It had become an almost weekly event. Alice would spend the morning tending to her chores around the small cabin while she waited for her brunette archer to appear, letter in hand and all smiles. It was becoming Alice's most anticipated part of her week and on the rare occasion that Robin couldn't make it, Alice would find herself moping around her cabin until Robin's next visit.
The snow was starting to settle on the land surrounding the small cabin when Alice exited her home to chop up some firewood, Rumble had told her that a storm was heading their way and had encouraged her to come and stay with him until it passed. The blonde had seriously considered the offer but because Robin hadn't come around the week previous, Alice didn't want to risk the chance of missing her. Alice looked on in amazement as the snow fell around, this was the girls first snowfall outside of the tower and she was loving every minute of it. The cold flakes tickled her palms as she tried and failed to catch a snowflake. The blonde girl was so mesmerized by the snow, that she failed to notice the archer around the corner dressed in her usual brown hooded cape and ruffled white shirt with brown leather pants. The cold had taken up home on the girl's pink cheeks and her eyelashes held the faint sign of snow, making her bright green eyes even brighter.
"Try sticking your tongue out…" Robin shouted startling the blonde. Alice was torn between running over to greet the archer and dropping her head in embarrassment of being caught in such a childish act.
"Robin, I was…" Alice started stuck in place.
"Just playing in the snow? I saw that…oh here, express deliver from your Father." Robin moved to hand the letter over, brushing fingers with the blonde slightly. "Alice! Where are your gloves? I can feel how cold your hands are through mine!" Robin exclaimed as she pulled the woman's hands into her own, rubbing them slightly as they warmed.
"Oh, I lost my gloves…I was just coming out to chop some firewood before I got…well distracted." Alice blushed as Robin continued to hold the girl's hands tightly.
"You'll catch your death if you stay out here any longer. Let's get you inside and leave the firewood up too me!" Robin grinned as she led Alice back into the small house. The house was almost as cold on the inside as it was on the outside, so much so that Robin could see both of their breath as they entered.
"I haven't had time to make a fire yet…" Alice smiled nervously as she moved to grab the little firewood that she had left.
"Alice…you can't stay here. No amount of fire is going to warm this place up at this rate…why don't you come back with me to the farm? I'm sure my Mom won't mind, and I know that I would feel much better knowing that you were somewhere warm on a night like this." Robin begged as she took Alice's hands in hers once again.
"I wouldn't want to impose…I'm sure I'll be just fine here, I have a few extra blankets around here somewhere." Alice smiled shyly, she wasn't used to someone caring about her before, nobody but her Papa.
"I won't take no for an answer! Come on, back a bag before this storm gets any worse."
The walk from Alice's house to the farm lasted about two hours, their time was spent laughing, enjoying the snow and talking nonstop. The farm looked remarkably different than the last time Alice had been there, the mud covered by a thick layer of snow and all the animals were tucked away in their little homes to keep warm. The land surrounding the farm was quiet and peaceful, the perfect place for a skilled archer like Robin to practice.
The house was in darkness apart from a small glow that came from the fireplace, Robin knew that her Mother would likely not be home, she had mentioned that she was thinking about paying Regina a visit before Robin had left to meet Nook that morning. Striding into the house hand in hand with Alice, Robin threw Alice's bag onto the small sofa that sat in front of the fire.
"Take a seat while I get some candles…" Robin smiled her green eyes brightening up the darkness. Robin's heart was going a mile a minute as she ran around the house in search of candles, Zelena and Robin normally didn't need them, but with Zelena and her magic away for the day, Robin was forced to survive without electricity.
"Candle check…" Robin announced as Alice rose to help her light them. "What's next? Ah! Blankets and some pillows, can you grab them? They are just in that closet over there!" Robin asked as she started to distribute the candles around the living room and kitchen.
"Where do you want them?" Alice asked chipperly, as she skipped back to Robin with her arms full of different colored blankets and a few spare pillows.
