This was written for the ficathon on LJ hosted by the lovely Lee. The requests were snowstorm, fireplace, and playing games. Thanks to my girls (Q and Punkin) for all your help and support. Enjoy!

I really can't stay (Baby it's cold outside)
I really can't stay (Baby it's cold outside)
I've got to go away (Baby it's cold outside)This evening has been (Been hoping that you'd drop in)
So very nice (I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice)
My mother will start to worry (Beautiful, what's your hurry)
My father will be pacing the floor (Listen to the fireplace roar)
So really I'd better scurry (Beautiful, please don't hurry)
well Maybe just a half a drink more (Put some music on while I pour)

"Nathan." Haley called out into the dark, hands stuck out in front of her as she blindly guided herself down the hall. "Nathan!"

"Uh, uh, uh…what's my name Hales?" Nathan shouted back, and her ears perked as she tried to follow the sound. School had been cancelled that day on account of the torrential blizzard that struck Tree Hill early that morning, and the couple found themselves cooped up inside Nathan's small one-bedroom apartment, watching TV and pigging out on junk food. After channel surfing for a few hours, Nathan announced he was bored and when Haley mentioned they should play a game, his suggestion and eagerness to play Marco Polo took her by surprise to say the least.

And that's what she found herself doing now; wandering blindly through the small, darkened apartment, the only light provided by the glow of the fireplace in the living room. With arms stretched out in front of her, she felt around as best she could, trying to figure her exact location while intently listening for any signs as to where Nathan could be.

"Nath- I mean, Marco!"

"Polo!" he replied, not sounding too far away, and she'd swear he giggled as he said it.

"You look so cute Hales." He spoke up again, and she could hear the smirk in his voice as he said it. They stood there in the kitchen, her eyes squeezed shut, hands grasping around in a futile attempt to grab him, as he was stationed on the opposite end of the kitchen bar, watching his girlfriend with amusement and adoration. "You know, if I had known you sucked at this, I would've suggested another game."

"No you wouldn't." she snipped back, frustration seeping into her tone as she reached towards the sound his voice, her hand feeling nothing but air.

"Oh now Hales, don't be a bad sport." He joked, coming around the corner of the island, closer than before, but still out of her reach.

Deciding to go in for the kill, Haley swung around, both hands scrambling for him, but ended up catching the edge of the counter right above her hip. Releasing an 'oomph', she crumbled to the ground, her eyes shooting open as she forgot the game and doubled over with pain.

"Oh Haley! Damn baby, are you alright?" Nathan worried, kneeling down to her level, rubbing a comforting hand around her back as he tried to get her to face him.

"Paiinnn." She moaned, her brow furrowed in discomfort as she looked up at him. "Ouch. I think I'm okay, just probably bruised up real nice. Gah, Clumsiness, thy name is Haley James." She grumbled.

"Here, stand up let me see." Nathan instructed, grabbing her arms and helping her to her feet while he stayed kneeling, putting him eye level with her hips. Once she was up, he raised the edge of her shirt, his knuckles grazing skin as he went.

Taking in the red mark above her hip, Nathan grimaced, raising his eyes to hers as he ran his fingers softly over the spot to gauge her reaction. "Does that hurt?"

"A little." She whispered back, suddenly all too aware of how close he was to her as she felt his warm breath against the skin covering her midsection. Running her hands gently through his hair, she sent him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Nathan, it'll probably just be a really ugly color for a few days. I'm okay."

"I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean for you to get hurt." He apologized, his fingers still tracing small patterns over the darkening patch of skin. Returning his gaze back to her hip, he leaned forward, placing a light kiss on the mark before placing a series of small, but warm open mouth kisses on the area. Smiling as he felt her fingers tighten against his head, he brushed another kiss against her heated skin before standing up to face her.

"All better?" he murmured, his smile widening as he took in the far away look she gave him.

"Mmhm." She returned quietly, blushing slightly as she turned to sit on the couch. "I uh, I think maybe we ought to give the game playing a rest. Seems even walking is a hazard for me today."

Sending her an apologetic smile, he joined her on the couch. She sighed contently as she watched the flames dance in the fireplace, the heat radiating off of it, flushing her face. He sat there, watching her watch the fire, a content smile on his face to match hers as he marveled at her simple yet staggering beauty. Feeling her eyes on him, he looked away, none too embarrassed about having been caught staring.

"Man. I don't remember the last time it snowed like this." Nathan said as he peered out of the curtain, watching the flurries as they floated through the air, landing one atop the other, piling higher and higher on the balcony ledge.

