(I don't have a title yet, so bear with me)

status: 1st draft

themes: holidays, family, grief

Bella Vu and Kohl Shinomiya have a whirlwind romance - right before the string of holidays that begins in October. They met at a mutual friend's party, then spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's together. But when the new year arrives, they miss the fireworks. Indeed, when midnight arrives, Bella is thrown back to a night before Halloween, one that she remembers only vaguely. Somehow, the time has reversed. Ah. This must be the cosmic consequence of her shirking family responsibilities for a man she just met. This time, she tries to ward Kohl away entirely. She spends her time nursing her dying grandmother, taking on family responsibilities to lessen the burden for everyone else. She denounces her own happiness as atonement for her greed the last time she was here. Then, the new year arrives, and Bella misses the fireworks. She is thrown back to a night before Halloween, one that she remembers better than last time. What now? What now, when she tells Kohl what she's sure is happening, and he admits that he experienced the time loop too?

author's note: in the same way that Touch of Light (a very old wip of mine that maybe no one here remembers anymore) was written as a mirror to my first few years of college, this wip feels to me like a mirror to my recent experiences with grief and loss... it's also a frankenwip of several ideas i've had for wips in the past, so we'll see how it goes!