New Year's Doe

>If you asked Noelle what her favorite month if the year was the answer wouldn't be surprising in the least
>December, obviously.
>Even with her mom being as busy as she was and her dad in the hospital they spent as much time together as they could in their Holiday month
>Her mom even swung a favor with the hospital and let them put up a little tree in his room this year and decorate it
>And all the buildup and preparation to Christmas was genuinely worth it, it was a fun night with both of her parents for once
>The only bit of celebration left was New Years
>She knew the little celebration she and her parents planned was going to be bittersweet, since afterwards all the festivities would be over, but she looked forward to it anyway
>They didn't do any big dinners or anything, just small platters of finger foods as they waited the new year together
>But when her father's condition declined two days after Christmas and her Mom found herself swamped in undone paperwork, the less important celebration of New Years was cast by the wayside
>So Noelle found herself alone on the eve, far more bitter than sweet.
>She had started preparing for it by herself anyway, hoping in vain that her mother would call up any minute and announce she was able to come home after all
>As time went on without word Noelle's enthusiasm drained more and more until she couldn't bare it
>Half finished bowls and trays of hors d'oeuvres hastily covered with plastic wrap and thrown into the fridge to sit and go bad
>It was nine fourty and she had already changed from festive clothes into comfy pajamas
>Nine fourty, and she was just sitting on the couch, drinking the sparkling cider meant for midnight out of a normal glass and eating chips straight from the bag
>All the pomp and circumstance had been drained out of her, drearily watching the New Years festivities on tv
>January was her least favorite month and it had seemingly come early this year despite what the countdown said
>It was all too much for her
>The loneliness and silence was overwhelming, and she was about to call it quits and go to bed when she heard a knock on the front door

>Noelle jumped at the noise, she left the gate unlocked in case her mom came home unexpectedly but she didnt hear her, or let alone any, car come up the driveway
>She approached the door apprehensively, peering warily through the peephole at whoever had come at such a weird hour
>Apprehension turned to confusion.
>On the other side was Kris, bundled up against the cold with a bag in each hand
>Noelle cracked the door open and stuck her head out
>"K-Kris?"
>Sure enough it was infact him, but why was he on her doorstep at this hour. She looked around her lawn as if it would give up any answers, but she could only see his footprints in the snow
>"What's going on, why are you here? Is something wrong?"
>Kris pulled his hood off and shook his hair back into it's normal rest
>"I just uh-"
>He cleared his throat
>"My mom already fell asleep and I was bored as sin so I figured I'd come on over and hang"
>He lifted the two grocery bags he was carrying as if to prove his intentions, revealing the already opened bag of popcorn in one and a two liter of cola in the other
>Noelle wasn't quite buying it and was in no mood to be pitied
>Kris certainly opened up a fair bit (Well, a fair bit for him anyway) after he made friends with Susie seemingly instantly but he wasn't usually this open
>"Why aren't you hangin out with Susie then, huh?"
>He sighed
>"She's spent the whole break out of town visiting family and I've been bored out of my skull Noelle, please."
>She scrutinizes his face for a moment, what if it's some prank
>"C'mon Noelle, I've been forced into so much 'Pin the Reference on the Bible Verse' these last few days I think I have the whole damn book memorized now"
>She grimaced remembering Toriel's awful church games and opened the door
>"Okay, c'mon in"

>Kris thanks her and stamps snow from his shoes before crossing the threshold, looking for somewhere to put his coat and the bags
>"Here, gimme those bags and put your coat in that closet"
>She took he snacks off his hands and started over to the kitchen to pour the popcorn into a bowl
>Despite the slight cold shoulder he was getting he knew she was happy to have company
>The little wag in her tail made that clear as day
>He hung his coat and followed her into the kitchen, looking to help somehow
>Noelle regretted changing into pajamas but she had no way to know he was coming
>She just had to hope he didn't crack a joke at her pine tree patterned pants as he walked over to the fridge
>Kris opened the door to find her unfinished appetizer spread confused but pleasantly surprised
>"Didn't quite get through all of it, huh?"
>"Oh, yeah..."
>Noelle trailed off for a moment, looking around at nothing in particular
>"Just didn't see the point with it being just me, you know?"
>"Well do you wanna finish them now then?"
>"A-are you sure? There's like no time left and its just me and you, gosh I dun-
>Kris was already pulling out the tray of veggie pigs-in-a-blanket despite her protests.
>"We don't have to make everything, just enough for us two."
>He set the tray down on the countertop. Most of the little weiners were still unwrapped and they needed to be cooked too, so Kris started to clumsily wrap them afew
>"It won't take any time at all if we're both working at it."
>He looked at the stark difference between his wrappings and Noelle's and laughed
>"It'd probably go alot faster if I knew what I was doing."
>His laugh was infectious and it only took afew seconds for Noelle to nudge him out of the way so he wouldn't manhandle anymore food
>"Alright, go preheat the oven and I'll teach you how not to ruin food"
>She showed him how to roll them up right and they put a handful onto a pan and in the oven to cook before they moved onto the next appetizer
>They weren't going to make too much food on second thought, opting to just make up some dip to go along with the potato chips Noelle was already eating while the veggie-pigs baked.
>Nevertheless it cheered her up to toil alongside Kris, even if he did crack acouple of jokes about her pajamas
>Despite them being far more religious than her family, Noelle was kind of shocked to hear that the Dreemurrs didn't really celebrate the holidays too spectacularly.
>Kris' idea of a New Years shindig was some cheese and crackers around 8 and then tiptoeing around his sleeping mother until eleven
>"Golly, we ought to make more then! You've been missing out!"
>Kris was genuinely concerned they'd be pushing it with time now to get it all ready before midnight but Noelle was confident they could
>Kris learned and promptly forgot various recipes for Spinach filled whatevers and various "poppers" as he helped Noelle finish her earlier work
>They sampled their efforts extensively as they went, laughing away without caring about the countdown

