Archive of Our Own

Susie grunted, her claws digging into deep red bricks. Heh. Pity whoever lived here. She was sure there was going to be plenty of nasty, obnoxious scratches lining the walls.

Whose house was this, anyways?

Earlier Susie had been, simply put, bored as hell. So that led to now, whereupon Kris’ guidance she had been brought to a giant house that was close to their own, and had been instructed to scale the wall. 

Susie didn’t really know the plan beyond that. It’d be cool if they were gonna rob whoever this was, but she doesn’t expect Kris to be the blatant theft type. Their specific methods of troublemaking center in the creative flair, but are ultimately harmless. Susie, however, provided the law-breaking push Kris needed that sometimes really made their schemes fly. Breaking into a house and robbing someone is something she would suggest. Not them. So what were they doing here?

“Kris,” Susie asked, hauling herself a few bricks closer to a window, furrowing her eyebrows. She assumed that was her goal. “Who the hell's house is this?”

The Kris in question was currently piggybacking on her shoulders, their fingers drumming lightly against her head as they seemed to debate how much to share with her. Instead, they tapped her snout and pointed upwards towards the window that both of their gazes were currently honed in on.

That’s one way to find out, I guess. Susie thought.  

“Okay,” Susie nodded, continuing her ascent. It was a pretty cool house. Looked rich too. Maybe they could find all sorts of expensive goodies in here. Plus, a part of her is glad she’s finally gonna be answering some personal questions she had about this place. The mansion seemed big and important, very clearly taking the cake for Hometowns largest house.

Finally she reached the window, pushing her shoulders up so Kris could get a look. Then, she realized due to the awkward nature of the window sill, she couldn’t exactly see into it well herself. The closest she could do was tilt her head upwards, and press the bottom of her snout awkwardly against the window sill. Seeing her struggle, Kris helped her properly reposition her face so she could just about gaze inside.

It was then that it sank in whose house this was. The room was almost-perfectly-neat, and it was warm, and cozy looking. Susie could just about see the ending of a bed that the window must’ve been right next to. The sheets were dark blue with sharp, lighter blue patterns that Susie quickly identified as probably snowflakes. Holiday lights lined the corner between the walls and the ceiling of the room, dimly glowing. A few of the tiny bulbs flickered on and off, and Susie concluded they probably weren’t new lights by any means. There was a corner of a piece of furniture peeking out from behind the bed, and from the books on top of it Susie reasoned it was probably a bookshelf. Trophies lined a couple of shelves near the back of the right wall, and Susie couldn’t quite read what they said but some had depictions of monsters running so she could conclude that at least a portion were for cross country. Finally, right next to the bookshelf was a desk. It was cluttered with figurines and picture frames and schoolbooks, with a laptop open in the center, currently being typed away on. 

At this desk sat the one who might’ve just pulled the entire room together, the object of Susie’s recent affections, a very studious Noelle Holiday. 

Noelles hair was a bit unkempt and she was currently wearing mismatched pajamas. Her eyes looked tired, boring on the computer screen. Studying , Susie figured. 

She looked a bit like a complete mess. Susie felt her heart flutter.

Wait, this was her house?

“KRIS,” Susie whispered-slash-roared. “You didn’t tell me this was Noelles house! We can’t rob this place.”

“We’re not… robbing it.” Kris clarified, sounding like a mix between confusion that Susie came to that conclusion, and complete expectancy of Susie coming to that conclusion. They lightly knocked on the window, squishing their face against it and sticking out their tongue, likely making some ridiculous facial expression.

Susie spotted Noelle turning out of the corner of her eye. That was when it dawned on Susie they must look ridiculous right now— Susie's entire snout pressed upwards against the window sill, tilted just slightly enough that the corner of her eye peeked out. Kris above her, hauled around her shoulders, pressing their face against the window. Damn, she wished she was on the other side of the window so she could see this.

Noelle seemed to shift through a couple different emotions like shock, terror, understanding, before finally seeming to find it just as amusing as Susie did, stifling giggles as she slid out of her chair and made her way towards the window. She flipped her hand backwards, signaling Kris to move their head back so she didn’t uppercut their chin with the window frame. They obliged, using the windowsill to steady themselves, seemingly trying to take some weight off of Susie's shoulders, quite literally. It was appreciated.

Once the window was open, Susie was hit by the strong, delightful smell of eggnog, along with a hint of gingerbread. It made so much sense that this was Noelles room. It smelled just like her.

“What are you guys—“ Noelle began, but was swiftly interrupted by Kris.

