Snowballed

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee stood on the glass, frozen surface of the lake, kicking lightly at it. His feet hit it with a pleasing, sonorous thud- almost as pleasing as the sound of the snow as it crunched beneath his boots. And the crackle of dry leaves. Before they'd all been buried beneath the snow, he'd had some real fun kicking them about like a child and making a mess. He was jealous of Jude's enhanced senses. This sight must look bloody incredible through those eyes.
And Maddie would look all the more beautiful.
She stood behind him, on the sloping, snowy bank, with the flakes catching in her curls as they fell. Her lips were pressed together, her blue eyes focused on him and watching him- but they were far away and thoughtful. He'd come to know that look well. It always meant she was thinking.
And she seemed to think a lot when she looked at him.
Lee tried to ignore her eyes on him; even though he felt them like they were burning. He crouched now, his gloved hand pressing with another pleasing crunch into the snow that spattered the solid lake. His fingers curled, crushing the snow further into itself. Slowly, it seemed to form a strange, solid object, and as Lee picked it up curiously, he realized what he had done.
This was a snow ball.
Happily, Lee scooped up more snow, patting it into the little white lump, and watching it grow in his very hands. Picking it up, Lee jumped to his feet; the sound of his boots on the lake slightly louder this time as he thumped against it. He took a step backwards, onto the bank, clutching his prize close.
Then Maddie coughed.
And Lee was blessed with a beautiful, beautiful vision...
"Think fast!" he cried, jubilantly- and aimed the snowball with powerful, perfect force and accuracy- straight at Maddie!

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Temptation was an awful thing.
It was temptation that was making her stare at him, following him with her keen gaze, watching the snowflakes land in his hair. It was temptation that was forcing her into lapsing back into different memories that only made her want to flinch in pain.
And it was temptation that was suggesting that she do awful things.
Lee was moving about, studying the snow in an entranced, almost child-like way. Madeleine wanted to know what he was thinking - in a way, almost to see it all through his eyes. The snowy, solid water was beautiful to her eyes, but she envied him a little of the wonder that she could see in his brown eyes.
It was funny. Even as a different colour, his eyes were still so easy to read.
He crouched down, touching the snow with his gloved hands, and for once, Madeleine dragged her eyes away from him to look about the lake.
The grey sky swirled with white flakes of snow, which fell on the lake, covering its surface in a semi-solid blanket of fluffy white. Many of the trees surrounding the lake were bare, stripped of their leaves, oddly naked and undignified, brown standing out in a sea of clean, clean white.
She liked it though. It was different than what it had been a few weeks ago.
Was it really only that long ago that they had been flying over the lake? Some days, it seemed like a lifetime before. Others, it was barely a minute.
The constant change of pace was so confusing. And there was always the temptation - Madeleine wanted to tell him about this, but there was that part of her that didn't quite dare to go into detail.
Suddenly, Lee stood up, brightly exclaiming, "Think fast!" and swiftly hurling a snowball with incredible speed straight towards her.
She didn't have enough time to dodge it completely, but moved so that it only grazed her shoulder, before, laughing, scooping up a ball of snow and throwing it back at Lee. "You sod!"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He felt childish; immature and foolish- but he didn't care. That was it. Carefree. S'like he'd never really appreciated what that emotion could mean before. Maybe all those past memories were a burden. This was pure guesswork though, since he didn't remember what it was like then.
But could it really have been better than this?
Her snowball caught him full on the chest; winding him slightly with its force. It was so easy to forget what strength she held within her slim, small frame. He brushed the snow off himself, and it soaked into his gloves, freezing and numbing his fingers. He glared at her, wiping his hands with a new challenge in his eyes.
And the best part was, it was reflected in hers.
Quick as he could, Lee jumped to the ground again, scooping up a ball in each hand and aiming them both at Madeleine. She dodged him easily, tossing one his way, which he caught, grinning. Rounding on her with her very own weapon, Lee threw it at her; wondering just how many times she could get lucky...
A lot, apparently. The human Madeleine was blessed with the agility of the Maddie cat.
So Lee had only one option left.
A chase.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine dodged his onslaught of snowballs, laughing as she flung another snowball at him, silently daring him to catch it.
Catch it he did, and swiftly pitched it back at her, making her squeak in delight as she dodged it again, smirking maddeningly as he continued to throw the white missiles at her, occasionally interrupted by a few of her own shot towards him.
Lee's eyes were dancing with laughter and carelessness, and she found herself charmed by them all over again; the expression was one she'd seen before, and the sudden switch of iris colour couldn't change that. He seemed to give up on the missile war, and suddenly made for her, chasing her across the ice with a speed she wished she had.
She dropped the snowball that was in formation in her hand and fled, sliding smoothly across the slippy surface.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

