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‘ Dress warmly’ he’d said, after Rose accepted his offer for a third date. She still could not quite believe that she was going out yet again, with the man that she’d initially assumed to be aloof and a bit stuck up, and had a hard time believing that he seemed to be enjoying her company, too.
‘ Okay. But where are we going?’ she had questioned in return.
‘ No spoilers. Just dress warmly,’ was all he would say.
“Maybe he’s taking you ice skating,” Paige mused during their shopping trip the day before. Rose’s Uggs had seen better days and she felt like she deserved a little retail therapy after the stress of working a service job during the holiday season.
“God, I hope not!” Rose squeaked. “I was never great on the ice, and these will be an absolute nightmare taking off in front of him.” She carried knee high, fur-trimmed black boots to the register.
“I dunno,” Paige smirked. “Give him a chance to help you take some clothes off and you’ll be forced to cling to him or fall into his arms all evening.”
“Oh, shut up! I don’t even know if it’s like that yet.” Rose sighed.
“Rosie, we both know you’re not this dumb,” Paige rolled her eyes. “It’s the middle of December,” she went on, noting the skeptical look her sister eyed her with. “Everyone is busy planning, working extra hours and going to dumb work parties to exchange gifts with people they might not even like. You don’t just carve out an entire evening with someone unless they’re really special to you . . . or you’d like them to be. Gonna buy some Apple Bottom jeans to go with those?” she winked, nodding towards the boots.
“I hate you. And no.”
“Well, I’m warm enough. Let’s see what you’ve got, hot shot,” she told herself when the evening came. It was five minutes to seven, and Hux hardly struck her as the type to be anything other than punctual. Sure enough, her phone lit up.
‘ I’m round the corner.’
She inhaled deeply and exhaled. Their last two dates had been meetings at agreed upon locations, but he had insisted on picking her up this time. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she just still felt a bit awkward and that she was out of his league. Ben and Rey had laughed when she admitted as much.
Ben, the reason she had even met Hux in the first place, assured her that ‘You are anything but out of that Ponce’s league. Give yourself some credit,’ he had smiled in that brotherly way, hugging her tightly.
Maybe it was because it had been so long since she had been on a proper date, it brought back feelings of teenage giddiness. ‘Gross, I hate it’ she sneered to herself, before shrugging and sending back a snappy reply of ‘DON’T TEXT AND DRIVE!’
She stepped out of the house and turned to lock the door behind her, looking down just in time to see he had sent a single smiley back. Before she could ask herself what he was playing at, she looked up, eyes widening and mouth dropping agape at what waited at the end of her driveway:
Hux sat waiting in a shiny black open-seated surrey, hitched to one of the largest horses she had seen in her life. The spokes of the wheels and the horse’s mane were decked in little sprigs of holly.
“They outdid themselves with the lights downtown this year, I thought we’d go and have a proper look,” Hux grinned, hopping down from the seat as Rose made her way towards him, slack jaw pulling into an irresistible grin the closer she got.
“How . . . where ?” she asked, trying to take it all in, eyes dwelling on the enormous bay Clydesdale that stood chomping on its bit. “Can I pet him?” she asked, her hand already stretched out towards the beast. “What’s his name?”
He nodded patiently. “His name is Odin.” She didn’t see the warm way he smiled as he watched her pat the muscular shoulder and stroke the velvety nose to make sure the horse knew how handsome he was. After a few moments, he tapped her shoulder and, reaching into his pocket, he drew out several sweet-smelling nuggets. “He’s not supposed to have this while he’s working, but . . . it is the season of giving,” he shrugged. “Like this,” he said gently, placing two of the nuggets into her hand and holding it palm-up in his gloved one. “Flat hand, we don’t want him to take your fingers.”
“Oh!” She gave a little jump when Odin eagerly snatched the treats from her palm, unintentionally shoving backwards against Hux, who laughed softly, his free hand landing gently atop her shoulder.
“He’s a greedy beast, but harmless,” he smiled, cringing at her hand, now coated in horse slobber, and reached into the pocket of his greatcoat, producing a bottle of hand sanitizer, because of course he carried sanitizer with him.
“Thanks,” she laughed, accepting the offer before pulling on gloves of her own.
“Shall we?” he asked, stretching a hand out to the single bench of the surrey. The blanket on the seat and the second large one folded neatly in the middle did not go unnoticed.
Rose nodded gracefully, taking a few steps to join him and accepting his hand as he helped her into the buggy before climbing up beside her.
By the time they reached downtown, a light snow had begun to fall, prompting Hux to unfold the blanket and cover their feet and legs, hesitating for a moment and looking at her in question. “Do you mind?”
“Not a bit,” she shook her head, scooting closer to him. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not,” he whispered, smiling widely when she rested her head against his chest.
Somehow they both managed to actually look at the twinkling light displays as the buggy rattled noisily down the streets, the reflections shining brightly off of the chrome on Odin’s harness, old Christmas hymns playing softly from the little shops and restaurants they passed.
After a while, Hux felt her shiver against him. He chewed at his lip for a beat or two, deciding that using both hands on to hold the reins were was somewhat superfluous, anyways, and swapped them to just one. Odin knew where he was going, anyways, so there was no reason not to put his free arm around Rose’s shoulders.
“It’s about time,” she teased, nestling even closer against him.
“Is it, now?” he asked softly, one eyebrow raised curiously.
“It is,” she replied softly, eyes twinkling mischievously.
“I didn’t realize you were keeping me on such a tight schedule of expectations,” he purred, gazing directly into her eyes , his arm tightening around her ever-so-slightly., gazing directly into her eyes. “Do I have lost time to make up for?” he asked, his eyes slowly dropping to her mouth even as the hand cupping he held the reins in went to her chin.
“Maybe just a little,” she whispered breathlessly, eyes fluttering closed as he leaned down and closed the distance between them., Hhis lips were just as soft and pleasant as she had found herself imagining imagined them to be. The kiss ended all too soon, the loss only softened by the way he leaned his forehead against hers, before softly clearing his throat and turning his attention back to the road in front of them.
The rest of the ride was spent in the most comfortable silence either of them had ever known, both content with the sound of hooves on pavement and the creaking of leather and rattle of the surrey’s wheels. The snow had grown heavier by the time they had returned to her driveway.
“This was really nice, Hux,” she said softly as she stood to her feet, accepting his outstretched hand yet again.
“Then you’ll see me again?” he asked, giving her hand a squeeze.
“On one condition,” she grinned slyly.
“I’m listening,” he murmured.
“Walk me to my door and kiss me goodnight?” she winked, hopping down from the buggy.
“Absolutely not.”
“But – HUX!” He literally swept her off of her feet and held her in his arms.
“That’s an awfully long walk,” he frowned. “Must I wait that long to kiss you again?”
“I guess not,” she sighed dramatically. “Come here.”
“I’d ask you to come in for coffee,” she said when they at last reached the door and he reluctantly put her down, grasping her hands tightly in his when her feet hit the ground. “But I guess you’ll need to be getting Odin home. I’m sure he’s worked up an appetite.”
He nodded with a small smile. “Ben will be waiting with the trailer to take him back. Leia was gracious enough to lend him to me for the evening. She insisted, actually.” He ran a hand through his hair as he slowly backed away, stepping down from her porch. “You’re sure you want to see me again?”
“I am,” she nodded. “As long as it’s not ice skating. I can’t skate to save my life.”
“But I can,” he winked. “I won’t let you fall.”
She gave him one last kiss and told him to let her know he’d gotten home safely.
“Won’t let me fall, huh?” she mused, sighing as she climbed into bed later that evening. “Too late for that.”