"Say what?"
Rosé bit her lip and watched Ashley give her a look between shock and annoyance. Rosé had gone over to Ashley's apartment for lunch. "Paintball. It'll be fun."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ashley seemed to be getting mad. "I don't paintball. What the hell happened to a nice dinner? I was thinking we could have it at Mr. Manoban's restaurant. A nice, sit-down dinner. No paint anywhere!"
"Come on, Ashley," Rosé practically begged, "It's way more fun than a boring dinner. And Jennie really seemed to want to do it."
Ashley's face relaxed. "So that whole Jennie thing is happening? Again?"
"It never happened the first time," Rosé said, "But we somehow got a second chance, and I don't want to blow this. It's different this time. She's different and so am I. I just....I can't mess this up. Please."
Ashley let out a huff of air. "You never got over her, huh? Even while you were with Lisa and the guys and girls you dated after."
"Jennie and I never got a chance to start," Rosé explained, "I want to start it now. She still makes me feel like I can do anything, and I get all tingly around her. She makes me feel scared but in a good, exciting way. You know?"
"I hope she did change," Ashley said, "Because if she hurts you again I will kick her ass this time. But fine. If this paintball thing will finally put an end to the Jennie Saga, I'll do it."
"Yay! OK, so just invite everyone from college, "Rosé said, "Don't forget Felix. I think Lisa told him today she's his new boss. I wish I could have seen that."
"What about you?" Ashley asked, "When do you go in?"
"Soon. And I can't wait," Rosé said, "I want to find a good script and start filming. Everything we've gotten sucks. It's mostly stupid romantic comedies or over-the-top action movies."
"Action movies make money," Ashley said.
Rosé wondered. "Did you ever read Jennie's books?"
"Umm, I read half of the first one," Ashley said, "It was really good. I just never got around to finishing it. I got so busy with work I never went back to it. I think I still have it bookmarked where I left off. Why?"
"Jennie wrote a script." Rosé almost laughed when she saw Ashley's eyebrows shoot up. "I haven't read it, but I know it's good. I want to make her script into my next movie. She says she doesn't know where it is, but I think she's lying. Jennie is like the most organized person ever. She knows where it is. I think she's just embarrassed she wrote it. I'm going to try to convince her to let me read it."
"Rosie, it could suck," Ashley said.
Rosé shook her head. "No way. Jennie is an amazing writer. I know it's good."
"I think you're biased." Ashley shook her head in amusement and went to her computer. "Alright. I guess it's time to Google paintball and see what the hell you got me into this time."
Rosé was definitely excited. Moving back to L.A. was the best decision she had made in a long time.
###
Jennie watched as Sehun grabbed his stomach as he laughed. She wanted to punch him. "Would you shut up and focus!"
Sehun wiped the tears from his eyes and finally stopped laughing enough to talk. "Why the hell did you suggest paintball? I don't think your designer shoes will survive the mud."
"Mud? Wait, there's mud?" Jennie groaned. After work, she had gone over to Sehun's office to find out what the hell paintball entailed. She knew she could count on Sehun to help her out.
Sehun had gotten his doctorate in Psychology and had decided to take a job with the L.A. school district as one of the field psychologists for troubled youths. He loved his job and Jennie admired him for his dedication to the kids.
"Just call her up," Sehun said, "Tell her paintball was a bad idea and take her on a romantic dinner or something."
"I can't!" Jennie said, "She loved the idea of paintball and even said that Ashley was planning and I quote - 'boring dinner' - and that paintball sounded more fun. I don't want to bore her."
"So this is like a group date?"
"It's not a date," Jennie corrected, "Not really. It's more of a welcome home thing for her. And Lisa, I guess. But the issue is that I can't paintball! It's dirty and I'm sure it hurts like hell."
"Oh it does," Sehun said, "I always come home covered in bruises. But enough about that, so Lisa is going to this thing too?"
Jennie didn't hide her surprise. "Are you serious? You're still with that? Aren't you dating Mandy or Melinda or whatever that girl's name is?"
"That was over last month," Sehun said, "Anyway, I'm just asking. She's still into dudes too right?"
"She told me she was," Jennie said.
"Just checking," Sehun said, "All I know about Lisa is that she dated Rosé for like five years..."
"Less than two," Jennie corrected.
"Fine. Less than two years, and maybe she realized she's a full-time lady lover since I last saw her. I don't want to look like an idiot or make her uncomfortable."
