Frost

15. December

That Thursday was a bleak one for Summer. With Bev being on bedrest and Jack Frost having completely frozen her out (she saw the irony), Christmas was turning more cold and bleak than ever. She hadn't felt truly lonely until she suddenly had no one. The only people she spoke to that day were her customers who were everything from jolly and happy to winter-depressed and stressed. She gave them all her best attempt at a smile, but truth was, she didn't feel like smiling at all herself. There was nothing to smile about.

And that's why, as Summer closed her shop down that night and stepped out into the cold snow that only seemed to keep coming stronger and stronger every day, she was in a crappy mood. She told herself this was no mood to be in, so she made up her mind about baking some Christmas cookies when she came home. Yeah, that would cheer her up, if not because she could eat them all afterwards.

But first, grocery shopping. The stores didn't close until 8pm, so if she hurried, she could just make it across town to buy what she needed to bake.

Summer did just that and drove to the local supermarket of Whitefish, the same one she had shopped at all her life. She bought what she needed and wished her friend the saleslady Mary a Merry Christmas. She then bagged up her groceries and walked back to her car.

The bodega next door was playing loud Christmassy music. When Summer had parked her car, they had been playing Last Christmas, but now they were playing All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey. Both were numbers she truly couldn't stand after they had been played so frequently in the radio, so the sound of Mariah belting out her amazing vocals brought a slight grimace to her face. However, when the door to the bodega opened and a male voice tried singing in the exact same key as Mariah, she realized she definitely preferred the original version.

"All I want for christmaaaaas is yoooou-uuh, baaaybeee!"

Summer automatically glanced towards the drunken man singing and saw to her mortification, Jack. He wasn't the one singing though, he was the one dragging the guy out who was; He was tumbling over his own feet and barely standing upright, but Jack kept him up by slinging his arm around his body.

"Come on, man. Please stop singing, you're killing my ears and every dog in the neighborhood."

"But it's my song!" The guy drunkenly slurred. "I love it, it makes me feel loved..."

Summer now realized she recognized that voice. Squinting her eyes in the dark as Jack tried holding him upright, she now realized who it was. "Is that Nick?"

The question flew from her mouth without her thinking about it, and now that it was too late, Jack spun around and looked at her in slight shock as he saw her standing there, watching the show. "Summer?"

Oh, what the hell. The damage was done, wasn't it? No point in being the lesser person here. It was Christmas after all. "Yeah... is he okay?"

Jack gritted his teeth and looked down at the pathetic excuse that was Nick. Sober-Nick was much more handsome and attractive than drunk-Nick. The way his hair was left unruly and the thick odor of alcohol that carried all the way to where she was standing really blew off his appeal. Summer definitely preferred the sober-Nick with the styled brown locks and warm twinkle in his eyes, and not the drunken, crosseyed one he had right now. "Yeah, he's just really drunk. Don't worry about it."

"Why, hellooow there, Summer!" Nick slurred when he noticed her as well, "You look good tonight! Why don't you climb up... up on my lap and... and tell me what you want for-for Christmas... maybe I'll give it to y—"