The smell woke him up.

John opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the chair. He had nearly forgotten he was still at Alex's house. He turned onto his back, smelling was almost seemed like rolls of some sort. The room was dark still, but the shades were pulled all the way open. The storm was still raging on outside, which meant he would probably be there for another night if it doesn't let up, maybe even a few seemings he really didn't have anywhere else to go near here. He sat up, yawning. He almost hated getting up, but he knew he couldn't just lay in bed forever no matter how much he wanted to. He swung his legs over the side, noticing Alex had been missing from the bed. He peered over the other side, just making sure he hadn't fallen on the floor. Thankfully he didn't. He got ready to stand when Alex entered the room, holding a plate of sugar glazed rolls.

"Morning. I couldn't help myself, so I made some of these," He handed the plate to John. "Try one and tell me what you think."

John picked up one, which was still warm. They smelled heavenly.

"I didn't know you baked. Or really even cooked actually," John said, taking a bite. The bread was soft, and the glaze about melted in his mouth. He had to resist the urge to stuff the whole thing in his mouth.

"Hey, there's more to me than writing and aggravating people believe it or not. So, how is it?"

"Irts dirishis," John said with a full mouth.

"Fantastic! I worked all morning on them while you were still asleep."

John swallowed the rest of his bite quickly. "What time did you get up?"

"Oh, around Five ish I think."

"Five? Jesus Alex. Wait, what time is it now?" He asked, reaching for another roll.

"Probably about Nine. Doesn't look like it though, huh?"

"Not at all, if you hadn't cooked I could've slept to noon and wouldn't even of realized it! I should probably eat this in the kitchen though, I really don't want to get crumbs all in your bed."

He stood up, taking a moment to gain his footing.

"If I can remember to walk. That is."

Alex-

Alex had spent all the morning baking, something he could honestly say had never happened before. He had to laugh, the only reason it took him so long was all the failed attempts at just rolls, which were disposed of immediately. He took a bite of one himself, pleased with the final outcome. He watched as John quickly stuck another in his mouth and walked into the kitchen. He considered mentioning his hair, which was a curly mess, but didn't. It looked cute.

Wait. Did he just call John… cute?

He shook his head. No, he called his hair cute, because it was curly and down, which was a way John didn't typically wear it. That's why. He was tore from his thoughts by a yell and loud bang from the kitchen. He rushed out of the room, running in. He saw John on the floor.

"John are you alright? What happened?" He asked, pulling him up. Then he realized.

"Oh um, I…. cleaned the…. floor, it might be slippery," He said, grinning awkwardly. John laughed.

"Really? I would've never noticed!"

"Sorry, I should've warned you about that," Alex said, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's fine, I'm as clumsy as they come anyways."

Alex laughed, grateful John was laughing too, and not hurt or angry. Or both. Suddenly, something came to mind that he hadn't remembered until then. He gasped, earning a look of surprise from his friend who he quickly grabbed by the arm.

"Here, I need to show you something," he said, leading John through the kitchen.

"What? Where are we going?"

"Oh, you'll see. Watch your step, oh and try not getting any spiders to the face," he laughed.

They walked through the entrance of his extra "hallway", which had a tendency to get musty and spidery. He had completely forgotten about it, and he never had a chance to show people seemings they never came over. The hall itself looked ordinary, just like the rest of the house, except for one small detail.

"Here we are," Alex stated proudly. He looked over, John stared blankly.

"It's… It's a wall." He said, tilting his head. "Alex, what exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

"That's the thing, " He reached over, grabbing a key he had cleverly tucked into a pocket like fold in the wallpaper. He stuck the key into what would look like a rip to most and turned one way, then another. He pulled open the door.

"This is what I wanted to show you."

John's jaw dropped, he looked at Alex with wide eyes, then back at the door.

"Whoa, that's insane! Can I-?"

"Be my guest," Alex said, gesturing to the room.

John walked in slowly, Alex followed, lighting the lamp behind him. Just like that, a soft glow illuminated the room, revealing its contents. He heard John softly say,

"Wow."

He watched as John walked over to the first shelf, looking in awe at the contents. Alex chuckled.

"Yeah, you wouldn't think of me as a guy who would have a bunch of rocks and shells in a random room in his house but."

John turned, looking at him, he held a rock in his hand.

"This is amazing, these are so gorgeous. What is this one?" He asked, his eyes were shining like a kid who had just walked into a toy store. He held a rock in his hands, which had been split into two, its contents revealing a light blue crystal inside.

