Chapter 56

The day Kai broke into Jennie's house was a blur of chaos for Lisa. She frantically called the police while rushing Jennie to her own house where they could be safe. The cops responded quickly to the break-in, but

Kai was no longer in the residence, so a search was conducted throughout the neighbourhood.

Finally, they caught the bastard hopping fences a few blocks away from Jennie's house. Apparently, his nose got broken while being tackled during the arrest.

Serves him right...

However, this information was not immediately relayed to Lisa who was doing her best to comfort her justifiably hysterical girlfriend. Jennie was convinced he would find them, her face streaked with a constant flow of tears, body trembling. Lisa's heart broke from seeing the state of her - after all, her worst nightmare had come true.

It was an absolute blessing that Lisa had arrived and given Jennie a chance to escape before.

Well, Lisa didn't want to think about what could've happened.

Once Kai was arrested, Lisa and Jennie were driven to the police station for questioning about the incident.

The police called Jennie's dad to tell him what happened, and he immediately left work to drive over.

Naturally, he was distraught, though his panicking wasn't necessarily helping Jennie's mental state. Lisa and an officer calmed him down and they talked through everything that happened.

It was late at night by the time the questioning was over, and Kai was secured in the county jail. Jennie clung to Lisa the whole time and Lisa did the best she could to just be there for her. She had no idea if what she was doing or saying was right, but all she could offer was her best. Few things seemed to be soothing Jennie's paranoia and fear.

Jennie's father told his parents about the whole situation and asked them to keep her twin brothers at their place. But that still left him and Jennie without a place to sleep - the house was now a crime scene, and the brunette obviously wouldn't want to step foot in there now anyway.

So, Lisa did the unthinkable. She relied on her mother.

Since her mom knew Jennie and her father, she was just honest about the situation and hoped the normally cruel matriarch would be willing to help.

And, sure enough, she did. Lisa's house had an extra room in the form of Jieun's old bedroom so Jennie's dad could stay there. And since Lisa was such a "close friend" of Jennie, they could both just sleep in Lisa's room.

Lisa could've nearly collapsed in relief at this news since she had no idea what to do. But sleeping in the same bed was not the romantic ordeal that she had imagined when they started dating. Most of the night was spent with Jennie sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder before falling asleep, waking up violently from a nightmare, and sobbing again.

Lisa sacrificed sleep to care for her traumatized girlfriend, terrified that if she nodded off, she wouldn't wake up when Jennie had another episode.

Unfortunately, happiness and peace didn't seem to come easily to the two girls. Lisa prepared for a long, uncertain road ahead. But one thing was for sure...

She wasn't going to leave Jennie on her own.

---

Days blended into weeks and by the time Spring Break ended, Jennie still wasn't quite ready to return to school. She, her father, and her brothers were returned to their home, but Jennie's dad decided that they needed to move promptly.

So, within a couple of weeks, he secured a new house on the south side of town. It was decently far from Jennie's old home (and, by extension, Lisa's), but apparently when he suggested moving to another state, Jennie was extremely resistant to the idea. She also didn't want to switch schools either, so the family was planning a transportation route for when she was ready to return.

The sun was beginning to set on a Saturday evening as Lisa dropped a box onto the floor of the second story in Jennie's new house. She let out a sigh, her body tired and sore from a day of helping with the move. She wiped some sweat off of her brow before standing up to prepare to leave for the day.

She'd been helping the family as much as she could, but Jennie had been rather distant the entire time. She didn't want to hear about what was going on with Kai in court and she didn't want to talk about the break in.

Most of her time was spent alone in her room, cuddling her cat, Donut. Even when Lisa was at the house, she didn't come out, so Lisa always had to go up and ask to be invited in.

It was difficult and lonely, but Lisa did her best to focus on supporting her girlfriend. She was recovering from a traumatic event, and only recently, after nearly a month since Kai's arrest, her mood was improving from therapy.

Lisa would just have to be patient.

"You're still here, Lisa?"

Lisa turned to see Jennie's father, Neil, in the doorway of the nearly empty study she was in. The middle-aged man looked older than his years at that moment. Who could blame him? He was a single father trying to deal with a traumatized teenager and two young boys.

