french fries & milk ice-cream// JENLISA ONESHOTS

(madame i'd like to friend)

<RE-UPLOAD>

//

MILF

Noun vulgar slang

• a sexually attractive older woman, typically one who has children.
• Mother I'd Like to Fuck.

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Lisa has a new neighbor.

Normally she would've made this assumption judging by the moving truck parked on her side of the curb earlier this morning, but Lisa was far more concerned with other matters.

Example A - the shoes sprawled by the doorway, and Lisa nearly face-planting in her haste to get to work on time.

Example B - her roommates' ability to have tremendous amounts of sex throughout the course of a night. It's impressive, actually.

Lisa didn't get a wink of sleep.

Now she's beginning to realize that maybe she should have given it some more thought when she had the chance.

Because there's a child in her basement and Lisa is so not equipped to deal with this.

"What the hell?"

She drops her bat. It clatters to the floor and rolls underneath the stairwell. Lisa doesn't have the sense to reach for it again when she isn't staring into the eyes of a burglar.

At least she doesn't think so. The little girl is tiny, with big brown eyes and a mop of long brown hair and she's cradling a ferret in her hands - as if that isn't weird enough. By the looks of it she's also dressed in an authentic mini-me tuxedo, and if that isn't the most pretentious thing she's seen to this day, then Lisa doesn't know what is.

"Okay, what the fu -" Lisa bites her tongue, flicks on the light so she at least has a face to yell at when she says - "Fork. What the fork. Who are you, kid? What're you doing in my basement? In my house?"

Wide eyes blink back at her. Not in fear exactly, but definitely surprise and... elation?

"You're not gonna call the police, are you?" she asks, small voice and all.

Lisa crosses her arms. "That depends. Do I need to?"

"No."

"Right. Okay." Lisa rubs a hand down her face. This night is already turning into a nightmare. "Please just give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"My mom's kind of a hardass. She'd eat you alive."

"Hardass, huh?" Lisa's rigid smile freezes in place. "Let me guess. Big white house next door?"

The kid nods her enthusiasm. "We just moved in this morning. My mom forgot about my piano recital tonight so we left in a hurry. I left Frodo's cage open, though."

"Frodo?"

"My ferret."

"Oh."

The kid holds up said ferret, its beady eyes gazing back at her and Lisa wonders if this is the time to admit she had a foster brother who owned a ferret once. She tried to give the thing a bath and promptly drowned it.

She was sent back to her social worker that same night.

"He escaped. I found him crawling in your backyard. Through the window actually. You might wanna get that fixed, by the way," she advises her in all seriousness.

And Lisa just can't take her seriously when she's got that stupid tux on.

"Yeah?"

"Yup. I might've cracked it open with a rock."

Cracked. That's a complete understatement. Lisa hadn't noticed it while she was in fight or flight mode, but there are shards of glass scattered all over the floor. And the gaping hole now residing in her wall?

It's karma. It has to be.

"You seriously... broke my window to get in? Christ, kid. Ever heard of a door?" Lisa says in exasperation.

The kid gawks at her for a moment, as if none of what she's saying is making any sense.

"But I don't know how to pick locks."

"That's not what I -" Lisa clenches her jaw. She's secretly seething and she can't even take it out on some child delinquent who can't be older than ten. "You know what? Forget it. Come on. I'm taking you home."

She kicks aside a piece of glass and reaches for her bat under the stairwell. When she doesn't get a response, she glances over to find the kid is still rooted at her spot. She doesn't look particularly enthused by her words. If anything, she looks afraid.

"Are you going to tell my mom?" she asks, and her voice is so small now. Small and a little nervous.

Lisa feels a familiar pang in her chest as she hears it. She's always had a soft spot for children, and this one seems to exude an unfair amount of cuteness beneath all the conniving shitbaggery.

"We'll see," Lisa says and hoists the bat over her shoulder. She hesitates. "We're neighbors now, right? That makes us... I don't know. Partners in crime?"

The kid slowly trudges up to her, a smile working its way to her face.

"Yeah?"

It's cute. Lisa will give her that.

"Yeah. Guess it's official then." She holds out her hand. "Pleased to meet you, good ma'am. I'm Lisa."

The kid laughs and takes her hand, all traces of fear gone, and she beams at her. Flashes her with the widest, brightest smile Lisa's ever had the luxury of being a part of.

"My name is Ella."

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So here's the thing.

Lisa doesn't have a lot of experience with children. She grew up with plenty of them during her time in various different foster homes, even did some babysitting when she was sixteen, lonely, and her best friend was a twelve year old who lived in the apartment below her. She knows they like to eat and talk a lot. So she also knows this.

Ella never shuts up.

"So what do you do? Do you live with your husband? Mom says people should be able to marry whoever they want, boy or girl. So if you have a wife that'd be really cool, too. Have any kids? I'm an only child, but I think that's because my mom can't have any. I was adopted, in case you were wondering. I always wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister, though. But then I'd have to share all my stuff, so maybe it's not so bad being an only child. I'm turning ten this summer! So at least Aunt Irene likes to spoil me on my birthdays. Mom hates it."

She continues to babble on during the short trek back to her house - the large Colonial next door that used to belong to a child psychiatrist named Dr. Choi. The house had remained empty for the last two years, longer than Lisa's even lived here.

Seeing it occupied gives her a strange sense of otherworldliness.

Lisa barely gets a word in before they're standing at the front porch, and she cuts in just as Ella begins a whole new tirade.

"No, I'm not married. No, no kids unless I ever decide to get married, which will probably be never. I have two roommates, both of which will kick your little butt if you ever break one of our windows again. And lastly, I'm a personal trainer. Bondsperson on the side."

Ella creases her face in confusion. "A what?"

"A bounty hunter."

"You're a cop?"

"Kind of."

"Woah."

Lisa doesn't get the chance to revel in her amazement - the door swings open, and Lisa is caught entirely off guard when the woman on the other side of it takes one look at her (Lisa feels her lungs do a whoosh at the sight), then Ella -

And then swoops down, pulling her into a sweeping hug.

"Ella," the woman whispers into her hair. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over - I was about to call the police."

Lisa finds herself staring. She hadn't given much thought to what Ella's mom would look like, not in the fifteen minutes she'd just spent with the kid. She imagined a forty-something housewife, with a sketchy husband and a dog and a 'I want to talk to your manager' attitude to go along with her shifty haircut.

What she doesn't expect is for this lady to look this... pretty.

"I lost Frodo, Mom," Ella tells her in between getting the air sucked out of her and wiggling away. She holds the ferret up. "Lisa helped me find him."

That lying little punk.

The woman hardly spares Lisa a glance. "Go on inside," she tells her and stands, dabs at her chin. "I told you to start unpacking your room four hours ago."

Ella pouts. "But mom -"

"No buts," she says sternly. "Inside. Now."

Ella reluctantly drags her feet inside, sulking the entire way. Lisa can't say she feels too bad for the kid. She had it far easier than any of this could've turned out.

She stops behind her mom and turns to face Lisa just before the door closes. Does this melodramatic motion with her hand, shaking her head while gesturing to her mother. Lisa has no fucking clue what she's trying to tell her, but she guesses she's about to be in the danger zone.

The door clicks shut behind her.

"Right," Lisa begins and clears her throat. She's so out of her game right now, her palms are starting to sweat.

It's not everyday you find out your new neighbor is a total MILF.

"I didn't catch your name, Miss..." the woman trails off.

"Lisa. Uh - Manoban, I mean. Lisa Manoban."

"Miss Manoban," she says, as if tasting Lisa's name on her tongue. Lisa really shouldn't be finding that painfully attractive. "I take it you live next door?"

