Jess lay in bed shivering. The heat wasn't reaching her bedroom. Her hands, feet, and nose were ice cold. She was under her huge pile of blankets but it wasn't cutting it. She could go out to the living room where it's warmer, and sleep on the couch, but the couch is old and she'd had a hard time earlier trying to find a spot where a spring wasn't digging into her butt. It was obvious why they got such a good deal with that Groupon. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

As her frustration and boredom grew, she refused to go all night without sleep. she got up, wrapped her blankets around herself and padded out into the hallway. She knocked softly on Nick's door and there was no answer. She pushed the door open. It wasn't much warmer in his room.

"Nick!" she whispered.

"Mm? What?" he mumbled.

"I'm cold. Can we share a bed?"

Silence.

"Nick?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Did you hear me?"

Another pause and a sigh. "Yeah, come on. Hop in."

Her stomach flipped and she smiled.

He pulled back the blankets but she began spreading her own blankets over the whole bed, on top of his blankets.

"What are you doing?"

"It's cold."

"I thought that was why we're sharing a bed- shared body warmth."

"Yeah, but your blanket isn't fluffy enough. I need something heavy on me when I sleep."

He scoffed, smiling at her in the darkness.

She finished arranging her blankets on the bed and crawled in. The bed was narrow and she awkwardly lay her head on his pillow. Their faces were close and their bodies touched at their knees. Their elbows brushed when they both went to slide their hands under the pillow at the same time.

She took a deep breath, inhaling his scent- so uniquely him. His aftershave, shampoo, and the earthy sweet smell of his skin. A warmth spread throughout her and her eyes began to droop.

"Goodnight," he murmured, and she was out.

She awoke sweating in the middle of the night. She felt beads of sweat in her hairline, along the collar of her pajama top, just everywhere. She reached out to throw one of the blankets off of her, when she met some resistance. Her heart fluttered in her chest when she woke up enough to realized that she was wrapped up in Nick. They still faced each other, but his arm was around her back, angled upward so that his hand was heavy at the nape of her neck. Her arms were curled up between their chests and his foot had wedged itself in between her own two feet. Her forehead was against his chin and she felt her bangs stir slightly with each exhale through his nose. She didn't want to move. She just wanted to sink into him and fall back to sleep. But she was so hot, she needed to get at least one blanket off of them. She gingerly unfurled her arm from in between them, trying to move as little as possible. She slowly grabbed the blanket from over his shoulder and began to peel it back. But she just ended up with double blanket over her own body, unable to reach behind herself far enough to get it off. She heaved a frustrated sigh.

"I'll get it," he said gruffly, removing his hand from her neck to throw the blanket off of her side of the bed. With a sleepy sigh, he placed his hand at her shoulder blade and pulled her to himself more tightly. Her heart pounded erratically in her chest as he settled her against himself, rearranging his limbs slightly to engulf her body even more. She slid her hand back under the remaining blanket to wrap her arm around his waist, and under his comforting weight, she fell back to sleep.

Nick woke up the next morning to the dull gray light coming through the window. Jess was asleep in his arms with her mouth open slightly against his throat. He felt the moistness of her lips against his skin and a warmth that had nothing to do with the temperature in the room spread throughout his body.

Sleeping Nick really was a different person. When he'd woken up in the middle of the night to her trying to yank the blanket off of them. he was shocked at first at the fact that she was in his arms. Apparently boldness came to him in sleep because Awake-Nick would have never wrapped her up in himself no matter how much he wanted to. And thanks to his still half-asleep state at the time, he'd pulled her closer, right where he'd wanted her. His stomach did another one of those ridiculous flips as he realized that she had seemed perfectly content with that. She even wrapped her arm around his own waist to draw closer to him.

So there they were, in bed in the early morning. He still had her gathered into his arms and he didn't want to leave the little cocoon they'd made for themselves. As he continued to become more aware, so did the slight panic in him. His feelings, though having already begun deepening, were running even deeper after their night together cuddling in bed. He didn't know how he would deal with it if she woke up feeling awkward and avoided him for the rest of the day.

So he let himself enjoy this little amount of time he might have before she wakes up and gives him a reality check. So he softly ran his hand up her back to her hair, pushing it away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. He glided his hand to the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in the hair at the nape, his arm drawing her closer. She stirred then, and her hand slid to the back of his shoulder, gripping onto him, her face burrowing more deeply into his neck. She took a deep breath and pulled back from him slightly to look at him. She was so rumpled and sleepy-looking that he couldn't help but smile, even though he was so unsure of her reaction and what this all meant and his mind began to whir almost out of control with the fear of losing her. She stretched and smiled back, and then her eyes went wide and she jumped out of bed.

"Nick! How much did it snow?!" She ran to the window and looked out in wonder. He joined her and when he saw the sight of it he understood her enthusiasm. It was continuing to snow big fluffy flakes and landing on the white blanket of it that had settled overnight. The trees were weighed down with it and the wind had pushed a drift against the cabin, almost up to the window.

"I love snooow" she sang quietly, and the corner of Nick's mouth lifted into a half-smile.

"Open the window," she said.

"Why?"

"I want to hear it," she said, rolling her eyes like it was the silliest question he could ask.

He lifted the window up and she stuck her head out, listening. He joined her and it brought him back to his childhood in Chicago. Going out to play on snow days and the eerie way the snow just silenced everything.

She pulled her head back in and declared that they needed to go outside. He closed the window and replied that they would after breakfast. She nodded, smiled, and turned toward the kitchen.