"You could do so much...." Jennie stopped talking. She thought about Rosé living with Lisa and all sorts of scenarios jumped in her mind. Scenarios that involved the two blonds getting back together and Jennie being left out in the cold. Again. If she could help steer Lisa in the direction of the blond sitting in front of her, she'd feel a lot better. "You know what? Go for it. You and Lisa would be adorable together."
Sehun leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "You're only saying that because you want to keep Lisa away from Rosé. You think they'll get back together again."
Jennie rolled her eyes. "I fucking hate when you go all Freud on me."
"It's my job," Sehun smiled. "And I know how you think. Look, let me take care of the arrangements for this paintball adventure. I can get a great deal. And don't worry about Rosé, OK? If it's meant to be, it will."
"It's hard not to worry," Jennie said, "You have no idea how much I want this to work with Rosé. I don't want to mess it up again."
"You won't," Sehun said.
Jennie scoffed. "You underestimate my ability to mess up my love life. I have a knack for it."
"You'll be fine," Sehun said with a reassuring smile. "Just be yourself. I mean, it's been six years. You're both not the same person you were back in college. You weren't ready then, but I think you are now."
"I am," Jennie said softly. "I'm ready."
###
Rosé had resisted the urge to call Jennie all day. They had just talked yesterday but it felt a lot longer. She couldn't resist anymore. She wanted to hear Jennie's voice, so she picked up her phone and dialed. Jennie picked up on the second ring.
"Hey!"
"I'm not bothering you am I?" Rosé asked. She wasn't sure of Jennie's schedule, but she had figured she'd just leave a message if she didn't pick up.
"No, not at all," Jennie said. She leaned back in her office chair and smiled. "I was going to call you later, actually."
"Oh, should we hang up and you call me later?"
"No, no," Jennie said with a light laugh, "I'm glad you called now. I just wanted to wait until Sehun got back to me with information on the paintball stuff."
"Oh yay!" Rosé was actually getting excited about this outing. "Do you think we can do it this weekend? I start back at the studio Monday so I'm not sure how my schedule will be after that."
"The sooner the better," Jennie said, "I just want to see you again." Jennie closed her eyes and took a breath. She told herself she wouldn't hold anything back from Rosé this time. Last time she had kept her feelings hidden she had pushed Rosé into the arms of another person.
Rosé smiled and was sure she was blushing. She was glad only Sir Paddington was around to see her reaction. "I want to see you again too."
"Do you want to meet me for a drink later?" Jennie asked. "And I'll pick you up. No more bus!"
Rosé let out a chuckle. "That sounds great...." Rosé stopped talking when she saw Sir Paddington start to chew up a script. "....No! Sir Paddington stop that! That's not a hamburger!"
Jennie moved her phone away from her ear a little. "Rosie?"
"....Those aren't scratching posts either!"
"Rosie?"
Rosé managed to calm Sir Paddington and he scurried off to his bed in the far corner. At least he has the decency to look ashamed, Rosé thought. She put the phone back to her ear. "Sorry. Sir Paddington was misbehaving."
"I told you that cat was the Devil's Spawn," Jennie said, "I can contact the animal shelter and have them take him back."
"What?" Rosé was surprised at the suggestion. "Jennie. I'm not going to give him back. I adopted him. It's not like I bought shoes that I can return with the receipt."
Jennie mentally cursed herself. Of course, Rosé wouldn't give him back, she loved animals. Especially cats. "Sorry. You're right."
"He's just adjusting," Rosé went on, "I mean, who knows what life he had before. He just needs time to get used to me and his new home."
"I shouldn't have suggested that," Jennie said, "I don't know if you remember but I'm not much of an animal person."
"I remember," Rosé said, "How about when you pick me up, you come in and we can hang out with Sir Paddington a little bit so you can get to know him."
"Uh...." Jennie wanted to say no. Hang out with a cat? It's not like the cat would even care she's there. "Umm...."
"Please," Rosé encouraged, "I want you two to be buddies."
Shit, Jennie thought. "I'd love to." She shook her head and couldn't believe she just agreed to hang out with a damn cat. "I'll be by at five. Is that a good time for you?"
"It's a great time!"
Jennie was about to hang up when she remembered Rosé lived with Lisa. She just didn't want to deal with her right now. "Umm, will Lisa be there? It'd be nice to say hello to her too." Liar, Jennie thought, you're a lying liar.
