If It Hurts This Much (Chaelisa)

Chapter 23

You know that feeling where you're half asleep, and it feels like you're falling, so you jerk and jolt and scare the crap out of yourself because you're trying to find some grounding. Yeah? Well that's exactly what Lisa does. Except for her, when she flinches, body stiffening as her fists clench and slam to the mattress either side of her, she actually does fall.

Straight out of bed. On to the floor. With a crash.

"Fuck," she winces, groggily opening her eyes and wondering what the hell is happening. A sharp stabbing pain surges up her right arm, starting from her pinky, down the right side of her hand and up her wrist. Groaning, and in complete shock from the fall, she sits up, ignoring the throbbing ache in her ass and clings to her hand for dear life because shit, she's pretty sure she just broke something.

Fast, graceful footsteps echo through the room, and two seconds later, Chaeyoung appears around the door, face flushed and eyes wide with fear. "Lisa? What's wrong?" she asks breathlessly, sprinting to Lisa's side with her hands out. As soon as she gets there, she drops to her knees, palms lingering in front of the clutched hand, worry and uncertainty etched across her face because she's not entirely sure what to do. "Baby, what happened?"

Lisa lets out a throaty laugh. There's nothing actually remotely amusing. But with the combination of the racing heart from what she can only think is a nightmare, as well as falling out the damn bed because of it, that's her only bodily response. Apart from whimpering over the pain in her hand.

"I fell out of bed," she says, shrugging.

Chaeyoung frowns, eyes darting between the injured hand and brown eyes. "I can see that," she replies, moving into a crouch and slowly lifting Lisa by the forearms. "Bad dream?"

Lisa nods frantically, feeling her facial muscles ache from where she can only think her face was scrunched in the midst of her dream. Remembering it, her mouth runs dry again and panicked, she searches for her phone, only stretching her neck because she's currently in the middle of getting up. "Yeah. When the hell did I fall asleep? And where's my phone?"

"On the side table," Chaeyoung narrows her eyes, threading their fingers together on one hand. The one not propped up against Lisa's chest. "And you fell asleep when you came to get changed. I didn't want to wake you," her eyes narrow further. "What's wrong?"

Lisa takes in a deep breath, lowering her gaze to focus on the slither of skin showing between her girlfriend's shorts and shirt. It's just calling to be touched, so she brings their intertwined fingers and straightens out her finger, stroking the skin softly as she replies.

"I need to call someone," she breathes, trying to calm herself down because it was just a dream. Apparently she didn't get up when she thought and now she's kind of freaking out. "I had a bad dream." That's an understatement, it was a fucking nightmare, but she doesn't want to scare Chaeyoung.

"Is that why you're crying?"

She shakes her head in a what the fuck motion and then feels Chaeyoung's thumb brush across her cheek. She didn't even know she was friggin' crying and now she doesn't quite know what to do. Glancing up, Chaeyoung’s eyes gaze into her, trying to decipher things she can't say.

"Sorry," she licks her lips, "I just..." another exhale. "It was so real and I-I..."

Freely, the tears fall, and Chaeyoung snakes her free arm around Lisa's neck, pulling their bodies together but arching her chest backwards so when they embrace, Lisa's injured hand doesn't have any pressure placed on it.

"Baby, it was just a dream," Chaeyoung coos, thumb brushing over the back of tanned knuckles. "It's fine."

Lisa sucks in a shaky breath. "B-but," she gulps. Jesus, why the hell is she crying? "I-I..."