(A/N: This chapter is based 2 years after the story ends, due to it being a special bonus chapter for you all. Enjoy!)
"I'll catch you!"
"No!" I shouted, running slowly away from the two five year olds chasing me. They were pelting snowballs at me, whilst I was having the time of my life, laughing at the huge smiles on each of their faces.
"Don't worry boys, I got it." I looked towards Gray's voice, but before I could find him I was tackled from the side. He spun us quickly so he'd be the one to land on the soft snow. I had to roll my eyes at how overprotective he always was. "Gotcha." He said, winking at me. And in that split second, everything else melted away. His eyes, so close to me that I felt as if I could stare into his soul, crinkled with humour. I felt myself falling in love all over again, with laughter surrounding us, snowflakes dancing in our hair and magic fizzing in the air. Gray dropped his mouth to mine in a chaste kiss, but we were stopped almost immediately by a chorus of 'yuck's from behind us.
"Alright alright, we'll stop." I stood up, not wanting to make everyone uncomfortable. We'd invited everyone out for a relaxing day where our only worry would be how much water could get in our clothes through the waterproofs. So far only we'd gotten here, Gray, Vince, Max and I, but hopefully Althea and Ian would arrive shortly. I didn't understand why I was so happy about all of us getting together like this, but all I knew was that it felt as if my chest was expanding from joy.
"Yeah, it's gwoss." Maxy hid his face behind his hands, wrinkling his nose. Crouching down next to him, I hugged him, unable to help myself. Gray's little brothers were simply too adorable not to. I held so much happiness in my heart that hugging everyone in a mile radius just seemed like the only option. "Ew! Cooties!"
"Aw, love you too Maxy." He was trying to swat me away, but I picked him up, draping him over my shoulder, whilst Vince watched, mouth agape.
"Put me down! No! Gray, save me!" Max kept hitting against my back, as I laughed, spinning him around in circles. And then Vince was at my side, holding onto my leg. I stopped turning to make sure he wouldn't get hurt, looking down at the boy curiously. Behind me, Maxy gave a sigh of relief. I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my mouth at the cute sound.
"Silly, Gray can't save you, he wuvs Maisee." Vince said, a wise expression overtaking his features. Laughing at his comment, I set down Maxy next to his brother, sprinting up to Gray, who'd been watching the whole scene with amusement.
"W-" He went to complain, but I threw myself on him, sliding around until I was getting a piggy back from him, a pissed off look overtaking his features.
"If Gray can't do anything, does that mean I can do this?" Ruffling his hair with my glove-clad hands, I gave him endearing smile, hoping he wouldn't push me off his back.
"Maisee! Stop abusing your future husband!" Althea's voice was, as always, much too loud, meaning we could hear it even if she wasn't fully visible yet. Her head popped up from behind a tree, as if she'd been hiding there for a while. "Boo!"
"Hate to break it to you babe, but you're not scary." Ian appeared behind her, and I had to stop my smile from showing at the pet-name. Gray and I shared a knowing glance before we went over to them. They were meant to be, that much was obvious to absolutely everyone. From the chemistry they had, to the way they called each other babe, and even the way they argued. We'd been trying to get them together for a long time now, yet every time we pushed them they just sprang back.
"Sure I am." She said, glaring him down. I don't completely understand why I did what I did next, but suddenly I was in front of Althea, stealing some candy from her pocket and tossing it at Ian. I supposed I was trying to get them to finally making a move, but it ended up backfiring completely.
"Ian asked me to!" I said quickly, before diving out of the way, into the safety of Gray's arms. Vince and Maxy watched from a distance, looking almost afraid to approach the newly arrived teenagers. I couldn't blame them - Althea looked like a goth straight out of a cheesy film, and Ian had to be at least 6'4", what with his tall parents.
"Vince, Maxy, come over here, it's your cousin, Ian." But before they could, Althea's angry form threw itself on Ian. I'd expected a little shouting, hoped for a make-up kiss. Instead it seemed like WW3 was brewing. The two little boys took a step back rather than forwards, making me pinch the bridge of my nose in exasperation.