“Dangling from a window,” They reminded her, and as if nature wanted their point emphasized Susie's boot slipped a bit, and she had to scramble to regain her footing on a protruding brick.

“Oh, right!” Noelle quickly wrapped her hands around Kris’ arm, hauling them inside. It seemed easy enough, due to the scrawny manner of Kris Dreemurr. Once they were inside, they scrambled to their legs and turned. Due to her large stature, pulling Susie inside was a task that required their combined muscle. Once her knees were on the windowsill, Susie used the rest of her strength to dive through, landing unceremoniously on the carpet with a loud thud. 

Noelle helped her up, her hands on Susie's arm sending warm sparks through Susie's body. Oookay. If Kris brought Susie here to watch her flounder in front of Noelle that’d make all of this make a lot more sense. It definitely seemed more in tune for them than robbery.

“Hey Noelle,” Susie greeted her awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck, sniffling a little. 

“Hey Susie,” Noelle parroted back sweetly, hands still gently placed on Susie's bicep. The feeling made Susie want to melt into the floor and also simultaneously run into the woods, never to be seen again. Instead she went quiet, standing awkwardly in Noelles room. 

“Cough,” Kris said verbally, holding the crook of their elbow up to their mouth, as if genuinely coughing into it. “Cough, cough.”

“Oh-!” Noelle stopped latching onto Susie, taking a few steps back so she was standing an appropriate distance away. Susie instinctively growled under her breath, low and quiet, missing the contact. 

“Right, um, hey, so why are you guys here at,” Noelle paused to glance at her watch. “… 12:17 A.M.?”

“We were gonna rob you,” Kris answered without missing a beat, and Susie panicked and lightly shoved them. Kris seemed relatively unphased, bobbing slightly to the left before returning to their normal, neutral slouch. 

“We weren’t .” Susie clarified. “They told me to climb ‘em up to this window. I don’t know their plan. But, uh… I didn’t know this was your house.”

“You… you didn’t?” Noelle seemed genuinely caught off guard. “What about the holiday lights on the house? The giant inflatable snowman outside…?”

Susie paused. She did wonder about that while they were hopping the gate.

“Yea, fair.” 

Noelle glanced between the two of them, before shifting her efforts into sending a cautionary glare to Kris. “And what exactly is your plan, Kris?”

“Can’t I visit my kind, amazing, smart friend? Who, might I add, is very pretty as well?”

“Stop trying to flatter me!” Noelle laughed, fighting her hardest to secure her glare. “You could’ve knocked instead of making Susie scale the wall.”

“Isn’t your mom home?” Kris asked instead, tilting their head. “I didn’t want her vaporizing Susie or anything.”

Okay, Susie has dealt with the wrath of many middle-aged angry women. She doubted Mayor Holiday was that scary. The worst she could do is bar Noelle off from speaking to Susie, which, now that Susie thought about it actually, was kind of scary to think about. Hell, Mayor Holiday could probably kick her out of town if she wanted. Then that’d be sayonara for Susie. She’d have to leave Kris and Noelle behind, Ralsei and Lancer— sheesh, with the prophecy stuff, Mayor Holiday could technically end the world . Okay, she changed her mind, Mayor Holiday was terrifying.

“Is—“ Susie swallowed thickly, attempting to not sound too unnerved. “ Is your mom home?”

Noelle frowned, then smiled, and shook her head. “Nope. Working late. House is all to ourselves!”

“You’re home alone and you’re studying ?” Susie gawked. “In the middle of the night?” She looked to Kris for some kind of reassurance that the idea was indeed batshit, but they just looked used to it. That confused Susie even more.

Noelle shrugged. “I do this all the time. When you’re always home alone it stops being interesting.” That clarified the normalcy of it all, atleast. “Why,” She continued. “Did you have any ideas?”

“Psh, not work .” Susie scoffed, making her way over to Noelles desk and extending the kindness of shutting her computer for her. As she did so, her eyes darted to the picture frames on the desk. 

Most were baby Noelle photos, a few with Berdly or Kris or the rest of their family in them. One did stand out, it seemed to be some kind of fishing trip. Her dad centered the photo, looking a lot younger and more spry than when Susie had met him. In his arms he cradled a younger Noelle, who had a timid but happy smile. On his shoulders was a doe that couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Noelle, one hand wrapped around her fathers antler, and the other around a giant fish. She had dark brown hair, green eyes, and fur matching her father. Speaking of antlers, they were a feature she notably lacked. Susie figured this was the elusive sister Noelle and her father had both mentioned before. Probably at college with Kris’ brother, she assumed.

