Jerome felt his heart stop.

Firstly, he had seen Mara. A girl he had been infatuated with since he was 11 years old, that's five years of love, he had spotted her while he was ice-skating, on that fine winters day. It wasn't snowing, in fact, if anything, it was all beginning to thaw. The sky was red, and as the sun began crawling up horizon, beautiful, bright streaks of gold split through the clouds. Early, very early in the morning, no one else was around, Jerome was skating, very skilfully.

He had been surprised to see her, and fumbled slightly on the ice, what was she doing? So early on a cold morning? Mara had looked up, and a small smile of recognition had lit up her beautiful face. She wasn't in many classes with the tall handsome blond, but she knew his name, and she knew he was the class clown.

The second time Jerome's heart stopped, was when he heard the ice crack.

Completely randomly, but it cracked beneath his skates, and before he had time to realise what was happening, he was being engulfed by a cold, icy water. It wasn't like the movies, time did not slow down, and his hair did not flutter around his face beautifully, as if a gentle breeze was blowing past him. No, it was fast and cold and bitter. And he kicked his legs, trying to get up, but once he did, he was met with ice. He began to panic then, the lack of oxygen stopping his normally quick under pressure brain, he couldn't figure out which was the whole was, left or right, when a hand grasped his shoulder, from the left, he managed to note with his quickly diminishing brain power.

And sweet, sweet oxygen.

Jerome was gasping for breath, eye sight returning from black blots, and he saw her, Mara Jaffray, eyes wide. "Jerome? Jerome? Jerome?!" she was crying, right into his ear, and all he could think, was how wonderfully she said his name. He tried to form a response, but he couldn't, and apparently, his breathing was enough for her. She linked her arms under his shoulders and began pulling him, dragging his limp, lanky body across the ice, into the woods. He was out of it, but when he opened his eyes again, he didn't know where he was, trees and branches above him.

He was getting warm again.

He felt hands on his chest, pulling off his coat, unbuttoning his shirt, unbuttoning his trousers! "W-what are you doing?" he shivered, trying to shift out of her grip. Mara sighed, pulling off his shirt, revealing his pale, toned torso. But she couldn't marvel at the marble perfection, as she pulled off his soaking wet jeans, until he was lying there, in only his wet boxers.

"We need to get your heart warm," she whispered, brown eyes soft and truthful as she helped Jerome into a sitting position, she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her chest into his "If the blood rushed from your arms and legs to your chest too quickly, your heart can fail." Jerome swallowed thickly, he could remember something like that, something like that from Biology.

Jerome was breathing heavily, half in disbelief, and all too soon for his liking, Mara pulled away. He was blushing, but she took it as a bad sign, and she gathered some sticks and dry leaves, and in a few moments, she had started a fire. Instantly, Jerome moved closer, and watched her dry his clothes. He wanted to help but his fingers were numb and useless. "Thank you," he said eventually, as he watched her hold his jeans over the flames. They were designer, and she was burning them, but honestly, he couldn't care less.

Mara smiled at him, a blush staining her cheeks and Jerome realised he was half dressed. "Come on, Jaffray, if you wanna be a doctor, better get use to the male body,"

Mara laughed at that. "How did you know I wanted to be a doctor?"

He managed a small shrug "I pay attention. No one in their right mind pays that much attention in class, unless they want to continue with science," he shot her a half smile "You could be, you know." She blushed again, "I mean, you just saved my life." Her eyes flitted to his chest again worriedly, as if she could see his heart and how well it was doing. "I'm fine." He insisted. She nodded, handing him his jeans.

"These are...bone dry now, sorry," she laughed lightly, brushing her dark hair back "I sorta ruined them,"

He shook his head "I did that by choosing to skate in them." He stood, pulling on his jeans, pleased at how hot they were. The tips of his fingers burnt and he breathed in the smoke from the fire. "Goods thing you were here," he fought his own blush. Mara smiled, standing and wiping her hands on her knees, handing him his dry shirt.

"I should be getting back," she smiled, turning. Jerome laughed

"Um, you can't leave me. I have no idea where I am," Mara laughed again, and stuck out her hand, which Jerome took gratefully, and she led them out of the forest. Alfie and Eddie raised their eyes when they saw them, hand in hand, Jerome's shirt undone, and his hair an unusual mess. Mara kissed his cheek goodbye, and she went on her way.

"Was that the biology girl?" Eddie asked, nudging Jerome "What were you doing with her so early in the morning?"

"Let me guess," Alfie laughed, bounding ahead "You were studying?"

Jerome shoved them, racing ahead with a large smile on his face "She was thawing me." Eddie and Alfie frowned, but as boys, instead of questioning it, they raced after Jerome, determined to shove him right back.

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