A/N: Gah, sorry this is out late, I had a busy weekend, not much time to write. (Since I don't think I said it, I have a schedule of when I should post each chapter, based on how long/how difficult I think it will be to write, and for most chapters there is a gap of 2-4 days.)

Vechs awoke the next morning to a knock at his door. At first, he was unsure if he imagined it, but when it came again, slightly louder, he was almost positive it was genuine. Groggily, he rose out of his bed, rubbing his eyes. He had no clue who would visit him that early in the morning, but he figured whoever it was either had a good reason or just didn't sleep at night. He carefully walked up the stairs, not wanting to trip (he had done that many times before, and it was a very unpleasant experience). The knock on his wooden door came again, this time right as he reached the top step. When he opened the door, his brows rose in surprise at who he saw standing in front of him.

"Hey, can we talk?" Aureylian said. Vechs had a multitude of questions he wanted to ask her, but he refrained, at least for the time being.

"Yeah, sure, come inside." He stepped to the side and let her into the house, shutting the door behind her. She followed him to the couch and they sat down together, each seeming to take a side of the couch, putting as much distance between them as possible. "So, what did you want to talk about?" He inquired, genuinely curious.

"I, uh, just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was really rude, and I had no reason to be, so I'm sorry." Vechs wasn't sure how to reply. To him, she didn't exactly come off as rude; she seemed more freaked out about the fact that she had slept with a man she just met. But he appreciated the thought nonetheless. He found it sweet of her, almost like she cared about him. And he liked it, the warm, fuzzy feeling he got inside when she smiled, when she spoke, when she giggled or laughed. But clearly seeing that she was still warming up to him, he kept his feelings private.

"Um, okay." was all that he could think to say. But she smiled slightly, taking his response as an "apology accepted", more or less, so he figured he must've said something right, even though he was completely lost. "So, are we friends now?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're friends." She replied with a smile. There it was again, that feeling that set butterflies off in his stomach and made his heart do loop-de-loops. He felt a lump form in his throat when he tried to respond, so instead of trying to overcome it, the two sat in a rather awkward silence for an eternity.

They both attempted to break it at the same time, and ended up simultaneously saying "so". Vechs let out a small laugh, and Aurey giggled. After the laughter had been replaced with stillness, Aurey spoke up again, but this time she went uninterrupted.

"I, uh, should probably go." She said. As she rose to get off the couch, Vechs felt a familiar sinking feeling in his heart. He remembered it from the previous day, and it occurred when Aurey left that day as well. He rose to escort her out, a strong sense of déjà vu setting in. He opened the door for her, a smile was given and a thank you was said, and she walked out of the door. All of a sudden, Vechs reached out to grab her shoulder.

"Wait, Aurey, hold on for a second." He removed his hand as she pivoted around to face him.

"Yes, Vechs?"

"Uh, you're welcome to come by whenever you want, since we're friends and all now." He stammered out.

"Oh, okay, that sounds great; I might stop by when I get the chance."

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

"Bye, Vechs."

"Y-Yeah, bye to you too." He stuttered, a mix of emotions flowing through him and a hundred thoughts racing and bouncing about inside his skull. Aurey waved to him before finally turning and walking away. Caught in a daze, he didn't close the door until a cold draft flew in, drawing him back to reality and causing goose bumps to creep up his arms. He leaned his back against the door, and then slid downwards into a sitting position, letting his thoughts consume him.

What is happening to me? Why do I want to see Aurey as much as possible? Could I possibly—no, I don't—do I? If I didn't, why does just hearing her voice, her laugh, seeing her smile, why do they make me so happy? And why does being away from her leave a hole inside of me?

"I just don't know anymore!" he yelled, banging his fists against the floor. He immediately regretted it, and winced as his hands slammed into the stone floor, struggling to hold back profanities. They instantly became red, and a sharp, stinging sensation shot up his hand and into his wrists. He stood up, cringing as he put pressure on his hands to do so. He quickly scanned them over, and after deeming he had done no real harm to them, went to sit on the couch, where he could bang his fists in frustration without causing himself severe pain. And in a small corner deep within his mind, he felt that if Aurey would have been there, everything would've been better.

