Chapter Text
This has truly been one of the coldest winters in a long, long time. There had been a blizzard almost every weekend without fail, and there was an ever unsettling chill in the air— Asriel tried to the best of his ability to push that from his thoughts and shrug it off—- he couldn’t let his mind wander just yet—- for he still had homework left to do, and finals to complete, before he could finally leave this dreary dorm room behind, and head home to see everyone again—-
Wellllll…. Almost, everyone…..
“Alright, Today’s date, let’s see….”
“11— no wait, that’s not right, there’s only 30 days, not 31.
”Yesterday was the last day of November, so that would make this…. The first, right?”
12/1/XX
12…
……
“Oh… it’s December again….”
December….
”Dess! C’mere, you gotta check this one out with me!!!” The glasses wearing boy called, holding up a recently borrowed book from the library on how to draw dragons.
”I’m on my way, hold on, I’ve gotta finish my eyeliner!“
“You know, sure is a good thing I accounted extra time for that too, even if we ran into ‘Holiday Traffic’, we should still be on time!”
”Are you making a joke?? Cuz if you are—thennnn it’s not funny, Azzy~” The girl laughed, finishing off her eyeliner and punching him in the arm.
“Ow….” He winced, laughing a little himself as he held the spot she hit.
Dess always packed quite the punch— whether that was never being afraid to speak what was on her mind, beating up the other kids that used to give Asriel a hard time in school when they were little, or defeating his video gaming scores— (he was currently the top score holder in both Smash and Dragon Blazers— buttttt they were going to have a rematch tonight after the festival. The two were very evenly matched— she was the reigning champion for the last two weeks, but last night he stole the title.)…. The girl was never one to back down from a fight.
December Holiday had been the most important person in Asriel Dreemurr’s life— she was strong, confident, beautiful— and not afraid to live her life to the fullest.
”I know I know, you can’t rush art!!” He replied, quoting the girl’s repeated catch phrase she would often say any time she was attempting to fix her eyeliner while they were already running very late.
Gosh how he loved her—- they were practically polar opposites with their personalities, but they shared a lot of the same interests too…. They spent nearly every day of their lives together ever since they became friends when they were kids….
She was such a major part of his life that he couldn’t imagine what things would have been like without her…
”D*** straight! Speaking of art, look!!! I’ve been getting better!!!” The girl announced in triumph, holding up a poorly traced drawing of a dragon.
”Whoa!! I think that’s the best one yet!!!” The boy smiled dreamily, gazing at her with his grassy green eyes before gingerly taking the art piece from her to hold it up in the air proudly.
”I think this one needs to be framed up on the wall!!”
”You really think so? Bare minimum it should go on the fridge— OR MAYBE— WE COULD TOTALLY AUCTION IT OFF AS LIKE A SUPER FAMOUS ART PIECE!!! They legit put just about ANYTHING on display at the museum— hey, maybe we can split the funds and you can use your half to put yourself through college!!!!!” The girl joked, causing them both to burst out into a fit of laughter until their ribs hurt.
”Hahhaha…. This is why I love you.” He smiled, the words rolling off his breath quietly as he looked at her, debating wether or not he should reach for her hand.
“Care to share with the class~??” She teased, already knowing what he said because she could read lips, but wanted to hear him say it again a little louder.
”I said, this is why I love you.” He spoke up, a little sheepishly, heart skipping a beat in his chest as he put an arm behind his neck awkwardly—- he wasn’t as bold when it came to expressing his feelings like she was—- it took a lot for him to say things like that out loud, and as much as he would do kind and sweet things for her all the time, he wasn’t the best at being ‘romantic’ like she was.
“Sorry Goat-Boy, still didn’t quite catch that. Mind saying it again a liiiiiiiiitle bit louder for the people in the back~?” She called, her mischievous warm brown eyes batting perfect eyelashes at him, before running over to her bed and jumping atop of the blankets, standing as tall as she could to put her hands around her mouth, as if they were at some kind of game in a stadium, and she was trying to shout across the way to the other side (to make her point, and to tease him more, of course.)