"Sixth grade." Haley answered. He obviously hadn't realized he'd said anything out loud because he turned back to her, confusion on his face. "Sixth grade was the last time it snowed like this."

"Why do you remember that?" He asked, smiling as she plopped her tiny feet in his lap, silently asking him to rub them, his smiling growing at the pleased sigh she released when he complied.

"Well, you know how Lucas and I used to have water balloon wars on the roof?" she began with a hesitant laugh.

"Uh huh…"

"Well, it was a snow day so we didn't have school. So being the genius eleven year olds that we were, we decided it would be a good idea to fill some of the balloons with snow."

"Oh man..." Nathan replied, the image of a younger Haley and Lucas pegging each other with snow filled balloons turning his quite chuckle into a full blown laugh. "How'd that turn out for you?"

"Worse than you could possibly imagine I'm sure." She laughed along with him, remembering the lecture Karen gave the pair of them as they limped down the stairs, shivering all the while. "We both missed a week of school from having a cold and we had bruises head to toe. I guess at the time our genius idea struck, neither of us realized that compacted snow would be like getting hit with a brick."

"Well after the first balloon was thrown and you realized it hurt, why didn't you stop?"

"Um…because that would've made sense?" she laughed, raising her hands as if to say she had no idea. "I don't know, I guess cause we were stupid kids."

"No kidding." He agreed with a laugh, barely dodging the hand Haley swatted in his direction. "Sounds like fun though."

"Oh yeah, we had some good times." She smiled, snuggling deeper into the couch, eyes closing in relaxation as Nathan's hand worked gently over her feet and calves.

A small smile grew on his lips as he watched his girlfriend, normally an unstoppable whirlwind of activity, sink further and further into tranquility. He took advantage of the down time to study her by the light of the fire; the way her auburn tresses fanned out on the couch behind her, her eyelashes resting gently against her cheeks atop a light sprinkle of freckles that he found adorable. Her soft, pink full lips were curved into a small smile as her breaths came out in a steady, even rhythm.

"What are you staring at Scott?" she broke the silence, her voice shaking him out of his reverie as he took in her still closed eyes.

"How'd you even know I was looking at you?" he questioned, his hands, which had stopped their massage when he was taking her in, beginning their work over her legs again.

"I'm physic." She deadpanned, the small smile on her face growing as he tickled his fingers across the bottom of her sock covered feet.

"You're something alright. C'mere." He growled playfully, sliding his hands from her feet to behind her knees, pulling her to him until she was straddled across his lap. Sweeping a loose tendril behind her ear, he leaned forward to push a gentle kiss to her lips.

Leaning back to take more of him in, she smiled as a pink blush tinted her cheeks. "Hi."

"Hi." He whispered back, finding it incredibly sexy that after dating for several months, a simple kiss could still make her blush. Brushing a soft kiss to each of her cheeks he returned her smile.

"You're beautiful."

"Stop it…" she giggled, the pink on her face turning a deeper shade.

"What? You are!" he exclaimed reverently; his honest smile turning into a smirk as he ran his hands languidly up and down her back, his fingers skimming over the stretch of bare skin where the top of her jeans didn't meet the bottom of her sweater.

"Nathan…" she warned, her breath hitching as his warm hands crept up her sweater, the slightly calloused tips of his fingers leaving tingling trails as they traced over the smooth skin of her back.

"What?" he asked distractedly as he began peppering light kisses across her face, one hand remaining on her back as he brought the other up to trace the gentle contours of her face. She couldn't help but marvel at the octave drop in his voice and the way his normally bright blue eyes darkened as he moved his gaze to meet hers.

"I uh – I should probably…" she stuttered out, her words turning to mewls of appreciation as his lips traveled down to the sensitive skin of her neck, his teeth coming out to softly nip at the smoothness she left exposed to him.

"You should what?" he continued, moving to show equal treatment to the other side of her neck, smirking against her skin when she tilted her head to give him better access. "Huh, Hales? You what?" he pressed again, moving his mouth from where it nuzzled against her jaw to slant over hers, effectively cutting off anything words she may have been able to form.

Snapping to life, Haley brought her hands in to play, one gripping his shoulder as the other traveled to the back of his head, holding him in place as if worried he would pull away. Widening her mouth against his, she slipped her tongue into the recesses of his mouth, tangling it with his if only for a minute before flicking it across the roof of his mouth, causing a low moan to tear from his throat.

