Author's note: Thank you Chrissie 42 for taking the time to read and leave your thoughts on the previous chapter. I really appreciate that and I am glad to hear you're enjoying reading this story.
Chapter Fifty-One
The morning sunlight poured through the room swiftly awaking Lorna from her rather restful slumber. Her eyes opened and immediately squinted from the brightness of the sun's rays beaming over her. She sat herself up, throwing the sheet and comforter off of her body and took a few moments to stretch herself. When she finished, she quickly got up, made the bed, and grabbed a pair of clothes from her suitcase to take with her into the adjoining bathroom.
Once in there, and the door shut and locked behind her, she switched on the light as well as turned the knob of the water on inside the shower. The wide mirror which took up nearly half of the wall directly in front of the shower sent a shiver down Lorna's spine. She hadn't even undressed herself yet and she already felt nauseous to see the reflection it projected back of her. Swallowing thickly, Lorna very reluctantly removed her shirt and pants first. Before taking off her underwear, she took a few moments to look thoroughly over her bare abdomen and thighs.
The sight innately caused her head to shake, disgusted to observe all of the flabby flesh that made up her stomach and upper legs. She reached a hand down to her gut and pulled at a chunk of the skin, yearning to chop it off right then and there. Her hand gradually moved down to her thighs, repeating the same movement and letting out a sigh. There was nothing about her body that she liked and none of it would ever be worthy of being seen or touched by sweet, precious, Nicky. She frustratingly smacked her hand against the flesh of her abdomen and turned away from the mirror to enter inside the shower.
Hot water poured down from the head connected to the top of the wall. Lorna shut her eyes and allowed herself to relax at the sensation of the warm water running over her skin. Though her mind swirled with thoughts of why she shouldn't let herself enjoy standing beneath the running water. Thoughts that told her she was unworthy and undeserving of anything that brought her even the slightest amount of joy or peace. She grunted at the unrelenting chatter inside her head and cupped her hands to gather some of the water with.
With a decent amount of water now cradled in her hands, she lifted it to her face and splashed the water upon it. She hoped the motion would have subdued the whirling thoughts but in actuality, it only seemed to enhance the mind chatter. Her eyes searched the area and the sight of a lonely razor blade lying on the wall-embedded soap bed was observed from the corner of them. Naturally, Lorna reached a hand out for it; cupping it securely around the tiny object.
The small blade felt cold against the skin of her palm. It ignited a faint shiver out of her body and she used her other hand to turn the hot water knob up a tad further. After, she returned her focus onto the blade lying upon the other hand. Her eyes looked it over in a vastly precise manner. It wasn't much bigger than a quarter the closer she stared. Something that little had no business cutting deep wounds into human skin. Yet, that was exactly what she had planned on using it for. Maybe not too deep, though, she certainly didn't want to risk needing stitches or anything crazy like that.
Not too much time passed before Lorna finally deemed herself ready to follow her plan she'd mentally laid out. She took a final glance over the blade, swallowing anxiously, and shifted her eyes over to her legs. They searched thoroughly around them, trying to locate a discrete spot that would easily be covered from the view of others. She settled for a place on her upper thigh and maneuvered the blade so that it was pinched between thumb and pointer finger. Once it was brought onto the flesh of her thigh, she carefully rested the blade on the top of it and allowed it to just sit there a few seconds while she mentally readied herself for what was to come.
Her eyes squeezed shut as she slowly dug the sharp part of the blade into her skin. The contact between them was a lot less painful than Lorna was expecting. She didn't even flinch. In fact, the nonexistent pain only encouraged her to stick the sharp edge of metal into the flesh a second and, even, a third time. Each time it caused minimal pain while drawing a small amount of blood—miniscule, really. The blood washed away from the running water and watching that brought a serene sensation over Lorna. As if she was witnessing the bad parts of her wither away.
There was a euphoric feeling that came along with each cut through her skin—she wanted to keep going and going but the water started to turn cold and so she decided it was time she got out of there.