"Ah, I was just about to leave," Lisa said, taking off her gloves and putting them in her pockets. "Unless you needed some help with something else?"

"No, no," Neil assured her. "You've done so much for us already. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"Well, it's the least I can do with what you guys are going through." Lisa replied before changing the subject. She dropped her voice a little lower to prevent Jennie from hearing her in the other room.

"Have you heard any news on Kai?"

"Well, since he surprisingly plead guilty, things are moving fast," Neil answered with a sigh. "I guess that's one stroke of luck we got from all of this. He'll probably be locked up for a while since he's caught a felony."

Lisa hummed in response. The stalker was out of their hair for a while, but it still hadn't seemed to ease Jennie's anxiety.

"I better get going," Lisa stated, moving towards the door of the room.

"You're not going to see Jennie before?" Neil asked.

"She hasn't spoken to me all day, so I figured she might want to be left alone," Lisa said, trying her best not to sigh in frustration. "I'll text her later."

"Alright, Lisa," Neil said. "Drive home safe."

"Will do, thank you, sir."

And with that, Lisa walked into the hallway of the second floor. Once she was out of sight and earshot from Jennie's father, she rubbed her face, allowing herself to feel the exhaustion in her bones. She'd go home, eat something, take a hot shower.

They were comforting activities, but Lisa couldn't help but feel lonely imagining them.

Still, she pulled herself together and moved to descend the stairs. But before she could, she heard the sound of a door creaking open behind her.

"Lisa," a small voice called, so quiet that Lisa could've mistaken it for the wind.

She turned her head and saw Jennie standing in the cracked doorway of her bedroom. Although she'd been confined to the room for the entire day, she had makeup on and was dressed. Her expression was level and controlled, more so than Lisa had seen it in a long time.

"Hey, how are you?" Lisa asked softly, turning half around. "I was just about to head home."

"Would you be able to stay a little longer?" Jennie asked, her eyes shimmering a little in the somewhat dim light of the hallway.

Lisa wasn't necessarily surprised. Although they weren't as clingy and romantic as Lisa would've hoped, they still spent a good amount of time with each other. But it was unusual for Jennie to initiate contact with Lisa first.

Regardless, the tall blonde walked over to the door and Jennie stepped aside to let her in. Her room was still unfinished and a bit empty, but her basic furniture - the bed, dresser, vanity, desk, etc - was set up.

There was only a single desk lamp near her bed, so the room was somewhat dim. Lisa did what she usually did and made herself at home, plopping on the bed. The softness of the sheets sent her achy, overworked muscles to heaven, and she let out a pleased sigh.

"I see you're trying to get sweat all over my clean comforter," Jennie teased.

Lisa smiled. Jennie hadn't really been joking around or being her usual sarcastic self lately, so hearing those words made Lisa nostalgic. The blonde scooted towards the wall on the far side of the bed, patting the space beside her for Jennie to come lay in.

"Actually, I have something for you," Jennie replied. "Wait right there."

Before Lisa could protest, the brunette slipped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Surprised and wondering what could be up, Lisa turned to lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.

But holding onto each other on a mattress or couch was now normal for them. Since Jennie didn't like to talk as much, her emotions were displayed in the form of crying into Lisa's chest. Those episodes had become fewer and fewer now, thankfully, but they still made a habit of silently cuddling.

Lisa wondered if it was enough for Jennie to want to stay together. It seemed like something always wanted to rip them apart, and Jennie's experience of this whole situation could be cause for them to separate again. The thought felt like it was squeezing Lisa's heart, so she turned towards the wall, holding onto her sides.

I don't even know if I'm doing the right things for her.

But before Lisa could spiral into yet another flurry of doubt and despair, she heard the sound of the bedroom door being opened and shut.

The bed dipped beside her, and Lisa could feel Jennie's body warmth nearby.

"This is for you," Jennie said softly.

Lisa finally gathered the energy to flip around, sitting up in the process. What she saw was definitely not what she expected, if she'd been expecting anything at all.

Jennie was sitting in front of her holding a piece of cake on a paper plate next to a plastic fork. Atop the cake was a single burning candle, the light of which reflected in Jennie's feline eyes. The honour student carefully held the plate in front of Lisa.

"Happy birthday," she said quietly.