"No, she probably won't get home from work until like seven," Rosé said, "But maybe you guys can hang out another time."
"Sure," Jennie forced herself to say. "Alright Rosé, I have class soon so I have to go. I'll be there at five."
"I can't wait," Rosé said, "I'll tell Sir Paddington you're coming. I bet he'll be super excited."
"Umm, yeah. Great." They hung up and as Jennie walked to her class she tried to figure out if Rosé was joking about her cat or if she was serious.
"She's still so weird," Jennie whispered to herself and smiled.
###
After her last class, Sehun had called Jennie to tell her everything was set up for their paintball adventure this weekend. He had even coordinated with Ashley and it seemed everyone was all set to go. She didn't know how it happened, but Jennie had managed to get others to plan her sort of first date with Rosé.
That didn't matter though. What mattered was spending time with Rosé and trying to figure out how she wouldn't make a complete idiot of herself playing paintball.
Jennie parked her car in Lisa's empty driveway. Out of all the activities out there she picked paintball. She groaned. She blamed her students. Earlier in the day, she had overheard two guys in her class arguing over paintball strategies and it must have gotten stuck in her subconsciousness.
She got out of the car and went up to the front door. She'd figure out all that paintball stuff later. Right now she was meeting Rosé. And a fat cat.
Rosé heard the doorbell and quickly went to answer the door. She opened it to find Jennie dressed in a stylish skirt and blazer. "Oh wow. You look amazing!"
Jennie let out a nervous chuckle and looked down at her outfit. "It's just my work clothes."
Rosé unabashedly looked Jennie up and down. "See, that's why all your students have crushes on you. I never had hot teachers. Most of them were old and bald."
"Oh God," Jennie said with an embarrassed laugh. Jennie knew she was hot, people told her that all the time, but when Rosé said it, she felt embarrassed. "I'm over-dressed." And she was, compared to Rosé who was just wearing form-fitting jeans, flip-flops, and a T-shirt with a shooting star on the front.
Rosé stepped aside. "Come in."
Jennie walked past Rosé into the house. Immediately in front of her was a staircase and to her right the living room. It was a medium-size Spanish-style home that looked like it had recently been remodeled. "This place is nice. Is Lisa renting?"
"Nope," Rosé said, closing the door, "It's her mom's house. Or one of them anyway. But it's Lisa's now. Come on." Rosé took Jennie's hand and lead her to the living room. "Sit."
Jennie sat down on the couch and held on to Rosé's hand, who was still standing. "Aren't you going to sit with me?"
"I'm going to get Sir Paddington," Rosé said. She felt herself smile and felt incredibly shy all of a sudden.
Jennie returned the smile and lightly tugged Rosé's hand and pulled her forward until she sat down next to her. "Hi."
Rosé grinned and looked into Jennie's eyes. "Hi."
"The cat can wait a bit," Jennie said, softly, "I'm sure he's plotting to raid the fridge in the middle of the night."
"I knew it." Rosé said in such a disapproving tone that it caused Jennie to chuckle.
"You're just as adorable as I remember," Jennie said. She saw Rosé's cheeks turn a pink shade and her smile grew.
Rosé lightly squeezed hand. "He really is sneaky. You'll see."
"Mmmm hmm." Jennie desperately wanted to kiss this woman in front of her but wasn't sure if they were there yet. They had sort of kissed in her classroom but that was more of a peck. Jennie figured she should at least wait until their first date before....
Rosé made the mistake of looking at Jennie's mouth. As soon as she did, she leaned forward and captured Jennie's plump lower lip in between her own, startling Jennie.
Jennie only took a few seconds to process what was happening before she let go of Rosé's hand and wrapped her arms around Rosé's neck, bringing her closer. This is what she'd been wanting to do for the last couple of days. No, not days. Years. Jennie leaned back on the couch, bringing Rosé with her and deepening the kiss.
Rosé smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Jennie's waist. She knew that she wouldn't be able to control herself much longer, not after what happened in the classroom. There was just so much time to make up for. Rosé opened her mouth a bit more and ran her tongue along Jennie's lower lip. It tasted as sweet as she remembered.
Jennie was sure she moaned. She opened her mouth more and invited Rosé's tongue with her own. It was Rosé's turn to let out a moan. Their hot tongues began to caress each other wanting to explore every inch. Jennie didn't want to stop but her breathing was becoming a bit erratic, and she didn't want this to get too out of control. "Rosie..."