“DECEMBER HOLIDAY I SAID I LOVE YOU, NOW C’MON AND QUIT TEASING ME OR WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR THE TREE LIGHTING AT THE FESTIVAL AND YOUR MOTHER IS GOING TO KILL ME….!!” He finally blurted out, briskly walking over to her and dragging her by the wrist off of her bed, all the way out her bedroom door, through the front door of the Holiday Mansion— locking it behind him with the spare key he owned.
With a smirk and a kiss on the cheek, the girl grabbed the furiously blushing boy (who had already been holding her by the wrist) and broke free— choosing instead to grab her hand in his, place a kiss on the back of his knuckles as well, and intertwined their fingers as she happily raced down the elaborate driveway, dragging him behind her.
There was boundless decorations of red and green—- gorgeous and ornate gold accents that proudly hung from just about every possible inch of the abode— ribbons and lights shimmered effortlessly as they reflected off of the icy snow—- it was almost time for Christmas once more, and no one was ever more prepared for the Holidays, than that of the ‘HOLIDAYS’.
”Well I don’t know why you didn’t just say it was time for us to go in the first place, Azzy, goodness~ I thought you were the one who’s supposed to be keeping us on schedule, maybe I should be the timekeeper…~”
He couldn’t help but miss those days—- her long, wild, and curly brown hair— the ripped jeans and red flannels she’d wear… her restless smile that always chased away the darkest days——
“STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT—- Asriel Dreemurr if you keep thinking about that instead of getting your homework done you’re gonna end up having to drop out of college….!!”
Asriel sighed deeply as he rested his head on the small wooden desk in his dorm, gloomily staring at the wall to the left of him.
There were several photos from back home that he had taken with him to decorate the place—- various photos of Kris and himself when they were children, Some photos of his family… (well, before the divorce) , Pictures of when Kris, Noelle and the rest of the Holiday family would hang out during the holidays—- but the most pictures he had… Was of Dess herself.
He couldn’t help it… She had gotten him a new Polaroid camera years ago for his birthday, and boy did he get mileage out of that gift.
Pictures of them together at various tree lightings, Dess scoring the winning goal at a hockey game, a picture of her in a field of yellow flowers, one of her in his green hoodie playing her red guitar, prom over the years, one of Asriel feeding Dess some butterscotch-cinnamon pie, another of them kissing underneath the mistletoe——
The boy took off his spectacles and rubbed his now stinging eyes—- how had it already been a year…?
He didn’t have the heart to take the photos of her down justtttt yet…. Even though the memories hurt, it hurt him much more to believe she was just—
RINGGGGG RINGGGGGG
”GuWaHAAA…!!!” The boy stumbled in surprise when his phone had chimed, signaling to him that he was getting a call.
Asriel had stood up from his desk in shock a little too quickly and bonked his head on the reading lamp he had above his desk, causing him to wince in pain.
Trying his best not to drop his phone, he finally answered it just before it could go to voice mail, before rubbing the spot where his head still hurt in dismay.
”H-Hello….?”
”Asriel, my child! It’s me, your mother! How is my brilliant boy doing…? Just wanted to check in and see how your studying was going… your final is tomorrow, right? And then you’ll be heading home afterwards for Christmas Break?” She asked sweetly into the receiver…. He could swear, his mother had a sixth sense for knowing when he was upset.
”Y-Yeah, I should be home tomorrow by 7:30 or so…” He said, grabbing a tissue and putting her on mute temporarily so he could blow his nose.
”Asriel honey, are you alright…?” She worries in a tone laced with concern…. She knew all too well that this would be their first Christmas without her.
“Uhm…” He pauses, before mumbling weakly:
”I’m…. I’m hanging in there.”
There was a moment of silence that passed between the two, before Toriel spoke.
”I know you really miss her sweetie… we all do…. Just try to hang in there a little longer, okay? Tomorrow’s your last day of school before your vacation, and you’ll be in brighter spirits once you see your sibling and the three of us are sitting together by the fireplace, laughing and eating butterscotch-cinnamon pie!!”