Lisa slowly took the plate, staring down at the cake as if it was some foreign object.

"My birthday..." she breathed. "I totally forgot about it."

"I figured you did," Jennie admitted, laughing lightly.

The sound was like music to Lisa's ears - something she hadn't heard in so long from the other girl.

"How did you know?" Lisa asked, looking back up at the brunette. "I don't even remember telling you."

"Honestly, I had asked Dana before, you know all this happened," Jennie said, appearing embarrassed.

"Apparently you mentioned it to her at some point."

Suddenly, a realization dawned on Lisa, and she instantly frowned. "Wait, when is your birthday? Did I miss it already?"

Jennie laughed, this time more openly.

"No, no. It's in late September. I went to school a year later than most, so I had just turned sixteen when we met."

Author: Let's just all pretend that Jennie's b-day is in September. hehe.

"Wise beyond your years, eh?" Lisa smiled, earning a playful shove from the other girl.

"Well, blow out your candles, birthday girl," she coaxed.

Lisa obeyed, blowing out the single candle and denying Jennie's offer to sing happy birthday to her.

She pulled the candle out and picked up the plastic fork, taking a bite of the cake. She was shocked when a cold feeling spread throughout her mouth, accompanied with a creamy deliciousness.

"Ice cream cake?" Lisa asked.

"Yep," Jennie replied, seeming proud of her choice. "Always saw you at lunch with vending machine ice cream, so I figured you like it."

"More like love it," Lisa said with a smile, digging into the cake. They chatted a little about how the move was going as Lisa finished eating her birthday present.

When she was done, Jennie insisted on taking the plate for her to the trash downstairs.

When Jennie returned, she stood against the recently closed door, her expression suddenly somber.

"What's the matter?" Lisa asked, wondering if Jennie was going to endure another rough spell. But the honour student didn't say anything, clenching her jaw.

Finally, she walked over to the bed and sat next to Lisa.

"Look, I just wanted to..." She trailed off as if she was having trouble finding the words to say. Lisa reached up to rub her back encouragingly, offering patience as she waited to listen.

"I wanted to apologize for being such a mess lately," Jennie finally choked out, but she appeared to resist letting tears fall.

"Jennie, you haven't-"

"Let me finish," Jennie interrupted. She sighed and took one of Lisa's hands, looking the blonde directly in the face. It caused Lisa's heart to nearly start beating out of her chest.

"I know I've been a bit cold to you, but I've just been thinking things through and working with my therapist to start...healing from what happened," Jennie continued.

"But I just...I want you to know that I don't know what I would've done without you. You've been so...perfect through all of this, and I was worried you'd get fed up and leave me."

"I would never leave you because of this, Jennie," Lisa asserted gently, squeezing her hand. "I understand how difficult it's been for you."

A couple of tears did manage to fall from Jennie's eyes, and she rubbed them away. "It has been. But it's over now. Getting calls and texts, worrying if he's watching me, waiting for him to show up at events...it's finally over. And it's time to move on."

They locked eyes again, and Lisa felt herself getting lost. She unconsciously started inching her face close to Jennie's, but she caught herself and stopped. She'd been scared to make any moves on Jennie for the past month - they'd kissed a few times, but they'd been brief and non-spontaneous. As much as Lisa craved doing it, Jennie's comfort was so much more important.

Jennie seemed to notice Lisa's hesitation, and she brought a hand up and gently wrapped it around the back of her neck. She pulled the taller girl in, allowing their lips to meet.

As expected, the kiss was soft and slow. But it was still everything Lisa could've asked for. All their worries were drowned out in the moment, all sensations directed towards their bodies' points of contact.

It wasn't too long before they lightly pulled away, keeping their foreheads pressed together. More tears seemed to have fallen from Jennie's face, and Lisa became worried again. That was, until she heard a faint whisper coming from Jennie's mouth.

"...I love you."

Lisa grits her teeth, unable to stop her own tears from falling out of her eyes. She felt like she'd been holding her breath to hear those words for some time now.

Especially since she'd been wanting to say them herself for longer than they'd been together again.

"I love you, too," Lisa whispered back, and they kissed again.

Despite their rocky past and painful present, Lisa believed again in a happy, peaceful future.

Together.