"Yeah, I do. That house over -"

"Perfect. Then this will be easy enough for you to understand," Ms. Fuck-Me-Heels says and takes a step closer, all semblance of distant friendliness gone. Poof. Nada. "I don't want to see you near my daughter again."

Whatever bout of untainted attraction Lisa's felt over the last three minutes vanishes in the blink of an eye.

Her smile wilts. "I - what?"

"I think you heard me."

"Oh, I heard you loud and clear," Lisa snaps, because something cold is dipping between her ribs and it feels a lot like anger more than anything. "Listen, lady. Your kid came onto my property. None of this is my fault."

Ms. Turns-Out-I'm-a-Raging-Bitch actually huffs. "Regardless, I don't need her running off only to get distracted by bad influences."

Lisa sputters, embarrassingly enough. She doesn't think there's an accurate description on Urban Dictionary to define how thoroughly pissed off she is now.

"Bad influences? How am I a bad influence? You don't even know me."

"Well, for one. You can tell a lot from a person's choice in attire," the lady says, and purses her lips in a judgemental sneer when her eyes drop to Lisa's 'choice in attire'.

To be fair, she's wearing one of Chaeyoung's skanky nightgowns - and definitely not by choice. There's only so much you can do when you haven't done laundry in two weeks, only to hurdle out of the shower and throw on the nearest article of clothing at the sound of a nine-year-old breaking into your basement.

Which just so happens to be this skanky nightgown.

Still. The audacity.

"It's laundry day," Lisa feels the need to defend herself. "Ever heard of not judging a book by its cover?"

Fucking Pencil Skirt rolls her eyes. "I don't have time for this. Good evening, Miss Manoban. Unfortunately I can't say it's been a pleasure."

And God. Lisa is fuming.

"Yeah? Pleasure's all mine then," Lisa says, if only because she needs to get the last word in if she's going to get through the rest of the night with her sanity intact. "Good to know you're a grade-A asshole."

Pencil Skirt stops, doesn't turn back around, and Lisa gets some satisfaction in the way this lady seems to twitch in annoyance. But then she struts on over to the door in all of her high-heel and skirt-hugging glory.

It's the last thing Lisa sees - the admittedly nice view of an even nicer ass - before the door slams shut.

Bitch.

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Lisa steps into the foyer. "Uptight." She flings the door shut with a satisfying thud. "Snobby." She kicks a shoe across the room because why the fuck not. "Temperamental vicious... jerk . How dare she call me a bad influence? Me. With her stupid, pretentious clothes, and her dumb hair. And her... red lipstick. Ugh."

Chaeyoung chooses that moment to emerge from the kitchen. She's wielding a frying pan for whatever reason. Normally Lisa is good at not questioning the strange things Chaeyoung likes to do during her free time, but -

"Chaeng," Lisa sighs. "Why the hell are you walking around with a frying pan?"

"Jisoo said someone might've broken in," Chaeyoung explains with a shrug. "Self Defense 101, right? Everything's a weapon."

Lisa doubts that.

"Right."

Chaeyoung eyeballs her. "Okay. I know that look. What's got your panties in a twist?"

Lisa brushes past her to the staircase. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"What about the glass downstairs?"

"I'll clean it up tomorrow."

"Wait," Chaeyoung says, and she's leaning on the railing at the bottom of the staircase, just close enough from the landing for Lisa to hear, "Did you meet the new neighbor?"

Lisa clenches a hand around her doorknob with a huff -

"Grade-A asshole!"

And slams the door shut.

She feels strangely satisfied after that, as if slamming all the doors possible is releasing all of her inner rage. It's therapeutic.

Of course it doesn't last long.

She's whipping off Chaeyoung's skanky nightgown and throwing on a t-shirt when Lisa comes to a dead stop in front of her window. The blinds have been left open, and she can see clear across the side yard to the house next door. To the large, open window that was once dark and enclosed in curtains for years, now encased in light.

Apparently it's the master bedroom, because Ms. Still-Hot-But-Still-A-Tremendous-Bitch is roaming around right in front of it.

"No fucking way," Lisa whispers.

As if hearing the echo of Lisa's strife from afar, Pencil Skirt looks up, catches Lisa's gaze. There's a solid second where Lisa holds her breath, sees the split moment of surprise clouding this lady's face -

And then she's jutting her chin out, closing the blinds in one sharp tug.

Bitch.

Lisa flips off the now concealed window before yanking her own curtains shut. She sprawls onto her bed then, brimming with a sort of anger she doesn't know how to explain.

There's no way of justifying it. Lisa's dealt with her fair share of assholes in the past, all from the drunken foster parents to the kids in middle school who would call her maggot, to that one girl in high school who used to write Lisa Manoban is a dyke all over the bathroom stalls.

She deals with assholes everyday, and Lisa's learned to keep her head up high. Learned to strive on forward and not let anyone get to her. It's worked wonders so far.

Until now.

It certainly doesn't help that the asshole in question now lives next door. And is infuriatingly beautiful.

What's more infuriating is that this woman can Miss Manoban her all she wants, but the fact of the matter is - Lisa still doesn't have a name.

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"Jennie Kim."

It's the following morning. Lisa had crawled her way out of bed at precisely eight AM only to find Chaeyoung already in the kitchen, tapping away at her phone. Jisoo sits calmly at the table beside her. She's sipping away at her coffee in the most mundane way and Lisa stops midstep, stares at them both.

"What?"

It was Chaeyoung who had spoken. "Jennie Kim," she says again, never peeling her eyes away from her phone, and uses one finger to drag an envelope across the table. "Our new neighbor. You asked and I delivered."

"I never asked for her name," Lisa says hotly.

"You did last night while you were slamming the bathroom door and loudly exclaiming, and I quote, 'what the fuck is her name'," Chaeyoung gestures over air quotes.

Jisoo slurps her coffee. "She's not wrong."

Lisa finds herself blushing as she peeks at the envelope sitting on the table. It's stamped, with the name Jennie Kim written just above the address.

Jennie fucking Kim.

"Chaeng," Lisa says and picks it up, eyebrows rising. "Where did you get this?"

"Stole it," Chaeyoung answers with all of her nonchalant charm. Doesn't bother looking up. "You should see her mailbox. Is has this sick sticker of Darth Vader on the side of it. I vote we get one, too."

"You stole her mail? That's a federal crime."

"I tried to stop her," Jisoo deadpans.

Chaeyoung snorts. "Hardly. You threw a pair of toy handcuffs at my face and then claimed my Xbox. Just in case my ass got arrested," she accuses and finally looks up, proceeding to flaunt her phone right in Lisa's face. "Look, Lis. I even found her Facebook."

Lisa is too stunned to understand what Chaeyoung is showing her at first, but then she recognizes the photo on the screen. It's her - Ms. Pencil Skirt - or Jennie Kim, as the name beside it suggests.

She's holding Ella close in the photo, head tucked above her and she's actually smiling at the camera. Like that's a thing. Pencil Skirt is capable of smiling.

It's the sort of soft, effortless smile that makes Lisa's heart skip a beat.

"God, if only you could see your hearteyes," Chaeyoung snickers and flicks her thumb across the screen, revealing a new app. "Found her instagram, too. MadameChewbacca . Her kid's either a huge Star Wars fan or she's got some dorky ass hobbies. Oh and her Tinder. Dude, hop on that as soon as possible. No wonder you were so pissed last night. She's got your lady libido going -"

Chaeyoung extends out her arms, makes this exaggerated noise that sounds halfway between a pig and an explosion.

"Chaeyoung."

Chaeyoung holds the screen out to Jisoo, who stares at it for a hefty few seconds before giving her nod of approval.

"Not bad, Limario."

"Guys, just... stop. You're warping this whole thing into something it's not," Lisa says in frustration and reaches for the phone. "We had a bad encounter last night. Her kid's cute. She's a flaming a-hole. End of story."

