Blue

twenty three

Winter's energy only continued as the week went on. Karina would wake up and Winter would already be downstairs, cooking breakfast or playing with Clifford. Her nightmares still came and went, but Winter seemed to bounce back faster than she had before. And each night, she continued to take the two small blue pills before bed.

And then Wednesday came.

It started out as every morning had. The blinding light streamed in through the window and caused Karina to roll over groggily. And that's about where the normalcy ended.

"Jeong?" Karina furrowed her eyebrows, surprised that Winter was still in bed. She was normally already awake and bounding all over the house by this time.

"Winter," Karina rolled over completely, nudging the small girl. Winter mumbled something inaudible and pulled the blankets over her head.

"Are you okay?" Karina whispered, trying to gently move the blankets away from Winter's face. The caramel eyed girl only held them tightly, scooting away from Karina.

"M'sleep," Winter mumbled. Karina raised an eyebrow, but decided not to annoy her girlfriend.

"Well I'm going to get breakfast," Karina said softly, crawling over Winter and padding over to the dresser. "Come join me if you want blueberry muffins," she smirked, raising an eyebrow and expecting Winter to jump out of bed.

Instead, Winter just pulled the covers further over her head. With a heavy sigh, Karina tugged on a t-shirt and headed downstairs.

Karina hoped the smell of freshly baked muffins would lead Winter downstairs, but when she finished her breakfast and the small girl had still not appeared, she began to grow worried.

She quietly made her way back upstairs, turning on the light in the bedroom and stepping inside. Winter groaned, covering her eyes with a pillow.

"What's wrong?" Karina asked softly, walking over to the bed. "Why aren't you getting out of bed?"

"Tired," Winter yawned, allowing Karina to pull the pillow away from her face. "M'tired, Ji."

"Did you sleep last night?" Karina asked, raising an eyebrow.

Winter nodded. "Yes. I had an nightmare, but I fell back asleep," she confessed.

"Are you okay?" the brown eyed girl sat down on the edge of the bed. Winter nodded and sat up, furrowing her eyebrows and blinking a few times.

"Yes," she nodded slowly. "I am only tired."

"I made muffins," Karina nodded towards the door. Winter smiled softly, stretching out her arms and yawning quietly.

"Yum," Winter hummed, scooting out of bed and padding softly towards the door. Clifford bounded happily after her, sticking by her legs for guidance.

Karina followed her, grabbing Winter's beanie from the dresser on the way out and tugging it on the small girl's head once she caught up with her. Winter giggled softly, picking up Clifford and cradling him in her arms as they went downstairs.

Karina raised a questioning eyebrow when Winter paused at the bottom of the stairs and brought a hand to her forehead, blinking a few times.

"You okay?" Karina scooted around her and placed a hand on Winter's shoulder. Winter simply nodded, shaking it off and setting Clifford back down.

Karina sat down on the couch while Winter got her breakfast, joining her in the living room. All three of their roommates already left for school, leaving them alone for the day.

"Where do we go when we die?" Winter turned to Karina after she took a bite of her muffin. Karina's eyes widened, surprised by Winter's sudden question.