S I G N S

Chapter 16

The next morning, Jennie woke up early.

The events of last night came crashing down on her, hurting just as much as it had last night. She lay curled up in bed for hours, sobbing into her pillow. She didn't move all morning, ignoring her phone as it buzzed on the nightstand.

It wasn't until there was a knock on her door that Jennie stirred. She had considered ignoring it, but the only person it would be was Rosé. Before, she knew it would've been Lisa showing up at her door, but now she knew that was hopeless. Lisa would be the last person to show up, no matter how much Jennie wished she would.

Wiping uselessly at her face, Jennie padded barefoot over to the door. She was still in yesterday's clothes, her face was blotchy from crying so much, and her eyes were bloodshot behind her glasses. Rosé was in for a shock.

Pulling the door open, Jennie turned around, trying to hide her face as she walked over to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee.

"Good morning to you too," Rosé said, shutting the door behind her and sitting down at the table.

"You've been ignoring my calls all morning so I'd thought I'd come over on my break," Rosé said, getting a shrug off Jennie who still wouldn't turn around.

"I've been with Lisa all morning, she looks awful," Rosé continued, staring at Jennie's back, waiting for her to say something. Jennie knocked over one of the mugs, her hands fumbling to upright it as her eyes stung with tears.

Rosé frowned, "okay, what's wrong? If the fact that your girlfriend's face is black and blue, and she looks like she hasn't slept in a week, isn't enough to get a reaction out of you, it must be bad."

Jennie's hand tightened on the handle of the coffeepot as she filled up their cups, gritting her teeth as she willed herself not to cry in front of Rosé. Steeling herself, she turned around to face Rosé.

Her face went slack as she took in Jennie's appearance. She half rose out of her seat as she took in Jennie's puffy, tearful eyes.

"What's wrong?" Rosé panicked, her hands fluttering in front of her as she debated whether or not she should reach out for Jennie. Walking over to the sofa, Jennie set their mugs down on the coffee table, curling up with a pillow as she sniffed, trying to hide her tears.

Rosé walked over, laying a hand on Jennie's shoulder. That made things worse, causing Jennie to burst into tears again. Rosé put her arms around her sister, holding her together as Jennie sobbed into the pillow.

"Hey, it's okay, I've got you," Rosé murmured, kissing Jennie's hair, "shh, it's alright." Rosé pulled her into her chest, cradling her sister as she cried.

It wasn't until Jennie's sobs has subsided that she told Rosé what had happened. Her head resting in Rosé's lap, she signed the events of last night as Rosé stroked her hair.

'She's just gone' Jennie signed, her hands falling uselessly to her sides as she finished explaining.

"Manoban," Rosé cursed, balling up her fists, "I hope she likes pandas because I'm going to give her another black eye when I see her again." Jennie closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh as Rosé ranted. Then Rosé cut off, remembering what Lisa had looked like this morning.

"Oh no, this is bad," Rosé muttered to herself, "oh God, I can't even be mad at her, she actually looked awful, she's clearly heartbroken." That didn't exactly make Jennie feel better, all she could picture was Lisa, alone, with no one to comfort her. Jennie had been her comfort. Another tear slid out of the corner of Jennie's eye, dripping down onto the pillow.