"Have you got everything?" Angie asked, looking around herself as if something of Audrey's might just be laying on the floor. "I think so..." Audrey pondered as Eli carried their bags into the car. "Oh, wait!" She remembered, and ran upstairs.  

Angie rolled her eyes and laughed. Audrey always forgot something. Eli closed the door behind him and smiled sheepishly at Angie. Angie smiled back and decided to take the opportunity of her daughter's absence to talk to him privately. 

"Thanks for coming, Eli." She said. 

"Thanks for having me." Eli replied automatically. 

Angie folded her hands together. "Come back any time." She glanced behind herself to check for Audrey, "I want you to know you're always welcome." Eli's nose scrunched up at the strangeness of her words. No one had said them to him before.

"Audrey really didn't tell me anything, but a Mother knows." Gently, she squeezed his arm. "Think of us like family, okay?" 

Eli felt that warmth that he'd only ever felt radiating off of Audrey. It surrounded him, like a hug. It was unusual for such warmth to be directed his way. Not many people had shown him it before, but he liked it. "Okay." He agreed, mirroring her smile. 

Audrey's Grandma suddenly bustled out of the kitchen holding a stack of Tupperware in her arms. "Take these with you." She ordered, and Eli scooped them into his own arms. She grinned and reached up to pinch his cheek. "Sweet boy." She said simply, as if taking food from her was the most chivalrous of all acts. 

"Grandma, you won't have any containers left." Audrey laughed as she descended the stairs. Her Grandma's eyes shined as she pulled Audrey in to a tight hug. "You'll just have to come back very soon to return them." She said sneakily, pushing a wet kiss on Audrey's cheek.

"I thought you forgot something upstairs." Angie noted, seeing her daughter with absolutely nothing new in her hands. "Yes," Audrey smiled, and unzipped her jacket, "My sweater." Eli was confused at the shared giggles and 'awws' of the three women until he connected the dots. 

"Is that-" 

"The famous sweater." Angie said wistfully. "Hasn't been washed once since she brought it home." 

Audrey's eyes remained fixed on Eli, watching him. She could tell he was remembering all of the things, every memory that was associated with this sweater. "What do you think?" She asked, pulling on its worn navy fabric. 

"Looks a lot better on you than it ever did on me." Eli admitted, the freckles on his cheeks moving as he smiled. "Doubtful." Audrey retorted, tucking a short strand of her hair behind her ear. 

Angie looked between the two of them, so knee deep in flirt mode, and shared a knowing look with her Mother. She knew something was different. There had been a certain energy shift since yesterday evening, and Angie had been trying to place it. Not to mention her daughter's 100 Watt smile was at full brightness once again. 

"You two better head off." She said, and gave her daughter a hug. Audrey hugged back. As she walked out the door, her Mom mouthed the words 'Call me' with a wink and a mischievous grin. Audrey's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand as she rushed to the car, blushing furiously all the way.

This had been the best trip to see her Mom and Grandma to date. She could actually feel she would miss them. But as she got into the car with Eli, she knew she was starting a journey with the right person. 

****

Audrey drove peacefully, perfectly happy to listen to Eli read his book. She was starting to get the gist of the story, and it was lovely. At least, it was lovely when he read it. Audrey knew she'd never be a reader. She always hated reading- all the sitting still that was needed. 

However, she did love Eli's book. She couldn't put it down. And she'd be more than happy to listen to books through Eli for the rest of her life. "So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?" He read, and Audrey looked up to the gray skies. 

With a jolt, the car stopped, interrupting Eli's reading. He pressed a palm on the dashboard to stop from hitting it face first. Confused, he looked at Audrey, who was staring at the cloudy sky. "Snow." She breathed out, and pulled the car to the side of the road, cars behind them beeping at her recklessness. 

Before Eli could question the ordeal, the snow began to fall. It fell in fluffy flakes. The kind of sticky snow that snowballs were made of. The kind that stayed around for days and shimmered in the daylight like it was tinted with silver glitter. 

Audrey got out of the car, pulling the hood of Eli's old sweater over her head. Eli followed suit and joined her on the hood of her car, watching the snow fall on and around them. It stuck to her hood, his hair, and when she looked straight up, it clung to her long eyelashes. 

It was an undeniably beautiful sight. Made all the more beautiful by the person sat beside him. There was something about snow like this. It was so thick, and it muffled sound. Even as cars on the road sped by them, neither of them heard anything but the gentle patter of snow hitting the ground. 

Audrey linked her arm into Eli's and rested her cheek on his shoulder. Eli quickly responded by interlocking their fingers. Despite the chill, they were both perfectly warm. "I love you." She said quietly, sincerely. She loved the way the nape of his neck smelled so distinctly him when she nuzzled into it. Nutmeg and all. 

"I love you, too." Eli replied, and though she'd said it before, it sent his stomach into flips when she said it again. Audrey had just validated all that he had clung to for the past years. He squeezed her hand tighter. 

"Don't leave me." She pleaded, biting on her bottom lip. The splendor of this moment together was bringing up her memories of their other many splendid moments. She never wanted the preciousness of their memories to be tainted by his absence again. And though she believed in her heart that he wouldn't leave, she needed him to know. He had to know how much she needed him. Perhaps more than he even needed her. 

"I won't." Eli responded confidently. He turned his head to place a kiss on her forehead. "Ever. I promise." He added, and Audrey didn't speak again for a long while, pleased with his answer. She tried to snuggle ever closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around her back as she wrapped her arms around his waist. 

As the first proper snow of the season fell, the two of them sat in tranquility; soaking up each others warmth through these harsh winter days. 

((A/N: Title of this chapter is inspired by Sonnet 97 - William Shakespeare))