"Whoa!" I shouted from the highest cliff as I stepped down from the lift.

"Shut up." Ethan was with me--forever sunshine.

The mountains were so beautiful.They were blanketed with a thick layer of snow that seemed like powder from a distance.It was chilly, I was clad in layers along with my ski equipment."Can we start now?" I couldn't wait, I was too excited.

"You know how to ski?" I couldn't see Ethan's complete face due to our goggles but I was pretty sure he was surprised.

"Of course, I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"In that case, wait till everyone's here." His voice was chillier than the weather.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Heya!" Emilia came followed by everyone else.

"Let's get this show started." Ava said from behind.

Everyone started going one by one. I went after Emilia.

I could feel the thrill as I slid down with high speed, chilly winter air whipping at my face causing my hair to blow in all directions.I decided to do the zigzag and I was cheered on by Ava and Asher. It was the most fun I have had after Hawaii. I looked over and saw Em struggling a bit with her balance, in an effort to regain it, she wasn't looking ahead, there was a big brown boulder.

"Em!" I shouted, "Emilia!" , she looked towards me but it was too late I almost made my way there but Ace swept in before me. And like a hero swerved her away before catching her.

"Are you okay?"He asked.

"Yes, thanks for being a literal lifesaver." Em chuckled as she looked up at him.

Emilias was safe now, but I could see how he still hadn't let her go. And Emilia definitely didn't have a problem with that. We all made our way over to them.

"Emilia, be careful!" Asher said in a worried tone as he walked towards her. Ace let her go.

"I'm fine Asher."

"You better be or I'll leave you right here. You're not a kid anymore." I remembered the multiple times Em had fallen or tripped due to her clumsiness and Asher always saved her. The three of us had gotten close ever since Em's dad left them and they came to live with us. It was nothing new seeing Asher being this worried over her.

"I think we should take a break." Ethan announced as we nodded in unison.

We went in for some hot tea in the nearby shack and eventually got tired and came back to the cabin. As I entered the bathroom for a nice hot bath I was shocked to see the tub full of ice.Ethan sauntered in wearing nothing but a towel.

"If you'll give me some privacy."

"Yeah I will. But why the hell is the tub full of iced water?"

"It's ápres-ski. You need to soak in iced water to prevent muscle inflammation."

"Why would anyone in their right mind ever do that?"

"To prevent body ache?"I could sense the sarcasm dripping from his tone.

I just held my hands up in surrender and made my way out.

"You should do it too." He said as he gave me a smile and shut the door in my face.

I still couldn't believe it, so I searched it up and sure enough it was the truth. I never experienced body ache as I was a kid last time I went skiing and my metabolism was real fast but now I'm not sure enough. 

As he came out of the bathroom he took a seat in front of the fire place with coffee in his hand, looking like a very pretentious rich snob. Which he actually is.

I entered the bathroom and against my better judgement I decided to do it.

I hissed as I entered the tub.I could feel the goosebumps rising on my skin.Very courageously I immersed myself fully in the tub, it was unbearable for the first two minutes but then it was comfortable enough.I could feel my body relax and I let out a sigh of relief.

When I got out of the bathroom, I was very cold. I was literally shivering. Ethan looked up at me and instead of ignoring me he picked up the blanket and wrapped me with it. The two ends were held by each one of his hands and he was standing in front of me, looking directly in my eyes. All I could feel now was warmth and comfort. Was it his presence? I could feel myself getting lost in his deep oceanic blue eyes, again. It was like a spell been cast, neither of us were moving.

Without thinking anything else I moved forward and hugged him. He tensed up but after a moment he pulled the blanket even tighter around the both of us.

"I'm cold." I whispered.

"Let's get you into bed then." He whispered back as he pulled away.He held my hand and got me settled under the sheets.We were now very close to each other but then he started making a distance between us both emotionally and physically.I didn't want to take any more risks and close him off tonight so I decided to start a conversation.

"It was really nice how Ace saved Emilia today." I tried starting a conversation.

"Yeah." His voice was soft.

"Do you also think there's something between them or is it just me?"

"I don't know. I have never seen Ace so flustered as last night when they were near the stairs."

"Weird." I opened up my laptop and a notification popped up. I clicked on it and it was a memory from 8 years ago, the picture of me, Mom and Dad at the art museum.I remember the day vividly.

"Okay, Dad. We're already late could you hurry up please?"I whined as dad was working.

"Patience, Skylar. I said 10 minutes." I just huffed.

"Mom, for the last time I don't want to go." I could hear Asher yelling from the kitchen.

"Get up and get ready within 10 minutes Asher or you'll lose the keys to your car for a week." Mom called back from here.

We all reached the art museum. Since the day mom taught me how to paint she promised me she'd bring me here. Today was the 10th year exhibition and Dad volunteered to take us as he himself loved to look at art. Asher, however, was standing looking at his phone with a disgruntled face.I ignored him and followed Mom and Dad in.

