Caroline wonders if Hannah knows that it’s too late to go back, now. She understands her fear, she does. But on the other hand, she just wants Hannah to feel this same sureness that she feels. She hates that she doesn’t.

Hannah looks over her shoulder quickly before ducking to press her lips to the corner of Caroline’s. Too close to her mouth to be a genuine cheek kiss, not enough contact to be an actual kiss.

It sets Caroline’s entire body on fire just the same, her breath catching.

“Risk or not, I’m thankful for you, Caroline. Happy Thanksgiving.”

***

The first snow of the season is Caroline’s favorite unofficial holiday.

There’s something about the way the air feels… crisper and the way it always feels like magic. Before nature takes course and ruins the freshly fallen snow, that is. Anyway, psychologically, she’s hardwired from her childhood – she thinks about the thrilling possibility of a snow day, the snowball fights she could get into with her brothers and the other neighborhood kids, curling up with hot chocolate.

She can feel it coming in the air, she thinks, as she idly walks into the doors welcoming her into Northeastern University’s library.

The warmth of the building is a welcome shock to the system and she takes in the surroundings. It’s weird, being back in a library after having spent far too long barricading herself in Suffolk’s Law Library for days and weeks at a time. Nostalgic, almost, even if it’s not the same library. But they all have that same smell.

It’s the first week of December and Hannah’s final project for one of her courses, in which she has to design and build a prototype for a fully functional building, is due in a week. Abbie has practice for her holiday chorus concert, after which she is being picked up by Jared who’s also picking up Norah. And Hannah has been holed up in the library all afternoon with the small group she’s working with on her final project.

Caroline checks the time to make sure – yes, Hannah had told her they were all taking a short break at six to grab something to eat and it’s six on the dot.

And as she looks up, she sees Hannah sitting at a table. Well, two tables pushed together, covered in organized chaos of papers and what looks like a 3D model of the bare bones of a building. Caroline doesn’t quite know what it is, but she’s already impressed. She hangs back for a few moments just to observe.

Hannah’s hair is up in a bun, strands of it falling over her face as she leans over the table to sketch something on one of the papers, murmuring something that causes the three people she’s sitting with to nod in understanding.