Aurey almost couldn't believe what she was doing as snow began to lightly fall. Five days ago, she didn't even know him. Four days ago she slept with him. And three days ago, she and he became "friends". So she couldn't believe that after their rough history, she was going to his house today. But she promised herself to give him another chance, and in doing so, she soon found herself knocking at his door. The door swung back with a squeak.

"Hello, Aurey." He stepped to the side to let her in.

"Hey, Vechs, thanks for inviting me over." She replied as she walked through the doorway. He shut the door behind her. "So, what do you have planned?"

"Uh, um..." He hadn't planned anything specific for her arrival; he figured they would just hang out. He quickly racked his brain to find something for them to do, stuttering out the first thing that came to his mind. "Well, first I wanted to show you around."

"Okay, that sounds cool." She replied. He began showing her through his living room, kitchen, and his secret library. When he started to walk downstairs to show her his bedroom, however, she was hesitant to follow him.

"Why would you sleep in your basement?"

"I like the privacy it gives me. Sometimes you just want to be alone, and during those times is when I go downstairs." Even though Aurey had agreed to give him a chance, she didn't know how comfortable she felt following him into a secluded basement where he slept. And his answer to her question didn't exactly help, either. No, Aurey, stop being so skeptical. You said you would give him a second chance, and he hasn't done anything for you to be distrustful of him, she thought as she shook the suspicions from her mind.

"Okay, that makes sense." She replied as she took a hesitant step forward, which was followed by another, then another, and eventually she found herself following him down the staircase. The way down was unlit, and as they stepped down the last stair, a small clicking noise was made when they activated the stone pressure plate. Then, the glow stone lining the walls lit up in a line, illuminating the room. It was a relatively basic bedroom, with a small wooden desk and chair, bookshelf, and a neat bed tucked away into the corner. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made from stone (it only took an umpteen number of middle-of-the-night falls, and an equal amount of bruises and bumps for Vechs to begin the sacred practice of sleeping in the middle of the bed).

"And that's the end of the tour. Any questions?" he asked with a small smile, as if he was a professional tour guide. Aurey smiled back at him, and a silence rose between them, only to be broken with the two of them saying "so" at the same time, followed by light giggles from Aurey.

"I'll take that as a no, then. But I do have a lunch set up outside, if you want to join me." he said as he began to walk back up the stairs. Aurey followed him outside and around to the back of the house. A small blanket was laid out, with a wooden basket sitting in the middle. The two of them sat down, the basket between them. Vechs pulled out two sandwiches wrapped in plastic, handing one to Aurey before closing it back up.

Once the sandwiches were gone, the two leaned against the stone, facing off into the distance. They watched as the snow fell. Every few minutes, Vechs would sneak a side glance at Aurey. One time after he had thought he had been caught (or she had been doing the same thing, he wasn't sure which), he dared to steal another glance, but he was greeted with a ball of snow. It was cold, and he immediately reached up to wipe it off of his face. In front of him was an innocently grinning Aurey, hands held suspiciously behind her back.

"Aurey! What did you do that for?" he asked, feigning anger. Aurey caught on to his ruse, and continued the joke.

"Do what? I have no idea where that snow came from, if that's what you're talking about."

"Well, then I have no idea where this came from either!" he replied as he threw a snowball of his own. Aurey turned at the last second, causing the ball hit her back. She quickly stood up, ducking around the corner of the house, snowball in hand. Vechs quickly made a small stack of his own, then got up to check around the corner Aurey had disappeared around just moments ago. As he poked his head around, something cold hit his back, and he jerked around, snowball at the ready. He saw a flash of red vanish around the corner, and he threw the snow at it. He missed, and the ball landed with a soft crunch into the snow. He went to pick up one of his snowballs, but soon found that they had been taken. He quickly made another, checked behind him, and then slowly, quietly moved forward. He stopped once he reached the corner, listening for signs of her. He heard the crunching of footsteps, and he jumped out, snowball at the ready.

He didn't expect for Aurey to be right around the corner as well, and soon found his face within inches of hers. He stopped, hand frozen in the air. Aurey had been slightly taken aback as well, but she recovered soon enough to peg Vechs in the chest with a snowball. The hit snapped him back into reality, and he fired his snowball at her, hitting her square on the side as she turned to run. He followed after her. He had almost caught up with her when she suddenly lost her footing and went tumbling to the ground, head-over-heels. Vechs struggled to keep from tripping over her, but his efforts proved ineffective. He lost his footing, and landed on top of her. He caught himself with his hands, which landed on either side of her head, and his knees, which straddled her waist. They stared at each other, breathing heavily from the chase. The awkwardness of the situation set in, and Vechs quickly got off of her, sitting next to her, his face colored like a ripe tomato. She sat up and avoided looking at him, her cheeks colored as well.

