hide your fires | ✓

i. after dark, fallen star

not anyone, you're the one
more than fun, you're the sanctuary
– joji, sanctuary

• •

a hand was printed against her cheek, earlier they were red as blood clotted against there from impact, and as the night grew old and tired, the redness on her cheek turned darker; it was finally the color of bruise.

four a.m.

the girl beside her looked tired, but happy nonetheless, it was as if there was no other perfect place than there, when the dark sky was splattered with white glimmering paint, dimly lighting that side of the world which caved into the slumber and peace of the unknown night.

her blonde hair was tied with a silk black ribbon, stubborn strands of her hair wisp on the side of her pale face. her eyes were half-lidded, as worn out as the darkness that surrounded them, she was grasping for the threads of consciousness as she didn't want to waste any waking moment to be there. her lithe body shivering, the coolness seeping into her bones, she tried to keep her jaw in place.

lisa wanted to kiss her lips because they were honestly the only lips she ever wanted to touch, to taste, but she didn't and she would never because there was no way she would ever attempt to taint her sunny life with her cloudy bleak ones.

she was ripped pages of a book, a stubborn blood stain from a fist fight, the vandal in the back of the school, the bitter after taste of an action you regret. she wasn't made up of sunflowers, of sweet fragrances; she was thorny roses, and the smell of bleach and of decaying flesh.

despite this—being a personification of venom—lisa gave herself the liberty to wrap her arm around chae.

she always believed her body to be cold, so she was surprised when chae's shivering stopped the moment she pulled her closer to her side. she felt her arms wrap around her own body, in which lisa began to rub her thumb against chae's shoulder.

her frozen insides began to thaw as chae emitted warmth around them. a ragged breath came out of lisa, and she pressed her lips against chae's temple. a small thank you for warming her. and here she thought she would be the one to comfort chae, but it was the other way around.

lisa reached down for chae's hands, she took them and brought them to her lips. she blew hot air into them and rubbed them. she looked into chaeyoung's soft brown eyes, a small smile finally spreading across her features. "you're so cold."

"it's because i'm a vampire, bella." chae quipped, and soon laughter surrounded the both of them.

"no wonder you're so pale, edward." lisa carried on with the humor.

"maybe i should just turn you like me, so you won't get this anymore." chae cupped lisa's cheek and gingerly ran her thumb along the discoloration. she then pretended to bare her fangs.

"go for it," lisa tilted her head to the side to expose her neck, her heart was so loud, she was certain they were more defeaning than the music that was playing from her phone.

she closed her eyes and gulped down all her inhibitions, chae leaned down and left a soft kiss on lisa's skin. soon lisa began to shake, in which confused and surprised chaeyoung. lisa then let herself down against the ground, "ah, i'm dead!" she stayed silent and dramatically lied down there, her eyes still closed, but the smile on her face was so huge.

chae laughed and hit lisa's shoulder, before she lied down her head on lisa's chest.

everything seemed to be in place that moment, a blanket was wrapped around the both of them, and for the first time lisa wasn't fearful of what chae might think of her loud heart; instead she began to wonder whether she could hear how it was screaming her name.

chaeyoung, chaeyoung, chaeyoung...

roseanne, roseanne, roseanne...

a beautiful piece being played by no other than what she felt for this blonde in her arms.

"we should go back inside..." lisa hated to be the one to ruin their moment.

chae shook her head and she wrapped her arms tightly around lisa to keep her from getting up, "five more minutes."

"okay," she always gave in.