Author's Note: This chapter replaces 'Remember'.

He felt as if he'd forgotten something that winter's morning.

It wasn't that he'd forgotten to meet up at the Town Library and study until his brains fell out. As far as that plan was concerned Paulo had it covered and was keeping to his word like he promised — that's why he was up so goddamn early this morning, just as he had been about every weekend since the study sessions became a thing. It'd been several weeks since they enacted The Plan. It was unchanging. Uncompromised; every weekend, the town library, early, unfailing. Just Sue and himself, and several week's work of study to keep up with in a relatively short period of time, not including the short reprieves there were open when he was needed to fill a shift at Burgertron.

This had become his life since reuniting with his friends again. No, there was simply no way he could forget anything to do with The Plan. As tempting as it was to try and push the barriers in various directions, he dared not test Sue's patience.

Absolutely uncompromised.

He yawned loudly over the kitchen sink as he washed up from breakfast that morning. Alone, for that matter; his father hadn't stuck around. It wasn't completely unnatural. He normally went out on a weekend, but it was unusual that he'd left much earlier that morning for a road trip to the next town over some few miles away. Paulo may have heard something been said about his grandmother and the reason for the trip from his father once he finished his portion of breakfast. He drew a blank — he couldn't remember the intricate details. He hadn't woken up completely. From what he did know, she hadn't kicked the bucket, so he wondered if it really could have really been anything important.

Of course it was important.

He felt some concern. He should have involved himself more. Family was one of the things that mattered, even if it were rare for his extended family to ever come by. Anything to do with grandma was uncommon. That was the way things were. If he was just a little more awake he might have attempted to try and persuade his dad to take him along as well. Then again, he wondered, the last time they went it wasn't at all productive. His dad probably thought it was better if his son went to his study sessions with his friend like he planned to. It would've been a good excuse to miss out on study this week, but Paulo's great escape didn't happen this time either.

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply in disappointment. He opened them just long enough to catch him just a split-second from falling into the sink. This was starting to feel dangerous, he'd realised. Fatigue had been building from doing this every week in and out. A day to himself would be nice, but it wouldn't be today he thought again. He bought a wet hand up out of the sink and across his face. That didn't make him feel any more awake, his eyelids began to droop again. He needed more. He let the tap run and collected water between his hands and threw that back into himself, and immediately became an icicle.

'C—COLD!' He yelled. He'd forgotten exactly how long it took for the sink to warm up that morning. His hands were freezing. How didn't he notice how this was going to go? God, he felt like a total disaster. He bought the apron against himself and asked himself what deity he pissed off to warrant such bad turn of events from the get-go. But he was awake now, for better or for worse.

It would take some real getting used to, he admitted — the whole "waking up before nine o' clock" thing, one of the many sacrifices and changes Sue deemed necessary for him to show he was serious, and for her to continue helping him. Early to rise and early to bed, he remembered Sue telling him.

Completely detestable! A voice in his head echoed. Likely from the old Paulo who moaned a lot, along with a strong protest to call it quits and got ready to go back to bed. The thought of that rang bells in his head. He strongly considered it and started to feel sleepy again. He caught himself, shook his head and cursed his other self into the corner. The desire to graduate was stronger. He was not going to blow off the arrangement. Things were getting better. Getting up earlier was a sacrifice that had to happen, and time was something they desperately needed. Not something the other him would have loved to hear but surely, they understood the accomplishment deep down. He hoped his father too would notice at some stage the gain's he'd been making.