Rosé pulled back slightly, keeping their lips touching. "Mmmm.." She felt like she couldn't get enough air. "Last time we made out on a couch you were on top...of me. Remember?"
"Of course I do," Jennie said. She nibbled on Rosé's lower lip before talking again. "I...I want nothing more than to kiss you all night but...maybe, maybe we should go on a date first."
Rosé pulled back further. "Isn't this a date? You came to pick me up and are taking me out for drinks. If this isn't a date, then, you're right we shouldn't be making out." Rosé began to get up when she felt Jennie pull her back down and kiss her again.
"You're mean," Jennie teased before capturing Rosé's lips again. Jennie signed and let herself relax and let every feeling she ever had for Rosé back in. She knew immediately that this wasn't just a leftover feeling from years ago. This was more. She knew she wanted to be with Rosé in every way.
Rosé was sure she was dreaming. How else could she explain kissing Jennie again after all this time and explain how amazing it felt. Every bad thing that had happened between them disappeared and only the good was left and a promise of more good things to come. This was more than a simple crush and Rosé knew it. Jennie was the one she was supposed to be with both back then and now.
"Ouch!" Jennie quickly pulled back and looked down at her ankle which was now bleeding. Right next to it was one Devil's Spawn.
He hissed.
"Sir Paddington!" Rosé quickly bent down and picked up her cat and moved him away from Jennie. "I'm so sorry!"
"What the fuck?" Jennie looked down at her ankle and saw her torn stocking. "Where the hell did he come from?"
Rosé placed her cat on the other side of the couch, away from Jennie. "What is wrong with you?" She chastised, "Jennie is my friend and she came here to meet you." Sir Paddington just stared at her. Then yawned.
"Are you sure you still want to keep him?" Jennie asked. She looked at her wound and realized it wasn't as bad as she first thought. It stung like hell, but it wasn't anything major.
Rosé turned her attention to Jennie. "I think he's jealous. I'm so sorry. This is not how I wanted this to go."
Jennie looked past Rosé at the Devil's Spawn and gave him a dry look. In turn, the cat began to lick himself. "Gross."
Rosé kneeled down in front of Jennie and examined her scratch. She lifted Jennie's calf for a closer look. "Does it hurt?"
Jennie forgot about the pain in her ankle when she felt Rosé's warm hand touch her leg. "It's OK."
"Take off your stockings."
"Excuse me?" Jennie suddenly felt very warm.
"They're ruined," Rosé said, "And why are you wearing stockings anyway? Your legs are beautiful and smooth. You don't have to cover anything up." She began to slowly run her hand up Jennie's calf.
"Umm...." And there it was again, Jennie feeling like a complete dork when it came to Rosé. Had this been some other woman, Jennie would have come up with some dirty and witty comeback. But all she could think off to say to this particular woman wasn't even words. Jennie figured that it was because Rosé wasn't being seductive on purpose. She had sounded like she was saying the most obvious thing in the world. It caught Jennie off guard. "It's cold...you know it's still winter."
Rosé let out a chuckle and stopped her movements. "Right." She hadn't meant to caress Jennie like that, but it seemed her hands had other ideas. She wanted to keep doing it, but she had a wound to attend to. "I'll go get a band-aid and some alcohol."
Jennie was glad when Rosé left because it gave her a chance to catch her breath. This was really happening. She felt different kissing Rosé this time. Back in college she had fought her feelings and lied to herself it was just a physical thing she wanted from Rosé. Now, older and honest with herself, she knew she really wanted a relationship with the girl who she had seen fall asleep in a lecture all those years ago.
She began taking off her stockings and when she heard a quiet growl. The Devil's Spawn was looking at her. "I'm not going to let you fuck this up," she whispered, "I don't care if you are jealous. Get used to it because I'm going to be kissing Rosé all the time."
Sir Paddington flattened his ears and hissed.
Jennie was about to talk back when she realized she was talking to a fucking cat. She rolled her eyes and continued taking off her stockings.
Rosé returned holding a bandage, cotton, and a bottle of alcohol. "I know you're sort of a doctor cause of your family, but I'm pretty good at First Aid."
Jennie rolled her stocking in a ball and placed them on the couch. "Well, if you say you're good, go for it. But Rosie, I'm fine. I don't need a bandage. It's just a scratch."
