A ringing sound made itself heard sometime after we cuddled to sleep earlier that morning. That wasn’t what woke me up though. It was Violet rolling over, her body on top of me with our noses almost touching, and rolling over again to get out of bed. She turned off the arm and looked to me still half awake. I on the other hand had gotten very awake by what she had done.

  “Sorry. Did that wake you?” she asked a bit dazed.

  “Y-yeah. What time is it?”

  It was time for her to start getting ready to go to work, she said as she hunched a bit and hands rubbing her arms as she went to her closet. She had to prepare breakfast, take a bath and catch the bus. She told me I could stay in bed if I wanted, that she’d leave me something I could eat any time. The breakfast and the bath were fine, but everything she said after that, I had a lot of issues with them.

  “You aren’t going to work! Not like that!” I told her off.

  “Wha— why?” she asked confused before realising what I meant. Oh, right she added as she pced a hand on her cheek.

  She started to look sad, which prompted me to get up and go to her, the room feeling a lot colder than I thought it would after I uncovered myself.

  “Why don’t you call them and expin you can’t go for a few days?” I suggested.

  “But… they already let me stay home for Christmas and New Year’s dinner…” she said sorrowfully.

  “Come on Violet! Don’t feel down because of that. It’s not your fault that happened,” I said consolingly.

  “Well… yeah but—”

  “No buts,” I interrupted her.

  I grabbed her phone and pced it in one of her hands while grabbing the other.

  She just had to be frank with them. I mean, even if Violet were to appear there, they would probably send her back, right?

  “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks,” she said with a small smile.

  I stood by her side, holding her hand despite her meek attempts at setting it free. She probably thought I was distracting her, but since she was sounding nervous from the beginning, I doubt the person she was talking to paid it any mind. It took a while for her to finish the call because she said sorry a lot of times.

  “So, what are we—”

  My words were interrupted by a knock on the door.

  Violet opened her mouth, only to close it and give me a look from head to toe. Knowing what she was worried about, I gave her an ‘are you serious?’ look to which she gave a ‘sorry’ look of her own.

  With that… non-conversation out of the way, she finally answered the knock.

  It was Stan who knocked, wanting to tell us he had something to say before going somewhere.

  “Go? Go where?” Violet asked.

  “Apparently there is going to be a meeting between Abby’s parents and their wyers, and he asked me to go with him,” he expined before adding info he knew was going to be asked as Violet was already opening her mouth. “Probably because of yesterday. He asked for you to come too, but I thought you’d rather stay here and keep Abby company.”

  “Yeah… thanks dad,” she said in a sad tone.

  “How are you feeling Abby?” he asked.

  In the past few hours, I’ve been distracted with Violet, so I hadn’t given it much thought. Now that I had to give an answer, how was I feeling?

  Truth be told, I’d rather have my parents together. But looking back, there were plenty of signs things weren’t well between the two, so, was this for the best? I’d have to say, yes. I still felt sad for everything that was going on, but if they were to stay together, they would end up tearing each other apart. I would start living just with dad, so I wouldn’t have my mum controlling and terrorising me all the time, and I was still very mad about her hurting Violet. However… she was still my mother. Would I still be able to see her? Would she want to? Would I? I didn’t think I could forgive her yet—or ever, but…

  Something gently squeezed my hand. Violet was looking at me with a warm but worried expression as she gently held me.

  Smile. Don’t forget to smile.

  “I just have to come to terms, right? Don’t worry, I’ll eventually be fine… even if now I don’t feel like it will,” I said as firmly as I could.

  “Well, you certainly look better than yesterday,” Stan tried as a joke.

  “Sorry for all that,” I said apologetically.

  “You don’t have to,” he said. He was waving his hands in front of me while looking at Violet. She was probably giving him one of her angered looks. “Just, erm… give your father a hug when he gets back, ok?”

  “Yeah… I will,” I said, sounding a bit sad, although I think I really wasn’t at that point.

  “Dad, shouldn’t you be going?” Violet asked a bit annoyed. It probably had to do with her thinking Stan was bringing my mood down.

