Perilous (Harry Styles)

chapter 40

"Dangerous, but I'm fearless."

- Little Mix, Love Drunk

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(A/N: please comment the hell out of this chapter!)

My fingers were numb, as were my feet. And basically every other part of my body. Even my hair was frozen.

My teeth were chattering from the cold and I knew that my nose could challenge the color of Rudolph's famous one.

To Harry's dismay, I was also complaining nonstop. "Seriously, tell me again why your parents decided to celebrate Christmas on a cabin up a freaking mountain?"

We had been walking for at least fifteen minutes already and still had the majority of the mountain in front of us.

When I said mountain, I was talking about the size of the Mount Everest.

Okay, that was a bit exaggerated, but it was a huge mountain and it could take up to an hour to climb it.

Harry had kept this little secret, not telling me we wouldn't celebrate Christmas at his parents' house until I was about to step outside and race to the car. Instead, I had to go back and pull over a few more jumpers.

I was even wearing thighs underneath my jeans and the biggest boots I could find. My hands were packed in gloves, yet they were still freezing.

It was so unbelievable cold and there wasn't even any snow.

"You're a drama queen," Harry mumbled, loud enough for me to hear.

I didn't respond. I knew he was right but it wasn't completely fair of him to keep the fact that we had to climb a mountain to celebrate Christmas in a cabin.

There wasn't another way up besides this small path we were currently walking on. No cars, no bikes (not that I would be suicidal enough to ride a bike in this cold) and surely no lift.

I made Harry carry all the presents and my bag as a punishment. It wasn't manly enough for him, so he had taken a backpack instead. I knew he was struggling to carry everything, but I didn't care. He deserved it, he really did.

"Next time we'll just invite them to our place, like we did with my parents, alright?" I tried to keep my tone light, knowing that fighting wouldn't get us anywhere.

Harry shot me a small smile, appreciating my effort. "I promise."

My heart warmed up at the thought of having another Christmas with Harry. And hopefully many, many more.

"How come we don't see your parents or Gemma and Louis anywhere?" I asked grimly.

"My parents spent the night in the cabin." My eyes bulged as my mind was unable to comprehend how they could survive this cold. "And I think those two lovebirds are taking the other path."

"There is another path?" I asked in surprise.

I had lived in this city for all my life and I was aware of the forest surrounding the outer lines of town, but I never knew we had a mountain this high. Surely, we had to drive for some time, but still.

"Yes, it's faster," I opened my mouth to protest but Harry continued without giving me time to utter a word, "but steeper."

That shut me up. "I'm just glad it didn't snow."

"Believe me, I wouldn't have come up here if there was snow everywhere. Even I have limits." His hot breath was creating steam in the cold air and I watched fascinated as it disappeared.