"You fucking dick, I can't believe you told her to steal my candy!" I stared wide-eyed, too in shock to realise that there were two little kids presencing a lot more swearing than they should do. They were now rolling around in the snow, shouting at each other whilst their words got lost in the snow.
"I think you made a mistake, unleashing Althea." Gray whispered in my ear, only to take off running to where his brothers stood a few meters away.
"You think?" I shouted this at his retreating back, deciding to take matters into my own hands, stalking towards the mass that was them. I wasn't entirely sure how to separate them, considering I had no upper body strength, and that they were drowning out my voice with their shouts.
"Ow- Fuck Ally!"
"Don't call me that!"
"Don't attack me then!"
"Ow-"
"Ow- stop- no-"
"You-"
"No-"
"Guys!" I shouted, trying to catch their attention, but they continued fighting. It seemed Althea was trying to get the haribos back, but Ian was being annoying about it. And to think this had started as a ploy to get them to finally kiss. "Can you two just kiss already?" Finally, they halted. As they did I saw the compromising position they were in. Althea was straddling him, whilst he had her wrists in one hand and the candy in the other. But what was most noticeable was that their faces were close enough to kiss.
Squealing, Althea jumped backward, managing to topple us both over so now the three of us were laying in the snow. Looking at each other, we realised the ridiculousness of the situation. We were being buried in snow because one of us was a fangirl, another one of us was insane about her candy, and the other was too willing to piss someone off. We were joined by Gray, who just looked confused, and the laughter could no longer keep itself in. We all burst into giggles, the confusion in Gray's eyes only growing further.
"What did I miss?"
"Althea and Ian almost-" I began, but was quickly cut off.
"And he stole my candy!" Althea cut in, a murderous expression coating her features. We all scooted away from her, afraid she'd end up strangling one of us, but it was forgotten quickly with the next round of laughs.
"That was Maisee." Ian pointed out, but at a glare from her, he sealed his lips shut.
"I want candy too!" We heard from behind us. Gray turned around, and we found Maxy there, gripping onto the back of his shirt.
"I don't think that's a good idea squirt." I said, incorporating myself. "I'd rather not have to go through that again." I gave the two boys a sympathetic look, but they seemed adamant to accept my point, and before I knew what was happening, a snow ball collided with my face. "Wha-"
"We want candy!" They shouted in unison, making us all shoot each other worried glances. Gray went to step in, to berate them for throwing a snow ball at me for no reason, but Althea jumped in first. She had a devilish glint in her eyes, and I already knew she'd just be causing trouble.
"Alright, I'll fight you for it." Althea shocked all of us by saying this, whilst standing up and dangling two lollipops in front of their eyes. Before they could grab them, she swatted it back, grinning cheekily.
"Good luck with that boys, I still haven't managed to wrestle candy out of Ally's hands." Ian looked exasprated as he revealed this bit of information to the boys, rolling his eyes at his soon-to-be-girlfriend.
"I told you not to call me that!"
"Make me." A teasing glint glowed in his eyes, taking two steps towards her. She did the same, almost as if a magnet were attracting the two of them together with an undeniable force. As we watched the scene amusedly, Gray draped an arm over my shoulders, making me snuggle into his warm body. I had to admit that the cold was starting to seep in through the many layers Sky had forced on me.
"You look cold." He whispered in my ear, making me shiver from a wholly different reason. I felt like all of my nerve connections were on fire. It was silly that after dating him for so long he still managed to have this effect on me. In the background, we saw Althea throw a single lollipop between Maxy and Vince, and them throwing themselves on top of it, fighting for it like wolves. But it didn't matter that his little brothers were killing each other just five feet away from us: here it was just us.
"No, I look like a marshmallow." I didn't understand why I was whispering too, but it seemed apt, what with all the shouting happening in the clearing. Ian and Althea had stopped arguing but were now shouting loud bets about which twin they thought would win. I wanted to tell them off them for not being responsible with the two boys, but I was too entranced by Gray.
"A beautiful marshmallow." He said, a grin appearing on his features. Kissing my nose, he made me blush all the way from my toes to the top of my head.
"Stop, you're making me blush."
