Lock & Key (Chaelisa)

19| The Key

Lisa was disappointed when Rosie didn't show up again during the three days Jennie kept her in bed to recuperate.

"No absolutely not," Jennie said firmly when Lisa had asked to at least walk around the bakery. "It's best you keep a low profile for now, I don't think Jimin would be too happy to see you and he'd probably rope you into his wolf hunt as well."

Lisa obeyed, despite being awfully bored being cooped up inside with nothing to do. The days indoors however did give her time to reflect a great deal about all that transpired and especially about what Rosie had told her before she left.

I've come to realise that the person I picture standing beside me, the person I dream about... sounds like a woman.

At the very least, it gave Lisa the hope that Rosie didn't discount the idea of her partner being a woman instead of a man.

You'd be doing me a favour if you took the key and entered my house.

Did Rosie really mean that? Was Lisa only a means to end? Had Rosie given up and just wanted it all to end so she chose safely over choosing love?

But Rosie cared a great deal about her, that much Lisa was aware. It couldn't all be just platonic, could it?

"Miaow."

Lisa all but leaped out of bed when she saw Honey sitting on the branch of a tree that grew against Snowdrop, right outside her window.

"Honey!" Lisa called blissfully as she opened the window. "Here girl."

Honey easily climbed into her arms as Lisa crooned and hugged her close whilst she rocked the feline.

"You're the best cat I ever met. I owe you my life," Lisa said thickly, pressing kisses all over her face. She sat on the bed and rubbed the spot behind her ears, which Honey loved. "How did you know I was here? You're so clever. And the way you came at Jimin and attacked him! He didn't hurt you did he?"

Honey curled up in her lap as Lisa rambled on whilst she combed her fur.

"I need to ask Rosie where she got you from. You're one in a million. I'm sorry I don't have anything to give you right now but just you wait, I'll give you the biggest pot of honey you've ever seen in your life, and it will be all yours. You deserve it. Would you like that?"

Honey purred and Lisa smiled, delighted.

"That's settled then."

Honey presented her belly for Lisa to scratch and the key came into view, presented so tantalisingly. Lisa paused, eyeing the key more seriously than she had in a good long while.

You'd be doing me a favour.

"Honey, I thought all this time I was protecting Rosie," Lisa said slowly. "But now...Rosie seems so ready to give it away so willingly...and to me? Suddenly, I'm not so sure if this is right. At another time I would have jumped to the opportunity but now...it's all too real."

She continued to rub Honey's belly, thinking out loud. "There's a lot we don't know about each other. Would she even accept me, knowing I killed a man? Could...could she even love me like she would have loved a man? But then again, it's like we understand each other so well. Like we have known each other for a long time. It's not something I felt even with Miyeon."

"Miyeon is my past and I'll always cherish our time together. But...am I really allowed to want this? To have this? Am I really allowed to want Rosie and hope that she wants me too? Because I want her, Honey. Not like...not like someone to own and have but...someone I can see myself building a nice little house with, and fill it with flowers and warmth and laughter. Someone I can sail around the world with, if she wants to. Someone I can hug and kiss without a care in the world because she belongs to me and I belong to her. Can I really have that? Can I be...happy?"

Honey meowed and to Lisa it sounded like encouragement.

"Maybe I will then," she told the cat, coming to a decision. "I'll take the key and sneak out. I'm not sure how much longer Jennie will keep me in here, but I feel absolutely fine. I'll go to Rosie's house and...I'll tell her how I feel and if she'll have me and then...well, maybe she will grow to like me more and more, maybe eventually even love me. But I'll be content if she says yes to having me, regardless of how deep her feeling for me are."

Honey lay perfectly still as Lisa gently eased the key from around her neck. She looked strangely bare without the key she had been constantly wearing.

"Will you come with me?" Lisa said softly. "I could use with some extra support."

To her surprise, Honey sat up and gently bumped her head against her chin before she hopped down and scurried over to the window.

"Wait, are you going home? Is Rosie at home right now?"

Honey glanced back then hopped up on the windowsill and on to the tree branch. To Lisa, that seemed like a clear invite to follow.

Lisa hurriedly threw on her clothes and a coat hanging by the door then cautiously approached the window.

"You're not seriously thinking of trying some death-defying attempt to escape, are you?" Jisoo drawled from behind her.

Lisa held her heart in shock. "Stars, how do you always appear so soundlessly?"

"Tricks of the trade when you have a rascal like you to look after," Jisoo grinned then peered out of the window, her face clearing when she spotted Honey sitting at the foot of the tree. "Ah I see, someone's getting rather impatient. Well, the tree could certainly support you, but might I suggest taking the stairs like a normal person would do?"

"I didn't want Jennie to see me sneak out," Lisa muttered.

"Well, I'm in charge of things here today so I think you're good to go," Jisoo said cheerfully as she thumped Lisa on the back. "I see you got the key as well. Go and get your girl. Don't lose the key."

"I won't," Lisa said breathlessly as excitement started building up in her chest. "Jisoo?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. And also, you and Jennie...congratulations. I'm happy for you."

Jisoo smirked. "I'm happy for me too."

She cackled as Lisa ran downstairs and burst out of Snowdrop, ignoring the several customers lingering in the shop within that gawked after her as she tore past them.