A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter! All I am going to say is enjoy this chapter and keep it coming for more!

Winter in Colorado

When the trunk opened fully, I pretended like I was asleep. I buried my head into Alfred's chest, preparing for the worst. I heard that one familiar voice of the man that I hated most out of the three. "Oh get a room you two! Oh…wait… you can't! Because we trapped you!" he said, tauntingly. The men started to laugh at his joke. I really didn't get how that was funny. It didn't even make sense.

I didn't want to look up at him, I just wanted to be safe in Alfred's arms forever. Alfred's breathing pattern changed. I could tell he was just starting to wake up. I hugged him tighter, hoping that he would not move. I think he was starting to feel out our positon. He then hugged me tighter.

"Hey, do you two hear me?" the man from before yelled. Alfred and I didn't answer. I guess we both had the same idea of pretending to sleep. I then heard his fist slam against the trunk, and he grabbed my shoulder, "I said, do you hear me?" He yelled this as he dug his nails into my shoulder. I opened my eyes, and looked up at Alfred. He was already staring at me with fear and anger in his eye.

The pain in my shoulder was becoming too much to ignore. I winced at the feeling, and was starting to feel blood trickle down my collar bone. "Are you up now?" The man said, laughing. I felt like my shoulder bone was going to break. I grabbed onto the back of Alfred's shirt, and held him tighter than ever to relieve the pain of the man's nails piercing into my skin.

A tear started to escape my eye and I wince from the pain again. I didn't know what to do. I looked into Alfred's eyes, because I heard that happy thoughts help pain. His eyes definitely gave me happy thoughts. When I looked up at him he was staring at my shoulder. I then stared at my shoulder, and saw that the blood was starting to bleed through my shirt.

"Answer me!" the man yelled. In the next few seconds, I felt like everything happened too fast for me to understand. After the man yelled the said phrase, I could hear his hand flying through the air, as it was coming towards me. I started to embrace for impact, but instead something else happened. Something that might change everything. Alfred leaped at the man from where he was laying before, and punched him square in the face.

I broke down into tears, and I didn't even know why, much like before. I heard the other men shout things like, "How did they untie their hands?" or "Get him before they get away!" I turned to see what Alfred had done, and what he was doing now. I then realized that he was kneeling over me. His knees were on both sides of my hips, and he was turned to the man he had just punched unconscious.

One of the men ran to check their friend that was on the ground, and the other man had already pulled out his gun, and had it aimed at Alfred. The other man got up, knowing that his friend was ok, and aimed a gun at me. I felt awkward being in this position with two guns staring at us with their guns raised. I slowly tried to move, but Alfred gently pushed me back to the ground. His knuckles were bleeding from his action.

"Stay down," he whispered to me, he smiled after saying it, which made me feel so much better. "Get out of the car," the man with his gun aimed at Alfred yelled. Alfred hesitated at first, but then reluctantly stepped out of the trunk. He still kept his hand on my chest though.

"Both of you, get out of the car," the man said, again. I slowly got out of the trunk, and stood next to Alfred. He could tell I was shaking, and held my hand. At first I jumped from the contact, but I held his hand back. I didn't really like the idea of showing affection in public, but with him, I didn't care. Even though… to him it wasn't affection. It was probably because he wanted me to not be scared, and do something that will get us killed.

The first few moments we stood outside of the car, I only paid attention to the men and their guns. After a few seconds of silence coming from everyone, I started to take a look at my surroundings. It looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. It looked like there were a few broken down train boxcars lying around, but other than that, it looked like we were in the woods.

Then I realized that there was snow all around us. It was snowing! It was supposed to be snowing in London now, and I thought I was going to miss it. I didn't know that it snowed in America! As excited as I was, the coldness got to me, and with the little layers I was wearing, I shivered from the wind. The only part of me that was warm was my hand, because Alfred was holding it.

The men started to come closer to us. They then lowered their guns, and said, "Come with us. The boss will want to talk to you later when he is conscious." They put their guns against our heads, and walked us to one of the abandoned train cars. Alfred still held my hand the whole way there. He looked so calm, but I could tell he was scared. I would be too if I just knocked out the boss of the group trying to kill me.

They shoved us into a dark boxcar, and said, "Stay here until the boss comes to see you. If you try to escape, we will shoot you on sight. Do you understand?" Alfred and I both nodded our heads, and backed away from the door as they slammed it shut. We thought we were going to be in the dark again, but to our surprise, there was a lantern in the center of the car. It produced no heat, but we were still grateful for the light.

After we heard the footsteps of the two guys walking away, Alfred turned to me and said, "You know, I knew that guy was the boss. It is always the one that annoys the hell out of you, and is really mean." He smiled, I guess hoping I would laugh. I gave him his wish, but still said "You know you don't have to pretend to be ok. I understand if you're scared."

"Me, scared? No way. If anything, that boss guy should be scared."

"You do throw a mean right punch."

