Songs for chapter forty two:
1. This Love by Taylor Swift
2. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur

|Skyler|

~Little over a month later~

"It's so fucking cold," Ryan complained when we stepped out of Aden's car. He was already dressed in a thick winter coat, a scarf and a two pairs of pants — according to him anyway.

The snow had finally fallen in New York City, and it seemed like I was the only nerd who was ecstatic for it. Back home, snow fell in early November or sometimes earlier. I'd just about pulled out my hair waiting for it. Everyone else begged to differ though.

The month had passed by in a smooth bliss, almost to the point where I could barely believe it myself. McKenna had disappeared, even though she still went to Cypress High, you wouldn't even know she existed. Doctor Miranda was satisfied with our sessions that I ended up not even touching the anti depressants she'd prescribed months ago.

"Stop being so dramatic," Josie shot him a teasing glare that he returned even though I could almost see her own teeth chattering.

"How am I being dramatic? It's like 14 degrees!" he grumbled.

I looked at Aden, my eyebrows furrowed slightly. It was way colder than that. "14 degrees..."

"Fahrenheit," Aden confirmed.

Who uses Fahrenheit anyways? I speak Celsius.

"It's not that cold, we'll be fine," I told him. I didn't actually know the conversion to Celsius.

"Says you, Canada," Josie smirked and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Who's idea was it to go on a sledding double date?" Ryan raised an eyebrow as he looked between Aden, Josie and I while we walked towards the large hill from the parking lot. Aden and Ryan dragged the sleds behind them as we walked and they screeched as they rubbed against the concrete.

Technically, this wasn't just a normal date, it was our small celebration of Christmas since all of us would be with our families that day, and me with Aunt Claire.

It would be weird and heartbreaking to spend Christmas without my mom, but I knew I would be able to get through it with everyone I had with me now. I wouldn't be alone.

"Yours," the three of us pointed out simultaneously and he gave us a sheepish smile. We made it to the top of the hill and Josie peered down. She was the only one out of all of us who'd never gone before. Aden stepped behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, planting a soft kiss on my cheek as we waited for Josie and Ryan to get on their sled.

It was a typical sledding hill that we had to drive almost an hour to get to, with a steep run all the way down and a monstrous climb back up from the bottom. I could see the faint, small protrusions under the snow that was bound to let us get in some good jumps. Other families and kids sledded down the hill around us, their screams echoing through the field.

"Okay let's gooooo," Ryan placed his sled on the snow covered ground and he hopped on top, taking the front. Josie reluctantly climbed on behind him, turning to me. She opened her mouth to protest as she placed her arms around Ryan's waist. But before she could say anything, Aden gave the sled a hard shove and they started down the hill.

Aden set his own sled down onto the ground, looking up at me with a smirk. "Are you ready?" Josie's screams could be heard faintly as she and Ryan raced down the hill.

To be honest, I didn't know how it was possible for Aden to still look so good bundled up in his thick winter jacket and scarf. He looked like a Calvin Klein model while I looked like a dumpling in my coat and hat.

I snorted, "I was born ready."

I slid into the front of the sled and I felt him give it a hard push before joining in behind me on the sled.

Within moments, it gained enough momentum and we began rolling down the hill. Slowly at first before it began picking up speed. The frosty wind whipped against my face as it weaved between the strands of my hair and snowflakes that I'd never noticed before landed on my face, like tiny cold pinpricks. My excited whoops blended in with Aden's as we raced down the hill.

With the adrenaline rushing through my veins, I didn't even notice as our sled jerked forward on the uneven ground beneath us.

I had barely registered what happened when our sled flipped over and my back landed on the ground. I let out a yelp when Aden's chest smacked my face as he fell on top of me, almost knocking all of the air out of my lungs from his weight. We laid there for a moment, breathing hard and recovering from the fall.

"Aden get off me, you fatass," I grumbled, my voice muffled against his chest.