Rosé put her supplies on the coffee table and kneeled back down in front of Jennie. She poured some alcohol on a cotton ball and began to clean the scratch.
"Argh!" Jennie flinched.
"Sorry," Rosé said softly. She lightly blew on the scratch. She continued to carefully clean the wound and glanced at Jennie. She felt like this was the reason she was back. Jennie. It was cheesy and silly and reminded her of the badly written scripts she had been reading for the past week, but that what she felt like when she looked at Jennie.
"Umm, that's good enough," Jennie said. Feeling Rosé's cooling breath on her ankle was turning her on more than it should. She almost lost it when Rosé smiled up at her.
"OK." Rosé put a bandage on Jennie's ankle and got up. "All done."
"Great!" Jennie got up again, threw that damn cat a dirty look and grabbed Rosé's hand. "I need a drink after all that. We should go."
Rosé sighed. "This sucks. I really wanted you and Sir Paddington to be friends but he's being a little punk."
"He'll have to deal," Jennie said, "I'm not going to get scared away by some cat."
Rosé smiled and kissed Jennie lightly on the lips. "We'll try another meeting later. Next time though, no kissing."
Jennie let out a disapproving huff.
"I'll go change..."
"Why?" Jennie asked surprised, "You look great. Besides, we're just going for drinks."
"But you look all hot and sophisticated in your suit and I'm all sloppy with my jeans and top."
"I repeat, you look great," Jennie said, "Come on. Let's go."
Rosé agreed to not change and soon they were out the door. Jennie took them to The Red Barron figuring Rosé would want to see one of her old hangouts. Jennie had hoped to get a table, but the place was packed. The only option they had, if they didn't want to wait, was the bar.
"That's fine," Rosé said, "This is a drink date."
"Drink date," Jennie repeated.
As they sat down in the far corner, Rosé looked around. "It's amazing."
"What is?"
"It's like the fair. The place still looks the same after all these years. Time changes people but not places. I feel like I was just here last month or something."
"People definitely change," Jennie agreed. The bartender came over for their order. "Red Manhattan please."
Rosé smiled. "You drink those now?"
Jennie shrugged her shoulders. "They're really good."
Rosé ordered her Long Island Iced tea.
"Maybe people don't change that much," Jennie said with a small laugh.
The bartender brought them their drinks and for a while they just sat in silence, looking at each other.
Rosé spoke first. "I didn't mean to ambush you, you know, with the kiss. Sorry."
Jennie cradled her drink and smiled. "You never have to apologize for doing that. I'm glad you did it, because I wanted to kiss you too. I just wasn't sure if that would have been too fast."
"It should feel too fast," Rosé said, "But it doesn't. I think it's because of what happened before, you know? Like, we just hit the pause button and took a six-year bathroom break and are now back and hit the play button."
"Something like that," Jennie said with a chuckle.
"I'm kinda confused though."
"About what?"
"Us," Rosé said, "What are we doing? Are we dating now or just making out?"
"I'm...sort of hoping we could do both," Jennie said, careful to keep her tone casual. She didn't want to seem too eager.
"So you want to date me this time?" Rosé held her breath. She still expected Jennie to say no.
"I wanted to date you back then," Jennie said, a sad smile on her lips, "I was just too scared to admit it was more than just me wanting sex from you. That's not what I want."
Rosé furrowed her brow in confusion. "So, you don't want to have sex with me?"
"Oh I do!" Jennie said quickly, "Believe me, I do. But, someone once told me that sex is better with feelings."
"That was me! Don't you remember?"
Jennie couldn't help but laugh. "I remember. I meant you."
"Oh," Rosé said softly.
"I fucked up," Jennie admitted, "I don't want to fuck up again."
"I messed this up too," Rosé said, "I should have been more honest about Lisa and what was happening. I should have waited."
"Stop," Jennie said, "You didn't have to do anything. I had my own shit to deal with. And you were right. I mean here I was saying all I wanted was to sleep with you and on the other end you had Lisa telling you she wanted to be your girlfriend. I just...in my mind, I figured that if I got you to sleep with me first, you'd fall in love with me or something."
"I don't need to sleep with you to do that," Rosé said softly. She reached across the bar and grabbed Jennie's hand. "Sex isn't everything. I mean, it's awesome but you can get that anywhere."