By the time she dried off, dressed in her day clothes, and made her way down the stairs, it was already mid-morning. When she arrived at the bottom of the staircase, right on the cusp of the sitting room and entryway, she was greeted by Cal and Piper hurriedly grabbing their shoes from the rack next to the door and pushing their feet into them. She turned her head to peek through the rest of the room but found that Mr. and Mrs. Chapman were nowhere in sight. Her focus returned to the pair of siblings, eyebrows arched over curious eyes.
Shoes now covering her feet, Piper reached for her coat off of the coat stand. She was halfway into it when her eyes finally noticed Lorna standing a few feet away from both she and Cal. Looking blatantly confused and somewhat uneasy. Piper finished pulling her arm through the other arm hole before properly focusing her attention on the brunette. "Cal and I are headed into town for a coffee. Wanna come? We always go to this nice little coffee house down there on Saturday mornings," she offered with a friendly smile.
That would work out rather perfectly with her plans for the day, Lorna came to acknowledge. If the coffee place Piper was talking about was the one she and Nicky always went to, then she could walk right to Nicky's place afterwards and save her the trouble of having to drive up there. A smile melded onto her face and she nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yeah, that'd be real nice. I think that might be the same one I go to for coffee—it doesn't happen to be the one a few blocks down from that creepy old cemetery is it?"
"The coffee shop by the creepy old cemetery? The owner missed the opportunity to call it the Creepy Coffee House," Cal chimed in with a chuckle and arched up lightly-colored eyebrows.
Despite the shake of her head, Piper stifled a laugh at her brother's absurd comment. He was too much, she thought, but without him, life would be utterly dull and boring. "Why don't you tell that to them then, Cal? Maybe you could get a cut for helping them rename the place with such a cutting edge title," sarcasm clearly the main inflection in her voice as her eyes looked her younger brother over methodically.
She didn't give him a chance to respond before turning back to return Lorna's gaze. A more genuine smile took up space on her face. "I'm pretty sure that's the same one we go to. They have good coffee and it's nice to get a break from the regular black every day coffee."
"Oh, you're just so funny, Pipes," the blond teen muttered, though a smirk sat across his cheeks. He walked nearer the door, turning before opening it and called out, "I'll be in the car, ladies."
With the sound of the front door closing, the two girls stood there a few moments longer while Lorna quickly put on her own shoes and coat. "That'll make my day a whole lot easier. My girlfriend lives a few blocks down from the coffee shop and, erm, we have plans to hang out at her place so she was gonna drive up here to get me but now I can just walk there after we get coffee. So, uh, this really worked out good."
The two shared a friendly smile before following in Cal's footsteps and heading out the door behind him. Piper stayed back to lock the door and then made her way to her car, taking ownership of the driver's side seat.
From the Chapman's house to the coffee shop was a bit of a longer drive than Lorna was used to. Grant it, they did happen to live slightly farther out than where the Morello house had been located—so, of course, it made sense as to why the drive took a little longer. However, the car pulled up to a spot and parked along the side of the road behind a row of a few other cars. Lorna didn't wait for the two others; she threw her seatbelt off and swiftly pushed open the door.
As she stood on the outside, the sun beaming down on her, she realized how unusually warm it was and rolled up the sleeves of her coat. She walked down the two cement pads from Piper's car to the front door of the coffee shop and chirpily opened its front door. The bell chimed while she stepped inside, alerting the baristas of her presence. She turned her head and noticed the Chapman siblings were just now getting out of the car. Her feet naturally made their way down to where the sales counter was.
With it being a Saturday morning—rather mid-morning—Lorna was expecting there to be a longer line but was relieved to see only one other person in front of her. And by the looks of it, the person appeared to only be waiting for their coffee to finish being prepared. She watched as they were, within a few seconds, being handed a plastic traveler's cup of coffee and then quickly made their way back towards the door. Her eyes averted back onto the counter in front of her and a smile formed when it was her sister she saw on the other side of it.
