Crazy For You

Chapter Eleven: Baby It's Cold Outside

Summary: Riley and Zane spend a snowy, romantic evening together. Pure fluff.

A/N: I decided to throw this one in as a little breath of fresh air. I figured I'd give you all a break from the drama, because I want the next chapter to be dramatic/surprising/emotional. So I just threw this little number in there. Hope you like it :)

"Winter has always been my favorite season." Zane stated as he and Riley walked hand in hand down the snowy streets on a cold, December evening.

"Oh yeah? You never told me that. I guess I always kinda figured you'd be a summer guy."

"And why's that?" Zane asked with a questioning smirk. Riley turned to him and returned the smile.

"Because you look so hot in a bathing suit."

"So what you're really saying is, summer is YOUR favorite season because you get to stare at your boyfriend in a bathing suit?" Riley shrugged, the smirk still plastered on his face.

"Pretty much." Zane gently nudged his boyfriend playfully and chuckled.

"You will always and forever be a real guy. Since it's not hot babes in bikinis you're staring at, it's hot dudes in swim trunks. No matter what sexual orientation you are, you'd find something to ogle at."

"Oh come on, I've gotta have something that's easy on the eyes to stare at. That's why I got lucky that I found you."

"So you admit it, I am eye candy to you?" Zane teased.

"Among other things. Zane, you know you're everything to me. Besides, aren't you happy I think you're good looking?" Zane nudged his boyfriend again.

"Come on, you know I'm just messing with you. Wow, that break up really scared you, didn't it?"

"I thought I actually might have lost you for good. I was scared shitless." Zane turned his head slightly so he was no longer facing Riley. This was the first time he heard that he had really upset Riley that much by breaking up with him, and a wave of guilt came over him.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said. Riley's eyebrow rose with confusion.

"For…?"

"For doing that to you. For hurting you like that. I never even thought of your feelings and what the breakup would do to you, I just thought of myself. I feel like such an asshole, I never should've done that to you."

"Hey, it's OK. Let's forget about the whole thing and move on. Pretend like it never happened. It was just a fault in our relationship, everyone has them. But it's nothing we can't get over, right?" Zane squeezed Riley's hand and smiled up at him brightly.

"I'm glad you're being so cool about this. Do you know how much you've changed since I first met you?"

"I have a pretty good idea." Riley joked. Zane pulled Riley's head down and their lips met in a soft kiss. As they broke away, they heard voices coming towards them.

"Aww, look at Dr. Faggot and his little QB boyfriend. How cute. Be careful holding hands without your furry pink gloves. You don't wanna get too cold." Owen teased, as the guys behind him laughed.

"You're hilarious Owen, really. I'm dying of laughter." Zane stated, expressionless.

"Ohh, someone's got some attitude. I would hate to see you ruin your "super" purple jacket with blood." He mocked in his "gay" voice. Zane slowly backed up as Riley moved forward, shoving his teammate.

"Are you really sure you wanna do this Owen?"

"What are you gonna do, turn it into a cat fight?" More laughter erupted from the boys behind him. Riley moved in, his fist headed for Owen's face, when Zane grabbed his arm.

"Riley, no, enough. We're not doing this again." Riley lowered his arm and kept his glare on Owen, who started down the sidewalk again with the rest of his friends.

"Uh oh. Trouble in paradise. Doesn't look good." Owen trailed off.

"Later homos." Another guy said as the boys disappeared down a side street. Riley spun around quickly and began to walk slightly ahead of his boyfriend.

"Jerk-off. They always make fun of you! It's always you and never me! Why is that?"

"Are you actually upset that they don't make fun of you? Riley, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Riley stopped and the angry expression on his face softened.

"N-no."

"You threaten to beat them up every time they even attempt to make fun of you. I just use words, and that doesn't scare them. And besides, I'm more…" Zane paused, considering using the word or not. "Flamboyant than you. I'm an easier target."

"What? Zane, what the hell are you talking about? You're not flamboyant."

"Yeah, try telling that to them." Zane said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Riley stopped Zane and gently massaged his shoulders.

