My disclaimer: this is my story, but the song lyrics are not mine. I believe in giving credit where it is due and the song belongs to *Nsync. The name of the song is "Overjoyed". Enjoy!

Chapter 6 – Winter

I hopped out of my car at the front door of the enormous estate in which the party was already in full swing. You could tell that this was the truth because someone was already puking profusely in the bushes.

I felt small and insignificant in the moment it took me to get one solid breath, just in wondering if Mr. Wonderful would be here. My heart started doing funny laps around my chest and it felt as if my stomach was doing deep sea dives for my feet.

I walked through the foyer feeling fabulously retro; playing in the background was a beautiful melody. It was almost as if someone was listening in on how my heart and head were feeling….the soft words warmed my heart:

Over time, I've been building my castle of love, oh
Just for two
Though you never knew you were my reason
I've gone much too far for you now to say
That I've got to throw my castle away
Over dreams
Over dreams

My thoughts were only of his perfect face as I stared intently at the floor.

I have picked out a perfect come true
Though you never knew it was of you
I've been dreaming
The sandman has come from too far away
For you to say come back some other day
And though you don't believe that they do
They do come true
For did my dreams
Come true when I looked at you
And maybe too, if you would believe
You too might be

My eyes met my beautiful stranger, coming down the stairs that I was standing at the foot of.

Overjoyed, over loved, over me
Overjoyed, over loved, over me
And though the odds say improbable
What do they know
For in romance
All true love needs is a chance
And maybe with a chance you will find
You too like I
Overjoyed, over loved, over you
Overjoyed, over loved, over me

As the song ended, I looked into his eyes, startled, my heart trip hammering, when I realized that I was standing face to face with him.

"Um," I mumbled, not being able to form any words worth this beautiful man standing in front of me, "Hi, I'm..."

"Winter, yes, I have heard all about you." He said in a way that puzzled me, like he was laughing at a personal joke, "It's a pleasure to meet you Winter, I'm Josh."

I had to look over him over before I could continue our conversation, my eyes starting at his perfect brown hair gently flecked with gold, moving down to his sky blue eyes (I swear that I just saw white puffy clouds cross in front of his pupils!???) he has a very defined jaw line, sexy pouty lips, a strong graceful neck, broad shoulders and chest, (which were accented by a very unfairly fitted t-shirt, I might add) and a set of very muscular legs; I couldn't help smiling appreciatively as I finished my inspection of his heavenly body. When I looked back up to his face, his eyes were crinkled up into a smug smile.

"See anything that interested you?" He asked playfully.

"Not too bad," I had to admit, not being able to stop the smile that threatened to take over my whole face. Well, I had to say something; his grin was starting to tear me apart at the seams.

Another slow ballad started, almost sadly, and I couldn't stop the frown that rapidly replaced the smile that had been frozen on my face for so long.

Apparently, he felt the sadness that tainted my mood, because he reached out with his perfectly tanned fingers and lightly brushed them against my cheekbone. "Hmmm," he mumbled seductively, "so this is what perfect feels like."

All I could do was stare, once again, dumbfounded at him. What in the world just happened here?!?! Did he just say I was perfect?! Can we do that again? My mind reeled through several hundred questions that were never to escape my lips as I just stood there as still as a statue; my loud, speeding heartbeat being the only thing that gave me away.

When I was finally able to shake off the paralysis caused by his one comment, I walked backwards towards the door, feeling the need to escape, to flee in sheer teenage dramatic panic. In what seemed like only a few seconds, I had tripped over my own 2 feet, down the front stairs to the house, right into the path of an oncoming car that was circling the driveway!

One moment, I was staring wide-eyed at the approaching car, the next I am in someone's strong arms, flying in the air! Ignoring what I was told as a child, I looked down, to see everything a very unsafe distance from me as still as I had been before my clumsy exit.

I did the only thing that I could think of to do, seeing as how I was forcing myself NOT to throw up on my hero (?) as a thank you, and looked up.

