I could hear Abby calling my name. Why was she calling me?

I looked at the alarm clock on the other side of the room, I could barely see the numbers from this far away. After squinting for somewhere around ten or fifteen seconds, I managed to just barely make out a tiny 1:45. So let me rephrase that. Why in the hell was she calling me?

"Connor?" I could hear her, every other step creaking in protest as she walked slowly over them. I guess they were trying to sleep every bit as much as I was.

I lifted my head to look up at her as she reached the foot of the bed. She just stood there, smiling sweetly at me, and, honestly, it was a bit…creepy. I could tell she wanted something, she was making no attempt to hide it. But at almost 2 in the morning?

"Yeah?" I asked softly, blinking at her in the dim light, though I doubt she could see it.

"Connor…do you think you could come here?" she asked, being sure to choose her words carefully.

I ignored my first instinct, to ask, "For what? It's too early for this," and calmly, stupidly, asked, "Come…where?"

She didn't answer my question. "It'll only take a minute, Connor, I promise."

I watched her suspiciously as she moved closer to me, coming around to the other side of the bed and sitting down next to me. "Please, Connor?" She sounded so desperate by now, she almost had me for a moment there.

I turned to look at her. "Abby…" I whined. I didn't want to go downstairs, and do whatever it is she was wanting me to do for her. But, at the same time, I didn't want to be the one to let her down. "In the morning?" I suggested. I waited nervously for some sort of reaction from her.

She smiled and nodded. "Alright. In the morning," she agreed.

I saw her pulling back the covers underneath the spot where she was sitting. "Um…Abby…"

"Hmmm?" The way she looked at me, anyone that didn't know better would've thought that this was the most normal thing in the world, for Abby to be crawling into bed with me.

"Wh-What are you doing?" She made herself comfortable, fluffing the pillow and laying her head on it.

She turned to look at me. "Oh," she said as if just realising what she was doing. But we both knew her better than that.

And, I mean, it wasn't like I wouldn't have noticed. This had never happened any other time up until now, and I wasn't quite sure what to think. I was shocked…and surprised…amazed…and bewildered. But I'd be telling a dreadful lie if I said that I wasn't ecstatic deep down. Or, I don't know, maybe not so deep down-my hands were trembling horribly, and my cheeks were turning red, I could feel my skin growing hot.

And I was grinning-and no, it wasn't that type of 'Oh, that was such a nice dream, I just know I'll wake up smiling' kind of grin. It was the creepy, over-excited 'Oh my god! I can't believe this is really truly happening! Oh, but it is! It is really truly happening!' kind of grin.

I wasn't exactly sure why Abby was in my bed, and, frankly, I didn't care. I mean, was it like I minded? No. Would I mind if this continued to happen every night for as long as we both lived? No, I most certainly would not.

She took a deep breath, looking apologetically at me, as if she expected me to evict her from my bed at any given moment. As if that would ever happen. "I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"You're sorry?" She nodded, surprised that I had interrupted her for just that. "For what?" She didn't, by any means, have to apologise to me. If I wasn't so afraid of what she could possibly say, then I might have even thanked her for coming up here.

"Well, for having to be in here. I know you probably don't want me invading your-"

"Oh no, it's fine," I interrupted. I cleared my throat. "So um…do you think you could invade my space tomorrow night as well?"

She started to glare at me, before a slight smile started to creep across her face. "It's just that it's so cold in my room, from the snow, you know?" she continued, ignoring my previous comment. "See?" She pressed her hands to the sides of my face for a few seconds, flipping them over a couple of times to let me feel the backs of them.

"Mmmm." She moved her hands so that she had them wrapped around my arm. "You're warm," she said, smiling at me.

Naturally, my first reaction would have been to back up, to inch away from her cold hands. No, not just cold. Like ice. I had ice clinging to my arm.

But, despite the chill I was beginning to feel, I didn't move, didn't as much as flinch.

I didn't know how long this would last. It could've been just for tonight, it could've been every night. It didn't much matter to me. I knew that, however long she would continue to be in here, I had to savor it.

As soon as her hands started to warm up, Abby let go of my arm, wrapping her arms around herself again.

I glanced over at her. "Are you okay?" I asked. I didn't even have to thin about it, the words just came out of my mouth.

She nodded. "Yeah," she answered quietly. She smiled again, like she was touched by the fact that I actually cared.

I tried to make eye contact with her, just one last time before we went to sleep. "You're not still cold?"

She shook her head, even though she was tightening her arms around herself. "No. I'm fine, Connor. You helped some."

"You're sure?" I had to ask one more time. I knew she was lying, the way she was acting. She had managed to curl up into a little ball, her arms folded, her head resting on them like a pillow.

She didn't bother nodding this time. "Yes, Connor. I'm alright, really."

I heard a slight tremble in her voice, causing me to look more closely at her. And then I finally noticed. It wasn't just her voice, it was her whole body.

"But, Abs, you're shivering," I said quietly, almost like I was afraid that someone else might hear.

She stared blankly at me. I knew she hated for anyone to try and take care of her, that was for certain, she had made it clear to me many times before. "Connor, I'm fine," she said, her tone a bit more annoyed now. She hadn't denied it, but she hadn't exactly admitted it, either.

I took off my hoodie and held it out to her. "Here, Abs." She stared at me. "Abby, please take it," I insisted. I cared far too much about her to just let her lie shivering in bed next to me.

She reluctantly took it and put it on, knowing that I wasn't going to let this go. "Thank you, Connor," she said, yawning.

"Tired?" I asked, feeling my own eyes begin to close on me.

She nodded. "Yeah. I am," she said softly, as much of a smile on her face as she could muster given the time.

"Goodnight, Connor," she told me, as she came closer to me to give me a quick, ever-so-light, peck. And no, it wasn't just on the cheek. It was a proper peck, on the lips.

"Oh, and Connor?" She had made her way over to my pillow, even though she was turned in the opposite direction. "Hmmm?"

"Happy Christmas." She made a point out of this, turning back around just for the purpose of mumbling it in my ear.

I couldn't stop myself from grinning, couldn't even manage to repeat the same thing she had just said to me. Only one thing, however involuntary it was, came out of my mouth. "So…does this mean you love me?"

She didn't answer. She pretended not to hear me, to already be asleep, or dangerously close to it. But I could've sworn that as she moved, for the third time, closer to me (yes, I was counting), I saw the slightest smile come across her face.