"Hey…don't be upset. It's alright. I don't think of you that way. Isn't that all that counts?"

"Yeah, that's great Ri, but it would be nice to know that there's someone else out there other than you that doesn't think I'm a total flamer. I've said it before Riley, you know…they don't make me feel like I'm part of the team. They make me feel left out. Like I'm just the gay kid that hangs around that they can use on the football field when they need a good kicker. I'm there so they can put on their little comedy routines and make gay jokes. Sometimes it's like I'm not even a real person with feelings to them." Riley rubbed Zane's arm soothingly and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"You'll always be a part of my team. And I don't mean that in the sense that we're gay, or that we're both on the same football team." Zane laughed and intertwined his fingers with Riley's again.

"The next time they call me "fabulous" or "homo-boy" in the locker room, I'll look at you. Then I know I'll be OK. As long as you're here, I'll be fine." Riley leaned in for another kiss.

"I love you. Remember that the next time they call you a name too."

"I know. I will. And I love you too." After another brief peck on the lips, the couple turned back around, their hands still tightly wound together, and turned down the street in which their apartment sat.

"Oh my God, it's FREEZING out here! It has to be below zero out!" Zane exclaimed as the snow became thicker and started to fall harder.

"Here." Riley removed his jacket and placed on Zane's shoulders, leaving him in nothing but a thin long sleeved t-shirt.

"But now you have nothing. Here, take it back." Zane tried to give the coat back, but Riley refused.

"No. You're cold, you need it more than I do."

"Are you sure you aren't dying of hypothermia?" Riley crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." The two reached their apartment and wandered up the snowy path, anxious to get inside to the warmth. Just as Zane was about to open the door, he was hit in the back of the head with a snowball. He turned around swiftly to see his boyfriend grinning evilly at him.

"What, you've never had a snowball fight before?" Zane's smile appeared again and he dropped the coat around his shoulders, dipping down to gather up a perfect ball of snow and aiming for his lover's head.

"Aw, a head shot? Come on, that's not fair!" Riley called, returning the hit.

The two continued with their (surprisingly) intense snowball fight, until Zane turned his head too quickly, and collided with Riley, causing the two to collapse to the ground and into the snow. As Zane lay on top of his boyfriend, stroking his hair, he rested his head on Riley chest, feeling the up and down motion as he breathed.

"If I had a choice of any few moments I wanted to freeze in time, this would be one of them." He said softly. Zane awaited a similar reply from the jock, but instead got this one:

"I don't." Zane lifted his head quickly.

"What?"

"I'm lying in the snow without a jacket on, freezing and soaked. Not exactly the most comfortable feeling in the world." Zane chuckled and climbed off of the larger boy, holding out his hand to help him up.

"Come on. We need to get you warmed up." He said, leading him into the warmth of the apartment lobby. They made their way upstairs and reached their room. Riley burst in through the door and quickly pulled his drenched t-shirt off and threw it to the ground.

"Wow, thanks for the view." Zane stated, gazing at his boyfriend longingly.

Zane arranged he and Riley's coats in the closet neatly and grabbed a blanket from the couch, coming up to Riley from behind and draping the blanket around his shoulders, hugging him tightly.

"I don't get just one, but two blankets." Riley grinned, turning his head to kiss his boyfriend.

"Come on. Let's go to the couch. I wanna watch a movie." Zane said, leading his lover over to the couch with him.

"Are you putting on what I think you're putting on?" Riley asked as Zane placed the disk in the DVD player.

"Alright, I know you said you thought this movie was gross, but I don't care, I like scary movies."

"It's called "The Human Centipede"! Of course I think it's gross!" Zane grabbed the remote and collapsed onto the sofa next to Riley.

"If you get scared, I'll be right here." He teased. Riley rolled his eyes.

"I have the weirdest boyfriend ever."

"I thought I was "like, the best guy ever." Well, I was at the auction…"

"That was before I found out you like the movie "The Human Centipede." Zane tapped his lover lightly.

"Just shut up and watch it."

Fin

Hooray for fluff! Back to drama next chapter. Sorry. It must be done.