The Lie She Never Told

‎‧₊˚✧[11]✧˚₊‧

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Haerin felt Danielle's gaze move back to her eyes, the eye contact making her feel a bit flustered.

She swallowed hard, not breaking it and feeling the pressure, the tension growing between them.

Danielle's smile slowly disappeared as she felt herself getting lost again.

Haerin's eyes widened slightly at the change in Danielle's expression.

It made her heart stutter, the change unexpected and out of character for the other girl.

"You know," Haerin broke the silence. "I used to hate rooftops."

Danielle's eyes flicked back to reality at the unexpected statement.

"Really? Why?" she asked.

"The incident, when I went colorblind. It happend on a rooftop," Haerin said.

"What happened?"

"First of all, promise me that you won't treat me differently after I tell you this," she whispered.

"I promise," Danielle answered.

"I tried to uhm," Haerin took a deep breath. "I tried to jump off."

She bit her lip, the memory of that terrible moment still raw in her mind.

She could feel Danielle's eyes on her, watching her, the silence between them heavy. She took a deep breath, and continued, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I was at my lowest point. I thought, I had nothing to live for. So I climbed up to the roof and yeah..."

"Anyways, when I tried to take the last step I felt someone grabbing my arm and pulling me off," she continued. "I hit my head really bad and I couldn't remember the accident clearly for days. But in the end it turned out that my bestfriend, Minji, saved me."

Danielle listened the story. Her smile was small as she turned back to the sun.

Haerin noticed as she looked away, the sight making her curious and a little confused.

"You seem strangely calm about this," she said, studying Danielle's expression. "Most people would freak out, hearing that their friend tried to kill themself."

"It's in the past," Danielle answered. "You're here and happy now. You can't see colors, that's true, but you're alive and that's all that matters."

Haerin felt a wave of emotion wash over her at the other girl's words. Danielle had no idea how much that meant for her.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the sun dipping lower on the horizon, bathing them in a soft golden glow.

Haerin looking down their hand, she completely forgot that they were still holding hands.

***

Haerin carefully helped Danielle down the stairs, her arm around Danielle's waist, supporting her as she took each step one at a time.

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty hallway.

They went to Haerin's room first to grab something. As they reached the room they could see Haerin's mom and Minji inside.

"Mom?"

Haerin hadn't expected them to be there and the sight of them surprised her. She felt a little self-conscious with Danielle beside her, not really sure how to introduce them.

They knew about Danielle, but they never saw her on anything.

After Danielle grabbed the doorframe, Haerin hugged her mom and Minji.