Refuge (When It's Cold Outside)

"You know and I know
Friends come and friends go
Storms rise and winds blow
But one thing I know for sure
When it's cold outside
There's no need to worry cuz
I'm so warm inside
You give me peace
When the storm's outside
Cuz we're in love I know
It'll be alright
Alright it's alright" Refuge (When It's Cold Outside) by John Legend

I watched Trevor buckle his pants around his waist as I sat on the dryer. I repositioned my bra to its proper place, covering my breasts. I grabbed my shirt that was laying on the washing machine and slid it back on. Trevor grabbed his shirt off the shelf next to the detergent where I tossed it. He gave me a kiss as he leaned to retrieve it.

"You ready to call Forrest back?" He asked, picking up my pants from the ground and handing them to me.

"As soon as I can stand." I joked, nervously. I was only partial kidding. While the laundry room was a risque place for sex, it wasn't the most comfortable. My butt and legs where numb from dangling off the machine. I didn't feel it when Trevor was inside of me, but I was feeling it now.

After stretching, I hopped off the machine and pulled on my pants before rushing into the living room. I grabbed my phone from my purse and looked at my missed calls.

Forrest.

I didn't listen to the voicemail, I just called him back.

When I got no answer, I went to my voicemail. He said that he would call me back as soon as he could. That was over 30 minutes ago.

"What'd he say?" Trevor asked from the kitchen. He was still shirtless, his shirt hanging off of his jeans as he poured a glass of juice. I checked out his lean torso as he gulped down the drink. God, I would never get tired of looking at him.

"Lily..." Trevor said, snapping me out of my trance. He had a sexy grin on his face as he caught me perving him.

"Um, he's gonna call me back." I said quickly.

"Oooo, the suspense. Why couldn't he just tell you what happened?-"

My phone ringing cut him off. I grabbed it and gave Trevor a kiss before running up the stairs.

"Hello?"  I answered Forrest call, closing my door when I got to my room.

"Hey. It's me." He said simply. "Sorry about the wait but I needed to talk to Darren."

I gulped down air, trying to stop the sickening feeling sweeping inside me.

"So the meeting didn't make her tell the truth." I said, despondently.

"The meeting didn't happen." Forrest said. Before I could question that, he continued. "Darren and Lauren went to the counselor before school and said it was a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" I said, completely bewildered. I was too confused to be relieved.

"Yes, one that got cleared up when they got back together." Forrest added.

"What the fuck Forrest!" I exclaimed, confusion turning to anger.

"I don't understand it any more than you do. I talked to Darren, but he's sticking with his decision. Most importantly, the post are down so it's no longer your concern." Forrest said.

"I get that, but she needs to be punished! Darren doesn't need to get back together with her. Obviously, that's what she wanted and she lied to get it!" I protested.

"I agree. I talked to Darren already and I will continue to talk to him. You don't need to worry about it. In fact, it's probably best you don't have any relationship with him while she's still a part of his life." Forrest instructed me.

"Done and done." I sighed in relief. "Just... I don't know. Thank him for me?" I requested.

"I have a feeling it's not necessary, but I'll tell him." Forrest answered, cryptically.

 "I would love to say I was calm and had 100% trust that you were taking care of it, but that would be a lie. I should have had faith in you. Thank you so much Forrest." I thanked him.

"It was nothing-" He started.

"It wasn't nothing! Honestly, I wouldn't have tried to call her bluff like you did. I have a deeper appreciation for teachers now and the bullshit they have to put up with. You deserve a huge thank you cookie. No, a cake. Or better yet, a cookie cake!" I suggested, smiling.

"Rachel will have my head if I tried to come home with any of those, so a thank you is enough." Forrest chuckled.

I laughed too. "Ok, but I owe you."

"You can explain what you meant about Rachel being an enigma, trapped in a box of secrets?"

"I don't think I said that. Maybe wrapped in secrets, trapped in a mystery..."

"Whatever you said, what did you mean?" Forrest chuckled.

"She's just a hard nut to crack, you know? I mean, she definitely warmed up to me since the whole "I don't fuck with you" thing, but she doesn't open up. At least not to me." I explained the best I could.

"She's not an overly emotional person like you Lily. She doesn't even come to me with all her problems till she has them figured out."

"It's not just being emotional. Like the whole things with her parents and her getting her master's in history. That makes no sense to me but when I tried asking about it, she shot me down."

"I'm about to marry into her family and I still don't get the dynamics. She probably didn't want to get into it." Forrest defended her.

"Alright. You're right. I just feel like Rachel and I are acquaintances while you and I are friends. It's weird because I really try to be her friend too so it's not uncomfortable for her or Trevor; and you or me. " I confessed.

"It's not. I have Rachel; you have Trevor. We're friends. Nothing uncomfortable about that."

I smiled. "Alright, alright. How many times do you wanna hear you're right today?"

"5 more to meet my quota." Forrest joked.

"Whatever. Go get your ego stroked by Rachel. Drive safe, ok?"

"Will do. Bye Lily."