Chaeyoung keeps it out of Lisa's reach. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Chaeyoung... just give me the damn phone."

Lisa eventually snatches it out of Chaeyoung's hand. "I swear you're making it seem like she's some kind of -"

Jennie, 35

1 Miles Away
———————
Yes, I am a mother. No there's about 0% chance I'll be interested. Feel free to swipe left.

Lisa nearly drops the phone, has to stop herself from tossing it clear across the table.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

There has only ever been one occasion where Lisa was struck speechless by a Tinder photo. It was at this time in her miserable life that she came across the profile of one ex-boyfriend - Jackson Wang, and his crooked-ass, traitorous, fur-faced, soul-sucking, fuckboy self.

Lisa had swiped left, deleted her account and the app and every trace of her existence all in the span of forty-three seconds.

Now, Lisa is struck speechless for an entirely different reason.

"Goddess?" Jisoo finishes for her. Lisa can't remember what they were talking about, but she nods nonetheless.

Chaeyoung, on the other hand, pats her on the back in the most pitiful display of sympathy ever.

"You're so screwed, my friend."

Yeah. Lisa is starting to think so, too.

.

.

Normally this would be the perfect time to reevaluate her life choices. Set up a plan. Avoid this shitfest she already knows she's doomed to fall into.

So what does Lisa do? She takes the envelope back.

The whole point was to do it discreetly, casually stroll over to the mailbox, shove it in, and walk away. Lisa had it planned down to the last step.

Except absolutely none of it comes to fruition, because as soon as Lisa is approaching said mailbox, Ella comes hopping out the front door, Ms. Fuck-Me-Pumps strutting close behind her.

"Lisa!" Ella chirps from the driveway. She beams. "What're you doing here?'

Lisa freezes in front of the mailbox, caught red handed. She watches as the woman - Jennie - fixes her with this smoldering look. Not really the good kind either. It's like she's sizing Lisa up.

"Miss Manoban," Jennie greets curtly.

"Our mail got mixed up," Lisa answers, more so to her than Ella. Mostly because they haven't broken eye contact yet and this is all getting extremely awkward. "I was just putting it back."

When Jennie simply raises her eyebrow, Lisa smiles stiffly. Makes a show of revealing the fucking envelope in her hand, tucks it into the mailbox, smile plastered as she slams it shut.

They still haven't broken eye contact. What the hell?

"Lisa, wanna come to my recital next Saturday?" Ella pipes up, her little backpack swinging in her excitement.

That draws Jennie's attention. "Ella," she says in warning.

"Uh..." Lisa hesitates.

"Mom, come on. She helped me find Frodo, remember?" Ella pleads in her defense.

And no. Lisa definitely did not.

But there's something about the look of discomfort on Jennie's face that makes Lisa feel giddy.

"Sure, Ell," Lisa says, grinning. "I'll be there."

"Yes!" Ella pumps her fist, clambers into the car - a sleek black Mercedes and the fact that Jennie drives that thing makes so much sense - before offering, "You can bring someone if you want. Maybe Mom can get you some free tickets. Please, Mom?"

Huh. Jennie has a bulging forehead vein when she's angry. Lisa hates that she finds that hot.

Jennie's jaw ticks. "Just get in the car, sweetheart."

Ella does. As soon as the lock clicks shut, Jennie pins Lisa with a glare.

"I suppose I can fax you the details," she surmises. The level of enthusiasm in the words drops to an impressive zilch.

"Or you can email them," Lisa says slowly. "You know. Like people from this century do."

If looks could kill, Lisa's pretty sure she'd be lying in a puddle of her own body parts right now. Jennie doesn't respond so much as she curls her lip into a brittle smile, gets into her car without another word. Although Lisa swears she sees a glint of admiration, maybe?

Either way Lisa's feeling pretty good about herself. Smug even.

So much so that she doesn't have it in her to feel nearly as annoyed as she should when the car backs up off the driveway, almost backing Lisa along with it.

She does flip it off as it drives away, though. Just because she can.

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Five hours later, there's an envelope in their mailbox marked to a Miss Manoban, written in a flawless, cursive scrawl. Blue ink.

Inside, the contents are just as sophisticated - two tickets to an eight o'clock preparatory school recital at the Blinks Conservatory. The location itself is fancy enough to make Lisa want to puke in her mouth.

The other thing is a note. It says -

Miss Manoban

For whatever reason, Ella wants you there.

Don't worry. I'm sure with a long coat, no one will notice your atrocious taste.

- Jennie Kim

Lisa reads through it again, followed by a third time, and then snorts.

Jennie Fucking Kim, everyone.

Behind her, Chaeyoung also lets out a snort, reads it directly over Lisa's shoulder as she shamelessly plucks one of the two tickets from Lisa's hand.

"This one's for me. Thank you. Looks like we're crashing a rich people's party," she singsongs before prancing away.

Bad idea. Really bad idea. But Lisa's not going to turn down the chance to rile up Jennie Kim, is she?

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.

In the days leading up to Saturday, Lisa begins to realize having a new next door neighbor isn't the end of the world.

For one, she hardly notices their presence. In between being booked for her training sessions and spending a good chunk of her time at the gym, she rarely sees Ella anymore. It's kind of strange when it's halfway through the summer and you would expect to see a nine-year-old outside selling lemonade, or whatever the subjects of Generation Z do in their free time these days.

It's a shame. The kid was starting to grow on her.

Lisa can't say she sees Jennie that often either, not that it's necessarily a bad thing. Her Benz is never parked on the driveway when Lisa gets up for her early morning runs, nor is it there when Lisa arrives in the evenings.

Occasionally she catches a glimpse of a redheaded woman moving in and out of the house. Lisa wonders who she is.

"You're creepy stalking them," Jisoo points out one day, when Lisa finds herself peeking in through the blinds to find the same ginger lady doing fuck-knows-what.

"I'm not," Lisa says stubbornly.

She is.

Either way, it's like living next to a ghost house all over again.

Until it's not, and Jennie comes striding out her front door in her Louboutins Friday morning.

After five days of nothing, the sight of her has Lisa tripping over her lawn mower. Literally. It's her turn to tend the lawn, and now Lisa wishes she had done so earlier that morning so she didn't have to suffer through this ninety degree heat wave. She's sweating down to her vagina, in nothing but a sports bra and compression shorts.

If Lisa had known she'd be running into Jennie Kim on this sunny morning, she would've considered wearing something less... revealing.

As it is Jennie comes to a gradual halt when she sees her, her eyebrows shooting all the way up to her hairline.

Lisa waves awkwardly. "Hi."

There's a flicker of... something in her eyes as she takes Lisa in. Surprise? Her gaze drops down the expanse of Lisa's toned stomach in a way Lisa can only describe as flustered. But then she's pursing her lips, spinning around on her fancy smancy Louboutins and getting into her car without a word.

Well that was nice.

Lisa can't get rid of the image of Jennie Kim blushing for the rest of the day.

It happens again that same night. And Lisa swears it isn't intentional. Why would it be when she's in the safety of her own bedroom?

She's peeling off her sweaty tank top after a day's worth of clients, only to come to a sudden stop in front of the window. The curtains are drawn back.

She spots Jennie on the other side about as quickly as it takes Lisa to realize this is going to present a problem.

Jennie is facing the window pane as she unfastens an earring, slides a hand to the zipper on the back of her dress. Before Lisa can think to look away, Jennie's eyes find hers from across the terrace.

Lisa freezes.

She already feels warm, tingly, partly due to the embarrassment of being caught peeping, however unintentional it was. But here she is, standing shirtless once again in front of her asshole neighbor, while said asshole neighbor is about to undress in full view of her massive window. It warms Lisa up far more than it should.

