Author's note: This is an early update for tomorrow because I have an exam and will be going to my friend's for the weekend so I won't get time to write so I figured it was best if I uploaded early. This is a bit of a filler chapter but I recommend reading it anyway, the build-up to events will take a bit of finalising (BIG thank you to Entangler who has given me so much help with that, you rock!) so this is just a cute little scene I came up with earlier in the week. The song On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons was my inspiration when thinking about this chapter so if you want to give it a listen it has a good wee vibe off it that made me all happy when thinking about writing : ) thanks to Freax, CacklingCactus, Me (response below) and Entangler for their reviews! I hope you guys enjoy, thanks for any new follows and favourites, they make my day! Enjoy and please review :')

Me: Thanks so much! There was a lot to pack in lol but I'm glad you liked it : ) I'm glad you think I write kisses well, I have little experience myself so it's hard to get right :S ah I wish you all the best for the move, we had to move house a few years back and it was very stressful. I have no problem writing snow scenes, snow is my favourite thing ever! So the end of this chapter's for you because you love snow :') hugs!

Disclaimer: I do not own Stand By Me, just my OCs.

I leaned on the pool cue heavily as Ace lined up his next shot, it was getting near closing time and there was hardly anyone here. We had been in no rush to go back out in the cold so we decided to play some pool, but I was already becoming very tired very quickly.

"Tired of getting your ass kicked?" Ace asked as I yawned, I opened my eyes to see him smirking as he took a shot that easily proved his question, I was not on my game tonight.

"Tired in general." I told him as I walked around the table to take aim. I heart him snort and looked to see his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"You sit on your ass in school and then sit in a store the rest of the night, what on earth could make you so tired?" he asked teasingly.

I shrugged as I lined the shot up, "Life. The pressures and challenges of being a teenage girl." I explained, he shook his head in disapproval, "Oh and the fact I'm supposed to be seeing this guy but he hasn't asked me out on a date." I added as I pocketed the ball.

Ace walked around the table with a chuckle, "Fine, the snow's expected to slack off slightly on Saturday, why don't you get the day off work?" He asked, I nodded in agreement.

"I can do that, where are we going?" I asked.

"No idea, the snow's meant most places like the drive-in wouldn't be open. So…" Ace trailed off and looked thoughtful.

An idea struck me, "The Hop?" I asked and he shook his head.

"No way, I am not going back there again." He said firmly and I smirked.

"I thought you enjoyed it the last time." I said, his eyes flicked up to meet mine and he gave a casual shrug.

"It was alright."

I smiled at his response, "So where do you want go then if we're not going near The Hop?" I asked, he shrugged once again and I rolled my eyes, "Well how are we going to make up our minds?"

He gestured to the table as he stood up and I shook my head, "You've already basically won this game and I'm too tired to start another." I said, he paused before digging in his pocket and coming out with a quarter.

"Heads or tails?" he asked as he set the quarter on his thumb to flip it, I suppose it was the fairest way to decide.

"Heads." I said as he flipped it and caught it, putting it on the back of his hand.

"Tails, looks like I'm picking the place." He said triumphantly and I sighed.

"So where are we going?" I asked as I lined up my next shot.

"No idea, get Saturday off anyway, I'll come up with something we can spend the day doing." He told me, I reluctantly nodded.

"Wins the coin toss and doesn't even pick a place to go." I grumbled as I took the shot, he walked to my side and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Cheer up kid, I'll make sure you have a good time." He whispered the last part and I cocked an eyebrow in challenge, he mimicked the action before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. I smiled as his hand dropped so he could take his shot and effectively end the game. Whatever got me home to sleep quicker sounded good.

The rest of the week was spent with me wondering where the hell Ace was taking me on Saturday, there was no give on his end, not even to give me a clue of what to wear. He just said he'd take care of everything, so I left him to it. He worked late most nights that week so he'd have Saturday off without a mess of work to get back to. I worked all week and Joe allowed me the Saturday off, it was the first one I'd asked off so it was easy to get permission.

I went to bed around ten and Ace came home after being gone for a while and slid in beside me at around eleven, after again trying to find something out I failed and lay awake for a few hours while he slept soundly, wondering what the hell we were going to be doing.

Turns out one of the first thing Ace would be doing is giving me one rude awakening.

