Blue - Winrina

twenty four

Taking a deep breath, Karina forced herself to move away from the door. She had to give Winter time to herself. With a heavy sigh, Karina slipped into her bedroom and left the door open a crack behind her.

If she hadn't been listening intently to Winter's piano playing, she probably wouldn't have noticed the way her mattress made an odd crinkling noise when she sat down. But she did.

Karina raised an eyebrow and stood up. Confused, she pressed down on her mattress with her hand; earning a soft crackling noise. Her first instinct was to lift the mattress, and so she did.

Her eyes widened when she saw what was underneath. Dried, dead flowers were scattered under the mattress, with stray petals everywhere. Karina bent down, gently taking one of the flowers into her hand and turning it around.

"What the hell?" she whispered to herself, setting the mattress down back and standing up. She had a feeling Winter would have something to say about this. Karina couldn't help but feel like this was some twisted form of symbolism.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, the older girl cupped the flower in her hand and hid it behind her back. With her free hand, she slowly opened the bathroom door.

"Hey Jeong," she leaned against the doorframe, trying to play it cool. "Wanna go for a walk and check on the flowers?"

Winter froze. She looked up at Karina slowly, panic flickering in her dark brown eyes. Biting her lip, Winter shook her head and looked back down at the kitten in her lap.

"Why not?" Karina tilted her head to the side. Winter just kept her head down, fumbling with her fingers nervously.

"Does it have something to do with this?" Karina sighed and held out the flower she had hidden behind her back. The moment Winter looked up, her hands started to shake. She set Clifford down and stood up, backing away from Karina.

"I-I..."

"What's going on Winter?" Karina asked, desperation in her voice. "What does this mean?" she held up the flower between them.

Winter looked down at her feet guiltily and shook her head. She toyed with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, trying to find a way out of this. Desperately, she tried to slip past Karina and out the door. The brown eyed girl quickly moved to her side to block the exit. Winter inhaled sharply.

"Winter, please," Karina held up the flower once more and looked at her girlfriend pleadingly.

"I... I..." Winter shook her head and took a step backwards. "I did... I did not... They cannot die!" She brought her hands up to her face and breathed in deeply.

"I can not lose the pretty things, I can not!" Winter let her hands fall back to her sides and she shook her head, beginning to pace back and forth in the small space between them.

"If I lose them, then I lose y-you... then... then I... I just..." Winter groaned in frustration. "I do not feel like Winter!"

"You don't... what?" Karina quickly moved forward and grabbed her girlfriend's shoulders to calm her down. "You don't feel like Winter?"

The small girl shook her head, holding her hands up between them. "My hands shake and I am tired and I can not think," she squeezed her eyes shut. "I can not lose you..."

"Lose me? Who says you're going to lose me?" Karina grew even more worried, feeling her heart start to speed up. She hated seeing Winter like this, but she needed answers.

"The... The..." Winter stumbled over her words and she brought her hand up to knock on her own forehead softly. Karina understood what she meant.

"The nightmares?" Karina remembered the hand motion Winter had used for a long time to describe the 'bad things'. Winter nodded softly.