So she does the only thing she knows how to do in this sort of situation.

Lisa waves at her.

Even from this distance Lisa is able to distinguish the same strange expression on Jennie's face from this morning. Weirdly enough, Jennie continues to hold her gaze, her hand never straying from the zipper. Her face almost seems coy, as if settled over a smirk, but there's no way that's remotely -

Jennie begins a slow descent down her back, undoes the zipper in one fluid, tantalizing motion. Doesn't break eye contact.

Lisa feels her heart shoot straight up to her throat. No way.

No fucking way.

Is she - she can't be.

Is she?

Lisa's pulse quickens, her skin heating up at the first glimpse of skin and collarbone as the straps fall over Jennie's shoulders.

It's a visual immediately replaced by the shutter of blinds snapping shut in one silent swoosh.

Lisa gapes.

What the fuck?

She collapses onto the bed with a groan, bewildered beyond any realm of the imagination. There's a dull ache throbbing between her thighs that she doesn't want to acknowledge, nonetheless know the reason why. Especially when Jennie was one hundred percent fucking with her and Lisa gulped it up like a desperate fish. Hook, line, and sinker.

None of it makes any sense. Jennie Kim is either a total masochist or a professional tease in disguise. Or both.

Lisa hates that either one of those possibilities turns her on.

Come Saturday, Lisa can say she's officially fallen into this shitfest she's been doomed to fall into from day one. For one, she woke up in an awful mood. She'd opened up the curtains after an entire night of tossing and turning, glared at the window across the terrace, and finally acknowledged that maybe she has a crush.

For another, this crush might be a little more serious than she thought. Because she can't stop thinking about Jennie Kim.

It must be written clear across her features. Jisoo takes one look at her during breakfast and throws a cheerio at her face.

"Chu. What the hell?"

"You have gay panic all over your face. I'm cheering you up," Jisoo explains, mischievous grin evident on her face. "Get it? Cheerio."

And then tosses one smack against Lisa's forehead and another then another.

She spends the rest of the day inside watching Queer Eye. Maybe Jisoo has a point. Maybe she does have gay panic written all over her. What better way to fix that than watch other gay people do fabulous gay things?

She also spends a good deal of time on YouTube searching up music recitals performed by snobby rich kids. Not that Ella is one, but it's good to get some perspective on what she's about to deal with.

Chaeyoung seems to already have that all figured out when she gets home that afternoon and takes in the sight of Lisa slumped on the couch, a bowl of popcorn and a half empty bottle of wine at her feet.

"That recital thing's in two hours. Why aren't you dressed?"

Lisa glances down at her skinny jeans and tank top. The jeans have a hole in them, she notices.

"I am."

"Li. Lisa. LisLis." If Chaeyoung could look any more exasperated, she could almost pull off the appearance of being the more responsible one of the two. "You look like you were displaced on homeless grounds as some jacked up version of Taylor Swift."

Lisa is confused. "What?"

"You look like shit."

Lisa can't help but feel offended. "This is what I always wear."

"I rest my case," Chaeyoung says with finality.

She grabs the bottle of wine from the floor, sniffs it for a moment before shrugging and chugging it back.

"Okay. I can work with this," Chaeyoung decides on a whim. Obviously alcohol serves as a stimulant nowadays. Lisa watches on in mild horror. "We'll find you something nice. Get up."

"You've seen my closet, right? Nice isn't even in my vocabulary."

"Bullshit. You have that pink dress."

So Lisa tries on the pink dress.

It's been a while since she'd last worn it, having taken it out on a hunt at one point to catch some sleazebag who skipped out on court. She'd been called a ho on more than one special occasion while donning this thing.

At least Lisa can safely say she strikes up as a glamorous ho.

Chaeyoung immediately whistles when she sees her. "That's what I'm talking about."

"I don't know," Lisa says, uncertain, and smoothes her hands over the invisible wrinkles. "Don't you think it's a little too risqué for this kind of thing?"

"Since when do you care what uppity uptight private school moms have to say?"

"Touché."

"You can always wear this instead," Chaeyoung offers and removes a gray dress from the closet.

It's one Lisa had forgotten about in its entirety. The one and only time she'd worn it was during her year in New York, after dating some douchecanoe named Dem. Best to keep certain horrors tucked away deep in the closet.

"What do you think?" Chaeyoung holds it up. "Tactfully naughty or tastefully classy?"

Tastefully classy it is.

.

.

"Why do I get the feeling people are staring?"

Lisa inquires this over a nervous fit of paranoia. But she can't quite blame the paranoia either when she's caught more eyes on her in the last ten minutes than she would partying all night at a nightclub.

They're standing in a large banquet hall, surrounded by waiters, appetizers, and a hundred others dressed in clothes far more elegant than Lisa anticipated for a private school concert. It's daunting. She'd done her hair, makeup, and had even gone with the gray dress. Yet Lisa has never felt more out of place.

"Because you look hot. And they're jelly," Chaeyoung tells her over a glass of Merlot.

Never mind that she herself had gone with a red party dress that might just be the reason why everyone is staring.

"Can you believe they have free alcohol here? Look. Fucking martinis, Lisa," Chaeyoung excitedly says and snatches a martini glass off a passing tray. "This is the kind of rich nonsense I live for."

"Haven't you already had enough to drink?"

Chaeyoung downs the rest of her wine, casually dumps it on a table and chugs half of her martini.

"Sorry. Can't hear you over our generation plummeting into the pitfalls of economic distress. Hear that, Lisa? That's the sound of poor Chaeyoung drinking up her debt in student loans."

And she gulps down the rest of her martini like a pro.

Before Lisa can slink away, she spots a familiar redhead submerged in the crowd. Lisa squints and jabs Chaeyoung in the ribs.

"Hey. Doesn't that woman look familiar?"

"I don't know, Lisa. Obviously gingers have no soul. Maybe she showed up in your dream and sucked out yours and that's why you thought it was okay to nail me with your elbow," Chaeyoung snarks over a fresh new glass of wine.

"That would be my sister, actually."

Chaeyoung yelps, spins around with a slosh of her wine glass. Lisa's reaction is a little more controlled, if only because she's not drunk off her ass. Inwardly she's panicking.

Jennie observes them both, glances at Chaeyoung with a scowl. Her gaze then falls on Lisa in a manner that suggests... interest. Her eyes rake in Lisa's dress and platform heels, and it's clear by the lengthy once-over that Lisa's finally managed to impress.

And maybe there's something heated about Jennie's stare that makes Lisa's skin prickle hotly.

"I see you made it," Jennie says. She doesn't sound particularly enthused, but she's not glaring daggers either, so that's a win. "And you're wearing clothes. Must be a night for surprises."

Lisa takes the jab in stride. "Yup. Guess I didn't need a long coat to hide my atrocious taste, huh?"

"You've upgraded. I'll give you that." And she steps forward in her tall stilettos, actually cracks an amused smile. "Though I can't say I'd be surprised if you showed up in spandex. Under this long coat, that is."

Lisa is starting to sweat. What the hell is happening? Are they flirting?

"Not really my style."

"Oh?"

Lisa bites down on the inside of her cheek, tries not to sound too much like a raging hormonal teenager. "I guess I'm more of a fully commando kind of girl."

Beside her, Chaeyoung snorts her wine straight out of her nose.

Lisa is simultaneously turned on and horrified beyond words.

"Sorry. Sorry," Chaeyoung coughs, but she's wearing a shiteating grin when she holds out a hand for Jennie to take. "Hi. I'm Chaeyoung. The roommate."

Jennie stares at the offered hand like she might contract a disease. Lisa honestly can't blame her.

Jennie's smile is plenty professional, though. "And you can call me Ms. Kim."

"Last name basis, huh? Kinky."

