on the down low

 Tori wished she could stay happy. Especially as happy as the day she brought Dylan the homemade sweater.

Of course, she'd tried to crochet other things like the pointy Korean inspired hat she'd found a tutorial on, but it set her back. She felt as if she'd lost any talent she might have had. All her plans to crochet hats were on hiatus. Then when she looked at the calendar and saw it was the eighteenth, she thought she might want to hide under her comfortable and forget the holidays completely.

She hadn't really Christmas shopped. Most everyone was doing it online. She didn't have the funds for it.

 Oh, and there was that concert the choir from the orchestra was doing on the steps of the theater that she completely missed. Although, she wasn't invited to join, even if they all wore face shields when they sang.

She felt an all-time low. But she couldn't really afford her anti-depressants right now. Every little thing had her in tears. 

And then it snowed. 

She'd wanted to run out and have a snowball fight with anyone. Of course, Megan and Cori went out and had some fun, but she stayed in and looked out the window and of course, cried. Why was Christmas the worst time of the year?

There were so many things she wanted to do but didn't have the energy. She felt like a failure and as she stuck to those thoughts she was certain her throat was raw and her nose stopped up. At times, she thought she could barely breathe. She was about to go out to the drugstore and just get a COVID test. It was the least she could do.

And then she got a text from Dylan.

DYLAN: Guess who's here?

TORI: What are you talking about? Where?

DYLAN: At the coffee shop. I'm at work.

TORI: Sorry. I forgot.

DYLAN: Tommy's here. And that's not all.

TORI: Tommy?

Tori winced as she looked at the text. She really hadn't thought much about him. He'd want it that way. She didn't want to bother him. She sighed, thinking she could breathe once more. 

DYLAN: It's a holiday miracle. Tommy and my boss are talking and it looks like he might have a date soon.

Tori sat on her bed and studied the text. Why was everyone having fun, but her?