Getting through the  holidays felt like a near-impossible task. Between being overworked and  prepping for the upcoming festivities, Luna fell ill with a seemingly  never-ending cold. She suffered silently (or as silently as she could  between sniffles and sneezes) and kept up her routine for the entirety  of December as best as she could. It was unfortunate that the worst of  it fell on Christmas, but there wasn't much that she could do.

"Are you sure that you can't come with me to my parent's house?" Sam asked, standing half-in, half-out the living room doorway.

"Yes,  I'm sure, Sam," Luna huffed out from beneath her pile of blankets. She  shivered slightly, huddling further under the layers of fabric she had  dragged onto the couch, and buried herself further in her pillows. What  Luna really wanted to do was shove herself further under her blankets to  cover her head to block the overhead light that was on. Even though it  was the morning and the sun was trying to peek its way through the  clouds, Sam still insisted on the light being on. It wasn't doing Luna  any favors. "Do you really think I'm okay to go like this?"

"I mean, you could just sit there. It would be fine."

"Sam,  I have a head-splitting headache, and I get dizzy if I'm sitting up for  too long. And knowing you, you'll want to take one car –"

"Well, it would be stupid to take two –"

"And  that's the point I've been trying to make all morning! I don't feel  well, and I don't want to make myself miserable the entire time and then  ruin everyone's day. I want to be able to leave if it gets bad."

"Well, you don't need to have an attitude about it."

"I  don't –" Luna let out a sigh between her sudden coughing fit. She  supposed that she had been a bit snippy with Sam all morning, but they  had been having the same conversation all day. She was tired, and she  didn't understand why Sam wasn't getting what she was trying to say.  Luna took in a deep, steadying breath and lowered her voice. "I just  don't feel good, Sam. I'd rather stay home."

Sam  heaved a heavy sigh, looking around the living room, his eyes not  focusing on one thing. The way his gaze shifted made Luna feel as though  he was trying to look for some sort of excuse for her to join him. His  eyes darted around the room, completely bypassing her and the dogs on  the couch. He glanced out the window, over at the television, the  fireplace, back to the window again, and then he sighed once more with a  shrug.

"All right," he said dejectedly. "I'll just go, then. I'll see you later. Feel better."

Luna  frowned as Sam immediately turned around and started to leave without  even a kiss goodbye. She sat up slightly amongst her pillows, brow  furrowing when Sam made no movement to return. When Sam still wasn't  returning, Luna sat up even further, feeling somewhat bad about  disturbing the dogs that had made themselves comfy underneath the  blankets with her.

"Hey,  Sam?" Luna called out, off-put by their entire interaction. Her frown  deepened when she heard Sam's exasperated sigh from somewhere near the  front of the house. It was loud and echoed within the quiet walls, but  he eventually arrived back in the doorway moments later. He stared at  her, an eyebrow arching in annoyance as he waited for her what she would  say next.

"Uhm,"  Luna glanced over at her laptop sitting on the desk near the doorway.  "Could you maybe bring me my laptop so that I don't have to get up?"

Sam's  exasperation with her was slightly more evident as his nostrils flared  with his deep inhale and long exhale. He stared at her for a few moments  longer, the look in his eyes unreadable and almost cold. Luna sunk back  into her pillows, silently willing for him to do something other than  just staring at her. Very slowly, Sam reached over to grab her laptop  off the desk. He took a few steps forward into the room and tossed it so  that it barely landed on the edge of the couch. Luna had to slam her  hand down on its lid to keep it from falling. Sam flicked the nearby  switch to turn off the lights with a mumbled "Love you," and Luna was  left alone with a slam of the front door.

Daisy  and Bentley lifted their furry heads to look up at Luna as if they too  couldn't believe what had just happened. Luna could only let out one  more sigh in response and then let out a pained moan as her head began  to throb harder.

"I  guess it's just us for another holiday," Luna said as she ran her hand  along Daisy's soft fur. She thought about what to do for a moment  knowing that Sam would most likely be gone until that night. Holidays  were all-day events, and Luna wasn't expecting to hear from Sam until he  was ready to come home. "We'll just relax, throw on a movie or two,  order some take out from the good Chinese place. It'll be all okay."

With  the light off, the living room was a lot darker than it had been all  morning. Though Luna was grateful for it, she wasn't expecting just how  dark it became. She took a look out the window and looked up at the dark  clouds in the sky. If they were lucky, it would snow – Luna certainly  wouldn't mind, though she knew the dogs would.