Like a professional, Jennie's smile remains rooted in place, but Lisa knows a deadly look when she sees one.

That's how Lisa dies on the spot.

.

.

The rest of the night goes like this.

Jennie's sister is a piece of work. Lisa discovers this when she makes the mistake of introducing herself for curiosity's sake.

"Irene Kim," the redhead says with a disarming smile and... a British accent? "You must be the obnoxious blonde who lives next door."

Lisa has no idea how to respond to that. "I... am?"

"My sister's words. Though I should say," and Irene drags her eyes over Lisa's body in a way that is a little too familiar for her tastes, "No wonder you drive Jennie bonkers. You do clean up quite nicely. For an absolute prat, that is."

Lisa pastes on a smile.

Jennie's Sister - 2

Lisa - 0

By the time they're ready to be seated for the show, Lisa has no choice but to follow at Irene's subtle insistence.

"Come," Irene says and practically shoves Lisa into the front aisle. "This is us."

The next available seat is beside Jennie. Lisa stops and grabs onto Chaeyoung's forearm.

"You go first," Lisa tells her.

Chaeyoung snorts. "Are you kidding? And miss the blazing sexual tension?"

At that, Chaeyoung nudges her forward, spurring Lisa to nudge back. It's a game of back and forth until Chaeyoung pushes her hard enough to nearly send Lisa toppling over Jennie's lap. She meets Jennie's stare with a sheepish grin.

And then quietly takes her seat.

For the first thirty minutes, Lisa is bored out of her mind. She hadn't realized it would be this dull watching child prodigies play instruments on stage, but it is, and she may just pass out from the sheer dreariness of it.

It doesn't help that she can smell Jennie's perfume from here, feel her skin tingle every time Jennie's arm grazes hers. At one point Jennie doesn't bother moving her arm at all. Instead she glances down at their shared armrest, spares Lisa this sly look she can't quite decipher, and promptly turns her head back to the stage.

And god. This itty bitty crush is going to drive Lisa insane.

She knows it's Ella's turn when she senses Jennie perk up. The kid comes strolling onto the stage seconds later in her formal dress, seats herself in front of the grand piano, looking far too mature for a nine year old who names her ferret Frodo. Begins playing.

And okay. The kid's actually good.

Like... really good.

Lisa can hardly call herself a musical expert, but she does feel a twinge of inexplicable pride that doesn't fade through the entire piece.

Enough so that when she stands at the end and bows before the audience, Lisa's the one leaping in the air with a deafening 'WOOOOOOT' that echoes through the stadium.

She flips her two thumbs up. Her little face beams back at her, and she holds both her thumbs up right back.

Lisa finds she doesn't care too much when she's being dragged back down to her seat. At least Jennie's doing a pretty shit job at hiding her own smile.

.

.

"Well, that was fun," Chaeyoung slurs once they're in the parking lot.

If Lisa could rate Chaeyoung's level of intoxication, ninety-five percent plastered (with some signs of common sense) seems to be the most accurate description.

It's nearing eleven. Lisa had lost sight of Jennie after catching her in a heated argument with her sister. This was before Ella decided to join in on the family quarrel, the three of them bickering in angry whispers.

Lisa figured it wasn't the best time to present the kid with the congratulatory candy she'd bought at the concession stand. She'd also grabbed a bouquet of flowers on the side, though now that she thinks about it -

Do kids even like flowers?

Chaeyoung gasps all of a sudden, leans into her with a hushed, "Are those flowers for me?"

"You're fucking wasted, Chaeng."

Chaeyoung narrows her eyes. "I'm fucking Jisoo. Who the fuck is Wasted?"

Jesus Christ.

Lisa can't say she isn't the slightest bit disappointed to see Jennie's Benz already parked on the driveway when they arrive home. The lights are on inside, meaning they've been home longer than it takes to heave Chaeyoung out of the car. Meaning the three Kims had just up and left and hadn't bothered to say goodbye.

Should Lisa feel petty? She does feel a little petty. Maybe she should at least knock and give Ella her candy.

She's left with these cluster of thoughts up until she shuffles through the front door, only to walk straight into Chaeyoung.

"Chaeyoung, what're you -" Lisa trails off.

Takes a moment to register the fact that Ella is currently huddled on the sofa, wrapped in a bundle of blankets.

She peers up at them from over the rim of the mug she has cradled in her hands and offers a timid smile.

"Hi."

"Li." Chaeyoung gestures to her, then turns to Lisa, wide-eyed and bewildered. "There's a ghost on our couch."

"She's not entirely wrong," Jisoo points out. She's sitting on an armchair on the other end of the room, casually flipping through a book. "She kind of just showed up out of nowhere."

"You forgot to fix the window," Ella chirps. "So I snuck in and Jisoo made me hot cocoa."

"Woah," Chaeyoung whispers.

Lisa rubs a palm over her face. This is already too much to digest even for her. She can't imagine what it must be like for Chaeyoung, who's too drunk to function.

"Go to bed, Chaeng. You're drunk," Lisa sighs and gives her a light shove toward the stairs.

"I am not."

"Yeah, you are. Go."

Surprisingly it works. Chaeyoung wobbles up the stairs, grumbling the whole way up.

Lisa immediately pins Ella with a glare. At least the kid has the sense to look ashamed.

"Ell. Does your mom know you're here?"

Judging by the way her eyes bulge, Lisa already has her answer.

"Um. Negative."

"She's going to kill me," Lisa mutters. "Then she's going to kill you. And then me again."

Ella drops her head. "I know."

"Seriously, Ell. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry," she says in a low, sad mumble. She's sniffling now, wiping her eyes with the edge of the blanket. Lisa's stomach plummets at the sight.

Fuck. She's such an asshole.

"Great job, Sherlock," Jisoo grumbles. "You made a little human cry."

Lisa shoots her a dirty look, sucks in a lungful of air before she cautiously makes her way to the couch. She settles in beside Ella, who continues to snivel into the blanket.

"Hey," Lisa urges gently. "Ella. Look at me, please."

She does, lifts her head up to peek up at her through red-rimmed eyes. Lisa feels a pang somewhere between her ribs as she murmurs -

"Tell me what's wrong."

Another sniffle, this one less restrained. "I had a fight with my mom."

Shit. Now she knows Jennie's going to be pissed.

Lisa ignores the fleeting thought and presses forward. "Yeah?"

She nods. "At first she was upset because I didn't make it to the next round. Aunt Irene tried to talk her out of yelling at the judges. And then I came and told her... I said I didn't want to play the piano anymore. I don't even like it that much."

"I take it she wasn't very happy about that?"

"She started crying," Ella admits, so softly, Lisa almost doesn't hear her. "My grandma used to play the piano. She started teaching me when I was really young. But then she died when I was six and... I think that's why it made my mom so sad. Because she loved it. She never stopped supporting me. She even hired someone to give me private lessons and I got really good. But I -"

She stops, pinches her eyebrows together as if she's trying to focus, but Lisa knows this is her way of holding it in.

"It wasn't the same anymore?" Lisa suggests.

Ella raises her shoulders in a small shrug. "It stopped being fun."

Now, Lisa isn't afraid to admit this is way out of her comfort zone. She's absolute garbage at giving advice in general, especially when it comes to children because -

How do you give a child advice when you never had a childhood of your own?

So Lisa exhales sharply through her nose, glances at Jisoo for help.

Jisoo shrugs.

Great.

"You know. When I was a kid, I used to go to the library every single day just to read this one book. I didn't have a library card and couldn't take it home with me. But it was a book about fairytales. Both old and modern."

"I have a book like that in our attic. I think it's called The Blackpink Tales," Ella mutters. "It's stupid."

