...

A winter wonderland is often oversold and far over appreciated Cristina decides as she shivers, again, her arms folded in front of her chest. She hates been outside, especially in this weather, she doesn't see the attraction of it, well from the window she does, just not standing amidst it all. Sighing, long and deep, she wonders to herself why the hell she is outside standing in the snow that will soon be sludge, when all she wants to do is go back into the hospital or go home, or even just anywhere warm, anywhere out of the freezing temperatures that she is currently experiencing.

Mere is standing beside her, a coffee cup in hand that she begrudgingly passes back to Cristina. After spending almost two straight days in the hospital, the others had decided to go outside and enjoy the weather, what was to enjoy Cristina couldn't quite work out, but despite her and Mere's complaining the others decision couldn't be swayed, so here they are outside in the snow. As the last drop of warm coffee touches Cristina's tongue she sighs again, and hands Mere the empty cup, which she drops into the bin beside her.

Mere shivers, and shakes her head, wondering why she even agreed to this. Sending Cristina a searching look, Cristina simply shrugs. Glancing at her watch again Cristina asks, "You guys done yet?"

"You can't rush brilliance baby!" Jackson answers, his back to them as he helps Alex clump snow to make the final sphere. Cristina smiles at that, still not used to Jackson calling her 'baby', Mere nudges her but says nothing. Alex and Jackson don't even hesitate, but Cristina sees the grin on Alex's face as he glances over to her, so glad to see her happy.

Mere wraps her arm around Cristina, as she asks, "Can't rush brilliance?"

"You're building a snowman not a fucking sculpture Michaelangelo." Cristina adds with a grin. Beside her Mere laughs, her eyes crinkle at the corners and she looks over to Alex, about to say something when a small flash of white moves towards her, and before she can blink, a snowball hits her shoulder.

"You asshole!" Mere half shrieks. Cristina smirks and starts to laugh, before a snowball hits her too, right in the stomach, which wipes the smile of her facevas she lets out a small sound of surprise.

"Oh you wanna go?"

Jackson grins as he cups the snow in his hand, Alex already has a snowball formed, so he launches it at Cristina, hitting her right in the shoulder. "Does that answer your question?" Alex asks, smiling as innocently as he can muster at her.

Grabbing a handful of snow Cristina smirks over at Alex, as Mere ducks behind the rubbish bin. Another snowball flies towards Cristina, this time she ducks out of the way, so it sails past her left air and she ignores Jackson's look of surprise as she hurls the snowball at him, knowing where he would move to, it hits him square in the face. "Just remember you started this." Cristina yells.

Twenty minutes later, prompted by a page, April and Charles enter the fray. Both caught totally unaware, April shrieks and Charles yells as they are hit by an onslaught of snowballs. No faces can be seen, but April can hear Mere's laughter rise up behind a short wall of snow and before April can work out where exactly it is coming from, Alex face pops up from behind the rubbish bin and a snowball hits her in the stomach. The snowman that was almost complete is gone now, used as ammo in the snowball war.

"Seriously?" April yells and in reply gets hit in the knee with another snowball, this one sent by Mere.

Turns out April is bloody good at aiming and manages to hit everyone in the face at least three times. Charles isn't too bad himself but he can't hide for shit so manages to get pummelled repeatedly. Alex is fast and his hits are hard, but he doesn't aim for the face, not after Cristina trips him up and sits on his back, flattening his face against the snow and tells him she will snap him like a twig if he hits her face again. Jackson manages to get the largest snowballs, and he aims for the stomach and the knees, he seems to enjoy knocking the wind out of them before knocking them to the ground. Mere and Cristina are the only ones who work together, the rest is a free for all, and for half an hour, the cold is calming and winter is wonderful.

"Mere duck!" Cristina yells as she runs towards the small wall of snow, Cristina does as she says and Alex's snowball sails past before hitting the snow. Cristina drops to her knees and slides across the snow, she doesn't get very far, but when she throws her snowball she catches Alex by surprise, not aware of her sudden change in position. Cristina cackles as the snowball hits Alex in the face and he swears before turning to glare at Cristina but she is already out of sight.

Cristina is still grinning when a snow ball hits her in the back of the head. Turning quickly, her snowball ready to throw, she finds Jackson standing a few metres away, a grin on his face. Without a word she throws, and he dodges just in time.

"Having fun yet?" Jackson asks, taking a few steps towards Cristina as he speaks, and smiling at the groan that Charles makes as he hits the ground, again.

Cristina's eyes flick to behind Jackson for a mere moment, not long enough for him to notice and she answers, "Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Whether Mere hits you in the face or not." Cristina grins, and without thinking Jackson turns to face where Cristina's gaze is lingering, and despite the warning he isn't ready for the snow ball that hits his face. He swears and his teeth chatter as Cristina laughs beside him.

"Kiss it better?" Cristina asks as she presses her gloved hands against Jackson's cheeks, and runs her gaze over his face, smiling up at him as she continues to laugh a little. Jackson nods but doesn't move a step closer, he waits, and Cristina continues to smile up at him, her cheeks are flushed and her stomach sore from laughing.

"This is fun." Cristina breathes, her lips hovering above Jackson and he nods again, his lips part to speak, but Cristina presses her lips against his. Her lips are cold, but her kiss is warm and as her arms wrap around his neck and his hands settle on her hips to draw her closer, Cristina forgets about the cold and all she knows is the feel of Jackson's lips against her and the taste of his mouth as her tongue slips between his lips.

"Merry Christmas Eve Eve." Cristina mutters against Jackson's lips. A snowball hits her in the back but she ignores it, and shifts her body closer to Jackson as she kisses him again, utterly content.

...

AN: Merry Christmas Eve Eve guys :) Thanks for reading these, only two chapters to go...

Also thanks to everyone who reviewed, I seriously love reading what you guys write.