She'd landed on the glacial surface of the lake now, rounding and circling forward ahead of him. Lee pursued across its icy surface smoothly and swiftly; his own sense of balance surprising him. She was laughing- teasing him and tempting him forward. Snow still fell from the sky and he constantly was forced to duck and dive, firing snowball after snowball...
She dodged every one.
Spurred on by her challenge, Lee forced his limbs to speed up, and soon, he was drawing on level with her. A snowball lay in his hand; and he tossed it towards her- heavy, sailing and hard- it flew straight towards her...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

It was surprising how easy it was to forget sometimes.
The snowball caught her square in the shoulder, exploding in a shower of white flakes and icy cold water.
Cursing playfully, Madeleine quickly caught up another ball of snow, and flung it at Lee, her blue eyes dancing in amusement and exhilaration. The sense wasn't entirely different to the one that she'd experienced when zooming across the lake last time...
But this time, it was on foot, and Lee was catching up to her even faster than he had before...

[Kira & Lee Norris]

There, she was right there; mere inches from his outstretched arms. They were veering off to the left again, back towards the bank; a little hill made of snow awaited them. Lee saw it, and saw his chance, and his feet fired up fast and furious with the hot, spicy taste of adrenaline spurring him on. He was barely breathing- he was so close- so close he could even smell the sweetness of her flying curls and then- wham!
He collided with her, his arms snaking around her body and trapping her as they barrelled fully forward, skidding across the ice in a mad dance. Both struggled wildly against the other, fighting wildly for breath and balance, but just as Madeleine freed herself of his grip, she tripped, and Lee came tumbling down with her, straight into the soft mound of snow.
Rolling back, one arm still around her shoulder, Lee lay panting and laughing. All he could see was the white snow, slightly above his head, and the laughter on Madeleine's lips as she leaned over him.
He caught his breath, still grinning, but still slightly speechless. All he could do was chuckle.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

So easy to forget...
Madeleine lay back on the snow, wet and panting, but laughing as she caught her breath from the chase and being winded by the force with which he crashed into her.
Lee lay beside her, one arm around her shoulders, chuckling at her.
Propping herself onto her side and leaning slightly over him, Madeleine studied him as she panted slightly, a small smile on her lips.
The ends of his dark hair were slightly wet from the snow, and, God, his smile was still the same, his laugh ever so lovely.
It was enough to trick her into believing that it was still three weeks ago.
"Sorry you're wet," she smiled, before impulsively leaning forwards and bringing her lips to meet his.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

