Winter was jolted out of her sleep by a sharp, stinging slap on the backside.

Groaning, she rolled over, rubbing her sore bottom only to find Giselle sprawled out on her bed, grinning mischievously. Beside her was Ningning, who smothered Banana in a storm of relentless kisses.

The poor cat wriggled in her fingers, throwing jerky nervous glances her way every now and then over to Winter, but he did not scratch or spit-something that sent an annoying twinge of jealousy through Winter.

She couldn't even get a head rub in without getting swiped, yet here he sat, putting up with Ningning's endless affection.

She shot Giselle a half-hearted glare. "Butt slap necessary?

She shrugged back, meeting her glare with a smirk.

"Consider it payback for your snoring," she teased. They both laughed, the tension breaking into easy amusement.

Giselle sobered, looking at her with a question lingering in her eyes.

"How's Mrs. Kim?"

Winter's smile wavered slightly.

"She's okay," she replied softly, a faint sadness slipping through her words.

Banana backed away toward the edge of the bed, jumping down hurriedly, before finally letting out a breath.

Ningning sprang onto the bed, bouncing softly, and the three friends lay together, staring silently at the ceiling. And only after such a long time, she had her say, with a voice very soft.

"Winter, when are you going to start getting out?"

Winter stared up at the ceiling as she quickly shot back, a little on the defensive. "I just came back from mom's."

Giselle let out a deep sigh and pointedly looked at her.

"You know that's not what she means."

Winter sat up and pushed sleep from her face with a shrug.

"I don't need to," she almost definitively replied.

Almost at the same time, Ningning thrust herself up too, a serious expression over her regular carefree face.

"You can't live with just Banana forever, you know."

With that remark, sitting nearby, Banana let out an indignant meow, as if he had heard and taken this as personal.

Winter laughed, pointing in his direction.

"See, even Banana's against you on this one." She tried to steer the conversation away, but Ningning remained silent, the laughter slowly dying down.

Winter's expression softened and she muttered, "It's all right. I have you guys."

Giselle lying in the bed with her arms above her head, snorted.

"Yeah, but you never come to visit us. It's always us coming here."

Winter took a deep breath, lowering her head. She felt the weight of concern her friends had for her, suspended in the air, thick and heavy.

Something was needed, perhaps, in this moment; perhaps a switch of topics. Giselle leaned over slightly toward Ningning and nodded subtly, and Ningning took that cue, allowing the subject to slide, allowing the moment to settle in.

"So," said Giselle nonchalantly as she stretched her arms out in a dramatic yawn.

"Got any snacks left for Banana?

Winter smiled, and the small smile returned to her face. They settled back into the stillness of the warm sun pouring through the large window, filling her room with soft light and fresh air. And as they lay there, easy as it was with her friends, it was all that she really needed sometimes for comfort.

_

In winter's still apartment, the evening had come quietly into place. Giselle and Ningning having gone out, she lay alone with Banana, the little black cat sprawled across her stomach, purring softly because he rubbed his fur in light circles.

It was silently quiet inside the room compared to the whirlwind of thoughts that attacked her brain.

Winter's fingers fumbled over Banana as she thought back to the words of her friends, concerned glances, subtle hints she needed to go out and reconnect with life. They were right, and deep down, she knew it-but it doesn't make it any easier.

Everything came crashing down seven months ago. It caught her off guard when news of her mother's illness arrived. The surgery pulled her at the very brim of her MMA dream, made her leave her final tournament, and she was just a fight away from winning that gold medal she dreamed about all her life, yet there was no hesitation.

Mrs. Kim needed her, and Winter had left everything behind for it. And for that decision, she'd paid starkly: the championship board had ruled her withdrawal a violation and banished her for good.

What ensued next was a loop-her mother's condition locked in a fragile state of recovery, the interminable weeks clocking through in the hospital, the weight of hopelessness that cinched around her chest with each passing day.

Her world collapsed, flowing toward her apartment and the hospital room where Mrs. Kim had lain. Depression in a shroud enveloped her, slapping all she did with a kind of distance, dimness.

Banana, though, was something that had grown to coax her smallest smiles and their glimmer of reality.

Deep inside her bones, she felt the weight as she let out a heavy sigh. From the blinding lights of the MMA ring to this-she seemed to trudge through a quiet apartment with too much time to think, suddenly shifting everything she'd known to nothing.

Still, she wouldn't have changed a thing. Not one thing, not even her mom's annoying penchant for guilt-by way of Mrs. Kim.

Winter finally sat up, having taken a deep breath and placing Banana down gently on the floor. She moved into the kitchen, forcing herself to go through the motions of cooking dinner.

She cooked something simple, a few quiet minutes that filled her empty apartment with the smell of cooking. Banana would be wound around her legs, his soft fur brushing against her ankles as he waited for his share.

She sat down but was no longer hungry. Pushing at the food with a fork, she swallowed hardly enough to fill her throat, but her stomach churned, nausea gripping her throat.

She coughed again, lowered the fork, and reached for the glass of water beside her, as if drinking from it would somehow wash away the feeling.

Banana meowed softly rubbing against her in concern.

"I'm okay, Banana," she whispered, scratching his ears.

"Just...give me a minute." She gritted through enough bites to determine that she had to swallow her meds.

She forced herself to eat some more bites, her eyes unfocused; every bite was a pain but somehow she did it, locked between the taste of food and the ache of exhaustion.

She settled once more into her bed; she was exhausted and couldn't muster the energy to turn off the lights. Banana curled into a ball beside her, his body warm against her side in his gentle weight.

She breathed in through her nose, closed her eyes, and listened to the purring sounds that were familiar in the silence.

She had fallen asleep gazing calmly, surrounded by the soft lulling tunes from her little faithful friend.