I burrowed further under the covers as the light in the room was flicked on, I pulled them over my head to try and keep the light out. My attempts were in vain as the covers were ripped off and I shivered as the cold wafted in around me. I leant up on my elbows to stare at Ace.

"What the hell?" I asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me out of bed.

"Come on, daylights burning." He told me, I stared around the dark hallway which had no light on even from the windows and looked to Ace.

"There's no freaking daylight, what time is it?" I asked, Ace shrugged and pushed me in to the bathroom.

"Time you got ready. Come up to the kitchen when you're done and get coffee, I'll go grab what you're wearing." He told me and left me there to wash my face and brush my teeth. My eyes were heavy and I yawned at least three times before he got back. He handed me a pile of dark clothes and I stared at them, those weren't mine. I set them on the floor and lifted a pair of heavy trousers that looked like the bottom half of Ace's overalls, and they looked about two sizes too big.

"These are not going to fit." I said and he grabbed a belt from somewhere in the pile and held it out to me, I took if off him and he closed the door to let me get changed.

I unfolded the clothes and found they were all pretty much guy's clothes and I tried to figure out what we were doing, but I gave up and just threw the clothes on. Whatever it was, it was probably outside and I'd be thankful for them.

I walked up to the kitchen and winced at the smell as I opened the door, "What the hell died in here?" I asked as I held my nose closed.

"Relax, it's cheese." Ace told me and I looked over to see a pot of melted cheese beside him. I sat down at the table and looked at the clock on the wall, my jaw dropped at the time.

"You woke me up and dressed me up like a man at five am?!" I demanded, Ace turned with an amused smirk tugging at his lips, that explained why I was so tired.

"Rules of the date, we have to get an early start." He said, digging around whatever random ingredients were littering his countertop.

"Are you gonna tell me why you're making some kind of death by cheese stink dish? Are we cooking today?" I asked, he shook his head.

"No but you make coffee while I do this." He suggested, more like ordered, and I glowered as I got up to make coffee. I watched him take cheese out and roll it with random things, flour being one, until it formed a ball. He then dropped the bits he had made into a pot of boiling water and rinsed his hands off before sitting at the table as I poured the coffee.

"Whose clothes are these?" I asked and lifted the sleeve of the thick sweatshirt I was wearing; the sleeves were long enough that my hands weren't even visible.

"Mine from a few years back, I knew anything I wore now would be too big so I stopped by my mom's and grabbed some old stuff that was sitting in my room. There's boots in the hall that should fit you." He answered and I nodded as I came to sit down at the table.

"So I'm really not allowed to know where we're going?" I asked, he rolled his eyes as he took a drink.

"For the millionth time, you will know when we get there." He told me and I rolled my eyes before drinking my coffee in just a few gulps, anything to wake me up. Ace made me stay in the kitchen and tidy away whatever he didn't use as he took the balls of stuff out of the pot and loaded them up to go in to the car.

When I was finally allowed in to the car whatever was in the back seat had a blanket over it and I wasn't allowed to look back or move the blanket, I was starting to think Ace had brought me out to bury a body and the cheese was to cover the smell. I leaned my head on the window and watched as we drove through Castle Rock and out past the town limits, I raised my eyebrows at him but he just stared ahead at the road, I couldn't tell given it was still pretty dark, but the smug shit probably had a huge grin on his face and I was just too tired to see it.

I wanted to stay awake to see where we were going so I did whatever I could to stay awake, I must have untied and re-tied the laces on Ace's old boots about ten times, they were pretty big so I had to tie them as tight as I could. I was about to put my foot down again when something caught my eye on the floor at my feet.

I bent down and picked up the photograph I must have dropped after we left for The Hop, Ace looked over to see me squinting in the darkness to see the photo.

"What's that?" He asked and I handed him the photo, he leaned over and popped the glove box open before putting the photo inside and shutting it, he caught my gaze as he leaned back in to his seat, "Can't keep it on the floor." He shrugged.

"You don't have to keep it at all." I offered but he stared ahead, I turned the radio on and settled on a station playing Christmas songs as we continued driving, I slapped Ace's hand down when he went to switch the dial. "I have no idea where we're going and I've been woken up at five am." I pointed out; he narrowed his eyes and set his hand back on the steering wheel.

