Trials and Tribulations [Chaelisa]

Chapter 50 (part 1)

A/N: It's exam week so i probably will be busy af, but i'll still try my best to upload everyday.
The thing is that for some reason this chapters are growing exponentially in length and this one is over 30 pages already so I've decided to split it. Sorry if it's a bit boring but it's because it's not a complete chapter in itself x

Over the next four weeks Lisa and Chaeyoung fell in to an easy routine where they finally settled back into one another's lives, the physical distance between them seemingly nonexistent, the time passing quickly and without too much difficulty. Chaeyoung's initial concerns about Lisa returning to rehab and leaving her behind again were quickly quashed and the worries that she'd had about feeling miserable without her girlfriend around soon dissipated, as though into thin air. If possible, Chaeyoung and Lisa spoke more often and more intimately now that they were no longer around each other all the time, the absence of the respective other girl only making their hearts grow fonder for one another, exactly as the old saying went.

Chaeyoung found that with Lisa away they now had more to talk about and discuss. Their conversation which had previously always been easy was now effortless and they never found themselves at a loss for something else to say; the dialogue they shared without pause for even one breath.

Chaeyoung and Lisa would talk about everything and anything that came to mind during their long and detailed interactions; Chaeyoung filling Lisa in on all the gossip she'd missed at school and the younger girl discussing her therapy sessions and day fully, in return. Chaeyoung and Lisa were constantly in contact as the days turned in to weeks and they would text each other frequently throughout the day, shamelessly flirting with one another via SMS message, Lisa even following through on her promise to send Chaeyoung a seminaked selfie, the image of her girlfriend standing, bare chested, now burnt permanently into her memory and saved to her phone, where she could admire it whenever she wished.

Once the school days had finished, Chaeyoung and Lisa would have a regularly scheduled Skype conversation which normally lasted from the time Chaeyoung got home until she went to sleep, and sometimes, continuing even afterwards. On more than one occasion, Chaeyoung had woken up the next morning to find the window still open on her laptop as it rested on the pillow beside her head, Luca curled up on the duvet next to it whilst the recognisable form of Lisa sleeping could be seen on the screen, her face hidden beneath a tangled mess of dark hair, the younger girl having also fallen asleep as they'd spoken.

When Lisa and Chaeyoung weren't interacting via technology, they were spending time together face to face; Lisa returning home almost every weekend following Valentine's day and Chaeyoung taking the rest of the girls to see her every Wednesday after school for the return of their customary girl's night, which included the usual food, movies and fun. The only new addition to their Wednesday evening's was Luca, who, the manager at the rehabilitation centre had kindly allowed Chaeyoung to bring with her whenever she visited, much to the delight of Lisa, who Chaeyoung thought, remained just as adorable as ever during her dealings with him. Lisa's seventeenth birthday had been and gone, the day itself a relatively quiet affair when it arrived, the youngster away at rehab having already received her gift from both Chaeyoung and her parents in the form of Luca, almost a month in advance.

Lisa's parents had taken her out for a low key dinner the night of her birthday, Chaeyoung and Jisoo accompanying them, however, two days prior to her birthday, on Saturday the 25th of March, Lisa had returned home from rehabilitation for the weekend and been surprised to find that her parents were also hosting a barbecue in her honour, the rest of the girls and their families all present to celebrate it with her. Lisa's mom and dad had been particularly emotional that day, both hardly able to believe that their daughter had survived the nine months since the accident in order to age another year, their happiness at her continued recovery, both physically and emotionally, overwhelming them both at multiple times throughout the informal party.