Let It Snow Part 11

"I'll take you."

"But it's bad out, anda""

"I'll take you home."

"No, I don't want you to come home with me."

"I never said anything about that."

"I know, but I'm afraida I'lla," she trails off.

"But I thought something happened tonight. I thought wea""

"Yesa Maybe. But I still think I should go home tonight."

"Okay," he says, and backs away.

"I'm sorry, Michael," she says and moves out of the living room toward Tim. Tim opens the door and they move out into the snow. Amy and Wendy follow them out.

Michael moves over to the bay window, tries to watch her leave, but the visibility is poor, and he can barely distinguish the shapes of each body. Eric moves into the living room, and stands beside Michael, and they watch as the car lights brighten to life. The red brake lights of each car illuminate and start to ease out of the driveway, and slowly disappear down the road.

In the dining room, Annie is still standing at the picture window, in the same spot she was standing when she first saw the snow. Max is still standing behind her. He's close, and she's afraid to turn around again, afraid to face him. But each second she's suspended in front of him is fraught with increasing depth. She can feel it in her chest, her heart galloping at an ever-increasing pace.

"Should I go?" Max asks.

"Do you think you should go?"

"I'm not worried about the snow. I'm just down the road after all. I guess what I'm really asking is, do you want me to go?"

"No, of course not. Not if you want to stay."

"So, you want me to stay?"

"I didn't say that."

"But has my being here made you uncomfortable?"

"I can't say it wasn't a surprise," she says, catching his eyes through the reflection in the window.

"I almost didn't come."

"Why?"

"I didn't think it would be a good idea."

"And?"

"I'm glad I did," he says, talking to her reflection. "And you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you glad I came?"

"Ask me later."

"So, you do want me to stay."

She turns around, looks at him. Her heart stops for a second, and then it just hums.

"Yes. I want you to stay."

The phone rings.

"I'll get it," Eric calls from the living room. He looks at the screen of the phone to see who's calling.

"Who is it?" Annie asks, standing at the doorway of the living room now.

Eric shrugs his shoulders.

"h.e.l.lo?" he says, and then a look of recognition flashes across his face. "But you're both okay?" he asks, and then listens. "Well, how far did you get beforea?"

"Who is it?" Annie asks again.

Eric mouths something to her, but she can't decipher it.

"Okay, I'm on my way," he says, and hangs up the phone.

"What was that about?" Annie asks.

"That was Tim. They didn't even make it to the stop sign before the car slid off the road, and now they're stuck."

"What do you mean they're stuck?" Annie asks.

"Just off the side of the road, and he can't get the car out of the snow."

"They're alright though?" Annie asks.

"What do you mean by off the road?" Michael asks.

"Guys, it's nothing. He said they're fine. The car's fine. They probably just need a push."

"Maybe they should just come back and spend the night," Annie says. "Just leave the car until the morning."

"Well, let me get out there first. If it's not that bad, and I can get them back on the road, they'll be on more well travelled roads into the city," Eric says, as he moves out of the room and down the hall. He goes to the bedroom closet to grab his coat, and moves to the front door where Annie is standing, waiting for him.

"Do you need any help?" Max asks, standing just inside the dining room.

"I'll call if I do," Eric says, putting his coat on.

"I'm coming with you," Michael says, and moves down the hall to get his coat.

"That's not necessary," Eric calls after him.

"I'm coming," Michael says from the bedroom. He grabs his coat, throws it on, moves back toward Eric at the front door.

"Be careful," Annie says. "And tell them not to risk it if the roads are too terrible. Remind them that there's room here."

"I will," Eric says, and opens the door.

Michael follows him out into the snow.

"How did it get so deep so quickly?" Michael asks, shutting the door behind them. "There wasn't even a flurry when I got here."

"Yeah, well, remember there was still a covering from last week's storm."

Michael stops.

Eric stops and looks at him, "What're youa"?"

"It's Holly."

Holly is standing under the streetlight at the end of the driveway.

"I think I'll stay," Michael says, "if that's alright."

"No, that's fine. I thought you might," Eric says, and moves toward Holly. "How bad is it?" he asks her as they cross each other's path in the driveway.

"I"m not sure," she says absently to Eric as she approaches Michael at the front of the house.

Michael watches her emerge from the surreal, gauzy glow of the snow and says, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight than watching you under that streetlamp just now, surrounded by snow."

"Yeah, well, that's how I planned it," she says, smiling at him.

"You're covered in snow," he says, brus.h.i.+ng the stuff from her shoulders.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, it is snowing."

"Right," he says, smiling. He's grown accustomed to her teasing him. "Do you wanna go inside?"

"Let's give it a second."

"Okay," he says, and they just stand there, silently looking into the endless walls of snow.

"Did you ever notice that it doesn't feel as cold when it snows?" she asks.

"I guess I never really thought about it."

"I thought you thought of everything," she says, looking at him, a playful look on her face.

"You'll find that I'm not as smart as I pretend to be."

"Will I?" she asks.

He doesn't answer. He just looks at her, watches her watching him.

She finally looks away.

"Can I ask you something?" he asks.

"Yeah."

"Do you believe in signs?"

"I do tonight."

Eric sees the brake lights of Tim's car materialize through the maze of falling snow. It's about a hundred feet away. The night is quiet, but, somehow, the snow suppresses the normal nighttime disturbances. And, it's not just the noise that the snow affects, the snow also seems to carry its own light, lifts the weight from the darkness.

Eric is enjoying this little, private stroll. He'd been feeling like he'd like to have a minute to himself all evening, a moment to be free of all the drama between Max and Annie, Michael and Holly. It's not as if he was blind to what was so obviously happening between Max and Annie. It scared the h.e.l.l out of him to see the effect they still had on each other. But he also empathized with how difficult it must be for them. It has been forever since they've seen each other, and there is obviously something unresolved between them, something that had caused them to both fear and greatly antic.i.p.ate this reunion. One thing was clear though, he had underestimated their feelings for each other all this time. It wasn't until tonight that he really saw, first hand, how far their love transcended youthful infatuation, or, worse, that their love might still persist.

He taps on the driver's side window of Tim's car. Tim rolls down the window.

"You need a push?" Eric asks.

"No, I'm not really stuck."

"What do you mean you're not stuck?"

"I was trying to figure out a way to get Holly back to your house. So, I did my best to fake a slide off the road, and then really hit the gas in the snow to see if I could get the tires to spin. When they started spinning, I told her I was stuck and called you. And she bought it," Tim says, smiling at Eric. "I don't think she was paying much attention anyway. Her mind was still clearly on your friend, Michael. She just neededa"

"A push."

"Right," Tim says. "Sorry I dragged you out here."

"No, don't be. I'm happy you got Holly to come back. I've been trying to give her my own little push for awhile now."

"She's ready. Everyone knows it but her," Tim says. "She's just scared. But I think your friend has been good for her. She's changed these last few months. She's happier. And he seems nice."

"He is."

"He seems a little intense, but, overall, he seems alright."

They're quiet for a second, not quite knowing what to say.

"Outside of the danger of the snow on the roads," Tim says, "it really is beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is. Something about a snow storm that gives me the same excitement, the same joy I felt when it would snow before Ia When I was younger. It's nice."

Tim blows some smoke out his car window. "Well, I'm going toa""