I have finished this arc (as I'm publishing this chapter, not writing it) so there will be weekly updates till the end.

Writing this arc in the middle of summer is so weird for me. Like, it's winter for this story but I'm literally in a heatwave. Now I'm publishing in autumn and it's getting colder. (Fun fact, the first arc name I had in mind for this arc was Autumn Turns to Winter).

Winter Wonderland: Part Two

For the Blackburns, it was their first winter with snow which meant the obvious: a winter photoshoot.

At least to Winter Hayle-Blackburn.

Winter initiated the photoshoot and Cinder went along with it because she had no choice (and since being cold wasn't a good enough excuse to go back inside. Cinder believes the opposite but her body was too frozen to run back home and she wouldn't want to disappoint her cousin).

It didn't help that their first pose was on the ground in a pyramid. Cinder's the bottom left corner of a pyramid, Scarlet's bottom right, Winter's in the middle, Thorne and Kai are on top of them, and in the centre top of the boys is Cress (because she's the smallest). She needed Wolf to lift her on top because she couldn't climb the others without toppling the tower or kicking heads. He had to help her get in a similar position as the others since she could feel their bodies shaking at the pressure of the added weight.

Theoretically, this post was a good aesthetic. In practice, this tower wouldn't hold.

The moment Wolf put Cress down, he knew he had seconds to snap the perfect photo. Wolf scampered back and pulls out his phone which was already on (thanks to planning and knowing he wouldn't have much time). Instead of tapping on the camera button each time, he holds it down to capture a blur. Every second the pyramid stood to its collapse moments later is captured.

Scarlet face-plants in the snow when Kai lands on her back and Cress rolls on him, making Scarlet take on the extra weight. Cinder screams when Thorne's elbow jams into her back and he roars laughing. Winter is unfazed by the chaos and still smiling.

"You should've been in the pyramid!" Kai yells at him.

"Thank the stars I wasn't," Wolf mutters, scrolling through the photos with a bright smile.

When he's done, he captures a quick photo of Scarlet popping her head up from the snow and spitting it out.

-o-

Winter: [sends pictures of the winter photoshoot including the group shots, nature shots, and some selfies]

Jacin Bae: I can just see those when you post them later. You know I try my hardest to be your first like and comment.

Winter: Sneak preview ;)

Jacin Bae: But you look cute, as always.

Winter: Wait for it… I'm sending you some you'll like for sure.

Winter: [sends a spam of photos where Cinder's complaining, whining, screaming, shivering, and being miserable about the snow]

Jacin Bae: Aces, I love you.

-o-

Winter smiles as she keeps sending Jacin photos. Suddenly, a snowball pelts her in the face. Winter jumps, dropping her phone in the snow. She shrieks, diving and sweeping around as snowballs continue flying over her head. Once Winter finds her phone, she sweeps off the screen and texts Jacin a quick brb being ambushed before shoving her phone in her pocket. Winter gathers snow in her hands before smashing a snowball together and pelting it at Scarlet.

Kai runs up to Cinder from behind, grabbing her by the waist and wrapping his arms around her. They teether on the spot and Kai kisses the side of her head and neck repeatedly. Cinder smiles, turning to face him and smashes her snowball in his face. Kai grunts before shoving a snowball down her jacket.

"Aces!" Cinder yells before tackling him to the ground.

They land near a snowman that some kids made before. Cinder rests on top of him, smiling as Kai moves strands of hair away from her face. He holds her head in his hand as she leans down to kiss him.

They're too busy with each other to notice Cress peeking out from the side of the snowman. When she sees that it's only Cinder and Kai making out, she calms down before watching them kiss in awe.

Cress didn't want to be a part of this. She hopes that the others are too busy attacking each other that they forget she exists. Last she saw, Scarlet and Wolf were pummelling Thorne and Winter while Kai and Cinder stayed in their own snow globe.

Cress was about to look out again and check where the others are but something cold falls on her head. Cress shrieks as she brushes the snow off. She turns around and sees Scarlet smirking at her from behind the snowman, waving with her fingerless gloves. The head of the snowman is gone because it was pushed onto her head.

"How dare you do that to my Crescent Moon?!" Thorne yells as he unleashes a fury of rapid-fire snowballs at Scarlet. Cress watches in awe as she watches her boyfriend go out on Scarlet. She admires the romantic gesture, the act of chivalry, but only if Thorne knew that Wolf was on his tail since he was after his Scarlet.

With an armful of snowballs, he uses his free hand to chuck headshots at Thorne. Cress won't lie. It was entertaining to watch Thorne try to zigzag his way out of Wolf's shots, only to crash into a tree. Scarlet laughs as she runs around, jumping over Thorne as she runs back to Wolf. He holds up his arms and she high-fives him, lacing their hands as she circles them back down. Thorne locks eyes with Cress and winks at her, making her heart flutter.

"Ha!" Cinder exclaims, pointing at Thorne who remains on the ground. She gets up and runs over to get a closer look at the wonderful sight. She sighs contently. "I love winter!"

"I love you too!" Winter sings back, knowing that Cinder was referring to the season in her words. Still, she loves her cousin.

"We should've embarrassed Thorne earlier," Kai says. If only they knew that would get Cinder to change her mind on the snow, they would've built Thorne into a snowman.

"This isn't my day…" Thorne grumbles. He looks up and sees Cress running towards him. "Nevermind it's getting better."

Cress holds out a hand to help him up. He takes it but pulls her towards him. She yelps as she lands in his arms and he hugs her tightly. She looks at sees Winter holding out her phone to take a photo of them. When she lowers her phone, Cress mouths her thanks as Winter gives her a thumbs-up, meaning she'll send it to her to post.

"Don't kiss me, my nose is running," Scarlet says as she wipes her nose with her sleeve.

"I wasn't going to," Wolf responds.

Scarlet eyes him. This must be a test or his brain has frostbite. "Do we have to go to the emergency room?"

Wolf smiles, a small laugh escaping his mouth. "I always want to kiss you but I had something else in mind."

Wolf cups Scarlet's head and bunches her curls together. He lifts her hair and shakes it around, making the snowflake that clung onto them fly out like a snow globe. Scarlet laughs at Wolf's childlike joy etched on his face but screams when everyone else starts pelting them with snowballs.

Now that I have finished writing this arc, I'll be doing weekly updates on Saturdays till the end.