"Kaira we've missed you," Kaira's friend, Grace, greeted with a hug. Kaira stiffened in her embrace but tried desperately to relax.

"It's good to see you too," Kaira said awkwardly. This felt all too familiar. It was the same coffee shop with the same action that it had happened. Kaira felt sick.

She could remember the sting on her cheek. All she had done was hug her. Tears pricked Kaira's eyes and she pushed Grace back. Grace stumbled back in surprise.

Kaira was never one to be violent or to refuse hugs. Grace glanced at her friend who was blinking in surprise as well. Just then, Kaira puked. She fell to the ground as the acid moved from the inside of her body, out. Grace screamed. That was all Grace could do.

After all, Kaira was the strong one who never cried and always laughed. She was the best hug giver and an awkward comforter. Yet, through everything, she smiled and it was contagious. But, now, Kaira heave out heaps of vomit onto a coffee shop's floor.

She was no longer smiling. She was a sobbing mess on the floor. A lady working at the coffee shop had come over and began to clean as Grace helped Kaira up. Grace was still processing what had happened while Kaira already had and was feeling ashamed. In fact, she hated herself for it. So the pair sat in the parking lot, one still processing and the other feeling full of shame, when Kaira turned towards Grace.

"I'm sorry," Kaira whispered out.

"What happened?" Grace asked. Kaira blinked in shock. Had she become temporarily blind? Kaira shook the thoughts from her head.

"Well, you hugged me then I shoved you and then I-" Kaira began to say but Grace cut her off.

"No, what happened to the smiling you? What happened?" Grace asked softly. Grace felt as if she talked to loud she would break her best friend. It's a good thing to because she probably would have.

"Nothing," Kaira said. Grace shook her head, refusing to be another person who believed all of her friends' lies. Grace had seen the worst of Kaira when she had first fallen of that perfect pedestal but she couldn't prepare herself for watching it again. Kaira inhaled deeply, the severity of the situation setting in. Kaira opened her mouth, the words threatened to spill out of her and reveal who her sweet girlfriend really was, but she closed it.

Kaira told herself that Caity was just going through a rough time and soon, the yelling would end. Grace blinked back tears as she took in her friend's appearance for that day, really took it in. Her skin seemed to lack it's healthy shine and, instead, was a sickly pale. The kind of pale that you'd only see in the hospital to those who were going to die. It was disgusting and Grace felt that discomfort thought her entire being.

"Please don't lie to me," Grace said, her voice barely above a whisper. The desperation of her words leaked into Kaira's skin and into her blood.

"My girlfriend is just going through a rough time and I am just feeling for her," Kaira said not quite lying but not being truthful. Grace sat in the car with Kaira as the air around the two filled with a sickening silence. Grace tried to read in between the lines to figure out what was wrong. A minute passed and then two before the realization hit Grace like a bunch of bricks.

Grace's hazel eyes flew up from her lap and rested upon her friend's wrist. The red marks from the day before was a painful reminder of the way Caity violently grabbed Kaira. It was all the evidence Grace needed to conform her suspicions. Grace's tan hand flew up to cover her shaking mouth and she suddenly felt very ill.

"Kaira," Grace said, tears beginning to fall out of her eyes,"she hurt you."

"She didn't mean to," Kaira said. It was the only thing she could think of to say. Kaira wanted Grace to know all the things her girlfriend had told her and all the times her lips pressed against her own in a vile, forceful manner but she also wanted to protect Caity. Kaira told herself that maybe she deserved it all and that Caity did it out of love.

"She did it out of love," Kaira croaked, her throat feeling like it was closing. Kaira's eyes shined from a glossy layer of tears making her dark blue eyes scream out for help. They seemed to call to Grace, begging her to disregard Kaira's lies and to hold her close. Grace did so as she reached a crossed the car and pulled Kaira into her arms. Kaira wanted to cry but she didn't, she held it back as strongly as she held onto her crying friend. The burning taste of her stomach acid would always remind her of this moment outside the coffee shop.