"Hey, can't you see I'm walkin' here!" I yell in an awful New York accent, purposefully ramming into Alex's side as we cross a busy crosswalk.

"Hey, watch where you're goin'!" He plays along, accidentally slamming into my side a little too hard, causing me to run into a business man walking the opposite direction.

"I'm so sorry, sir!" I apologize, but he doesn't even stop to acknowledge me, still briskly walking with his briefcase in hand.

Hearing Alex laugh, I quickly catch back up to him and Milo, swatting Alex on the arm. "You jerk!" I can't help but giggle.

"You started it!" He laughs, and I'm sure if his scarf wasn't covering the bottom half of his face I'd spot his signature grin.

Taking my gloved hand in his, he pulls me closer to him so I don't get lost in the busy crowd.

It's early morning on Christmas Eve and we're in the middle of down town New York because Alex decided to save his Christmas shopping for the last minute. The only reason I'm here with him is because he had a short stint of holiday shows, the last one being last night in his home state of New York. I have a plane to catch later this evening to be back home with my family for Christmas, but until then I agreed to help him with his shopping.

"Here it is," he mumbles while reaching for the door handle of a jewelry shop, pulling me inside, Milo trailing in behind us.

"Hello!" A chipper woman at the front counter greets us. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Actually," Alex says, letting go of my hand and pulling down his scarf so his voice isn't muffled. "I'm here to pick something up." He walks up to the counter and he and the lady chitchat while she rings him up.

While he checks out, I look around at all the shiny, expensive jewelry, careful not to touch anything.

"Ready?" Alex asks after he's paid for the item, adjusting the beanie on his head.

I nod, heading for the door to brace the bitter cold New York air. "What did you get your mom?" I ask, knowing that's what we stopped in the jewelry store for.

"Oh, um, just a necklace." He shrugs, quickly pulling me into another nearby store.

When Alex is done shopping, we go back to his apartment, his arms full of shopping bags. After stepping out of our winter clothes, into something more comfortable, we make some hot chocolate and sprawl out on his living room floor to wrap his presents. I end up doing most of the wrapping, Alex not able to wrap a gift nicely to save his life.

In the midst of wrapping up a designer purse Alex also bought for his mom, my phone rings, my dad's face flashing across the screen.

"Hey," I greet him, excited to see him and the boys in a few hours.

"Hey, Joss, are you still going to be able to make it home?"

"Yeah," I say in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Have you not seen the news? A huge snow storm is heading straight for New York."

I quickly bolt up from the floor and snatch the TV remote off the end table, switching the channel to the local news. A blonde lady in a red dress stands in front of a weather map and I immediately turn up the volume.

"This storm is expected to be one of the biggest New York has seen in a while," the woman says, pointing at the radar. "The storm is moving in rather quickly, and will dump a lot of snow in a short period of time. We're expecting at least two feet of snow by tomorrow morning. With that being said, I know it's Christmas Eve, but after 6:00 p.m. tonight, I suggest no more travelling since the winter storm will be in full effect at that time."

My heart sinks knowing that I won't make it home for Christmas, my flight booked for 7:00 p.m.

Just as realization hits me, I get a notification on my phone confirming that my flight is cancelled due to the weather, making it that much more real. I've never missed a Christmas with my dad and brother, it being our favorite holiday.

"I'm sorry, Joss" Alex says, realizing what's going on, and rising from the floor to hug me into his side.

For the next hour I call all the airlines, trying to bump up my flight but it's no use. Either they're all booked or cancelled. With a sigh I finally give up, emerging from Alex's office to his living room where his parents have arrived, awkwardly sitting on each end of the couch while Alex is in the kitchen cooking. They decided to do Christmas Eve together, and then go to his aunts and uncles tomorrow.

"Hey," Alex's says, wiping his hands on a towel before making his way to me. "Any luck?"

I simply shake my head, sadly casing my eyes down to the floor.

Alex frowns, stepping forward to envelope me into a hug. "I'm sorry, Joss. I know it's nothing in comparison, but you're more than welcome to stay here tonight and have Christmas with me tomorrow."

I can't help but let out a small chuckle. "I think I kind of have to now, unless you're willing to throw me out in the snow."

