UNTIL LOVE SETS US APART ( JENLISA)

Chapter 17

Lisa POV

"Good morning," I greeted Jennie as she made her way through to the living room. She gave me a warm smile, and my heart leapt. She had been here almost a week now, and yet, getting to see her every single day didn't get any less thrilling.

"Good morning," she slipped down onto the couch next to me and snuggled up against me. I closed the laptop I had been working on and put my arm around her. Work could wait. I couldn't think of any thing more important than cuddling with her right now. I wondered if the novelty would ever wear off, if I would ever grow tired of having her close to me once more. I adored her presence, the warmth it seemed to bring to the house. When she had been gone, I hadn't realized how cold the place had seemed, how devoid of life. But now she was back, and it felt as though everything was bursting into bloom at once.

"What do you want to do today?" I asked her, and she shrugged and shook her head.

"I just finished my book last night," she informed.

"Good?"

"Brilliant," she grinned. "So I think I'm going to start that one I picked up on Wednesday, you remember?"

"The law one?" I furrowed my brow, trying to remember. Jennie had been purchasing a lot of books lately, and it was hard to keep track of them all.

"Yeah, that's the one," she nodded. "I think I'm going to start reading that. It's just an introduction, but it might be interesting. And then I thought I could, go down and spend some time with mum and dad."

"That sounds perfect," I leaned my chin on the top of her head, stroking her hair. She fit into me so perfectly, like she was some other half I hadn't realized I had been missing. "You send my best to them, al right?"

"You should come with me," she suggested. "Not today... but sometime this week. I know they'd like to actually see you, especially now that all the... all of the bad stuff is done with."

She hesitated over the statement, and I could feel that flicker of fear coming off of her. I wanted to wind my arms around her and assure her that it was all going to be alright, that she was with me and she was safe now, but I had already told her that a thousand times over and she didn't need to hear it again. What she required now was the time and the help to work through what had happened, and that didn't in volve repetitive platitudes from me.

"When's your first therapy appointment?" I asked her, and she pulled a face. "Monday".

she sighed heavily. "I really don't want to go, but I know I should."

"Why don't you want to go?" I wondered aloud. Rosé had insisted that Jennie should see a counsellor from the shelter for at least a few weeks after everything that had happened to her, and I thought it was a good idea too.

"Talking about myself for an hour?" She wrinkled her nose up. "Sounds boring."

"Well, I think talking about you for an hour would be just fascinating," I replied, and she giggled.

"You suck-up," she teased, and she tilted her head up so she could kiss me. I pushed the laptop from my knees and pulled her closer to me, deepening the kiss at once. I still felt as though I couldn't get enough of her, as though I was an addict constantly craving the more dizzying high. She slipped her hand beneath my shirt, fingers trailing over my skin.

And then the buzzer for the door went. Jennie pulled away from me and nodded her head towards the door.

"You should probably get that," she remarked, and I went to kiss her again.

"Maybe we could forget it for now," I murmured against her mouth.

"We could just say we were out..."