Asriel still felt heartbroken, but couldn’t help but laugh a little when he noticed what his mom had said.
”The Three of us, huh…? Dad’s not invited?”
”….Well, I was hopping I can keep my sweet baby all to myself— but I suppose, if I HAVE to share you and Kris with your father…. Then maybe the three of you can spend an afternoon together while I’m at choir practice or something….” She reasoned, giggling a little.
”Sure thing mom, I’ll try to plan something with dad while you’re busy…” He spoke, shaking his head.
”But hey, I really should get back to my robotics and engineering homework… I’ll give you a call tomorrow when I’m on my way, okay?”
”Alright my dear…. I love you.”
”Love ya too, mom…. Bye.”
”Bye-Bye, dear!”
After Asriel hung up the phone he put his face in his palms before running a hand through his fur.
”If I fail this tomorrow…. I’m going to have to tell mom I’m dropping out.”
Asriel got up from his desk and paced back and forth across the room…. Thank goodness he didn’t have a roommate, they would probably wonder why he had as many mental break downs as he did.
Some days were easier than others— usually during the week was semi-bearable… he had stacked as many classes as he possibly could this semester to help keep his mind off things— (they only allowed him to take 6…) Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays he had English and Math, Tuesdays and Thursdays he had Chemistry and History, and he was taking a coding course, in addition to a robotics course online, which he was beginning to wish he had dropped out of when he could have.
Asriel was incredibly smart, and most things came quite easily to him, especially since his mother was a teacher and many of her other friends at school such as Alphys always gave him extra lessons after school and even over the summer to try and help him get ahead.
Asriel had gone from getting straight A’s and being top of the class to barely passing at all…. His teachers and everyone at school had all been worried about him…. when they heard what had happened some of them had taken the time to tutor him after class, or send him home with extra notes, or give him extra credit that normally didn’t exist— just so he wouldn’t fail.
Miraculously, he had survived all of them so far (barely passing them by 5 points, but he survived them nonetheless) and tomorrow was the hardest test of them all, the robotics final.
He had always enjoyed learning, but ever since Dess…. He hadn’t really enjoyed much of anything.
Pizza tasted bland, pie was always cold, video games were too repetitive, and he couldn’t stand Christmas music let alone the lights or decorations— it made him feel like he couldn’t breathe.
He was drowning in a sea of memories of December, and no matter how hard he tried to keep his life afloat, the past and his trauma dragged him under a crashing wave of anxiety…
He couldn’t hear anyone play the guitar without thinking about her—- he actually had to run out of the classroom when someone was presenting a project in history class because they decided to randomly play the guitar while reciting some speech about Monster History.
“I should probably drink some water or something—-“ He reasons, opening up his mini-fridge and puffing up his cheeks in dismay when he realized he had completely forgotten to go food shopping…. Again.
”Honestly, I’m not really sure what I expected….” He laughed sadly, shaking his head at himself as he shut the door.
Asriel used to be great at staying on top of things like cleaning, self care, styling his fur, keeping things stocked in the fridge— but now he was in shambles.
”I guess I could always go to the vending machine down the hall for some water and snacks— there’s no point going to the store at this hour, and besides, everything would probably rot in the fridge during the Winter Break while I’m gone…”
Taking a deep breath, the boy walked over to the front door and grabbed his keys from the wall, locking it behind him.
”Just a quick walk down the hall Azzy, you’ll survive.” He muttered to himself while keeping his eyes glued to the floor below him.
He walked about halfway down the muted blue carpeted hallway before realizing he had actually forgotten his wallet back on his desk, so he begrudgingly turned around and walked back.
”I’d probably forget my own head if it wasn’t attached to me at this point….” He laughed, face palming before opening up the door again.
Wallet in hand, the boy shut the door once more.
He glanced out the fogged glass windows he passed on his journey, eyes widening when he saw just how badly the snow had been falling outside.
”Jeez, it’s really coming down out there—- well on the bright side even if it sticks, I should be able to get home in Dad’s old truck…” He mutters to himself, taking a mental note to be careful on the ride home tomorrow and to leave as soon as possible so he didn’t have to try and navigate the icy weather in the dark.
