The air was so thick with snow that it was difficult to see when the next snow ball might hit. Connie stood with her back to the house, arms folded, eyes squinting and blinking against the flakes that billowed against her face.

She heard Rita laugh, a clear cackle of a laugh that made her smile despite the cold that made her shiver so. Charlie stood by her side, his coat tightly zipped up, hood pulled up about his ears, his arms wrapped about himself, a look of bemused wonder across his face.

"They look like they're having fun..."

He spoke louder than he realised, the hood of his coat muffling his ears. Connie made a vague noise of affirmation and frowned into the wind. She could see Grace, small and dark, lying on the floor one moment, whooping, running and shrieking the next as snow balls were hurled back and forth – some compacted, solid and icy that made muffled thuds and pock marks in the new snow.

And then there were the hurried ones. Balls made hastily from the fresh fallen flakes that burst open on impact, showering crystalline fragments that glinted and slipped between layers of clothes, melting against skin and making both Rita and Grace shudder.

"You're losing!"

Taunted Grace, wheeling around suddenly and staggering closer to Connie who held out her arms instinctively, though Grace regained her balance almost immediately and began gathering more fist fulls of snow despite how numb and red her fingers were. She was laughing uncontrollably, breathless and gasping, and then she was hit, full in the face by a snow ball that seemed to come from nowhere in particular.

"Yeah? Wanna bet?"

Rita's hair was in her face and her cheeks were flushed, she threw another at Grace before she had recovered and the little girl sat down suddenly in the snow, laughing so hard that she couldn't even make a noise.

"You asked for it!"

Rita let herself fall to the floor, and before Grace could catch her breath, Rita was tickling her, though she could barely feel her hands, and her breath came in rasps until finally, finally, she gave in, and fell back into the snow, with Grace lolloping over on top of her, holding her down and forcing icy fingertips beneath Rita's jaw where she tickled fiercely.

Connie watched, barely able to comprehend this sudden turn of events. Grace and Rita's relationship had gone from one extreme to the other, and all within the space of a day. She smiled at the two of them, lying in the snow, laughing until they cried, with Grace's arms tiring, until finally she collapsed onto Rita, and the two just lay in the snow, laughing, sighing, and catching their breath whilst the cold of the snow began to creep through their clothes and make their skin throb.

"Shall I begin cooking, or is there going to be a second round?"

Connie called, hugging her arms about her chest even tighter as she began to move towards Grace and Rita, neither of whom showed any sign of getting up.

"Is that an offer?"

Rita asked, looking up at her from where she lay, Connie's feet only inches from the top of her head.

"Certainly not, I-"

But she didn't get a chance to respond, instead Rita took a hold of her left ankle and pulled so quickly that she barely noticed she was falling until she was sitting in the snow, landing with an undignified bump.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Grace was upon her before she could utter a single word, her little body like a solid dull wait. She tensed, expecting the tickle that never came, instead she felt Grace's arms about her neck, her cold little face against her throat and Rita crawled up beside her, allowing herself to collapse down next to her.

"Well, this certainly isn't how I was expecting to spend my Monday evening."

Rita sighed into the air above them. At some point the snow had begun to ease, and now only a few flakes fell, turning spirals in the sky above them, and the stars began to shine, blinking from behind the clouds that streaked like grey fingers across the moon.

-.-

More tomorrow. I felt like what everyone wanted to see, was Connie and Rita have a snowball fight, and that is what I had planned, but then Grace got her way...funny how characters do what they like! Anyway, I hope it was ok, I'm sure I can manage to add some extra fluff to make up for it, if not! I'll also update my story, 'Heavy Rain' tomorrow, tomorrow as well.

Ner'night everyone, and thank you for the lovely reviews, as always. Oh, I almost forgot. There will be more smut to wear them out either in the next chapter, or the one after that. I'll try to make it a good one to celebrate my writing 100,000 words. (how did that happen?!)xxx