December Kisses || chaennie

Chapter 5

After a gruelling day at work, I wore a blanket as I cape around the house with a onesie and a hoodie outside that—just to keep the heat trapped beneath all the fabrics. It was one of those days where the wind howled, and hail storms kept shooting at the windows every couple of hours. Making myself comfortable on the couch in the sitting room, I could feel the resentful stare from my roommate as I burrowed into the corner and let out a happy sigh.

My phone blew up with notifications from Snapchat, one after the other flew in, making it impossible to unlock my phone to view what was sent. I let it continue to vibrate on the coffee table and held back my amusement from Lisa's sighs, becoming louder and louder with each buzz.

"Can you turn it on silent, please?" she requested, flicking through the channels on the television.

"No can do. Jennie and I made a pact that we'd never do that."

"Do I even want to know why?"

I flicked my gaze to her annoyed face. "Well, with that attitude, you'll never know."

Her lips pursed. "Look, it's freezing in here. Can you blame me for being snappy?"

The fuzzy part of the blanket moved against the line of skin between the onesie and socks, making me shrug. "It's not exactly my fault you didn't prepare for the winter."

"What is that supposed to me? You were the one who didn't have money for oil?"

"I gave you money," I reminded her, shrugging again. "Everyone knows to have multiple supplies of blankets. You'll never know when you'll need to pretend to cuddle with someone or have a movie marathon day or in this case, keep your body temperature normal."

"You're obsessed with comfort."

"That is very true," I conceded.

The phone on the table finally ceased its attack against the wood. My hand slipped out from beneath the blanket to fetch it. Even the small moment out from beneath the covers, left the hair on my arm standing up. The device ended up beneath the blanket. I held up right under my chin and in front of my face—body parts secured beneath the blanket again.

I ignored Lisa's incredulous expression, putting it down to jealousy and kept my attention on the mass amount of pictures Jennie sent me. Each and every one made me smile, no matter how silly they were.

"What's making you smile so hard?" she asked, climbing over to the end of the other couch to look.

"Jennie just killed my phone."

"And you're smiling because?"

"She killed it with pictures of a person walking their seven golden retriever puppies. In the snow. Do you comprehend how that just restores one's soul to one gigantic piece of hope?"

"You're both crazy."

"She gets me, that's all."

The doorbell rang.

Lisa and I had a stare off. I lost and still didn't move. I employed a technique Jennie had used on me the day before. By placing the plastic bags of shopping on the floor and leaving, she forced me to carry them out. It was all about the battles of sheer stubbornness. Being comfortable, warm and oddly sleepy, there was no doubt that I was going to win this battle.

She got up and answered the door.

There was a moment of feet shuffling before the sitting room slash kitchen door opened and in came Jennie, clad in a full beanie, gloves and scarf set and pink cheeks.

"You walked here," I pointed out, dumbly.

"Your deduction skills are impressive," she grumbled, slipping off her jacket and scarf in one swoop. "Did you like the photos I sent you?"

"They were wearing Santa Hats, Jen."

She wore a warm smile as she made her way over to me. "You did like them then?"

I lifted the side of the blanket and ushered her to stretch out across the couch with me. "Jennie, you supplied me evidence of animal cruelty—ahhh no—get your filthy paws away from me!"

"She was grinning like a fool," Lisa informed her, taking her place back on the opposite couch.

Jennie continued to hold both my cheeks in her very cold hands. "Awww."

My nose scrunched up. "You're bullying my cheeks."

She snorted. "You're just doing your dutiful job as my best friend and warming me up."

"Gah God." Lisa stood up abruptly, shaking her head.

"What?" Jennie asked, concerned.

"You two make me sick." She closed her eyes as if the sight of us made her want to throw up. "I get it. It's coming up to Christmas. But...there's no need for this amount of..."

"Of what? I asked, wide-eyed at her violent reaction.

"Love!" she screamed, leaving the room. Her footsteps up the stairs were harsh. "Too much fucking love!"

Jennie removed her hands from my cheeks and set herself comfortably on the couch. My phone started to go insane again so I pushed it up to my face and scrunched up my eyebrows at Jennie's name flashing across the screen.

"Delayed," she offered, laying her head on my shoulder.

"So, tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Did you touch their paws? Were they soft?"

"Watch the video I sent you."

"Oh my God! Yes!"