SHE ( Jenlisa Adaptation)

Part 7

"I was going to traverse the roofs of all the buildings from here to there and then abseil in through a window," Jennie jokes. "I had a plan and everything."

"Sure you did," Lisa whispers.

Jennie nods and lets one of Lisa's curls wrap around her finger. "I did," she murmurs. "All I had to do was pick out my best catsuit and I would have been there."

Lisa laughs out loud and, after looking so serious before, it catches Jennie off guard a little. She grins but stops when she sees how the expression on Lisa's face has changed again. It's softer, more exposed, and Jennie unknowingly shifts back to give her some space when Lisa reaches further between them to trace her fingers up Jennie's neck to her face. She traces Jennie's chin and her jaw, curls fingertips over her cheekbones and over her eyebrows before sweeping down her nose. Her thumbs soothe over Jennie's cheeks before one stops to gently rest against the beauty spot on her top lip.

Lisa looks at her and Jennie thinks that she knows what's about to happen. She thinks she knows but she also feels scared and nervous that it won't. She knows but she's also really, really scared that she doesn't and she's got it all wrong.

But Lisa's face is strong and tender. Her expression has never looked so sure and vulnerable and Jennie can't help but notice the way that her neck moves as she swallows thickly.

"I love you," she whispers in an exhale, and Jennie barely notices the way that she blinks in surprise as the words leave her.

She's too busy letting the warmth of them wash over her and she didn't know—wasn't nearly aware—of how much she needed to hear them until they leave Lisa's lips.

She breathes out and is sure there are tears in her eyes. Her fingers slacken against Lisa's waist as she pulls further back to look at her. She waits for the punch line, the laugh, the take back, but it never comes. Lisa's expression only becomes desperate and worried.

"Really?" Jennie is barely able to whisper.

Lisa's face flickers with sadness before her chin tilts down once before she nods quickly and surely.

"Yeah," she breathes and her smile is watery but sweet.

She looks so scared and Jennie wishes she had the words to tell her she doesn't need to be. She reaches for her cheek, cups it in her palm as her thumb traces the outline of the lips that just made her the happiest girl in the world. "You're sure?"

Lisa laughs and a tear actually escapes her. "How could I not, Jennie?"

Jennie's breath catches at that. The rest of her words actually get stuck in her throat and she wants to explain that Lisa could do so much better, deserves so much more. She wants Lisa to know that she feels lucky and honored and that the things she feels inside of her are bigger and realer and more terrifying than anything else she's ever felt. They've overcome everything.

Lisa's put everything into perspective.

"But look at you," Jennie says instead and Lisa frowns like she doesn't understand. "You're... You're everything."

Her chuckle is Jennie's favorite sound in the world. Her smile is worth waking up early on the worst days. Her face sets Jennie's entire universe right and one day she'll find the words to tell her. One day she'll be able to truly express how Lisa makes her feel.

"So are you," Lisa whispers. Her thumb sweeps over Jennie's cheek and she's shaking. "You have no idea..." she struggles around tight breaths. "You don't even have the tiniest clue what you are to me—What you've done..." Her expression wavers with sadness for a moment, and then sinks into devastating awe as she clutches Jennie's face in her hands. "You'll never know what you've done—How you make me feel... There will never be enough words—enough—enough..."