"You should have told that to College Jennie."
"She probably wouldn't have listened," Rosé teased.
"No, she wouldn't," Jennie said with a chuckle.
"Maybe we can go on an official date after the paintball thing," Rosé said.
"If I survive, then yes." Jennie took a sip of her drink.
"I bet you're a great player," Rosé said, "Do you play a lot?"
"Umm..."
"Can I be on your team?" Rosé was getting excited.
"Yes. Most definitely." Jennie wanted to impress Rosé and was sure that telling Rosé she had never played in her life, would not impress her at all.
"Awesome!"
"We'll talk teams later." Jennie wanted to avoid this topic until she was on the field. She'd figure out how to try to not look like a paintball idiot in front of Rosé later. "Right now, tell me everything."
"About what?"
"New York," Jennie said, "Did you like living there? Your job? Was the ice cream at that gay ice cream shop good?"
Rosé felt herself smile. "It totally was! OK, so Lisa and I..."
"Hold up!" Jennie raised her hand. "I want to hear about you in New York. Not you and Lisa. I'm not interested in hearing about your time dating her."
"Oh, OK," Rosé said, "That's going to be kind of hard though because she wasn't just my girlfriend. She was my friend too." Rosé saw Jennie clench her jaw.
"Just...maybe later you can talk about you two," Jennie said, trying to keep her voice even, "Not right now. Just tell me about you."
"Can I mention Ashley and Sunny?"
Jennie nodded.
"OK." Rosé took a breath and began her story. "So Ashley and I lived in Brooklyn and on the first day we were there, we saw a street fight and..."
They spent the next two hours just talking and filling each other in on what had happened to them in the last six years. There was so much to talk about that when Jennie drove up to Lisa's house to drop Rosé off, she felt like they needed more time.
"I wish we could keep this going all night, but I have an early class tomorrow." Jennie put the car in park and took off her seat belt so she could turn to face Rosé.
"It's OK." Rosé undid her seatbelt and faced Jennie. "This drink date was fun."
"It was."
Rosé turned to take a quick glance at the driveway and saw Lisa's car. "Lisa's home. You said you wanted to say hello earlier. Do you want to come in?"
"I'll pass." Jennie ran a hand through her hair. "I should really get going."
Rosé looked at Jennie, trying to read her. The way Jennie's face hardened every time Lisa was mentioned told Rosé a lot. "She's just my friend now."
"What?" Jennie tried seeming non-pulsed.
"Lisa. She's just my friend now. She and I broke up, like four years ago. It took us a while, but we worked it out so that we could stay friends. Just friends."
Jennie let out a breath. "It may have been four years to you, but to me, it feels like you were dating her last month. Every time you mention her, I think of that day in the editing room."
Rosé leaned across the console and placed a soft but firm kiss on Jennie's lips. "I told you. There's no one else. You don't have to worry about Lisa."
"Easier said than done," Jennie said softly.
Rosé placed her hand behind Jennie's neck and brought her in for another, deeper kiss. She wanted to assure Jennie she had nothing to worry about. Rosé only wanted her and no one else.
Jennie gave in to Rosé's kiss. She opened her mouth wider to give Rosé all the access she wanted. This was like heaven and she wasn't going to give it up without a fight. Her mind knew Rosé was telling the truth, it had been a long time since she and Lisa dated and it was over. But her heart couldn't help but feel scared and insecure that Rosé would choose someone else over her again. It was a crazy fear. The way Rosé's lips and tongue explored her own with such passion and tenderness, told Jennie she shouldn't have anything to worry about, but she did.
Rosé pulled back with one last suckle of Jennie's upper lip. She tried to calm her breathing. "There's no one else."
"OK." Jennie slowly opened her eyes and was met with tender dark ones. "I just need you to know that I want to be with you. You make me feel...I want to be with you."
Rosé smiled and placed another kiss on Jennie's lips. "I want to be with you too. I've been waiting eight years for you to ask me out."
Jennie let out a breathy laugh. "Sorry I took so long."
"It's OK." Rosé kissed Jennie lightly one last time. She had to get out of this car or else she'd just keep kissing Jennie. She let Jennie go and went to open the car door. "I'll see you at paintball. I can't wait."
"Me neither." Jennie felt a goofy grin on her face but didn't care. She felt more secure in her feelings for Rosé than she ever had.
"Oh!" Rosé suddenly remembered. "Did you look for that script?"