”Okay…. Let’s try this again….” He sighed, briskly walking down to the very end of the hall where he finally reached his destination.
”Wait… what? How are they out of water…??!” He blinked, reading that the vending machine he normally used read “out of stock, will restock after break.”
“Okay— I suppose I can just grab some Arizona Green tea…” He shrugs, putting in some change and starting to type the number in for his new beverage choice.
The silent hum of the vending machine almost made Asriel more tired somehow—- something about being outside of his dorm made him want to just give up on his homework altogether…. He knew he still had some major studying to do, but his brain was already in vacation mode.
The fluorescent lights above his head in the cream-colored hallway were incredibly bright, however— so that much at least kept him awake.
Asriel always liked tea, a trait he inherited from his mother… but lately he hadn’t been inclined to drink it as much because it reminded him of home, and home reminded him of Dess— and the circle keeps going.
But, normally when he was with Dess he had hot tea, not the cans— he only got the cans when the two of them would go on road trips, or when Toriel would surprise him with some snacks from the store for getting good grades— his mother didn’t usually encourage junk food, she normally baked everything from scratch… but, she let it slide once in awhile as a treat for Kris and himself.
Just as he had hit the “SEND” option for the green tea, it had gotten stuck in the glass.
”SERIOUSLY…?!!” He frowned, thinking to himself for a moment maybe he could just order another one and then the second one could theoretically knock down the first one— and then he could have a tea for now and one for the ride home tomorrow.
Butttttt then he realized that was somehow the LAST Arizona Green Tea.
”Of course….” He sighed, shaking his head.
Putting in more change, he decided to just order a Cola out of habit, and miraculously the cola knocked down the Tea, and he had both drinks.
“Awesome!! Thank Goodness that worked!! Since I don’t drink Cola, when I get home I’ll just give it to Dess—“
That was it.
That was the one that did him in.
”Oh Azzy, you d-dummy….” He mumbled, tears beginning to form behind his glasses as he hurriedly walked back to his dorm and nearly walked into the wall as he stumbled over his own two feet—- praying nobody would see him.
”AZZZYYYY~! You GOTTA try this!!” A familiar voice called, throwing him a cola.
”Oh, uhm— thank you, but uhm, I don’t drink soda.”
”Whaaaat? Don’t be lame! You gotta try it!” She announced, placing some kind of brightly colored cylinder down on the desk in the room before leaning over to flip her hair, standing in front of the full length mirror in her room to adjust her wild chocolate curls to her liking as well as adjusting her silver and black accessories, before turning back around to flash him a grin, grabbing the object and walking closer to him.
Dess had been up to her usual routine—- writing songs to play for Azzy later on the guitar, kicking his tail in gaming (or at least, now she was, she finally beat his high score again), trying her best to do the exact OPPOSITE of anything her mother told her to do (like clean her room, for example) and most importantly, hanging out with her best friend, Asriel.
The two had just decided to take a break from video games for a bit since it occurred to them they should probably grab more snacks— and little did Asriel know, Dess has had a plan to play a litttttle prank on him for the last couple of days.
”I’ve had some before, I didn’t really like it….” He winced, putting an arm behind his head awkwardly.
”Well today’s your lucky day~! I’ve got a special recipe that will make this soda INCREDIBLE!! She said, unrolling a container of mentos.
Dess had always been a huge fan of anything hard candy related—- Mints and candy canes had always been her favorite, she had enjoyed cinnamon candies, butterscotch, smarties, jolly ranchers— she liked chocolate too but she usually had hard Christmas candies on hand at all times.
“Have you ever tried this? It’s like, TO DIE FOR!!!” She said, opening the mentos and loudly chomping down on one before taking his hand and pouring some into his palm.
They had been the only ones home— Both Dess and Asriel’s fathers had been away on some kind of guys trip, Carol Holiday had been busy stacked in town meetings all day, and Kris, Noelle, and Toriel had been practicing choir at the church.