He returned to the task at hand and took a moment to think back to the arrangement. He had to admit he had a brief expectation the others would join them at some stage. But this hadn't been the case, and for nothing short of a few reasons between them as Sue explained the week before when he asked. The main reason; and quite simply — Sue found it easier to do one-on-one sessions. This let her focus more of her attention on him and getting him up to speed. There wasn't anything unreasonable about it, it was also quite convenient so long as you didn't look too deeply into the other reason. That, regretfully, was that Paulo only had two friends who wouldn't make the atmosphere turn awkward. That would turn out to be Amaya and, naturally; David. While Amaya often studied with them at school in the library during lunch, she couldn't make it to the weekend sessions since she needed to work as well. David had never been invited, Sue's reason for that was because he was likely to goof off in Paulo's company. They didn't need the distraction (But Paulo would never mention the real reason between them both was that David was more than capable of studying well on his own, and Sue for that matter would never admit it was also because David was well ahead of them in their studies).

This already had consequences. In no time they'd become the couple that always met up at the town library. Paulo had to deal with the jeering and snickering of those around them. He did his best to ignore it.

His old self persisted and protested the idea of going out today, urging himself to go back to sleep, and again he fought against it. This weekend was already turning out to be nothing different; it started with him fighting himself, doing what he needed to constantly remind himself every ounce of strength was needed. It became regimen. He would come to accept it in time, all he needed was a couple more weeks to let it dig in completely. Discipline where necessary. The end-result of the sacrifices was all he looked towards.

There has been some improvement in that arena already in that short amount of time as it turned out; the surprise pop quizzes showed some progressive improvement. He was getting better in places, they also revealed his flaws, which he took as much time needed to fix. He was making a new mark on his otherwise lacklustre academic record with keeping attentive in the classes. But time would tell whether the results would be worth it in the end. He felt his gut clench. The mid-semester tests were around the corner. He was prepared this time, wasn't he? Did they have enough time? He didn't want to let himself down again.

Or Susan for that matter . . .

He looked up to the clock on the wall and muttered various obscenities. He'd have to leave shortly. The library had already long since opened. Sue preferred he arrived just a half hour afterwards, that meant he had enough time to shower before he needed to high-tail it.

The other Paulo in his head chimed in and toyed with the idea of beating her to the library once for a change if he ran just to show her up just before the doors opened. He imagined how shocked she'd be. But then he thought how that could really turn against him; maybe she'd take it as granted, expecting him to do that from that point forward. It wasn't turning out to be a good idea, the cheeky part of him admitted — seeing it was done in, forfeiting, and returning to the corner of his thoughts where it belonged. The distraction finally deciding to leave him be, long enough to realise the plate he scrubbed simply couldn't become any cleaner than it had. He found it a place in the dish rack and started working on the one underneath it.

What would they work on today? He began to wonder. His shoulders dropped. He knew the answer, it wasn't a real surprise. They'd be cramming in as much as they could in preparation for the tests just before the holidays. Those certainly weren't going to be holidays either; Sue planned to spend those on the next chapters of studies in all their classes well long before the rest of the class would start. They'd be ready for the new school semester, like it or not.

Another sigh leaked out accompanying it. The knot in his gut felt the same feelings he had when Sue told him her plans before. It wasn't that he wanted his holidays to himself. He had to face it deep down inside — he was screwed; there'd be no chance in hell he'd be able to put off studying the whole me. But Sue should be doing more interesting things for herself than dealing with him day in, day out. He could study efficiently on his own now given the real chance. In fact, he tried to sell this to her before, but she wouldn't have it; her sacrifice was going to be for his gain, she told him. She was in it all the way.

That got to him. Despite how happy it made him feel inside, the pressure was starting to get to him. If anything, she needed a holiday, he decided. He held the plate forward in front of himself and watched his reflection in the plate for a moment, before bringing it down hard into the water, spraying it in all directions. He backed off and swore to himself for his stupidity before grabbing a dish cloth to soak up the spillage all over the counter.

He'd snapped — that had done it; he'd done well over the last couple of weeks supressing his real feelings for as long as he could. The mirror worked a great deal telling him he needed to change. But he was burning out; newer expectations were all starting to grow above the norm, the constant pressure was wearing him down. His dirty laundry needed air, and it needed it now! He needed one as well; a holiday, damn it all! Away from she who must be obeyed! He argued with himself. His arm swung down ready to slam the plate into the dish rack but stopped just before it would've landed. And he lightly placed it into position. It felt good, there — letting loose for a moment. But he really didn't want to destroy the plate.

