Shining Our Lights (Until the Dark Comes) - Marina

17

Not even twenty-four hours had passed since her meeting with Maya, and Carina still couldn't believe her words.

The exact moment she heard them she found them unbelievable, but as she stopped to think about who her brother was, they made perfect sense, even though Carina would never have thought of such a situation.

It was easier to blame someone else than to accept the fact that her brother had sacrificed himself for a little girl.

She missed Maya, she hoped she would go back to her after she left her house, maybe even just to hug her, she didn't want anything else until the time was right.

She planned on apologizing to her, to go at the station and ask her out, to go back to the bar where they had met so they could start over, to get to know each other better by passing over the opportunities they had missed, something Amelia had advised her to do.

Luckily she had her friend ready to comfort her the day before, and she was never so grateful to someone in her life.

****

Carina: Can you come over? I need to talk to someone.

Carina received a reply after a few minutes, in which Amelia told her she would be there in a short time since she was still in the neighborhood.

She thought it could be nice if she used those few minutes to clean herself up, rinse her face with fresh water and comb her hair.

She looked at herself in the mirror, thinking that if it could reflect her thoughts there would probably only be a huge scrawl on it.

She also thought that maybe that was what she deserved for blaming Maya without talking to her first, making her almost an enemy.

Carina actually liked that tension even though she hated the reason behind it, she liked knowing that every time Maya came by the hospital because of her job, she would stay a few extra minutes just to look for her, in hopes of talking to her.

The attraction she felt towards the blonde...she was sure it was something no one teaches you in life.

Something that's just in you, that you can't control, something that could eventually stop but is always part of you in some way and comes out when you're with that person even when you thought you were over it.

It was like a roller coaster, really: after every time you go down, you go up again.

She heard the doorbell and that was what made her stop thinking, causing her to head for the door that once opened revealed Amelia.

"You don't look well," her friend didn't hesitate to hug her, immediately putting her arms around the Italian's torso, squeezing as hard as she could to make her feel her closeness and how much she cared about her.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't feel like it," Amelia let her go, noticing her red eyes as well as her cheeks.

"I'll never be ready to talk about this properly, but I don't want to keep another burden inside, it's becoming too much..." Carina explained to her, walking towards the living room, perhaps the least appropriate place to be in after what had happened just before in that very room, but she could still smell the blonde's scent, which comforted her.

"What did she tell you?" Amelia asked her as soon as she sat down next to her friend, she could see how weak Carina felt in that moment, something she had never seen because even at work Carina was always smiling, happy, willing, it broke her heart to see her in that state.