Green [Chaelisa]

twenty five

"It's later."

Chaeyoung and Lisa lay on their bed, the dull moonlight from the window serving as their only source of light. Chaeyoung had an arm around the younger girl, holding her protectively against her side.

Lisa had calmed down considerably since Jeremiah had left. Chaeyoung wasn't sure what had happened, but she was grateful that it did. Lisa was actually talking to her.

"Huh?" Lisa lifted her head upon hearing her wife's words. She blew a loose strand of hair out of her face, prodding Chaeyoung to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

"You said you'd tell me later," Chaeyoung said softly. She didn't want to push anything on the girl, but she was also painstakingly curious about what had changed.

Shifting slightly, Lisa turned so she could face the older girl. The entire energy in the room was different now. A nervous tension had fallen over both of them. Chaeyoung held her breath.

"I remember," Lisa whispered. She felt comforted by those words, signifying that the murkiness of her memories had now faded away, replaced with a somewhat comforting clarity.

"You do..." Chaeyoung repeated. "Is it bad?"

Lisa quickly shook her head.

"I am the good guy," Lisa bit her lip. "Jeremiah said so. And then I remembered."

"Care to share?" Chaeyoung laughed nervously. She'd made it a habit of studying Lisa's hands. Whenever the girl was nervous, she'd wring out her fingers, or twiddle her thumbs back and forth. For Chaeyoung, it was a tell tale sign not to push her much. But now, the younger girl had one of her hands laced with Chaeyoung's, and the other was aimlessly tracing the shape of her flower tattoo.

"You will not be mad?" Lisa looked up. She met Chaeyoung's eyes, finding nothing but comfort in them.

"Of course not," Chaeyoung practically scoffed in disbelief. Lisa nodded quietly.

"Okay..." the younger girl whispered. She took a deep breath, preparing her words. Chaeyoung waited patiently, well aware that Lisa needed time. She was more than willing to give her that.

"It was Jeremiah's birthday," Lisa nodded softly. "And we made the cupcakes, remember?"

Chaeyoung nodded softly. Lisa sat up, causing the older girl to shift her weight slightly so the younger girl could lean partway against her and partway against the headboard.

"And we did not have napkins, so we had to go get paper towels," Lisa nodded softly, almost as if she was confirming it to herself as well.

"But Jeremiah wanted to get them himself, and he could not reach the machine thingy in the first bathroom, so we went to a different one," Lisa explained. She kept an eye on Chaeyoung's face as she spoke, not wanting to upset the girl.

"Go on," Chaeyoung nodded.

"Can you reach?" Lisa asked, tilting her head to the side. Jeremiah nodded furiously, grabbing one of the small footstools and scrambling atop the counter to collect a handful of paper towels.

"Is this enough?" the small boy turned back around to show Lisa the tall stack of napkins he'd managed to gather. Just as Lisa opened her mouth to speak, a deafening noise echoed from down the hallway.

It's funny how things can change in the span of a second.

When the noise rang in Lisa's ears, her mind immediately threw her back to a few years prior, where the sound had been all too familiar.