There were real problems with the arrangements.

Paulo had Sue had indeed become closer friends over the short number of weeks they began closely studying together. But some things between them didn't change, it still felt as difficult as it was years ago. Some days it simply felt like they were just tolerating each other just like back then.

Again — closer friends than before, but he certainly didn't feel like they were any closer to being regarded as close friends.

He'd admit sometimes part of the error had laid with him most of the time; sometimes the old Paulo would rear its head and do something which would cause Sue to come down on him like a ton of bricks. He'd apologise. He deserved it. He aspired to do better. But. . .

He realised that didn't bug him as much as he thought it did inside. There was something else deep about this that bugged him more. He thought back to weeks ago. Back when they held an embrace on that side path that one dreary day. It felt like so long ago. Then it clicked. He'd realised, despite the crying and the hugging weeks before that one dreary evening, the friendship that evolved from that acted as if that episode never really happened in the first place. Instead their friendship was founded on a single commitment made by Sue to make sure Paulo would obtain an Achievable Outcome. He would graduate. He'd have to.

There wasn't a doubt deep down inside Paulo where he didn't deeply appreciate Sue's efforts. Truly, he did. He tried putting a positive spin on things; a better relationship had formed between the two when things worked out in the end. They appeared closer as far as things could be observed from the outside, but Paulo started to feel like certain elements that he was all too natural to just didn't appear to be there between them.

He'd realised what this was the other night. It took a couple of days for him to realise; they'd only ever seemed to speak to each other about their study.

Paulo was quite good at small talk but everything that went from how her day was to what she did that night somehow always turned into a question on how well his study was going. And there wasn't a problem with it coming from Amaya or David, but whenever it came from him, it was always a question on what he studied on and whether he could answer a question she could pull out of thin air, and only that.

Nothing more special than a tutor and their student — professional, and only.

He wished deep down it wasn't this complicated. He had wanted to break the ice at some stage, it was going to happen yesterday, only for him to back off at the last second once he realised he never really understood what he really expected from Sue in the first place. A conundrum to say the least.

He knew he didn't really want her all over him like some of his past lovers — there was never a chance in hell of that ever happening. He'd shot it down himself long ago – there were other girls at the time, he was quite convinced he wouldn't be able to stand her brattiness, and he was right in a way. There was never a thought it would work out, but he wasn't sure whether it was because of a lack of imagination or because he was convinced the attraction just didn't seem to exist. Not to mention it didn't ever look like there was an occasion where she could stand him much of the time, the only other person next to Maddison and Jessica back then. He felt they had their reasons, most of the time.

What else then? As tight of friends as he was with David? There were certainly few of those kinds of friends. Yet he struggled. Why was this so fucking difficult?! He was sure that something should've blossomed when they were arm in arm over an old friend. There had to have been some deeper meaning in it, surely.

He didn't really want to believe this friendship was temporary. Only, and only because it concerned something within her power to make such a drastic change. It really killed him inside when he thought about it. What are you really getting out of this, Sue? He asked himself, why are you dealing with this wasted effort?

He wondered if he was looking into it too deeply. There was that chance, he'd done it before. Maybe the whole relationship was the way it was so it wasn't distracting. It was a professional friendship, different from the norm that he was used to. But all for the sake of him graduating.

It had to be that. The results looked so good already, why ruin it?

So, he didn't confront her. Damned if the whole thing didn't eat at him all this time.

He'd have put more thought into what he'd wanted deep inside had he not been distracted by his phone letting him know someone had sent him a text message. He leant over and recognised the photo he put of Sue on the lock screen. It wasn't flattering, it was hard to ask Sue for a photo, so he took one when she wasn't waiting for it. He didn't think or say anything for the first few seconds, before the message began to register, and his grin got larger as the result set in. In the same instant by sheer coincidence the news on the TV advised of a fierce snowstorm was approaching Roseville. That too made it all the clearer, and his grin reached as far as it could.