“Did you guys eat any fish?” Susie asked, tilting the frame slightly towards Noelle. Noelle made her way over, interest seemingly piqued. Kris, however, averted their gaze and elected to now sit on Noelles bed.

“Oh, fahaha, no. After we took that, Dad reeled back so Dess would fall into the lake.” Noelle laughed in fond reminiscence. “I guess it was one way of putting the fish back in!” 

Dess , Susie mentally logged. That must be her sister's name. She was scoring so many Noelle points right now. “Damn. Woulda been tasty, I bet.”

“Maybe!” Noelle smiled, returning the photo carefully, as if the encaptured memory was the most precious thing in the world. “It’s not like we could’ve eaten it. Herbivores. Fish would’ve made us sick.” She explained.

“Ohh,” Susie nodded. “Yea, right, yea…”

“Speaking of food,” Kris piped up, changing the topic. “Do you still have those Burypills sugar cookies? With the reindeer?” They asked Noelle, suddenly looking very ecstatic over the idea.

“Obviously,” Noelle grinned. “Susie, have you ever tried?”

Burypills ? “Like the dough guy from that one movie?”

“Yea,” Kris nodded. “The guy from that one movie.”

“I didn’t know he made cookies.” Susie shrugged.

Noelle brought her hand up to cover her mouth. “Let’s-“ She paused, biting back a laugh. “Let’s go—“

Usually Susie would get upset at someone laughing at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to hold any grudge against Noelle. Even when she was biting back giggles because of something Susie did, it was adorable. God. Damnit.

Kris was already halfway out the door, slipping out entirely, quick footsteps growing quieter as they descended down the hallway. Noelle turned to Susie and quietly shrugged, before following after them. That lead to Susie standing in the room alone for a moment. She sighed, and began to follow along too.

The immediate thing that Susie realized was that Noelles room was definitely the smallest in the house. Even the hallway was wider than Noelles room had been, adorned with wreaths and lights and muted hollyberry patterned wallpaper. There were photos as well that lined the walls. Most were of Noelle, but another good majority included her father and mother as well in some shape or form. Mysteriously, the photos notably lacked Noelles sister— Dess , Susie reminded herself she was called. Some spots on the wall seemed unnaturally empty, as if there were photos there that had since been removed. 

As she walked further, the southern wall of the hallway opened up, revealing that the house's hall also doubled as a balcony that allowed you to see into the main room of the house. Susie settled her claws on the golden railing, feeling so incredibly small in comparison to the ginormous house that surrounded her. It unsettled her, actually. A creeping feeling of you don’t belong here , the idea that she was ruining the pristine and organized nature of the Holiday mansion by simply being inside of it. 

Because of this line of thought, her posture straightened, and she suddenly felt the need to be a lot more careful. She walked further down, and the railing led to two parallel staircases, forming a circular shape that led down to the main room. On the main floor, in the middle of the space the staircases had formed stood an incredibly large Christmas Tree, so tall that it extended far above the railing. It was adorned with tinsel and ornaments. Some of them were classy and elegant, glass figurines of angels and reindeer, and some were more childish. One of the ornaments Susie noticed as she passed were two seperate little reindeer ornaments, that seemed to kiss each other. Susie assumed there must be magnets or something in their heads for it to be possible. It was cute. She also passed a few handmade ornaments as well, Noelles name scrawled across some of them, in the kind of handwriting a kindergartener would have. Her sister's name was written on a few as well, along with some that even had family depictions by the Holiday sisters— that, at the time of the ornaments creation, seemed to be stick figures.

There were more personal ones of course, too. At the base of the tree were four ornaments, each dedicated to different members of the family. Rudy, Dess, Noelle, Carol respectively.

In front of the tree was a grand piano, closed and dusted from years without use. Kris was currently here, drumming their fingers against it. 

“Noelle’s in the kitchen,” They explained. “Big house.” They added. Susie knew they’d probably been here hundreds of times. They certainly weren’t genuinely caught off guard by the size of it. They were pretending. Pitying her because they could read her like a damn book and just knew Susie was uncomfortable with the size of the place.

Part of her wanted to shrug it off, maybe even get mad. She hated being pitied. It reignited old, angry feelings she used to have about Kris. For the longest time, it had felt like they were the only ones that could never be intimidated by her. Susie had hated it.

… But that was before the Dark World. Kris was no longer a challenge, someone that Susie had to try her hardest to scare and intimidate. No, Kris was a friend now, extending sympathy because they wanted her to feel comfortable.

“Place feels like a damn historical museum,” Susie grumbled, crossing her arms with a huff. “I don’t belong here. I’m gonna break something.”

