the eras of us ⎹ Lana Parrilla & Jennifer Morrison

Chapter 5

"Okay, so I bought everything we need for our pizza. Well, Fred did, but I wrote the shopping list and he got everything."

"Great," the blonde nodded, letting her gaze sweep over all the ingredients that Lana had already put out on the kitchen island. "Oh, but you forgot the onions and the garlic for the sauce."

"I did?" the brunette responded with an indifferent shrug and a barely noticeable smile on her lips "Oh, looks like it. Well, too bad."

Jen took her eyes off the groceries and watched her co-star walking over to the sink to grab a cloth for wiping over the surface where they planned to prepare the dough. The blonde could feel her hands shake a little bit, which is why she folded them together, pretending to stretch her fingers. "And... Pizza with no garlic and onions is gonna help us with our chemistry?" Jen teased, trying to bring back a lighthearted tone to the moment.

Lana smiled, putting the wet cloth back in its place before locking eyes with her co-star's green ones. "Well, who knows how strong our chemistry is gonna get." Her voice was low, carrying a playful undertone.

The blonde actress felt a flutter of nervousness in her stomach, her lips parting as if to respond. However, uncertainty held her back, and she closed them again real quick.

"So," the brunette clapped her hands together, breaking the silence. "Ready to prepare the dough?"

...

It had been five minutes since Lana discovered that Jen had unblocked her on Instagram, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. What did this mean? Did the argument they had at Jen's house make her rethink everything? Was she about to apologize? 'No,' the brunette thought, shaking her head as if that would erase all her questions. With a frustrated groan, she grabbed her phone, which she had previously set down next to her. Jen's account was still open, and Lana's eyes focused on the blue 'Follow' button.

"Oh my god, get it together, woman!" she shouted at herself, the frustration evident in her voice. The sudden outburst stirred Lola, her dog, who woke up and toddled over to her. "Sorry, baby," Lana mumbled, giving Lola a quick kiss on the head before looking down at her phone again. She used her thumb to scroll down a bit, the soft glow of the phone screen illuminating her features as she delved into Jen's Instagram feed. Lana's curiosity got the better of her, prompting her to open the most recent photo that her ex co-star had posted. Her eyes scanned the image, before shifting her gaze a bit lower—she wanted to see if any of her friends or colleagues had liked or commented.

As she examined all the interactions, a sudden realization struck her, and she couldn't help but mutter, "Oh, shit!" The brunette's eyes widened as her thumb accidentally brushed against the heart icon. She immediately withdrew the interaction, fingers working swiftly to undo the inadvertent action. A surge of anxiety washed over her—there was no way that Jen would have noticed — right?

...

"Oh my god," Lana murmured as she watched Jen creating a sauce for the pizza with four different variations of tomatoes—tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and peeled tomatoes."I would've just bought regular ready-to-go tomato sauce."

Jen smiled, amused, and pointed to the oven. "Our dough should be ready in five minutes, then we can spread it in the pan."

"Finally," the brunette sighed. "Letting the dough rise for one hour is so long when you're hungry."

"Didn't you have breakfast?" Jen asked while seasoning the pizza sauce with all the different spices she brought from home, adding a teaspoon of her organic coconut sugar to the mix.

"I only had a smoothie because Fred—" Lana started, her voice trailing off as she cleared her throat, suddenly finding great interest in washing the wooden spoon for the second time in a row. It was a feeble attempt at distraction, one that her co-star saw through immediately.

Jen raised an eyebrow, a knowing glint in her eyes. "Because Fred...?"

"He, uhm... you know."

"No, I don't."

Lana sighed in frustration while the blonde couldn't help but grin. She ignored the unpleasant feeling inside her stomach though and just convinced herself that it was because she really didn't wanna picture her co-star in bed doing things with her husband. That was gross — at least with him in the picture.

"I wanted to get out of bed, and he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me back, and then his hands were under my—"

"Wow, okay, I didn't ask for details, Lana."

"But friends talk about that," the brunette responded. "And we should be comfortable with each other since maybe someday we have to do it on camera."

"I doubt they're gonna give us steamy scenes; we're still a family show."

Lana sighed, a smile appearing on her face. "I can't wait, though. This is gonna be iconic! SwanQueen is gonna be iconic; we are gonna be iconic!"

Full of enthusiasm, Lana grabbed her co-star's wrists with her hands, making her turn around to face her. Jen looked slightly puzzled at first, but the brunette's infectious laugh soon had her smiling. They locked eyes, and Jen couldn't help but feel the proximity between them. When did that happen? Her pupils shifted nervously around Lana's face, trying to see if that closeness unsettled her as well. But the brunette didn't seem nervous at all—she still smiled happily into the blonde's green eyes.

"There it is," Lana whispered eventually.

Chemistry.