He groaned, lifting himself off the ground with his arms, his hands in the snow next to my head, relieving some of his weight from my body. "I'm sorry Clumsy. Are you okay?" his eyebrows furrowed together in concern as he scanned over my face.

Subconsciously, my eyes trailed over his face, now dotted with small specks of snow. His hair now ruffled all over the top of his head, some strands stuck out and snowflakes were scattered all around.

I couldn't help the smile that spread over my lips as I took in his messy hair; it looked like something straight out of a comic book. The tip of his nose and ears were pink from the cold. It was also endearing how concerned he was.

"What's so funny?" he asked, giving me an amused smile.

"Nothing," I giggled as Aden got up from on top of me.

"I'm not fat by the way," he pointed out as he pulled me up swiftly by the hand. I dusted the snow off of myself and out of my hair as Aden did the same. "It's 170 pounds of pure muscle," he smirked.

I gave him a flat look as I smacked him lightly on the stomach. "Sure, and I'm Beyoncé."

"Take it back," he raised an eyebrow at me, a spark of mischief appeared in his eyes.

"Nope," I said. "It's the truth." I leaned in to him, my face inches from his as I tapped his stomach lightly. I stared into his eyes, smirking, "Where's the muscle?"

It was ironic how I could feel his toned stomach underneath the thick jacket he wore.

A sly smile spread over his lips and I blinked at him from the sudden change in demeanor. My eyes widened when he charged towards me, and I sprung into action, sprinting in the other direction. But I was just a second too late.

His arms wrapped around my waist as he lifted me off the ground, my feet slipping from underneath me as we landed on the snow. He turned us slightly and he landed over top of me again.

I didn't even have time to react from the fall when I felt his fingers digging into the crook of my neck. His fingertips grazed against my skin, setting an explosion of tingles around where he touched. I jerked up in an futile attempt to avoid his fingers as he tickled me. My hands pushed against his chest but it didn't faze him at all. I tried to breathe through my laughter, though it was tougher said than done. It was torture.

"Take it back," I heard him cackle through my laughter. His fingers subjected me to another burst of tingles that left me panting from my laughter.

"I..I take it back," I wheezed.

His fingers left my neck and I looked up at his smug expression, taking a deep breath of the frigid air around me. "That's more like it," he smirked, leaning in with his puckered lips.

I turned my head in the last second and his lips touched my cheek. "You can stick your kiss." I chortled, feeling my cheeks heat up from our close proximity.

He pouted, "Aww come on Clumsy, you know that I love you." He leaned in again and this time I didn't move my head.

His lips connected with mine and I melted into it, my body suddenly ablaze amidst the frigid air around us. He deepened the kiss for a short moment, his hands tucking underneath my neck as he pulled me closer. He held his lips against mine for another couple of seconds before pulling away again, cutting it much shorter than I would've liked.

But a rational voice in the back of my mind reminded me that we were in public — and there were kids.

We got up from the snow and I proceeded to dust the snow off of myself — again — as we began making our way to the top of the hill again, Aden dragging the sled up with him. When my clothes were no longer covered in snow, I looked up and almost groaned, realizing that we'd barely even made it halfway up.

"Why does this hill have to be so big. It's like thirty seconds of fun and then another ten minutes of climbing," I grumbled. I didn't have the athletic ability to make it all the way up.

Aden turned around, an eyebrow raised in amusement when he stopped walking. He bent over with his back towards me.

"What are you doing?" I stopped next to him.

"Get on my back, idiot," he said it in the most obvious tone. My cheeks burned again despite the cold and I felt the beginnings of butterflies begin to swarm in my stomach. "Come on." He watched me expectantly and I gave in, walking behind him and hopping onto his back.

I laid my head on his shoulder in attempt to hide my blazing cheeks as he trudged up the hill. I pressed a lingering kiss onto Aden's cheek, and they turned pink immediately. Suddenly, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

I glanced up the hill as we approached the top to see Ryan and Josie prepping to go down again.

"You go in the front this time," Ryan urged her and she shook her head.