“Noelle wants you here,” Kris continued their special ability of picking apart Susie's insecurities and sweeping them away with ease. “So you belong here.”

Susie nodded quietly. What could she even say to that? It didn’t quell her fears completely, but the way Kris managed to say things like that so plainly, like they were just simple facts of life, offered Susie a good chunk of reassurance. 

“Oven is preheating!” Noelle smiled, peeking her head through a door next to the right staircase. Susie turned around. 

Susie sniffed the air. “Yep,” She nodded. “What do we do till it’s done?”

Noelle shrugged. “There’s a pool table in the living room!” 

Kris winced. “Susie, it’s a trap. She’s gonna kick your ass at pool.”

“Psshh, nah.” Susie waved her hand dismissively. “She can’t be that good at pool.”

Noelle was kicking Susie's ass at pool.

The worst part is Noelle was so cheery about it too. She kept congratulating Susie after every turn with such a genuinely sincere tone that it was difficult for Susie to effectively trash talk. Insulting Noelle, even jokingly, felt like a felony.

“It’s okay, that was still really close!” Noelle encouraged her after Susie had managed to hit the 8-ball to the very edge of a corner pocket. Susie watched Noelle knock the 8-ball in with ease, securing another win.

Kris chuckled from their place on the couch, currently watching some obscure cartoon Susie had never heard of. Susie whipped her head around, glaring at them.

“Are you LAUGHING at me?? You think I’m funny? ” Susie grinned, making her way over to them, picking up a pillow on the couch to achieve her revenge. She began mercilessly bringing the pillow down upon them, and after a few thwacks Kris caught it mid-swing, pulling it from her grip. They held it above their head, their confidence dwindling drastically when Susie pulled out her surprise move— grabbing another pillow.

Kris let out a strangled, panicked noise before diving over the couch, running over to a frozen Noelle and slinging their arm around her shoulders, holding the pillow up to her neck.

“Drop the pillow or the girl gets it,” Kris threatened, eyes fixed on Susie. Noelle on the other hand looked panicked between Kris and Susie, as if the pillow was somehow an actual threat. That, or she was just caught off guard by the sudden escalation of events.

“Don’t get too hasty,” Susie spoke carefully, gently lowering the pillow. “We don’t need to—“

Ding!

“Cookies,” All three of them said in unison. Kris and Susie both abandoned their pillows, and they all flooded into the kitchen.

Sometime during the second or third round of pool, the oven had finished preheating, and the cookies had begun to bake. Now, the delightful smell of baked goods wafted through the kitchen. Noelle grabbed oven mitts, hesitating for a brief second before leaning to pull the tray out of the oven. 

Susie scanned the cookies over. They were sugar cookies, with little depictions of reindeers on them, the same way Kris had described. Susie wasn’t picky with her food in the slightest, so this may have been a bit biased of her, but she was really anticipating trying one.

“We should wait for them to cool,” Noelle hummed, turning to them. “Pool while we wait?”

“ No .” Susie said quickly, shuddering. “Not again.” 

“Yea,” Kris added. “It’s getting boring watching Susie lose.”

Susie grabbed one of the cookies and threw it at their face. Unsurprisingly, Kris caught it with their mouth, their eyes immediately going wide because of the heat. Determined, they scarfed it down after a fair bit of struggle, eyes watering by the time it had been chewed and swallowed.

“You deserved that,” Noelle commented simply.

Kris glumly nodded.

“… Were they good?” Noelle asked. 

Another nod.

“Not—“ Kris began, voice strained from before. “Not like it matters. You didn’t mix these yourself, you phony.”

“I’m not making you hand-baked cookies at 1 A.M., Kris. Plus, you asked for them—” 

The two dissolved into some bickering match that Susie figured came from years of being childhood friends. While they argued, she made her way over to the tray of cookies, staring at them the way a dog would stare at a treat that was just out of reach. She felt like if one of them looked over, her eyes would be comically sparkling. She felt her mouth water a bit, gulping. She doesn’t know why she didn’t just take one. What the hell was she waiting for?

Kris and Noelle’s bickering eventually died down, and Noelle made her way over. “You can have one,” She smiled, picking up a cookie and stepping close to offer it to Susie.

Panicked by both Noelles sudden proximity and the anticipation of the impending cookie, Susie made the idiotic decision to forsake her claws and instead rip the cookie from Noelles hand using her teeth. She tilted her head up, scarfing it down before the still-burning cookie could even phase her. Then, after she’d done that, and her idiotic impulse had processed in her mind she continued looking upwards at the ceiling, too embarrassed to spare a glance down.