"Hmm, it's tempting."

I swat his back with my hand, causing his chest to rumble with laughter. He steps out of our hug, holding his hand out to me. "Help me cook?"

While chopping up some vegetables, Alex's front door opens and in walks Chris, wine bottle in hand. According to Alex, Chris practically invited himself over and he's only there to play mediator between his parents if need be.

Shrugging off his winter coat, Chris's eyes lock on mine, brow furrowing in confusion. "Joslyn? What are you doing here?"

"My flight got cancelled because of the storms," I explain, trying to stay calm in his presence.

"But I thought your flight was early this morning?" he says, eyes narrowing.

"That was Shay's flight," Alex pipes in while pulling a turkey out of the oven.

Chris only nods, sending me a discreet look before going to sit in the living room with Alex's parents who are silently watching TV.

There's an awkward silence all throughout dinner, everyone too scared to say anything to set someone else off. When we're all finished, Alex and I start cleaning up and putting away leftovers.

"Well, I need to get going," Alex's dad announces, reaching for his coat at the front door. "I have a conference call with Justin in an hour to discuss business."

"Of course you do," Alex's mom bitterly mumbles under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Alright," Chris says, reaching for his coat too. "I'll call us a cab, and Joslyn, I'll get you one too to get you back to your hotel."

"Oh," is the only word that escapes my lips. "I-I don't have a hotel," I awkwardly admit, knowing Chris is going to have a hissy fit. "I checked out this morning, thinking I'd be going home tonight."

"You can just stay here," Alex offers and I can see Chris's face harden.

"No, I think she'd prefer staying in a hotel room all to herself. Isn't that right, Joslyn?" Chris asks, eyes narrowing on me.

I gulp, slightly nodding my head, not wanting to anger him any further.

"That's ridiculous," Alex counters. "All the hotels are probably booked for the holiday anyway, and I have two spare bedrooms that'll just go to waste."

I can tell Chris is starting to lose his cool. "Well, then, why don't we all stay the night? The snow is already starting to stick to the roads," Chris counters, going over to the windows to peer down at the streets below.

Sure enough, the snow is staring to stick and the streets are packed with traffic, everyone trying to get home before the storm really hits.

"It's not like we're going to get a taxi anytime soon, and our drive back is over thirty minutes. Better to be safe than sorry, right?" Chris says, hanging back up his coat and making himself comfortable on the couch.

"I guess he's right," Alex's mom sighs, taking a seat on the couch too. "It's already getting awful out there, better to just stay here."

Another unspoken tension looms over Alex's apartment, and I can tell Alex is unhappy with all of his new, unannounced house guests. It's written all over his face that he's uncomfortable with his parents and Chris all here, refusing to leave. But he stays silent since there's nothing much he can say.

As the night winds down and the snow piles high, we all sit in the living room watching some Christmas movie. With the movie not holding my interest, I get up from the couch to go look out the window. Alex's view of New York City is breathtaking. The buildings seem to twinkle, going on forever, and it looks like a snow globe outside.

"What are you doing?" Alex murmurs, coming to stand behind me and resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Watching the snow. I love it," I admit with a smile. "Well, maybe not so much today, but still, it's so pretty to watch."

Alex hums in agreement, comfortingly rubbing my shoulder. "We'll sneak out and go see it later," he whispers softly in my ear.

I furrow my brows and look back at him, and he just softly smirks, holding a finger up to his lips.

"I think it's time to go to bed," Chris announces, standing from the couch, yawning and stretching his limbs. Everyone nods in agreement, slowly getting up from the couch. "I guess I can take one of the guest bedrooms, and Sandra can take the other. Mike, you can share Alex's bed and Joslyn can take the couch," he instructs.

Alex furrows his brow, looking affronted. "Or, Joslyn can take my bed and dad and I can sleep out here," he says with slight annoyance. "This is my house after all." Alex folds his arms, trying to assert dominance.

I can practically see the steam rolling off of Chris, his jaw tightened and face hard. "Fine," he says through gritted teeth. "You and Mike can stay out here."

Forty-five minutes after everyone is in their assigned sleeping arrangements, Alex's bedroom door slowly creeks open and he slips inside.

