Surviving the Winter

Nathaniel Mayberry considers himself a bear. At the slightest hint of winter, he retreats to the comfort of his room, where he spends the next three months, only leaving for food. In there, he believes, he can escape the monochromatic look and feel of winter, as well as the event that's plagued him since he was eleven years old...
But when an Irish exchange student begins coaxing him out of his shell, what will happen? Will Nate finally find the joy of winter? Will he go back to his monochrome winter?
Or will he finally succumb and follow in that terrible event's footsteps?