Jennie's grin faded. "Umm, not yet."
Rosé knew Jennie was lying but let it go. "You don't have to be embarrassed you wrote a screenplay."
"Embarrassed?"
"I know it's awesome," Rosé continued, "It could make a great movie."
"You don't even know what it's about," Jennie said. She swallowed trying to calm herself.
"I don't care," Rosé said shrugging her shoulders. "But I guess I should know if I'm going to make it into a movie. What's it about?"
Jennie fidgeted in her seat. She wanted to prepare Rosé first before letting her read it and explain why she wrote what she did. "It's not a love story."
"Thank God!" Rosé was relieved, "I've had it up to hear with romantic scripts. You should see the pile of crap romantic movie ideas I've had to read. So just your script not being a love story, it already makes it awesome. Please let me read it."
"I'll look for it," Jennie said, "I want... I need to explain why I wrote it."
"You said some Hollywood guy wanted you to write it," Rosé said, "What was his name anyway? Maybe I know him?"
"Onew something," Jennie said trying to remember, "Lee I think."
"Oh, I know Onew!" Rosé said, "Maybe I'll just call him up and ask him what your script is about."
"NO!" Jennie practically shouted. She lowered her voice. "I mean, I'll find it. I just need to prepare...stuff. Don't call him."
Rosé wasn't sure what was going on, but if Jennie didn't want her to call Onew, she wouldn't. "OK."
"I'll see you at paintball, OK?" Jennie felt relief wash over her know Rosé wouldn't contact Onew. She wanted to be the one to tell Rosé about the story and the script.
"I'll see you later." Rosé got out of the car and when she was halfway up the walkway, she turned to wave at Jennie.
Jennie waved back and drove home.
###
Rosé leaned down and tied her shoes as the SUV Ashley was driving maneuvered through the city streets. She was sitting in the backseat while Lisa sat upfront.
"This isn't the woods?" Ashley said, disappointed, "It's Griffith Park. I thought we were going to be in the real woods."
"I see trees and grass all around me," Lisa said, "That's the woods! I miss civilization."
"Lisa," Ashley said, "Civilization is like 4 miles south. And look," she pointed to the top of a mountain, "I think Jennifer Aniston lives in that mansion up there."
"Yeah," Rosé said, "I thought we were going to the real woods, but this is cool."
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Lisa said, "I still don't know why we couldn't just have a dinner."
Ashley turned to the right. "Because Jennie is a big paintballer or something and Rosé wants to impress her.
"Jennie is a paintball player?" Lisa didn't hide her surprise. "I can't picture that at all."
"Well, she suggested this," Rosé said, "So I'm sure she's done it before."
"This should be fun to watch," Lisa said, a light laugh in her voice, "I still wish we'd gone to dinner though. We're going to get eaten by coyotes."
The SUV went down a secluded road for about five more minutes and after a turn, the makeshift p camp came into view.
"We're here!" Ashley said excitedly.
"YAY!" Rosé yelled. She wanted to find Jennie as soon as possible.
Once the car was parked, everyone got out and headed straight to registration, with people greeting them along the way. The camp area was pretty impressive. Camouflage tents were set up with netting all around. People were walking around in camouflage, and some were carrying guns.
Rosé looked around and was amazed at how much the area looked like a real military training camp. Everyone was dressed in combat boots and looked like soldiers. There were other groups here and tried to find her own. As they neared the registration table, Rosé saw Felix standing by the table.
"Hey!" he yelled to be heard from the distance, a big smile on his face, "There you guys are!"
Rosé ran and gave Felix a big hug. She hadn't had a chance to see him since she returned to L.A. "FELIX!"
Felix laughed and lifted Rosé off the ground. "Hey! You have no idea how glad I am you're back."
"Me too!" Rosé was all smiles. Felix put her down and continued to smile. "So I guess we're co-workers now. Isn't it awesome?"
"It is." Felix's attention turned to Rosé's right. "Hey Lisa. Ashley."
The four of them greeted each other for a few moments but Rosé was more anxious to find Jennie. "Where's everyone else?"
"Gearing up," Felix said, "You guys should too. Go to that orange and green tent there and get your stuff. Jennie already registered you guys. You just have to sign this waiver and you're good to go."
"Waiver?" Ashley asked.
"You know, in case you get killed," Felix joked, "You can't sue the paintball company."