"Yeah, well," Lisa says. She doesn't know where this is going. "The kid in the book was an author. She would write her own stories, stories that would come true so that other people can have theirs told. There was a shi - shirt ton of melodrama in between but the point is... you're the author of your own story, Ell. Not your mom or anyone else. You."

Ella raises her head then, stares up at her with her large, doe-like eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. No doubt your mom loves you more than anything and wants what's best for you. But she's not you. And there's only one Ella Kim, right?" At that, she nudges her playfully.

She giggles. "My grandma's name was Ella Kim."

Well fuck.

"Okay. But I bet she didn't have chubby cheeks or a cool ferret named Frodo."

Ella frowns at her. "I don't have chubby cheeks."

"Wanna bet?" She reaches out to pinch her cheek, has her hand smacked away as she bursts into laughter.

"Okay, okay. Maybe I do. Aunt Irene likes to pinch my cheeks all the time. Mostly to annoy me," Ella tells her. Her face lights up when she sees the candy in her hand. "Is that chocolate?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. It's for you," Lisa says and hands it off, or rather, has it snatched away by the kid's greedy little fingers. "Sort of a congratulatory treat. I also got you these flowers."

Ella scrunches up her nose. "What am I supposed to do with flowers? "

Lisa's smile freezes on her face. She has a point.

It's as if the universe wants to fuck her over in any way possible, because the doorbell rings a second later. This is followed by a loud, urgent knock that leaves no doubt who it could be.

Double fuck.

Sighing, Lisa stands and crosses the foyer, opens the door to reveal -

"Is Ella here?" Jennie's frantic outburst leaves Lisa stunned to the point where she isn't sure how to react. Not to Jennie standing on her porch or her tear-stained face.

But then she peers over Lisa's shoulder and Lisa realizes she doesn't have to react.

"Ella," Jennie sighs in relief.

Lisa moves aside to let her in, watches the scene unfold as Jennie scoots in close and holds Ella's face in her hands. Her thumbs swipe over her cheeks, over her newly formed tears.

The moment is so tender. Emotional.

And so terribly awkward.

Lisa peeks over to find Jisoo observing the scene with wide eyes. She slowly closes her book and stands.

Lisa shakes her head, mouths a desperate 'don't leave me here.'

She isn't sure what Jisoo mouths back, but it looks like 'every woman for herself' before she leaves. Leaves. Ducks from the living room and up the stairs.

Lisa grits her teeth. Damn right every woman for herself.

She dawdles by the door for a minute. Ella is now curled up halfway on her mother's lap, relaxed now that Jennie is gingerly stroking her hair. It's a sweet, motherly gesture.

Again, Lisa feels that familiar pang in her chest. She feels like she's intruding on the moment.

"I'm... gonna go make some tea," Lisa mutters, but Jennie is already getting up, Ella clinging to her side.

"That won't be necessary," Jennie says. She doesn't appear angry, but Lisa's self-preservation makes her cautious anyway. "Thank you, Miss Manoban. For looking out for my daughter."

Lisa blinks. There's no way she'd heard right. Jennie Kim can't possibly be thanking her.

"You're... thanking me."

"Yes."

"Can you repeat that?"

Jennie releases a soft huff of laughter, and it might just be the most beautiful sound Lisa's ever heard.

"Don't push it," she says.

Nope. Lisa is definitely not going to risk doing that.

"We should get going," Jennie tells her finally, after a quiet lull where Lisa is trying really hard not to grin like a dumbass.

Her dumb ass is grinning anyway. "Right. Sure. Everything good, Ell?"

"Yup," Ella smiles as she follows her mom outside, her head bobbing up with her next words. "Thanks for everything, Lisa. And for the chocolate."

Jennie scoffs. "Of course that was you."

"I'll have you know that this is prestigious German chocolate. That stuff's not -"

Lisa's good mood plunges when Jennie's eyes flit to the bouquet of flowers Lisa still holds in her hand, dangling between them. She hadn't thought to put them down, nonetheless come up with a good reason as to why a nine year old would like some flowers.

Jennie arches her brow up in curiosity.

Lisa flushes. "Oh, these? They're uh..." Shit shit shit.

She thrusts them into Jennie's unexpecting hands before she can second guess her own stupidity.

"Here you go. Have a good night!"

And shuts the door.

.

.

When Lisa was seven, she had a crush on a girl named Angelina. She was pretty and popular and had dark hair and brown eyes. Lisa instantly wanted to be her friend.

So one afternoon, she gave Angelina a rock, one that she'd found on the playground. Because rocks were cool. She had smiled at Lisa, bright and dazzling and so pretty.

Lisa promptly threw up all over Angelina's new pink shoes.

The moral of this story? There really isn't one.

Lisa just has no game.

No. None at all.

.

.

"Idiot."

If you think Lisa's home free for the night, then you're wrong.

Forty minutes after the flower debacle, Lisa is still commiserating her poor life choices. This involves a bottle of Jack, her bed, and a wide selection of sad lesbian dramas she'd piled up on Netflix just for this occasion.

None of which are taking her mind off the fact that she's just given her asshole neighbor (who isn't so much of an asshole anymore) flowers.

"Idiot," Lisa grumbles again. She slams her laptop shut. "God. No wonder you're single, Lisa. You puke on people's shoes and throw ten dollar bouquets at their face."

She knew she should've gotten the forty dollar deluxe arrangement.

Lisa considers taking the car out for a late night run, anything to clear her head of all these... feelings. But she also doesn't want to have to face the object of her dilemma.

AKA the house next door.

Now that she thinks about it -

Lisa straggles off the bed, reaches for the curtains to close them. Stops.

"For fuck's sake," Lisa mutters.

Jennie's in her bedroom, facing the window again. She's dressed in a robe and, judging by the angry crease between her eyes and jagged movement of her hand, she's arguing with someone over the phone.

Lisa watches for a moment. Without makeup, there's something much softer about Jennie's appearance. Soft, but no less beautiful.

She debates whether to close the curtains now and save herself the embarrassment. Before she can decide, Jennie hangs up, pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Looks up.

Lisa's breath catches in her throat when their eyes meet.

Lisa panics, grabs hold of the window sill for leverage. She figures now is a perfect time as any to put her note passing skills to good use, so Lisa grabs the notebook she has sitting on a nearby desk, rummages around for a sharpie.

Jennie is regarding her once Lisa finishes writing, rips the sheet out and holds it out for her to see.

YOU OK?

No reaction. Jennie doesn't so much as move as Lisa holds the sign up for several seconds. Lisa's one predicament away from giving up.

Until Jennie does move. She walks away from the window, disappearing behind the shades, and the disappointment Lisa feels is striking.

She perks up when Jennie returns a moment later with what looks like a dry-erase board. She scribbles over it. Lifts it up.

Lisa has to squint to make out the words.

Yes

I will be

Lisa's stomach flutters. This is an improvement from jerking the shades shut a week ago. A big improvement.

She's about to write down another message, but Jennie beats her to it.

I'm sorry

Wow. Ms. Beautiful-but-Deadly hath apologized.

Lisa's sure her face must be scrunched up in shock as she raises her sign.

For what?

Being an asshole?

Jennie rolls her eyes. Lisa can't contain her grin when the woman reveals her next words.

I'm always an 'asshole'

The quotation marks. Lisa could probably melt in a puddle of her own infatuation from how cute she finds this.

But yes, Jennie writes.

At this point Lisa already has her own sign up - It's OK - when Jennie seems to hesitate, wipes away her original message and writes down something else.

Thank you

for the flowers

At first Lisa thinks her eyes must be playing tricks on her, but the words are there, written boldly in black marker fifty feet away.

That something that was twisting inside Lisa swells further at the words, making her heart beat just a little faster. She doesn't get the chance to respond, not that she can when she's struck speechless.

