I sat silently curled in to the side of the couch playing on my Iphone to stay out of the conversation the family was having. I hate holiday dinners because with all the family around, it's just asking for an argument and I'm usually the one with hurt feelings somehow. I checked my email a dozen times within 5 minutes and read everyone's Facebook status. I was the youngest of 3 kids and my family was 'normal' but we weren't always very nice to each other. In the end, we were close and could always depend on each other but we didn't like to ever do that. I'm only a senior in high school which leaves me as the 'baby' still. My oldest brother and sister are married, my brother is engaged and that just leaves me…single. They all had fun lives and I was here stuck with my parents all the time, now in their 50's. Joy!

"Mi!" I heard my niece yell. I looked up to see her innocent smile with less than a half dozen teeth. I smiled and played with the toy she handed me. I wish my life was as simple as hers, no worries or cares.

"Oh no, I forgot to get the soup for the green bean casserole." I heard my mom say from the kitchen. She had been cooking all day trying to make Christmas dinner perfect, as always.

"I'll go get it!" I said quickly, jumping up from the couch and walking in to the kitchen.

"Okay. Get two large cans of-"

"Mushroom soup, I know mom." I said and kissed her on the cheek.

"Be careful on the roads!" She stated in a motherly tone as I grabbed my keys.

"I need to grab a new shovel and some rock salt at the store, I'll take her in my truck." I heard my brother in law say as he approached us.

Oh great, an awkward ride to the store with Nick. I've known the guy since I was 5 and he was nice; quiet but nice most of the time. He's been with my sister for 12 years and he's a good father but…he has his moments. I've always looked up to him but I've never actually told him anything personal, asked him for advice or anything like that. The thing is, I feel safe with him. When he's around I feel like he'll protect me and he understands how I feel around strangers. I'll give you a little insight on what he looks like I guess. He's about almost 6 foot tall, healthy body weight with some toned muscles in his arms, back and probably his stomach, I haven't seen him shirtless in years. He tries to keep his hair short to make it look nice but the curls on his head make it look like he has bed head 24/7. His deep brown eyes have a sense of comfort too.

In the car we began to drive in the snow covered roads, the snow was coming down harder than it had been all day. I was getting nervous but we were in a large truck made to drive in this weather and Nick knew how to handle it. I listened to the radio that was barely playing and kept my eyes looking out the window. This is how it usually went, we would stay silent the whole car ride.

"How's school going?" He asked casually.

"Okay I guess." I answered quietly.

"Math still giving you trouble?" He questioned and I nodded. "Keep trying. How's the boyfriend?"

"Who?" I asked back with a confused look on my face. I began to play with my fingers when I remembered who he was talking about. I was still upset about the situation and I did not want to talk about it with Nick.

"That guy you used to talk to." He stated back.

"Oh, I don't talk to him anymore." I simply said.

"What happened?" He asked and I shrugged. Since when did he ask this? All he knew about the guy is I made him some banana bread. "Okay."

After that, he kept driving until we reached the store. He followed me through the isles and I grew self conscious. Ever since my sister told me he made a comment that I had a large 'ass', I never liked walking in front of him so I let him lead me to where he needed to go. We checked out and quickly walked out to the car, trying to escape from the cold snow. As I loaded my bags in to the car, I watched him carry the large bags of salt to the back of the truck. I couldn't see his biceps but I knew it would take a lot of strength to carry them as easily as he was. I've seen him carry things plenty heavier, I knew what his body was capable of. I looked away, wondering why I was even thinking of that. I pulled myself in to the high truck and waited for him to enter the car. The ride back was silent and slightly awkward but that wasn't knew. The roads were worse now, I could feel the truck having trouble doing what Nick wanted it to do. I saw a plow truck coming behind us and eventually Nick did too.

"I'm going to pull over and let him go ahead of us. It may help some." He pulled in to someone's half cleared drive way and the plow truck went ahead of us, clearing most of the snow in it's path. The drive home would go much quicker now. He put the truck in reverse and began to press on the gas pedal, the truck went nowhere. I heard the engine try harder, but the tires just spun in the air and the weightless snow became secure around the tires. "Shit."

When I heard him curse I knew this wasn't good. He opened his door and looked at the tires, the tires were under ice and no deep in snow.