LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD ━━ ( GILBERT BLYTHE )

SEVENTEEN ; thoughts

THE COLD WINTER AIR NIPPED AT SYD'S SKIN, REDDENING THE TIP OF HER NOSE AND THE APPLES OF HER CHEEKS. She licked her lips out of habit, only adding to her dry, chapped lips. Her coat only did so much to protect her from the cold. She shivered, wishing she wasn't wearing a dress.

The only part of her that wasn't frozen blue was her hand.

Why? You may ask.

Because Gilbert hadn't let go of her hand since they left the schoolhouse.

The silence between them was comfortable, the only sound was the white snow crunching under their shoes and the tree branches brushing against each other, but on the inside, Sydney was screaming louder than anyone in history.

Gilbert looked completely calm and collected, his little smile actually looked a bit smug to Sydney. She kind of wanted to slap it off his face a little for making her heart race for the umpteenth time since they met.

Sydney couldn't help but stare at him. He looked downright heavenly, his hair was sprinkled with tiny snowflakes and his nose with cherry red just like his lips.

"You alright?" Gilbert's voice snapped her out of her daydream.

How is he so calm? Is his heart not racing like mine? Does he not feel like electricity being passed through our fingertips? Sydney thought.

His eyes looked down at her in worry, his thumb drawing back and forth softly against Syd's knuckles. She wasn't sure how she hadn't passed out by now because it seemed like his touch made oxygen unable to reach her brain.

"Y-Yeah, just cold." She faked a shudder that she was sure Gilbert could tell wasn't real by his amused smirk and the raise in his eyebrows.

Then Gilbert did the opposite of what she wanted and let go of her hand. Syd immediately missed the warmth it provided, a cold chill spread throughout her entire body, not just her hand. Of course he let go, what did you think was going to happen, Sydney thought, I made him uncomfortable by not letting go of his hand first, he probably felt trapped.

But to Sydney's suprise, he replaced the warmth of his hand with the warmth of his entire body by wrapping his arm across Sydney's shoulders and pulling her close.

Now Sydney felt like her heart had either completely stopped or it was beating so fast she couldn't feel it.

Gilbert laughed a charming sound, a sound could listen to for the next hundred years and never get tired of.

"If you feel cold and you've been living in Canada this whole time, imagine how big bad Bash is feeling right now." Gilbert laughed, his eyes closed from the force of his laughter.

Sydney giggled too and added, "I can picture him in front of the fireplace, wearing every layer of clothes he has and buried under all the blankets he can find in the house."

__

And there he was, Sebastian Lacroix, his muscular, six feet tall body hunched over as close to fire the stove provided as he could get without setting the layers of blankets he was wrapped in on fire. Sydney and Gilbert had to giggle like little girls when they saw his shivering frame.

Bash looked over at the sound of the door opening and the howling wind whistling by, also by the sounds of his two young friends childishly giggling into their hands. "What are you two laughing." He rolled his eyes, only making them snicker more at his chattering teeth. "Blythe, you'll be frozen alive if you stay outside one second too long with that skinny little body."

Sydney walked over after putting up her books and gloves and hugged Bash tightly over the blanets, "It's okay, Bash. We know you're big and strong." Syd pouted playfully before putting her cold hands on Bash's cheeks, laughing when he jumped up with a yelp.

"Get away from me, evil girl!"

"We warned you about the winters here." Bash smirked, sitting down next to Sydney and setting her heart on fire.

Bash shook his head violently, sticking his hands out to rub them together over the warmth. "Nah. Not like this, Blythe. Not like this. This sun isn't even real. It don't give you no heat, no... warmth, no nothing. It just shine on you like some faraway lantern in the sky. Oh! And the air! How can I do any work if the very air I breathe is out to kill me?"

Sydney could barely keep her composure when Bash started his 'the sun isn't real' rant.

"Let's get you situated." Gilbert laughed one last time before disappearing into the hallway, walking towards his father's old room.

"I must admit," Sydney said, unwrapping her scarf and hanging it up next to Gilbert's, "it is a bit colder than I remember." She rubbed her hands over the stove.

"'A bit'? Are you kidding me Salem? I thought you two brought me to Canada, not the north pole."

"Oh, you thought you're in Canada?" Syd teased, her smile widening. "Think again, Sebastian. Gilbert and I, we're just tricksters like that." She winked, making Bash groan and lean further towards the only warmth he could find, and she skipped to follow Gilbert. "I'm going to ask Gil were he keeps the blankets."

Walking along the hall, Sydney traced the patterns on the wall with the tip of her finger, following the design in its twirls and dips until she jumped in the frame of the doorway.

"Hey, Gil-"

Gilbert's head shot up at noise. He was kneeling in front of an old wooden chest, a thick wool sweater in his hands and a solemn look on his face.

"S-Sorry..." Sydney looked back and forth from Gilbert and the hallway, debating if she should leave him and give him privacy.

"No, it's alright." Gilbert smiled, but it was a sad smile, a smile filled with memories and lost love. He pat the spot on the floor next to him, signaling for Syd to sit next to him.

She complied, sitting criss cross next to him and smoothing her dress out.

"You must miss him a lot." Gilbert nodded, biting his lip as his thumb rubbed back and forth on the woolen fabric. Sydney put her hand on his knee, not knowing what else to do and Gilbert slowly moved his own to cover her hand. Both their hands were cold, almost freezing, but despite their body temperatures, the simple contact still managed to send a warm shock throughout both of them.

"It's hard to accept it, you know?"

Sydney nodded, Gilbert squeezed her hand just a little tighter. "When my dad first died, I sometimes forgot that he was gone. I thought I was going to come home to see him and my mom dancing in the the living room, like they used to, even when there was no music."

Syd smiled warmly at the memories. All those days she would come home after a long day of school and be pulled in by her father and they would dance for hours and hours, fueled solely by their laughs.

"It gets easier, Gil." Sydney flipped their hands so her palm was facing up and intertwined their fingers. "You just have to give it time."

Gilbert smiled warmly, deeply enjoying the feeling of their closeness, he faught the urge to lean forward just a few inches and connect their lips.

But before he could, Sydney looked down at her lip, her cheeks flaming a dark red and Gilbert reached until the chest and pulled out a pair of warm trousers.

Suddenly at the sound of footsteps, Syd and Gilbert jumped apart, separating their hands and moving a good distance apart.

Gilbert cleared his throat awkwardly as Bash stepped into the room, clueless to the tension in the room, and stood up from the ground, still holding the sweater in his hands. "Dad would be happy that it's being appreciated. And you're pathetic." Gilbert snickered, handing him the sweater.

Bash took it gratefully, hugging the warm fabric tightly. He looked up towards the ceiling.

"Thank you, Mr. Blythe."

Yes, thank you Mr. Blythe, Sydney thought.

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i know this is like a month late but im exhausted

im sorry the chapters are getting shorter and shorter but its the best i can do right now

also i know this book isn't great gatsby level but its getting more popular and i really really appreciate and love your comments of encouragement :)