Jennie puts the board down. Makes this departing motion with her hand before finally closing the blinds.

The lights flick off seconds later.

.

.

And that is how Lisa's night ends.

With her corny, moonstruck ass staring at the window across the terrace, realizing Jennie Kim isn't an asshole, after all.

.

.

The way Lisa sees it, she has two options.

She can pack up her shit, move out, and pretend she isn't secretly developing a mild obsession with her next door neighbor. Because when you put it like that, Lisa sounds like a total creep. Which she isn't.

Or (and this is where Lisa's hit-and-run scare factor comes into play) -

She can see where this takes her.

Lisa knows things have shifted in some way when she sees Jennie again the following morning. She's preparing for her Sunday morning run when Ella comes bolting out of the house, her mother not too far behind.

She immediately smiles when she sees her. "Hi, Lisa!"

"Hey, Ell. What're you up to so early?"

"We're going to the park," she informs her, with all the enthusiasm a kid can muster at -

Lisa checks her watch.

Jesus fuck. Who goes to the park at 7:30?

"Wanna come?" Ella asks, right as Jennie approaches behind her, and Lisa finds she can't take her eyes off the jeans she has on today.

She's been drooling over killer stilettos and pencil skirts. Turns out a pair of jeans is Lisa's weakness.

"Uh... raincheck," Lisa says, distractedly. "Maybe next time?"

Ella shrugs. "Okay."

As soon as she disappears under the hood of the car, Jennie greets her with a smile. Coy. But Lisa can also almost say it's... warm.

"I never pegged you as a morning person," Jennie states, in her four inch wedges that are so not suitable for a day at the park.

"Force of habit," Lisa explains. "Gotta stay in shape somehow."

Something indecipherable clouds over Jennie's expression. "Yes. I'd say you're doing a decent job of that."

Warmth floods through Lisa, both in the innocent and not-so-virginal sense. As in Lisa may simultaneously combust from romantic and sexual strife.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Lisa teases.

Jennie's lips turn up in amusement. "Take it as you will, Miss Manoban. I don't give those away very often."

"Lisa."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Lisa."

Jennie gets this look - Lisa can't pinpoint what it is - but she's staring at Lisa now, letting her gaze linger on Lisa's face. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth.

God, why is there so much tension? The amount of it could cut through steel.

Right as Lisa is about to prepare herself for more disappointment, the car horn beeps. Ella pops her head out from the driver's side -

"Mom! Stop making googly eyes at Lisa. Let's park it please. Let's go!"

- and ducks back inside, shutting the door.

Jennie is either miffed or amused. Possibly both.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she says, "I suppose I better get going. Her highness awaits."

Lisa nods vigorously. "Yeah. Of course. Right. I'll... see you around."

"Yes." At this, Jennie pauses with her hand on the car door and smirks. "Lisa."

Lisa releases a breath she hadn't realized she's been holding in. Lets it out in a gust that makes her feel like she's floating in midair.

If anyone asks, the idiot blonde making googly eyes at a departing Benz? That idiot would be Lisa Manoban.

.

.

As the week goes on, Lisa finds that having a crush is so much more work than she remembers it being.

It may have to do with the source of it living next door. Whatever it is, Lisa is tired.

She thinks about it often. How, despite hardly knowing a single thing about Jennie Kim, Lisa can't help but find the little scar above her lip the most appealing thing in the world. How, despite being a mother to a cool fucking kid, despite having more stability in her manicured pinky than Lisa has had her whole life - all of the things that would normally have Lisa running for the hills - despite it all -

Lisa finds herself more drawn to Jennie Kim each and every day.

It scares her. Terrifies Lisa, really.

She's resorted to keeping her curtains shut every night now. Makes sure that when she goes on her morning runs, it's after Jennie leaves for work at 7 AM. She drives home from the gym in her beat up Bug only to find Jennie's sleek Mercedes already parked on the driveway at 8 PM.

The constant avoidance takes a toll on Lisa. The misery must be seeping through her pores, because Jihyo hits her with the hard truth of it during one of their sessions.

"Lisa," Jihyo sighs. She's counting down her number of reps on the squat machine. Lisa stopped paying attention five minutes ago. "You look terrible. Like someone kicked your puppy."

Lisa grunts. "I don't have a puppy."

"But if you did and someone kicked it, that's what you would look like."

"Good to know."

She and Lisa had been roommates once upon a time, before Jihyo met the love of her life. So instead of being an insufferable bachelorette with an obsession for knitting, she's an insufferable housewife with a penchant for cardigans and really boring sex.

It never hurts to have a friend straight-laced enough to lie down for missionary twice a week. Lights off.

"I've been having some trouble sleeping," Lisa admits, even though that's the least of her concerns. "So sorry if I've been kind of... pent up."

"Well, I find that releasing all that intimate energy during climax can make a powerful stress-reliever. It's the oxytocin in your body that make it the natural antidote to stress hormones. I highly recommend it."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Jihyo squats down low, her eyes locking with Lisa's through their reflection in the mirror.

"Orgasms, Lisa."

Lisa nearly chokes on her own spit.

"Says the woman who schedules her own sex routine every Tuesday and Friday."

Jihyo appears confused by that. "I'm intimate with Dan at least twice a day, Lisa. Just this morning we had sex in the car on my way here. Good thing, too. It helped relieve my headache. And just yesterday we decided to try the bathroom sink. That was an adventure! What's that position called, where the female is on top?"

"Cowgirl?" Lisa squeaks.

"Yes! Oh, but in the reverse. That truly hits the spot. The rooftop is a rather exciting place, as well. It's secluded from our neighbors. I think that may have been the first time I've had five orgasms in one go."

Lisa drops her kettlebell. She leans over it with a dry heave, hands jolting to her knees.

The massive amount of no surging through her may or may not be traumatic.

Jihyo wrinkles her brow. "Are you alright, Lisa?"

"I just need a minute."

"Okay. Well I finished my circuit. Would you like to know about my trip to Amsterdam? It really opened up my eyes."

Later that afternoon, Lisa slips on a pair of gloves and works up a sweat on a heavy bag. If she can't have a million magnificent orgasms like Jihyo fucking Park, then she can very well punch her sexual frustration into oblivion.

By the time she gets home, she's a sweaty mess. Her wrists are sore and she's fairly sure she's more exhausted than just 'coming off a spiritual high'. Or whatever bullshit Jihyo spewed out of her mouth.

"I'd enter my bedroom cautiously if I were you," Jisoo says the moment Lisa walks through the door. She's sprawled over on the couch, mindlessly surfing Netflix.

Lisa narrows her eyes. "Why?"

"Just a thought."

Lisa ignores her, swings her gym bag over her shoulder and heads for her room. The door is closed. Lisa swears she'd left it open that morning.

"I swear to god, Chu. If you and Chaeng had sex on my bed again -"

A panicked voice shouts at her as soon as Lisa barges in.

"Ferret on the run!"

Lisa stumbles back. " Ell. What the-"

A ferret appears out of nowhere. Weasels its way between her legs and Lisa leaps out of the way. Slams into her dresser.

Hurdles straight for the floor.

Lisa can proudly say she's never blacked out before. Not once in her twenty-eight years of life. Not even during that time she inhaled fifteen shots. She'd puked her guts out the entire night, but she did it consciously. Like a badass. A conscious badass.

No. Lisa has never blacked out.

Until now, that is.

.

.

"Do you think she has a concession?"

Waking up to Ella's adorkable face hovering inches from her own is admittedly not the most pleasant sight. Neither is Jisoo's face, which is poised even closer. Scrutinizing her.

"I think you mean concussion, little girl," Jisoo tells her, prodding a finger into Lisa's cheek. "And nah. She'll be alright. See? She looks normal already."

"Why is she glaring like that?"

