Surprised!? Bet no one was expecting an entirely new story! Well...except for someone. For those of you wondering, today, Dec. 10th, is author prettygirl17's 23rd birthday! And for her birthday present, I decided to give to her a little one-shot here, my official 20th story! Now, as to the theme of this story, this will be the first time that I have written a story that's not based on a pairing related to the Pokémon characters. Rather, this will be an alternate timeline to "R", focusing on Evan and Aleksi. An OC/OC pairing without the war in other words. I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you will be sure to send prettygirl17 a Happy Birthday!

-EVAN AAML

"Come out, the snow's beautiful!"

"Hold on, give me a second!"

Aleksi rushed outside, barely finishing zipping up her jacket and putting her mittens on as she ran across thenow snow-covered yard. She stopped several feet from the house, looking up at the sky. The moonlight and stars made it bright, and the light reflecting off the falling snow looked gorgeous. She smiled and felt her breath taken away by the beauty of it all.

"Hurry up!", Aleksi called out excitedly. From the house, Evan could be heard chuckling as he buttoned up his pea-coat.

"Goodness, woman turns twenty-three and still acts like she's twelve", Evan said to himself. He then turned towards Aleksi. "I'm coming out!".

Aleksi was still looking up to the sky when Evan finally approached her. A cigarette, freshly lit, hung from his mouth. The smoke flew out, mixing with the steam coming from their breath in the cold air. He glanced at Aleksi with a smile, and then looked up with her to the night sky.

"It's gorgeous", Aleksi said with a smile.

"Yeah, the snow really built up in the past few hours huh? Shame it gets dark out so soon this time of year, less time to appreciate it first-hand", Evan said.

Aleksi disagreed with this; you could appreciate this wonder at anytime. The snow flakes landed on her eyelashes, causing her to twitch, but she didn't mind. She couldn't take her eyes off of the beauty. The snow fell in relatively large clumps, but just slow enough to be appreciated. There was no wind at all, and all was quiet out where they were. Aleksi giggled and opened her mouth, sticking out her tongue and catching the snow flakes as they fell. They melted instantly on her tongue. Evan watched her and chuckled.

"Really? Another year older and none the wiser...or mature", Evan said. Aleksi turned to him and stuck her tongue out at him in response.

"It's more fun than what you did! If I recall, your twenty-third birthday party consisted of a group of guys at the bar", Aleksi stated with a glare. Evan smirked.

"I invited you, but you didn't want to go to a bar...besides, how is that not fun?", Evan asked. Aleksi ignored him, bringing her attention once again to the snow. She looked around her to see how the land looked. The leafy trees had long since abandoned their leaves and were now barren, save for what little snow built up on the empty branches. The pines on the other hand were covered in snow, their branches bending lower to the ground from the weight. There were no signs of tracks in the snow, everything looked white and untouched. The hills almost looked like a desert, nothing but white as far as the eye could see.

"It's rare for it to snow this much on my birthday", Aleksi stated. Evan smirked.

"It's rare to snow at all on mine", Evan said.

"Your birthday's in September", Aleksi said, Evan chuckled.

"I rest my case", Evan replied. Aleksi sighed.

"I forget why I even asked you to come out here", Aleksi said with a smirk. There was a moment's silence between the two as they continued to look at the falling snow. Their coats were now beginning to build up clumps of snow flakes, their hats nearly covered with them. It hadn't yet soaked through, but it would in enough time.

"So...has today been fun for you?", Evan asked, breaking the silence. Aleksi smiled.

"Yeah, it really was. I wasn't expecting much to be honest. My dad calling me was nice, and getting work off because of the weather was a cool little bonus, but I wasn't expecting a party", Aleksi said.

"Yeah, Angel was insistent on making sure you had one, planned it out for a week. Nice of her parents to let us have it here. My apartment wouldn't have been able to hold this many people", Evan explained. Aleksi giggled.

"Yeah, that and it reeks of tobacco", Aleksi stated, covering her nose.

"Yeah, that too", Evan said, taking a puff from his cigarette.

"Which reminds me...!", Aleksi started. She then swiped the cigarette from Evan's mouth. He turned to her in shock as she bent down and put the cigarette out in the snow, hearing a faint sizzle in the process. "...it's my birthday, which means you're not allowed to smoke!". Evan sighed as she handed him the now wet cigarette. He was going to argue, but knew it was pointless. Just like most of the girls he knew, on their birthdays, they acted like queens. He put the cigarette in his pocket to throw out later.

"Fine, fine. Geez, good thing this only comes once a year", Evan said. Aleksi playfully punched Evan in the arm for the comment. Evan rubbed his arm, turned to Aleksi, and smirked. "So, that's how you want to play now, huh?". Aleksi gave a smug grin and giggled.

"Scared?", Aleksi asked playfully, holding her arms out as if challenging him. Suddenly, she found herself being picked up by Evan. She screamed and giggled as Evan spun her around in the air for a moment or two before he slipped and the two of them went crashing into the snow. Aleksi landed on top of Evan, and the two began to laugh out loud. The laughing seemed to go on forever, they found the entire thing hilarious, and didn't even know why. Their laughs echoed in the night, until they eventually calmed down. Aleksi looked down to Evan and smiled. They shared eye contact for a few seconds, just taking in the sights.

"...You know...", Aleksi started. Evan listened in. She leaned down and rested her head on Evan's chest, and Evan wrapped his arms around her. "...I didn't think today could possibly get any better...and I'm glad I was wrong". Evan smiled.

"I was thinking the same thing", Evan said. Aleksi lifted her head and looked at Evan. Once again the two shared eye contact, but it only lasted for a few seconds before they slowly leaned in, closed their eyes, and kissed.

