Request by _RaindropMelody_.
I had a lot of fun writing this one :P and woulda look at that--they didn't end up dating in the end! Woah!! :O
Plus I got to sneak in another headcanon for Lars (some point in the story Sadie finds a photo of little Lars with long ringlets, which is a very, very vague reference to my headcanon that lars is transgender. The chapter cover is sort of what said photo looks like.)
Yeah 030 anyways, enjoy!

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"Brrr!" Sadie shivered and drew her coat closer, curling her toes in her shoes. She shook her head and huffed into her cupped palms, glancing at Lars. When she caught him reaching for the thermostat, she exclaimed and threw her second empty paper coffee cup at him. Lars yelped and jumped back, raising his hands defensively.
"Aw, come on, P2! It's, like, negative ten degrees in here!" He whined, rubbing his elbows and hunching his shoulders in, shuffling over to the counter and reaching down to grab a nice warm donut. He took a big bite and closed his eyes, smiling at the warmth.
Sadie sighed and took a sip from her scorching coffee. She looked outside from the windowed front of the Big Donut and grimaced. It was like a snowstorm out there. The seasons where always so drastic and extreme in Beach City. It went from blistering summer sun to hypothermia-inducing winter chill.
She turned her attention back to Lars. "You know the boss will have our butts if we touch the thermostat. Besides, our day is almost over. Just..." She paused and pulled out her phone from her coat pocket. "...Um, oh, just forty five minutes left." Sadie tucked her phone back in her pocket and slouched over the counter. "You can hang on until then. Don't be a baby."
Lars groaned and leaned on the counter beside her, folding his arms over the glass and resting his chin on the back of his hand. "Can't we just close up early today? No ones coming to buy stupid donuts in this weather."
"Do you want to keep your job or not?"
Lars just rolled his eyes and pouted. Sadie's phone rang and she quickly checked to see who it was. The screen read: "Mom <3" Sadie accepted the call and pressed speaker, setting her phone on the counter between herself and Lars and leaning on the counter again.
"Hey, mom." Sadie mumbled.
"Hey, sweetie. Still not off work yet?"
"No. We got about thirty minutes left in our shift. What's up?"
"Well, it's gotten pretty bad out there, obviously. I think you should stay with someone who lives closer to the Big Donut tonight. That way you don't have to walk as far to get home. You should ask Lars. He's a nice boy." Sadie's mother giggled. "I don't know why you haven't asked him out yet, dear--"
Sadie straightened, snatching her phone up hastily and taking it off speaker. She rushed into the back room before Lars could see how red her cheeks got, but she could still hear him chuckling from the break room in back. She plopped down into the folding chair at the plastic table and sighed. "Mom..." She groaned.
"Sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to embarrass you."
"It's fine. The damage is done. Anyways, yeah. I'll ask Lars. I'll text you with my plans in a few minutes."
"Alright, dear. Bye. Be safe out there."
"Bye, mom." Sadie ended the call and groaned loudly, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to calm the heat that had gathered in her cheeks. There was a knock on the doorway of the break room, and Sadie inhaled deeply before raining her head and glancing over her shoulder. Lars stood in the doorway, his hands stuffed awkwardly in his jacket pockets.
"You wanna stay over at my house?" He asked, lifting one shoulder in a carefree half shrug.
Sadie smiled and nodded, standing and pushing her chair in. She went over to the plug located in the corner of the break room where Lars and Sadie always charged their phones. She grabbed her charger and folded it up the put it in her pocket. She texted her mother quickly and turned to Lars.
"Hey, let's just close up now. Who cares anyways." Sadie suggested, walking past Lars and turning off the lights on the way. She started to shut everything down, turning off the donut warmers and shutting down some of the other smaller machines then switching off the lights and flipping the OPEN sign to the CLOSED side. With the flurry outside, the Big Donut was unnaturally dark and kind of foreboding.
Lars grabbed his things and clocked them both out before padding over to her side and tossing the keys towards her. They walked outside together, both shivering anew and huddling for warmth as Sadie locked up. She put the key ring in her pocket and nodded at Lars. "O-Okay, lead t-t-the way," she mumbled, her teeth chattering in the cold.