'Not meeting at library today' Sue's message said aloud to him.

There was a moment of elation from this that ran through his mind for a moment. Was this good karma? It was! 'It's a holiday' It rang back from inside himself. Today would be too dangerous for them to meet up at the library. It was likely they'd be sent home even if they tried! They wouldn't go to each other's houses because who knows how long it would last for!

A holiday!

Paulo processed it again in his mind, his heartbeat grew louder. It'd been far too long. What could he get up to? As if a revelation, the ideas began to roll in immediately. Oh, they were boundless! But it was already 8am, there was only so much time left in the day. Think of all the things he could catch up on? He could catch up on all the old comics David left—

He shook his head; What? Really? He asked himself. He'd read those almost a hundred times on his own already long before. He tried to think of something else. Oh! He thought, how about that library book he rented that week. Actually, no; he wanted a break from reading. He thought about it again, he needed something more entertaining. He could go skateboarding.

Oh for crying out loud! He grew tired with all these boring ideas There was no chance in hell he could go skateboarding with that storm rolling in. God, was he stupid?! He didn't want his father to worry about him! It was safer indoors. But there was a problem, there really wasn't all that much he could do indoors. He had a laptop, maybe he could start playing the game Sue had been showing him?

He stopped and thought about it. He surely couldn't. He couldn't possibly do that. That would be breaching the agreement they made. He knew enough of the game to be able to start playing it. But. . . hell, what if she found out? Could he play it without her not knowing?

His head hurt. For a day of relaxation, he was already stressing over it. A warn shower to start with would help jump start ideas, he believed. Though, it would have to happen now, or he'd have to give up on the idea once the snowstorm hit. The hot water system in his house worked but it wouldn't survive the cooler elements of the storm unless he wanted what could just barely pass as a lukewarm shower. The pipes weren't as well insulated. Neither was most of the house.

The washing was done. He pulled the plug and let the water drain as he turned back towards the living room and made his way up the stairs to the next floor. The floorboards underneath him creaked under his weight. He never usually paid attention to them, he's grown used to it. Everything felt thin, even the walls. He couldn't ignore the wind picking up outside either. If he was going to have the bear-minimum of a luxury to match the morning, he would need to get it started now.

A pause was necessary when he stood in the bath and turned the hot water on. Paulo prefered to wait a few seconds for the water to warm up before finally going under the jet stream. But that was too soon, he'd momentarily forgotten something critical about the boiler during winter and shrieked as ice cold water caught him off his guard down his back. He'd leapt forwards. Slowly returning to the warm water again. Embarrassing, to say the least. What a silly display. He'd die if anyone else was in the house at the time. Reliable hot water was a luxury he couldn't afford, much like everything else in this decrepit house. He hated it. He felt he and his father deserved better.

He returned under the stream, thoughts turned to what they could do to fix the problems that plagued their life. He didn't get too far, once the water began to massage into the back of his skull, the world's problems rolled off him like the very same droplets.

This was nirvana. Today would be the best day in his life.

'All right! Just a minute! I'll be right down!' Paulo called out.

Unbelievable - unbelievable that it had happened. Completely unbelievable that he'd heard it from the shower, but it did to no surprise – another perk of the household. Funny enough, if anything hit the front door, say…someone knocking on it (as it happened just now!), it would travel through most of the household. He swore under his breath he twisted both taps until the water stopped. He hadn't been there for at least longer than fifteen minutes. Although, this might have been for the better; his father would have likely flipped at being in there for so long. . .were he home. It was a good time as any to get out.

Paulo yelled back as loud as he could again towards the front of the house while he quickly set to work on drying himself off. He hoped maybe there was a chance his voice would penetrate the walls in the same say the door does back, but it didn't seem too, the rapping on the door had changed from light knocking to almost sounding like someone throwing themselves up against it.