Unsure  of what else to do, Luna leaned towards the coffee table to grab the  television remote. She turned the television onto a Christmas channel,  grabbed her laptop, and turned it on.

It  felt like ages before her laptop booted up fully, skipping the login  screen and going directly to her desktop. There was a long delay as her  music apps decided to load up, then her e-mail, and then finally, her  newest and possibly most favorite addition. Several messages popped up  in the upper right corner of her screen from Discord, pulling a weak  smile to Luna's lips as she read them.

Erik (3:12 AM):
Merry Christmas!

Erik (3:15 AM):
Sorry, I forgot you wouldn't be up this early.
I hope I didn't wake you.

Erik (5:23 AM):
I know it's still early, and I hope I don't wake you up, but I just thought of a new theory to share with you.

Erik (7:42 AM):
Okay, I can't wait. You know how Clara could possibly be  a werewolf? Like, it doesn't make sense for her not to be, you know? I  really think that she is and that the big plot twist the author keeps  hinting at is she'll finally transform. What do you think?

Erik (8:57 AM):
Hey,  is everything okay? Almost afraid to text you in case you don't want to  be bothered. Message me when you want. Just want to make sure you're  okay.

Luna  loaded up Discord fully, grinning when she spotted Erik's username  listed as online with its idle half-moon icon in the bottom-right corner  of his profile photo. They both very rarely clicked their status to the  green circle of "online" and kept to using the yellow moon icon when  they were around. She clicked through to their message thread and began  to type.

Luna:
Hey!  Merry Christmas! You were up so early. Do you ever sleep? No, you  didn't wake me up. I haven't even downloaded the app to my phone yet.  Funny you mentioned your newest theory because I agree!

Erik:
There  you are! Glad that you agree with me. As for sleeping? Never. Sleep is  for the weak. Seems like you did, though. You're usually up earlier,  sleepyhead.

Luna:
Well, not quite, but it's okay.

Erik:
Everything all right?

Luna:
Yeah, everything's fine.

Erik:
It doesn't sound like everything is fine.

Luna  frowned at her screen. In the short time they had known each other,  Erik seemed to have a sixth sense for when something was wrong. She  couldn't even figure out how he always seemed to know. In just a month,  it felt almost like Erik had managed to unlock the inner workings of her  brain and read her moods.

Luna:
I'm fine, really.

Erik:
Okay.

There  was a long pause where neither seemed willing to write a thing. Luna  stared at the screen, watching the blinking cursor on her screen. She  was tempted to tell Erik all about her morning, but she didn't want to  bother him, especially not on Christmas. Luna put her fingers back on  the keyboard, ready to ask Erik how he was, but he already had his next  message sent.

Erik:
So, what do you really think of my theory?

Luna  smiled, propping herself up in her pillows and getting herself more  comfortable. She was more than happy to oblige and discuss their  favorite book series. Time with Erik always seemed to move quickly, and  before Luna knew it, two Christmas movies had gone by, and a third was  about to begin. The headache plaguing Luna all morning had dulled down  considerably, but her stomach gave a loud rumble.

Luna:
Erik, we have been talking all day. I didn't even realize what time it was!

Erik:
Oh shit. Shouldn't you be with Sam right now? You are with  Sam and the monsters – omg. Have I been distracting you this entire  time? I'm really sorry. I should have realized and left you alone. I  keep forgetting not everyone has to be up early to celebrate with their  family like I do.

Luna:
No, it's okay.

Luna stared at the screen for a long moment. Should she  just tell Erik what had happened? She looked at the dogs questioningly,  and Bentley lifted his head from the blankets to lick her arm. Luna  supposed that was as good a response as any.

Luna:
I actually didn't wind up going.

Erik:
Oh.

Erik:
Is everything okay?

Luna:
Just not feeling well. The holidays are always rough.

Erik:
I'm  sorry to hear that. You should have said you weren't feeling well  earlier, so I would have left you alone. Hope Sam isn't too annoyed with  me. Tell him hi, and I'll talk to you later. Merry Christmas.

Luna  let out a panicked noise when she saw Erik's icon move from idle to  offline. She wasn't ready for him to go just yet and didn't particularly  feel like being left alone after having such a nice time with him. She  reached out for her phone, double-checking that she hadn't missed  anything, and when she saw no messages, she dropped it back on the  couch.

Luna:
Sam isn't even here. He went without me.

It  took far too long for Erik's icon to turn idle for Luna's liking. Luna  waited impatiently for Erik's reply and frowned when his profile photo  returned for a moment only to disappear again. She waited a few moments  longer, and when Erik's idle status didn't return, Luna closed her  laptop. She grabbed her phone once more and decided it was a good time  to finally download Discord to her phone to have it ready.

