Serena had returned home late that evening, already in a lousy mood as a result of the busy shift she had just forced her way through, only to find that there was yet more reason for her to be frustrated. She walked in to the living room to find Bernie with three kittens roaming around on her chest as she laid flat on the carpeted floor.
"Bernie-" Serena uttered sharply, arching her eyebrow expectantly. "Where did those come from?"
"Serena! There was an old lady coming around the houses offering them because they were going to be taken to a shelter if no one could take them - there' s Marmalade, Shadow, and Bramble.' Bernie introduced, grinning warmly as she pointed at each cat to infer their identity. Serena had to hide her happiness behind a passive pursing of her lips, approaching Bernie to find her with a slight redness in her face that Serena refused to ignore. "Serena, don't pout - look at how cute they are!"
"Bernie, I cannot believe that you have decided to bring home three cats without consulting me first. This is not what we agreed upon - you are impossible!" Serena exclaimed, smirking slightly through her anger as she stooped down. "Hello darlings.."
The blonde couldn't help but grin a little at how quickly her girlfriend had given in to temptation and become enamoured with the little kittens. As Shadow crawled over her chest, she felt a sneeze brewing and held her breath to hold it, careful to not to alarm the small feline with her sharp incline of breath. Bramble was kneading her paws against the carpet, meowing as her brother fell in to the side of her and knocked her over comically. Serena nipped her lip between her teeth as she kneeled and outstretched a hand to run along the tabby's belly.
It had taken all of two minutes for Serena to accept defeat and tumble on to the floor beside Bernie and watch the new arrivals as they explored their surroundings.
Over the next few weeks, Serena had noticed that Bernie had been quite unwell; not worryingly so but still enough that she ought to question it if it didn't go away soon. Bernie had been ignoring it, hiding her sneezes and making sure to keep her face well-powdered at all times in order to hide the redness that was coating her face and neck. People at work had started to notice, but it was easy to assume that she was simply struggling with the emergence of spring.
"Marmalade!" Serena chastised as she walked in to the kitchen to find the most boisterous of the trio scratching at the door, taking chunks out of the paint with every shred. "I swear, why did I ever agree to getting cats? Oh, wait - I didn't."
There was evidence of the cats' presence in every corner of the house - carpeting that was coming up at the edges, remnants of cat food scattered around and threads strewn about the floor when Serena's clothes had been subject to eager claws and playful teeth. Serena did think the cats were sweet, and she appreciated having someone to come home to when Bernie was on the late shift, but they were extremely difficult to live with and they contested even Bernie's ability to make a mess.
It had been increasingly hard to cope with living with Bernie while she was sick - it was challenging to deal with a tired and groggy Bernie, even if she was doing everything in her power to appear fine and in the best health. After almost three months of owning the kittens, it became apparent that Bernie's health issues weren't short lived, and in a bout of concern, Serena confronted her about it one evening.
"Bernie, you have to tell me what's wrong. I know that you have the answer so don't pretend to be clueless, just tell me the truth." Serena ordered, keeping her tone level yet sharp as she stood in front of Bernie where she sat on the couch, Shadow curled up in her lap asleep.
"Well, the thing is-" Bernie uttered quietly, feeling extremely awkward in the knowledge that there was no way for her to rationally escape the situation. "You see, the reason that I've been so ill recently…I know why. It's-"
"Bern', just tell me! You're worrying me!" Serena exclaimed, hands siting on her hips as she stood, waiting impatiently for an explanation from her guilt-ridden girlfriend.
"It's the cats!" The words burst out of Bernie's mouth before she could stop herself, the blurted it out quickly before averting her gaze immediately to look down at the cat where she rested against the silk of her pyjama bottoms. "I'm allergic to them!"
The brunette looked at her with shock in her eyes, unsure of how to process the information she had just received and eager to know what on Earth had possessed Bernie to subject herself to such suffering. Bernie didn't seem like the type to suffer in silence, and she certainly didn't seem the type to subject herself unnecessarily. Why hadn't she just told Serena the minute she found out—
"Excuse me?" Serena interjected abruptly, realising in a split second that this couldn't have been new to Bernie. "How long have been aware of this?"
"A while…" Bernie responded evasively, running her fingertips through Shadow's black fur softly.
"How long's a while?" Her girlfriend asked intrusively, bitter in her tone as she knew the answer she was going to receive.
"Just a few months, maybe a year or two."
"Since before we got them! You brought home three cats without asking me, and persuaded me to keep them despite the fact you knew you were allergic to them! What were you thinking?" Serena's eyes were so wide that they might fallen out of her head if it weren't for them being held in quite so tightly. Her jaw dropped open as she took a moment to accept what she had just heard before proceeding to continue her ranting. "I have put up with this for months - sneezing, coughing, rashes, bloodshot eyes, people at work thinking all sorts! I cannot believe you wouldn't tell me about this! Why would you actively choose to go out and get three cats?!"
Bernie raised her eyes through her eyelashes, pouting slightly as she lifted Shadow up to remind Serena just how gorgeous she was, only to find that there was no hint of a smile on her girlfriend's face behind the effervescent anger lingering in her eyes. There was no hint of forgiving even as she took Shadow from Bernie and held her close against her chest, and Bernie simply pursed her lips and fought the urge to smile. In the corner of the room, Marmalade and Bramble were curled together as they napped, so unaware of what was happening as was their sister resting in the gentle arms of her very unhappy owner.
"Have you been taking anti-histamines?"
"I couldn't risk you finding any of the scrips'. I will now, I promise." The blonde replied guiltily, ignoring the tickle in her nose as it really would top it off if she sneezed right now. "Please don't be mad - you know you wouldn't have let me get them otherwise, and it's not like I could leave them to go to the shelter!"
"I can't be angry at you for taking them, I can be angry at you for lying about something so ridiculous though!" Serena retorted, giggling as she snuggled the black cat in to her chest and grinned widely at the hilarity of the situation. "I can't believe you are such an idiot!"
Bernie scoffed, standing up and striding to the corner where she lifted the two other kittens from where they had been resting and nuzzled them close to her face in adoration. Serena looked across at her disdainfully though the smile on her face was undoubtable, nobody bore witness to her weak-willed attempt at chastisement other than Shadow, who laid snugly in her arms without a care in the world.
The cats were staying.