Asriel was the only one allowed to come over whenever nobody else was home because Carol always thought he was a great influence on her daughter— (Asriel actually got Dess to do her homework for a change) and was even allowed over on days she was grounded—
”Here, make sure you like these before I have you try it with the cola.” She says, a small, (slyish but not enough for Asriel to notice, grin on her face.
”Uhm…. Alright.” He said, pausing for a moment.
”Hold on, let me take out my retainer—“ The boy announced, reaching into his mouth and removing the device and placing it into the container he usually kept in his pocket, before taking a bite of one.
”Oh wow, they’re actually pretty yummy! Figures you would pick a mint candy, they are your favorite, after all!” He smiled, taking a moment to remove his glasses and wipe them off before reuniting them with his face.
”AWESOME. So glad you like ‘em!!! OKAY.. are you READY?? This is like, gonna BLOW YOUR MIND.” She says, pointing to her bed, and taking the container with his retainer in it from him before he could protest and placing it on her desk.
”PARK YOUR BUTT, MISTER!!” She commands, to which he blushes, but complies.
Even though Dess and Asriel always hung out in her room together, he always felt awkward sitting on her bed for some reason.
Beside the fact that her bed was usually a mess and occasionally poorly made, it also faced backwards from the door, which Asriel always found to be odd—- maybe it’s because she was so confident she didn’t need to see if anyone came to the door…? He was never really sure.
The flickering of the tv in her room with the “PAUSED” screen was just about the only lighting she had at the moment save her blue lava lamp that she always left running near her boom box— the dimly lit black, blue, and teal toned room showcased various band posters, caution tape, a stop sign that she definitely didn’t steal— as well as some other things she had collected over the years like her towering CDs, games, and other Knick-knacks… she had some comic books strewn across the floor, as well as a pile of shoes in the corner, and a bunch of other miscellaneous misplaced objects in her room….. she had glow in the dark stars all round her ceiling just like Asriel did, he had gotten them for her a few years back as a gift to reminded her to always “Reach For The Stars”…
Asriel always liked seeing her room because it was so ‘her’—- he could never get over how fun and creative she was, his tidy room always felt boring by comparison— (but she loved it because likewise, Asriel’s room felt very ‘him’ to Dess, and she loved that the Dreemurr home always felt more like home than her own house did—- hers always felt like a prison…)
”Okay, take a sip of the Cola, but like DON’T swallow it.”
”Uhm…? Alright—“ He shrugged, opening the can and pouring some into his mouth.
“Naoow Whhawd…?” (“Now What” in Asriel talking with Cola in his mouth speak.)
”Okayyy~ now C’mere gorgeous…~” The girl spoke in a flirty tone of voice, making his heart skip a beat when she kneeled on the bed beside him in her ripped jeans and pulled him closer to her, tilting his face upward to look into her chocolate eyes before she gently plopped the candies into his mouth—- causing a chemical reaction that bubbled like a volcano—
Asriel’s bright green eyes watered like crazy as he quickly jumped up, nearly stumbling over Dess as he tripped over his own two feet, almost scuffing his white converses running to the bathroom as quick as he could to spit it out in the sink.
Dess fell to the floor in an uproar of laughter, surprised he honestly hadn’t spit the whole concoction all over her— but then again, Azzy had always been an incredibly polite gentleman, and the last thing he’d probably EVER do— would be to throw up in his best friend’s (and future girlfriend’s) room.
Popping another mentos into her mouth and realizing she should probably go check to make sure the poor boy hadn’t puked up his guts, the girl tied the shoelaces of her black combat boots and walked out of her room, over to the bathroom.
”Azzy? You alright…?” She knocked, twisting the door knob to see if it was locked and when it wasn’t , she decided to let herself in.
”Do you… want a hair tie?” She joked, pulling one off of her wrist and holding it out to him, in attempts to lighten the mood.
”Yikes—- I’m sorry—- I thought it would be really funny— I thought this was gonna be one of those ‘DARN IT DESS, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS TEASE ME?!’ moments where you get flustered and I laugh, and then you laugh because I’m laughing, and—- dude, I’m sorry—- I guess I forgot how weak of a stomach you’ve got—- sometimes I forget Momma-Tori doesn’t let you have too much junk food….” She frowned, kneeling beside him and gently rubbing his back.
