"Troy, I'm not sure we can do this anymore? We can't pretend. It's not working out." I stammered the words that I thought would never leave my mouth.

"Gabriella, don't say that. We can work this out, you know I love you."

"I love you too, but how do I know you won't leave me, that you won't choose a college far away or that you'll find someone better. No one can stay with their first loves forever."

"First loves never die, that's all the more reason to stay together." Troy grabbed my shoulders and kissed me fiercely. My hands reached up involuntarily to wrap around his neck.

"I'll leave you the day it snows in Albuquerque." Troy stated the ridiculous as he broke away and placed his hands gently on my hips. It never snowed in Albuquerque.

"Don't make promises you can't keep. Why not end it now, make a clean break." My strong stance was quickly fading and I knew if this conversation didn't end soon, I would start to cry.

Our relationship had been strained for months, ever since we reached the winter of our senior year of high school. We loved each other, but we were such different people. I wasn't sure I could handle it if we got even more serious.

"Gabriella, don't do this. Trust me, give me another chance, we can make this work. We love each other and that's all we need to survive. I'll go to college with you. We'll grow up together. Just don't leave me." Troy's voice broke as he tried to reason with me.

"If things end smoothly, I won't be leaving you. We'll both just be walking away." I tried to phrase it in a way that wouldn't hurt. Impossible, it would always hurt. A small part of me wondered if I was making a mistake.

"I'll never walk away from you." Troy argued and I remembered why I was doing this. We were different. There would be no compromising ever.

I opened my mouth to respond when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Gabby! It's Taylor, go outside!" I listened to her shriek with confusion.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Just do it!" She said before hanging up. I looked at Troy.

"That was Taylor, she wants us to go outside." Troy shrugged and walked slowly towards the front door. I followed numbly.

We reached the door and opened it before freezing in the doorway.

White flakes were gently falling outside. It was snowing in Albuquerque. I looked up at Troy whose jaw was twitching slightly at this news.

"Another promise broken, unless you want to leave me now." I bitterly told him. He glared at me briefly before storming out the front door. I watched his retreating figure, my heart wrenching. He was walking away. Before I knew what I was doing, I was racing after him.

"Troy!" I shouted as I grew closer. He didn't even turn around.

"Troy!" I shrieked. The tears were falling anyway, freezing in the cold. Troy still didn't respond to my voice. I finally caught up to him and wrenched him around to face me.

We stood in silence neither one of us knowing what to say. His face was harsh and my tears came faster. Without thinking I reached up and grabbed his face between my freezing cold hands, staring into his eyes briefly before crashing my lips upon his.

I didn't know which hurt more. The numbness that was slowly creeping it's way into my ears, or the fact that Troy didn't respond. I broke away, even more confused and hurt.

"You wanted to break it off. Are you the only one who gets to make decisions in this relationship? You wanted to break up, so I left. What on earth makes you think that you can come and kiss me again. I'll do all I can to make you happy. So decide what the hell you want so we can both move on with our lives." His voice was bitter and I found myself cringing.

"I made a mistake and I want us to be together. I want you to make me happy by being there for me, and I want us to be together and I want you to let me in your jacket with you so that I can stop freezing my ass off." I finished and looked up to him hopefully. His face was still with the same harshness as before. I waited patiently, ready to walk away after ten seconds. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8 before I could reach ten, Troy was opening his jacket to cradle me into his chest. The immediate warmth was a relief as I felt him kiss my hair. We could do this, we could settle our difference, and make it work.

"I don't care what you say Gabriella. First loves never die. You are stuck with me forever." Troy murmured against my hair.

"Sounds good to me."