Candace felt the chill that she had felt only twice before in her life; She knew what was coming next. That night she walked alone, through the trees. She thought it was safe… and it usually was. However this night, she knew now, was to be the end of her foolish luck.

The wolves that cracked the sticks on the ground as they stalked her had finally attacked. In an instant it would all be over. She supposed that she led a full life. She was fortunate enough to have a loving grandmother to raise her, and a caring sister to help her through the hard times. Well, except this one, Candace thought with a hint of bitterness, reflecting upon how nice it would have been to be saved from this poor, sick twist of fate.

She felt the pad of one wolf's claw grasp her shoulder and let out a deafening "Agh!" as a final warning of where one could find her body.

"Meow." The wolf was smiling.

The fear reached it's apex and Candace's chest skipped a beat. Perhaps it wasn't a wolf? Oh like it matters, she thought sarcastically. She turned around hopelessly.

"Meow." Chase stood behind her, with his hand still on her shoulder. An annoying look of satisfaction plastered his face…huh?

"NOT meow!" Candace yelled, the adrenaline from her "near death" experience still pumping through her blood. "You scared the life out of me." Her breathing was rapid and heavy; puffs of condensed breath floated out from above the purple knit scarf that her face was wrapped in.

Chase slowly started laughing, and as Candace calmed herself down, she chuckled a bit too, despite herself.

Candace, who was used to over-thinking things, was happy that things turned out better than her expectations that particular night in the woods. That's one benefit of being an introvert: the worst hardly ever happens. She was happy, though once she finished smiling she left little indication of that fact on her face.

Chase looked curious, but a little worried when he asked: "What are you doing this far from the path?"

"What are you doing here?" She quickly returned.

The boy looked annoyed. "I went to check on you at your place." Chase said, to Candace's unspoken delight. "You weren't there, but I followed your footprints on my way home. And when they branched off into the forest, I was just curious."

"Oh. Well come then, we're almost there." Candace led the way through the underbrush of the unpaved forest. The confused Chase had a bit of trouble keeping up on account of the snow, but they both soon emerged into a little clearing, with a few simple seats made out of a fallen tree.

"Woah." Chase exclaimed. Taking in the simple beauty of the quaint clearing "What is this place?"

"It's my secret place." Candace looked exceptionally proud of the abode that she made with Luna as children.

"It's nice," Chase said truthfully. He leaned against a tree as Candace sat down. They watched the snow fall in silence; neither could think of anything to say that would make the hideaway more pleasant to be in. In lieu of conversation chase elected to join Candace on the far side of the log and watch the snow.

Snap. A broken stick. "Wolves!" Candace shrieked. Thump. White replaced her vision as a snowball exploded on her shoulder.

Chase shot up and bent to the ground. He stood up with a quickly made light snowball and returned fire. If it was the humans versus the wolves, Chase wasn't going to go down without a fight.

When Candace wiped the snow out of her eyes, she once again was pleasantly surprised not to be dinner for wolves. Her sister, Bo and Chase were throwing snow at each other. It took Candace a little while to register what was going on, but a snowball originating from Bo's hand hitting Chase in the chest and exploding onto his chin motivated Candace to join the fray.

It was too cold to make much of a cohesive snowball from the powdery snow, but Candace was feeling determined—to get revenge for both her own numb face and her friend's honour. She removed her gloves and melted snow in her warm hands until she had a manageable projectile, then squeezed her eyes shut and let it fire. She never was very accurate when she had snowball fights with Luna as kids, so it was surprising when Bo let out a sharp cry.

All eyes were on Bo, who was still standing, but feeling the effects of the hit. Tears welled in his right eye as a result of the blow, but the left side of his face was in good condition. Luna poured over him to asses the damage.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," He laughed, wiping melted snow crystals off of his face with the tips of his fingers. Bo had a few scrapes across his eye, and a small amount of blood trickled down his brow. "I'm good, really." He repeated, dismissing Luna's concerned probing at the cuts on his face.

By then the four of them had stopped launching snow. Candace stood close with the others soon, and was profusely apologizing to Bo. "I'm so s-sorry. I didn't mean—oh no." She panicked as she saw the drop of blood forming on bow's eyebrow. Her hands hovered over Bo's face, then pulled away delicately. Candace was on the verge of tears despite Bo's repeated assurance that everything was okay.

Meanwhile, Luna had snuck around behind Candace in the commotion.

"Eek!" Candace yelped as Luna poured snow down her back. She squirmed and whined, causing Luna to snicker, despite feeling somewhat guilty.

Candace unzipped her winter coat grabbed the bottom of her sweater, shaking any loose snow all the way down her back and onto the ground below.

Luna was still giggling when she asked, "What's with that ugly sweater?" She was eyeing the sweater Chase had lent to her older sister the day before.

Candace's red cheeks turned hot and she stole a nervous glance sideways at her interesting companion. She wished she could have wiped the smug smile that she stared at her with off of his face, but the warmness in his eyes seemed to convey no cruel intentions behind his expression.

Candace caught herself staring at Chase, because she was only snapped out of it by her sister's voice.

"Come on, we've got to get something for your eye." Luna whistled to Bo. She grabbed his hand in hers and skipped off towards the town; Bo did not object.

