the other girl | crygi

eleven

Crystal woke up to find herself snuggled under the blanket she knew she didn't sleep with. The sun coming from the window was hitting her directly in the eye as she groaned and sat up on the couch. Yesterday's memories came back to her as she saw Dahlia cooking in the kitchen.

Crystal narrowed her eyes and examined Dahlia. She was already dressed up, wearing a pair of professional looking trousers and a sweater with short heels. Her makeup was beautiful but wasn't enough to cover her puffy, sleepy eyes.

"Oh, Crys!" She finally realized being watched and got startled for a second. "Morning."

"Morning, Lia," Crystal rubbed her eyes as she spoke hesitantly. "Leaving for a shift?"

"Yes, the intensiveness of the job continues," Dahlia embraced a serious tone to joke as she placed her scrambled eggs on her toast. Crystal took her time to decide what to do.

"I'm sorry I wasted your day off," was all she could mumble at first.

"Oh, that's your priority?" Dahlia lightly joked but realized how tense Crystal was as she met her eyes. "It's okay, Crys. I'm ready to talk if you are." She spoke with a tender voice.

"You're not mad?" Crystal asked in a quiet tone as she snatched the covers off her body. She sat on one of the highchairs before the counter and watched Dahlia think with furrowed eyebrows. Dahlia poured her a glass of water, knowing she wouldn't eat right away and placed it in front of her.

"I simmered down," Dahlia said with a little reassuring smile. "Just a little broken but, it will pass."

"I would understand if you wanted to take a break..." Crystal answered looking down. Dahlia reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Crystal, I told you, I'm not mad," she took the hand to her mouth to leave a kiss on Crystal's knuckles. "We went into this relationship thing so quick. I get how you were still confused, especially after the fight and everything I told you..."

"I proved you right, Lia," A tear streamed down Crystal's eye slowly. "I'm sorry."

"You can't make me cry before work!" Dahlia sniffled with full eyes as Crystal looked up at her. "It's okay... We're okay."

Dahlia held Crystal from her chin to pull her closer. They've shared hundreds of kisses before but this one, it felt different. It was filled with all sorts of emotions: happiness, a little bit of guilt still hunting Crystal down, relief... It tasted so sour and so sweet at the same time, and a little bit of salty because of all the crying Crystal was doing.

Their relationship went back to normal mostly. Dahlia was still pretty busy, making it hard to see each other but Crystal, still haunted with guilt, made sure to align their schedules as much as possible. She made sure to visit her in the calm hours of her shifts, spending most of the time in somewhere discreet and making out mostly.

The only thing that didn't go back to normal was Dahlia towards Gigi. With Crystal failing to mention herself launching it all, Dahlia put her walls up so high against Gigi it was almost impossible for Gigi to make conversation with her. Gigi hated the sudden change of dynamic but tried to project her energy into other things, like her art.

The girls were sitting around Jackie and Gigi's room, chatting about mostly school related stuff on a Saturday morning when Crystal's phone rang. The name on the screen made her shift uncomfortably, knowing if she knew where Crystal was right then it would be cold between them again.

"Hey, baby," Crystal answered softly as she got up to leave for the balcony. Nicky, who was sitting by her side, replaced her quickly to continue her conversation with Jaida easier.