"Who said I didn't do it on purpose?" Winking he snuggled his face into my neck, my insides melting and electrifying in that split second. I wanted this moment to last forever. But the boys looked like they were going to hurt each other soon, so I decided to step in. Gray pouted at me as I walked away, but I simply rolled my eyes at him, grinning at how easy this all was. I'd always imagined relationships to be hard, and yet Gray made every single moment a dream.
"Boys, come on, I'll buy you some cotton candy on the way back." They stopped immediately, their eyes filling with hope and happiness. A giggle escaped my mouth at how easy it was to distract them, whilst I helped them off the floor. They'd somehow gotten snow absolutely everywhere, meaning I needed to take their coats off to shake it off from their clothes.
"Oh come on Mais, just let them freeze." Said Althea from far away, smiling in that way which made me know she was joking. I noticed she was standing incredibly close to Ian, hiding my grin behind my hand so she wouldn't get angry.
"You're heartless." I pointed out.
"Yeah but I make the best muffins." At this we all started laughing, apart from her. "What?"
"There is no way you can cook princess." Jumped in Ian, making Althea turn to him quickly, anger blooming on her features. It was such a hilarious sight to behold, small Althea trying to size Ian up, that I halted in my movements, directing my attention towards the two quarrelling teenagers.
"I can!"
"Can't."
"Can."
"Can't."
"Can."
"Oi! Can you two keep you squabbles down? You sound like you're five!" As Gray said this, he came over to me, helping me finish the job of cleaning his brothers up quickly. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I guess I just spaced out." I told him, kissing his cheek for being so sweet. I didn't deserve someone as amazing as him. Shaking my head to get the horrible thought out, I smiled at him, hoping it looked convincing. By his grimace, I could guess it probably wasn't. But he didn't have much time to dwell on why sadness was sweeping into my eyes, because we heard a swoosh to our right. Turning, we saw Ian had tackled her onto the floor, whispering something in her ear. She giggled uncontrollably, all the while pretending to want him off. Although I was pretty certain she was pulling him closer rather than farther away.
"They make such a cute couple don't they?"I asked him, not remembering the eavesdropping kids by our feet.
"They're not a couple yet." He tried to sound like he believed it, but failed miserably, the humour in his eyes betraying him.
"Bullcrap." The ridiculousness of my censored swear became clear as we heard a "Fuck you" shouted in the distance. A chuckle escaped my mouth, as he hugged me to his side, once again warming me from head to toe. This time, I hoped we'd have a little bit more of uninterrupted time.
"God, I feel like we're a married couple looking at their arguing children."
"Well that's not such an awful image, is it?" I directed my question at him, opening my eyes wide in curiosity. We'd left school a couple years ago, yet still had no plans for the future. It just seemed so far away, but we were 19, and we already knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.
"Don't worry Angel, I'll pop the question soon." And with that, he left me gaping at him as he went to scoop up his two little brothers. "Who's hungry?" He asked them, taking them over to the picnic basket I'd set up on a tree to avoid it getting wet. I watched his retreating form, my mind whirring from what he'd said. He couldn't be serious, could he? Yet the image of us sitting on a porch bench, hands linked and watching our children running around was too great to ignore. It made my insides warm just imagining it. My eyes zeroed in on his back, and I knew then what my answer would be.
How could it be anything else?
"Oh my god Ian, fuck you!" I laughed jovially. Everything was right in the world.
Hi :)
So. Much. Fluff. Oh my god guys this chapter was a wonder to write, I haven't had this much fun in a while :) Also, I reckon you guys deserve it considering what's coming up next... Haha, I'm not telling ;) Sorry I couldn't include everyone's ideas, but I promise to include a new bonus chapter soon :)
Tell me what you thought! In case you didn't find out, this chapter is to celebrate getting onto 3 figures, and also getting onto the front page :) Thank you so much to all of you for supporting me. I know I say it basically every chapter, but I feel as if it's not enough cos you guys honestly make my day. No jokes, lately I find myself smiling for no reason, just because I know I've got all of you being such wonderful people and enjoying my story :)
So thank you. Thank you so much :)
Bye bye :)
PS: Goal for this chapter is 106 :D (Woah, we're onto the 100s O.o )