bent one knee and lifted himself up with ease before offering his hands down to me. I happily took him up on the offer, because I had already mentally visualized my attempt at standing up and it had ended with me skating on my ass for at least half of the rink.

"Yeah, this seems to be our M.O." I chuckled and shook my head.

Noah grinned and shook his head in disbelief. "Note to self, stay away from high places."

His smile made mine grown even brighter. We probably looked extremely goofy to everyone around us, but it didn't matter. When I was with Noah, it felt like nothing mattered except for us and the little world we create in each others arms.

Noah guided us to the edge of the rink and leaned his back against it, pulling me into him and locking his hands together on the small of my back. I leaned into him, arms automatically wrapping around his neck.

"Oh, would you look at that," he said and nodded his head upwards.

I looked up and immediately noticed the familiar Christmas plant hanging above us.

"Are these just like everywhere now?" I said and sighed.

"The benefit of the holiday season. I have many excuses to kiss you," he said and wiggled his eyebrows.

I snorted. "As if you need an excuse."

Noah smirked and leaned down to kiss me. It was sweet and tender and made my knees weak. He pulled away and pressed a kiss against my frozen nose, before leaning his forehead against mine.

"Merry Christmas, Fox."

"Merry Christmas, Archer."

Maybe winter wasn't so bad after all.

Hi loves! ❤️

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you that celebrate it! 🎄 And if you don't celebrate it, I hope you spend a wonderful last week of this year full of warmth and love. ❤️

My family isn't really religious (I respect all religions!) but we've always celebrated Christmas as a family holiday - a time we all kind of spend together connecting, eating yummy food and watching Christmas movies.

I'm like Noah. For me Christmas is the time I want to spend with those I love very much. ❤️

Since I also love and appreciate you all so much, this is my way of commemorating the holiday with you! With some Christmas fluff and cheer. ✨

I hope you enjoyed this little extra chapter - the ending was a bit rushed since I was busy with last minute gift and food prep and overestimated how much time I would have to finish the chapter, but I did my best! Now I'm off to eat lunch with family, heh. ✨

Sending you all lots and lots of love and warmth. Stay strong, stay safe! ❤️