Mist floated from your mouth as you sat crouched on a rickety old stool in the back car park. It creaked and you slammed a foot down on the floor trying to keep your balance. Repositioning yourself you drew your leg back up and wrapped your arms around your knees. You could see the snow flakes dance against the orange street lights and the screech of a motor bike as it broke to go round the corner.

The thumping music pounded through the walls as you heard his voice singing in the background of screaming fans and drunks. You looked down to the side of your make-shift chair checking on the paper bag at its side. Smiling to yourself you placed your head on your knees and looked out into the cold.

"Kirkland! There's that girl here!" the voice bellowed from above you, you jumped, making you loose your balance and the stool crash beneath you. "That was so not awesome," the mocking face of Gilbert Beilschmidt looked down on you only to be shoved away. "Help her up idiot!" Arthur Kirkland now stood above you yelling various insults at his partner. He turned to you and held out a hand. His eyes shone bottle green and glowed in the dim light. You took his hand and he pulled you up. His jacket jangled as he moved and you brushed past studs and chains on his chest.

"________! That can't be you!" he beamed at you and, as if remembering himself, looked over at the wall and scratching his chin, "Erm… well, yeah… nice to see you and all." He looked at you from the corner of his eyes and a pink blush began to spread across his face. "You're not busy are you? I mean we could… err…" his voice dwindled, and he rubbed the back of his head. "Arthur," your mouth was dry and your voice barely a whisper, yet he still turned to look you dead in the eyes, "would you… take me home?" He smiled down to you and nodded, smiling in return you felt the blush stretch across your cheeks. You grabbed your bag and followed.

He led you to the van. With his back to you, you could see the detail of the English rose on the back of his jacket made of checked red scarf and pins. It was the bands name and symbol, the "Chequered Rose." Climbing into the back you sat amongst the guitars and amps, Arthur sitting opposite. Catching his eye you looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, looking at you for a moment he shuffled out of his jacket, and passed it over to you, "you were out there for a while I guess". In that moment you noticed how cold your body had become. Wrapping the jacket around you, you settled down into your corner of the van.

The van was small and your feet were squashed between Arthur's as he sat slouched across from you. You looked down at the bag squashed against your chest, smoothing down the edges held it out to Arthur. "________?" he took the bag from you and looked inside. "_______! I lent these to you didn't I?! Which did you like the most?" His face beamed at you and his smile made you catch your breath. "The Sex Pistols. I liked them the best." Arthur looked over to you, a smile across his face as he held the CD in his hand. "Gilbert! Put this on!" A hand reached through a small opening in the partition. Suddenly the song blasted through the van and Gilbert suddenly sped up. Arthur suddenly began doing air guitar and you sat watching him. Despite the lack of guitar you could still see his fingers moving purposely along with the tune of the song.

Gilbert suddenly broke and a rumble came from the back of van, suddenly you could see a rain of boxes and bags coming down over the top of you. You closed your eyes and screamed, waiting for them to hit.

Next you knew you could feel warm air on your forehead. Opening your eyes slowly you saw Arthur, face to face with you, arms either side of your head. His forehead rested against yours, he grunted and soon enough the bags slide down his back and he opened his eyes. Looking into his eyes, he moved slowly at first, and then bent into the kiss. His lips where gentle against your own and you could feel your mind empty as you closed your eyes and kissed back. His hand moved slowly, tracing your jaw bone and his thumb stroking against your cheek.

"Kesesesese… awesome," both of you opened your eyes suddenly and Arthur moved back to sit on his feet. Looking round you saw the face of Gilbert in the opening at the front of the van. The blush was burning on your face and you could see the glint of red against Arthur's. "Your stop girly!" Gilberts voice was unsteady as he held back his laughter at your embarrassment. You got up and Arthur opened the doors for you. "________" Arthur whispered as you jumped out the back of the van, "umm… can we meet up again… properly y'know?" you paused for a moment and spun on the spot. You smiled up at him and pecked him on the cheek, "sure!" The van began to drive off with Arthur still hanging out the back with the doors open, "Saturday! In the park!" you yelled after him, he waved to you and closed the doors as the van disappeared into the falling snow. You began your walk back, under the orange glow. His jacket on your back.