"Whoo!" Lars pushed the front door shut quickly before any more snow could sneak inside and locked it. He rubbed his hands together and jumped up and down. Sadie giggled and took off her shoes, leaving them by the door to dry out and so that she didn't track snow in the house. She took a look around, wondering if anything was different from the last time she had come over.
Lars's house was pretty small, with only one bedroom, one bathroom, a study that his always absent father used the rare times he was actually around, and a kitchen/dining room with a fridge stocked with an abundance of junk food. The place wasn't too messy for a teenage boy practically living on his own, but every time Sadie came over she itched to tidy up, as well as throw out some of that junk food--that was moldy and expired half of the time, to be honest--and restock his refrigerator with some more healthy foods.
Since Lars's mother wasn't really a part of the picture and his father might as well not be either, a Sadie figured he had to get lonely living by himself, even in a little house like this. Luckily, though, his father was a pretty wealthy man so he paid eighty percent of the bills for Lars. Sadie had told Lars once or twice that he was welcome to stay over at her place anytime for however long he wanted, but he always insisted that he was an independent young man. Also he didn't want to sit through awkward moments with Sadie's mother. Her mom was the type of mom that was protective of her daughter in rational times, but she was also the type of mom that would bake cookies and bring them up to her room when she had friends over just so she could eavesdrop a bit. At least Sadie's mom liked him. That was a start, at least.
Lars slipped off his own shoes and tossed them by the door. Sadie rolled her eyes when they hit the wall and hit her shoes, knocking them over. Lars laughed and turned to turn up the heat before padding into the kitchen with Sadie trailing behind. He opened the fridge while Sadie surveyed the pantry.
"Found anything?" Sadie asked with a grimace.
"Ehh...kind of? What about you?" He shut the fridge and leaned over to peer over her shoulder. Sadie poked a family size bag of cheese puffs and an opened instant ramen cup. There was a few cans of ravioli, but half of them were expired and even if they were still good they were in the far corner, trapped in cobwebs and dust bunnies, and neither of them wanted to to reach back there just yet. Maybe if things got desperate though...
Sadie turned her head to look to Lars but their noses bumped and they laughed, closing the pantry and moving on to the fridge. Once their laughter subsided, Sadie opened the refrigerator and peered inside. Her nose wrinkled at the smell. Before even looking at the foods that they could eat first, she instantly grabbed the spoiled items and tossed them in the trash. Lars couldn't help but roll his eyes. Sadie stuck her tongue out at him and finally examined their options.
"We got some Chinese left overs...a few slices of pizza...some flat soda..." Sadie tilted her head, "...and what appears to be--oh!" She raised an eyebrow and reached in to pull out a bag of oyster crackers, "Why were these in the fridge?"
"I thought they might stay crunchy longer if they were in there..." He mumbled. Lars shuffled his feet and ran a hand through his hair, which was curling even more than usual since it was damp and drying. "I know they're you're favorite, so...I always buy them when I go out. In case you come over."
Sadie felt heat rise in her cheek rapidly. She smiled shakily and ducked her head, hiding her face in her hair. Without raising her head she playfully whacked Lars's arm and giggled. "Thanks, Lars. That's really sweet of you."
"W-Whatever." He mumbled, turning his head so she couldn't see the way he blushed. "Anyways, I'm gonna warm up that Chinese. D'ya want some or not?"
Sadie nodded quickly, padding over to the small two person kitchen table and settling in one of the creaky old chairs. She traced the patterns in the grain of the wood table top lazily while she waited for Lars to reheat the leftovers. Sadie startled slightly when he set her plate in front of her and dropped a fork beside it. Sadie thanked him quietly and dug in.
She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she took the first bite. As she devoured her portion of the leftovers she realized all she had had to eat today was a donut for breakfast and a hot dog for lunch. Usually she had a lot more snacks during the day.
Lars sat across from her, silently munching on his food. After a bit of idle conversation, they were finished and cleaned up the minute mess they had made before trudging into Lars's room. It was already nine o'clock, but with the snowstorm outside it looked like midnight.
"You wanna play Army of War?" Lars asked suddenly.
Sadie glanced at him. Army of War. That was the game she had waited seven hours in line for. It was actually a pretty fun game. But that night had been better than any video game.
She smiled faintly and nodded, "Yeah, sure,"
"Alright. You know how to start it up right? Get it ready and I'll get some more blankets from the hall closet." Lars padded out and Sadie knelt in front of his TV, which he kept on the floor with all of his games and nerdy things piled around it. Sadie nudged a few clothing articles into the corner, clicking her tongue when she had to toe his boxers into the pile as well. She took a look around is room as she waited for everything to power on.
