outbound | haaland

08.

Christmas Eve started quietly.

Erling sat on the couch, sipping a cup of tea and enjoying a scone. Nova was on the floor in front of him, cutting out paper snowflakes, talking to her sister about the forecast for snow. He smiled to himself, glancing over at Nova's parents; her father squinted through glasses at the newspaper and her mother was already writing "thank you" notes for cards the family had been receiving.

It was like a dream. It was so cozy and domestic and Erling could hardly believe it.

A frantic hand hit his leg several times. Nova rose to her feet, yanking Erling up on the way with her and directing his gaze to the window. Large, glittering flakes of snow were floating to the sky, materializing from the gray sky and sinking to the ground. "Snow, snow, snow, snow!"

Nova was frantic, "We gotta go out!"

Jakob dashed up the stairs. Nova frowned and looked between them. "We need to get out of our pajamas."

She pulled Erling along with him as she raced up the staircase. Her door slammed thunderously.  Nova stripped to her underwear and rummaged through her bag looking for clothes. The only thing that slowed her down was when she noticed Erling standing there, silent and dumbfounded, cheeks burning red.

"Get changed!  We need to get out there," she urged Erling.

Erling turned around and opened his bag. All of Nova was unsurprisingly beautiful. Erling needed to pull himself together. Plucking items out of a bag to form a cozy out took Erling longer than Nova wanted. She appeared by Erling's side with a chunky sweater, already wearing snow boots, decked out with a jacket, hat, and scarf.

Erling thanked her and put the sweater on. It smelled like Nova's sheets. That made Erling blush. It was all very intimate. Erling slid his feet into his shoes and shrugged his jacket on.

Nova stared at him, "You don't have a scarf or hat or gloves?" Erling shook his head.

A lovely dimpled smile greeted Erling. Nova wound a scarf around Erling's neck, tucking the extra fabric length into his zipped jacket. She grabbed a hat from her dresser and gently placed it on Erling's head, moving hairs out of way meticulously as she settled it into place for him - it may have been the cheesiest Christmas pudding hat he'd ever seen in his life, but it made him feel cozy inside and outside. Nova's expression was so serious and endearing.  She checked over Erling's entire body, as though one extra square inch of exposed skin was a threat to his well being. "All good?" She asked.

Erling nodded.

Nova gripped his hand and led him outside as fast as their feet would let them.

The snow was falling quickly and staying on the ground. Jakob launched a snowball at Nova the second they crossed the threshold into the outdoors.

Nova fumbled to form a snowball of her own, and in that time, Jakob had nailed her twice more and sent a stray one Erling's way.

Erling ran behind Nova - a note to himself: never hide behind Nova during a snowball fight - using her as cover. Jakob cackled with laughter, and Erling finally lobbed a huge wet snowball back at him. The siblings ran around, forming snowballs and throwing them the second they saw a target. Erling didn't mind when he got hit; he couldn't help but laugh. Nova made such sweeping remarks. Jakob was agile and just stuck his tongue out.

When Erling managed to hit Nova square in the back, Nova (with all her might) tackled him to the ground, shrieking, "A betrayal!"

The chaos ended when Nova's father opened the door and announced that it was lunchtime. He nagged at them to hurry up and get in before the food went cold.

Nova helped Erling to his feet and crushed a handful of snow on his head for good measure, "Twerp," she snorted.

Erling pushed her with a laugh.

He felt whole right now. He hadn't known that he felt incomplete until this very second. This sated something within him. He was warm despite the cold, and he couldn't imagine spending his day any other way.  This was the most useful thing he could do today.  It felt wonderful.

Nova threw her arm around Erling's neck as they crunched through the snow back to the door.  They reached the door together and Christian held up a printed out picture of mistletoe.  She smirked,  "Pranked."

Nova stiffened; the ease that she built between them froze into a brittle moment of awkwardness. Erling asked himself: What would Nova's boyfriend do?

Rolling his eyes at Ennik with a sigh, Erling leaned over and planted a kiss on Nova's cheek. Her skin was iced cold yet flaming hot. Erling pulled away as crimson flood Nova's face. He watched Nova's lips twitch into a soft smile as she uncoiled her sweater. Erling looked down at his own feet, suddenly embarrassed at how brash it had been. Did he show a little too much of what he was feeling?

"Ew, that's so disgustingly sweet," Ennik remarked, turning around and skipping toward the lunch spread.

Nova gently nudged him with her shoulder and cleared her throat.