Love All The Way

15| Wrapped in you

We head toward the cabin in the nick of time. A snowstorm has started, disturbing the once serene blanket of snow and throwing it upward, where the flakes swirl in currents before fluttering to the ground.

I've never witnessed anything so beautiful, like feathers of white confetti being thrown in celebration, dancing their way through the sky. Milo has to tug my hand that little bit harder, because without realizing it, I've stopped.

"It's beautiful." My breath comes out in a cloud of white smoke, warming the air in front of me.

"And deadly," he says.

I let him pull me along through the storm, but a part of me is reluctant to look away. There is something poetic about a force so beautiful being destructive. Living the city life, it's easy to succumb to the mundanity of things, to the sound of horns and the smell of petrol. But out here I've found a freedom I hadn't known I was missing, and I've found it with Milo.

Another few steps and Milo guides me back into the warmth. I shiver like a leaf, soaked to the bone now that the snow has melted, and he helps me to peel off my coat before setting it aside.

He frowns as he takes in my soaking wet sweatshirt. "This isn't a proper winter coat," he says with a shake of his head. "I told you to dress warmly."

"I didn't know dressing warm meant buying an industrial ski jacket," I say through chattering teeth.

"Go and sit in front of the fire," he says, so I cross the living room, dripping water as I go, and sit on the rug in front of the fire next to Mulan. She looks at me like she thinks I'm insane, but I ignore her and rub my arms.

Outside, what looks like a full-on blizzard has been conjured. Snow batters the windows, a flurry of white that I can't see past, and I'll admit, I'm a little terrified. Having never experienced more than a dusting of the stuff, having chunks of it thwacking the cabin is unsettling.

I pull Mulan closer in an attempt to stay warm while Milo grabs the large faux fur blanket from the sofa and wraps it around me. Mulan, to her credit, is not the least bit afraid of the snowstorm despite being a naive indoor cat. She's just purring away, kneading her paws on my soggy sweatshirt without a care in the world.

The lights flicker on and off like something from a horror movie before the power goes out for good. "I'm going to check the power," he says, "see if I can get it back on. Don't move."

I panic and shrug off the blanket before jumping to my feet. "No!"

He turns on his heel, somewhat amused, and says, "No?"

"Don't you know that's how people get killed?" I ask. "They go out to check the power and they get murdered."

"What am I getting murdered by," he asks incredulously, "the snow monster?" I give him a look like I'm not the least bit amused, and he grins. "Look, I'll be back in a minute. I'm just going to see if I can fix it, all right? Otherwise, we're going to have a pretty cold night ahead of us."

I grab his hand to stop him from leaving. "Just stay."

Surprise crosses his face. "You really that worried about me?"

"No, I just don't like being alone." But my heart is pounding like never before. Maybe it's the snowstorm that's setting me on edge, but suddenly the thought of him leaving is the worst thing in the world.

He senses the shift in my mood and steps closer, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Then I'll stay."

I let out another shiver in response and the corner of his lip curls upward. "You're freezing," he says. "Let me at least get your bag. You can change."