She  pulled herself up off the sofa and stretched herself out. Luna's entire  body felt stiff from not moving and like it was made of lead. She  welcomed the time it took for her to make it to the back door to let  Daisy and Bentley outside. The dogs seemed energized by the chilly air,  taking off with energetic runs into the backyard the moment the door  opened. Luna couldn't entirely say the same though her overheated body  didn't oppose the cold air completely. She shivered against the cold air  as it touched her skin, and she shoved her hands deep into her jacket's  pockets to try and keep them warm. Luna watched the dogs for a few  moments before pulling her phone out and making her way to her favorite  Chinese restaurant's website to order her food. After placing her order,  Luna ushered the dogs back into the warmth and grinned when she noticed  Discord had finished downloading. She quickly logged in and took a few  minutes to get used to the similar but different layout and was happy to  see that Erik had replied.

Erik:
What do you mean he went without you?

Luna:
I mean exactly that.

There  was a long pause where Luna could practically picture Erik staring at  his screen, pondering his response. Luna could only imagine what was  going through his mind as she returned to the couch. She briefly  considered feeding the animals early but decided it would be better to  wait until her food arrived so that she could have a few minutes of  peace from their begging – if that. Luna had just shoved her phone back  into the pocket of her sweatpants when she felt it vibrate. Not wanting  to wait, she pulled her phone out and pulled Discord back up.

Erik:
Do you want to talk about it?

Luna:
It's Christmas. I don't want to ruin the day with my nonsense.

Erik:
Oh shush. Give me a minute. Playing a game, and then I'll call.

Luna  sighed as she settled back into her blanket and pillow nest. She turned  on her side, cracking open her laptop once more, and made sure to prop  it up carefully on the couch cushion beside her. Her poor laptop had  already had a near miss; she didn't need for it to have another.  Discord's futuristic ringtone rang out over the laptop's speakers, and  Luna jumped at the noise. She clicked the connect button and grimaced as  the dogs started to bark when the call joined.

"Daisy and Bentley, why?"  Luna said in exasperation. She shushed the dogs as much as she could,  ignoring the snickers coming from her speakers. When the dogs quieted  enough, Luna let out a long breath. "Hi," she said with a slight laugh.  "Sorry about that."

"Well, hello to you and the dogs," Erik replied with a snort. "And merry Christmas."

"Merry  Christmas," Luna said softly, rubbing her forehead anxiously. She  wasn't sure why she suddenly felt so self-conscious about her  appearance. It wasn't like Erik could see her right that moment, but she  was very aware of how she had to appear. She ran a hand  through her hair, wincing as every snag her fingers caught. Luna bet  that if she looked at herself in the mirror, her hair would look like a  complete rat's nest – tangled and ready to be a matted mess. Her eyes  would most likely be bloodshot and red-rimmed. All Luna could hope for  was that Erik wouldn't ask to add video to their call.

"So, Sam left you alone –"

"So, you were up early –"

"I think you should –"

"You go –"

Luna  and Erik fell silent for a moment before immediately beginning to  laugh. They didn't always talk at the same time, but when they did, it  was like they were on the very same train of thought.

"I'll go first," Erik finally said. "You just get yourself comfortable."

Luna  grinned, gladly getting herself as comfy as she could. She appreciated  that Erik didn't always have her talk first, especially when she needed  time to gather her thoughts. The last thing she expected was to be on a  call with Erik, and she needed to prepare exactly what she would have to  say. Luna enjoyed listening to Erik tell her how he spent his very  early morning with his family before they went off on their day. She  smiled at each jump of Erik's voice when he grew excited or happy about  something, and Luna's heart ached when he started to confess he missed  everyone.

"It's hard,  but it's not too terrible to be without them," Erik said with a touch  of longing in his voice. "I'll call them again tomorrow during dinner.  But what about you? It's Christmas, and Sam left you alone?"

"Well, this is...normal."

"Normal? What do you mean by 'normal?'"

"I  mean that it's, well, I don't know," Luna said quietly, letting her  words trail off. She talked to Erik about nearly everything in the short  amount of time they knew each other but talking about Sam leaving her  alone somehow felt too personal. "But no, you talk. I can't imagine how  hard it is to not be with your family during the holidays. Add in the  time difference and everything."