When Susie finally did, Noelle was staring at her in wild amazement. Her tail was wagging slightly, and she fiddled with her hands. There might’ve been a light blush on her cheeks, but Susie shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times, convincing herself she was looking at it wrong.

How could Noelle look at her like that when Susie had just embarrassed herself so thoroughly? Looking at her like Susie was the entire world?

“Wh—“ Susie coughed awkwardly. “What?”

“N-Nothing!” Noelle shook her head. Now, her nose faintly glowed and it seems she noticed because she suddenly turned hoof, facing the tray again. Kris’ eyes widened slightly under their bangs before they delved into a chuckling fit.

Susie stared blankly, before making her way back over to Noelle, snatching a healthy amount of cookies off the tray. “These are good,” She said, changing the topic. 

“I’m glad.” Noelle smiled, her gaze averted downwards as she made her way around the marble island counter that stood in the center of the kitchen. Maybe Susie freaked her out with the whole cookie thing. But that look Noelle gave her, it didn’t look like someone who was really afraid.

A good kind of scary , Susie recalled, the memory now distant. Noelle thought Susie was a good kind of scary . It was far better than being the bad kind of scary.

Noelle had gone off to grab a little basket bowl, returning and shoveling the remaining cookies into it. 

“Maybe we can bring these up to my room?” Noelle suggested, looking between the two of them. 

Susie let out a sigh of relief and nodded. Yes. She was excited at the idea of going somewhere that would actually bring her comfort. Kris seemed to be into the idea as well, taking the lead naturally.

As the three made their way up towards Noelles room, Susie let her mind wander. What was it about Noelles room that made the idea so much more comforting than the rest of her house? Yes, Noelles room was tiny, and it didn’t make Susie feel so out-of-place, but it was still precious wasn’t it? Infact, if it was Noelles, it was probably the most important room in the entire house. To Susie, atleast. 

The three entered the room. Maybe it was the way the room seemed so personalized. Neat, but not so neat that it was devoid of character. Maybe it was the Dragon Blazers figures that cluttered her desk, or the dusted trophies. Susie had realized while peeking at them that all of the academic ones were silver, and all the cross country ones were gold. 

But, damn, maybe it was just Noelle. Maybe it was because the room was hers . It told so much about her, and Susie sunk into the realization she wanted to know all of it. She wanted to know every last detail of Noelles life. 

Noelle gently moved her figures aside, placing the basket of cookies on the edge of her desk. She turned to the two of them. 

“So, are you guys sleeping over?” Noelle asked, pulling out her phone. “My mom won’t be home until—“ She paused, presumably waiting to get a reply from her mother. “6 A.M.”

“Like that one game with the robots,” Kris grinned. “They’ll eat you.“

“Fa ha,” Noelle laughed sarcastically, but there was a nervous twinge in her voice. “Are you guys sleeping over?” She repeated.

“Yea, sure.” Kris pulled out their phone, flopping onto Noelles bed. “Do you have the sleeping bags? I don’t think you want me to share the bed with you.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” Noelle clarified quickly, and Susie quietly wondered what that was about. “But, um, yea. I have mine at least. I mean, there’s another, but it’s in…” She went quiet, and she and Kris exchanged looks.

“Got it,” Kris nodded. Susie looked at them in confusion. Got what?? It kinda sucked being out of the loop with the two of them, sometimes. “So you and Susie are gonna share?”

“Wh—What?”

“ What .”

“We won’t— I mean, if Susie wants —“

“Noelle probably doesn’t want me messing up her bed. Look at my claws an’ crap. I’ll tear everything up.”

“I mean I wouldn’t really mind-“

“Wait, you wouldn’t?” Susie turned her head, feeling her face heat up. Noelle nodded, posture timid and face embarrassed. 

“If- only if you don’t mind, obviously.” Noelle added. “If it’d make you uncomfortable or anything I could sleep on the couch!! Or, or maybe a sleepover is just kind of a dumb id—“

“Nah,” Susie interrupted quickly, wanting to end that train of thought before it left Noelles metaphorical brain station. “It’s—“ She paused, tilting her head up awkwardly. “It’s cool.”

“Cool!”

“Cool.”

“Okay,” Kris deadpanned. “I’m going to get your sleeping bag, Noelle.” They informed her, before slipping out of the room. 

Noelle tilted her head down and made her way to the side of her bed. She sat and patted the space next to her, so Susie followed her lead, sitting in the empty space.

