'Sawyer! You gonna be long? We need to get going soon if we want to beat traffic!'

Sawyer glanced out the window to where Danny stood, leaned against his car and looking antsy. The gang had decided to stay in the mountains for the holidays, and Danny was anxious to get up there early. Sawyer waved him off for a few minutes, and went back to her phone conversation.

She could hear Jared laughing, 'He is right you know, you do need to get out early. Hell, I'm leaving here soon. Did you even let him call his folks?'

'Yes...briefly. Don't judge me...You sure you don't mind spending Christmas apart?'

'You kidding? I'll miss you, but there's no way I'm passing up a chance at Christmas in the Caribbean. Besides, you two should spend Christmas together.'

Jared's brother had invited him to accompany his family down to the Bahamas for Christmas, and Danny's family had been equally scattered, as people went to stay with their in-laws. It seemed like the obvious choice had been to plan Christmas with their friends; from that it was decided that they would rent a few cabins up in the Rockies and spend Christmas there.

'Come on, don't act like you don't want to spend Christmas with your boyfriend.'

'It's not that I don't, just want to make sure you're okay.'

'I'll be fine. You run off and join himself. Call James' once you arrive.'

'Can do.'

'And we have snow!' Danny slowed down the car, allowing them to take in the white flakes falling around their car. Almost as soon as they hit the Rockies the sky had opened; admittedly, that had been one of the main reasons why they had made the tip. Both had grown up in places which got more than their fair share of snow, and Christmas wouldn't have felt the same without it.

Sawyer looked out, a big grin on her face. 'This is all I wanted. Just feels right, you know?'

'Course I do! It's like Christmas in Kokomo; except for that time we got a foot of snow on Christmas Eve and had to spend half the night clearing a path. This is just pleasant.'

They drove in silence for a few minutes, as Danny took off onto the less travelled roads and Sawyer continued to look out the window. This continued on for a few moments, when Danny reached out a hand to link his fingers with Sawyer's.

Sawyer felt the need to give him one of her trademark smirks before accepting the gesture as it was given. She took up his hand to place a kiss to the back of it, 'Very sweet, Mr. Kelly.'

'Heh, just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you', silence fell on them again for a moment. 'Listen, I'm really glad we're doing this. I know we're both going to miss our folks, but...you know, there isn't anyone else I'd rather...'

'I know what you mean', she gave his hand a soft squeeze. 'And for the record, you know I feel-'

*BANG*

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a loud pop coming from underneath them. Danny seemed to lose control for a moment, before managing to guide it to the side of the road.

Sawyer stepped out of the car, 'What the hell was that?'

Danny unbuckled himself, opening his door in the process, 'Not sure. Sounded like a tire.'

Sure enough Danny was right, except it was two tires instead of one. Fabulous.

She sighed, 'Do you have a spare?'

'I have one, not two?'

'You think we would get there on one?'

'Not on these roads. It was hard enough to keep the thing steady anyway'.

Sawyer frowned, looking down both ends of the street. It was pretty empty, and had been for as long as either of them had been on it. Any hope of someone coming to rescue them was slim.

'I think our best bet is probably finding a payphone. You see one on the way?'

Danny shook his head. 'Didn't see one on the way, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one. Guard the car while I'm gone? Shouldn't be more than twenty minutes.'

They decided it was the best bet, and Danny took off as Sawyer set up camp in the car. It shouldn't take too long.

It shouldn't take an hour to find a payphone, Sawyer thought, gnawing at her lip. The fool probably went and got lost. I always told him not to talk to strangers.

Deep down Sawyer knew that she was only getting mad at him because it was easier than being worried, but if she admitted that the fear would set in. It was creeping up on two hours since she had seen him, and she had yet to see any sign of life. Specifically Danny.

Every minute she tried to calm herself, and each minute the panic grew. Jesus, would he not have known to turn back if it had taken him so long to find anything? It was freezing out there, and it wasn't as if he had much meat on his bones to keep him warm. The car was far from toasty, but it was enough. He should know better.

Hell, who knows what kind of person could be out there? They were so far from anywhere, and just because she hadn't seen anyone didn't mean there weren't any weirdos lurking. In the amount of time he was gone he could have found any kind of creep, he could be-

*knockknock*

She nearly flew out of her seat at that, throwing a frantic glance at whoever it was getting into their car, only to find a sweet, orange furred, green eyed man staring back at her.

'Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya! It took me awhile to find a phone and then I took a wrong turn-'

Danny was cut off by Sawyer, who threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hard kiss, holding a hand to the back of his neck to prevent him from moving (Not that he wanted to).

Finally the pair pulled apart for air, resting their foreheads against the other's. 'Jesus Danny, don't ever scare me like that again.' She muttered, trying to regain her composure.