"Probably because she tripped over her dresser like a loser."

Ella just snickers.

.

.

Lisa takes a shower first. Decides that in this case, it's better to take action and ask questions later. Plus, according to Ella, she smells like a wet dog.

She scrambles out into the backyard twenty minutes later to find Ella sitting on the tire swing set installed about a year ago. Chaeyoung had a pregnancy scare once before she was officially done with men. As a result, Jisoo bought a pack of diapers and built a swing.

Frodo leisurely explores the garden as Lisa situates herself beside Ella. Doesn't get a word in before she's talking.

"Your window's still broken," she points out. "Jisoo said you wouldn't mind if I waited in your room with Frodo."

"A warning would've been nice," Lisa mutters. Although Jisoo did warn her, a second warning would've been nice.

Ella hangs her head. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry, Ell. I'm the clutz who tripped," she reminds her. "Any particular reason why you decided to pay me a visit?"

Her head remains ducked low, shoulders rising and falling in a small shrug.

"Talk to me. What's your story?" she tries again, more gently now.

Lisa waits until she expels a breath.

"You haven't been around that much lately," she says. "I thought... I don't know. I know you're way older than me and I'm just some dumb kid. It's stupid. But I thought... maybe there's a way we could still be friends."

This kid must be making her soft, because Lisa's chest physically aches at her words.

"I didn't have a lot of friends where I used to live," she goes on and finally peers up at her. "My mom used to be the mayor of this town in Maine. It was called The Town. We used to live in this big mansion and everything. But I was always the weird one out because I was the mayor's kid, you know? Because I liked to read and play the piano. I was always the last one to be picked for dodgeball. The other kids would never sit next to me at lunch. Even the teachers acted weird around me. I knew I was lonely there, but I think that was the first time I ever felt really... alone."

"Ell..."

"And then my mom noticed," she continues. "She never did because she was always too busy. For a long time I hated her for it. But then she listened to me. The next day she quit her job. She might've even packed our things that day, but there was a lot of paperwork to fill out. And two weeks later we moved here. To a smaller house and a bigger school. She likes to call it a second chance."

"Sounds like your mom really loves you."

"Yeah," Ella whispers. She wipes her eyes with her sleeve. "She says I don't have to keep playing the piano if I don't like it. But knowing I have a choice... I want to keep playing just for her."

Lisa's answering smile is wobbly, much like her sentimental dumbass self is.

"That's awesome, Ella. I'm glad it all worked out in the end."

Ella grins back. "It's because of you, you know. You helped."

"Nah. I just did what any friend would do," Lisa tells her. "That's what friends are for, right?"

If her face could light up any further, her head would be a giant lightbulb.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"My mom, too?" she asks. "She could use a friend. I can tell she's been lonely. But you like her, right?"

Lisa's smile feels like it's been smeared on with superglue.

"Yeah. I do."

"Do you think she's pretty?"

Jesus Christ.

"Yes. I think she's really... pretty," Lisa coughs. Hopes she can pass off her tomato face as a heat symptom.

"And smart?"

"Mhmm."

"And nice?"

"Ell, if this is your way of interrogating me for your mom's friendship, then yes. I think she's super pretty, super smart, and super nice. Sometimes," Lisa adds as an afterthought. Because Jennie can still be a Super Bitch. "She's also a total MILF, so there's that."

Ella wrinkles her nose. "What's a MILF?"

"Madame I'd like to friend."

"Oh."

Lisa slides off the tire before this conversation can get any more uncomfortable. "So it's official? Do I get her highness's stamp of approval?"

"I guess," Ella says. "I think she likes you, too. Mom usually hates flowers. But she put yours in a vase."

That... makes Lisa significantly more giddy than it should. In fact, she has no idea what to do with this information, but she files it off just so she can feel giddy later.

"That's... neat," Lisa says, for the lack of a better word.

"So what now?" Ella asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Now that we're friends," she clarifies, and the way her hazel eyes are staring at Lisa now, like she's her most favorite person in the whole wide world. It feels like a sucker punch to the chest. "Can we have our own secret handshake?"

Lisa swallows the knob in her throat. "Sure, Ell. You should be heading back soon, though. Before your mom gets worried. How about a pinky swear for now?"

Ella frowns at her. "No one does pinky promises anymore, Lisa. That's so 2014."

"Humor me," Lisa snorts. The nerve of this kid.

She holds out her pinky anyway, feels an overwhelming swell of pride and... affection when she immediately links her pinky with hers.

"Friends?" she urges.

She smiles, big and wide and holding the brightness of a thousand stars. Even if Jennie were to hate her again the next morning, Lisa is gone from that moment on.

"Friends."

.

.

When Jennie opens the door to Lisa's sheepish face, Ella clinging to her side, she doesn't seem like she would readily stab Lisa with a fork if given the chance. Which is good. Most-likely-to-murder-you-in-your-sleep Jennie may be exceptionally hot, but Lisa doesn't have a death wish.

Instead she drags her gaze to Ella in relief. But mostly exasperation.

"Ella," she sighs. "Let me guess. Frodo ran away again."

Ella clutches the ferret closer to her chest. "Yup."

"Straight to Miss Manoban's house," Jennie deadpans.

"Uh huh."

"She opened the door and walked right in."

"Frodo's smart, Mom," Ella defends with conviction. The kid may be an absolute shit liar, but Lisa has to give her props for her loyalty.

"Just come inside," Jennie tells her, weary, and waves her in. "We'll discuss your punishment later. Dinner's almost ready."

She scrambles past her, leaving Lisa to deal with the ramifications on her own. It's not too terrible of an inconvenience, really.

Except what do you say after avoiding your beautiful ass neighbor for a week?

Lisa scuffs her shoe against the ground. "So... I'll gladly take the blame for that one. I might've made a pinky swear that we'd be friends. You can't break those. I mean. I swear that's not as weird as it sounds."

That only seems to amuse Jennie. There's a playful glint in her eyes, her mouth straining on a smile.

"You may be the only adult I've ever met who takes those seriously," Jennie quips.

"Pinky promises?" Lisa asks. "Are you kidding? I'll have you know it's the highest level of oath. That kind of thing trumps age."

That prompts a smile. Lisa mentally rejoices.

"Regardless. She's has taken a liking to you," Jennie says. "I'll let it slide this once. I guess you're not the terrible influence I thought you were."

Lisa doesn't hold in her grin. "I sense another compliment in there somewhere."

"Perhaps."

Ella chooses that moment to reemerge, ferretless now. She scurries up to her mother's side, stops with a breathless -

"Mom's making pork chops."

Lisa stares at her suspiciously. She glances at Jennie.

"Lisa loves pork chops, Mom."

No. Lisa does not, in fact, love pork chops.

But she stands wordlessly on the porch, gawking between the two of them. Jennie furrows her brow in confusion. It's clear after several seconds of silence that this is the part where Lisa should leave.

"Would you -" Jennie starts before Lisa can make her escape. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

.

.

That plan to avoid the hot new neighbor?

Operation Fail
ERROR 2703 TIME FOR PLAN B

Press OK to activate.

OK

.

.

Plan B evidently involves dinner and pork chops.

And it's... strange being in someone else's home. It's not something Lisa does too often nowadays, not since her foster care years. But the second she steps foot into this (admittedly massive) house, Lisa's hit with a sort of uneasiness that can't be fixed with casual small talk.

Jennie's sister just so happens to take small talk to the extreme.

"So tell me, Lisa," Irene drones across from her. She twirls a red curl around a finger. "Are you a natural blonde?"

They're seated on the dining table while Jennie finishes up in the kitchen. Lisa wishes the kid was at least here to get her through this train wreck.

Lisa touches her hair. "Yes?"

"Really now? So does the spoon fit the teacup?" