Andrew paced back and forth across the homely rental cabin while the two remaining members of the East South Central Region watched on with varying degrees of concern and annoyance. Kentucky and Mississippi had refrained from commenting on the explosive argument which had erupted between Tennessee and Alabama earlier, but he could hear the judgment in their stares. Their sub-region was usually considered one of the more peaceful and amicable among the states due to the quartets’ exceedingly, ahem, humble circumstances. There was no point in arguing over who was better than the others when they were all frequently competing for middle to last place on most ranking scales, after all. However, they each still had their own stubborn and obtuse sense of pride whenever it was least convenient.
Maybe he had over reacted… b-but Chris had started it! Andrew scowled stubbornly as he told himself that Chris was the one at fault and he was being a big baby by angrily storming out into a storm. He looked out the window and cringed when he saw snow whipping past the window. Why did Chris go have his hissy fit in the middle of a blizzard? Blizzards were relatively rare for their region so it was amazingly bad luck that the bitter argument occurred in the middle of one. Tennessee wanted to stay mad, but as the minutes crept into hours with no sign of the blond, anger was quickly turning to fear.
“…. Shit,” Andrew hissed as he grabbed his coat. “Y’all stay put! I’m gonna look for him. If I ain’t back or called here in an hour, radio the park service.” The former mountaineer took up his backpack and old frontier hatchet before heading out into the snow himself to search for Chris. Wind and snow and the foggy outline of trees made up the majority of his limited vision as Andrew shuffled through the blizzard. While he was far from shy to make sarcastic or deadpan remarks about Alabama’s general intelligence, he knew that Chris was no idiot. He wouldn’t be out stumbling around in the middle of this weather so the Tennessean focused on searching the nearby hollers and caves to see where he might have sought shelter. Eventually his method paid off. When Andrew picked up the scent of smoke coming from a small, shallow cave he quickly ducked into the narrow entrance and shuffled along until he found the fireplace and sibling he had been searching for.
“Chris!” he gasped as the other state looked up at him in surprise. Both took a moment to survey the other and, when each was confident that neither was hurt, the boys scowled.
“What are ya doin’ out here?! I said I wanted t’ be alone!”
“I’m out here ‘cause ya ain’t got the good sense God gave a goose! What were ya thinkin’ runnin’ off in a blizzard!?”
“Obviously I got enough sense to take care of myself! I don’t need ya babyin’ me!”
“Look here ya…” Andrew trailed off and clenched his fist as he simmered for a moment. A slow sigh escaped him as he looked down at the earthy cave floor while Alabama continued to scowl at him. He slumped backwards to sit on his bottom with a small grunt. “… I’m sorry, Bama. I shouldn’t a’ gotten on yer case earlier. An’ I know that yer fine out here, but… I ain’t. I ain’t fine with ya stayin’ out here. So… could ya come back?”
Chris stared long and hard at Andrew for a moment before a sly, snaggle-toothed grin spread across his face. The Heart of Dixie warmed up with a glow more welcoming than any campfire could muster and plopped a heavy hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Alright. Since ya’ miss me so much~!”
“I-I didn’t say I missed ya,” Andrew sputtered indignantly and was grateful that his cheeks were already red from the weather.
“You missed me~!” Chris taunted as he pursed his lips together in a mock kissy face which earned him a face full of decaying moss. “H-Hey! Ptthbbt!”
One small moss, dirt and snowball fight later, Chris and Andrew returned to the cabin grateful for the existence of central heating systems. With some hot chocolate courtesy of Mississippi, the pair crowded around the fireplace with blankets drawn up over their shoulders. The boys had been so focused on thawing that they had missed the Christmas decorations which had been put up in their absence. Apparently Kentucky and Mississippi had found a way to keep busy while they were busy having their own feuds in the snow.
Chris choked and spat out some of his hot chocolate while admiring the decorations. Andrew gave him a peculiar look before following the Alabamian’s gaze upward to a small piece of mistletoe dangling ominously above them.
“Ya gotta be shittin’ me,” he groaned before looking around for a Kentuckian or Mississippian to blame for the very timely placement. They knew Tennessee and Alabama would want to crowd around the fire when they got back! This was a set up!
“Y’all better kiss an’ make up~!” a voice chimed from a safe hiding spot just out of sight where the devious tricksters had been watching.
“We already made up! Dammit…” Andrew snapped back with a flustered scowl. He looked to Chris as both of their cheeks reddened and they squirmed like a pair of shy middle schoolers who had never been kissed.
“It’s tradition so… someone’s gotta get kissed,” Chris finally said. Tennessee wanted to argue that some traditions were stupid, but he knew how hypocritical that was since ninety percent of the time he tried to avoid changing anything he tended to blame traditional values. Traditions were important.
“J-Jus’ close yer eyes,” Andrew mumbled as he turned to Chris and leaned in. His move was forced and assertive at first, but he hesitated just above the other’s lips. There was a small lapse as he opened his own eyes to make sure Chris’ were squeezed shut. Andrew almost rolled his eyes when he saw how the other had pursed his lips together childishly. Gosh, this was already so many levels of awkward, and that was not helping. He reached up and brushed a thumb over Chris’ lips to flatten them. “Quit that. This is weird enough as it is,” he grumbled before placing a small peck on the blond then backed off to take a long drink of his hot chocolate.
“I didn’t expect ya t’ taste sweet. I figured you’d taste like whiskey.”
Andrew’s cheeks flushed and he would have thrown something or swatted Chris if he wasn’t worried about making a mess to clean up later.
“It’s the damn hot chocolate, idiot.”
