Molly was swaddled in blankets and sitting by a warm fire, but she didn't feel warm at all. She'd spent half an hour curled up by the fireplace in her home, but as the fire crackled in front of her and as she held the blankets and pillows tightly to her body, she felt only disappointment and regret.
She'd been determined to spend this, her first snow day ever, outside having fun, and she wanted her friends along for the ride. Scratch, Libby, everyone... but while they were outside playing, she was stuck indoors, having spent way too long in the bitter cold by herself to even think about going out there again.
She let out a quiet sigh.
"I did this to myself," Molly said, bowing her head and burying her face beneath the blankets. "Trying to push my snow day ideas on everyone, even when they clearly wanted to be inside doing hygge... which IS pretty nice, but it sure would be nicer if everyone was in here with me..."
She peeked her head above the blankets just enough to see out the window. Her brother and Scratch were throwing snowballs at Geoff, while her parents were building a snowman together. She couldn't see Libby, but could only imagine that her friend had decided to go on back to her own house, or maybe even hang out with Andrea despite their earlier troubles.
Either way, none of them would be coming back in the house any time soon.
"At least I didn't ruin their snow day by being a jerk," Molly sighed to herself, burying her head back inside the blankets. "Maybe I'll just take a nap and try to forget all this even happened..."
As she felt the warm embrace of the blankets, she could feel a lump forming in her throat and a tear forming in her eye. She didn't bother trying to blink it away... it wasn't as if anyone could see her crying.
She barely heard the sound of the door opening, and thought it was probably her mom coming in to grab the last of the cookies and cocoa. She hadn't even bothered to check if there was any left, even if there was, she knew she didn't deserve it.
"Molly?"
Molly's ears perked up at the familiar sound of her friend Libby's voice. She poked her head out of the blankets again, and could see Libby walking over, a look of concern in her eyes.
"Molly, are you okay in here?"
"I'm fine, Libby," Molly groaned, turning away. "Go back outside, it's way more fun out there where everyone else is."
"That's okay, Molly," Libby replied, before sitting down on the pile of blankets and pillows next to Molly. "I think I'm all worn out from the outside... it's much nicer in here."
Molly sighed again, turning back toward Libby. Her eyes and nose were wrinkled with guilt, and Libby could see the glum frown on Molly's lips.
"I should've listened to you before, Libby," said Molly, pulling the blankets up tightly to herself as she curled her legs close to her body. "If I had stayed in here with you guys and done hygge instead of going out and trying to play in the snow, I would've been a lot happier... and... I think you guys would've been too. You said I make you feel safe and jolly, but I know I didn't do that today."
"Don't worry, it was still lots of fun in here with your family and Geoff," said Libby, scooting closer to Molly and placing a hand on hers over the blankets.
"But I dragged you all the way here and tried to force you to do what I wanted to do! I was a monster, a snow-crazed monster! It must've really freaked you guys out seeing me act like that."
Libby just giggled softly, shaking her head and squeezing Molly's hand through the many layers of fabric piled on top of them.
"I've pretty much gotten used to your high energy antics by now," Libby replied. "But it's okay, I warned you before becoming my best friend that I'm a little bit of an acquired taste, I'm just glad you still wanted to be my friend at all."
As Molly continued to fret, Libby began to pull some of the blankets over herself, sliding under them and leaving only a small pillow between herself and her friend, who noticed what Libby was doing and felt the smile slowly coming back to her face. She could also feel her cheeks warming, though whether it was from the fire or from being so close to Libby, she couldn't say.
"It wasn't like I've been the best friend to you either," said Libby. "Ignoring you when we first met, just to please Andrea..."
"Hey, I get it, she's queen of the school, I know what it's like not fitting in," Molly replied, scooting her hand closer to Libby's on top of the pillow.
"...so why were you so obsessed with having a big snow day?" Libby asked, giving Molly a curious look. "Didn't you listen to the weather report? It's ten below zero out there! If it was closer to twenty degrees I'd understand, even if I'm still more of an indoors kind of person, but still, it's pretty tough to have fun when it's that cold, the only reason we were able to stand going out just now is because we've spent such a long time wrapped up in these warm blankets..."