He wrapped the towel around himself and charged his way back through the house down the stairs, too concerned about who was trying to destroy his front door to notice he was already starting to shiver about how cold it had gotten, despite being naked, dripping wet and behind a towel. He'd notice the impracticality by the time he'd reached the front door. It'd be far cooler outside, but too late now.

'Who the hell is it?' He demanded.

'It's me! Can you let me in?' he heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

His heart dropped. There was a moment of disbelief. Then he let out a groan under his breath.

It couldn't have been.

No, what in the hell was she doing here?

What shitty luck! He thought. 'Can it wait a few minutes,' he yelled back through the front door. 'I've just had a shower and I'm not decent.'

There wasn't an answer for a second. 'It's fine! I won't look! Just let me in, quickly!'

God. The relationship couldn't get more awkward than this? That was so not going to happen so long as he drew breath.

'Can you just give me a—' He tried to ask, but Sue screamed over him from the other side of the door.

'I'm serious! Just let me in already! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND ME!'

It?! What was it? Did Sue get into a fight with a bird or something? The Storm? God. Right, the storm. That could explain why it was getting cooler now. He couldn't win. That's all there was to it; he just couldn't. If it had been Lucy, there wouldn't have been a second thought. It'd happened before. But with Sue, of all people . . . Augh! Perish the thought.

He wondered if he could make it up the stairs, get dry get back down as quick as he could. The storm couldn't be right on top of her. She'd have to have been over-reacting. Yeah, that had to be it! She was like that! There's enough time for him to get dried off and dressed.

He turned to the stairs but stopped after a step, what if she wasn't? Sue was hard enough to deal with when she was pissed off, even more so when all the wrath was directed solely at him. His house didn't have decent interior heating (again, another perk of the household). If she got sick, she'd never forgive him.

He just didn't think about it; in one quick motion he swung the front door open to see Sue standing on his front porch with her hands covering her eyes, and nothing behind her; the front yard and the road just seemed to disappear into white, for miles. He felt his heart miss a beat as soon as he saw it. He didn't need to do think to do anything else, the rest just happened as if instinct. He reached out and grabbed Sue's arm and threw her into the house behind him. He thought he heard her lose her footing and fall onto the carpet. He didn't have time to check, as his body instead twisted back to the door just long enough to see the wall of white coming ever so closer towards the footstep into the house. Nevermind the cold, his heart froze on the sight of the wall alone.

He slammed the door in response with such force he fell backwards. The next second the wind slammed against the house with an all-mighty boom. All the while, Paulo sat there, awestruck at what he just saw.

He waited until he could feel certain parts of him unfreeze, his heart being the more important of them. He remembered and turned his head to Sue. 'A—Are you okay?' He asked.

Sue had rolled around when he threw her inside. She hadn't moved a muscle since she'd stopped. In fact she faced away from him with her hands covering her face.

'Sue, What're you—' .

'I'm covering my face, isn't it obvious enough?' She yelled back, 'Why are you still here, perv?!'

He'd forgotten he was still in a towel. He said nothing. He didn't bother to try and help her up. Instead he sidestepped her and made his way up-stairs. 'I'll be back.' He yelled back, before going straight into his bedroom and slipped the door shut behind him.

He had to admit, it could have all gone along worse. He furiously worked into his fur with the towel.

'So much for the holiday….' He lamented to himself for a short moment.

He pulled clothes out of his cupboard. It was common for both species to wear clothes depending on the day or the occasion, it's just how things were. Winter was one of those special seasons where Paulo was likely to wear something despite the thickness of his fur. He still felt the winter chill when the month was at its worst, much like today. Sue was no different in that she had decided today was a clothes day too. He didn't notice from earlier she had worn a green sweater, long pants, and a patterned beanie to fend off the winter elements.