"Bye."

After I got off the phone, I skipped down the stairs happily.

"Trevor?!? Guess whose name is officially cleared?" I announced as I joined him in the living room.



We spent the night celebrating my vindication. Since Jasmine didn't want to drive in the snow, she stayed in Irving with her dad for the night. Trevor and I took advantage with the last bottle of wine, red velvet Oreos and the erotic dice from our birthday party.

Since the winter's weather would be clearing out this weekend, Trevor suggested we go out to celebrate properly.  I quickly agreed, asking if we could make it a group outing.

We got on Facebook and posted the idea of getting out when the winter storm warning was over. Sammy and Corey agreed. Corey had a minor fender bender on his way home from work Friday. He and his car were fine, but his boss gave him the weekend off to recover. Forrest and Rachel agreed, if the roads were cleared. I talked Rocky into coming with the idea of throwing Ethan and Serena back together. Brandon had to open, so he would be able to join us in the evening. Now all we had to do was agree on what we wanted to do.

Food was a given, but I actually wanted to go out and do something too. I felt cooped up in the house all week watching movies and eating; I needed to go dancing or bowling, anything active.

Trevor suggested ice skating, which Rocky quickly shut down. She didn't even want to walk on the ice, much less play on it. Trevor uncharacteristically rolled his eyes at that. Apparently, he's been spending too much time with me.

I suggested a club, but Sammy wasn't feeling that. She felt it was too much like work. She used to live for nights out at bars and clubs to go drinking. No way was I going to discourage that. We were still debating when Jasmine made it home Saturday afternoon when the roads were cleared.

"I have an idea. I have a coworker whose family owns a skating rink. She's been bugging me about going and I finally am. They're trying an adult's night the last Saturday of the month. It's 21 and up, throwback music and BYOB after 6 o'clock." She suggested.

Trevor and I both smiled. "That's what we're doing!'

I texted everyone the details before Jasmine and I went upstairs to try to figure out what to wear. I put my hair in hot curlers while I picked out an outfit. I picked out galaxy pants I found in Austin with an off the shoulder black sweater. My hair curled a little too tight, but I fixed it by pushing it back with a blue scarf.

"You look so cute!" Jasmine gushed when I went to see if she was ready.

"You look hot!" I complimented her. She was wearing a long sleeve, mini dress with lace stockings. Her hair was straightened and pulled up in a sleek ponytail. I was going for retro, flirty and cute. She was going for sexy. I didn't know how she was planning to skate in it though.

"Thank you. Ready?" Jasmine asked me.

"Ready!" I smiled. We went downstairs and joined Trevor.

"Thanks for making me look like a bum." Trevor joked, motioning to his jeans and t-shirt. The only accessories he had was a beanie hat with a visor and his leather jacket.

"Thank Jasmine. I went for causal too." I said as Jasmine and I put on our coats." Did you invite Kendal?"

"No." Jasmine answered. "Should we stop by a liquor store?" She added, quickly.

"Absolutely." I nodded.

Trevor drove my car and I got an alcohol requests from my friends. We picked up a couple packs of beer and a bottle of rum and tequila and headed to the roller rink in Irving.

We got there half an hour before 6pm. It was a bit of a hole in the wall at the end of a strip mall, but you could tell it was well maintained. It was decorated with strobe lights, deep purple sparkle walls and black cushioned couches, booths, tables and chairs. It was adorable, and the music was already blaring on a barely occupied rink. I was so ready to cut loose!

We rented our skates and found a little booth in the back. Trevor and I put on our Rollerskates while Jasmine went to find her aunt in the back.

We then walked on the skates to the rink. It had been awhile since I been on skates. In fact, the last time had been with Trevor in college when rollerblading had made a comeback.

I was gliding along the rink, testing how fast I could go. Trevor grabbed my hand and we skated together. Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" came on and that made me slow down to test my dance moves.

"When did you learn how to skate?" Trevor teased me.

"I knew how before!" I said.

I did, just not very well. The quad skates we had on were much easier than the in-line rollerblades I learned on with him. I spent most of the time at the park watching everyone else or holding on to him when he forced me to skate. After a few crash and burns, (with no pads) I got it down.

"This is so much easier." I commented, swaying side to side to the beat, displaying my new moves.

"Oh yeah? Can you do this?-" Trevor said, spinning around.

I mimicked him perfectly and smirked when I faced him.

He then turned around and started skating backwards. It took me a few attempts and Trevor coaching me through it, but I got that down too.

"Alright, skate in front of me." Trevor instructed me.

"Backwards?"

"No, just skate."

I did as he said and waited for his next instructions.

"What now?" I turned my head around after a few moments of waiting.

"Nothing. I just like the view. It's out of this world." He blatantly stared at my butt in my galaxy pants.

"You perv!" I exclaimed, turning around to swat at him. He caught my hands as I swung at him and spun us around. I giggled and we skated like that, spinning around with each other until I spotted Sammy and Corey at the entrance of the rink. We sped up to meet them.