"That's Larimar, very rare. I found it fishing, it was on the shore next to a couple more smaller ones. I only picked up this one."

"Why not the others?" John asked, turning the stone over in his hand.

"So someday someone could find one of them since there aren't many around from what I've heard. It's like fishing and hunting. Take more than you need, soon enough there won't be any left for anyone else."

John looked up.

"Huh, I never thought about like that. Can you tell me about some others?"

Alex smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask."

John-

They had spent around an hour in the room before they got through most of the things. John had to admit, he was impressed on how Alex knew what each stone was, and even more so was where he got them. Each had a story. He could see how Alex had lit up talking about them, naming off the exact time and place he found it. John had really enjoyed looking at them, he had never seen anything so colorful or pretty, especially not in something as natural as a rock. They had gone back upstairs and were sitting next to the fire due to an even more rapid drop in temperature outside, and talked.

"I never imagined America could get so cold.." Alex said, rubbing his arms.

"Oh right, I always forget you aren't from here, more of a heat person?" John asked. He could remember first experiencing harsh New York winters after moving from South Carolina. He nearly caught hyperthermia the first winter, but not as close as this year. This year was particularly bad.

"Yeah, you know come to think of it I don't think I've really felt snow before, I've walked through the little bits we've had but never really picked any up. I've been so busy.."

John stood up quickly, already knowing exactly what he would do. He would show Alex snow.

"Come on!"

He held out his hand to pull Alex up, but only earned a look of pure confusion.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Alex narrowed his eyes. John sighed. "You need to see snow, and you need to know what it feels like!"

"In the middle of a blizzard in negative five thousand degrees? No thank you!" Alex retorted.

"It will only be for a second, then we can come right back in. Pleeeaaase?"

Alex gave in to his begging, reluctantly taking his hand and being led this time by John. John threw open the door, ignoring the freezing blast. The snow buildup was immense, it was half his height, only growing taller off the porch. The wind had died down from earlier, which wouldn't last long. He hadn't realized that in his moment of awe, he had still been holding Alex's hand, which Alex didn't seem to notice either. He awkwardly let his hand slip out. He strolled to the edge of the elevated porch, looking at the three, maybe even four feet of pure white snow. He couldn't tell.

"I wonder how much that is," He wondered aloud, shivering.

"Let's find out!"

He felt two hands shove him from behind, he whipped around, grabbing his attacker, taking him down with him. Both him and Alex falling into the what turned out to be five feet of snow.

"Alex!" He yelled, paralyzed by the coldness hitting his bare arms and legs, and inside his clothes. He heard Alex next to him.

"Oh my god it's cold!"

"Why did you do that?" He said, standing up, he could barely see above the top of the snow itself.

"I didn't think it was this deep!" He yelled, hopping back up onto the porch, John followed suit.

The both hurriedly ran back into the house, covered in snow and the bits that had already melted. He looked over at Alex, who had thrown off his shirt and breeches and was only in boxers. He quickly looked away.

"I-I'll go get some towels and new clothes,"

John wrapped his arms around himself, laughing. He couldn't help think about the hand holding incident again for some reason though, which made no sense to him. He shook it off and decided to take off his drenched shirt, but left the pants on. He wrung the shirt outside, then made sure to close the door tightly and lock it. He turned around and saw Alex come back in, already changed with a towel around his shoulders, another set of clothes in his hands.

"John, I'm so sorry that was childish of me and because of that you're freezing and are probably mad at me," He handed John the stack. "Sorry."

"I'm not mad, Alex. That was actually pretty funny. So, how did the snow feel?" He laughed.

"Cold, and wet. But overall a new experience so I can't complain."

John looked down, he realized the clothes were his, but now dry and warm. He held them up to his face.

"These feel nice, finally dried out?"

"Yep, thought you would like your own clothes back, I'll take the wet ones if you want."

John quickly slipped out of the cold, heavy breeches and into his own, handing the others to Alex. After he hung them up, they both resorted to their place in front of the fire where they had been earlier. This time perhaps a bit closer. John pulled his knees up to his chest, staring into the fire. His mind wandered, mostly replaying the hand holding scene over and over, he couldn't explain it, but it was affecting him somehow. He closed his eyes, trying to focus his mind on the crackling of the fire. After a while of being bored with that, he opened his eyes, looking at Alex. He saw he had his eyes closed too, a hint of a smile on his face. He couldn't help but look at the way the fire illuminated his face in a soft glow, it was almost entrancing. He quickly looked away, realizing he was staring at his friend. Why is he acting so strange? It's just Alex.

It's just Alex.