Lisa's energy only continued as the week went on. Chaeyoung would wake up and Lisa would already be downstairs, cooking breakfast or playing with Louis. Her nightmares still came and went, but Lisa seemed to bounce back faster than she had before. And each night, she continued to take the two small blue pills before bed.
And then Wednesday came.
It started out as every other morning had. The blinding light streamed in from the window and caused Chaeyoung to roll over groggily. And that's about where the normalcy ended.
"Lili?" Chaeyoung furrowed her eyebrows, surprised that Lisa was still in bed. She was normally already awake and bounding all over the house by this time.
"Lisa," Chaeyoung rolled over completely, nudging the Thai girl. Lisa mumbled something inaudible and pulled the blankets over her head.
"Are you okay?" Chaeyoung whispered, trying to gently move the blankets away from Lisa's face. The Thai girl only held them tightly, scooting away from Chaeyoung.
"M'sleep," Lisa mumbled. Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow, but decided not to annoy her girlfriend.
"Well I'm going to get breakfast," Chaeyoung said softly, crawling over Lisa and padding over to the dresser. "Come join me if you want blueberry muffins," she smirked, raising an eyebrow and expecting Lisa to jump out of bed.
Instead, Lisa just pulled the covers further over her head. With a heavy sigh, Chaeyoung tugged on a t-shirt and headed downstairs.
Chaeyoung hoped the smell of freshly baked muffins would lead Lisa downstairs, but when she finished her breakfast and the Thai girl had still not appeared, she began to grow worried.
She quietly made her way back upstairs, turning on the light in the bedroom and stepping inside. Lisa groaned, covering her eyes with a pillow.
"What's wrong?" Chaeyoung asked softly, walking over to the bed. "Why aren't you getting out of bed?"
"Tired," Lisa yawned, allowing Chaeyoung to pull the pillow away from her face. "M'tired, Rosie."
"Did you sleep last night?" Chaeyoung asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lisa nodded. "Yes. I had a nightmare, but I fell back asleep," she confessed.
"Are you okay?" the blonde girl sat down on the edge of the bed. Lisa nodded and sat up, furrowing her eyebrows and blinking a few times.
"Yes," she nodded slowly. "I am only tired."
"I made muffins," Chaeyoung nodded towards the door. Lisa smiled softly, stretching out her arms and yawning quietly.
"Yum," Lisa hummed, scooting out of bed and padding softly towards the door. Louis bounded happily after her, sticking right by her legs for guidance.
Chaeyoung followed her, grabbing Lisa's beanie from the dresser on the way out and tugging it onto the Thai girl's head once she caught up with her. Lisa giggled softly, picking up Louis and cradling him in her arms when they went downstairs.
Chaeyoung raised a questioning eyebrow when Lisa paused at the bottom of the stairs and brought a hand to her forehead, blinking a few times.
"You okay?" Chaeyoung scooted around her and placed a hand on Lisa's shoulder. Lisa simply nodded, shaking it off and setting Louis back down.
Chaeyoung sat down on the couch while Lisa got her breakfast, joining her in the living room. All three of their roommates had already left for school, leaving them home alone for the day.
"Where do we go when we die?" Lisa turned to Chaeyoung after she took a bite of her muffin. Chaeyoung's eyes widened, surprised by Lisa's sudden question.
"Why'd you ask that?" Chaeyoung crossed her legs underneath her and turned so she was facing Lisa. The Thai girl picked at her muffin and shrugged.
"No one knows for sure," Chaeyoung said softly. Lisa nodded.
"That is what I figured," Lisa took a small bite of the muffin and thought for a moment. "Will we be together?"
"What?" Chaeyoung grew confused.
"When we die," Lisa bit her lip. "Will you and me be together?"
"I'd like to hope so," Chaeyoung looked down at her hands and then back to Lisa, who had set her plate aside and was thinking intently.
"Me too," Lisa whispered, hanging her head down and playing with her fingers in her lap. She sighed softly before rising to her feet and bringing her plate back over to the sink.
"You didn't eat much," Chaeyoung observed. Lisa turned around, glancing at her plate and shrugging.
"I was not hungry," she tilted her head to the side slightly before setting her plate on the counter. Chaeyoung bit her lip.
"I am going to play with Louis," Lisa decided with a soft nod, picking up the small kitten that had followed them into the kitchen. She padded into the living room and set him down, rolling one of his small toys across the floor. Hearing the jingling of the bells in the toy, Louis hopped after it. Lisa giggled softly.