"That right there is Primavera. It means 'spring' in Italian. It was painted by Sandro Botticelli, a very famous artist during the Florentine period." Mom said as she held her gaze to a beautiful large illustration.There were a lot of people in it. The one dressed as spring stood in the right side and above that was a ravenous black figure trying to snatch something.

"It really is beautiful." Dad muttered as he held mom's hand.

"Let's get a picture near it." Mom said as she handed the camera to Asher since he refused to be clicked anyways.

I could feel the pool of tears in my eyes and somehow with all my strength I was holding back a sob.But not for much long as the gargled sound left my throat, Ethan turned towards me.

"Skylar!What's wrong?"

I just shook my head."I was just reminded of mom."

"You were really close to her, weren't you?"

I just gave him nod.

He extended he handkerchief towards me and gestured me to take it. I took it and wiped the single tear that had managed to escape.

"I'm sorry, I'm not usually this emotional. It's just that--" I didn't want to complete the sentence, it was making it worse. 

Ethan turned towards me ,"You shouldn't be sorry. It is a great thing that you are so close with your parents.And I know you like to paint, I saw all the paintings in your house with your name on it, seems like your mom was supporting your passion." He had a distant look on his face.

"Yeah, everyone shares a special bond with their parents.Plus it's great when they support you for who you are."I said as I looked at Mom's calm face at my laptop. Ethan didn't say anything, he was hesitant.

"Not all of us, Skylar."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing" He just shook his head.

I didn't push him further. He pulled out his novel and started reading it and in no time he was asleep. I decided to get some warm milk so I made my way to the kitchen, Ethan's words were still ringing in my mind.As I went near the fireplace I saw Liam already sitting there alone.

"Can't sleep?" I asked him as I took a seat opposite to him.

"Yeah, you?" I just shrugged.

"Today was fun. I loved the part when Ace heroically saved Emilia from crashing. Not to undermine feminism or anything, I support it. But how they held each other was totally swoon-worthy." Liam said as he looked at me excitedly.

"So you think there's something between them ?" I was perking up, I wasn't the only one.

"Oh definitely, I could sense the sparks." We both giggled.

After a while he stood up,"Alright, I'm off to bed then." I needed to know about Ethan and there was no hope in expecting that from him. So Liam, it is.

"Liam, there was something I'd like to ask you. If you don't mind." My tone was apprehensive.

"Oh yeah, of course." I patted the space beside me and he took a seat.

"Well Ethan and I were talking about our parents today. And when I told him about us having a special bond with our parents, he just simply added 'not all of us'." It wasn't much of a question but I was still seeking answers.

Liam sighed and after a while he looked up at me, "Sky, Ethan and Dad have had problems ever since he graduated."

"Why?" 

"You see, ever since Ethan decided to be an architect he wanted to open a firm of his own. A small firm, which didn't handle big corporate projects but rather small, everyday structures. It was his dream to establish something of his own and make his own name.He never wanted to get in the family business because he knew he won't be able to share his unique ideas and have an individual identity but dad forced him anyway. He started training him and pushing him into it against his wishes. After graduating, they had a big argument after which Ethan joined the company." 

This explained why he was so mad when Mr. Zane asked me to look into his project during the finish. Liam took a deep breath and then started again.

"He might not be committed to it but he respects the workplace and does his best.When the merger came up along with the marriage and Dad stepping down simultaneously, he was apprehensive of being bound tighter to it. I think the little hope he had that one day he will actually open the firm, went down when the decision of merger was finalised.I remember him getting drunk to death, I had to cut him off."

A strange sensation gnaws at my chest--I really do care for him.

"Although he fulfilled everyone's expectations, he was never really able to fulfil his wishes."

I nodded gravely, feeling bad for both of them. It's not easy being distant from your parent, some of us can never see them even if we want to. To have them within physical reach and not talking to them was worse than that.

"Good night." Liam muttered as he went away. "Night." I whispered.

As I lay in bed that night, I kept thinking about what Liam told me. Now I understood why he didn't want this marriage , why he was fuming over Zane project and why he was so distant.

Ethan was reasonable, he was just having a hard time with all these changes.His idea of having an individual identity was completely valid. Everyone has a right to pursue their dreams and to not being able to do that is painful. 

I propped myself on my arm and I don't know what came over me but I started tracing over his features, his sharp jawline and an angled nose, it felt like a sculpture.I took my hand sliding through his soft brown hair but immediately stopped when he started stirring. Please don't wake up.

His eyes flew open and he looked at me in confusion, "What are you doing?" he asked in his raspy voice.

"I...um, I-uh..." Great now my tongue is tied.

He smirked, "I know , I'm irresistible. But you've got to get a hold over yourself." and then he turned the other side.

Cocky bastard.