"Just in front of the fire, please…I feel like I'm still missing something. We've got heat, light, spare blankets…oh, snacks! Oh, and drinks, fancy some of my amazing hot chocolate?" Robin's wink could just barely be seen in the dimly lit room, but it didn't stop the blush from creeping onto Alice's face anyway.
"Sounds good, anything I can do to help?" Alice giggled as she practically hopped like a rabbit over to her friend.
"Nope, you just sit your pretty-self down by the fire and I'll take care of the rest!" Robin turned quickly to hide the blush on her cheeks, as she mentally kicked herself for calling Alice pretty!
Armed with a range of snacks and sweets in one arm and two mugs of hot chocolate in the other, Robin skilfully made her way through the dark, only managing to spill a little bit of hot chocolate when she walked into the side of the couch.
"One hot chocolate for you…one for me and enough snacks to last us a week!" Robin smiled cheerfully as she finally settled down on the blanket Alice had laid out, with their back's rested on the couch the girls stretched out.
"Thanks, Robin…" Alice paused, looking shyly at the taller girl. "For everything…anyone else would have just delivered my Papa's letter and then left, but you brought me to your home…I just…" Alice's eyes fell to her lap where her hands sat gently stroking the mug of hot goodness.
"What?" Robin whispered after a few moments had passed when she didn't receive an answer the archer placed her own mug to the side, before repeating the same action with Alice's. With the blonde's hands now free, Robin took this opportunity to reach over and intertwine their fingers together. "Alice…talk to me." Robin's voice cracked, hating that fact the girl beside was clearly upset for some reason.
"It's silly…" Alice whimpered as she squeezed Robin's hand slightly.
"Alice, whatever is wrong I want to help…no matter how silly you might think it is." Robin shuffled over so that their bodies were now touching slightly, Robin gently snaked her arm that was closer to the blonde around her and pulled her in close, allowing Alice to lay her head on Robin's welcoming shoulder.
"It just, I've never had anyone care about me before...nobody but my Papa…and I guess I'm just scared that something bad will happen to you too…" A small tear trickled its way down the blonde's face, but its life was short lived as Robin let go of Alice's hand to wipe it and any others away.
"Oh, Alice…nothing bad is going to happen to me…" Robin soothed as Alice buried her head in the crook of her neck.
"How do you know that?" Alice asked quietly if it had not been for Robin's enhanced hearing from hunting, the brunette would have most likely missed the question altogether.
"Are you forgetting who my Mom and Aunt are? And I can take care of myself Alice…and you too if you'll let me." Robin held her breath as she waited for the blonde to respond.
"I'm bad news Robin, the people I love…they get hurt." Robin's mouth went try at the word love. Could Alice possibly love her? But not in that way…right?
"That's what people used to say about me when I was younger…parents would tell their children to stay away from me because I was bad news…but that didn't stop you! You took care of me when no one else would. Now it's time for me to return the favor…I need- no, I want to return the favor." Robin reached out, gently she stroked the blonde's cheek as she stared deeply into Alice's beautiful blue eyes.
"Thank you, Robin, I'm sorry I made such a fuss." Alice blushed as she relaxed into Robin's arms, sighing the blonde cuddled into Robin's side as she allowed Robin to wrap her arms tightly around her.
"You don't ever have to apologize for being yourself, Alice…I lo- like who you are." Robin forced herself to stop, fearing that she might ruin the moment between them.
"I like who you are too, very much so." Alice quickly leaned up and placed a small kiss on the brunette's cheek, before returning to the spot she planned to spend the rest of the night: wrapped up tightly in Robin's arms. Snacks and drinks were quickly forgotten as the two girl's lay holding each other tightly as the fire kept them warm throughout the cold winter's night. Both girls were so content in sleeping in each other's arms, neither noticed when Zelena and Regina walked in and couldn't help but let out a small giggle at the sight of love in it's purest form.