It only took a few minutes for him to emerge from his room back down the stairs and back to the living room in a much decent state than before; a brown jacket over a shirt and long pants. He only felt a tinge warmer than before, but if anything, he was a hell of a lot more uncomfortable with the damp fur. It would take a few hours even in winter for him to feel dry again. A much shorter time with the blow drier. Sue's wellbeing was the only thing on his mind at this stage this morning. He found her in the same place he'd left her. She hadn't moved at all. She just lay there with her hands covering her eyes closed.

He was concerned when he found her. He bent down side her and shook her arm lightly. 'Hey, Sue, are you ok? You're not frozen to my carpet, are you?' He asked, jokingly musing at the last part to try and ease the tension. He'd expected her to freak out, who wouldn't? He'd seen nothing like that wall of ice before. Something to cause the adrenalin to rush.

Instead, something in her caused her to lightly chuckle. 'I'm fine.' She said.

A part of him didn't believe her. Her reply sat between being angry at him and being upset. Sue didn't move from the floor, it seemed she was trying to get over it without making it obvious. 'Are you sure? I didn't hurt you when I pulled you in, did I?' He asked again, trying to make it obvious he was concerned with her.

She was quiet again before she coughed, 'It's all-right.' She said again, recomposed. 'As unexpected as that was, I was just scared. . .for a moment there I thought I was going to die.'

'Yeah. . .well, if I'd only been a second later.' He sighed. He wasn't going to tell her he almost made it five minutes. 'Geez, Sue! What were you thinking walking here with that coming in?!'

'What was I—' She froze as she recited the words, then becoming quite animated as she got up and pushed him back hard with both her hands. Paulo couldn't fall anywhere but backwards as surprised he was at how quick she loved.

'You idiot!' She yelled back, 'I was trying to make sure you weren't trying to make your way to the library!'

'I got your message!' Paulo said trying to get back up, confused about what she was even talking about.

'Did you even think to reply?!' She screamed.

His hand came to his face when he'd realised. That was the thing he tried to remember in the shower. He had been so engrossed in the idea of going on having his holiday he didn't even shoot back a 'gotcha!'

'Ahh.' Was all that came out of Paulo.

And like that, Sue tore into him. 'You idiot! I sent three texts and tried to call you! I ran out half way across the town to the Library and checked everywhere before they told me to go home! And then I ran here instead just to make sure you weren't already trying to get there! W…Where are you going?! I'm not done yet!'

Paulo ran into the kitchen and found his phone on the counter. His thumb went to work across the screen. She wasn't lying. There were three messages and four unattended calls. He hadn't heard his phone go off… or maybe he did, he might have thought he heard his phone but didn't pay attention to it while he was in the shower. He felt like an idiot. He bought it with him back to Sue. She hadn't moved, and she was still furious at him. But inside Paulo a furore rose large enough to match her own. He held his phone up to her, not a shred of amusement in his face.

'This is a bit too much, even for me, don't you think? Running across the entire town during a snowstorm warning?' He inquired.

'I was worried! I—I'm responsible for making sure you were safe between here and the library!'

Paulo felt confused. 'No, you're not. I'm not a kid. The Library isn't that that far away from here. You of all people know that, I could've made it back long before it even hit.' The math was a no-brainer. Between both their houses, Sue's was more of a distance from the Library.

'This isn't about that! I didn't know whether you were going to the library or hanging back at home. I didn't know! It's my arrangement and my responsibility. I needed to make sure you were accounted for.' She argued back.

'It was still dangerous! Didn't anyone tell you not to try going outside? Seriously, you're meant to be the smart one when it comes to these things!' He said with outstretched arms, but he realised that wasn't exactly what he meant to say.

Sue reciprocated as such. 'W—Excuse me?! What is that supposed to mean?! Did you even hear me, Paulo? I didn't know if you were safe!'

'Stop treating me like I'm helpless! Even before I would've walked outside I would've seen the storm. What if you didn't make it to my house? You could've been seriously hurt!'

