Rosé awoke to the smell of food and the sound of laughter. She sat up groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked at the time--quarter to 9. Were Lisa and Jennie still home? And were they actually speaking--and laughing? Confused by the thought, Rosé rolled out of bed and made her way down the hall and towards the sound of conversation.

“I don’t believe you,” she heard Lisa say between fits of giggles.

“It’s true. I landed flat on my in front of everyone,” Jennie answered, the smile evident in her voice.

“But you got back up, right?”

“Oh, yeah. But only to run off of the stage.”

“Awe, poor thing. That sounds terrible.”

“It was humiliating. After that day, I vowed never to dance again.”

“But you were ten. You can’t let one bad experience control you.”

“Believe me, I’m over it. I just use that as an excuse when I don’t want to dance.”

“You shouldn’t have told me then. It is now my personal mission to dance with you in the near future and you can’t use that excuse on me anymore.” By that point, Rosé had entered the kitchen and she was shocked and confused by the scene laid out before her. Lisa and Jennie were seated at the table in front of empty plates. Both were visibly relaxed and obviously enjoying their conversation, smiles lighting up their expressions as they leaned toward each other slightly. And there was something about the way Jennie was looking at Lisa…

“Well, good to see you two are a lot… friendlier today,” Rosé said all of a sudden, catching the other girls’ attention.

“Rosé, hey! I didn’t hear you get up,” Jennie exclaimed, straightening up. She smiled at her best friend, but there was a glimmer of… was that disappointment in her eyes?

“Good morning, Rosé,” Lisa greeted sweetly, not seeming to catch the slight shift in Jennie’s mood.

“Morning, Lisa. Did you sleep well?” Rosé asked the younger girl, masking her unease with a warm smile.

“Yeah, I did. I can’t thank you enough for letting me crash here,” Lisa answered gratefully.

“No thanks necessary. But hey, if we don’t hurry, you’re going to be late to class,” Rosé pointed out, looking at the clock. “Why don’t you finish getting ready while I get changed?”

“Good idea.” With that, Lisa excused herself from the room to finish getting herself together. Rosé and Jennie were finally left alone in a strange silence. Needing something to do, Jennie got to her feet and started clearing the table. Rosé watched her from the doorway, her arms crossed.

“I was going to thank you for taking care of Lisa, but I can see it didn’t bother you all that much,” the younger of the two finally noted.

“She’s not that bad, I suppose,” Jennie replied without looking up.

“So… what changed your mind about her?”

“I dunno. I guess I was just tired and cranky last night.”

“That the only reason?”

“Why do you want to know? I thought you wanted us to get along.”

“I do. I’m just curious. It’s quite the drastic change. Last night you seemed like you wanted to throw her out a window, and today you made her breakfast and told her stories about your life. It’s just… unexpected.”

“In my defense, you told me to be nice. I was just doing what you asked,” Jennie pointed out. “Besides, she did most of the cooking after I got hurt anyway--”

“You got hurt?!” Rosé demanded, her voice jumping an octave. She rushed forward, concern changing her features completely. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Rosie, calm down. It was just a little cut,” Jennie assure her, holding out her bandaged hand. Rosé took her gently by the wrist so that she could look more closely. She traced her finger along the edge of the bandage, wanting to remove it to inspect the damage but restraining herself.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rosé repeated.

“Positive. Lisa took care of it,” Jennie reassured her. As if in answer to her name being spoken, Lisa reappeared in the kitchen holding her phone and her clothes from the previous night.

“Okay, ready to go,” she announced, startling Rosé and Jennie and making them jump apart.

“Um…” Rosé started uncertainly, looking down at her pyjamas.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take her,” Jennie jumped to her rescue. She smiled playfully at Lisa. “Besides, Lisa owes me a good story anyway. Right, Lisa?”

“I don’t know if I can tell you a good story in fifteen minutes, but I’ll try,” Lisa answered, laughing.

“Alright then,” Rosé allowed. “I’ll pick you up at quarter to six for dance practice, okay, Lisa?”