My mind reeled as I saw his beautiful eyes, and I almost lost it for a few minutes as I tried my hardest to blink back unshed tears. How can anyone or anything be this beautiful?? My mind played with that thought for a while, then it twisted off on another tangent….Why in the hell am I so interested in stupid bubble gum pop music?!?! I do not understand why my brain is going stupid all of the sudden, no other guy in the world has had this effect on me.

"So, um," I muttered, "thanks and all for saving me, but where are we going?" I was starting to get motion sickness and I was trying to get somewhere solid before I was seriously sick.

"Well, now that you mention it, I should really get you somewhere….I'm just not sure where yet." My beautiful man said thoughtfully. With that comment, he gracefully swooped out of the sky into a clearing in what appeared to be a forest of some kind…

"Oh. My. God." I thought sullenly, "We have to be lost in the freaking Blue Mountains. We are at least 50 miles from home!!" Not that I minded being away from home, but I almost missed Periwinkle. Amazing what happens when you are kidnapped by a gorgeous flying man.

In my head, I am replaying every sappy soft rock classic that I have ever heard and I can feel the frustration build up in my core. I am gothic; I listen to metal, what in the crap is wrong with me?!

Just as if I am taking a step on my own, he sets me down on my feet, and for the first time since the whole fiasco at the party, I look at the luminous feathered wings as they fold gently behind his back.

"Okay," I start, "I am not exactly sure what I am seeing, but I am going to try to keep an open mind while you explain." The frustration had almost taken over by this point, and I felt like I could cry.

"Well," he seemed thoughtful, "where do you want me to start? My name is Josh, and I guess you can say that I have been 'hired' to protect you. Have you ever heard the old stories of Guardian Angels? I guess you could say that I am yours, all yours. This is kind of uncomfortable for me as well, but you were about to meet your maker, quite literally I might add, back at the party, so I had to do what I could do to save you, right?"

He was babbling now, and my confusion level was almost at boiling point. "Whoa, slow down," I said as cautiously as I could manage, "I have a guardian angel? Where were you when I was 3 and fell down the stairs and broke my leg; or when I was 4 and broke my ankle; or when I was 6 and broke the same leg as when I was 3; or at age 13, that was a fun time for me, I was in a body cast for 6 months!!" I was incredulous by now. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around this!"

"That is not quite how this thing works," he said and for the first time he seemed shy, "I was told to come watch you because your immortal soul was in danger. Immortal souls are kind of a big thing where I came from. There is so much that I need to tell you, but with the understanding that all of this is very confidential and it is not something that you need to talk about with anyone other than me, trust me, people will have you committed for talking like this. There is something that is in your immediate future that makes the guys upstairs nervous. You are about to learn some very unsettling news about your family, and your soul is at stake."

Before he could continue, my cell phone rang. I didn't have to look at the screen to know who was calling. The phone was playing my brother's favorite song, a My Chemical Romance tone.

I held up a finger, but I was sure he already knew, "What's up Nicholas?" I spoke quickly into the receiver.

"Mom is pissed; you need to come home now. Where did you go so fast? It was like you were there, then I blinked and you were gone. It is almost 2 in the morning and mom has family here for your party and they are all threatening to leave, so I don't care who you are, um, doing at this point in time, get here NOW!" he was all but screaming at me through the earpiece, "I am serious Winter, mom is not playing…." He trailed off unhappily. "Okay," I replied testily, "I'll be home in 30." "Make it 15," with that he hung up the phone.

I turned to Josh, who I could tell, was trying to look like he hadn't heard my entire conversation, and blushed when our eyes met. "Could you get me home in 15 minutes if we left now?" I asked.

"Yeah, that will not be a problem," he said with a wink, "We need to talk after your party, call for me; all you have to do is say my name and I'll be right there."

I tried to choke down the warm satisfaction that was spreading like wildfire through my heart as he took me in his arms and lifted off from the ground. I felt safer now that I'd done this before, and laid my head down on his chest for the duration of our flight, reveling in his woodsy masculine scent, and trying not to get too comfortable, I bit back the tears that were forming.