Well, now you've done it. Blown any possible chances with her, all because of some weird accident. Why'd you have to be so clumsy? They sat in an embarrassed silence the only sound the quiet whistle of the wind. Vechs watched as Aurey reached out to catch a snowflake. Now might be the last chance you get to talk to her, so make it worth something.

"Hey, Aurey?" he asked. She looked over at him, expression unchanging. "Uh, I just wanted to say sorry for, um, tripping over you." He avoided the awkward part, but there was nothing he could've done, and he felt it would have been even more awkward had he brought it up. Some things are better left unsaid and forgotten about. He thought to himself, though the memory was almost instantly etched into his brain, wedging itself deep into his memory.

"It's fine." She said plainly. Vechs hoped he hadn't just made it worse, though that would be rather difficult. A still quiet soon took over them. The silence lasted an eternity, and each was hoping that the other broke it. Eventually, Aurey gave in. "Vechs, can I tell you something?" He turned to her in curiosity. "I just want to say that I've never told anyone this before—" She paused as she caught a snowflake.

"Yes?"

"Well, sometimes when I'm looking at out the snow, I get really deep in thought. And the other day, I realized that we aren't all that different. Humans and the snow, I mean." She quickly corrected as Vechs smiled. "Anyways, when you think about it, we really are almost the same. Every person is different, and so is every snowflake. And you could even say that when snow falls, it's like our lives. Some are ended before they can live up to their full potential—" She caught a few flakes to demonstrate. "But many finish their lives happily and peacefully." She finished.

Vechs just stared at her in awe. It was an odd comparison, but once it was explained, the resemblance was chillingly uncanny. He directed his gaze to the clouds, where flake upon flake of snow fell towards the ground. A shiver went up his spine as he imagined him and Aurey as snowflakes. With every second they got ever-closer to the inevitable end. He focused on two snowflakes floating side-by-side. He watched as they drifted slowly to the ground. Suddenly, Aurey caught one of the snowflakes he had been watching, but quickly released it, allowing it to fall to the ground and join the billions of others that had done so before it. As she opened her hand, Vechs's other snowflake floated into it, but she released that one as well.

"W-Where did you come up with that?"

"Like I said, I just got really deep into thought one day." Vechs was surprised with Aurey. He had never known her to have such a symbolical thinking side; she had always been rather silly, but that side of her personality matched with his perfectly. And although he was stunned at her "alter ego", it was pleasantly so; he actually liked it.

As he and Aurey looked up to the sky, a thought struck Aurey's mind. She stood up, which got his attention. He quickly followed her.

"Where are you going?" He asked as she began to walk away. She turned at his voice.

"It's going to get dark soon, I need to get home." Vechs looked out to the west, and his heart fell as the sun crept slowly towards the horizon.

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to walk with you?"

"No, it's fine. And don't you remember what happened the last time we walked home together?" Of course he remembered. He held back a smile at the memory. Obviously, she wasn't fond of it, even though he had enjoyed it, in all honesty.

"Yeah. So I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, you will. Today was a lot of fun, thanks for inviting me over. And if you ever want to stop by my place, feel free to do so." And with that, she walked off.

By the time she arrived, the sun had made it about half way down. She noticed the corner of a piece of paper sticking out of her mailbox. She opened it, and a letter fell to the ground. She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a piece a paper, folded into thirds.

Dear Aureylian,

Hello, this is Etho. I have a mission, of sorts, for you to complete. I also hired Sevadus to help you, since it is a rather large job. I can't give out the details for it, since I'm not entirely sure I mailed this to the right address, but I need you to meet me at spawn in three days. That is, if you are willing to help me out with this.

-Etho

She walked inside with the letter in hand. She set it on her nightstand as she fell onto her bed, her tiredness catching up to her. And within minutes, she was sleeping soundly.

A/N: I will award 10 adorabolical points to whoever guess where the foreshadowing in this chapter is. :P