"Oh God," Ashley mumbled. They all signed the waivers and headed to the gear tent.
As soon as Rosé entered, she spotted Jennie and smiled.
Jennie checked her vest again to make sure it was secure. She still couldn't believe she was doing this and was getting ready to call it quits when she looked up and saw Rosé smiling at her. Yeah, she was doing this.
"Hey!" Jennie walked up to Rosé and just hoped she looked cool in her black combat gear.
"Hi." Rosé couldn't help but giggle at Jennie's outfit. "You look cute."
"Cute? I'm supposed to look tough," Jennie said trying to sound offended.
"Cute and tough."
"Well look who it is!" Ashley came and stood right beside Rosé. "I hate you for making us do this. What was wrong with dinner?"
"Just thought we'd do something different," Jennie said trying to sound like this really was a great idea. She tried to keep her smile when she saw Lisa appear on the other side of Rosé. She knew she had to get over this irrational jealousy she felt, but so far she wasn't having any luck. "Hey Lisa."
"Hey Jennie," Lisa said in such a sweet voice that Jennie wanted to shove her. "Nice mess you got us into."
"Well, no one forced you to show up," Jennie said, annoyed.
"Whoa." Lisa put her hands up. "I was just kidding. I mean, yeah, it's not my sort of thing, but I'm up for trying something different."
Jennie chanced a look at Rosé and saw the confusion on her face. "Sorry. I'm just excited to get out there and....paint. I mean, shoot things."
"We should get ready," Rosé said. She glanced at Jennie one last time before heading off with Lisa and Ashley to get her gear.
"Shit," Jennie mumbled. She went off looking for Baekhyun who had gone off to help Joy color coordinate her arm bandana.
When everyone was ready, they went to their designated area to pick teams. They spent a few minutes just talking and everyone greeting Rosé and welcoming her back. Jihyo, Daniel, Jisoo and Baekhyun were thrilled Rosé was back and were glad to finally be able to see her. Jennie took a deep breath. She had no idea what to do.
"Well," Baekhyun began, "Since this was Jennie's bright idea I nominate her team captain of the red team."
"Excuse me?" Jennie adjusted her helmet. This sucked.
"Seconded!" Jihyo shouted.
"I think that Lisa should be the captain of the blue team," Sehun said with the biggest smile. Jennie rolled her eyes.
"Awesome!" Rosé clapped her hands. "Lisa is great at bossing people around."
Jennie heard Lisa groan.
"Perfect!" Joy said, "Now a few rules before we pick teams. Please do not shoot me in the face. I am an entertainer. My face is my tool...."
"I pick Rosé!" Jennie interrupted.
"You can't just pick," Lisa said, "Don't we have to flip a coin or something?"
"I call shotgun," Jennie said, "And that means I pick first. Rosé."
"That's not proper paintball protocol," Sehun said.
"We're wasting time!" Jennie just wanted to get this over with.
Rosé smiled and went over to stand next to Jennie. "Thanks for picking me."
"I told you you'd be on my team," Jennie said with a smile.
Lisa looked around the group. "Sehun."
"Yes!" Sehun pumped his fist in the air.
Rosé smiled and watched the rest of the picks. In the end, Jennie's team also had Baekhyun, Joy, Jisoo, and Daniel. Lisa's team so had Sehun, Felix, Ashley, and Jihyo.
"My team is one short," Lisa said.
"It's fine," Sehun chimed in, "We can still beat them."
"In your dreams Pale Giant," Jennie smirked.
"Whatever. Everyone take your spots!" Sehun shouted.
Each team separated and took their place on the field.
Rosé adjusted her helmet and actually squealed in excitement. She looked at Jennie and through her goggles, Rosé thought she looked nervous. "You OK?"
"All systems go!" Jennie said with a forced smile. "OK, so we get a flag or something, right?"
"You don't know?" Joy asked, worried, "How can we be victorious if our own captain doesn't know what to do?"
"Calm down," Baekhyun said, "I'm sure Jennie knows what she's doing. Right?"
"Umm, of course." Jennie felt like she was sweating bullets. "Come on let's go form a plan."
As they walked to their spots, Jennie heard Daniel behind her. "I should have been on the other team."
•••
So LS1 happened...how are yall? I died from Jennie's CK pictures and now from Lisa's Songs 🥵😭💀Stream Lalisa and Money 🤙🏼🤙🏼