The snow built up on Aleksi's back, but laying on top of Evan, and kissing him, kept her warm; she couldn't even feel the snow. Evan pulled her in closer as they kissed more, the both of them sighing in the process. After a minute or so, Aleksi pulled back, looking at Evan with a smile. Her hair dangled down from under her hat, hanging just above his body. Her face was illuminated from the starry night above, and Evan sighed heavily at the sight. She looked like an angel sent from above.

And he couldn't begin to explain how lucky he was to have her.

Aleksi was more to him than a girlfriend...she was his best friend. She was there for him for years, through thick and thin. Even when he was going through dark times, she was always there to lend a hand, to be the light at the end of the tunnel. She was the love of his life, his everything. He owed everything to her, and he wanted nothing more than to return that appreciation.

Something he hoped to do soon enough.

"What?", Aleksi asked, reading from his face that Evan was thinking something. Evan snapped out of it and smiled.

"Oh...nothing. Just...thinking", Evan said. Aleksi smirked.

"About what?", Aleksi asked. Evan lifted himself up from the ground just enough so that he and Aleksi were only inches apart.

"Just thinking about...how much I love you", Evan said. Aleksi sighed, her heart-rate skyrocketing. She had heard him say it to her countless times, (about as often as she had told him the same words in fact), but every time it impacted her just as much, and it was the most amazing feeling. Evan couldn't tell if it was the snow that made her look teary-eyed, but it made her look even more beautiful.

"...I love you too Evan...so much", Aleksi said. The two laid there, taking in the words, taking in the moment.

A moment, which found itself ending abruptly.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT THERE!?", someone called out. Aleksi looked up towards the house to see Angel standing at the back door. She was wearing a sweater and fuzzy slippers and was looking out towards them from the warmth of the house. "WHEN YOU TWO ARE DONE MAKING OUT OUT THERE, YOU WANNA COME IN!? WE'RE GONNA HAVE HOT CHOCOLATE!", Angel yelled. She giggled, knowing the comments would embarrass Aleksi, spun around, and walked back in the house, closing the door behind her.

Aleksi's face turned a bright red, the snow on her cheeks and face melting instantaneously. Evan couldn't tell if the redness was from blushing or the cold, but he could have sworn he saw steam permeating from her body.

"ANGEEEEEL! I'M GONNA KILL HER!", Aleksi screamed to herself, pulling down her hat to cover her face and hide her blush. Evan couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh wait until tomorrow when we all leave, I can lock her outside and you can pelt her with snowballs again", Evan said, reflecting back to a previous situation. He then pulled Aleksi's hat up from the poofy ball on top and looked at the embarrassed woman. He smirked. "You know, you're kinda cute when you're blushing, find it pretty attractive!". Aleksi blushed even more and pulled her hat down once again.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!", Aleksi complained. Evan laughed as he pulled Aleksi off of him, standing up from the ground and helping her up to her feet as well. He brushed the snow off of his coat and helped Aleksi knock her snow off as well.

"Tell you what, to make it up to you, how about we go inside, get out of these wet clothes, and we can snuggle by the fire. How's that sound?", Evan asked. Aleksi felt her knees shake from under her, and knew it wasn't from the cold. She sighed.

"There...isn't anything more I'd want", Aleksi said, leaning into Evan as they both turned and walked towards the house. Evan wrapped an arm around her as they slowly made their way, listening only to the sound of the snow quietly landing on the ground. "...Wait, I don't have any spare clothes with me", Aleksi remembered.

"Meh, it's fine, I'm sure Angel has some you could borrow, you're tiny, probably the same size right?", Evan asked. He got yet another playful smack for the comment. "Just for that, you're not getting your gift tonight!", Aleksi gasped and stopped walking, looking at Evan both with excitement and amazement.

"Gift!? What gift!?", Aleksi asked, looking like a little girl on Christmas morning. Evan chuckled, she really was like a kid. He playfully turned away from her.

"Nnnnope! Sorry, you're not gonna find out!", Evan said. Aleksi moped and whinned.

"Eeeeeevaaaaaaan! Pleeeaaase!?", Aleksi asked, leaning on him even more now. Evan laughed out loud, once again wrapping an arm around her, and leading her back into the house.

"Tell you what, you be a nice little girl, and we'll see huh?", Evan said. Aleksi couldn't help but laugh at their childish antics. Despite his opinion, Evan was just as immature as she was. But she wouldn't have it any other way. She wrapped herself up into Evan, squeezing him tightly.

"Kay!", Aleksi replied. Evan blushed at the comment. As the two began to walk inside, Aleksi took one last glance at the beautiful snowfall behind her. The sight still amazed her, and she hoped that it'd look even better tomorrow morning. She sighed at the thought. Evan meanwhile turned his focus onto something else, using his free hand to gently press his pocket, making sure that the ring he got was still there.

He hoped Aleksi was in for another surprise.

Ok, I have to admit, I sort of had trouble writing out this one. Not because it was difficult, but because...well...soooorta red-faced writing this thing. -/- If you felt that Evan and Aleksi were a bit OOC, that's because I tried making the characters more like me and prettygirl here. Guess it's a little bit of an (somewhat exaggerated) inside look at how we act in real life. :P Anyway, I hope you liked this surprise little one-shot! Wanted my 20th story to be something worth remembering, and I think this will definitely be that. Please be sure to F.A.R., and to send birthday wishes to prettygirl17! prettygirl, you're my angel. :) Until next time!

sincerely,
evan, a fan of aaml

P.S.- "R" will be worked on shortly! Aim for an update before Christmas if all goes to plan!

-EVAN AAML