I settled back in my seat and closed my eyes, before I knew it I was being shaken awake.

"We're here." Ace told me and it took a second for me to get what he meant, when I did I sat up quickly to see where we were, only to see we were in the middle of the woods with nothing around.

"Where the hell are we?" I asked Ace who opened his door and climbed out, I did the same and crossed round to his side of the car to fold my arms.

"We gotta go the rest of the way on foot, it's a ten minute walk, tops." He told me and pulled the blanket off whatever was in the back, he turned to throw the blanket at me and I wrapped it around my shoulders.

I waited until he handed me a lidded box with a plastic handle, I shook it slightly and heard rattling from inside. When I looked up he was holding what looked like a picnic basket and I sniggered.

"Are we going on a picnic or something?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Blame my mom for that, there's sandwiches and stuff inside." He told me, I was still at a loss for what we were doing. Until he took the next items out from the back.

"You're not serious."

"What?" He asked innocently as he kicked the door of the car shut and locked it, expertly balancing all he had to carry as he walked past me.

"You brought me out to the middle of nowhere before the sun's even up and it's freezing to go fishing?" I asked in disbelief and he grinned.

"My date, my rules." He said simply and nodded for me to follow him.

I grumbled most of the way down the hill we had parked above, the damp branches brushed through my hair and bent against Ace's jacket I was wearing as I walked past and followed him on whatever winding path he decided to take down the slope. I could hear the river clearly and knew we were about to walk out to see it. But it was the exact opposite of what I had been expecting.

I'd been so busy looking at my feet as we walked I didn't notice the clouds get lighter even as we walked, and I realised the time meant it was near eight in the morning.

The streaks of pinks and purples across the sky were amazing, and the clouds looked like cotton candy. The mountains in front of us had snow covering them and an orange glow surrounded them as the sun started to rise. The river was wide and the water was a dark orange, calm ripples kept it moving and the sound was just the right volume to be heard in your ears but you wouldn't have to shout over it.

I finally managed to tear my gaze away from the landscape to look at Ace who shot me a cocky grin, he obviously knew I'd have found this beautiful. The walked along the bank of the river until he found a spot and set the fishing rods and the milk crates he had been carrying on the ground.

He sat down on one of the milk crates and patted the one beside him for me to sit on, the glow of the sunrise on his face and hair only added to the beauty of the place. I walked over and set the stuff I had been carrying in between us and sat on the crate beside him, neither of us speaking for a few minutes.

"So," He broke the silence lightly, "Does this make getting up at five, wearing my old clothes and coming out here worth it?" He said and nodded out towards the river before glancing back at me.

"Definitely." I replied quietly and leaned over to kiss his cheek, I leant my head on his chest and stared out at the water, watching the light on it grow brighter with each passing minute. Finally Ace sighed and reached down to get the fishing poles and what I now figured to be bait from his feet. He opened the boxes and started lifting the bait and various hooks while I watched.

"You ever fished before?" He asked.

"A bit, I've never done it seriously or caught anything." I replied, he nodded.

"Well, as much as I'd love to sit and stare at the water, I didn't sit and melt cheese and make these little balls of evil at four in the mornin' for nothin'." He replied. Soon enough he had enough of me sitting watching and got me to put my own hook on to my line and then stick the bait on the end, I grimaced as I fixed the ball of doughy cheese on to the hook. We then stood up to cast out on to the river, granted it took me a few tries, before I stood at the bank of the river whilst Ace sat on the milk crate and fiddled with the radio to find a station that wasn't playing festive tunes.

"You'll get tired of standing pretty soon." He informed me as he settled on a normal station playing guitar tunes, he had the volume down low and I looked down the river.

"I'll be fine standing for a while. I wanna take in the scenery." I replied and he scoffed.

"Better be careful you don't fall in." he warned lightly and my back tensed.

"Don't you even- whoah!" I shouted as he grabbed my arms and pushed me slightly closer to the edge, I scrambled back from where my foot had went down over the edge.

"You are such an asshole." I hissed as I righted myself enough to jab him in the ribs.

I decided to take his advice, mostly because falling in to a river in December would be the exact thing I'd be liable to do on a date with Ace, and sat on the milk crate beside him. He opened the box I had been carrying that had ice inside it which I assumed was to put any fish we caught in to. It seemed until such times the ice would be used to keep the beer Ace had brought cold.