"Hi, Franny," she greeted in a vivacious tone, walking closer to the tall wooden counter and grabbing her handbag from her shoulder. Placing it on the surface, she rummaged through it for her wallet and took out the proper amount of cash. "Can I have the Cinnamon Toast Crunch latte, please?"
The taller brunette instantly turned around at the sound of her younger sister's voice. Her blue eyes peered her over meticulously, trying to read her as best as she could. A smile made its way onto her face and she gently reached a hand across to frame around Lorna's cheek. Having her sister so far away had been taking a toll on her. Sure, she knew Lorna could be a handful and was damn good at fraying every last one of her nerves—but that certainly didn't mean she wanted for her to have to stay with a family none of them even knew.
Franny sighed. At least Lorna looked well. Or well enough. "Of course, hon. Ain't that what ya always get anyway? Ya ain't even gotta tell me, I can just guess," she pointed out in a light-hearted manner and the two of them shared a warm chuckle.
While she got to work at preparing the coffee for her sister, she shifted her eyes just enough so that she could see Lorna from the corner of them. "How're ya doin', Lorn? Is everything good with you? They treatin' my baby sister well over there?" The questions came out of her so fast that there wasn't any time for her to stop them. She clicked the switch for the frothing machine and while that worked its magic, she retained her stare on the smaller brunette across from her.
"I'm okay, Franny. Still getting used to it but they're nice. I actually came here with Mr. and Mrs. Chapman's son and daughta. They should be coming in soon," Lorna responded, automatically twisting her head around to peer back out through the window on the door. The pair of them sure seemed to be taking their good ole' time, she thought.
Nodding, Franny grabbed the cup from underneath the machine—once she heard the switch click off—and brought it back to the front of the counter where she covered it with a lid and handed it to her sister. The look on her sister's face was hard for her to decipher. A puff of air made its way from her lungs. There wasn't time for her to ponder any deeper by the sound of the bell above the door ringing once more.
Her head turned towards to it and she noticed the brother and sister making their down from the entrance. She squinted her eyes and recognized them to be repeat customers who happened to stop by nearly every Saturday morning for a cup of coffee. Shifting her head slightly back onto Lorna, she moved her eyebrows up as if silently questioning her on if those were the Chapman siblings. When a nod was given, she actually felt her body relax somewhat. At least her sister was living with a seemingly normal family, she concluded.
"What can I get the two a ya this morning? The usual?" Franny queried. Two nods were received and so she went to work on getting those made.
Lorna, however, stood there stunned. Eyebrows curved over two very surprised eyes. The usual? That meant Franny had interacted with Cal and Piper before. Then she mentally slapped herself when she realized that it was only natural Franny would ask if the two wanted their usual—Piper previously informed her that she and Cal had stopped by the coffee shop every Saturday. Obviously that would make them regular customers and regular customers usually had the baristas remembering their orders rather innately. That was only natural. She sighed and placed a hand on either side of her forehead.
"Sorry we took so long," Piper apologized between breaths, still trying to catch it from the running she and Cal had done to make it inside before the unexpected rainfall began. Her eyes slightly narrowed as she focused in on her younger brother. "Cal, over there, thought it'd be smart to jam in one of his cassettes into the player without checking to see if one was already in it." She glared even darker at the boy, "And now, not only does my cassette player not work but both cassettes half their films are scrambled all over the front two seats of my car."
Cal bit down on his lower lip to keep himself from letting out a snicker. He bounced his shoulders up in a shrug, "Ah, Pipes, but that was only an experiment for my science class."
Shaking her head, the blonde woman folded her arms over her chest and stared harder at him. "Oh, really? And exactly what kind of science experiment would that be? Jamming as many cassettes in a cassette player as possible to watch it break?"
"Yeah, that's basically it," Cal playfully retorted back.