"Hey guys!" I said, giving Sammy a hug. She looked cute in knee high black socks, a dark denim skirt and a black fitted long sleeved low cute top.

"Hey." She waved, wobbling as she entered the rink.

"Where are your skates?" Trevor asked Corey.

"I'm skipping that. They have Rampage in the arcade." Corey answered.

"Really?" Trevor answered excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go play."

Trevor looked at me.

"Have fun guys." I smiled. Trevor gave me a little kiss before they left. I looped my arm through Sammy's.

"How do we feel about their blossoming bromance?" I asked her.

"Oh, I tried to shut it down. Didn't work." Sammy admitted.

I laughed. "Really?"

Sammy nodded. "Yep. Corey thinks he's cool. Fucking Trevor."

Fucking Trevor indeed.

We skated around once slowly so Sammy could get comfortable on the roller skates. Halfway through our second round, Brandon joined us.

"Where's Rocky?" I asked him.

"At the table. She didn't want to skate." He replied.

"And y'all still came?" Sammy asked, tauntingly.

"Yeah man. You know I run things." Brandon smiled.

Sammy scoffed and I asked, "Since when?"

"Forever and always!" He said, cockily.

Sammy and I both laughed at him as we continued to skate together.

"I need a drink." Sammy declared when we approached the entrance. I nodded and we joined Rocky, Forrest, Serena and Rachel at the table.

"Hey guys!" I said, giving them a hug before sitting down beside Rocky. I grabbed a beer and popped it open, handed it to Sammy before grabbing one for myself.

"Y'all aren't skating?" I asked, eyeing Rocky's cute striped blouse tucked into a skater skirt over leggings.

"No, I'm gonna watch." Rocky said.

"Me too." Serena nodded. At least she was dressed for the occasion in dark denim jeans and a flannel green and blue blouse.

"Aww, come on. One time around." I suggested.

"I will." Forrest agreed.

I looked over at Rachel. She wore a nice sweater and jeans combination. When Rachel agreed to skate, they went to get skates. Serena went with them to the concession stand to grab a coke for the rum.

"Where is Ethan?" I asked Rocky when they left.

"Working. He promised he'll take a break and join us for dinner." Rocky said.

"Cool."

When Forrest and Rachel returned, we went back to the rink together. By now, the rink was packed. We skated, danced and goofed around together.

"Luv to Luv ya" came on and Sammy and I started dancing to the music together.

"Reggie's on point tonight. I haven't heard this song in forever" Brandon complimented.

"Reggie's DJing?" I asked, surprised.

Brandon pointed to the booth. Sure enough, Reggie was. I looked around for Jasmine, now knowing why she got so dressed up for a skating rink. She was hanging out with some friends by the DJ booth. I shook my head.

"Surfing Bird" was blended in perfectly to the song. Even though Reggie was a shitty boyfriend, he was a fucking awesome DJ.

I started to do the dance on my skates.

"Really Lily?" Sammy shook her head at me.

"I love this song!" I exclaimed.

"I don't think anyone of us was alive when this song came out." Rachel smiled.

"Rachel, everybody knows that the bird is the word!" I sang at her.

"Ok Peter." Forrest laughed, catching on to my Family Guy reference.

I laughed too. "You watch Family Guy Forrest?"

"Never miss an episode."

"I missed the last season. I watch the Simpson's episode, but then football season started."

"DVR Lily..."

"I know, I know."

We hung out, drank and played games until we decided to go eat. I talked to Jasmine before we left. She told me she was going to get a ride with some friends. I knew her hanging out with her ex was a bad idea, but I didn't say anything. Just told her to have fun and I'd see her later.

We went to the Fox and Hound, a pub with a billiards room, music and a late night kitchen. Ethan joined us as promised and we got a couple of tables and ordered food and drinks.

"To the snow and ice melting." Brandon toasted when we got our drinks.

"You know we might get more next week?" Corey asked.

We hissed and booed at him.

"It's officially March. Hopefully this is the last winter blast. It's delaying a lot of projects" Ethan commented.

"Speak for yourself; I love it when it snows. The city shuts down and I'm glad I don't have to work." Rachel smiled.

"I actually enjoy traveling for my job, so I'm over it too." Serena agreed with Ethan. I smiled at Rocky. She smiled back.

"So what are we toasting?" Forrest asked.

"That we survived the snow!" Sammy toasted.

Rocky nodded. "Together. We're all here safe, together."

"Yeah, 'reunited'. We should snapshot this" Trevor chuckled, referencing the Becca drama. I elbowed him, but smiled too. I was surprised when Rocky narrowed her eyes at Trevor. I was even more surprised when Trevor held her glare.

"To vindication!" I toasted. When everyone just looked at me, I explained, "Long story short, Forrest cleared my name against some false accusations so yeah, cheers to him!" I finished.

"To refuge with one another. From the weather, work or false accusations." Forrest summed up.

"Hear hear!"

We toasted and drank and ate before we went our separated way. I was glad I survived my first winter storm of 2015. I was even happier that I had great friends to weather the storm with.