This is a one-shot from my AU from "A Small Price to Pay for Her". I'm sorry to say it might not make much sense to the blind reader, but you're more than welcome to stay and read anyway!

*This scene takes place during the tutoring sessions, before Chrismas holidays*

"I think it's time that we stop here for the night."

Chris made a noise of relief at Linda's announcement.

"Oh, thank God," he said, dramatically leaning back in his chair to look at the ceiling. The back of his hand draped across his forehead. "There is mercy in you, after all." The smirk he tried to hide spread across his face before he could stop it and she rolled her eyes in dry annoyance.

"Stop whining, you big baby." She started to pack her books in her bag. "You're the one that asked me to help you. I don't have to be here, and neither do you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered, opening his eyes to watch her start to erase the chalkboard. How he managed to keep his concentration on the set that she was teaching him throughout tonight's session, he hadn't a clue; it was hard enough to keep himself from gawking like a complete idiot every time he was around her in the first place. A piece of chalk dropped to the floor and she leaned down to pick it up, gifting him with an extremely modest, but most appreciated view of her backside.

Automatically, he looked to the shelf next to him. As much as he liked Linda, he was averting his attention out of respect for her; she was, after all, just a friend. An extremely gorgeous and attractive friend, but a friend nonetheless. He looked back to see that she was standing up straight, completely oblivious to his brief internal struggle.

"Come on, we better get back before curfew."

They bundled up, grabbed their bags and the librarian waved them out. They started to walk across the beautifully serene snowy grounds to the girls' dorm house, the crunch of the snow the only sound breaking the still air.

"I like it when it snows," Chris said suddenly as they walked. "Reminds me of when I was a child back home. My brothers and I would have the most violent snowball fights…we still do, just without all the bloody noses and broken bones."

Linda chuckled. "I've never had a snowball fight with anyone."

"Really?" He sounded completely shocked.

"Really. I barely played with other children growing up; my father would always make sure that whatever spare moment I had was filled with something academic. I remember sitting by the window and wishing so bad that I could join in with the other children making snowmen and having snowball fights...but I never got to."

No wonder Linda was so uptight and proper. She never got a chance to just…be a child and have some fun. They fell silent again as they got to the girl's hall.

"See you tomorrow," she said with a brief smile. As she turned to walk up the stairs, a stab of cold suddenly smacked against her back and she froze. Whatever hit her soaked through her coat and dress and hit her skin like little prickly needles. Ever so slowly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder and saw that Chris was innocently looking around, trying his absolute hardest to stop himself from smiling.

"Did you just throw a snowball at me?" She had to admit, even though she was dead serious and pretty pissed off at him, she almost laughed at his adorable child-like posture and facial expression.

"I might have," he answered after a few seconds. She turned around to completely face him. "You know, usually, when someone throws a snowball, it's customary to throw one back at the offending party."

She scoffed. "In other words, you want to have a snowball fight," she said flatly. He looked around innocently again. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to indulge your childish request. I have a busy day ahead tomorrow and I need my rest."

He rolled his eyes. "I guess I should've expected that answer from you." She raised an eyebrow at his condescending tone. "Fine, be BORING. I'll just go play with Michael, instead. I'll put some snow in his shoes; that should get a rise out of him in the morning. See you later." He turned around to walk toward the boys' hall and she stared after him. Boring? She, Linda Gregory, was boring? Oh, no. OH, NO. He wasn't about to get away that easily. She walked back down the steps.

"Oi, Chris."

He turned around and opened his mouth to taunt her. But he sputtered and cursed almost immediately as he was smacked in the face with a rather large and extremely cold snowball. Linda's laugh rang out across the way as he wiped snow from his face and blinked to relieve the sting of water in his eyes. She clutched her sides in an attempt to get a hold of herself as he spit out a mouthful of snow.

"That…was so rude."

She sweetly giggled. "Well, you asked for it. Next time, don't start a war you can't finish."

"Oh, I'll finish this, all right." He threw down his bag and charged back toward her. "Come here!"