When you were carefree, you forgot things. You forgot boundaries. You forgot the rules. You forgot everything that you'd ever thought it decent to live by- the things that kept you in check, and the things that stopped you from being stupid.
Lee had learnt something new about himself. He was stupid.
The second her lips touched his their icy, marble touch chilled him- and enthralled him. Her frozen touch spread throughout him, stopping his blood cold in its tracks. His hands snaked upwards, cupping her cheeks and drawing her closer. And his eyes... his eyes were closed, as he let his other senses take hold. There was the smell of her- that sweet, fragrant smell... it filled him with something far faster; far more dizzying than the adrenaline rush he'd felt as he'd chased her across the lake.
His fingers curled irresistably into her hair, dragging her closer. Instinct prevented him from letting her go; it forbade him. This felt natural- more natural than anything in memory. God, oh, god, to think he used to be in the habit of this.
How the hell could he have forgotten this?
How the hell could he stop this?
The cruel sense of sanity pricked his eyes; and they flew open, only to find hers closed, still lost in their kiss.
It was unbearable. He ripped his lips from hers, gasping slightly, yet his fingers still clung in protest to her hair. His blood was roaring angrily at him- and the overwhelming desire to touch her like that again was killing him. Angry at himself, he loosened his fingers, realizing their grip had probably hurt her, but still he stayed lying there, too terrified of himself and her temptation to move.
She was tormenting him; her round blue eyes staring at him, but he couldn't bring himself to read what they were saying to him. His hands slid weakly down her neck, finally coming to a rest on her shoulders. Lee's palms were still now, marble-like, and he focused on keeping them like that instead. He couldn't afford to slip up like that again. He couldn't afford to let them hold her like that again.
And within him, a newfound hatred and contempt for himself and his terrible weakness began to bubble and boil.
Finally, he found his tongue.
"Get off me."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Lee's cold lips warmed Madeleine's, sending a spark shooting through her - the first spark of life she'd felt since... since...
All her sensible thoughts, her morals, her feelings previous to that moment were desensitised. Everything was gone.
She couldn't feel the cold, only Lee's lips, his hands skimming from her cheeks to her hair, his warmth quickly melting every part of her that had been frozen sold, stone-like.
Her head was spinning with a cloying, dizzying rush, faster than anything she'd ever felt before.
As his hands entagled themselves in her hair, she pressed herself closer to him, kissing him with an almost desperate edge, willing him to warm her up further, to keep the fireworks exploding inside her chest blazing, to keep holding her...
Sense didn't kick in until he pulled away from her, his hands still in her hair.
Only then did the pit of guilt open.
Why the hell was she doing this?
How could she have slipped like that?
Why would she do something like that?
And why wouldn't she let go of him?
Stupid Madeleine. Horrible Madeleine. Reckless, pathetic, awful, terrible horrid Madeleine.
It would only hurt them - both of them.
How could she do that to him.
His hand slid down her neck as she watched him stoicly, panting slightly, to rest on her shoulder. Her curls still reached down to his chest, but she was frozen, uncertain if it was by frost or horror.
Then, Lee spoke.
Three words that made her blood chill and her heart freeze over.
"Get off me."
A lump rose in her throat, and she swallowed, choking it back and forcing the tears not to rise and fall.
Only a small, soft swear word escaped her.
How could she... how could he...
The lump caught in her throat, making her gasp as she caught breath, before getting up off the slippery ground.
"Oh, God... I'm sorry, Lee, I'm so sorry."
The words only came out as a faint whisper that could easily be carried away by the breeze.
And with that, she fled, the tears spilling over from her eyes...

[Kira & Lee Norris]

She'd said something, but he hadn't heard her. He was too busy trying to ignore her- trying to push her out of his head, and out of his reach. He was pushing her away, and he didn't even know why. What'd she done wrong? Nothing. Just kissed him. He'd kissed her back.
So came confusion. Was he happy when he kissed her? Hell, yes.
So why was he so unhappy?
Because he knew that he shouldn't have done it. He knew they'd been in a relationship. Because he'd promised himself he wouldn't act on his feelings, because it was hard for her.
Doing the right thing had failed him.
He was a failure.
And then came the anger.
Mad, boiling, fiery hot anger bled through him as he stalked across the lake- back and forth, back and forth and into the trees. His fingers wouldn't sit still, no matter how many times he forced them to curl into a ball, they always managed to unravel. His whole body shook as the anger seeped through him, poisoning and blinding him.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and his fists flew into the bark of a tree. Five minutes later, and they were bloody and screaming with pain. Their pain made him all the more angry, but he gave up and buried them in the icy snow instead it. They stained the pure, white powder an ugly red, and as Lee got back to his feel, his hands numb, and the blood flow easing and leaving in its wake a stinging pain, he saw the scarlet, and felt like he'd done something terrible. Like he'd vandalised the sanctity of the snow, or something stupid like that.
He was still mad at himself.
And mad at himself for being mad.
And mad at himself for the blood.
And mad at himself for Maddie.
And mad because... because if he wasn't mad... he didn't like to think what else he would be...