Nathan Jones - First Winter

And to be fair, Trev didn’t think either of them minded the excuse to spend more time together. He could admit he was only human, and it was sometimes frustrating having his girlfriend around so much of the time when he had to walk on eggshells when it came to intimacy. But during the increasingly frequent times she did stay over for the night he found it soothing to be able to listen to her quiet breathing, if not quite so much her occasional snores.

She’d hinted she felt the same, including a share of her own frustration about not being able to enjoy the unreserved affection she wanted to with him. They both hoped they’d get there eventually, and sooner rather than later.

In the meantime it looked as if he’d be getting out the cot again.

As he peeled out of his wet, muddy outer clothes, still shivering, Deb disappeared into the main room and returned half a minute later with a bowl of steaming soup in hand. “I’ve got some water heating so you can wash up,” she said as she handed it over.

“You’re the best,” Trev said with feeling. He could’ve married her on the spot as he lowered his face to breathe in the fragrant steam and he settled onto the room’s single chair. It was definitely too hot to eat at the moment, almost too hot to touch with his chilled hands, but just holding it revived him a bit.

As he ate Deb snuggled back under the covers on his bed, keeping him engaged asking him what he’d spent the morning doing. Once he finished eating she took his bowl and returned with a cloth, a bar of soap, and a pail of water, which was almost too hot to be comfortable. Then she excused herself to the main room while he bathed.

Trev came out a few minutes later wearing clean, dry clothes, refreshed and warmed up and deciding Deb was the best roommate ever and he was seriously in love with her. She was sitting with Linda playing some game that involved clapping hands, but when he went to grab a spare cot she joined him and helped make it up with sheets and blankets.

After that they settled down in comfortable silence.

“Sooo…” Trev finally said after the silence had stretched on for a few minutes. Deb was burrowed beneath the blankets again, holding her book but not reading it. “Should I break out a deck of cards?”

For some reason the brown-haired woman found that funny, bursting out laughing as she sat up. “I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of pregnancies this winter.”

Trev blinked at the out of the blue change of subject. “That would be crazy. People are going to be going hungry as it is.” She only laughed harder. “Why?”

Her laughter trailed off and she gave him a “You’ve got to be kidding me” look, as if it was obvious. Trev thought about it for a moment, then felt his face flush with embarrassment.

Right. Long months confined indoors, with not much to do to stave off the crushing boredom. Of course people with that option would turn to the oldest pastime in existence. Even if it wasn’t the most practical thing to do during the harshest winter they’d ever faced, and could even be considered shortsighted. He doubted many people had a stock of contraceptives like Lewis had prepared.

It was an uncomfortable thing to think about under the circumstances, alone in his room with his cute girlfriend and nowhere to go, potentially for days. Especially since she wasn’t ready for that to be an option yet.

Trev cleared his throat. “I’ll get the cards.”

After the intense morning, and all the intense mornings, afternoons, and evenings of the previous weeks and months, it was almost relaxing to be trapped in by a storm with relatively little to do. He remembered plenty of days like this wintering at the hideout with Lewis last year, although then their main enemy had been boredom and he’d spent more than a little time wishing he had other people to talk to. Especially girls.

This winter that wouldn’t be a problem. He had his family around him, and Deb, and when the weather permitted the entire town was just outside.

After a while they wandered into the main room and socialized with the family, playing a few games and talking and just generally enjoying each other’s company. But eventually everyone else occupied themselves with their own individual activities, winding down towards sleep, and he and Deb made their way back into his room.

It was colder in there. The stovepipe going through did a lot of work, but the howling wind outside was picking up a frigid bite as night fell, and as carefully as he’d chinked the walls there were still enough tiny cracks and crevices to let in the chill, especially around the outer door.

That cold only got more noticeable as his mom damped the stove in the other room and the stovepipe slowly cooled down. His and Deb’s combined body heat wasn’t enough to make up the difference, and the cold air seeped up through the bottom of his cot even with the blankets.

Deb eventually noticed him shivering, although he tried to hide it, and looked a bit guilty since she was snug on his bed nestled in a cocoon with even more blankets. “You should get under here with me,” she offered, almost shyly.

Trev jolted as if he’d just stuck his finger in an electrical socket. “Huh?” He felt his face flushing. “Are you sure you…” he trailed off, not sure how to put it.

She smiled. “Well I wasn’t exactly thinking about that . But it is your room, and it’s not like people haven’t shared body heat in the winter since the dawn of time.” She bit her lip, slightly nervous. “Although it doesn’t have to not be that, either. If you’re okay with just keeping it to snuggling.”

Trev was more than okay with that. He brought his blankets over to add to the pile, burrowing in beside his girlfriend. It was much more warm and comfortable than the cot, and even more so after a few minutes when Deb hesitantly leaned against him, pulling at his arms to wrap around her middle.

This was completely new territory, and while he fully enjoyed it he was also more nervous than he’d ever been. His first date had nothing on his current tension, afraid the slightest movement would send her bolting like a startled deer. But she seemed perfectly comfortable, and he tried to ignore his own discomfort and nervousness and just enjoy being there with her.

“How are you doing?” he asked after maybe a half hour of just sitting there holding her in his arms in contented silence.

She made a mumbling noise, sounding almost sleepy, then looked up at him with dark green eyes flecked with brown. “I can’t describe this,” she said quietly. “It’s like it’s the first time I’ve really felt safe since… since before they took me.”

He held her a bit closer, warmth spreading through him that had nothing to do with shared body heat. “Good.”

“It is good. Because of you.” Still holding his gaze, she leaned up and pressed her lips to his, just for a moment. Trev was so shocked that she’d already pulled away before he even thought to kiss her back, and by then she’d sighed softly and settled her head back against his cheek. He was left still feeling the memory of her lips, trying to figure out what that had meant.

After about fifteen seconds she spoke again, voice playful. “Also after so long sleeping alone, even in a room with a bunch of other people with shared body heat, this warmth is heavenly. I could just sleep forever.”

No arguments there. Holding Deb was like hugging a soft furnace. Even beyond that, though, the simple human contact provided comfort he hadn’t even known he’d needed. He wasn’t tired yet, but he definitely wouldn’t mind holding her if she wanted to sleep forever. Or maybe just a little longer, before he let her settle in for the night and returned to his cot.