"What are you doing?" I whisper, sitting up in his bed.

"I told you, we're sneaking out to go see the snow," he says casually, sauntering to his walk-in closet and turning on the light, bringing out some winter clothes.

"Are you crazy?" I ask, watching him slip on some extra sweatpants and shrug on a winter coat.

"Maybe." He chuckles, throwing some clothes at me. "Come on, live a little."

Ignoring the gnawing feeling in my stomach, I slowly get up and slip his clothes on, despite knowing that this is a terrible idea. If we get caught I know I'm going to be in big trouble.

Once we're all layered up, we tiptoe down the hallway and out the door. Going outside, the snow is heavily swirling around, immediately sticking to our clothes. Giggling, Alex and I struggle to walk, awkwardly sinking into the foot and a half of snow already on the ground. After walking around to look at Christmas lights for a half an hour, we can hardly move, our bodies frozen.

Sneaking back into his apartment, his dad is sound asleep on the couch. We toe our shoes off at the door, and the lights from the Christmas tree provide enough light for Alex and me to make it back to his bedroom.

Once inside, Alex softly shuts the door behind him and drags me to the closet. Standing toe to toe with him, I can see a few snowflakes still lingering on his eyelashes, melting quickly. His nose and cheeks are bright red from the cold, and I can see that his hands are too once he takes his gloves off.

He clinches and unclenches his numb fingers a few times to get the feeling back in them before slowly unraveling the scarf wrapped around my neck. Next, he pulls off the beanie from my head, causing my hair to cascade down in waves. Then, his frozen fingers reach for the zipper of my winter coat, dragging it down until I can shrug it off.

When he takes off a few layers himself, he turns to grab us both a new pair of warm clothes to change into. After changing, we both walk back into his bedroom, instinctively looking at the clock that reads 12:27 a.m.

"Merry Christmas, Joss." He softly smiles, looking back at me.

"Merry Christmas."

"I-I actually got you something," he says, walking over to his desk and pulling a wrapped box out of his top drawer.

I can't help but smile, walking over to my suitcase to grab the gifts I got him.

He smiles, taking a seat at the end of his bed and patting the space next to him. I sit and we both swap gifts, a giggle bubbling out of my chest looking at how poorly his gift is wrapped.

"I can tell you wrapped this one," I tease.

"Hey, I actually really tried," he whines with a slight pout.

I give him a small smile, instinctively reaching up and brushing my thumb over his cheek. "I know."

"Open it," he softly urges and I carefully tear open the flat, square box.

Lifting up the lid, a gasp automatically leaves my lips. Sitting in the box is a silver necklace with a small diamond rose pendant.

"Alex," I breathe out, not knowing what to say. This gift reeks expensive and I automatically feel awful not getting him something of the same value.

"Do you like it?" he shyly asks, looking up at me through his thick lashes.

"Of course I do, but, Alex, this is too much." I shake my head in disbelief.

"No it's not. Now, don't fight me on it and just say thank you," he jokes, already reaching for the necklace and clasping it around my neck.

Instinctively, I clutch the pendant to my chest, admiring it. "Thank you," I whisper, biting at my bottom lip.

"You're welcome."

"Wait," I say, picking back up the box and recognizing the name printed on the front. "This is the jewelry store we went to today, isn't it?"

"No," he lies, blushing.

"Alex, you are such a terrible liar! We didn't go there to pick up a gift for your mother, did we?"

"No," he mumbles.

"You are unbelievable." I can't help but laugh, lightly pushing his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He grins, picking up his gifts. "Now it's my turn."

Tearing into my first gift, Alex smiles down at the Nashville picture frame that holds a picture of us from when he came to stay with me for a few days during the first break of tour.

"Joss, I love it," he says, standing up and setting the picture frame on the corner of his desk. "There, the perfect place." He sits back down and rips into his second gift, a coffee mug that has 'Scouts Honor' printed on it, and he beams.

"I have a matching one at home," I sheepishly admit, causing his smile to widen.

"Thank you, Joss," he says, pulling me into a hug. "I know this isn't how you pictured your Christmas, but I'm glad I get to spend it with you."

I smile, melting into his embrace. "Me too."