'I can't believe you of all people are seriously trying to lecture me about risk taking!'

'When did I ever do something as bad as this?' He asked, Sue's eye's narrowed right onto him. 'Alright, fine, sure. I did some really dumb stuff back then — years ago; when I was a kid. You could've been turned into a popsicle! Hell, it almost happened!'

'I needed to know you were safe!'

'You could have been hurt!'

'Oh my god! Just drop it then. Can't you just be relieved someone went looking for you? It's what friends do, right?'

God, she had to string that word in there too, didn't she? He shook his head at her. 'No! I can't! I don't want friends putting themselves in situations like that. What if something happened to you? You think I wouldn't be affected? I couldn't forgive myself!'

'Well, you can rest completely assured I certainly won't bother again.' Sue huffed. 'Nope, no more stupid decisions from me. Certainly not from a friend who was scared for your wellbeing! Don't need friends like those!'

Paulo's shoulders dropped along with a groan. This was just going nowhere. He was fed up at this point. 'Oh my god, Sue. It's not like I don't appreciate the thought. Just. . . promise me you won't do anything stupid like that again!'

'No.'

No?! Paulo's eyes widened, 'Excuse me?'

'It wasn't stupid. I've made up my mind. I made the right choice.'

He shook his head and threw his hands in the air, he turned towards the kitchen. 'I give up. You're impossible.'

She pulled on his jacket. 'Impossible?! Sorry Paulo but this is what you signed up for. I look out for my friends, it's what I do.'

'That's not even what I'm asking you to be sorry for! Just admit this whole thing was a dumb idea already!'

'No!'

'Why are you being so defensive about this?! I don't get it! Why didn't you go home?'

'This is who I am and what I do, Paulo. Take it or leave it!'

He was growing tired. Fuck it, he thought. Just apologise, mark his own wrongdoing by not being reliable and be done with it. Rolling over felt like the better way to quell dealing with this.

But, but it didn't feel right! He didn't mean to forget about his phone! But she really didn't need to put herself at such a huge risk. She could've died!

To hell with the arrangement. If Sue didn't think her outside in the storm wouldn't affect him deep down, she was in for a surprise.

Paulo folded his arms and leaned forwards over Sue. 'I don't want friends who put themselves in danger. I'd sooner end this entirely if it'll keep you from doing something as stupid as that again!'

'You don't mean that!'

'I mean it!'

He felt a pain across his cheek as Sue's hand came up against it. His hand came up to feel where hers had just been.

'Then I'm going.' She said, making her way to the front door.

'No, you're not. You can't be serious.'

'I am serious! Are you going to try and stop me?'

She just had to be bluffing. She just had to be. 'You're delirious! It's a gale outside! You'd be lucky to even make it up the road. You're staying here!' Paulo argued

'I'm leaving. Anywhere to be away from you.' Sue returned, her hand came up upon the handle. Paulo's brain began to register that maybe, just maybe there might have been a distinct possibility that maybe she wasn't bluffing about deciding to leave. Then he remembered something about the door. His body leapt forward over to her, but he wasn't quick enough.

Paulo tried to remember what had happened a few seconds before from the living room floor. He couldn't ignore he was in excruciating pain all over his body. It was hard to see, more importantly he was cold — really freaking cold.

It started coming back to him.

He remembered he wasn't quick enough; the door opened with such force it threw Sue back — into him. That was the last thing he saw. He thought for a moment he had heard a blood-curling scream at the same time, but he wasn't sure if it was from Sue or the wind as it howled inside. He fell against something after that, and there was a pain for a second. And. . .well, that was about it.

The first thing that returned was the pain again, but it didn't start at his head; it was everywhere. He felt sick, the wind, the cold, the pain, it was becoming too much. He felt like he was going to faint again. His attention went to the door. He had to shut it, lest they both freeze to death. He couldn't find the strength to stand, the wind battered him in pulses. He couldn't find any balance. That was fine; it was easier to crawl. It took all his strength to crawl up, and even more once he got close to the front door. He used his body to try and force it shut. It did, and he slumped over against it.