"My family's always been on the move because of dad's job, and we've never spent long enough in a cold weather city to experience a snow day. Most of dad's jobs have been in places like Arizona, California, Florida... the one time we spent the winter in New Jersey, it was the year it didn't snow! I'd see all these TV shows about kids having fun in the snow, building snowmen and skiing and sledding and having snowball fights, and I'd always dreamed what it would be like...and that I'd have lots of friends to do it with me. I thought it'd be perfect with you and Scratch, we'd just go out and have fun and... I mean..."
Molly trailed off, as bad memories from her past began to surface. She felt Libby's hand brush against hers, and as she looked at Libby, she felt more tears come.
"Okay, there was one year where we did have snow... we were in Missouri, and there was a snow day, and I thought I was gonna have a blast... but I didn't have any friends. I went out and tried to have fun, but nobody would play with me and I wound up all alone and my mom had to come and carry me back in the house. ...I thought... since I had friends, it'd be different, but when you guys didn't want to come out with me..."
"...all the bad memories from that day came back," said Libby, finally placing her hand on Molly's and squeezing it tight.
"I'm sorry," Molly replied with a sniffle. "I can't blame you guys for not wanting to go out in the snow with me. I get it, not everyone likes going out and playing in the snow, and, and... and hygge is nice, it really is...! I'm sorry I even brought it up, I must sound like I'm trying to guilt trip you or something."
"...you know," said Libby, continuing to squeeze Molly's hand tightly, "Part of the reason I always preferred staying in on snow days is because all the other kids would be outside, and, well... you know how popular I am."
"I guess we both have our own ways of coping with our bad memories," said Molly, who looked into the fire and then looked back at Libby. "...I'm still sorry, though. This is just like your bat mitzvah, you just wanted to spend time with me and I went and ruined everything."
"You haven't ruined anything, Molly," Libby replied, squeezing Molly's hand again and sliding up closer to her. "I'm glad we're getting to spend time together today."
Molly sniffled again, and Libby, her hand covered in blanket fabric, reached up and wiped the tear from Molly's face. Molly then leaned into Libby, and Libby, blushing brightly, leaned back into her. The two pulled the blankets tighter around themselves and continued to rest together by the fire, as Molly let out a quiet sigh.
"This is really nice... are you sure you don't want to be outside with everyone?"
"I'm sure, Molly," replied Libby, who continued to squeeze Molly's hand as the two rested together.
"It's just too bad I missed out on the hot cocoa and cookies from before," said Molly, looking over at the kitchen and at the empty plate and empty cups piled up on one of the tables. "Guess that's what I get for being so stubborn..."
"Mmm... I could get more for us if you want?" Libby offered. She started to stand, only for Molly to squeeze her hand.
"No, it's okay," Molly replied, smiling. "I'll be just fine."
As Molly sighed in contentment, Libby continued to snuggle with her, and the two stayed together by the fire, enjoying each other's company and a chance to rest after what had been quite the eventful day.
"Think you'd be up for giving hygge another chance next time we have a snow day?" asked Libby.
"I'd love to!" said Molly excitedly. "On one condition."
"What's that?" asked Libby.
"I get to come over to your place and spend time with you," Molly replied, blushing slightly as she looked into Libby's eyes. Libby blushed in response, but smiled and nodded, glad that her friend didn't have any more regrets about what had happened that day.
"I'd like that," Libby replied. "Um, fair warning... my mom takes hygge about as seriously as you take snow days, so try to be ready for anything."
"If I can handle living in a haunted house, I can handle spending a snow day with your mom," Molly said with a giggle. "I'm just glad you can handle me."
Libby nuzzled her face against Molly's and continued to rest by the fire with her, feeling quite warm in more ways than one.
"You're my best friend forever, Molly," said Libby, hugging her friend close under the blankets. "No matter how hard you are to handle."
And the two spent the rest of the day together under those blankets, enjoying the warm of the fire as they snuggled together. They didn't need snowball fights, or sledding, or cookies, or cocoa, or even the blankets or the fire. Just each other, wherever they were.