”I-It’s okay…. I-I forgive you…! I-It’s kinda funny….” He smiled weakly, shakily standing up after flushing the toilet, and washing his hands and face.
”Did you puke…?”
“A-Almost…. I mostly just spit out what was in my mouth, and then waited a few minutes to make sure nothing else happened…” He said, looking down for a moment to wipe some stray fur off of the hem of his black shirt and then blinking when she took a sip from the same Cola he had earlier and then PUT THE MENTOS IN HER MOUTH.
”W-WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING…?!!” He panicked, waving his hands in the air sporadically and blinking when he saw her eyes begin to water just like his had earlier as she held the concoction in her mouth for a significantly longer amount of time then he did, before spitting it in the sink.
”DESS…!!? WHY THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT…??!!”
”N-Now we’re even~!” She gagged, giving him a thumbs up as she walked out of the bathroom, dragging him behind her.
“You’re crazy…!!” He laughs, shaking his head, which causes her to laugh, which makes the both of them laugh like crazy as they walk into the kitchen.
The Holiday home ALWAYS smelled amazing—- it was like it was secretly a Christmas bakery— spiced mint, warm chocolate chip, cinnamon, cranberries, and winter tree scents all combined perfectly in the air….
“Why don’t we get some water to wash this down? Maybe have some Christmas cookies too or something!!” She smiles, rolling up the sleeves of her dark red flannel and reaching into the fridge to grab a water bottle and opening it, passing it to him.
”Thanks!” He said, taking a sip.
“No prob~ I’m making us a plate of cookies as we speak~ “ The girl smiles with a thumbs up, her silver chained accessories and earrings twinkling quietly as she searched various places in the kitchen for the ingredients.
”Next time, I’ll pick our drinks. I’ve got lots of great hot teas for you to try that I think you’ll enjoy— and if you like them, I’ll send you home with the leaves!” The boy smiles.
”Dude, that would totally ROCK!! I could store the tea leaves in some of my empty mint containers!! I don’t know why I never throw any of them out, I kinda just collect them hopping one day I’ll find a use for all of them, ya know? And looks like today’s my lucky day~!” She beams.
”That’s a really great idea! They’ll store pretty nice in those actually!! The containers they come in are made of a similar material, so I bet that’ll keep the tea pretty fresh!”
”COOKIES ARE SERVEDDDD~!” She smiles, sitting down beside him and putting the giant tray in the middle of them.
The ornate white, red, green, and gold tray was stacked high with all types of Christmasy delights— chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, sugar cookies, thumbprint, mint chocolate, and other varieties were placed artfully on display.
“O-Oh— uhm, is it okay that we share…?”
”Totally! Why make more dishes~?” She smiles, grabbing a cookie for herself and then smiling when he grabs one too.
”Thwyre wreally gwood, awent twhey~?” She talks with a mouth full of chocolate chips, to which Asriel laughs.
”They sure are…!!” He smiles, blushing at how adorable she was.
”You’ve got something— uhm, come here—“ He says, licking his thumb and wiping chocolate off of her cheek like his mom used to always do with Kris and himself when they were kids and made a mess while eating.
The two locked eyes for a moment and it was like the whole world was quiet.
”T-Thanks….!!” Dess blushed, breaking the silence between them, but not pulling away from him just yet— this was the first time Asriel ever grabbed her face like that— sure, they had always been close and invaded each other’s personal space (usually Dess invading his) on the daily, but this… was different, somehow.
”S-Sorry…!! I uhm…!! Gosh, that was probably weird, right? You aren’t a little kid— I could have just gotten you a napkin and ran it under the kitchen sink or something…!! Here, I’ll go do that now, you’re probably totally grossed out by having my spit on your face….!!” He panicked, being the one to break the moment as he did just that, coming back to then wipe her face AGAIN in the same spot.