"Being behind you was scary enough," she countered. Ryan looked over at us when we came up next to them and I jumped off of Aden's back.

"We saw that fall, it was hilarious," he chuckled.

"No, it hurt," I rolled my eyes, giving Aden a light shove as I remembered his weight on top of me.

"Okay fine, I'll go in the front this time," she glared down hard at the hill, as if that comfort her. Ryan cheered as he hopped on the back of the sled that was already covered in snow.

Both his and Aden's jeans were soaked from the snow. My own pants were too but thankfully I brought an extra pair.

Josie slid into the sled in front of Ryan and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer towards him. He gave her a big kiss on the cheek, earning a shy smile from her.

"Okay, whenever you're ready Aden," Ryan called back to him. Aden came forward, giving them a gigantic shove, even harder than the first time and Josie's screams pierced loudly through the air as they flew down the hill. I laughed when I saw all the snow plaster onto her face as they skidded down.

We followed right after, and for the next couple of hours we slid down the hills and took the monstrous hike back up until none of us could feel our feet, fingers or even our faces. The weather and the cold wind only grew more relentless as the day went on.

Aden and I made it back to the top of the hill again, for the tenth time and I glanced back down at Josie and Ryan at the bottom of the hill.

They were occupied at the moment so I knew it was the perfect time. The sun was beginning to set even though it was only about three o' clock in the afternoon.

I glanced over at Aden, who plopped down onto the snow, his jeans already too wet for him to care. He muffled his laughter when he saw Ryan kick a foot full of snow onto Josie, covering her hair and jacket with it and she laughed as she shoved him over onto the snow.

"We'll probably have to go soon, but I totally don't want to," he told me, glancing up at the darkening sky for a short moment. I sat down next to him, fishing out a small gift bag from my jacket pocket and placed it gently onto his lap. He tore his gaze from Josie and Ryan onto the bag, looking up at me with his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's an early Christmas present. Since Christmas is in a couple of days, I didn't want to wait any longer. I'd rather give it to you early than late," I explained, a sheepish smile spreading over my face. It was a cheesy gift that I'd picked out, but I thought the idea of it outweighed how cliche it was. I hoped Aden thought the same since this was the first gift I'd ever given him.

He frowned, "I feel like an idiot. I left your gift at my house."

I chuckled, "And you can give it to me on Christmas. Just open it."

He nodded and took the bag in his hands, tipping it over. A bracelet fell out onto his lap. It was a silver chained bracelet, with a keypad in the centre of it. The only way to open it was with a key, that was with me in the form of a necklace.

Aden looked up at me with soft eyes and a gentle smile. All of my worries of it being too cheesy diminished. "Let me take a wild guess, you have the key?"

I nodded, pulling out the key from around my neck, underneath the jacket. I slipped it into the keyhole and the bracelet opened smoothly with a small click.

"Do you like it?" I asked, suddenly anxious.

He chuckled, his eyes meeting mine with the most tender expression I'd ever seen him make. "I love it Clumsy."

I almost sighed a sigh of relief as he placed it over his wrist and clicked it shut, locking it into place again. "I didn't want you to think it was too typical."

"Yeah but isn't that what's best?" he gave me a crooked smile. "I love you, now come here."

He leaned in, pressing his lips against mine for the most gentle kiss I'd ever experienced. My eyes fluttered shut in attempt to transfer every emotion I felt to him, so he would know exactly how much I loved him too.

We broke apart, his forehead leaning against mine as his finger played with the ring he'd given me on my finger.

Aden and I had gotten through so much together, and of course there were bound to be many more obstacles ahead of us. Our lives would never be fair, or perfect in anyway. But here, with Aden it was as close as it would ever get to being flawless.

"Us against the world right, Clumsy?"

I smiled, "Right."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This is the last chapter of the book! Thanks for staying with me this long and please do vote, comment and share if you liked this chapter!

We've still got the epilogue next! Stay tuned!

~SweetnessInTheSalt