Cold Nose, Cold Toes

The windows had fogged up while white flakes piled up gracefully outside. Back where Anna grew up, they hardly ever got snow. She couldn't remember the last time she had to curl up by the fire with a blanket AND a cup of hot chocolate. It wasn't as if the cold flakes were new to her, it had snowed a couple times in her home town. She just hadn't expected such a frigid winter to ever cross the small town she was currently living in.

And if the chilly weather wasn't enough, she had a cold feeling inside as well; a deep, heartbreaking feeling that felt like a black hole had buried deep within her chest. At first, she just couldn't put a word to the feeling, although it was on the tip of her tongue. After sitting by the fire in her empty apartment for a couple hours, she realized it was loneliness gnawing at her heart. She sat there, silently thinking of all the other Christmases she'd experienced. Of all the other Christmases she'd witnessed, whether there was snow or not, she'd never been this cold before.

Anna hadn't admitted it to herself, but she missed her family. This would be the first Christmas without their warmth. She remembered all the wonderful times she had with her three brothers, mother, and father. She laughed as she remembered all the times she had fought with the three-trouble makers. However, trouble-makers or not, she loved them, and now, she had to spend the Christmas alone all because she wasn't able to acquire enough money to head home for the holiday to see her family. Not to mention she was way behind on her studies and needed the break to catch up.

Drops fell on the back of her hand resting over her lap. For a second, she thought there was a leak in her ceiling. After realizing that was ridiculous, she brought one hand up, keeping one hand on the mug, and felt the tears that she hadn't realized were there. Hands shaking, she set her mug down next to the fireplace and wiped her tear-stricken face. Once her face was completely dried, she decided that she needed to clear her head before she completely lost it.

She stood and folded the blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders before setting it on the chocolate brown coach that seemed barren in the empty living room. She grabbed her jacket from the coat rack, zipped it up, then wrapped her scarf around her neck. Zipping up her boots, she opened the front door after turning off all the lights and dousing the fire. Then Anna locked the front door and stepped out, going quickly down the apartment stairs until she reached the fluffy blanket of white that had already settled quietly. Harsh wind nipped her face, but she didn't notice it. For it was nothing compared to the cold and rotting feeling building up inside her heart.

Taking careful, quiet steps in the fluffy snow, Anna walked along the empty and snowy sidewalks. It was dark outside. The sky a dark black, apart from the glowing moon and twinkling stars. The only thing illuminating her path were the tall street lights and the occasional car rolling past.

She thought about everything she would be missing that merry holiday. When she talked to her mother, Anna could tell that she was trying to avoid the fact that Anna would be missing the holiday. Whenever the subject came up, somehow, they'd end up talking about something random. This made for a very boring conversation about the weather. All three of her brothers would be there; her eldest sibling bringing his wife, the second eldest, his fiancé, and the third eldest bringing his girlfriend. All three knew that she was going to be gone, that's why she believed they were bringing their women to this Christmas. Anna knew her eldest brother's wife well but had only met her brother's fiancé twice, and as for her youngest brother's girlfriend...she had yet to meet her.

She knew that the two youngest brothers were afraid she would end up not accepting their loved ones. It was important that Anna had approved of the girls. Despite her constant bickering with her brothers, they cared a lot about her opinion and she them. Of course, based from the five-minute conversations she had had with the second brother's fiancé and what she's heard from her family/brother about the youngest's girlfriend, there was nothing to worry about. Besides, she trusted her brothers. They were more nervous around Anna than the woman they love.

Anna had been so deep in thought as she walked along the sidewalk, she hadn't noticed the young adult man walking towards her. The man also seemed to not notice her; that is, until she bumped into him causing his hot coffee to spill across his shirt. Her first thought was, wow, cheesy much? but the thought left as quickly as it had come when she realized that it was only right she apologize, "I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and got lost in my thoughts, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to ruin your shirt!"

Anna didn't mean for it to come out as a ramble, but it just happened.

She looked up and noticed that this man, who went by the name of Leo, was in a couple of her college classes. He was nice, she talked to him occasionally, and she might even consider them to be friends. But he could be very annoying and dense without trying.

He'd get along well with her brothers.

That was when she noticed the calm and relaxed look on his, might she mention, handsome face. The guilty feeling left and instead she got quite annoyed. Lifting an eyebrow and waving her hand in front of his face, she exclaimed, "Are you okay? Or was the coffee so hot it fried your brain?" She'd meant for it to come out sarcastically but instead it came out quite playfully.

He chuckled deeply, "Naw! Honestly? I was cold, so I went to get this coffee to warm me up. But coffee being coffee, it was too hot to drink. It's only warming up my hands. What I need it to warm up is my seriously cold toes. So, when you bumped into me and it spilled on me, I got warm straight down to my toes." He scratched the back of his head, "So, what I should be saying is thank you."

Anna was officially dumbfounded, was this guy serious? Before she knew it, she was laughing. At first it was a simple laugh, until she was shamelessly laughing so loud that a lady in the building across the street looked out her window, scowled, then slammed it shut. Nonetheless, Anna, could not stop laughing. And she didn't even know why. Leo, was surprised at first and thought, why in the world is she laughing? but then he couldn't help but smile. Something told him this young adult hadn't laughed in days and needed this. And he was quite fine with providing this beautiful girl with the best medicine for any disease out there. 

She had just started to calm down to just a quiet chuckle behind her hand when he stated calmly, "Was it something I said?" Humor evident in his voice. The statement had been anything but funny. Yet, Anna was so tired, she must have been going a little crazy. For, once again, Anna was howling with laughter and the boy soon following. Anna had never felt so relaxed before in her life, there was something about this young man that could only be one or two years older than her that she seemed to trust completely. Before she knew it, she was inviting him over to her small apartment, offering a new shirt and a cup of hot coco. Without thinking she mentioned how her nose was cold and she was heading back anyway. Which, in turn, ended up in another fit of laughter. He gladly accepted her offer, they were friends, not to mention he'd been to her apartment before on school business.  

Once they'd gotten to the apartment, Anna took Leo's jacket and hung it up on her coat rack while flicking on the lights. Then she walked over to the fire place, taking her jacket off on the way, and set it ablaze once again. Leo had taken a seat at the small dining room table while Anna prepared the hot chocolate. She left the room to go grab a new shirt. Anna had some of her brother's spare clothes from the time they came over to help paint her new apartment. While she was gone, Leo looked around at the family pictures and decorations. Leo had never noticed all the pictures she had on her wall the last time he came over for a project they decided to do together.

He was examining a recent family picture taken at Anna's brother's wedding when Anna came back in with a black T-shirt. Leo left to the bathroom while Anna finished preparing the hot coco. Before they knew it, they were sitting and talking about the most random things for hours. Leo was at this town for the same reason Anna was, and was stuck here for Christmas for the same reason Anna was as well. Finally, they both realized it was one o'clock. As Leo was leaving, they made plans to meet the next day, Christmas, and spend it together. Neither of them had any other plans. Once Anna closed the door, she realized not only was her cold nose no longer cold due to the permanent blush on her face, but also the feeling of loneliness had vanished and was replaced with the bliss of happiness. With a smile still glued to her face, she called it a night on that magical Christmas Eve night, white flakes still falling outside. 

End
Or is it?

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