"If you like him, why don't you just tell him that?"

"Couldn't I ask you the same thing?" I return.

"My situation is different. Vivian clearly doesn't like, but Vincent is totally crazy about you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He stopped hanging out with us until now. To be honest, we were resentful at first, until we figured out what was going on."

"What do you mean?

"The rumors about you..."

"Oh..."

"We didn't believe them, we just realized that Vincent was hanging out with you cause your friends dropped you."

"They didn't really 'drop' me necessarily. They were understandably upset. I stopped hanging out with them on purpose."

"Really? So you stood at the lunch table waiting for them cause you didn't want to be around them anymore?"

"You saw that?"

"Yeah. We sat there before fall break too, remember?"

"Oh...yeah.."

"How come you're not even a bit mad at your friends?"

"Everything was my fault."

"What? That Vincent likes you? Isn't it his fault then?"

"No, I messed up. I should've stopped being around Vincent the moment I knew Vivian liked him. Even now I'm clinging onto him. No wonder everyone finds me annoying."

"What? Are you going to give up whatever your friends like? Your house, your car, your pet? Are you going to keep letting other people run your life?"

"That's different. That stuff would belong to me first."

"And Vincent didn't? How do you know he didn't like you before Vivian liked him?"

"Of course he didn't."

"He did."

"Yeah right," I scoff.

"Don't you notice how Vincent is so protective of you at school? He even called out anyone who tried to spread rumors about you in the middle of class. He almost beat up Bryan in the locker room too."

"Wait, what? Is he crazy? If he gets anything on his record it will ruin his chances of any scholarships."

"That's not the point, Wendy. The point is, he's crazy about you. Other people might not understand or want to believe it, but he is."

"I'm scared to ruin everything. It's better for us to stay friends. Plus, Vincent will eventually find someone who's better for him."

"That's unfair to Vincent. You might think you know what's best for him, but you don't. And it's unfair to you. You're too considerate of your friends. If they were really your friends, they would try to understand you."

We sink into a silence and I reflect on Carson's words.

After a while, the group finally returned, a large doughnut box in Luke's hand. His other was occupied by a large chocolate doughnut. Logan crams the last bite of a cookies and cream one as he approaches us. Neither Vivian nor Vincent are eating. Vivian walks empty handed while Vincent holds two steaming cups in his hands.

"Why did you guys buy so many?"

"You should've gone with us, Wendy. There was so much stuff we couldn't choose, so we bought a dozen," Luke exclaims excitedly before finishing his doughnut. Logan takes the box from him and goes to grab another one. "Logan! Hand them their doughnuts, first. Jeez."

"I'm still full. You should try one, though Carson," I reach in to grab the s'mores one for him.

"I'm good-" I wave the doughnut in front of him. Unable to resist, Carson accepts in and completely devours it. He goes to eat another one along with Logan and Luke. When it comes to sweets, the three of them never seem to have a limit.

"Here, since it's cold." Vincent hands me the warm cup of hot chocolate, which I use to warm up my hands. Seeing how the boys were too occupied with the doughnut, Vincent drinks the other cup himself. Vivian stands awkwardly between us.

"Oh, do you want some?" I shyly ask Vivian.

"No, I'm fine," she quietly rejects.

"Let's go so we have enough time to ski." Vincent nudges me to get up. The boys fight over who get to hold the box of doughnuts. Carson wins.

"Would you guys mind if I come? Olivia and Evelyn probably won't be back in a while," Vivian asks.

"I can drop you off at the movie theaters," Vincent replies.

"Actually, I don't know which one they went to..."

"You could just ski with us if you want," Luke suggests.

"Can I?"

"Sure."

Vincent starts to walk off and everyone quickly follows him. Suddenly, Carson pulls me by my arms with his one free hand towards the passenger seat.

"Vincent doesn't seem like he's in a good mood, so its best if you sit in the front." Without another word, Carson slips into the back seat, followed by Logan, Luke, and then, who seems to linger outside and hesitant to get into the back. I check Vincent facial expression, and sure enough, he doesn't seem particularly happy. He has the same face since we got out of the ramen shop.

The car is quiet expect for the occasional opening of the doughnut box.

