Tiffany sat on her couch watching the continuous live weather coverage.

 

“This is an unprecedented event. Never in my forty years of doing weather coverage have I seen a snow storm this severe in June,” said the weather man.

 

The news anchor beside him questioned, “What is causing all of this?”

 

A howling of the wind outside made Tiffany jerk away from the television and look outside her window. There was at least one meter of snow on the ground already. It didn’t look like the snow was going to stop any time soon either. After several pregnant seconds of silence, the weather man cleared his throat and she turned again to the news.

 

The weather man wiped his brow and answered, “Unfortunately, this is a consequence of global warming. While the Earth is increasing in temperature as a whole, the usual weather patterns have been shifting significantly. That means that some places will become warmer and others colder. In the case here, we got this massive blizzard pounding down on us now.”

 

“We advise that you stay inside for the next few days. Traveling will be increasingly hazardous and we need the roads clear for emergency vehicles. We will have another weather update on the top of the hour,” said the anchor and the station returned to its regularly scheduled program.

 

Sighing, Tiffany turned off the television and picked up a book that she was reading earlier from the table. Several hours passed as the sun started to sink into the west. As she turned the next page, she heard a knocking on the door.  She paused to see if it was just her imagination. There was no way someone could be visiting in this kind of weather. When she didn’t hear the sound again she dismissed the notion and continued to read. Not a minute later she heard the knock again. This time she set her book down and left the couch. She silently walked to her door and looked out the peephole.

 

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed and opened the door immediately. “Yuri, what are you doing here?”

 

Yuri was only in a jacket, t-shirt, and jeans. Her whole body was shivering and covered in snow. She barely whispered, “I needed to see you.”

 

Tiffany wasted no time and dragged Yuri into her home. “Jesus Yuri, you could have died out there! They told us not to come outside. It’s too dangerous,” she scolded.  However, her words hitched in when she noticed the intense stare Yuri was giving her. It made her pulse quicken and butterflies flutter in her stomach. She softened her tone. “Go upstairs and get out of those clothes. You’ll catch a cold at this rate. You can use the shower or bath and borrow some of my clothes.

 

Yuri smiled slightly and whispered, “I’ll be back.” She walked slowly up the stairs holding her arms to her chest, trying to keep warm.

 

Tiffany sat down on the chair near the door and looked at the staircase in shock. She hadn’t seen Yuri in four months, not since the last time Yuri came over unexpectedly. It wasn’t that Yuri dropping by was unexpected. They had been doing that since their college days when they first met. Tiffany smiled to herself at one of her bittersweet memories.

 

***

 

“Fany, have you ever thought about what you wanted to do with your life?” Yuri asked as both she and Fany lay in a hotel bed. They had just come back from an awesome concert.

 

“I was thinking about being a writer of some sort. I want to inspire people to do the best that they can. You know, follow their dreams,” Tiffany said looking at Yuri. “What about you Yuri? What do you dream about?”

 

Yuri smiled and answered, “I really want to start a pet café. I’d have a ton of dogs and cats around so that customers can play with them to destress while drinking hand crafted coffees by yours truly.” Her smile became weaker and she looked at the ceiling. “Kahi wouldn’t approve of that. It is way too childish.”

 

Hearing Kahi’s name made Tiffany stiffen up, unbeknownst to Yuri. Kahi was Yuri’s girlfriend for two years. They met when Yuri was a freshman and Kahi was a senior in college. Tiffany never understood why Yuri was so attracted to Kahi. They were complete opposites and Kahi was always chastising Yuri to grow up and go out there and prepare for a real job like hers. It was an amazing feat that Kahi dominated her engineering class in majority male field but that wasn’t Yuri’s path.

 

“It’s not childish at all, Yuri,” affirmed Tiffany, causing Yuri to look back at her. “I think it’s an awesome thing that you would want to bring joy to others like that. If she can’t see that then she’s a fool.”

 

Yuri smiled and held Tiffany’s hand. She whispered, “Thank you. Maybe one day she’ll see that point of view. If not, I guess that's just a sacrifice of love.”

 

***

 

Tiffany shook her head at the memory. Yuri would need something warm to eat and she decided to make a quick soup. After preparing the ingredients, she slowly stirred them into the broth. She sighed again at the memory four months ago, when she last saw Yuri. That woman sacrificed so much to give Kahi all of her love and it was for nothing.

