Yellow - Winrina

- twenty two -

After their meeting with the lawyer, Karina went home and went straight to bed. She tossed and turned, but finally ended up falling asleep. She woke with a start at around 9PM, breathing heavily and bringing her hands to her face. Another nightmare about Winter in jail.

This time, Karina and Winter had been separated by a wire fence, holding hands through the small holes in the barrier. All of a sudden, Karina had felt a force pulling her backwards, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free. Winter was pulled away as well, by two prison guards behind her.

Winter was calling out for Karina to help her, but Karina couldn't respond. She tried, but every time she opened her mouth, no sound would come out. Then all of a sudden, everything went dark, and she felt as if she was falling. And that's when she was jolted awake.

Karina took a deep breath, scrambling to turn on her light and convince herself it had all been a dream. Once she calmed herself down and assured herself that she was safe, she came to the realization that she would never be able to get undisturbed sleep that night.

So she went for a walk. Granted, going for a walk probably wasn't the best idea in the middle of the night, in New York City, by herself. But she was Karina, and she acted on her impulses. So she slipped on her shoes and silently made her way out of the apartment and outside into the fresh air.

Her walk took a dramatic turn, though, when she gazed longingly at the park across the street. That park had been where she scolded Winter for picking the flowers, and where she found Winter in the woods in the pouring rain. She took a deep breath, slowly forming an idea.

She walked down the street. Thankfully, she knew exactly where she could find what she needed, and if she walked at a fast pace, she could make it there just in time. Her worn converse carried her quickly down the block, and eventually she ended up right where she needed to be.

After purchasing more than she should have, Karina decided to get a taxi back to the park instead of having to carry everything. Ten minutes later, she found herself in the back corner of the park where Winter had picked the daisies.

She dug. She dug out the area where the daisies had once grown. Using the collection of flowers she'd purchased from the nursery, she carefully planted them along the curve of the sidewalk, making sure the yellow ones were on proud display in the middle.

Before Winter, if Karina had been told she would be planting flowers at midnight, she would laugh and think it was a joke. But now, here she was. Winter had brought spontaneity into her life, and now Karina found herself doing things she never thought she would. And enjoying it.

An hour or so later, all the flowers she had bought were now planted neatly in the small corner of the park. Maybe this was her mind's twisted way of making up for yelling at Winter for the daisies, but either way, it kept her mind occupied for a good amount of time.

She stood back and admired the small garden she created, wishing Winter could have been there to see it. Karina thought back to the day she had told Winter that love wasn't about possession, and that it was about appreciation.

Looking back now, Karina hated the fact that the statement was true. Because hell, she could appreciate Winter no matter how far away the girl was. But she wanted Winter here. With her. And at the moment, that wasn't possible.

She sat on the bench for a while, just admiring her handiwork. She didn't realize how long she'd been outside until a beam of sunlight peered over the trees and nearly blinded her. Sighing, she made the decision that even though she had class that day, she deserved a day off.

The moment she walked through the apartment door, all three of her roommates crowded around her.

"Where the hell were you?" Giselle looked the girl up and down to make sure she was alright.