"Maybe we should go," Gosalyn said as they finished a backwards circuit.

"Why?" Max tightened his arms around her, not wanting to leave. Not yet. Dark clouds hung in the sky and the temperature had dropped the longer the day had progressed. Max was hoping that they could stay outside long enough for the first snowflakes to fall and get caught in Gosalyn's fiery locks, glistening as they slowly melted. He had never witnessed snow melting in Gosalyn's hair before this trip, but it was something he enjoyed watching and if the opportunity was going to present itself again, he wanted to take it.

"Because I have to find our Christmas tree," she said, keeping up with Max as he changed directions and steered them across the length of the lake.

"What's five more minutes going to do?" Max asked. "Realistically? Make the tree less Christmasy?"

"You joke," Gosalyn skated out of the circle of his arms and glided in front of him, holding onto his hands. "Dad would have some True Outdoorsman explanation about how the right time is the secret to finding a Christmas tree."

"But five minutes?"

"Come on," Gosalyn said, laughing lightly. She turned and skated towards the banks of the lake, keeping hold of his hands. "Let's go back."

Tightening his grip, Max pulled her into his embrace once more and coasted backwards to the middle of the lake. "Let's stay out a little longer."

Gosalyn glanced up at him, playful indignation on her face. "We've been out all day. We've been out so long, everyone else left."

It was true, he realized as he glanced over to the frozen banks and only saw footprints where their friends and family had been. He'd noticed the lake had become less and less crowded as their group returned to solid ground, but he hadn't seen any of them leave leave.

However, the beautiful girl in his arms could account for him being unobservant to everything around them. It had been nice to have this Christmas getaway with her.

Even though they lived together it didn't mean they saw much of each other. She kept late vigilante hours and Max tended to stick to the standard business hours. On a good day, they'd have an hour or two for dinner and then a few hours after Gosalyn's night of crime fighting to catch up on sleep before Max got up for work. He was grateful that Drake hadn't fought too fiercely to have the couple room separately. Call him sentimental, but Max liked the feeling of Gosalyn in his arms as he fell asleep and waking up with her still there beside him in the morning.

Gosalyn pushed herself away, easily freeing herself from his grip and skimmed across the ice, leaving him behind. He loved seeing her combat maneuvers and could have easily gotten lost in watching her movements. But he had a mission: to get her to stay with him outside a little longer.

Just until the snow started to fall.

Then they could go join the others.

Max stopped on a dime and skated after her. He circled around Gosalyn in a wide arc and grabbed her in a hug. She laughed, easily gliding backwards to keep up with Max, who was directing them to the center of the lake again.

"Let's stay out just a little longer," he said. "It's gonna snow soon."

"All the more reason to pick out our tree quickly," she pointed out, ducking out from under his arms and skating away. Max quickly followed and grabbed her hands, spinning them in wide circles.

"I like it when it snows," he said.

"You can like the snow from the comfort of the cabin. As we decorate our tree."

Max tugged her into his side, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and keeping ahold of one of her hands. He continued to skate in circles, reveling in the feeling of her near. "I like when the snow catches in your hair," he confessed.

She smiled at him shyly, a blush rising in her cheeks.

"You," she said with no heat behind her words, "are the biggest sap I've ever met."

Max grinned. "And I'm all yours."

They made a full lap around the lake before Gosalyn sighed. "Fine. We can wait for the snow to start falling."

Max grinned as they made another loop around the lake.

This definitely needed to be a tradition. This ice skating together.

He'd had some ideas for yearly Christmas traditions for the two of them.

Like going to look at Christmas lights together.

And baking Christmas cookies.

Building ginger bread houses.

Watching Christmas movies.

Wearing Christmas themed pajamas.

Going to a party in ugly Christmas sweaters.

Decorating their tree.

Going to food festivals and Christmas tree farms.

He hadn't put ice skating on the initial list, but he penciled it in now. Because he'd forgotten how much fun this was, skating effortlessly around a rink with his arms around his partner who was just as good — if not better — on the ice as he was.

As the snow started floating down in big flakes, Gosalyn removed her beanie and shook her hair free. Max brought them to a stop in the ice, turning so they were facing each other.

She glanced at the sky before meeting his eyes. "You ready to head back?"

"Just about." Raising a hand, he gently pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his thumb skimming over her cheek. He leaned own, catching her in a gentle kiss before resting his forehead against hers.

"Sap," she chided playfully.

"Absolutely." He skated backwards, pulling Gosalyn with him. "Let's go back before it starts snowing so badly you can't find our tree."

Her eye roll held only mild animosity, which Max thought was very big of her.

A/N: Prepare yourselves: I gave a look to tomorrow's story and it's about 6,000 words. Granted that's without editing, but still. It's gonna be a long one.