"God, Baby…" he groaned, pulling away for a mere second to catch his breath, only to crash his lips back to hers, sighing happily at the contact. His hands flexed against her back, fingers gripping at her skin as she slipped the hand on his shoulder to his neck, reveling in the feel of his warm flesh against her palm.

Tearing her lips from his in desperate need for air, she rested her forehead to his, their breaths coming out in short, sharp pants as they smiled sweetly at each other. Rubbing her hands gently over the taut skin of his shoulders she placed a short series of chaste kisses to his waiting lips.

"Nathan," she whispered, laughing quietly when he began shaking his head in protest to whatever she was going to say. "I should probably head home."

"Noooooo!" he whined, dropping his head to rest in the crook of her shoulder, turning his face to breathe in her scent.

"Oh goodness, look at you." She reprimanded playfully, lifting his face and squishing it between her palms. "Sixteen to six in two seconds flat."

"Hawes." He started, both of them laughing at the way he pronounced her name due to the hold she had on his face. Pulling her hands down and holding them in his own, he made an exaggerated show of relaxing his face before starting again. "Hales, I don't want you to leave. Plus, look at the weather! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you go out in that, huh? People would hunt me down. Lucas would finally have a reason to go through with his urge to kill me."

"Nathan, you're so dramatic," she laughed, popping one more kiss to his cheek before climbing off his lap to gather her things. "The storm's only going to get worse if I wait until later. Would you rather I go now and get home safely or wait and have to trek through a blizzard only to get stuck in the snow and die of hypothermia?"

"Oh wow, and I'm dramatic?" he laughed, standing as well, peering out the window in hopes that the snow fell hard enough for him to convince her to stay. He smiled as he saw that the pile he was observing earlier had formed into a small mountain. "Hales, really, the weather's horrible. Just stay the night."

Walking over to join him, she glanced out the window as well, grimacing as the unyielding snow continued to fall heavily on the ground. "Nathan, my parents aren't going to be okay with me staying here the night. For some reason it's completely different than you knowingly sneaking in my window in the middle of the night. Don't ask me why, I fail to understand it myself. But I just know…"

"Haley." He broke in; interrupting what he was sure was going to be another one of her rambles. "Are your parents even in town? Didn't you say something about them going to see one of your ten million siblings?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah. They're going to visit Vivian and the kids." She remembered, slightly impressed to know that not only was he listening to her when she told him, but he remembered. "But still Nathan, they call every night when they're out of town to make sure I get home safe."

"So when they don't get a hold of you at home they call your cell right?" he asked, receiving a nod in response. "So when they call your cell, just tell them you were hanging out with Peyton, the storm got really bad, so you thought it would be best to stay put."

She eyed him warily, taking in the grin on his face. "Should it worry me that you can come up with good, logical lies like that in a moments notice?"

He shrugged, his grin turning into a proud smirk. "I've had lots of practice." He bragged before his smirk dropped, taking in the way she raised her eyebrows as if to say 'excuse me?'. "To my parents, practice lying to my parents I mean. Not you…never you babe."

"Uh huh…you can't 'babe' your way out of everything mister." She admonished jokingly.

"I love you?" he smiled cheekily, laughing lightly when she rolled her eyes throwing her arms around his neck anyways as he allowed his to wrap around her petite waist.

"And I love you, goofball." She smiled back, leaning up to lay a kiss to his chin. "But I still don't know if me staying is the best idea."

"C'mon Hales." He started to whine again. "What's the big deal? You'll stay safe, you'll stay warm. We'll stay in, make out, watch a movie, make out, drink hot chocolate…make out." He finished with a grin, obviously proud of the genius idea he'd concocted for their evening.

"Gah, Nathan, one track mind much?" she laughed. "I um…I don't know…"

"Please Hales?" he asked, leaning down to nuzzle her hair, leaving light kisses up her neck, smiling when he heard her whimper. "I'll keep you warm." He continued, trailing his mouth from her neck to her ear, dropping a kiss behind it, her hands threading lightly through his hair, holding him in place. "We can do whatever you want." He bargained, his lips finding their way from her ear to her cheek, brushing across the soft skin. "I love you." He whispered, his mouth finding hers as they shared a soft kiss.

"Okay," she sighed with a smile when they pulled apart. "You got me with that last one."

"I thought I might." He replied, once again claiming her lips, smiling with excitement for what their cozy night in might hold.

I ought to say no, no, no, sir (Mind if I move a little closer)
At least I'm gonna say that I tried (What's the sense in hurting my pride)
I really can't stay (Baby don't hold out)
Ahh, but it's cold outside