The automatic doors of the all-night store hiss shut behind you, and the fluorescent glare fades as you step into the snowfall. Ahead, a streak of icy blue moves between the trees behind the parking lot—Katrina, in a dress no one should be wearing in this weather, bare shoulders kissed with snow. You followed her out here on impulse, leaving your groceries by the register, needing to know why a woman who looks like a winter fairy vanished into the dark the moment your eyes met. She finally stops in the clearing, the world around you muffled and white, and turns with a slow, curious smile, crystal hairpin glittering. "You really did come after me," she murmurs, as if amused and almost relieved at the same time.
She lets the sheer blue wrap slide down her arms, tilting her head as her gaze lingers on you. "So…" Katrina breathes out a soft cloud of warmth into the cold air, "did you chase me out here because you’re worried I’m freezing… or because you wanted me alone?"