”T-There you go…!!” He blushed furiously, blinking when he realized she never got a water bottle for herself.
”Oh gosh— you poor thing— you got so distracted with trying to take care of me, you didn’t even get yourself some water…!!” He frowned, going to get up again and then blinking when she just TOOK A SIP FROM HIS BOTTLE.
INDIRECT KISS. INDIRECT KISS. INDIRECT—
“It’s cool, this is fine!” She smiled, putting the water back in front of him and then grabbing another cookie.
”U-Uhm— are you sure you didn’t want your own….?” He blinked, visibly stressed as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
”Haha!! You’re such a goofball, I swear! Sometimes I forget how much of a germaphobe you are— I drank after you earlier too, that was your cola! I usually finish your drinks after you leave, it doesn’t really bother me.” She states in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, before tucking a loose brown curl behind her ear.
”Butttttt, I can get you a new water if that’s gonna bother ya~” She smiles walking back over to the fridge and doing just that.
“T-Thank you…” He said sheepishly, taking the new bottle and holding it in his palms, and following her back to the table.
”So, tell me about these teas you’ve got.” She smiles, changing the subject and resting her chin in her palm as she looked over at him.
”Sure thing! So I know there’s Earl Gray, that’s a fan favorite for sure— there’s English Breakfast, Darjeeling, Green tea, Matcha’s another one that’s really nice, it’s one of my favorites actually and it’s a really cool green color— it’s a pretty close tie between Darjeeling and Matcha for sure—“ He beings, rambling to her for a bit about some of his favorite recipes that paired well with the tea, and some of the pastries and pies that his mother was teaching him to bake as well.
”Sooooo, what I’m hearing is, you’re gonna throw me an elaborate fancy tea party~” She teases, but Asriel’s face lights up at mention of this.
”OHHHHH MY GOSH! DO YOU WANT ONE…?! It would be SUCH an honor to throw you a tea party…!! Kris doesn’t always drink the tea but usually eats the dessert, so it would be really nice to actually have you try everything…!!” He beams, blushing a little when she leans over and ruffles his hair.
”You’re so adorable…~” She coos, before reaching to grab a cookie with her free hand at the same time as him accidentally.
When their hands brushed they both blushed, quickly pulling away and looking the opposite direction.
“U-Uhm….”
”Sorry about that dude…!! My bad…”
”N-No worries….!”
Another moment of silence passed between them as they each grabbed a cookie, polishing off the remainder of the plate.
“Here, I’ll put it in the dishwasher…!” Asriel insists, getting up to wash the plate and put it away.
”Hey Dess, where do you keep the detergent again…? It’s looking pretty full, I’ll just go ahead and run it.” He asks, walking halfway across the elaborate tile floor back to her.
When she walks to meet him she stops, realizing where the two of them had been standing.
”Dess…? You okay….??” He wonders, tilting his head as she looked at him, glanced at his lips, and then smiled mischievously.
”What is it…??”
“You uhm, got some chocolate….” She says, reaching to grab a napkin off the counter behind him and gently wiping his cheek where ironically he had almost an identical smudge to the one she did earlier, just to gage his reaction to see if she should do something incredibly stupid that could possibly jeopardize their entire friendship.
Asriel froze, his heart beating so loudly he was worried she would be able to hear it as he held his breath.
”Thereeee ya go~! I got it~!” She smiled, blinking when she saw how stiff he was.
Dess had always had a massive crush on Asriel, and she flirted with him a lot, hopping one day he would notice… butttt eventually it got to a point that they had become best friends, and she was more afraid to ruin their friendship by speaking up, so she just kind of hoped one day maybe he would make a move…. The way he held her face earlier ALMOST gave her enough confidence to say something, but…. seeing how petrified he looked now with cleaning his face, and how nervous he was earlier when she gave him the mentos (prior to the explosion) , she wasn’t sure if she should do something about it or not.
What she DIDN’T know… is he had just about as massive of a crush on her, as she did on HIM… if not, than MORE SO.
“U-Uhm….” He finally spoke up, looking into her warm brown eyes with his emerald green ones.
”What’s up…?”