“Sounds good. See you then.” Lisa offered Rosé a hug before bounding to the front door like an excited puppy. Once Lisa was out of the kitchen, Jennie turned to Rosé who was lost in thought.

“Hey,” Jennie said, catching the other girl’s attention. “Are you alright?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Rosé replied.

“You just had that look,” Jennie noted, gingerly tucking a strand of Rosé’s hair behind her ear. Rosé leaned into Jennie’s touch, staying silent.

“Um… you should probably go,” the redhead finally spoke. “You have to get Lisa to her class and then get to your class too. If you don’t go now, you’ll be late.”

“I hate when you’re right,” Jennie whined, her hand moving to cup Rosé’s cheek. “Do you want me to come pick you up later and drive you to class?”

“Won’t you be in the middle of your class then?”

“No one would care if I was gone a few minutes.” Jennie shrugged.

“I would care. Besides, Brian is coming to pick me up.”

“Alright, fine then,” Jennie sighed. She locked eyes with Rosé, her thumb tracing the younger girl’s bottom lip. “We’re still on for lunch though, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Rosé breathed. With that, Jennie allowed herself a moment to press a kiss to Rosé’s lips before turning on her heel and rushing out of the apartment. As Rosé went about getting ready, she couldn’t help but notice the lingering feeling of Jennie’s lips pressed against her own.

***

“How was your day?” Jennie asked that afternoon as Rosé entered the apartment.

“Exhausting,” Rosé sighed, plopping down on the couch beside the brunette. “Remind me again why I chose to take biochemistry as an elective.”

“Because you’re a nerd who enjoyed it in high school and thought it’d be cool to take it again,” Jennie answered as Rosé lowered her head onto the older girl’s lap.

“The one time I could have used a funny, sarcastic remark and you give me an accurate answer. You’re the worst,” Rosé complained.

“And yet you can’t live without me,” Jennie mused, running her hand through Rosé’s hair. Rosé rolled her eyes.

“Oh god. You’re almost as exhausting as biochem.”

“C’mon, I’m not that bad.”

“Maybe not, but you are impossible.”

“Impossible to resist, I know.”

“I rest my case,” Rosé laughed. The two girls lapsed into silence. Jennie continued to run her fingers through Rosé’s hair absentmindedly, beginning to hum softly. Rosé felt herself relax, her eyelids starting to droop without her consent…

“Rosie? Babe, wake up.” Jennie’s voice drifted into Rosé’s consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open and she squinted up at the older girl’s beautiful face.

“What happened?” Rosé asked, groggily pushing herself up into a sitting position. She realized with a wave of confusion that she was not longer on the couch but in her own bed. She looked at Jennie who was seated at her side, watching her with an amused smile. “When did I move to my bed?”

“You didn’t. You fell asleep on the couch and I figured you’d rest better here,” Jennie explained.

“What? How long have I been out? What time is it?” Rosé demanded, jolting awake. She frantically looked over at the clock.

“Rosé, calm down. You were only asleep for about an hour. You have a little over thirty minutes to get ready for dance,” Jennie assured her. Rosé visibly relaxed, running a hand through her hair.

“Oh, good. Thanks for waking me,” Rosé said gratefully.

“Yeah, no problem. We can’t be be late to dance practice, now can we?” Rosé, who had been in the process of getting out of bed, paused and looked at Jennie over her shoulder.

“We? What is this we?” she asked with an eyebrow raised. Jennie shrugged.

“Lisa wanted me to watch her dance,” Jennie explained nonchalantly.

“Oh really?” Rosé smirked.

“Shut up,” Jennie barked, her face flushing as she looked at the ground.

“I didn’t say anything,” Rosé snickered, standing up and starting to get ready. Still, despite her teasing, Rosé felt her heart sink, if only just a little.

Hello lovely readers! I apologize greatly for the fact that there is a large delay between chapters but I'm working as fast as I can. Also, I know this isn't the greatest chapter and things are moving a bit slow, but I promise that the next chapter will pick up a bit. Stay tuned!

~unsungpoet <3