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Chapter Ten: Snow, Ice Skating, and Hot Chocolate

One of the greatest things that winter brought was snow. Sure, it may get annoying having to shovel away the snow in your driveway and accompanied with it was the cold weather that many people hated. But even with the problems snow could bring, I didn't mind it. Snow helped me feel more in the Christmas spirit.

On this cold Saturday morning, I decided to take a walk. Bundled up in a heavy duty winter coat, I headed outside, prepared for the frigid weather. But I'm not walking alone this morning; Mac Taylor also finds the time to get out for the weekend.

"Mac," I say, walking over to him. "Enjoying the new fallen snow, too?"

He nods. We walk side by side, not caring for the cold. "This is my favorite time of the year," he says.

"Why is that?" I ask.

"Gift-giving, the cheery mood, hot chocolate," he replies. "And most importantly, spending time with my best friend."

I smile.

"Do you like the Christmas season?"

"Of course," I say. "Do you want to know my favorite thing about it?"

He gives me a look of inquiry.

"Snow," I say, picking up snow in my hand and forming it into a snowball, "my favorite thing about Christmas is snow. I'd always love to have snowball fights when I was a kid, and I might add, I still do."

"Child at heart," Mac says.

We come to a park, and as I turn away from Mac for one second, I feel something cold hit my back. I turn around. "Hey!"

Mac has his hands behind his back, but his smile shows his guilt. "Thought you still liked snowball fights?"

"I do," I say. "The question is, do you?" I pick up snow, not even taking the time to form it into a snowball, and throw the snow at Mac.

He smiles. "Weak, throw, Stella, weak throw."

I shake my head. Soon we're running around, hiding behind trees, and dodging snowballs left from right. In the end, we're both laughing so much that we both surrender and fall down onto the snowy carpet beneath us, catching our breath. We look at each other, and we're both smiling. I look up at the bright, blue sky and say, "You know what else I like about this season?"

"What?" Mac asks.

"Ice skating."

Mac looks at me, his face suddenly fear stricken. "No, Stella, no…"

"Why not?" I ask. "It'd be fun."

"Your definition of fun is different than mine," he says.

"And that can all change in a heartbeat," I say, standing up and brushing the snow off my jacket. "Come on, you'll enjoy it."

Mac stands up, shaking his head, but he still decides to come with me. He stays quiet during the ride, but once we get on the ice and start skating around, he starts up the conversation between us. "Did you ice skate a lot when you were child?"

"Only a few times," I say. "I fell in love with it the first time I went skating, and I would always beg my foster parents to let me go. Begging didn't always work, though. You?"

"Few times as well," he says. "Claire and I had gone ice skating a few times."

"What about you and Peyton?"

Mac shook his head.

"Have you told Peyton about Claire?"

"Not yet," he says. "I don't know if I want to tell her. Maybe I just don't trust her to know."

That makes me stop and Mac has to take my hand quickly before I fall down. I look up at him, forgetting to thank him, and I ask, "Do you trust Peyton like you trust me?"

The ice rink echoes our rising silence; even with the other people skating around us, they seem to pass by in quietness. I think he won't answer me, I've asked him enough questions for today. With the question, I've probably messed up my chance with spending the rest of the day with him. After what seemed like ten minutes of waiting for an answer, Mac replies, "I trust you more than I trust Peyton, Stella."

I need to stop thinking of questions, but I can't help myself to ask: "Do you love me?"

The question had been ignored, I had put Mac in an uncomfortable position, and he changed the subject abruptly, asking if I wanted to come to his place. I agreed to come and when I did arrive at his place, I was amazed at what I saw.

"Had I mentioned that I liked decorating for the holidays?" Mac asked as we walked inside his apartment.

"I don't remember you mentioning it," I say. "But I see you took my suggestion to decorate as soon as possible after Thanksgiving."

He nods. "Hot chocolate?"

I smile. "Yes, I'd love to have some hot chocolate."

He also smiles and then heads into the kitchen. I walk around the apartment, admiring the Christmas decorations. I'm reminded of the box of Christmas decorations that is lying on the floor next to the piano in my apartment. I'll have to put the decorations up sometime soon.

I walk towards the Christmas tree in the room, admiring how it is beautifully decorated with lights, ornaments, and garland. At the bottom of the tree I see a small gift, and I can just make out the name. The gift's for me. Mac already bought me a Christmas present. I haven't. I would go shopping for him this weekend. I quickly turn away from the Christmas tree as I hear Mac's footsteps coming into the room.

When Mac returns with the hot chocolate, we both sit down at the couch. "You did a great job with the decorating," I compliment.

"Thanks," Mac says. "Have you decorated for Christmas yet?"

I shake my head. "I'll make sure to put that on my to-do list."

We're quiet for a while, but Mac breaks the silence when he says the words I've been waiting to hear from him for a long time. "To answer your question from earlier, Stella, I do love you."

Resting my head on his shoulder, I say, "I love you too."