He was numb all over. He'd noticed the ice forming at the end of his hair. He felt like he was going to pass out again. He remembered Sue, he didn't have to look too far. She lay just beside here he woke up. She didn't leave. She didn't move either. A burst of adrenalin let him push up against the back door to move over to her. Each step hurting along the way. He managed to get up beside her before he collapsed back onto his knees. That was as much as he could do in this much pain.

'Sue, oh god please be okay. Are you okay?!'

She turned her head to him. Paulo felt a bit of relief pour into him. He couldn't ignore her clutching her left shoulder. 'Are you hurt?!' He asked as he crawled closer.

'It really hurts.' She struggled while wincing.

'I—It's not broken, is it?'

'I…I don't…Know…' She huffed. 'God this hurts so bad. It hurts to breathe!'

He didn't know what to do. An Ambulance would never get there. The gale was just too strong. They'd never reach his home in time.

'J…Just breathe slowly. You might just be winded! Y—You need to sit up.' Paulo panicked.

He tried to sit her up against the wall, but Sue ached and moaned in the process.

'Ah…Ow! Stop….Paulo…You're hurting…me!'

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But you need to sit up! T…Try to breath calm slow breaths.'

'A…Ah…This hurts so much…If….if I die…—'

'—no, no, no. You're not dying, Sue. Just hang in there for a bit.'

'If I die I am so fucking haunting your ass.' She told him.

Something about that made him stop, and he bent over and laughed at it. The sheer absurdity of what she said just coming out from nowhere. He was far too concerned with her wellbeing and finding a way to cope with all that was going on, something in him just shut-down and took over. He didn't know where that comment even came from. But when he looked back up to her she was at least happy about something.

'Well, that managed to get you to calm down a bit.' She said. 'I'm feeling a little bit better. It might not be all tha—Ow!'

'Can you just be concerned with yourself for a change?! Oh god. . .Sue I never wanted this to happen! What do I need to do? Tell me what to do. You're the smart one.' He said. The panic was trying to set in, until Sue's hand felt against his.

'That was meant to be a slap. I guess it isn't broken but I'm certainly not going to be a help in P.E.' Sue replied. She tried to roll her arm around but struggled. She stopped once she noticed Paulo on the verge of tears, feeling awful about himself.

'Jesus, Sue. I—I didn't mean for this to happen! I wasn't fast enough to warn you about the door lock. I didn't want you putting yourself in danger! But then this had to happen!'

Sue started watched his stupid face begin to break down. She couldn't take it anymore.

'Oh, shut up. I'm sorry.' Sue apologised.

'H—Huh?' Paulo rose his head in confusion.

She sighed. 'That's what you wanted right? . . .I'll admit it — Walking around before a snowstorm was stupid. I could've died on the way here.'

There wasn't any sign of sweet redemption in Paulo's face, it stayed down as if understanding.

'Make no mistake though.' She continued. 'I don't regret coming out here to make sure you were okay. Well, until your door decided to clock me. Now I'm not too sure.' She said sitting up straight. 'Do you have any First Aid, and are you okay?'

'I—I think I've got some upstairs. And, yeah I think so.'

'Do you want to go get it? I'd go myself but-.' She tried to suggest, but Paulo was already thinking along the same line.

'It's fine, it's fine; I'll get it.'

'I mean it's not like the First Aid could chop off my fingers, right?'

Paulo stared at her. Was she trying to brighten his mood or was she making fun of the house? He shook his head and stood, making his way to the staircase. 'I'll be back shortly.'

'Hey, this cabinet won't suddenly come to life and eat me, right?'

'Oh my god. My house is old, it's not a deathtrap.' He called back over his shoulder. Though he couldn't have been too sure.