AN: I recommend listening to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol while reading, it's what inspired this fic for me.
Cover image by weiweipon on Tumblr!
9:54pm - To Gavvers: hey gav. ever made a snow angel? :)
Michael set his phone down after sending the text, looking out his bedroom window and seeing the frost accumulate as the snow did on the ground.
"It's December, about fucking time it snowed," he mumbled to himself, though smiling. He loved the snow, just not the shoveling.
9:56pm - From Gavvers: A snow angel?
It was Gavin's first winter here, and it never snowed enough back in Oxfordshire to make one, Michael guessed.
9:56pm - To Gavvers: you've gotta make one. meet me by the lake?
9:57pm - From Gavvers: yeah boy
Michael fist pumped the air, grinning. Asking his parents if he could go out at this time of night wasn't an option though, so his only choice would be to sneak out. He figured he'd rather take the humiliating route than the one of being caught, so he stuck a sock on his doorknob and locked it before making his way to the window. Being seventeen, a sock on his door was a good excuse for his parents to not bother him, so the risk of getting caught was therefore eliminated.
It'd be a bit of a risk climbing down with the icy ledge, but he'd take his chances.
Michael slowly lowered himself from his window sill to the overhang over his back door, and let himself drop the last few inches. He then pulled on the white string that hung down, blending in with his house's siding, and successfully shut his window.
Hey, he was skilled in this endeavor. How else would he get to have any fun with parents like his?
"Shit," Michael muttered quietly as his jacket caught on the fence he was attempting to climb to leave his yard. He freed himself successfully though, and as he dropped down on the other side, he felt his phone vibrate.
Pulling it out, it was yet another text to read from Gavin.
10:06pm - From Gavvers: almost there :^)
Michael rolled his eyes, of course Gavin wouldn't have to take the time he did to sneak out.
10:07pm - To Gavvers: i'll be there in 5
True to his word, he met Gavin sitting on a bench near the lake just a little over 5 minutes later.
"Hey," he greeted the Brit, smiling.
Gavin smiled back, jumping up to hug his friend. "Michael!"
Michael hugged him back carefully, smothering the warm feeling building up in his stomach. It's nothing, he told himself. But that's what he always said...
"Ready to roll around in the snow?"
The blond boy shrugged, "Well I guess, if that's how we make snow angels," he laughed, bumping his shoulder against Michael's.
"It is," he replied, spontaneously falling backwards into the snow, already 6 inches deep.
Gavin didn't do the same, instead giving the Jersey boy a strange look, "You look like a right pleb."
Michael sighed, but urged him to join, "C'mon! It's fun, I swear."
He began to move his arms and legs in the fashion of making a snow angel, and finally Gavin obliged, lying next to him.
"This is a snow angel?"
"There's more to it," Michael said, moving until he found the snow sufficiently shaped. He then stood up, careful not to ruin the integrity of his creation, and encouraged Gavin to follow suit.
"See? There's the head, and the body I guess," he pointed, smiling softly as he saw Gavin grin.
"That's pretty top! Anything else we can make?"
Michael gave the other boy a shit eating grin, squatting down and grabbing a wad of snow.
"Yeah, lemme show you," he laughed, throwing his snowball directly into Gavin's face.
Gavin stood still for a moment, shocked. "Wha-"
His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by another snowball.
"That's it," he huffed, grabbing his own. "You've really munged it now, Michael!"
His aim was a little off, but Gavin managed to hit Michael in the shoulder anyways.
"Shit!" Michael exclaimed. He really thought he'd dodged that one...
He couldn't help pausing as he was making a new snow weapon, to look over at Gavin as he made his own. The way the snow drifted onto his hair and stuck looked silly, and yet Michael wanted to be the one to brush it off. He wanted to kiss the snowflakes right off of Gavin's cheek where it was collecting on stubble, but you don't do those kinds of things with your best friend.
Michael was abruptly taken out of his thoughts by a snowball to the face, and although he tried to sound angry, all he could do was smile. Looking at Gavin and his stupid green eyes made him incapable of anything else.
He shook his head, sighing to himself as he held a hand out to Gavin. "Truce," he suggested, and the other took his hand and shook it.
"Yeah. Truce."
But of course, Michael should've expected something from the hand behind the Brit's back.
"You asshole!" He shouted, spitting snow out of his mouth.
Gavin only laughed though, putting his arm around Michael and ruffling his brown, snow covered curls with his free hand. The Jersey boy simply punched him on the shoulder, albeit lightly, and laid back into the snow. He stilled this time though, staring up into the night sky as the snowflakes fell around him.
Gavin laid next to him, and watched as Michael stuck out his tongue to catch the crystal flakes in his mouth.
Michael himself couldn't think of anything else he'd rather be doing in that moment. It was nice to catch his breath, lying next to his best friend in the soft silence of the freshly fallen snow. The cold didn't matter, neither did the time or the consequences he might face when he would sneak back home. All that mattered to Michael in that moment was the boy lying next to him. Forget everything else, fuck everything else. He would live in this moment forever, if he could. Just freeze time, and let the warmth in his chest spread throughout the rest of him.
He turned his head, looking at Gavin only to see that the other was already looking at him. He let his eyes wander from the frost covered hair, to flushed red cheeks, cold from the New Jersey weather and receiving several snowballs to his face. His lips were red, slightly chapped, and swollen from the cold as well. His stubble... dusted with snow and fuck. His eyes, his beautiful green eyes, even in the dark they contrasted so beautifully with the snow, shining in the dull lamplight from the path just a few feet away. Michael was frozen in this moment, unable to look away even as his own cheeks darkened with blush. This was his best friend for crying out loud! Michael was the worst best friend eve-
and all there was.. was Gavin Gav Gav Gavin
Gavin's lips were against his and Michael was overcome with a warmth that could melt the snow any day. Though confused, Michael took this moment to savor the other boy all he could, kissing him back with such a gentle, yet passionate movement of his lips. His warm breath did melt the flakes on Gavin's cheeks, and even as the blond pulled away, Michael swore he could still feel the warmth of Gavin's lips on his own.
He was speechless, but that was okay, Gavin had the words for him.
"I know, Michael. I like you too."
Those words alone made Michael Jones forget the rest of the world even existed.