>It was Kris who caught it, glancing at his phone as Noelle slipped a tray into the oven
>"Oh shit, it's fiftynine!"
>Noelle scrambled, shouting at him to run to the living roon as she grabbed the bottle of sparkling cider, as close to champagne as a highschooler could get
>She ran in with eight seconds to spare and without any glasses for them to drink out of
>She put the bottle down and started to go for two cups when Kris stopped her, not letting her miss the countdown.
>Being excited and alittle panicked was a combination the doe had never been very good at handling, her mind racing.
>If you don't have something to drink what do you do when the clock strikes midnight?
>Well she remembers her folk sharing a kiss, and Noelle's seen that on tv too.
>So the moment after the two exclaim happy new year to each other, she jumps and plants a kiss on his lips
>The crowd on tv goes nuts as the two teens stand motionless, shocked
>Neither of them have any idea how to do respond after that
>The chaotic ruckus on tv is a good representation of their collective mental state, and it takes the smell of nearly cooked food wafting in from the kitchen for Noelle to come to her sense embarrassed
>"T-that didn't happen, ok?"
>He nods in agreement as she walks away, but comes to his own conclusion
>He kinda liked that, and judging by the way her tail was wagging she did too
>Kris followed her back into the kitchen and tried to say something, only to be met with one of the spinach filled pastries pushed into his mouth
>"S'good, right?"
>Kris can recognize aggressive ignorance when he needs to and decides that he shouldn't bring it up, talking around the food in his mouth
>"Yeah, definitely"

>It's awkward, but neither of them can think of anything to do but start cooking again
>It's Noelle who breaks the silence
>"New Years is already over, why ARE we still cooking?"
>She's earnestly looking at Krisvfor an answer, who shrugs
>"We could watch a movie I guess."
>"How about a Christmas Story?"
>Noelle is beaming but Kris has a painful grimace across his face
>"The season is over Noelle please, haven't we had enou-"
>She's gleeful to cut him off, if he can torment her with pranks and tricks, he can endure a movie she likes
>"Nope! You can go home if you dont wanna though."
>Kris resigns himself to his fate and agrees to watch her movie and the two finished their cooking together and bring it into the next room
>The movie is torture for Kris and Joy for Noelle as expected, but it gets them over the previous embarrassment anyway as Noelle nearly quotes the movie to Kris scene by scene, acting shocked that he can't do the same and holding onto his arm.
>The movie ends and they put on another but neither can keep their eyes open for its runtime, and they fall asleep leaning into one another as it plays


>It's just abit before eleven when Mrs. Holiday pulls into the driveway
>A late night at the office indeed
>She's not dumb in any respect, and she would have to be very dumb not to know someone visited last night
>The gate just slightly ajar, a trail of footprints in the snow from two days prior
>His coat was still in the closet, that's a dead giveaway
>It was so precious to see them huddled together on the couch like old times
>In their sleep, their leaning had turned to a mutual embrace that she couldnt bare to split
>She leaned over the back of the couch and took two things
>A cold pig in a blanket, shoddily wrapped
>And Kris' phone
>She didn't open it, but she also didn't need to when she saw the 11 missed messages from "Mom"
>He left her a message when he left, but he still vanished late at night and wasn't home in the morning
>Noelle's mom invading his privacy was fair trade enough for him invading her house and embracing her darling daughter.
>She set his phone back and took another snack, walking to her own master bedroom to change
>She'd have to call Toriel and thank her for letting Kris come over when Noelle was all on her lonesome
>That should get him out of some trouble.