Bernie opened the door to see Winnie standing in a bright pink tracksuit - which seemed unlike her, though she looked oddly cute in it. Immediately Winnie went on a rant on how she mattered, and in this moment Bernie couldn't be happier because she remembered everything. She finally felt seen and accepted by someone that didn't just see her as the weirdo. Whatever happened in that alternate universe with no Winnie felt like a weird fever dream, but she could remember every detail - somehow she appreciated whatever happened..
Bernie snorted out a laugh by Winnies little rant. She was trying her best to play along on not remembering anything but she couldn't quite hold it in. “You!” Winnie shouted while bouncing up and down smiling like a child on christmas eve - kind of ironic since it was Christmas eve.
“I remember” Bernie said with a big smile. “I'm so glad you remember!” Winnie giggled, tugging on Bernie and placed both her hands on her face so she could leave a kiss on her forehead. Bernie was completely taken off guard by the action, but she didn't complain and only replied with a surprised oh!.
“Hi” Winnie giggled, “Hi” Bernie said back being completely lost in the sapphire eyes that was looking at her with such happiness and joy. “Okey get dressed, because we’re going over to my house for breakfast and then to The Clova for a Christmas movie marathon!” she excitedly said while still holding Bernie close.
Winnie walked behind Bernie to enter the house. “Come on weirdo! Get your shit together, we don't have all day!” which was followed by “Don't ever call me Weirdo again”. Bernie followed her inside and closed the door laughing. “You got it Bernie” she smiled.
Though Winnie only called her weirdo jokingly it still stinged a bit. She was an unusual girl and not one of those stereotypical mean or popular girls at school that try everything to get attention or to fit in. Bernie liked fashion, arts, true crime and the best of all … movies! She owned The Clova, aka the only movie theater in the entire town.
She was often quiet and didn't have any friends at school, and after some time she gained the nickname Weirdo . She was convinced no one even knew her real name. Sadly that was true, until just last year at the christmas party when Winnie had pointed her camera towards her. Bernie had waved hi , surprisingly receiving a wave back. She was so so confused when Winnie had addressed her with her name and not Weirdo. She had been noticed by someone, someone that knew her name - though it didn't take long before someone had swept Winnie away from her.
“Talking about getting dressed, why the pink tracksuit? And how didn’t you freeze to death on your way here?” she teasingly said with a soft laugh. “Oh.. I totally forgot about that” she got in reply by the suddenly aware Winnie. “I ran out the door as fast as the thought of you entered my mind” she nervously giggled.
It had been approximately around 10 minutes since Winnie had jumped out of the sofa and ran out the front door completely forgetting the rest of her family. The only thing on her mind at that moment was to find Bernie. It was kind of nice, living in a small town, that meant you can easily get where you want.
Bernie only looked at her with adoration “You look oddly cute in it, though it's not really you” she teasingly laughed. “Somehow this pink tracksuit is the entire reason I was sent away to find you” Winnie smiled, looking down at herself and then up to Bernie. “You want to borrow some clothes?” she asked, only receiving a nod back.
They walked upstairs and entered Bernies room. Winnie looked around the room,It looked exactly the same though something was missing. “No mystery board?” Winnie asked looking back at Bernie, “Well in this world there was a girl by the name Winnie Carruthers who was able to literally save the day.” Winnie only smiled back. Bernie walked to her closet and found a pair of trousers, a t-shirt and a sweater - which she had actually made herself, and handed them to Winnie. “I‘ll wait outside for you” she said and walked out the door.
Suddenly she felt her eyes start to water. There were so many emotions going on right now that she couldn't properly focus. Winnie was currently standing in her house, in her room getting dressed in her clothes - she had come back for her. Bernie had woken up today not quite understanding what happened was a dream or reality. She was sure that everything would go back to normal, people would continue ignoring her in the hallways, shouting Weirdo and picking on her…Until she heard a knock, it wasn't even knocking, it was full on banging on the door. Suddenly she heard her name being yelled and that's when she understood that Winnie had come back for her, and that she hadn't dreamt what happened.
“You can come in now!” was the only thing she heard before being knocked out of her thoughts. She quickly whipped her eyes and opened the bedroom door, slowly walking in and closing it.
“Are you okay Bernie? It looks like you’ve been crying” Winnie said with a worried frown, walking over to her. “I don't really know, I think they’re happy tears. I woke up and I remembered what happened, and I thought you would forget me in this universe and then you knocked on the door. I realised it was you, you came back and-” she was cut off by Winnie dragging her into a hug. Bernie was again taken off guard and tensed slightly, but slowly melted into the embrace. “Oh Bernie, how could I forget you?”
Bernie was so happy to finally have someone in her life. Someone to spend time and most importantly Christmas with. Her father wasn't there, he never really existed to her. Her mother wasn't there either and really just came and went as she pleased, finding a new guy to sleep with, though she was never home for christmas. Bernie had been alone each christmas for a very long time, and this year she had decided it would be her last…
“You know… if you hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here. This would be my last” she silently sobbed, still hugging Winnie. Winnie slowly untangled herself from the embrace, and cupped her face wiping away the tears with her thumb. “I know..” she silently replied. “I'm just so happy that you’re here, and that you came back to me” Bernie said back with a smile, and it was a genuinely happy smile.
_____
When they sat together at The Clova after the Angel Falls killer had broken into Bernies home something happened between them, a spark. Winnie had slowly intertwined their fingers together and leaned her head against her shoulder.
At this moment she couldn't imagine what a world with no Winnie would be like - which seemed weird because she already was in a world where Winnie never existed; perhaps she meant she couldn't imagine a world with no Winnie in her world.
Maybe she was more than just a friend. She was unsure if she could even call Winnie her friend. Bernie had gone such a long time without a friend that she had forgotten how it feels to have someone close.
_____
“I will be here for a long time Bernie, you can't get rid of me that fast,” Winnie said with a soft smile, still cupping her face. They just stared at each other for a while, appreciating the moment. It felt like they had the entire time in the world.
Finally Winnie shut the distance between them, and they kissed. It might not be their first kiss, but it was their first kiss in this universe. It felt different, this time it wasn't desperate and filled with hurry. It was a kiss that made the time stop, and it was soft and gentle. Winnie could feel Bernie smile into the kiss, and so did she - It was the perfect Christmas gift.