"Now there's something I wouldn't be expecting on a date Ace Merrill is organising." I said sarcastically, he chuckled as he handed me a bottle and I took the top off and took a swig before setting it on the ground beside me as I moved my line around in the water.

We divided half of the pile of sandwiches Ace's mom had made between us and I surprised myself at how hungry I was, I had them all eaten in next to no time and was already awaiting lunch.

"What are we fishing for exactly?"

Ace shrugged, "Anything that's biting, trout if we can get it but a fish is a fish."

"Do you think we'll catch a lot?"

"Depends, the summer's best for fishing but I didn't go anywhere this summer for it, but we're bound to catch something. When it starts getting dark and we still haven't caught anything, I'll just throw you in and you can grab a few and throw them to me." He said and I laughed at the mental image and shivered at the thought of the cold water, my hands were already cold enough. I huddled in closer to Ace and pulled the blanket we shared closer, I held the fishing rod awkwardly as I rubbed my hands together. No sooner had I taken hold of the rod properly again before I felt a pull on the other end.

"Shit, what do I do?" I asked as the line started pulling out, Ace grabbed the pole and showed me how to reel it in, he said it wasn't a big fish but it was important not to let the tip of the rod lower too much or the fish would be able to pull off. Soon enough I made my way over to the edge and lifted the fish up to inspect it.

"Small Steelhead." Ace confirmed and took it off me to throw it in the cooler of ice to kill it with shock and keep it fresh.

"Cool." I smiled, this wasn't too bad.

Ace smirked, "Remember that when you're gutting it later." He told me, my smile dropped and I shuddered at the thought before casting back out and sitting down whilst Ace did the same.

By noon we had caught two each, I had lost one and Ace was always reeling in the bigger trout, but we were still even. The sky hardly stayed the same every hour, it would change colour from orange to pink, then pink to purple, and around midday it was a dark blue that made it look like nightfall would come far earlier. Still, every colour over the snow-covered mountains was breath taking.

The radio had been shut off because nearly every station was talking about the snow or playing Christmas tunes, which annoyed Ace till no end. I made a point of continuing to hum tunes after the radio was shut off, and Ace's threats to throw me in got more and more sincere. By the time it began to get dark around four we had swapped all the beers in the cooler box for trout or carp and ate every crumb of sandwich we had, I had a feeling it would soon be coming up when we gutted the fish.

I reeled in one final fish before we decided to pack up, and I stood at the edge to reel it in, no sooner had I grabbed the thing than Ace's arms went around my waist and threatened to overbalance me again. I squealed and spun round to clutch at his shirt.

"We caught fish, I am not going in to get soaked and die of hypothermia." I told Ace firmly, his evil grin had me thinking of other excuses I could use to persuade him not to throw me in, and I gasped slightly as he pushed me back a little further, my back foot was half a foot away from the edge.

"Ace…" I warned in a firm voice and he just cocked an eyebrow in challenge, nothing could sway this guy.

"What's staying dry worth to ya?" he asked and I wracked my brains in thought, shifting my feet to stay away from the edge.

"Please?" I tried and wrapped my arms around his neck, he cocked his head to the side and stepped back, a sigh of relief escaped me as I got away from the edge.

"If it wasn't December and you didn't run the risk of losing a limb or somethin' you'd definitely be soaked by now." He told me and I nodded, not doubting that for a second.

"How generous." I rolled my eyes and stepped around him, grabbing the boxes I had originally carried down and stopped to turn back, "What do you call this river?" I asked.

"The Royal."

I nodded and glanced once more out at the water, "Can we come back up here before we leave? It's amazing." I said and he nodded as he gathered the gear he had taken down.

"I'm definitely throwing you in before we leave." He said, I chuckled as I made my way back up to the trees.

"I'll pull you in with me." I shot back, he smiled confidently showing he thought I could do no such thing, and I shoved his shoulder with the side of my arm as we made our way back up to the car.

A/N: Probably a very boring chapter for you guys, but there's more to come! I am so glad my last exam is tomorrow, I totally plan on doing a Judd Nelson fist pump as I walk out of the gates lol anyway, hope this was enough to keep you guys going till next week, update should be next Friday as planned. Thanks for reading and please review : )