The two were interjected from saying anything further on the matter by the sound of plastic cups being placed on the surface of the counter. Each of them grabbed their respective coffees after Franny told them which was who's and Piper reached into her purse for her wallet, taking out a credit card and handing it over to the brunette.
Franny rung up the order on the register and as she waited for the receipt to print out she utilized that time to look over the two customers very carefully. They weren't bad people, she knew that much from their politeness that they always seemed to exuberate when stopping by for their coffees. Sure, the boy seemed a bit odd but so was Lorna at times.
"I'm Lorna's sista," she stated once the receipt finally printed and she carefully handed it across to Piper. Suddenly, a protectiveness came over her and all she wanted was to make truly sure that her sister was in good hands with the Chapmans. Because she had no clue when her guardianship request would finally go through the system to be accepted.
Piper nearly choked on her coffee upon hearing that. Not that what she heard was a bad thing but rather wasn't something she had been expecting to hear right at that particular moment. She covered her hand over her mouth in case any of the liquid came out and once she was able to stop coughing, she swallowed hard. "Really?" Her eyes watched as the older woman gradually nodded her head. Piper followed suit and found herself nodding as well. "Well, what a small world. What's your name?"
"Franny," Lorna jumped in before the other brunette even had the chance to speak. "Her name is Franny. She's my sista." There was a faint irritation that seeped from her voice. Something that took her by surprise the second she noticed it. When had she become so flustered? Why was she even flustered to begin with? Her mind ran ramped.
Lorna twisted herself so fast that she thought for sure her neck would have snapped in half. Eyes peered over the two blonde Chapmans with an indistinguishable mien etched on her face. "Ya said you come here every Saturday, don't you?" An uneasy nod was given to her from the older blonde and, for an unknown reason, that only fueled her current irritation. "Then how come ya don't know my sista's name is Franny, huh? I mean ya see her make your coffees every week and ya don't even got the decency to remember her name?"
The two blondes stood back in a bit of shock from Lorna's unanticipated outburst. Neither said anything or even budged an inch, unsure of what to do or say next.
Franny, on the other hand, gave her sister a serious look and crossed her arms over her chest. It was blatant to her that something was eating at the girl's nerves for her to speak out in such a hostile tone as the one she just did moments ago. "Lorna, stop it. It's not a big deal. Not like I know their names either, hon. They come once a week, not every day. Besides why are ya so bothered by that? It don't affect you," she pointed out, worried lines forming from the flesh of her forehead.
"Should we go?" Cal interrupted, eyebrows arched up in utter confusion. He looked between Piper and the two brunettes, not quite sure what was happening. "Yeah, Pipes, let's go sit at a table far, far, away. Leave these two to hash out whatever it is they're hashing out."
With the two of them gone to occupy one of the tables, Franny took that chance to walk over to the gate which separated the dining area from the employee area and held it open, motioning with her hand for Lorna to come through. Lorna complied, hesitantly of course, and Franny led her to the break room so the pair of them could talk without anyone else overhearing what might be said.
Lorna sullenly plopped down in one of the plastic chairs across from her sister and busied herself with a long sip of her coffee. She was in no mood to discuss any distasteful topics with her older sister today. That was for certain, she mentally affirmed. Today needed to be a good day. An easy day that she could allow herself to not worry about school, Annalisa, or the goddamn foster situation. She wasn't about to let Franny ruin that for her by sitting and interrogating her for god-only-knew how long.
Observing the younger brunette closely, Franny squinted her eyes when she caught a glimpse of an oddly shaded spec of skin beneath one of Lorna's. The discoloration appeared fresh, she noted, which meant it wasn't an old bruise from their father. Coming to such a conclusion formed a frown on her face. She swallowed hard and felt her hands ball into fists. She hoped to God that wasn't a sign that the foster family Lorna had been forced into also had abusive parents in it.