"It's  difficult," Erik said slowly before letting out a heavy sigh. "We don't  know if it'll be my gran's last Christmas with us or not, and -" Erik  cut himself off quickly, the silence suddenly heavy. He didn't often  speak about his family, sharing small snippets as he felt fit or stories  that were relevant to their conversations, so whenever he did, Luna  made sure to listen. That wasn't to say that Erik wasn't open with her,  but he kept himself guarded. Luna desperately wished that he didn't.  "Really enough about me," Erik said, his voice much quieter. "It's late  for them, so the day's nearly over. What's going on with you?"

Luna  rolled herself onto her back, wincing as her earbuds pulled as the wire  grew taught from her shifting. "Nothing really," Luna replied, her  voice as quiet as Erik's. "I'm just here."

"You are. But why? What happened?"

"Well, I've got a tiny headache," Luna said carefully. She huffed when Erik snorted in response. "What?"

"A tiny headache?" Erik questioned. "I was wondering why you sounded awful, and that explains it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You sound exhausted, Luna. You're sick."

"I am not!"

"Yes,  you are!" Erik was silent for a moment, and when he spoke next, his  voice was even quieter. "And I've kept you up this entire time."

Luna  nearly let out a groan. The last thing she needed was for Erik to think  that he had kept her up or that he was selfish for it. She genuinely  enjoyed being with him and was grateful that her headache had  disappeared.

"Erik, it's fine. It's better than being alone on another holiday."

"Another holiday? Sam's left you alone before?"

"Well...yes,"  Luna replied. She reached over and pulled Bentley closer to her and  dropped her head on top of his, groaning when he licked her face. "Like I  said, it's normal. It's not like anyone in Sam's family wants me there  anyway, so I don't -" Luna cut herself off quickly, clearing her throat  and sitting up with Bentley in her lap. "It's fine."

The  silence that fell was broken by the sound of the doorbell and the  scramble of both dogs leaping off the couch with barks and nails across  hardwood floors. Luna sighed, staring at her reflection in Discord's  window and the circles showing her and Erik's profile photos in the  middle of the screen. They were similar and very different at the same  time, and it always amused her. His a photo of a wolf, hers a fox, both  with their noses facing nearly the same direction.

"I should go," Luna said in between telling the dogs to be quiet. "My dinner's here."

"Oh, what'd you get?"

"Chinese  like I do every year. I suppose it's tradition at this point." Luna  moved her cursor to click the disconnect button and frowned slightly.  She didn't particularly want to leave just yet, but couldn't convince  herself to stay for no reason. "Merry Christmas, Erik."

"Hey, wait," Erik said quickly. "Where are you going?"

"To eat?" Luna replied stupidly.

"Alone?"

"Well, I've got the dogs."

Erik  was quiet for a moment before he suddenly asked, "Do you want to watch  something with me? On here? I can find something for us to watch and do a  screen share."

"Oh, you don't have to try and entertain me. I'll be fine."

"Luna,  I'm asking because I want to keep talking to you. I'm not asking to  entertain you. Except I hope that I do," Erik added quickly.

The  smallest of smiles crept across Luna's face. She always liked that Erik  meant what he said, and he wasn't someone to tell her what she wanted  to hear. He would try before immediately backtracking and giving her the  advice he wanted to actually give her, but as gently as  possible. Luna always found it amusing and touching rather than blunt  and hurtful because he tried to avoid offending her, even if she really didn't want to hear the truth. Erik tried to look out for her as best as he could.

"Yeah, okay," Luna said. "Just give me a few to get my food and the dogs fed."

"Cool, I'll try and find something for us to watch."

"Perfect. I'll be right back."

Luna  moved as quickly as she could. She grabbed her food, apologizing  profusely to the delivery boy for taking so long while herding the dogs  to keep inside the house. Luna tossed her food on the living room table  and quickly made sure the animals all had food and water in their bowls.

She  practically launched herself back onto the couch after carefully  placing her drink down. Luna pulled her food out of the takeaway bag,  placed it on the table in front of her, and sighed before pulling her  laptop over and placing it on the table, and putting her earbuds back  in.

"Okay, I'm back," Luna said. "So, what are we watching?"

"You're  all settled in? Comfy? Going to be fed?" Erik asked in response, the  hint of a smile in his voice. "Dogs distracted for now?"

"Only for about two more minutes, if that."

"Perfect,"  Erik said. "Sharing now. Luna smiled as the noise for Discord's screen  share activated, and she quickly clicked the button to activate the  window. She smiled, seeing the opening screen of a movie they had  mentioned both wanting to watch a few weeks back. "Ready?"

"Ready."