Chaeyoung watched them for a few moments before grabbing her backpack and falling back on the couch. She pulled out her sketchbook, tracing her fingers over the various crayon scribbles on the cover. They'd been there since the day Lisa had come to live with them. She couldn't bring herself to replace the sketchbook.
Unsure of what to draw, Chaeyoung began absentmindedly doodling. As always, the figure suddenly started to look very familiar. Chaeyoung glanced up at Lisa before turning her attention back to her drawing.
Chaeyoung got so lost in her sketchbook that she didn't notice Louis wander over to the couch and curl up by her feet. When she looked back up, she was surprised to find Lisa asleep on the floor in the middle of the living room.
"What're we gonna do with her?" Chaeyoung said softly, bending down and cradling Louis into her arms. "I just want her to be happy," she whispered. Louis sniffed her hand before curling up in her lap.
Chaeyoung simply sat in silence for a while, watching Lisa's chest rise and fall. It was like someone had taken the Lisa she knew yesterday and swapped her out with a completely different person. She didn't understand.
Chaeyoung jumped slightly when Lisa shot up from the floor, looking around the room in sheer terror. The second she saw Chaeyoung on the couch, she hurried over to the blonde girl and looked at her hopefully. Chaeyoung saw tears forming in her eyes.
"Again?" she asked softly. Lisa nodded. With a heavy sigh, Chaeyoung set Louis on floor and patted the space beside her. "C'mere."
Lisa slumped down on the couch beside Chaeyoung, wiping her eyes. The blonde girl wrapped an arm around her girlfriend and kissed her temple, smoothing out her hair. She hated seeing Lisa like this.
Lisa didn't say anything, instead she just laid her head on Chaeyoung's shoulder and exhaled deeply. Chaeyoung knew she was just as fed up with it as she was.
"Do you think it's the medicine?" Chaeyoung asked softly. Lisa didn't respond, she just closed her eyes and crinkled her nose. Chaeyoung began to wonder if the medicine was really going to fix the real problem. The root of her problem didn't seem like something a few pills could fix.
The day carried on slowly. Lisa moped around the house, occasionally finding something interesting and entertaining herself with it for a while. Chaeyoung spend most of her time on homework, checking on Lisa every few minutes.
Jisoo and Jennie got home from class, soon followed by Somi. Lisa followed Jennie around for a bit, quietly observing whatever the older girl was doing. Chaeyoung took advantage of this and moved upstairs to finish typing out one of her essays.
She heard a group of footsteps coming upstairs, assuming that Lisa was among them. But when she heard a thud and a crash from downstairs, she immediately grew worried.
"Rosie?"
Chaeyoung sat up quickly, setting her laptop aside and jogging to the top of the stairs. "Lili?" she called, hearing the younger girl moving around downstairs and quickly making her way down.
"I got hurt," Lisa's voice rang out softly from the kitchen. Chaeyoung ran in worriedly, finding Lisa sitting in the middle of the tile floor and clutching her ankle. Around her, a stool lay on its side and an array of glass pieces were shattered across the floor.
"Oh my god, what happened?" Chaeyoung gasped, grabbing Louis just as the small kitten tried to wander over to Lisa. She set him aside, quickly maneuvering over the glass and pushing the stool aside so she could kneel next to her girlfriend.
"I could not reach it," Lisa sniffed, wincing when Chaeyoung moved her hands away from her ankle. "Ouch."
"Reach what?" Chaeyoung scanned the room, trying to find a sign of what Lisa had been up to. She sat down, gently pulling Lisa's shoe off of her foot.
"Ouch," Lisa shook her head, trying to pull her foot away.
"I need to see your ankle," Chaeyoung protested, tossing her shoe aside and pulling off her sock with it. Lisa's ankle was already red and bruising. The Thai girl squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
"What did you do, Lisa?" Chaeyoung asked.
"I was trying to reach the fancy cups," Lisa mumbled, looking down at the floor in embarrassment. Chaeyoung realized, glancing at the broken stool.
"I told you not to stand on that stool," Chaeyoung sighed, standing up and moving Lisa so she could lift her into her arms. The younger girl winced and brought her hands around Chaeyoung's neck, trying to keep her ankle as still as possible.
"I-I was trying to make you dinner," Lisa confessed as Chaeyoung gently lay her down on the couch. "I could not reach, Rosie. I could not."