"What's the matter with your eye, Lorn? Why is there a dark mark under it?" The taller brunette with blue eyes inquired. She had to bite down on her tongue to keep the fury from showing. The facts needed to be given to her before she made any rash assumptions, she wordlessly reminded herself. Something she clearly struggled with doing when it came to her sister's well-being.
The question immediately brought Lorna's hand to cover up the flesh underneath her eyes. Shit, she thought. If Franny noticed it, that meant she did a shitty job of covering it up with make-up. And if it happened to be that easy for her sister to see through, it would prove to be even easier for Nicky to do so. A lump formed in her throat, she swallowed it down uneasily. The hand that was pressed against the skin below her eye Lorna patted it overtop as if to blend the make-up better. Obviously, it was too late. She sighed in defeat.
"What do ya mean, Fran? I just put too much mascara on this mornin' and it musta leaked down to my skin." Lorna shrugged her shoulders in a rather nonchalant manner, hoping desperately that her sister would buy it and drop the subject.
However, Franny did no such thing. The words her sister used to try to explain away the odd coloring were not convincing Franny of anything. She reached a hand across to place on the flesh below Lorna's eye and when she caught her wincing, she knew for sure her explanation was nothing more than a lie. The frown already on her face only intensified. She moved her hand from the mark and settled it on the bottom of Lorna's chin, gently lifting it so that they were on eye level.
"That's not from too much mascara, we both know that," her voice firmly pointed out, though her blue eyes peered her over in nothing except a deep concern. She brushed one of her fingers delicately along the flesh of the chin she cradled. A sigh forced its way out from her lungs. "The way ya flinched when I touched it proves that fact, hon. Now, tell me what happened. Where'd ya get that bruise, huh?"
Lorna's chest rapidly tightened. She should have taken her time to properly cover that damn discoloration up better. Now, her grave had been dug even deeper as if that was possible. Any deeper and she might as well just bury herself alive. To procrastinate her response a tad further, she picked up her cup of coffee and sipped the warm liquid slowly. The sensation of it sliding from her mouth down to her throat was rather soothing. Kept her calm even though her thoughts were spinning like crazy.
The clearing of her sister's throat made Lorna unnervingly gulp. Staying quiet any longer wouldn't be of any benefit to either of them, she realized. She sighed and stared slightly off into the abyss while trying to construct a response to the older girl's question. Her mind pondered for a few minutes before she remembered what she had told the Chapmans when they had questioned her the prior evening. Clearly, she needed to keep it consistent in order for everyone to believe her.
"Yeah, you're right," she muttered against the plastic of her coffee cup she'd still held near her mouth. "I just I get embarrassed over it. You know how clumsy I am, Fran. We were playin' dodgeball in PE yesterday and I got hit by a ball, that's why my eye is bruised." A few new details added to the story she had regurgitated to the Chapman clan during last evening's dinner.
Much to Lorna's satisfaction, Franny nodded her head attentively. The reason sounded sufficient enough for her. Her fingers caressed gently around the skin of the younger brunette's chin. Lorna certainly was the most ungraceful person she knew when it came to physical activities like sports and whatnot. It made perfect sense, now, why there lied a bruise under her sister's eye. "Well, Lorn, ya gotta be more careful. Looks like ya got in a fight or somethin'. I'm glad it's just from you being a klutz and not what I was thinking," she informed the other. Her hand moved Lorna's face closer so that she could drop a motherly kiss to the top of her head. Relieved would be an understatement.
Bouncing her shoulders in a muted shrug, Lorna lifted her cup of coffee once more and guzzled a good portion of it down. The only thing her stomach actually had the chance to digest lately. Her eyes shifted onto Franny's face and she perked her eyebrows up somewhat. "Did ya hear anything about the guardianship yet, Fran?"
The query reinstated the frown that had previously taken up form. Franny hesitantly shook her head. It had been a mere week since she'd turned in the huge packet of paperwork and still had yet to receive a call that they'd even gotten it. "Not a thing, hon. Hopefully soon. But if not by Tuesday, I'll try callin' their office. That CPS person did say it could take a while, though, Lorn. We gotta be patient. And speaking of patient, I think ya got a therapy session coming up in a week. Ya want me to come get ya from the Chapman's? I think it'd be better if I take ya to it, don't you?"