  “Right, yes. I’ll see you ter,” he said as he left the room.

  Now that we were alone and out of bed, she stared straight at me. What would she say next?

  “Abby… you don’t have to smile if you don’t feel like it.”

  “W-what? What are you on about?”

  “…I can see you’re faking it. You don’t need to do that.”

  My smile dissolved, me being too stunned by Violet’s perception to keep it up.

  “I don’t?” I asked.

  She shook her head and repeated the fact I didn’t need to put a fa?ade anymore.

  I walked up to her, pced my hands on her shoulders and rested my forehead on her chest while she gently held me.

  “…Ok,” I whined.

  Violet kept me in a hug until I felt better. Now that I was back to being calm, she moved on to the next business in order: breakfast.

  Not wanting to bother her, I said anything was fine, but…

  “Yeah, no. I can’t work with that,” was her answer.

  “What is it that you usually eat?”

  “Me? Two pieces of toast and tea.”

  No wonder she was so thin. Wait, not thin, elegant. I meant elegant. There’s a difference there, a very important one.

  “That’s great! That will do just fine,” I said enthusiastically.

  “Come on Abby,” she said annoyed. “I’ve seen you eat plenty of times. There is no way that is enough for you.”

  “How rude!” I said it in fake anger. Well, mostly fake. “I’ll let you know, dear Violet, I don’t eat much in the morning because of my habit of running early.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Two pieces of toast it is.”

  “Yay!” I procimed. “Also, just to be clear, I wasn’t really mad.”

  “I know,” she said sighing. “You are just being a bit too full of energy for me right after I woke up.”

  “You really aren’t a morning person, huh?”

  “Yeah, yeah. As if you didn’t already know.”

  We ate breakfast quietly. I made the choice of letting Violet fully wake up before annoying her more. By the time we were doing the dishes—which were only two, but I begged to help anyway—she seemed to be practically awake. Just to be clear, I wanted to help because I didn’t want to leave her do all the work while I just watched, not just purely out of clinginess.

  Anyway, seeing her more awake was the signal for me to go back to messing with her.

  “I’m calling dibs on the first hug!” I procimed.

  “Huh? Where did that come from?” she asked confused.

  From Violet’s previous mention about showering, which apparently, she walked back on, seeing as how cold it was. If her bathroom was as cold as the rest of the house, I couldn’t bme her.

  However, that didn’t stop me from teasing her.

  “Aww, I like how you smell when you shower,” I whined.

  “Sorry to disappoint, but you will just have to wait for another time,” she said in a very matter of fact way.

  “Even if I give you my puppy eyes?”

  “Yep. Even with your puppy eyes.”

  “Tsk, meanie.”

  Violet didn’t comment back. She just went back to scrubbing the silverware before handing me them for drying and storing while I discreetly looked her up and down. Violet with an apron and tied hair had such a homey appeal, it made me feel like annoying and spoiling her to no end.

  She really is beautiful…

  “Wait! Do I smell?” she asked armed.

  “Don’t know. Let me check,” I told her as I saw an opening to tease her more.

  That was my intention, but somehow, when I realised it, I had my arms around her waist as I pressed myself against her back, my pn backfiring horribly.

  “Abby, stop! Your hands are freezing!” she yelled.

  “Ah! Sorry!” I too yelled.

  I let her go as I realised what I was doing.

  She just gave me an irritated look.

  This isn’t good.

  Thinking quicky, I found something that could work to appease her before she started scolding me.

  “Are you done with your part of the dishes?”

  “Yes,” she said a bit coldly.

  “In that case,” I said as I grabbed her hands and shoved them directly on the sides of my belly.

  They were cold enough to make me shrivel a bit. Even my now cold hands felt warm compared to hers.

  “How about this as a punishment?”

  “…You didn’t have to put them under your shirt. A simple sorry was enough…” she said in a more mellow tone.

  “How am I supposed to warm them up otherwise?” I offered as an expnation, even though I hadn’t thought that deeply.

  “I’m fine now. You can let go,” she said.

  She gave her hands a slight tug, but I resisted.