The remaining two fell into silence. It was oddly comfortable. Awkward, but still comfortable. That seemed kinda stupid, honestly, and Susie wasn’t sure how both feelings were allowed to coexist like that. Maybe it was comfortable because it was with Noelle. Maybe it was awkward because it was with Noelle. 

Ever since Susie (with the generous help of Kris) had identified the presence of a crush, it feels like she’s been incredibly weird around Noelle. Despite this, Kris assures her she was always this weird around Noelle. Susie, for her own sake, chooses to believe them. Because as embarrassing as that is, at least it means Noelle is okay with Susie being weird all the time.

“I feel kind of rebellious right now,” Noelle confessed suddenly, pulling Susie out of her thoughts.

“No way this is your first time staying up past 1 A.M.” Susie turned to her, furrowing her eyebrows. No one is that much of a goody two-shoes. Even smart kids probably stay up late with their nose in a book, right?

“Oh gosh, fahaha, yea, no .” Noelle giggled some more at the mere concept that she, a highschool junior , had never been up this late before. “But um, usually I don’t have guests over.”

“Yea. Sorry, I wouldn’t have let ‘em bother you if I knew this was your place.”

“No, no!” Noelle quickly shook her head. “I’m glad you came.” She extended a hand, placing it on Susie's shoulder. Her touch was firm, but gentle. It was entirely grounding.

“Oh,” Susie breathed, caught entirely off guard. “You are?”

Noelle nodded, turning her head to the side slightly. She aimlessly fiddled with her hair.

“That’s… That’s good.” Susie nodded, lightly bouncing her leg. Noelle was happy she was here. Now that she thought about it, that did kinda check out. Noelle never really looked negatively at Susie, like, ever, now that she thinks about it. Susie pushed the realization aside before it could snowball into something it wasn’t. She can’t let herself do something stupid and dangerous, like convince herself whatever this is might be requited. 

Instead, she glanced towards Noelle, who continued to play with her hair. She seemed to be trying to straighten it, or fix it or something. She looked a little nervous, but an actual upset kind of nervous? Not the kind Noelle looked like before, that teetered more on the edge of embarrassment than genuine upset.

Noelle was kind of easy to read, Susie thought, if you just paid attention.

“Hey, uh… what’s… are you good?” Susie slowly shuffled in place. She cringed, realizing she probably could have worded that better. She had a nasty habit of saying things before she could think about what exactly she would say. She contrasted Kris in this way, who would go quiet for sometimes full minutes before finally answering a simple question. 

“Yes!” Noelle said immediately. “I am, I’m just kind of, um, embarrassed?” She confessed. Susie looked confused, so Noelle continued. “Well if I knew you two were coming I probably would’ve tidied, make myself look, um, better I guess?”

“I think you look good.” Susie blurted out, and then lightly dug her claws into Noelles bed, suddenly feeling as equally embarrassed as Noelle probably felt. 

Noelle turned her head at lightning speeds, eyes fixed on Susie now. Susie stared right back. The idea of looking away right now just felt wrong in every conceivable way, so she didn’t. Noelles mouth silently opened and closed, as if she seemed to be debating saying something. Instead, she made some strange sound in the back of her throat and seemed to be biting back something. Maybe like… a squeal? If Susie had to infer something? Or, yikes, what if it was a laugh?

“What?” Susie asked, shoulders tensing. If she was gonna get laughed at she would prefer Noelle just do it. She valued transparency. It made things easier. Susie never was good at telling what someone was feeling unless blatantly told.

“Thank you,” Noelle smiled, and her cheeks were flushed again. “I think you look good too.”

Susie made her own strangled sound in the back of her throat, now. Oh. Okay, she got it now.

“Cool. Thanks.” Susie said quickly. She needed to change the topic before this became any more awkward. “Uh, by the way. Why can’t you and Kris share a bed?”

Noelle immediately grimaced. “Fahaha, You try sharing a bed with them, and you’ll see why.” She smiled, lightly swinging her legs back and forth off the bed. “They kick and bite.”

“Bite?” Susie gawked. “Who the hell bites in their sleep?”

“Me,” Kris said suddenly, now standing in the doorway. They had a pissed off look, but it seemed more faux than genuine, or atleast Susie hoped. “Got a sleeping bag.”

Then, they paused, their expression shifting into a grin as they pointed an accusatory finger at Susie. “By the way, tough talk from you. You’re probably going to eat Noelles entire pillow in your sleep.”

“Am not . I scratch when I sleep, I don’t eat things. I gotta be awake for that to properly enjoy eating—“

“That’s what the government wants you to think.“

“Kris,” Susie now pointed at them as well. “What the FUCK does that even mean.”