Danny pulled back, a broad smile on his face. 'If that was my reward every time I'd be tempted.' He leaned forward to place a kiss to her cheek, 'Anyway, the guy said the should be here with a spare in like an hour'.

Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief, resting her head back against the headrest, 'Thank god...still, I don't know if I can sit here for another hour. Lie with me in the back?'

'Gladly!'

'You know, this is actually pretty comfy.'

'I can't believe we're only making this discovery now.'

The couple had managed to set up a makeshift rest area, and it was serving them well. It could never be said that they weren't resourceful.

Despite the panic she had felt minutes before, Sawyer was now struggling to remember a time she felt more at ease. Help was coming, shared body heat was keeping her nice and toasty, and she was cuddling with her boyfriend. She could think of worse ways to spend a Saturday.

Still, complacency had never been her strong suit. She sat up, and leaned over Danny, faces scant centimetres apart. 'Can I tell you something?'.

'Shoot.'

'I never thanked you. You know, for showing up at Dad's when you did. Not many men would have, and I truly do realise how-'

Danny blushed, 'Aw Sawyer, you don't need to do this.'

'I do. I dated some terrible guys before you Danny. You are so vastly out of their league. I don't tell you enough, but you are wonderful. You're the first person I've ever met who I could imagine spending the rest of my life with.'

Danny closed the distance between them with a soft kiss, 'I love you.'

Sawyer chuckled, 'I guess that's basically what I'm trying to say.'

'Good, we agree then.'

Something strange came over his face in that moment, as if he was seeing something different in her for the first time.

Sawyer smiled, 'Penny for your thoughts?'

'Well...it's just what you said about, you know, spending our lives...'

Sawyer smirked, 'Spit it out Dan.'

'Well...what are your current opinions on that?'

Sawyer looked at him curiously, before realisation dawned on her, 'Danny Kelly, are you suggesting what I think you are?'

Danny sat up, and reached for something in his coat pocket. Hiding it from view, he pressed it into her hand. She looked down at the small velvet box in her hand.

'I saw it in Boston a couple of months back. I know we've talked about getting married before, and I wanted to save this for when we both felt like the time was right.

Sawyer looked down at the box in her hand for what felt like an eternity.

Danny's face flashed red, 'Listen, you don't need to say yes, I just want you to know that-'

He was stopped by two soft hands which cradled his face, before a soft pair of lips were placed against his. They stayed in that position for what seemed like hours before breaking apart, both with huge smiles on their faces.

'You don't want to look at the ring before you say yes?'

'I don't need to.'

A couple of hours later the pair pulled up to the cabins, only to be greeted by the site of an excited hippo running toward them. Of course Tillie would be freaking out. The pair gave each other a soft, private smile before they stepped out.

The ground nearly shook with the force of the hippo running towards them, 'Thank God you're here, we were so worried! Where did you-?'

Tillie stopped in her tracks. She glanced rapidly between Danny, Sawyer and Sawyer's finger. It seemed to take her a moment to process what was happening when-

'YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED. EVERYONE, COME QUICK THEY'RE ENGAGED. Oh wow, I'm so excited, I'm just so happy for you two, I knew it had to happen soon!'

It didn't take the others long to realise the significance of what was going on, and soon they were surrounded. The ring was being passed around and stories were being swapped.

'Guys!', Sawyer held up a hand, trying to stall their friends. 'I love you all, and I'm happy you're happy, but I really need to call my family. Dan, you too.'

The two separated, and went to find the payphones located on site. Luckily there were two; their first spat as an engaged couple could wait.

Sawyer could feel the tension building as the phone rang, and she was prepared to give up all hope when she heard a voice at the other end.

'Hello?'

'Uncle James?'

'It's Dad darling, but I'm never going to complain about being mistaken for a younger man. You got there safely?'

'Just about, we had a few bumps on the road...not all of them bad.'

'Oh? And what do you mean by that?'

'Well, Danny and I got stranded for a while, and, well...'

She heard a holler on his end, 'Sawyer McDermid, are you getting married?'

Sawyer was taken aback, 'How did you know?!'

'A Daddy always knows, sweetheart. Always knows.'

Epilogue

Sawyer sat up, squinting to see through the dark. It had been a late night for them all, between trying to get in their supplies for Christmas and the endless questions about their impending nuptials. She was starting to suspect that Tillie already had the whole thing mentally planned.

She found herself standing on their balcony, enjoying the cold night air on her skin. In all the excitement it was hard to get a grasp on how she was feeling. Only then did she know she was happy.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her face, and a chin rest on her shoulder.

'Think we're going to live happily ever after?' he whispered.

'I think we have a better chance than most.'