  “No way. Only when I feel like they are warm,” I said, starting to rub my thumbs on the back of them. I must confess, I was starting to enjoy it despite her hands feeling like ice. They were a bit rough, most likely due to the cleaning products she handled on a daily basis, but they had a softness to them too. I’d have enjoyed it more was it not for the sad face she was now putting instead of the blush I was expecting.

  “What is it now?” I asked.

  “You are so thin now,” she said feebly as she gently pinched my sides.

  It wasn’t out of jealousy she said it. I had looked at myself in the mirror yesterday after the shower and saw how thin I now was. Some girls would be jealous if they saw me, but I hated how flimsy I was looking compared to before. Not that I was ever fat or chubby. I always had the right weight for my build thanks to mum’s control and my own fitness awareness.

  I told her not to worry and that I wouldn’t be neglecting my diet from now on, but it wasn’t enough. Violet simply gave me a nod, her face retaining the same worried look.

  Not enough, huh?

  “Hehe. Remember the day I gave you a dress? I kinda feel stupid now for having said I wanted to be slimmer.”

  “Pfft, fufu, yeah. I told you, if anyone had to say she wanted to have the same weight as the other, it should be me,” she said with a nostalgic look.

  “Oh, just to be clear, you aren’t too thin, ok?” I said hurriedly, fearing another drop in her mood.

  “I know,” she told me with a nod. “Or at least I’m starting to think so. I’m trying to have a different outlook about myself.”

  “That so? I’m happy to hear it!” I told her with a wide smile.

  “I don’t want to put a damper in our conversation but aren’t my hands warm enough for you yet?” she said with a smile of her own.

  “Well…ok,” I grumbled as I released her. “But I really didn’t mind staying like this for a bit longer.”

  “Yeah, were I to let you do as you please, you’d be permanently attached to me,” she scolded still with a smile. “Anyway, I’m going to take a shower. You can watch a movie I recorded in the meantime.”

  I argued she didn’t have to, since she didn’t smell. She got a bit red, saying she was aware of that from my previous reaction.

  “Just… sit down. It’ll only take me fifteen minutes or so.”

  “I want to help!” I toyed.

  “You aren’t getting in the shower with me.”

  “If that is the case, will there ever be a time we do?”

  “…No!” she said as she turned while flushing. “Just wait for a bit, ok!?”

  Feeling satisfied with the results, I went and sat down on the sofa. As I was snickering to myself, I started to reflect on the pause she made in her st answer. I came to believe she did that when she gave some thought to whatever shenanigan had left my mouth. I really liked seeing that red Violet. Were there even red violets? That one certainly was that colour a lot of times. I really missed it for these past two weeks.

  I was completely lost in these thoughts when Violet came back with new clothes and looking frigid.

  “You didn’t turn on the tv?” she asked as she sat by me.

  “Hmm? Oh, I was waiting for you.”

  I lied. My mind was so full of her, I didn’t notice time going by.

  “You really didn’t have to, but thanks,” she said.

  She pced a bnket over us, turned the tv on and put the movie on py. Right from the beginning I could tell what kind of movie it was.

  It was a Christmas movie, that making it a bit out of season.

  “Yeah. I…” she paused while blushing slightly when I pointed that out. “I intended to watch it with you if you spent a night here during the holidays.”

  “Please stop, my heart can’t take it,” I said half-jokingly.

  It was beating like a jackhammer in my chest.

  She blushed even more and went quiet.

  Sometime ter she stood up to sit down halfway from the tv, putting her broken gsses on a side table and leaning on an armchair. She had some trouble staying covered by the bnket, but I scooted over, now sitting with my lets touching one of her shoulders. I guess she got tired of watching the movie through cracks and decided it was better to sit closer instead. I pondered about telling her I liked seeing her with gsses more than without, but right at this moment was definitely the worst possible time for that, so I stayed quiet.

  In the movie, they were now showing a scene in which the family was doing an exchange of presents.

  “That would be nice for us to do,” I commented.

  “I guess but…I don’t think I’d know what to give you.”