Linda squealed and dodged out from his lunge to seize her, running to grab more snow from one of the stone tables to throw at him. She could only imagine how silly they must've looked chasing each other like a couple of children around the courtyard and throwing half-snowballs at each other, her squeals and giggles mingling with his laughs and playful growls. But it was…fun. And for some reason she couldn't explain, she couldn't imagine her first snowball fight happening with anyone else but Chris Holmes.

"Gotcha!" His arms grabbed her around the waist and she threw her weight into his embrace, toppling them both to the fluffy snow beneath their feet. "Ow…I think you elbowed my spleen," he groaned through a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said through a fit of giggles.

"It's okay. I'll live somehow."

Slowly, their laughing ceased until they were silently staring at one another. Her hair provided a golden curtain around their faces, enveloping them with her sweet and intoxicating smell. It seemed as though with each passing second that they laid there, Chris became more aware of how intimately her body rested against his. She felt so…right; almost as if she was precisely shaped and molded to fit perfectly against him. Tentatively, he reached up to cup her cheek, stroking the curve of her cheekbone. He half expected her to pull away or at least tell him to stop, but she stayed completely still and silent, looking as though she was trying to figure out what exactly to say and how exactly to respond to his touch.

"You're beautiful." His soft murmur made her heart pound loud in her ears and the butterflies in her stomach start to flutter wildly. All of her life, different men that her parents had set her up with told her those exact same words and she managed to keep herself distant from them, but Chris was different. He spoke them so tenderly and honestly, it made her temporarily speechless. But reality set back in quickly and she cleared her throat.

"Thank you," she replied politely as she always did. "And you are such a good friend." Her gentle, but firm reminder of his status with her made his lips curled into a slight frown.

"Is that all I'll ever be to you?"

Linda ignored the pang that went through her chest at his disappointed expression. "That's all I want from you. Nothing more, nothing less."

He continued to stare at her in thoughtful silence.

"Isn't it enough for you to just be that to me? To just be my friend?"

It felt like an eternity passed before he sighed and pulled his hand away from her cheek. "For now," he replied softly as his eyes moved to look around. "We better get up now; I doubt this whole situation looks innocent, so let's avoid the scandalous rumors while we can."

She scoffed at his dry humor and rolled off him, getting to her feet to brush her coat off of stray snow.

"That was fun," she said happily as she turned around to see him getting up from the ground too. "We should do that again sometime."

He smiled briefly. "Yeah, we should." But he didn't sound too enthusiastic at her offer. She told herself it didn't hurt to see his complete lack of response, but the lingering sting told her otherwise. They both stood and awkwardly looked around, wondering what to do next.

"Good night, Chris," she quickly broke in as he opened his mouth to say something. He frowned in defeat and watched her walk back toward the girls' dorm house to pick up her abandoned bag and wave at him one last time over her shoulder before disappearing inside the building. With a heavy sigh, Chris walked to the boys' hall and tried his best to ignore the ache of his bruised ego. A friend…that's all he was to her; just a bloody ordinary FRIEND. He never hated a word so much in his life. Just thinking about it made him seethe. He took a deep breath to try and get a hold of himself as he got to the dorm room that he and Michael shared. The last thing he needed was his best friend all over his case.

"Hi," Michael called distractedly as Chris walked in. "How was tutoring tonight?"

Chris chose not to verbally answer him, but brutally slammed his bag against the wall and flopped down on his bed to curl into his usual side fetal position to scowl at the wall.

"Got a test coming up, eh?" Chris could tell Michael was trying to be friendly, but he wasn't in the mood to indulge him in conversation.

"Sure," Chris answered shortly. "A really bloody hard one."

"Well, I'm sure you'll pass; after all, you've got Linda by your side."

Not yet, Chris thought to himself, the memory of her outright rejection making him even more determined to change her mind about them. She could run, she could hide, but he wasn't going to stop chasing her. Linda Gregory was the one he wanted, and by God, he wasn't about to let her get away from his reach.

That snowball fight was only the beginning; she had no idea what else was coming her way...