Coming up for air – part one?

The morning sun peaked over the rooftop of the house and crawled along the tiles surrounding the pool. As the harsh morning rays of the sun reached the crumbled up body on the deck chair she started stirring. She placed her arm across her face to keep the light out, letting out a grunt of discomfort.

Her first thoughts were of Tina. It was like that every morning and had been that way for months and months. When she thought about it, it had been like that every day since they met, only for the seven years they were together it was morning thoughts of light and love, of sweet caresses, of Tina’s gentle voice, soft skin, of her laughter so close to Bette’s body that it reverberated into her very soul. Now however, the thoughts were of her own betrayal, deceit – and well – nausea. Nausea from the guilt as well as from the two bottles of red wine she drank the night before.

With great difficulty she moved her body up. She stretched her aching limbs and coughed, an ugly unfamiliar sound that resembled the way she felt. As Bette rose and stumbled towards the house away from the bright light, she caught her own reflection in the patio doors. The sight made her stop in her tracks and look harder. Bette hardly recognized herself, a stranger looking back at her. She looked like a ghost. Her skin had an almost gray shade. Her eyes were puffy and blood-shot. The lips were dry and bloody where her teeth had bit into the soft flesh in frustration. A bad habit she had stopped trying to quit.
She leaned in and let her forehead rest against the glass. It felt cool, numbing the headache momentarily.
“Tina…” she whispered, her breath fogging up the glass door.

Bette collapsed on the couch and pulled a pillow over her head. She wished for sleep, for numbness, for peace. But Bette knew none of that these days. She knew self-loathing, anguish, and remorse, the familiarity of those feelings hitting her hard as she tried her best to block out the world.

—–

Kit pulled up to the curb outside the house that used to be her home away from home. It didn’t look like much these days. The front yard that used to be kept meticulously by Tina’s capable hands was now a mess, at best. The yard resembled it’s current resident, only barely living, not sure if it wanted to make the effort to stay alive. Kit shook her head at the thought of the state of her sister these days. How the tables had turned. It was now Kit’s turn to keep Bette on her feet, to clean up Bette’s messes. Kit was not at all sure she was up to the task.