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Brienne woke up alone.
However, the other side of the bed was still a little bit warm, his pillow still had the depression of his head on it - on the inner corner, close to where her head was lying now - and when she turned around groggily she saw that he had left a note beside the clock, which told her it was four in the morning.
Not bothering to read the missive, though she still stuck it into her top drawer where she kept all of his notes to her, Brienne slowly wrestled herself from the covers he had tucked around her and crawled out of bed. She groggily pulled on thick wool leggings, a large, frumpy, knitted sweater, and thick, wool socks. With a loud yawn and a stretch that had her fingers wiggling at the ceiling, she headed downstairs and didn’t make any further stops before she grabbed her long, down jacket and shucked on her winter boots. The cold rolled in when she opened the door and when it hit her face, she finally found herself fully awake.
She quickly shut the door behind her to keep the heat of the house in and hurriedly scurried across the patio and into her backyard to where two large seats were nestled in the thick snow. One of them was occupied by what could only be described as a giant, round poof.
“I didn’t think you were serious,” she murmured and made to sit in the other seat. Immediately, the giant bundle of warm clothing reached out for her and dragged her from her destination and into his lap.
“The snow finally stopped,” his muffled voice said from behind his two scarves. Then, with worry he continued, “You’re going to get cold dressed as you are.” Gloved hands pressed against her red cheeks.
“I’m not nearly as delicate as you,” she replied with a laugh and leaned against the bundle that was her husband, though she could barely discern the shape of his body through all of the layers he was wearing. She only knew him from the sparkle of his eyes peeking from between the edge of his beanie and hood and multitude of scarves. “Have you seen any shooting stars yet?”
“A few,” he replied. “They said the majority of them should be falling right about now.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You said you’ve seen the showers many times before.”
Brienne gave a small smile and shook her head. “I see you everyday and I don’t get tired of you.”
“Foolish of you really.” Though she couldn’t see his grin, she could hear the happiness in his voice and could picture exactly how the corner of his lips were certainly pulled up.
In lieu of replying with her words, Brienne searched for the hem of his jacket - found it - dug under the hem of his fleece, two sweaters, shirt, and thermal, and pressed her hands against his stomach. Under her Jaime jerked and shrieked at the feel of her cold finger tips, but she slid her hands around his torso and planted them on his back, engulfing him in both a hold and a hug. She kissed the corner of his eye in triumph. “Maybe I’m a little bit foolish, but so are you.”
Jaime huffed at her. “Undoubtedly, for letting down my defenses around you.”
“You should know better,” she said with a smile, pressing her forehead to his.
Jaime huffed and puffed dramatically a few more times, but couldn’t keep up the act. His arms wrapped around her and he pressed where his lips would be under his scarves to her cheek. “Well, I chose you. So in the end, I suppose I know best.”
She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at the sky. Every couple of seconds a streak of light would traverse the darkness and a star would fall. “Make a wish,” she said. Her eyes fluttered closed and one thought entered her head.
“I already have.”
She opened her eyes again and the night stretched back up above her, stars dancing in the darkness and racing across the sky. “How many?” She asked as she counted two, five, thirteen.
“Just one.”
“Will you tell me?” she asked and looked at him.
His gloved hand reached up to pull down the scarf that covered his bearded face. His smile was as she had known it would be: soft with fine lines at the corners, ruby red and only just the littlest chapped. “For us to be happy.”
She kissed him, warming them both in ways all of the winter gear they could wear could not. After a moment she pulled away, though her lips still brushed up against his. “I think we have our wish.”
“I think we do too.”
“Do you want to see more falling stars?”
He hummed and shook his head. “Let’s go back inside.”