"Wendy, do you want your doughnut? We got you the mango one." Logan holds up a light orangey-yellow glazed one.

"Sure, just give me a small piece of it. You guys can have the rest."

Logan tears off a piece and hands it to me. The rest of it is split between them.

"Oh, wait. Is there a plain one?"

"Yep." Luke hands it to me.

"Thanks." I eat my bite of mango doughnut before tearing a piece off the glazed one. I wave it in front of Vincent, who's unresponsive. I press it against his lips until he finally gives in a takes a bite. A slight smile appears, signaling me to give him another piece.

"Wow, you really do feed Vincent," Luke says from the backseat. I jump a bit, forgetting that the other were in a car.

"Oh, no. It's because it's safer to have both hands on the wheel..." I 'm not lying. It became a habit after I starts to feed Vincent food in the car so he would keep both of his hands on the wheel.

Luke smirks but continues eating doughnuts.

"Aren't you guys going to get sick after eating all of that?" I might not be in the position to say so, since I eat just as much as them. However, I'm not a fan of sweets, so the thought of excessive amounts of dessert makes me nauseous. Change that to savory foods and I'm all for it.

"You can never have too much dessert," Logan dreamily sighs before biting down on what seemed like his fourth doughnut. The box was now empty and we finally reach the ski resort. We file out to go rent the ski's. We each pay for ourselves, though, Vincent tries to pay for mine, but I wouldn't let him. In the struggle, he fails to notice that I paid for his until he goes to pay.

Outside, on the metal picnic tables, we sit to fix the skis onto your boots.

"Vincent, could you help me ski? This is my first time." First time this year. We went a bunch of times last winter.

"It's my first time too," Vincent admits, sending everyone into shock. For once, the perfect Vincent Miller didn't know how to do something.

"Then why did you want to go?" Luke asks, genuinely confused.

"What? I wanted to try something new."

"Well, what i meant was it was my first time in forever. I used to ski a lot in middle school. Maybe I can teach you some basics," Vivian says, changing her story.

"Wendy's going to teach me. She told me she went skiing a lot last year."

"I'm a little rusty," I say.

"That's better than nothing," he smiles. "Can you help me with these skis?"

"Here, I can show you." Vivian stands up to walk towards Vincent, but he shifts his boots towards me.

"You guys can go ahead. Wendy and I will catch up."

Vivian follows the guys after giving us one last look. I know better than to look at her, but I do anyways, and it pains me. I try to shrug it off and move Vincent's foot so the skis lock onto his boots.

"Thanks."

"How am I supposed to teach you, Vincent? I'm an amateur."

"That'll will make it more fun. I don't need a pro yelling at me the entire time.," he jokes.

I try to teach Vincent to move with the skis so we can get to the lift, but he sort of just shuffles in place. Seeing this, it sends me into an uncontrollable laugh.

"Are you making fun of me?" Vincent tries to put on a hurt faces, but a laugh slips out.

"You look so cute, like a little kid."

"You think I'm cute?" He gives up on his attempt at a pout, and instead freely grins.

"Let's just ski!" I panic, leaving Vincent.

"Wait, Wendy." Vincent speeds up after me, suddenly able to move across the snow. We get onto the lift and I can feel Vincent getting nervous.

"Promise when I fall like an idiot you won't laugh at me."

"You're Vincent Miller. Just look charming like you always do while you're falling, " I tease.

"Wow, all these complements today. You're making me blush. First cute, now charming? You're flattering me, Ms. Lee."

"That's what I hear people call you..." I turn to shield my red face.

"So, what am I supposed to do again to get off?"

'When I say to, form a V with your skis and press down on the snow to slow down. Lean the opposite direction you want to turn."

"Sounds easy..."

The mound of snow above the hill of snow starts to come into sight.

"Okay, go." We place our skis onto the mound and I easily slide off the left. Vincent doesn't fall, but his leg strength is stronger than I anticipated. What am I thinking? He runs track. Of course his legs are strong. Instead of sliding away, he stops in the unloading area. The next couple of people start to come up, so I quickly push myself up to him, Grab his hand, and push back so that I'm moving backwards. Vincent is dragged by me, but his weight has too much momentum for me to stop. He slams into me wraps his arms around my waist. Before I can fall backwards into the pile of snow, he stops us and holds me up.

