At first, Denali was woken up by the shuffling of her girlfriend beside her, dipping their shared bed to get up; only then she felt it: the bone chilling cold seeping through the closed windows of the room, snow spinning wildly outside.
- Fuck - Rosé yelped somewhere in the dark. - Fuck, shit, motherfucker…
- What are you doing? - Denali asked as she turned on her bedside lamp and focused sleepy eyes on a frazzled Rosé, who was feverishly putting on a thick wool sweater.
- I’m going to turn on the radiator and make us some tea, I’m freezing my butt off.
Denali sat up in bed and looked at the windows, snow already pilling up on the windowsill.
- Damn, they weren’t joking about the snow storm, huh? - Denali half-shouted as Rosé made her way out of the room.
Hearing cabinets being opened and closed in the kitchen, the brunette decided to also bundle up a bit more while the radiator did its thing and warmed their one-bedroom Chicago apartment. Denali wrapped herself in her beloved pink plush robe, with white cat ears on the hood to match the embroidered tail on the back; it was ridiculous, it was warm, it was perfect. It was also Rosé’s, but she couldn’t care less when it felt this comfortable. She pulled the hood over her head and went to check on the string of obscenities coming from the kitchen.
- How do I let you kiss me with that mouth? - Denali exclaimed after a particularly loud expletive reached her ears as she turned the corner to the kitchen.
While the brunette expected an insinuating remark back as it was the ginger’s default, Denali was met with her girlfriend sitting on her knees on the floor, eyes sad and the cutest little pout on her lips.
Turns out Rosé had knocked over the container of her expensive tea leaves and was trying to salvage anything she could of the precious product. Denali grabbed a broom and started sweeping what fell on the floor, under the heartbroken gaze of her girlfriend. As she finished cleaning, she went over to Rosé and kissed the tip of her nose, saying “I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow, babe, don’t worry.”
Steaming oversized mugs in hand, the pair made their way back to the room, feeling much more comfortable as they settled back in bed, extra comforter thrown over their legs and sitting close to share body heat. They sipped from their mugs in silence, enjoying the company, the warmth and the gentle smell of ginger and peppermint Rosé’s less expensive variety of tea left behind.
- You know, nights like this remind me of my childhood back in Alaska - said Denali later, setting down her empty mug on the nightstand and turning off the lights, finally sinking almost all the way under the covers to face her girlfriend.
- It never ceases to amaze me how you lived in a freezer for 15 years of your life - a playful smile overtaking Rosé’s features as she took Denali’s hands on hers, in the middle of the bed - makes sense, though, because you’re extremely hot.
- Babe, I’m a furnace - the brunette said kissing the ginger’s hands before trying to warm them between her own - you wouldn’t make it through two days in the Alaskan winter without me.
- Is that a challenge?
- Absolutely not.
- Good, because I wouldn’t want to go there without you anyway. But I do want to see the whales in the summer…
- We could visit Juneau next June, it’s beautiful and I have a bunch of relatives there.
- Ba - by… - Rosé paused dramatically, stretching the word like taffy - Are you taking me to meet your family? Are we like… dating?
- Is that what we’ve been doing for the last two years? Oh shit, I better break things off with the other girls I’m seeing then, I was supposed to have a date next Friday…
Rosé’s hands, now up to a normal, human temperature, snaked around Denali’s middle and pulled close gently while the two laughed.
A moment passed. Denali settled against the crook of Rosé’s neck, the warmth of the tea and Rosé’s embrace lassoing and bringing back the sleep which had got away from both of them earlier. She was on her way to dreamland when she felt a soft kiss to her hair.
- Thanks for being my personal furnace. - Rosé whispered against Denali’s silky locks.
- Anytime, baby. - Denali whispered back, falling asleep soon after.