A/N: Twin Peaks doesn't belong to me.

The day before Christmas Eve, it began to snow. Audrey remembered being a wide-eyed little girl, marveling at the white snowflakes continually falling throughout the day. She bundled up and took a morning walk.

As she walked along the lake, now frozen over, she heard a voice call out, "Audrey!" Donna Hayward was ice skating toward her from across the lake. "Audrey!" she repeated, out of breath as she stumbled through the snow. "Wow! Audrey! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since school got out."

"Well, what are you doing here, Donna?"

"Oh, I'm just here to see my family for the holidays," she looked her former classmate up and down. "Why didn't you stay? Your dad was gonna pass down the Great Northern to you!"

"I know, and if mom dies, I get it. But I wanted other things, I guess."

Donna lit a cigarette and offered Audrey one, but she declined, though it was hard to. As an Agent, she couldn't start up a destructive habit like that again. "So where do you live now?"

"Washington DC. I'm an FBI Special Agent."

Donna looked surprised; the same expression everyone had on their face when Audrey told them about her career. "Did you know Agent Cooper...well, he's not Agent Cooper anymore...anyway, did you know he still lives here?"

"Yes, I've seen him around."

"Remember when you used to have that crush on him?" Donna chuckled in the way women do when reminiscing with their highschool girl friends. "He really hasn't changed, from what I've seen of him. He's a little quieter. You used to look at him with gaga eyes, remember that?"

Audrey really hoped her pink cheeks looked like they were from the cold. "Yes, I do. But that's gone now."

"Have you got anyone now? Boyfriend, husband?"

Audrey simply shook her head.

"Well, maybe Dale Cooper will see what he missed out on. I'll see you later, Audrey," Donna waved and skated away.

Audrey continued on her walk until it was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She reluctantly took the call. "Hello?"

"Hello, Special Agent Audrey? This is assistant director Glenn." the deep voice of her director and supervisor came over the phone.

"Yes?"

"I know I was going to let you have a longer vacation, but we need you back December 26th." the man explained.

She tried desperately not to sigh. "Alright. Thank you for letting me know." she abruptly ended the call. She had been in Twin Peaks for just over a week. Her old home, though, did not open her with warm arms; things had become distant. She didn't know where she belonged, but she didn't think it was Twin Peaks anymore, as sad as that made her.

A couple was kissing under a mistletoe at the Double R. Audrey stopped in for a cup of hot chocolate and found Cooper in his regular booth. "Hi," she slid in with her hot chocolate. "How do I always run into you here?"

He smiled. "I guess you just know where to find me. How was your day?"

"Oh, the same. How was yours?"

"The same," he replied. "Are you in the Christmas mood?"

"I guess," she shrugged nonchalantly. "Are you?"

"To be honest, Audrey, I'm so not in the spirit that I'm nearly apathetic to Christmas."

Audrey frowned. "Is it because you don't have anyone to celebrate with?"

"I suppose it is."

An idea suddenly came to her. "Tomorrow. Why don't we celebrate tomorrow, together?"

"But don't you have family here?'

"I do, but I'll see them on the 25th. C'mon, Dale, wouldn't it be nice? Just us? If you want?"

"I would love to." he instinctively grabbed her hand across the table. "Thank you."

She felt like she was a naive, blushing teenager when he held her hand. "It's no problem, Dale."

After awhile, they both got up to leave, but they found themselves stuck under a mistletoe when they passed the counter. "Kiss her!" the waitress exclaimed. Audrey froze up.

"Dale, you don't have to..."

"Oh, but I want to, Audrey," he scooped her up in his arms and kissed her, at first softly and gently, but Audrey kissed him back harder, letting her hands wander his hair. The kiss was deep with years of longing. When he heard her make a little "mmh" sound into the kiss, he had to pull away, not wanting his thoughts to turn impure. The cafe laughed and clapped as they both blushed.

"That was nice," Audrey said as they stepped out the cafe. Their arms were linked.

"The hot chocolate or...?"

She nudged him. "Dale, you know what I mean. Did you think it was nice?"

"It was." he sounded a bit bashful, which Audrey found quite cute. "I'd like to do it again sometime."

Audrey laughed. "Me, too."

Audrey came to his small house bright and early Christmas Eve. He greeted her with a warm hug. The house was perfectly Cooper-esque; no one else could've lived there. The house smelled of wood and coffee, there were nature pictures hung on the wall, and a small tree in the living room. On the mantle there were pictures of his friends.

"Oh, look at all these pictures! There's Sheriff Truman and Lucy, and Denise...oh, I miss Denise...and Shelly...and there's me." She took down the frame and looked at the picture of her and Cooper in the Great Northern, chatting and looking deep into each other's eyes.

"I don't know who took that one; I think it was Harry, he likes to joke with me like that. But it was a nice picture and after you left..."

"Aww, Dale, did you miss me?"

He returned her playful grin. "Why wouldn't I, Audrey?" She wanted to grab him and kiss him right there and then.

They spent their day together, took a walk in the snow, drank rich dark coffee, and when evening fell they exchanged presents.

"When do you leave?" Cooper asked as they sipped soup.

"Day after tomorrow."

His brow furrowed. "I thought you said you were going to stay for New Years."

"I was planning to," she replied, "But they called me back earlier."

"Oh," was all that he could reply with.

"But I'll be back. And you know where to find me now." she gave him a wink.

He gave her a weak smile. He knew he would miss her. After watching his old friends leave Twin Peaks, after BOB and the Black Lodge and everything, he had felt so empty. He didn't want to feel that again. "Dale?" her voice broke through his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"What happened to Annie? If you want to talk about it..."

He beckoned her to sit on the couch with him. "Let me tell you about it."

And he described everything, trying to piece together the few shattered memories that he had tried to hide away. He told her that Annie left, because he had almost hurt her. He told her about BOB and Laura Palmer and the angel in the Black Lodge. When his story ended, his eyes were wet and he realized he had never fully described what happened to him until Audrey asked.

Audrey stared at him with horrified and sad eyes. "Dale..." she sighed. "I can't believe you had to go through all that. I wish I was there. I wish I didn't run away as soon as I could."

"No, Audrey, you did amazing things. I hid myself away."

She didn't know what to say, she only embraced him and let him bury his face in her neck. A few tears slipped from his eyes and she wiped them away. "Audrey, I don't want to hurt you."

"You never could."

"I thought I could never hurt Annie...or Caroline."

"But was that you that hurt Annie? No, it was BOB."

"I don't know, Audrey, I've cared for you ever since I met you. I knew I wanted to protect you."

She kissed him. "I know you will. I trust you."

He couldn't say anything; she had a talent for putting him at a loss for words. He only kissed her again and held her close. "I missed you so much, Dale. Come back to DC with me."

"I wish I could, Audrey," his voice was soft and yearning. "I wish I could."

A/N: Merry Christmas :) Please leave a review!

-Lulamae