"It better be real soon. I miss you and Marco," Lorna grumbled through her teeth. Despite it only being a week she'd been staying with the Chapman family, it felt more like an eternity or two. She puffed out a breath of air and rested her head on her arms which were laid out on the table in front of her. "Yeah, please, Fran. It'd be better that way. Mrs. Chapman already thinks I'm a mess, don't want her to think even more a that by knowing I gotta go see a shrink."
Placing another comforting kiss to her sister's head, Franny shook her head and got up to walk over to the other side where she was to wrap her in a much-needed embrace. "You're not a mess, hon. And if this Mrs. Chapman says that to ya, she has another thing comin'. The only one who can call ya a mess is me and that's only because I'm your sista and it's outta love."
The walk from the coffee shop to the front porch of Nurse Reznikov's and Nicky's place was a short one. A relaxing, short, one at that. The little drizzle of rain from earlier had long fizzled out and sunshine poured down from the sky making Lorna's journey a warm and pleasant one. Her mood chirpy once more after the long, clearly essential, conversation she had with Franny in that secluded break room. She lifted one of her hands to knock on the beautifully carved wooden front door.
A smile melded to her face as she caught sight of a rabbit hopping about the grass in Red's yard. The rabbit seemed rather serene, angelic even, while it jumped from one spot to the next. Her eyes picked up on the creaking of wood against hard flooring and she turned her head back towards the front door where she was greeted by Red's standing on the other side of it. There sat a warm smile from one cheek to the other and she opened the door all the way so that Lorna could fully enter through it.
Lorna obliged, walking inside and naturally taking off her shoes as to not track any mud or grass from outside. Once she placed her shoes on the shoe mat right beside the door, she followed Mrs. Reznikov into the kitchen where a kettle of tea whistled on the stove and a pot of coffee finished brewing on the countertop next to it.
With the kettle making the most noise, Red decided to tend to that first. She walked over to the stovetop, turning one of the heating knobs all the way to the right to shut it off, and picked the kettle up to bring over to where she'd placed her cup. Hot water poured into it up to the very rim. Red placed the kettle back down and grabbed a tea-bag to place in her mug of water. While it steeped, she lifted her head to focus her blue eyes on Lorna. Who seemed much more like her bubbly self than the last time she'd spent the night there.
"Would ya like coffee or tea?" She questioned with a warm smile. A question that was probably pointless seeing as she knew how much both Lorna and Nicky adored their coffees. But it was a question she had asked, nonetheless.
Returning Red's smile with one of her own, Lorna grabbed herself a mug that she'd seen sitting in the strainer near the sink and set it down by the darkly-filled pot of coffee. "Do ya even have to ask? Coffee, please. Do you got cream and Splenda, Red?"
Shaking her head, Mrs. Reznikov let out a laugh and pointed towards a drawer on the other side of the kitchen. "You're right, I didn't even have to ask. Splenda's in there and I'll get out the creamer," Red told her. She walked over to the fridge while Lorna went to retrieve the sweetener and took the carton of half-and-half from inside it. She carried it back over to where Lorna had placed the mug she'd chosen and set it on the counter beside it.
"Where did you come here from, Lorna? I'm assuming you walked, yes?" The queries escaped her as she took the pot of coffee from underneath the filter and poured a decent amount into Lorna's cup.
Cradling two yellow packets of sweetener in her hands, the petite brunette came back to where she placed the ceramic mug onto and emptied both sachets into it—the white powder instantly disintegrating upon contact with the golden brown liquid. Red handed her a spoon, which she graciously took, and she used that to stir it all together with. Her brown eyes shifted up to peer back at the Russian woman. "You're not gonna believe this, Red, but I was at the coffee shop down the street with the two siblings from the foster family I'm staying with."
