Midnight Angel [Jenlisa FF]

~'~'~ Chapter 16 ~'~'~

How she had ended up moving to stand in the doorway, Jennie wasn't quite sure, but suddenly she was there, and everybody in the room was staring at her. She was vaguely aware that Jin, Jisoo, and Jackson were seated on the couch and chair, but her eyes were on Lisa. Her heart was pounding, her hands shaking at her sides.

Stepping closer to her, Jennie said, "I didn't kill them." It was a statement. And maybe a question.

"No, you didn't," Lisa replied softly. She didn't have one hundred percent proof of that, but she was as sure of it as she was of anything. There was just no possible way Jennie could have killed her family. The facts supported that belief, but it was her gut that told her it was truth.

A single tear trickled down Jennie's cheek and her shoulders slumped. Just having Lisa's support and belief in her loosened something inside her. Ever since the argument with her father earlier, dread had pooled in her stomach and swirled inside her head. Now it was gone. Almost.

Lisa stood, lifting her hand to knuckle away the tear that clung to her soft cheek. She frowned slightly at her. "You didn't think you did, did you?"

Jennie tilted her head, averted her eyes. She didn't want to admit to her that after her father's harsh words, she had wondered if she could have done what everyone believed her guilty of. If Lisa knew she had entertained the thought, Lisa would certainly reconsider her position on her innocence. No, she couldn't tell her. But Lisa wasn't going to let the subject drop.

"Jennie," Lisa pressed, and used her hand to lift her chin. "You don't have to hide anything from me."

Staring into Lisa's deep brown eyes, Jennie knew she meant it. A few feet away, Jisoo, Jin and Jackson watched the interaction with varying degrees of interest. If any of them had been asked, they would have said neither Jennie nor Lisa were aware of their presences at the moment. They were conscious of only each other.

"I didn't know," Jennie finally whispered. "Before...before tonight, I just knew they were dead. And then...," she trailed off and took a deep breath. "After he told me about everything, I didn't know what to think.

Lisa frowned again. That wasn't exactly the answer she had expected. How could she not know if she had committed murder? That was kind of a big deal. She should have known what happened.

Lisa reached down and took one of her hands. "Here," she said and lightly tugged her toward the chair she had been sitting in. "Sit down."

Obliging, Jennie sat in the chair. Her eyes wandered toward the couch, and she became fully cognizant once again of the fact that Lisa wasn't the only one in the room. She quickly looked away as fear of what they thought of her filled her mind. Did they think she was a murderer like everyone else? She tried to tell herself they wouldn't. They had been her best friends, but still...then she remembered the conversation she had heard between them and Lisa.

Jisoo solved the problem by speaking up for herself and the others. "Jennie, we know you didn't do it. We always knew."

Jennie let out a heavy breath, but still kept her eyes trained on her hands. They said she hadn't done it – Lisa said she hadn't done it, but there was still a niggling doubt in her mind. How did she know if she had killed her mother, her sister and her brother? The answer was simple: she didn't know.

Lisa dragged a stool over in front of the chair and sat. She glanced at group seated on the other side of the room, her concern for Jennie obvious. Despite the fact that they had voiced their support, it was Jennie who seemed to have her doubts. And that was hard for her to understand.

For a long, silent minute, Lisa contemplated what she should say to her. She wanted to erase whatever was causing her disbelief. But what could she say? Several avenues circled in her head, but none seemed viable. Instead, she settled for the one question that she felt needed to be asked.