Chapter Text
Oscar had seen snow before, of course, but this was different. Standing in the threshold of the front door he watched as the fat flakes floated steadily to the ground, accumulating into large piles of snow that grew with each second that passed. It didn’t take long for the ground to become completely submerged beneath the sparkling, powdery substance, glittering in the dawn sunshine like countless miniscule diamonds.
“Huh, it snowed.” Jack suddenly appeared behind him, sleepily wrapping his arms around him and resting his head on Oscar’s shoulder. “I said it would, didn’t I?”
“Yeah… I didn’t expect so much of it though.” Oscar turned to plant a kiss on Jack’s head. The snow was still piling up, creating a small snowdrift in front of the door which had begun to spill onto the floor inside. Oscar kicked at it gently, sending fragments of snow splaying everywhere.
“Mmm, there is a lot of it.” Jack rubbed his eyes, gazing up at the pale sky. “More than anyone expected.”
“We could get snowed in…” Oscar muttered as he twisted around to wrap his arms around Jack properly, trying to keep the anxiety he felt out of his voice. “It’s already a good few inches deep.”
“Well, if we do get snowed in, we can just use it as an excuse to spend more time together.” Jack grinned, leaning in to kiss his boyfriend gently.
Oscar smiled, kissing him back, but the feeling of dread still lingered. Despite the stereotype of Geoguessr players not touching grass - preferring to identify countries by it instead - he generally didn’t do too well being cooped up inside for more than a couple of days. If the snow carried on at the rate it was going, they could very well be snowed in for a week. He’d surely go insane, even with Jack with him.
He tried to lose himself in Jack’s embrace, deepening the kiss and pressing Jack against the wall. They made out for a good few minutes, and the feeling of Jack’s hands on his skin did lessen his anxiety a bit, but one glance towards the still open door brought it flooding back. He pulled away, slamming the door quickly, as if not being able to see the snow building up would somehow make it go away.
“You ok?” Jack touched his arm gently - of course he would’ve picked up on Oscar’s feelings. He knew him far too well. “You seem distracted. It’s the snow, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Oscar knew there was no point denying it. He’d sworn to himself to not hide anything from Jack after the mess they’d been in six months ago just before he’d planned to propose. While it had turned out fine in the end, the scars remained.
Jack nodded, sliding his hand down Oscar’s arm until he reached his hand, which he gently held. “You wanna talk about it?”
“I guess I just… I don’t like the thought of being trapped inside. It’s like when I was sick last year - I don’t like not being able to go outside whenever I want, y’know? It makes me feel restless.” Oscar glanced at him shyly, squeezing his hand. “It’s silly, I know–”
“It’s not.” Jack suddenly hugged him, his arms twining around his neck protectively. “I feel the same. But we have each other, ok? We’ll be able to comfort each other. And who knows, the snow might stop soon and we’ll have nothing to worry about.”
“I hope you’re right.” Oscar hugged him back. “Thanks, Jack. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Unfortunately for them both, the snow did not stop. It went on at a steady pace all morning, neither slowing down nor getting faster. At last when it did stop in the early afternoon, the world outside the living room window looked like a white void, every surface coated in a thick icy layer. Oscar could barely distinguish any shapes beneath the masses of snow, any houses or cars almost completely masked by the whiteout.
He didn’t even bother attempting to open the front door; one look from the window confirmed his worries. Snow had built up into something that resembled a wall against the door, and Oscar could see trying to push the door open past it would be futile. They were well and truly trapped.
Turning to Jack who was standing at the window beside him, he didn’t say anything, but simply gave him a look that conveyed every emotion he was suffering through. Jack returned his gaze, wordlessly reaching for his hand, which he gripped tightly.
“It’ll melt eventually,” Jack said after a few moments, a small smile spreading across his face. “It’ll be fine.”
Oscar couldn’t tell if he was reassuring him, or himself. “But what about Christmas? Our plans? All the stuff we were gonna do?!” His voice rose with each word, panic seeping into his tone. His need for things to be perfect still haunted him, no matter how hard he’d tried to get past it.
“Oscar, hey, hey… calm down.” Jack hugged him tightly. “It’ll be fine, I promise. We can still have a good Christmas. We have everything we need right here.” He stroked his back slowly, missing his cheek. “For all we know, the snow could be gone by tomorrow,” he added assuringly.
Attempting to slow his rapid heartbeat, Oscar leaned in Jack’s embrace, resting his head in the crook of his neck. “Yeah… yeah, you're probably right. It’ll be fine.”
“Yes, it will.” Jack grinned at him, pulling away and closing the curtains to block out the view of the vast expanse of snow. “We can still make things be perfect, Oscar. Trust me on that, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Oscar did trust him, but the anxiety swirling inside him did not.