Red chuckled and placed a gentle hand on Lorna's shoulder, patting it warmly. "So ya went and had a fancy coffee and then you come here and have another coffee? Lorna, honey, did you ever think you might have a coffee problem?" The pair of them shared a laugh before Red gestured for Lorna to follow her to the table.
The brunette abided, walking over to sit in the chair across from Mrs. Reznikov. Her hand made its way through the handle of the mug—which she had cradled—and she lifted it to her lips for a savoring sip. A light-hearted smirk molded onto her face from one cheek to the other. Having a coffee problem was something she happily admitted to. Coffee was a delicacy that she felt no shame for her obsession over. She took a couple more sips of it before setting the mug atop the table's surface.
"I can't help it, Red, my Nonna used to fix me and my sista and brotha coffee soup when we were kids," Lorna recalled with a genuine smile on her face. She bounced her shoulders in a shrug.
Shaking her head, Red sipped her tea and peered the young teen over in a methodic manner. The revelation hadn't been too much of a surprise to her—growing up in Europe, it was common ground for grandparents to give grandchildren small amounts of coffee and—in some families—miniscule sips of wine. Still, she was in a chipper mood this morning, and by the looks of it so was Lorna, so she decided to keep with the good-natured banter.
"Started drinking coffee as a child? How old were ya having this coffee soup, hmm?"
Lorna felt her smile morph into a more sheepish one now. Cheeks turned a light shade of pink, which wasn't too noticeable unless one was sitting right beside her. "I think I mighta been two or three the first time I had it." She couldn't resist the small giggle that escaped her at the lovely memory.
Red's eyes quickly widened at the disclosure. That was rather young to be drinking a beverage like coffee, she rationalized. Another long sip she took of her tea before responding to the other's statement. "Two or three? That's barely older than a baby. A little young to be having coffee, don't you think?" Despite the query, a light laugh escaped from her. She finished off what was left of her tea and carried it over to place in the sink.
"Who's a little young to be drinkin' coffee?" Nicky's voice boomed through the room as she entered through the archway from the hall.
Her hair sat along her shoulders and upper back, dripping wet from the shower she'd just gotten herself out of. She walked over to the counter to fix herself a cup of the very word she'd slipped out of her mouth a moment earlier.
The mug now washed and rinsed, Red place in the strainer to dry. She turned around to focus her eyes on Nicky and a bemused mien formed on her face to see the condition of her red curls. Hands rested over each of her hips; a finger pointed in the teen's direction, wagging slightly at her. "Why do you never run a brush through your hair after you shower, Nicky? Then ya wonder why it gets all knotted."
Nicky only shrugged while grabbing a mug from one of the cabinets and using the pot to pour hot liquid into it. After replacing the vessel under the machine, she cradled her cup in her hand and took a long awaited sip of it. Her eyes momentarily shut as the first taste hit her tongue. Nothing was better, in the morning, than that first sip of coffee. She walked over to the table and sat down. The mug was placed on its surface and for the first time, she noticed Lorna's presence. And a very notable discoloration on the skin below her right eye.
Instinctively, she reached a hand out and placed it tenderly onto that very spot. She peered her eyes affectionately into Lorna's while caressing her palm delicately around her flesh. "What happened to your eye, baby? Did someone do this to ya? I know that bruise was not there yesterday," the words firmly, yet lovingly, came out of her. Nicky kept a firm grasp on Lorna, wanting her to know there was no way to get out of answering her inquiry with anything other than the truth.
The rate of Lorna's heart-beat instantly raised an alarming amount from the question that so easily spilled from her girlfriend's mouth. She nearly choked on the coffee which had been in her mouth at the timing of Nicky's interrogation. It maddened her that she hadn't checked her face thoroughly enough before leaving the house. Now, even the girl she loved had realized the bruising below her eye. She felt a lump mold inside the pit of her stomach.