"That is my specialty," he said, giving a cheesy smile. I had never really flirted before, but I had a feeling I was doing it. I wonder if he was detecting that I was flirting with him. Was he flirting back? I had no idea what I was supposed to do next, but without even noticing, I started shaking.

"Oh Arthur, are you cold?" he asked, as he started to take off his jacket. I didn't want him to get cold or sick before we got out of here, so I back away, and said, "No, no. You don't have to! I'm fine, really!" He retracted his action, putting his coat back on, "Are you sure?" "Why the hell would I lie, you bloody git?" I said, getting mad at him for putting me before him in this weather.

He smiled. I blushed, but to hide it, I turned around away from him, and started to walk towards the lantern in the middle of the boxcar. The boxcar was empty. The only object in it was the lantern. I sat down next to it, and looked at the ground. When I felt like my cheeks had lost their color, I turned to Alfred and patted the ground next to me, inviting him to sit.

He smiled, and immediately plopped himself down on the cold floor. "This is a lot better than the trunk, isn't it?" he sighed. "I guess, but the trunk was a lot warmer," I said, half meaning temperature, half meaning the position we were in. "I offered you my jacket. Do you want it?" he asked. "No I didn't mean-. No. You need that jacket. I have my own," I said, feeling my cheeks grow warm again.

He looked at me for a second, studying me. I stared at him feeling awkward, but let him eye me up and down until he said, "You know you are very interesting." I could feel my instincts beg me to start flirting with him more. I didn't know how to though, so I decided to wing it. "How so?" I said, straightening my posture.

"Well, when I first met you, you seemed like you hated everything about America, yet I feel like that has changed."

"Oh, don' get me wrong. I do still have many bad feelings towards America, it's just…" I trailed off. I was just about to say it. I was about to admit everything. "Just what?" he said. These words sent a chill down my spine. Should I say it? He was either going to hate me after this, or admit that he like me too. Ok… here it goes, "After getting to know you, I have been starting to get good feelings too."

That was a fail of a love confession. That didn't say anything about how I felt towards him. I feel like that didn't send the message across, but I guess it was giving him a hint. He answered rather too quickly though, and said, "That's great! I like you too!" I smiled, thinking that he probably just said something about how it was great, and America was awesome. But when I fully processed what I said, I snapped my head towards him. Did he just? What? Was I hearing ok? Did I he just say he liked me? Probably as a friend right?

"You…like me?" I said, trying to wonder if he meant friend or… more than that. He coughed, looked away for a few seconds, then turned back to me and said, "Ya… I guess what I'm trying to say is-," I don't know what I was doing but I interrupted him, and said, "I like you too!"

He stopped just before he could explain himself, and said, "Wait… Just to be clear we are on the same page here…. More than a friend…right?" He coughed again. I guess that was what he did when he was nervous. I found that adorable. "Yes of course, you idiot. I think I like you much more than a friend," I replied.

He frowned, "What do you mean by 'you think'?"

"I have never had a friend, crush, or a boy/girlfriend before so I don't know the difference between those feelings of 'like'"

"Oh. I guess the same goes for me. Maybe, it really is just for friendship," he said, looking down at the ground. This wasn't right. Somehow, words started forming inside of my brain, and they were just begging to come out.

Before even thinking about what I was about to say, I said, "Look. Maybe I am wrong about what I am feeling now, but there is one thing I know. Every time I have thought about you in the past two days, my heart skips a beat. Your smell calms me down, and is the most amazing thing in the world. I find you very attractive which I am sure what I should not feel towards a friend, and your eyes. Don't even get me started on your eyes. Every time I stare into them my heart melts over and over. The way you dance and sing to the classic rock songs in the car make me happier than I even thought I'd be, and I could go on for hours or days even about why you make me smile. Now… I may think that I like you much more than a friend, but I know that you are one of the best things that have ever happened to me."

I took a deep breath and exhaled, because that was a lot to get out. I bet my face was as red as blood right now. I looked down to hide it. When I didn't hear a response, I looked up at him. He was staring at me, wide eyed. It looked like he was trying to process everything I just said. Maybe I should just take it all back, pretend it never happened.

Maybe… I could bash him upside the head with the lantern, so he would forget everything. Nah, I don't want to hurt him in any way. But… I don't want our friendship to end, either. "Look," I started, "Just pretend I didn't say-," I was interrupted by him pulling the collar of my shirt towards him.

Before I could even understand what was happening, his lips were pressed against mine. I bet he was as confused as I was, but I didn't resist. In fact, I kissed back. This was my first kiss, so I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do with my lips, or where to put my hands. I was going to copy him, but both of his hands were on the collar of my shirt still, and I didn't think they were supposed to be there. I guess this was his first kiss too.

I read this in a book once. They usually put their hands on each other's back as they kissed. I decided that I will do that, even though I will probably fail and make it awkward. I slowly put my hands around what I felt was him. I originally and accidentally put my hands on his waist, but I slowly moved my hands up to his upper back.