“It’s alright, Susie.” Noelle interjected, a teasing glint in her eye. “If a pillow’s missing, I won’t tell.”

All three of them bursted into laughter right then, Susie’s howling, loud hollers mixed in with Noelles sing-songlike fahahaha’s and Kris’ quiet, barely audible cackling. 

This was a good night, Susie thought, as the three of them kept on in their joy. She was glad she’d let Kris pull her on this specific venture. It was now she realized Kris and Noelle were certainly her closest Light World friends. It was scary, to let yourself be so vulnerable and happy around two people, but Susie would be damned if it wasn’t also so freeing, too.

The laughter eventually died down, but their joy remained as Kris began to slowly set up their sleeping bag. Once successful, they turned to the group.

“I’m tired.” Kris announced bluntly. Their words were like magic in the way they shifted the air of the room. Suddenly, all three felt exhaustion wash over them, and they all visibly slumped.

“Gosh, yea.” Noelle checked her watch, eyes widening. “It’s 1:45 A.M.”

“Guess we got carried away. Has it really been less than two hours? Feels like way longer.” Susie asked.

“Yea, right?” Kris hummed, making their way over to Noelles desk to pop some more cookies into their mouth.

Susie stretched, slowly leaning backwards so she was slumped against the wall of Noelles room, sliding halfway off of the bed. “Graaugh.” She groaned. “Yea, sleep’s hittin’ me.”

“Me too.” Noelle yawned, scooting backwards so she sat up against the wall next to Susie, instead of weirdly slumped onto it. Probably on account of her antlers, Susie figured. She took out her phone and Susie absentmindedly peeked over, registering that Noelle was setting an alarm for 5:30 AM. 

“Your moms not gonna come home early or anything, right?” Susie asked.

“Mayor Holiday is never early, and certainly never late.” Kris and Noelle said simultaneously, saying the phrase with such a bored, monotone inflection that Susie got the feeling this was some tired, overused mantra. 

“Don’t worry,” Noelle added, reassuring Susie. She reached a hand over and gently squeezed Susie's shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”

We , as if they were in this together, as if Susie wasn’t the one who had to be out of here half a hour before Noelles mom came home. Hell, Kris was Kris , and Noelles long term neighbor, they probably could stay here. It was just Susie who had to leave. Because obviously Noelles mother couldn’t catch her here with the local delinquent. 

Susie doesn’t know who she was angry at. It wasn’t Noelle, and it wasn’t Kris. Maybe the Mayor. Maybe herself. If she wasn’t such a troublemaker, if she wasn’t so scary and lumbering, maybe Susie simply being here wouldn’t be Noelles greatest act of rebellion.

That was a scary thought. What if that was why Noelle wanted Susie around? Just to rebel against her mom? No, they were having a happy time. Susie would push those fears away, and even if she didn’t really think it was true, force herself to believe Noelle wanted her here for more than that. 

“If you say so.” Susie sighed.

“Are you guys gonna sleep like that?” Kris was currently getting cozy in the sleeping bag, trying to squeeze their legs into some weird position that looked like it would have been entirely uncomfortable for anyone but them.

“Guess not.” Susie looked at Noelle, searching for confirmation. Noelle nodded.

“I can lay closer to the wall,” Noelle suggested, not clarifying her reason, but Susie could come to her own conclusions. Probably because it’s easier for Susie to leave like that, right? That would make sense. 

Susie made a grunt of confirmation, sitting up and scooting forward so Noelle could properly lay down. Susie walked over to Noelles wall as the girl in question got comfortable, inspecting it for a lightswitch. She found it, flicking the switch off so the only light in the room came from the dim Christmas lights strewn around the top of the walls.

She lumbered over to the bed, slipping off her boots and deciding to sit on top of the blankets instead of nestled under them like Noelle was. It felt too personal, too intimate to actually let herself sleep under the covers. It made her feel a little trapped, too, to be tucked in. No, she much preferred this, with enough accessibility that she could run far far away if she needed to.

After a dozen or so minutes, Susie found she couldn’t sleep. Noelle had fallen asleep from what Susie could see, her face resting in a very soft, beautiful way, and Susie had trouble looking away. Eventually, she forced her head to turn, eyes directed at Kris. They were faced more towards Noelles desk, which sat opposite the bed, so Susie couldn’t really tell if they were asleep or not. Instead she just saw a mess of dark brown hair.

A few dozen more minutes passed, and Noelle shifted in her sleep slightly, inching closer to Susie. The former's attention was grabbed when Noelles cheek gently bumped against Susie's shoulder, settling there. The motion sent tiny sparks of electricity soaring up and through Susie, much to her chagrin.

