Valerie creeped back into Jack's room after she finished work and school. He seemed to have just gotten back from somewhere, too; his hair was matted down from snow and he still had his jacket on. But he was lid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, with his headphones on.

She sat at the edge of the bed. "I want to show you something."

He pushed himself into a sitting position and slipped the headphones around his neck. "Val? What do you mean?"

"You'll have to come with me to find out."

He grunted in protest but followed her down the stairs. She pulled on her boots.

"We're going outside?" Jack questioned. "It's snowing like hell out there."

Valerie shrugged, hiking her bag up on her shoulder. "That's perfect for what we're doing."

They walked through the snow which was falling heavy like Jack had mentioned. She dragged him into an abandoned home a couple blocks from Evelyn's.

"Are you gonna kill me or some shit? What's up with the creepy location?"

Valerie flicked on the lights. Which wasn't exactly lights but a large flashlight she had placed there earlier. It illuminated the wall in front of them where a half-painted mural took up most of the space.

"I got inspired," she told him. "I thought maybe you'd like to watch."

He nodded.

Jack sat on the floor and Valerie threw her bookbag to the ground, yanking out stencils and paints. She got too it quickly. She really only had to tweak it and lay the finishing touches but for some reason she wanted Jack to be there for it. She wanted him to watch the process and not just the finished product.

It took maybe an hour. Maybe more. Valerie sat down her paint cans and took a few steps back, admiring it.

When she stepped out of his view, Jack sucked in a breath.

It was a black silhouette of a man, grasping a guitar and strumming. The guitar, red in colour, was hooked up to a generator that plugged into the town the man overlooked. The whole town was shining.

"You and me, we share a concept, we want to create a message," Valerie said quietly. "You said it yourself that day outside my house. I wanted to make this for you - to show you I do think your music makes a difference and I know how much you care about this goddamn city we live in."

"Also, I just thought maybe it'd cheer you up, even just a little. Since the boys left without you and everything."

Jack stood up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his chin into her shoulder.

"I think Bobby was right about you."

"Yeah?" She said. "About what?"

She could feel him smiling against the bare skin of her neck.

"I think you're too much for me."

"Mmm," she hummed. "Good or bad?"

"Good," he said immediately. "Very good."

Valerie giggled despite herself. "Jack Mercer, I could say the same thing."

They walked home in the snow. Valerie couldn't wipe the stupid smile off her face. She expected it to be weird between them after last night but it wasn't.

"Lets go for a skate." Valerie said randomly.

Jack looked down at her. "We don't have skates with us."

"Then lets go get them!"

Valerie had to shove on Evelyn's skates which to Valerie's surprise were not figure skates and in fact were women's hockey skates. Valerie was glad. Figure skates always tore up her ankles and she didn't feel she could move as fast in them.

Jack had grabbed his own. They were tore and beaten because he had the same pair all through high school until now. She remembered in freshman year Jack joined the hockey team just like her but in sophomore year - he dropped it and started a band. She had called him a pussy, despite her brother also being in the band.

Stef wasn't very good at hockey. If she needed someone to practice with he would force Jack to do it as Stef sat on the bleachers with his Walkman.

She felt like she was in high school again. She skated past Jack as soon as her metal skate touched the ice. Jack laughed and then chased after her.

"You know you always used to kick my ass at hockey?" He said. "You never slowed down. I was beat out a half hour in. Where the fuck did you get all that energy from?"

"Lets see," she skidded to a stop next to him. "I didn't smoke, I didn't drink, and I didn't stay up partying until two a.m on Tuesday nights. I'd say that's where it came from."

"Probably." He agreed. "You were that boring, weren't you?"

She shoved him and he gripped her shoulder to steady himself on his skates. Valerie bit her lip to silence her chuckle.

"I wasn't boring," she said defensively. "I knew what I wanted so I stayed dedicated to it."

"Yeah, boring."

She tried to skate away from him again but he grabbed her hand. She stopped and he gave her hand a small squeeze before skating along with her. They stayed like that for awhile - just doing quiet laps, holding hands. It didn't feel like high school anymore because they had never done this before. In high school, she would probably be yelling at him to keep up by now and he would be telling her to stop bitching.

"I think this is the longest time you've gone without tearing my head off on the ice." Jack said, breaking the silence.

Valerie rolled her eyes. "And you ruined it."

She felt a shiver crawl up her spine. "It's getting chilly. Lets go home."

Valerie sat on the counter, waiting for the kettle to boil and Jack leaned against the wall, cracking open a beer. Valerie grinned at his rosy cheeks, they made him look like a little kid. She was sure hers looked the same; they always did after being outside in the winter.

"What are you doing anyway?" Jack tipped his beer in direction. "What's the kettle on for?"

"I'm making hot chocolate."

He shook his head. "You're such a kid."

"I don't care. I'm not gonna deny myself something I like just because a tough guy like you thinks it's stupid."

He raised a brow. "You think I'm tough?"

She turned away from him with a sigh. Of course he would focus on that part of her sentence.

The kettle whistled at her and she turned off the burner and poured the hot water into her mug. She sipped at it slowly, not wanting to burn her tongue. Jack watched her intently.

Valerie took the mug down from her face. Her brows knitted together. "What?"

Jack didn't answer her. Not in words, anyway. His lips, chapped from the cold, moved feverishly against hers, she didn't even have to time to think about what was happening; all she could do was respond.

She laid her mug down on the countertop and placed her hands under his jaw, pulling Jack's face closer. He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, his light touch tickling the sensitive skin. She smiled in between kisses. Her legs tangled behind him as she discreetly pulled him

in further until he was pressed up against the countertop.

She felt as if this was her first kiss - it wasn't, it wasn't even her first kiss with Jack - but her heart fluttered and her fingers trembled as if she had never experienced a kiss before. Maybe she hadn't, maybe they had all just been practices for the real thing.

Her lips parted, to take a breath, but Jack took full advantage of the opportunity. His tongue slid into her opened mouth, finding her own.

He paused their kiss for a moment, pushing his forehead up against hers. His hair was matted and wet from the snow, it stuck to her forehead.

"You taste like chocolate." He said breathily, his lips twisting at the corners.

There was a low whistle and Valerie was so utterly distracted by Jack she just figured she had forgotten to turn off the kettle and placed her mouth back onto his.

"Yo, break it up," Bobby grunted. Valerie briefly glanced up and her cheeks flushed at the sight of him. "I don't want to see this shit. Ya'll better not start getting on like Angel and La Vida Loca."

Though, when Jack stepped away from her, Bobby patted him on the back. "But I gotta say, I'm proud of you, little brother. I actually walked in on you and a girl. A decent looking one at that."

Valerie frowned. "Decent, Bobby?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I can't say anything else. You're a kid."

She wanted to remind him - again - that she was twenty years old but it always seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Bobby took a can of Coke from the fridge and retreated from the kitchen once again. When he was out of sight, Valerie yanked Jack down to her once again by the fabric of his t shirt.

"You know," Valerie mumbled against his mouth. "I just realized Stef is gonna slaughter us both."

"Screw him," Jack mumbled back. "He left us here. Think of it as payback."

She grinned. "That's good enough for me."

He kissed her again and this time she didn't pull away, for anything.