"It's okay," Chaeyoung whispered, smoothing out Lisa's hair and moving back down to her ankle. "Tell me if this hurts, okay?" she pressed gently above where the ankle was swollen.
"Ouch," Lisa mumbled. Chaeyoung took that as good enough of an answer.
"Stay here," the blonde girl held up her hand before jogging back into the kitchen. She grabbed an ice pack from their freezer, snatching an extra pillow as she ran back into the living room.
"It's gonna be cold at first," Chaeyoung warned her, slowly sliding the pillow under Lisa's ankle and laying the ice pack overtop of it. Lisa inhaled sharply but stayed still.
"Stupid," Lisa whispered, shaking her head and covering her face. Chaeyoung's eyes widened. She hadn't heard that in a while.
"Don't say that," Chaeyoung whispered, shaking her head. They couldn't go backwards. She wouldn't allow that to happen. "You're not stupid. Don't kill the flowers."
Lisa's eyes shot open and she stared at Chaeyoung for a few moments before letting her hands fall to her sides. Shaking her head, the Thai girl sat up slightly to look down at her ankle.
"Am I going to die?" she whispered shakily, looking at Chaeyoung with fear in her eyes.
"No, no way," Chaeyoung shook her head, laughing softly to try and lighten the mood. "You just landed on your ankle a little funky. It'll feel better tomorrow. You've just gotta keep the ice on it."
Lisa sighed, nodding and laying back so she could stare up at the ceiling. She was tired of messing things up. All she wanted to do was do something nice for Chaeyoung. She couldn't even do something as simple as getting a cup. The Thai girl squeezed her eyes shut just as the first tear rolled down her cheek.
Chaeyoung saw this, and immediately leaned forwards to cup Lisa's cheeks, kissing her forehead softly. "Be nice to the flowers," she said softly, wiping the tears from Lisa's cheeks.
"I am trying," Lisa whispered shakily. Chaeyoung bit her lip.
"Let's get you upstairs," Chaeyoung nodding, moving to pick the Thai girl up. Lisa reached out to stop her and shook her head.
"I need Louis, first," she said quietly. Chaeyoung couldn't help but smile, and she retrieved the small kitten from behind the couch. After placing him in Lisa's arms, she carefully lifted her girlfriend into her own arms.
"Ouch," Lisa mumbled, wincing at the pain in her ankle. Chaeyoung slowly carried her up the stairs and gently placed Lisa in the middle of their bed.
Chaeyoung sat on the edge of the bed, gazing out the large window across the room. The sun was just beginning to disappear behind the buildings.
"It hurts," Lisa whispered, sitting up slightly and holding her ankle. Chaeyoung glanced back at her girlfriend, adjusting her position on the bed so she could fix Lisa's ice pack.
"It's gonna hurt for a bit," Chaeyoung said honestly. "You can try thinking of something to distract your mind, though."
"Can you sing?" Lisa looked up at Chaeyoung, searching her eyes pleadingly. As always, Chaeyoung couldn't say no.
"Only for you," she whispered, scooting back on the bed so she could run her fingertips up and down Lisa's arm.
While I powder my nose,
She will powder her guns,
And if I try to get close,
She is already gone,
Don't know where she's going,
I don't know where she's been.
But she is restless at night,
Cause she has horrible dreams.
So we lay in the dark,
Cause we've got nothing to say.
Just the beating of hearts,
Like two drums in the grey.
I don't know what we're doing,
I don't know what we've done.
But the fire is coming,
So I think we should run.
I think we should run, run, run, run...
While I put on my shoes,
She will button her coat,
And we will step outside,
Checking out the coast is clear
On both sides,
We don't wanna be seen.
Oh, this is suicide...
But you can't see the ropes.
And I won't tell my mother.
It's better she don't know
And she won't tell her folks,
Cause they're already ghosts.
So we'll just keep each other,
As safe as we can.
Until we reach the border,
Until we make our plan.
To run, run, run, run...
To run, run, run, run...
To run, run, run, run...
Will you stay with me my love?
For another day...
Cause I don't want to be alone,
When I'm in this state.
Will you stay with me my love?
Till we're old and grey.
I don't wanna be alone.
When these bones decay...
While I powder my nose,
She will powder her guns,
And if I try to get close,
She is already gone,
Don't know where she's going,
I don't know where she's been.
But the fire is coming,
So I think we should run.