That was when the girl followed his line of sight to the mistletoe, the two blushing just about as red as the berries.
”Azzy, uhm….” The girl began , quickly shaking her head before walking past him, and grabbing the detergent from underneath the sink.
“We keep the detergent down here to the left next to the kitchen towels….” She said, quickly changing the subject.
The girl looked a little dejected as she started to walk back to the table, blinking when Asriel had stopped her— grabbing Dess by the wrist.
”Hmm…? What is it..?” She asked, her heart skipping a beat when he closed his eyes tightly shut, and pulled her closer to him by the hand, softly kissing her on the cheek.
”I-I uhm— December, I-I think I really like you and I uhm….!!” He fumbled, his heart nearly stopping when she not only put a finger to his face to shush him, but then proceeded to dip and kiss him square on the lips, causing the poor boy to nearly faint.
”OH MY GOSH THAT IS SUCH A RELIEF I’VE LIKED YOU FOR YEARS I’VE BEEN WANTING TO KISS YOU FOREVER NOW AND—“
“I CAN’T BELIVE YOU ACTUALLY LIKE ME I’VE BEEN HEAD OVER HEELS FOR YOU FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER AND I’VE ALWAYS BEEN TOO SCARED TO RUIN OUR—-“ The two began simultaneously as they both blushed and blinked, Dess still holding Asriel in her arms after the two stood up-right.
“U-Uhm…. So….uhm…!!
”Y-Yes…??”
”Do you uhm, I-I dunno… maybe wanna… be my girlfriend….? Y-You don’t have to if you don’t want to…!! I uhm…!!” The boy panicked, blushing deeply when she kissed him on the nose and gave him a biiiiiig hug.
”Okay, but under ONE condition…~” She said in a teasing tone, looking up at him.
”Y-Yeah…? What’s that….?”
”Only if you AGREE TO BE MY BOYFRIEND ~!!!” She smiles and laughs, causing Asriel to sigh in relief.
”I think that can be arranged~” He smiles back, returning the hug and resting his chin atop her head.
”I’ve always liked your hugs… you smell like pie, tea, and apples.”
“Thanks… your lips taste like mint chocolate chip and snickerdoodle.” Asriel replies absent mindedly, then blushes like crazy, realizing what he just said OUT LOUD.
”I-I AM SO SORRY THAT CAME OUT WEIRD—-“ He begins, blinking when to shut him up, she kisses him again.
”O-Okay, I’ll stop talking…” The boy blushed.
”You know, I never thought you would be the one to make the first move, I mean I always hoped you would kiss me at some point— that’s why I always told you ‘MAKE ME’ when you would tell me to shut up anytime I made a dumb joke.”
”W-WHAT..!? WAIT, FOR REAL…?!! I always thought you were just mad at me….!!! That’s why you chased me around with your hockey stick after you cracked your baseball bat…!!” He blinked, suddenly realizing just HOW many times the two actually flirted with each other.
Turns out, they both had been rather oblivious— love is blind, after all…
”Sorrrryyy~ I can’t help it~! You know me, I’m just rowdy like that, hahahahahah~”
“MAYBE I SHOULD JUST GO TO BED AND HURRY UP AND FAIL THIS TEST.” Asriel choked, shutting the door tightly behind him and locking it as he sank to the floor, and buried his face in his hands.
”I just…. I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore….” He frowned, staring up at his ceiling which had the very same glow in the dark stars that the two of them had in their bedrooms.
Asriel didn’t know how he was going to survive tomorrow’s final, LET ALONE, how he would survive being back home without Dess being there with him….
“Mom and Dad got a divorce, Kris and Noelle barely talk, Rudy’s in the hospital… we sure are falling apart at the seams, aren’t we…?” He laughed sadly, shaking his head.
Taking one final glance at his robotics homework he frowned and shook his head.
”No sense in trying to cram, I think my brain’s system memory is full as it is….” He mumbled, shutting the book before laying down on his bed.
“If I would have known that The Last December I Saw Dess would be the last time I would ever see her—- I never would have left for college in the first place….”