"Good job," I sigh. "I totally tried to fall on purpose, so you could learn."

"Sure, like how I purposely stood there to test your strength." Vincent sarcastically returns.

There's a silent pause, until we realize we were still holding onto each other. Awkwardly, we shuffle away and I continue my skiing lesson.

It's no surprise that after five additional trips up the bunny hill that Vincent gets the hang of it. We try a higher hill that goes up the mountain, and Vincent nearly beats me. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm better at turning, he probably would've . In our excitement, we forget about the others, who were waiting at the tables after three hours. Only Vivian wasn't there. Luke says it was because she felt sick, so she got Olivia and Evelyn to get her after their movie ended. The weather turned worse, and the resort closed early.

"Maybe we should just stay at my aunt's hotel," Carson offers.

"I feel bad. We didn't even pay for our last stay," I sheepishly say.

"Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. If we stay at another hotel, we're practically paying her competition. Plus, it's too dangerous to drive home. They said there might be a blizzard soon."

"Well, okay. thanks."

As we drive up to the hotel, it's much more busy than the last time. Almost every parking spot is filled.

"I guess everyone's staying cause of the blizzard," Logan says, amazed by the number of cars.

"Yeah, I've never seen it this crowded before. Good for your aunt," say Luke.

"I'm not even sure if there's going to be enough room," Carson realizes.

Sure enough, there wasn't. We got a single, couple's room. It consisted of only one bed, a couch, a small kitchen, and a small dining table. Luckily, the couch is once again able to fold out. But this time, the boys insisted that Vincent and I get the bed since last time we slept on the couch.

I give Dad a call.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hi, Wendy. When are you coming home?"

"Actually, there's a blizzard, so it's too dangerous to drive down the mountain. I'm staying at a friend's aunt's hotel again."

"Is Vincent with you?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. Tell him to keep you safe."

"No, I'm not going to tell him that. It's embarrassing."

Vincent grabs the phone from me, which I assumed was after he was eavesdropping on me.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she's safe...Yep...Okay...Yeah...Bye."

"What did he ask you?" I curiously question Vincent.

"Nothing," he grins, and hands the phone back to me. There's something between my dad and Vincent, but I have no clue what it is.

Suddenly, the power goes out.

"Give me a second. I'm going to see what's going on." Carson leaves the four of us behind.

"We should go to the shop downstairs and get some food since we can't go out," Luke proposes.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Logan pouts.

"After ramen and four donuts?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Skiing drained all my energy. I need a recharge," he defends.

"We probably should before the other guests buy everything." Vincent agrees.

I open the window to look outside. It a matter of a few minutes of us checking in, it was already snowing so heavy everything was surrounded my a white, icy cloud that was almost impossible to see past a few meters.

We grab cold sandwiches, chips, some drinks, and Carson brings back a bunch of burgers and fries from the restaurant inside the hotel. He also brings back a deck of cards, which we play until the sun sets, which we then couldn't see. After eating a bit, we decide to sleep. They still couldn't get the power back on, so we couldn't take a shower with freezing cold water. Bored, it was easy for us to fall asleep. Well, at least the boys on he couch did. Vincent and I laid awake next to each other.

"Are you asleep, Wendy?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are you talking?"

"I'm sleep talking."

"Wendy."

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad there's a blizzard?"

"Why?" I turn to face, Vincent, who's been looking at me this whole time without me realizing it.

"Cause now I have an excuse."

"Excuse for wha-" Vincent pulls me in against his chest, resting his chin at the top of my head."

"This."

"Vincent, the boys," I warned, referring to the guys sleeping on the couch. Since there was only one bed, everything was in a single room.

"I'm cold... because of the blizzard. So let's stay like this" It was cold in the room since the heating was off from the power outage.

"I'm cold too." Without thinking, I hug Vincent, wrapping my arms around his upper back. I nuzzle my face against his collar bone, and we drift off to sleep. It was only because I was cold, I promise. At least that's what I told myself.