Green [Chaelisa]

seventeen

Chaeyoung woke up the next morning in an empty bed.

At first, she panicked. She sat up quickly and looked around their shared bedroom to try and find Lisa. She immediately calmed down, though, when she heard soft humming coming from the other room. Judging by the towel hanging next to their dresser, Lisa had already been up and showered for a while.

Yawning, Chaeyoung rolled out of bed and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She crinkled her nose, noticing her tousled hair and the streak of dark paint that had dried just above her jawline. The blonde girl slipped into the bathroom, turning on the shower and going over her plans for the day while the hot water soothed her muscles.

About fifteen minutes later, Chaeyoung tugged on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, throwing her hair up into a high ponytail before wandering out into the kitchen. Lisa was rummaging around in the drawers, not even noticing Chaeyoung had woken up.

"What's that smell?" Chaeyoung asked, leaning against the counter and causing her wife to jump. Lisa nearly dropped the bowl in her hands.

"Hi," she giggled, setting the bowl down and motioning for Chaeyoung to come closer. "I made cupcakes. I think," she pointed to the oven. "I had to start over, because I forgot eggs in the first batch. But I think I did it this time."

"And why are we making cupcakes at 7 in the morning?" Chaeyoung asked, laughing softly and bending down to peer into the oven.

"Because today is Jeremiah's birthday," Lisa nodded softly as she began to rinse out the mixing bowls in the sink. "And he has to go to his mom's house tonight, and he does not like his mom's house because his big brother ignores him. So we are going to have a birthday party for him. With cupcakes," she smiled, pointing to the oven once more.

"Well that's thoughtful of you," Chaeyoung couldn't help but smile when Lisa looked up at her shyly. "What kind of icing did you get?"

Lisa's head shot up and she looked at Chaeyoung with wide eyes. Both girls realized at the same time, and before Lisa could panic, her wife quickly shook her head and held a hand up.

"We can make it from scratch, yeah?" Chaeyoung hurried over to the stack of boxes by the door, rummaging through them until she found one of her mother's old recipe books. Lisa watched as she flipped through the pages, setting the book down on the counter. "Can you grab the mixer and plug it in?"

Lisa nodded, giving Chaeyoung a thankful smile. The rest of their morning was spent mixing the ingredients (which took a few tries) and decorating the cupcakes with pink icing (Jeremiah's favorite color) and rainbow sprinkles.

A little over an hour later, Chaeyoung was pulling into the parking lot while Lisa held the platter of cupcakes steadily on her lap. Chaeyoung would look over and laugh every few seconds at the look of sheer concentration on her wife's face as Lisa focused intently on making sure none of her treasured desserts got ruined.

"Eat a cupcake for me, yeah?" Chaeyoung teased, hopping out of the car to grab Lisa's door. Lisa carefully stood up, holding the plate tightly and giving Chaeyoung a soft nod.

Chaeyoung leaned into plant a kiss on the younger girl's lips, but Lisa nearly stumbled backwards. "Do not drop them!" she giggled, quickly regaining her balance. Chaeyoung fake pouted, settling for reaching out and tucking a loose strand of hair behind the girl's ear.

Lisa laughed and crinkled her nose. "See you at 12?"

"See you at 12," Chaeyoung nodded. "Love you," she whispered, squeezing Lisa's shoulder and circling back around the car. Lisa gave her a small smile before carefully making her way into the building.