  “I’m easy to please! A hug or letting me use your p for as long as I wanted for the day would be more than enough.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a cheap trick?”

  “Hmm… I don’t think so. I always have to ask you or initiate that kind of stuff, so you making the first move and me not having to worry about overstaying would feel pretty great,” I said sincerely.

  “…That so?”

  “Yep, that so.”

  We went back to watching the movie in silence. For about another ten minutes, that is.

  “Abby?” Violet called with a trembling voice.

  I returned the call, a bit worried by her mannerisms.

  She opened her legs slightly and tapped the empty space between them without giving me a look. Not that she had to for me to know what her expression was. I could see the tips of her ears through her hair, and they were glowing red. My mind went bnk for what felt like an eternity before I could form any sembnce of discourse.

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked, my voice also trembling slightly.

  She nodded.

  “I’ll ask dad to cook or order something so you can stay longer.”

  “Well… if you say so,” I said as I scooted down over her, sitting where she had told me to.

  For a while I sat there with my knees close to the chest, facing forward. I was thinking if I should just call it off. That would be a relief for her, right? Or would it actually hurt her feelings? Probably both, right? I’d also be denying me a golden opportunity… no. I had to think of Violet first. What should I do so I wouldn’t hurt her but also not stress her out?

  I felt a pair of trembling hands wrap themselves around my belly and pulling me behind. Soon enough I had my head resting on Violet’s chest, her chin brushing against my hair. Now that we were like that, I could sense her freshly-out-of-the-shower smell like I previously couldn’t. I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear with my eyes closed as I regaled in her warmth and perfume. And when I say warmth, I mean her kindness. That girl was cold to the touch. Was she even alive?

  When I opened my eyes, they were met with Violet’s.

  “Ah! Sorry! It’s just… this feels so nice,” I said as I now went full red.

  “It’s okay,” she said softly.

  “Is it? I can get out if you want.”

  “It’s okay, really,” she said reassuringly. “It doesn’t bother me now.”

  “Now? Why?” I asked confused.

  “Well…erm… you’re warm and erm… look so…happy…” she staggered as she averted her eyes.

  “Hmm. I understand. Thanks, Violet,” I cheered.

  “Hmm.”

  “Could you just hold me tighter?”

  “…Like this?” she asked as she did as I had requested.

  “Yep. Just like that,” I said blissfully as I finally let my body completely rex. “Thanks again, Violet. This is the best Christmas present ever.”

  “Is it?” she asked coyly as she finally looked back to me.

  “Yep, yep. Nothing can beat this,” I procimed.

  “Thanks…I’m happy to hear that,” she stammered.

  “I’ll have to think of something really good if I want to compete with this. Can we do this next time I come over?”

  “You don’t have to… And no, we can’t.”

  “What if we do this on special occasions?”

  “Special occasions? Like what?” she asked confused.

  “Hmm… let’s see… Well, Christmas for starters. Oh! How about on our birthdays?”

  “…When is your birthday? I don’t think we ever talked about that.”

  Hmm… She was right, we didn’t. It was always either me nagging her or one of us confessing our sins, wasn’t it?

  “Yeah… not that I… mind,” she said flustered.

  “I think that’s called Stockholm Syndrome,” I joked.

  Anyway, mine was on the twelfth of March, and I was a bit shocked when she told me hers was on the fourteenth of April, making me the older one. I’m not sure why I was surprised by it, we were in the same css and I had never thought she had ever repeated a year, so it shouldn’t be that strange that she was younger than me.

  “…Why don’t you act like it?”

  “Pff, ah-haha. That sounds boring. Would you like that?”

  “Hmm… it would be weird if you did,” she told me with a nod.

  “Yay!” I cheered while rubbing my head on her jaw before remembering the first topic of our conversation. “So, do we have a deal?”

  “Huh?”

  “About us sitting like this on special occasions. Do we?”

  “You’re going back to that?” she said as she once again looked away.

  “Violet, please look at me,” I implored.

  “Nuh-uh. You are just going to ask me again with your puppy eyes.”

  “Tsk. I guess you knowing me so well has its disadvantages too,” I grumbled jokingly.