As for my lips, I just went along with what he was doing. I mean, it felt like he was doing that part right…

The kiss felt good, I had to admit. We finally broke for air, and I said, panting, "Ya, now I know I like you A LOT more than a friend," I looked at Alfred who was in the same shape that I was. He let out a tired laugh, and said, "I think that cleared everything up for me…" "And?" replied to him, half knowing that he like it, but half fearing that he decided that he wasn't into me. He leaned in closer, and whispered, "I want to do that again." I smiled, just before he smacked his lips against mine, causing me to fall over (I have always been very weak). When I fell on my back, we still didn't separate. He had fallen over with me, but not on me.

He was holding himself up with his right arm, as he hovered over me, kissing me. I didn't know where to put my hands, again. After a second of rushed thinking, I decided to keep them on the ground. He brought his left hand up, and brushed it through my hair as we kissed. His lips were warm even though we were in a freezing environment.

I was starting to run out of breath, so I broke it. I smiled at him, as he smiled back. "We should get some sleep," he admitted, sitting back on my legs. I look to the wall next to me, and looked through a crack in it. It was indeed night time because it was dark out, but I was too afraid to fall asleep when there were three guys that were on the verge of killing us, right outside our door.

I guess he saw through my eyes what was feeling, and said, "Don't be afraid. Remember?" he stood up, and lent me a hand. I stood up with him. He then embraced me in the warmest of hugs, and said, "I will always protect you." I loved how he said this, yet I hated how he would risk his own life for me. I know that we just confessed to each other, but we still had only known one another for a few days. I don't know what I would do if he died. I rested my head in his chest, and said softly, "Ya, but who will protect you? I'm too weak to-," "You are not too weak. Never say that about yourself. Just the thought of you has been protecting me for the past two days." He said, wrapping his arms around me, again.

We stayed like that for an hour, swaying back and forth to the sounds of the wind rustling through the trees around us. The howling of wolves sang along with the crickets chirping and the owl's cry of the night. I felt like he and I were the only people in the world.

I almost fell asleep in his tight embrace. When he noticed that my legs were getting weak, he said, "Let's go to sleep," I nodded lazily, and walked over to where he was leading me, which was the darkest corner of the train. He laid down in the corner, and gestured me to sit next to him.

I did so, while holding his hand. He shifted so I could fall asleep on his chest. He wrapped both arms loosely around me, as I slowly drifted to sleep while listening to his heartbeat. I felt like when I was with him, there was a force field around us both, where no one could hurt us. I felt invincible, and wanted that to last forever.

~*(^^)*~

I woke up by the touch of his hand gently brushing my hair back out of my face. "Good morning," he said, looking down to me. We were in the same position we fell asleep in last night. Looking at him with the bright lights shining through the cracks of the train car, I noticed that he was certainly very hot in the morning.

His hair was messy and some strands hung over his face, yet that one hair that always defied gravity still stuck up. His eyes looked bluer than ever, and I swore they had sparkles dancing around in them. His smile could still brighten up the cloudiest of days. His morning self was brighter than the sun. I rested my head back down on his chest, and nuzzled my way to finding coziness again.

I replied back with a lazy, "Good morning". He gently drew circles around my back, as we laid like that for a few minutes. The door started to open, and I rolled my eyes, knowing that this perfect morning was going to be spoiled.

"Rise and shine!" I heard a familiar voice say. In fact, it was from someone that I hoped I would never hear again; the boss. Alfred held me tighter, reminding me that he was going to protect me. "Oh," the man laughed, seeing us, "Aren't you two just adorable! You know, I feel like every time I see you two, you guys are doing lovey dovey stuff."

I noticed that his accent was nothing like Alfred's. In fact, it was a lot more southern… the stereotypical southern accent that I hated. (On him at least. On Alfred, I wouldn't mind, because I have to admit… it would be hot). "Actually," he continued, "I sometimes feel kind of rude barging in on you two when you have you're… 'Moments', but then I remember that I am doing everyone a favor, because it really does make us all sick!"

He yelled that last part, making me hide my face into Alfred's bomber jacket. I could even hear the man spit on the ground of the boxcar after he yelled. Alfred held me even closer to him, as I heard footsteps coming closer. "You know… I was going to peacefully hold you for ransom," he said, getting closer and closer, "Just hold you up here in a boxcar and only verbally torture you, but now," he laughed, "we are going to have lots of fun."

I looked up just in time to see his evil grin spreading across his face. I felt so many emotions rush through me at that point. Were we ever going to make it out alive? One thing was for sure though, I needed to protect Alfred. I know he wanted to be a hero, but what is a hero if he is not alive to protect me?

A/N: Well…. That was the fifth chapter I guess. It was crappy and I felt like I rushed them a little bit too much, but OH WELL! It wasn't that much longer than the last one, but I guess 1000 or so words longer is pretty good. Sorry it is a cliff hanger! Don't worry though! Its Friday… the weekend is here! I will update tomorrow because I already wrote the next three chapters! You just have to review…

Have a great day! Review!

~ NorwegianPilot17