"O-okay, bye… sorry." Candace waved. "I had fun!" And despite the stinging on her skin, she really did. It was a nice night; just like she used to spend together with Luna when they were playing as kids.

"Me too!" Bo enthusiastically waved, not feeling the drop of blood dripping down his nose. Candace cringed, and looked guiltily at the ground.

For the third time in the past two days, Chase and Candace were alone. "Hey, I like your sweater," Chase joked sarcastically.

"Shush."

"Do laundry often?"

"Shush!" Candace scolded. She quickly closed her jacket and zipped it up. "I'm cold now. I need to go take care of grandma, bye." She pretended to be hurt by Chase's sarcastic remarks. She didn't really want to act that way though. She knew he was trying to reach out in his own way.

In fact, even though Chase was wrapped in a warm winter coat, Candace realized when she first saw him that night that he was wearing the sweater she gave him. She had spent an hour adjusting that collar; it wasn't like she didn't recognize it poking out of his jacket, framing his face in plain sight.

"Wait." Chase stopped her. He was doing exactly what Candace wanted him to do, even though she didn't have the courage to admit it out loud. Despite that, the command chilled Candace. She hated not knowing what was coming next; she wanted something familiar, and quickly, but that proved impossible when she was with the enigmatic boy in front of her.

"Can I come too?" Chase looked at her like a kid.

Candace was surprised. He looked so open... it was a side of Chase she had hoped was there since she met him; it made her feel the opposite of lonely. Yes of course you can come, idiot. "I don't know if gram…" She managed. Why is this so hard to say? Frustration overtook the features of her face.

Chase's face sunk, but he persisted. "Come on, I was going to make chocolate cookies tonight. But it's so much better when there is someone else to eat them."

Thoughts of Chase being alone on Christmas Eve made Candace inappropriately perturbed. It hit home to her how lonely he must have felt too, not having any family on the island. Maybe the two of them weren't so different after all. It was Chase's honest persistence, more than anything, which gave Candace the courage to give him a chance.

"And I'll make hot cocoa to go with them, and I'll help you grandma cook dinner, and…" Chase continued in a half-mocking tone, but he was fully serious and just excited to do anything in the kitchen.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. The short time she had passed with Chase in the past two days had made her comfortable. And with a comfortable atmosphere, Candace finally had the chance to try and have a normal social interaction with someone other than her family. "You'd make a good wife someday."

…A somewhat normal social interaction. Candace started to apologize and try to explain her comment, and she quickly reverted to her usual defensive social habits.

Chase's face lit up though, and he looked back with thankful eyes that screamed you would too, but Candace did not have the confidence yet to recognize the value in those eyes. He painted a cocky grin across his face and exclaimed proudly, "Heh, I know I would."

Even his smile is sarcastic. Candace thought. Chase seemed to constantly annoy her, but it was through his annoyance that she was able to grow as a person. If she never pushed herself out of her comfort zone, she would never be able to open up. And when she was with Chase, she saw something that was worth the struggle to become more outgoing.

"Come on," She said, and waited for Chase to lead the way towards town.

"Thanks." Chase said sincerely; it was perhaps the only sincere thing she had ever heard him say. She burned the scene into her memory with a mental note: This is what Chase sounds like when he's serious.

Candace realized then that she might not be the only person who had trouble opening up to others. The world as a place full of loud extroverts surrounding a lone, shy seamstress seemed ridiculous, even though that's how she had felt for most of her adult life. After that night, she began to suppose that everyone could feel shy and lonely sometimes.

Chase snapped Candace out of her thoughts by brushing a bit of snow, remnants of Luna's attack, off of her shoulder. He half expected her to jump and shriek like she did earlier, but it came as a surprise when she grabbed his hand and turned around.

She paused, and looked up at Chase through her eyebrows. He was mildly surprised, at her reaction, but he was a whole lot more surprised when she pressed up against him and kissed his cheek.

Brain shutdown. Chase stood in the snowy forest, his mind a clean slate. As his CPU rebooted and senses came back to him he smiled in realization. What was that?He might have been as confused as a chipmunk in space. Why am I floating? He wondered. There is no where to bury nuts. RUN AWAY THERE'S A HUMAN! Oh yeah… Candace… he thought dreamily, turning the name over in his head thoughtfully.

The girl had shied away after her brief outburst, and pulled the hood of her jacket over her head to shield herself from the consequences of her actions.

"Thanks Candace," was all Chase could manage. He was still a little shocked, but so pleasantly surprised at the girl's wild streak he had no room for any sarcasm.

"…'erry. Christm…. " Candace looked down into her scarf which muffled her words.

The wind picked up as the two stood in silence. Snow drifted between them in a shivering white cloud which began to renew the footprints they created, leaving a fresh blanket of snow covering the forest floor.

The pair was infinitely aware of the freezing cold, but only for lack of feeling it. They were protected by fluffy sweaters and warm feelings; no weather could get between the two friends.

Nor could it prevent them from drawing nearer… and slowly nearer still, to the point where their freezing lips closed the snowy distance between them.

Night had fallen, and a wolf howled in the distance. Standing on her tip-toes with her head up-turned and an arm around her, Candace waved her hand in a regally dismissive gesture at the animal's call, and kissed the boy again, more gracefully than she had on her first try.