 

***

 

The phone rang and it startled Tiffany from sleep. She looked at her clock and saw that it was 2:30 am. “Who the hell is calling me at this time of night?” she grumbled and looked at her phone. Her mind became instantly clear. “Yuri?” Sobs were heard on the phone. “Yuri, what happened?”

 

“She…broke up…with me,” cried Yuri.

 

“Where are you?” Tiffany asked with concern. Kahi and Yuri had been together for five years. They were talking about possibly getting married on their ten year anniversary. Anger boiled inside but Tiffany had to suppress it. Right now, Yuri needed her.    

 

Yuri sniffled and answered, “Outside your front door.”

 

Hanging up the phone, Tiffany ran to the door where she found Yuri. She immediately pulled Yuri inside and gave her a tight hug. Yuri collapsed into Tiffany and they both sank to the floor. In the seven years that she knew Yuri, she had never seen Yuri this broken and it pained her heart. After about an hour of crying on the floor, Tiffany convinced Yuri to come to the bed.

 

“I can’t believe she left me, Fany,” cried Yuri in Tiffany’s arms. “I did so much to please her, to make her happy, and she just ends it like that. How am I supposed to get through this?” She began breaking down again.

 

Tiffany cursed in her head, “What the hell is wrong with you, Yuri?” She held Yuri tighter with tears falling down her own cheeks. She whispered to Yuri softly. “It will hurt right now but I think this is a chance that maybe…maybe you can stop sacrificing your love for others and start loving yourself.”

 

Yuri looked up at Tiffany at first in anger but then she saw the tears in Tiffany’s eyes. Something immediately made her heart ache. “What do you mean?” Yuri asked in a whisper.

 

“Sometimes the thing you are looking for is something that you can’t see,” whispered Tiffany brushing the tears off Yuri’s face with her thumb. “Why don’t you take a trip? You can use that time to grieve and reflect upon what you want to do. Maybe you can even think about that pet café now.” She eye smiled at Yuri.

 

Yuri looked at Tiffany carefully and slightly nodded. She buried her face in the crook of Tiffany’s neck and held her tight. Tiffany her hair until she slowly dozed off.

 

The next morning, Tiffany woke up alone. She wouldn’t hear from Yuri again.

 

***

 

Tiffany was snapped back into reality when she felt two arms wrap around her torso. The warmth surrounding her back confirmed that it was Yuri. Her cheeks flushed from the contact and she forgot how to breathe for a second.

 

“I had a lot of time to think about my life these last four months,” Yuri whispered into Tiffany’s ear. “The one thing that I was searching for and couldn’t see...I know what it is now.” She turned Tiffany to face her.

 

Tiffany’s heart was pounding in her chest. She was scared to hear Yuri’s answer but she had to know. “What was it?” she whispered.

 

“It was you,” Yuri whispered with a tear sliding down her cheek. She pulled Tiffany into a hug. “This whole time it was you all along. You’ve been my rock for seven years ever since we met freshman year. When I left I could only think of your crying face. It haunted me and I longed to see your smile again. I got back home last night. There was no way in hell I would let a little snow get in my way.” She backed away from Tiffany and smiled.

 

“I never thought in a million years that I would hear this from you,” said Tiffany and eye smiled. A tear fell onto her face and Yuri took her thumb and wiped it away. Before Tiffany could realize, Yuri moved in closer and gave her a gentle kiss. It was everything she imagined and more.

 

Yuri whispered on Tiffany’s lips, “This world is becoming a crazy place and I’d be crazy if I was in it without you by my side any longer. It may take a bit of time but I would love to take my next journey in life with you this time.”

 

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Yuri?” Tiffany whispered.

 

“Yes, if you’ll have me,” Yuri whispered and placed her forehead on Tiffany’s.

 

Tiffany smiled and closed her eyes. “This isn’t how I hoped for this to happen,” she started. “…but it’s enough. Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.” She cupped the back of Yuri’s head and brought their lips together into a kiss.

 

Yuri said in between kisses, “I think the soup is burning.”

 

“Let it burn,” Tiffany said and continued kissing Yuri.

 

Yuri smiled into the kiss and reached behind to turn off the stovetop. She knew that Tiffany will warm her in ways that would melt all the frozen parts of her heart like the sun in June.  

 

 

This fic was inspired by Vanessa William’s Save the Best for Last which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/5EdmHSTwmWY