It wasn’t fair that Noelle could freak her out this much. She had to think quicker than this, but Noelle had always had an affinity for catching Susie off guard. Even since the first day Susie came to school, intent on tormenting everyone in her path, she found herself quickly subdued by a stupid candy-cane pencil and a warm smile. 

Even now, Noelle hadn’t spent the last few hours with her out of obligation. She hadn’t seen Susie as a pity case. She had wanted to spend time with Susie, and Susie had wanted to spend time with her.

The knowledge made her head dizzy. It made Susie want to get up and clamber around, knocking over little buildings and people like she was a giant movie monster. The idea of Susie having something good in her life made her want to destroy, destroy, destroy . It was easier to ruin things than let them fizzle out on their own.

But still, Susie couldn’t bring herself to turn her shoulder away. So she laid there, growling internally— not externally, as to not potentially wake Noelle— as she felt utterly declawed. 

She stayed like that, eyes fixed on the ceiling, Noelles head providing a delightful and soft pressure against her left shoulder. Eventually, her mind died down, and the serenity of the situation made her eyelids feel heavy.

Susie spared one last glance to Noelle, and then to Kris, before she let sleep take her.

Susie stirred awake early. Her sleep had felt more like a nap, and absentmindedly she gently picked up Noelles right wrist to read her watch. 

5 A.M.

Noelles mother would be home in an hour, and Noelle herself would wake up in half of that time. 

As a consequence of being a little more awake than she’d been about three hours ago, Susie let the weight of the night crash onto her, processing all the little events and activities they had gotten up to just hours before.

She couldn’t stay here, Susie realized, suddenly emotional. She was a large beast, destined to break and destroy everything good in this world. That is who she was, a machine for destruction, a weapon in herself. She wasn’t meant to be here, amidst fragile people she could so easily break. They’ll be their friends until she really shows her true colors, until she loses her cool and really hurts someone, and then they won’t look her in the eye. As determined as they seemed to be to befriend Susie, she knew fate was moreso, and at the end nothing good was meant to last. Not for her, at the very least.

Susie got out of bed, both slow in stature and frantic in mind. She felt suddenly too big for this tiny room, hell, maybe too big for this entire mansion. One would think that feeling too big was preferable to feeling too small , but it turns out both just feel bad and wrong.

She made her way to the window, pushing it open. She wasn’t sure if it was entirely safe to get out half-asleep like she was, but this was the quickest way out, and Susie needed to be out as quickly as possible so she could avoid breaking something. 

She stared at the grass below, mentally debating what the best way down would be, when she heard a voice behind her.

“Leaving?” Kris asked, voice quiet but not hoarse. They spoke with a concise tone that signified that they hadn’t just woken up. 

“Yea,” Susie whispered back, voice choked up from her swirl of sudden and upsetting emotions, and a scratchy, rough inflection from just waking up. She hoped Kris wouldn’t convince her to stay the extra thirty minutes. She looked at them, and all she could wonder was if they knew that eventually, in some way or another, Susie would destroy them. That it was prophesised.

But Kris on some level seemed like they always understood, so they didn’t try to convince her to stay. Instead, they nodded, getting up and grabbing the basket of cookies from earlier. As they brought it over to her, she noticed a lot more crumbs than before. Despite this there was one, singular cookie left, smack-dab in the middle. The reindeer on it stared at her.

“Saved this for you.” Kris explained, because of course, of course they saved a stupid sugar cookie for Susie. 

She sniffled. How was such a simple gesture getting her all worked up? She snatched the cookie from their hand, holding it in front of her, not yet eating it.

“See you tomorrow.” Susie promised, placing the cookie between her teeth, making sure her jaw wasn’t too tight as to not break it in half. It was a gentle act that surprised even her. 

“See you.” Kris smiled, gripping the empty basket in their hands. 

Susie slipped out of the window, still using her teeth to gently hold her cookie, and scaled down the wall of a house she hadn’t ever belonged in in the first place.

Maybe this was destined for disaster, maybe she was making a mistake getting attached to Hometown the way she’d made a mistake getting attached to the town before, and the town before that, and the town before that. Maybe she really was just a gun waiting to fire. A bitter inevitability. 

But maybe, until her world collapsed, until every good thing was torn away from her, she could let herself indulge in what she had right now. Maybe, for the briefest of moments she could do something truly unbelievable for her, and let herself simply be a teenager.

Yea, Susie thought, finally biting into her cookie. That’ll work for now.