Thistle and Stone [Chaennie]

Chapter 17

SHELLS

Jennie could hear her pulse in her ears, a thrumming that lessened the further she walked from Roseanne's door. The streets of Hampstead were quiet in comparison, the pavement still soaked from the early evening rain. She pulled her coat closer and stared past the weathered chimneys that poked above the alleyway walls. They crawled with ivy—vines hanging over brick interspersed with graffiti. She hadn't been in the area for years, but she knew it well enough to find her way towards West Hampstead station. If she could just get on the Central line, she could get near enough to home.

Her legs were tired, her arms itched from the feel of new skin being pulled together, and her head felt like it was submerged in the Great Lake. She really shouldn't have gone. She could practically hear Lisa's voice in her head, lots of 'didn't I tell you?' and 'what were you thinking?' But she preferred that to the silence in her head when she pictured Roseanne—standing there in her dim home, dark circles rimming her eyes, unable to speak when Jennie had told her she had missed her. Well, she was able to speak when it suited her—when she wanted to hurl an accusation at her, or tell her to leave, or blurt out some past childhood trauma. Jennie grit her teeth, willing the image away. But when she blinked, there she was. Roseanne had looked like she had been crumpled against the floor and propped back up. Jennie had noticed how she winced when she walked and the icepacks on the floor. They both seemed broken, somehow lesser in the wake of the bond. Like the curse had sent them spinning into the air and the moment it broke, they struggled under their own weight.

The doors of the train opening jolted her out of her thoughts and she boarded quickly, finding an empty seat. Feeling the dense wool nylon of the seat itching against her back, she sighed and leaned her head back, trying to keep her mind as blank as possible.

-

Jennie felt like she was dead on her feet, the last half-hour walk home from the station almost doing her in. But the lights were on at Lisa and Jisoo's. She knew they would be, but she smiled at the sight of them, nonetheless. The door pushed open as she entered, careful to avoid the collection of shells near the entrance. She could hear the faint static of the radio and the smell of lemon and vanilla coming from the kitchen.

"...and the Healers were saying she can come home, but they want us to supervise her for a few days at least, see how she's doing in terms of recovery. Of course, that would be easier if she actually stayed—"

"Hi," Jennie cut in, easing her way from the hallway into the kitchen. Lisa was standing with her back to her, arms crossed, while Jisoo levitated a freshly baked pound cake from the oven to the counter.

"Merlin—" Lisa spun around as Jisoo dropped the cake onto a cooling rack.

"I, er, decided to check out early. Hope you both don't mind." Jennie dropped her bag to the floor and sighed in relief when Jisoo gathered her into a hug. Jennie closed her eyes and let her chin drop to Jisoo's shoulder. Hugging Jisoo always reminded her of hugging her mum. With her eyes shut, she could have been back in her childhood home, her mum holding her tightly when she returned for the summer.

She heard Lisa reluctantly shuffle over and wrap her arms around the pair of them. "I wish you'd listen," Lisa murmured into her hair, "but I'm glad you're here."

"Tea," Jisoo announced when they finally pulled away, directing a knife over her shoulder that whizzed past them and neatly cut the cooling cake into even slices. While Jisoo reached for three mismatched mugs, Lisa steered Jennie into their sitting room and sat beside her on one of their large and overstuffed sofas.

"Here." She draped a large quilt around Jennie's shoulders and tucked in the edges until Jennie was sufficiently cocooned.

"Thanks, Molly," Jennie teased as she settled down.