Unconditionally Conditioned |

•☯︎︎𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟷☯︎︎•

             She often found herself up at the earliest and later hours of the day, captivated by the sunrise and sunset every since that evening.
Jason often found himself staying over more than before, if that was even possible. He resided on the couch and would often be woken by the girl creeping her way towards the balcony door which was on the other side of the sofa. As she made her way outside with the blanket that hung over the sofa, messily draped over her shoulders as the cold crisp air of the now winter days made its way through the crack of the door slowly cooling down the apartment to the point where Jason was beyond going back to sleep.
He often joined her outside, the comfortable silence engulfed them both as they would stare in awe at the scenery in front of them.
It became their thing from then on out and had now implemented itself as a permanent part of Alice's routine.
After the sun had risen in the morning the pair would often take to the sofa where they would watch a movie or sometimes make conversation with the tv being nothing but background noise.
Alice started getting better with these things and soon, before long she would be the one to initiate the conversation. He was always proud of her, sure everyday was a challenge of some sort but he was proud nonetheless.
"I think I wanna look into this dbs thing" Alice stated, looking at the tv. Jason looked at her as if to hope she'd elaborate on why she had come to the conclusion.
"I did a little bit of research on it, not loads but there's a lot of good things about it".
Jason smiled slightly at the girl in front of her, her bed head was amusing yet it fell so perfectly. She had small dark bags under her eyes, the early mornings could account for that.
She lowered her head slightly, as if she was disappointed, she pursed her lips as she tore her eyes away from the tv and began to stare lightly at her small nimble hands that rested on her thighs.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked, studying her expression, he could see there was something she was holding back.
"I uh, I don't know, at first I had a bit of hope towards this whole dbs thing but now, on second thought, I don't think I want to talk about it anymore." She muttered, almost inaudible, it was as if her whole persona had changed in a mere second. He watched as the girl slowly rose from the sofa, leaving the blanket behind as she hung her head once more, making her way to her bedroom the door closing quietly behind her.
Jason was taken aback by the event, what could have made her change so quickly? Was it an episode? Or was it something more?
Milo was awake now and had slumped down outside her bedroom door, a small whine could be heard from him every now and then.
Jason knew something was definitely up now.
He made his way over to the young girls bedroom door, knocking quietly his usual 5 times.
He cracked the door open slightly, the room was dim, the only light in the room was the light that crept in from the doorway which was now resting atop of Alice's quilt.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Jason asked, his tone soft and filled with worry.
The girl said nothing, she just entangled herself further into her blankets.
Jason didn't want to force her to talk but he knew she liked his company when she was feeling down.
He made his way to the side of her bed, sitting down where she could see him.
"Talk to me" he quietly muttered, his hand finding hers resting atop of the blanket, soon he began to trace small circles on her palm, she always loved when he did that, it comforted her.
"I can't have it..." she quietly muttered.
"What does that mean?" Jason enquired. He could see how torn up she was feeling and how at battle she must be feeling with herself at that moment.
"I don't even know why I started talking about it, I knew I couldn't have it but for some reason I brought it up, it was as if I forgot it was-" she cut herself off before she could say anymore, her gaze never left the wall that was in front of hers, a small sigh left her lips as she laid there.
"Forgot it was what?" Jason asked, clearly seeing she was getting overwhelmed by what she wasn't telling him.
She sighed before moving to sit herself up, her eyes refusing to meet with Jason's.
"It costs too much" is all she managed to get out before a small tear pricked at the corner of her eye.
"I finally after so long, felt ready to actually do something for myself, I had hope, maybe not a lot but I still had some...I'd have to get a j-job if I wanted to afford it maybe even two! B-but I can't do that" she quietly spoke, clearly scolding herself. She rested her head in her hands as the silence filled the room.
Jason cupped her cheeks in his hands, causing her to look up at him slightly.
"Hey? Whatever it takes, we're gonna do it okay? I promise you we're gonna do it." Jason explains he can see how hurt she is, nothing would be able to comfort her right now.
"How much is it?" Jason asked. She was quiet for a second before looking at him once more.
"It can be anything from 35,000 dollars and 50,000 dollars..." she sighed out.
Jason felt an ache in his chest, he hated seeing her this way. But he knew, deep down that he would pull any and all strings to make sure she gets what could be a second chance at life.
"Hey, that's okay, you don't have to work at all, I will do anything and everything to make sure you get this surgery okay? I promise... we're gonna get there."
"Jason, no that's not fair on you... please don't do that for me-"
"Alice, I-I love you okay? And no matter what happens it's gonna be me and you, I will do anything for you and if that means doing a few extra shifts for work then so be it." Jason spoke, his voice was stern yet filled with love and adoration for the girl in front of him.
"Y-you love me?" She spoke.
"Of course I do dummy, I've loved you since the start, you were always doing your own thing and no matter what people would tell you, you'd always prove them wrong. Now I don't expect you to say it back but just know no matter what happens, I'm gonna be there, by your side regardless of the outcome. I love you Alice"
His cheeks almost illuminated in the dark room, the heat from his cheeks rose to his ears as he took a moment to take into account what he said.
The girl looked at him, her face has a softer tone to it than before.
Her hands were not intertwined with his.

"I-I love you too..."