Chapter Text
The sound of rain falling filled Noelle’s ears, alongside the thumping of her hoofsteps as she raced through the streets of hometown. (Just a little further…) she thought to herself, her bag held above her head in a futile attempt to stay dry. She hadn’t meant to be so careless, leaving her umbrella at home, but it didn’t help that she had to sit through another one of her mother’s lectures right before she left.
Before long, Noelle was rounding the corner towards her home. She picked up the pace, eager to get out of the storm and into some dry clothes. She was vaguely aware of someone walking by with an umbrella, but she could hardly see through the raindrops assaulting her face. She was in no mood to stop and chat, anyways.
She hurriedly approached the gate, reaching into her bag to grab her house keys… only to find nothing in there. She felt a surge of panic as she frantically dug her hands through the pockets.
“What?! No, no, no…ugh, you’re kidding me!” she shouted, to no one in particular. She grabbed the bars and shook them in frustration, as if they would fall out of her way. Unfortunately, the gate stood firm, the view of her front door still taunting her in the distance. Between her mother breathing down her neck, her cross country practice being cancelled, and Berdly being… well, Berdly, this was the last thing she needed today.
Noelle sighed and hung her head in defeat, not even bothering to shield herself from the rain anymore. She couldn’t believe she’d been so careless, forgetting her house key yet again. She was hoping to have some time to relax before her mother came home, but now she’d gone and ruined any chance of salvaging her evening.
She couldn’t stay in the rain forever, though. She would’ve just gone to City Hall to get a spare key from her Mom, but the thought of admitting that she messed up again filled her with dread. Besides, she knew she would just get an earful about bothering her mom while she’s working. So, she tried to think of anyone else who she could stay with until her Mom came home.
(Catti’s not home right now, the hospital is closed for visitors, and Berdly- no. Not Berdly. Well, that just leaves Mom, then. Unless…)
There was one other option she had: her neighbor Kris. She was sure that if she knocked on their door, Ms. Dreemurr would welcome her in like she was her own child, with more warm clothes and hot cocoa than she could possibly need. She wasn’t sure if she could say the same about Kris, though.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see them- quite the opposite, in fact! She missed how close they were as kids, knowing that there was someone who was always happy to see her. Someone who understood her better than anyone, maybe even herself. But now, they seemed to want to keep her at arms’ length, hardly bothering to even look in her direction.
Noelle always wanted to ask them why, but she could never bring herself to do it. She figured she shouldn’t bother them if they don’t want to talk; they would come to her if they really wanted to. Even so, she’d always wished they could go back to the way things were, before… everything.
(I guess I have no choice, then…) she thought, bracing herself for a trip to Town Hall. But while she was lost in her own thoughts, the raindrops pelting her had stopped. As she noticed, she turned around in confusion, only to hold back a scream as someone was suddenly face-to-face with her.
“O-oh, hi Kris! I didn’t see you there, fahaha!” she exclaimed with a shaky voice. The human was standing right in front of her, in their usual green sweater, holding an umbrella over her head, like her thoughts had summoned them. She had no idea how long they were standing there, or if they had seen her outburst.
After a moment, she realized Kris was staring at her- or at least, their head was pointed in her direction. She could hardly see their red eyes beneath their hair. She was about to speak up, when they tilted their head to the side.
“Huh?” she questioned, before realizing what they were trying to say. She was standing outside her home in the pouring rain, of course they were wondering what she’s doing.
“Oh, I-I’m okay, Kris! I just- well, I forgot my keys again, so I’m just gonna go to-” she started, until Kris slipped right past her, leaving the giant umbrella in her hands. As her mind rushed to catch up with what was happening, she turned around and saw them kneeling in front of her gate, holding something up to the lock.
“Kris? What are you-” she stopped herself, realizing what a silly question that was. They were picking the lock to her front gate, just like they’d done dozens of times when they were younger. Noelle had a bad habit of losing her keys, so when they were younger, Kris had learned how to open the gate with some paperclips.
“U-Um, you really don’t have to…” she protested weakly, already embarrassed about having to be rescued by her… friend? Neighbor? Classmate?
(Gosh, how did it get so complicated with Kris?) she thought as she watched them work. The two of them used to be near inseparable as kids, spending nearly every day together. Kris would always show up outside her front door with Azzy and drag her along for whatever silly plans they’d made for the day. Seeing them knelt down in front of the gate, it made her feel nostalgic. Like she was a little girl again, watching her friend get her into trouble. She swore she could almost see the cute little devil horns still sitting on their head.
Suddenly, the gate swung open, no match for Kris’ skill. They were standing, now completely soaked, their horn-less head looking at her again. And just like that, the illusion was broken. Kris wasn’t the same little kid she’d grown up with. They changed, and the distance between the two of them seemed wider than ever.
Noelle really wished they could both go back to the way things were before.
“W-Wow, I didn’t know you could still do that, fahaha! Thanks, Kris!” she said, to which they responded with a simple nod, then started to walk towards their home…
(…Without their umbrella??)
“Uh, Kris??” She shouted, rushing towards them to keep them out of the rain. Despite her panicked shout, they merely looked back over their shoulder with a blank expression. (As if you weren’t about to leave your umbrella behind…)
“Don’t you need this??” she said, offering the umbrella back to them. To her surprise, they shook their head and turned away.
“...you need it more…” they said, their voice barely audible against the storm blowing around them. As they began walking away again, Noelle couldn’t hold herself back anymore.
“Wait!” She shouted, grabbing their shoulder to stop them. That seemed to do the trick, as they quickly turned towards her, clearly surprised by her touch. She instantly pulled back her hand.
“S-Sorry, Kris, I didn’t mean to- I just… why don’t you come inside with me?” Noelle said before she could stop herself. “You can dry yourself off before you go home?” she explained, more for herself than for Kris. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but suddenly she was determined to get them to join her.
Kris, on the other hand, seemed much less enthusiastic about her idea. They looked away from her, their eyes locked onto the ground, as they nervously grabbed their arm. Noelle felt her heart pang at their reaction, she hadn’t meant to grab them so suddenly. (Oh, Angel, I really messed up, didn’t I?)
She was just about to blurt out an apology (likely the first of many), until they finally spoke up:
“...you sure?”
“H-huh?”
That wasn’t what Noelle had expected them to say. (Why wouldn’t I be sure? Do they think I’m mad at them or something?) She had thought for all these years that they had gotten sick of her, yet here they were, standing like she was about to bite their head off. Looking at their sad expression brought a fuzzy feeling to her chest. She just wanted to wrap them up in a big hug.
Instead, Noelle held out her hand to them, to show she was serious. “Of course! You helped me open the gate, so it’s only fair that I help you, right?” Kris tilted their head up, looking at her outstretched hand.
As they both stood there, a small part of her was tempted to take it back, to pretend it was a joke and keep acting like nothing was wrong, like they hadn’t been avoiding each other for all these years. But she stood firm, her arm outstretched, watching as the gears turned in Kris’ head, until…
“...okay…”
They slowly reached out for her hand. Noelle grinned, nearly jumping with joy at the feeling of their fingers wrapping around hers. It had been so long since she’d been so close to them, she could hardly contain her excitement.
But celebrating would have to wait, at least until they were inside. “Alright, let’s go, Kris!” With the storm still raging around the two of them, she quickly turned around and led them towards her home.