His lame beige walls were plastered with punk and rock band posters. There were one or two dings in the wall were Lars had gotten mad and punched through the plaster or thrown something harder than he meant to. His bed had a simple wood frame and plain black sheets with random blankets laying all around the bed. Most of them weren't even on the bed one bit. He had a bedside table with some assorted items scattered upon it. There was even a small photo of little three year old Lars with long carroty ringlets and a cute little striped shirt riding on his fathers shoulders on the nightstand.
The noise from the game console shifted Sadie's attention back to her previous task. She got everything set up and ready to go, grabbing two controllers and scooting back so that she's leaning against the foot of Lars's bed. Sadie grabbed the nearest blanket and wrapped herself up in it like it was a cocoon. "Lars!" She called. "Hurry up!"
Lars grunted. She could hear him stomping towards the room. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
"Need some help?"
"No, I got it," Lars came into the room with a pile of downy blankets. He tossed them at the bed and then threw something else at Sadie. She caught it easily and turned it over so she could see. It was her oyster crackers, still chilly from the fridge. Sadie giggled and popped open the bag, setting it a over he on the foot of the bed. Lars settled on his stomach on his bed, laying with his head beside Sadie's. He wrapped himself up, too, and took his controller from Sadie.
"Ready to kick butt, P2?"

It was one in morning by the time they finally stopped. They had decided to just go to bed and sleep through the cold. Their eyes heavy and their bodies aching from the intense cold, they shut off the game system with frozen fingers and silently wrapped up in their blankets. Sadie was sleeping on the floor beside the bed, curled up in her blankets like a caterpillar. Lars was shivering in his bed, with his covers drawn up over his head. The only sound was their chattering teeth.
Sadie tucked her nose in her hands, jumping at how cold it was. She rolled over so that she could lie in her own warm spot. Soon she heard soft snoring and knew Lars was asleep. She sighed and pressed her knees to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut. God, it was so cold...
She couldn't bear it anymore. Sadie crawled over to the bed with all of her blankets still on her and eased herself onto the bed. She hesitated for a moment, staring at the lump of covers that was Lars.
But this is fine, she thought to herself as she lay down beside her bestest friend in the whole world, it's cold. I don't want hypothermia or anything. If I don't find a way to stay warm I'll probably get a cold!
Sadie snuggled up next to Lars, savoring his body heat that emitted from his bundle of blankets. She smiled and closed her eyes, covering her face with her blankets as well.
The boy beside her stirred and groggily lifted the fabric off of his eyes. "Sadie?" He grumbled, squinting at her in the cold darkness.
Sadie didn't even open her eyes as she whispered: "Please, Lars...it's so cold..."
Lars frowned sleepily, "But--"
"Just for tonight," she said quickly, ducking her head and scooting closer so that she was wriggled under his blankets as well as her own. Lars blinked and then smiled faintly, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arm around her waist. She nestled close and rested her head under his chin and left the steady rhythm of his breathing lull her to sleep.

Lars awoke to pale sunlight shining weakly into his eyes. He groaned and sat up, pulling his blankets with him. He looked around, still half asleep. Sadie was gone but most of her blankets had been laid on him. He yawned and stretched inside his warm little cocoon and rubbed his eyes. "Sadie?" He called, his voice rough with morning.
"One sec!" She called from the kitchen. A moment later she came in with two steaming mugs of hot cocoa. She had a few thin blankets draped over her shoulders to keep her warm and was wearing some of Lars's socks that she had unknowingly borrowed. Lars straightened a bit, smiling and scooting over so she could sit with him.
"Good morning! Here," Sadie handed him one of the chipped mugs, "Thanks for last night."
Lars took the hot chocolate gratefully, wrapping his icy fingers around the mug. He took a sip as a way to stall as he recalled last night. When Sadie had crawled into bed beside him and snuggled close. How she had whispered so softly, so gently.
He ducked his head, flushing. "It's no problem. That's what friends are for, right?"
Sadie felt her heart twist at the word "friends." But she grinned anyways and laughed.
"Yeah...that's what--" she winced, her smile faltering, "--f-friends...are for."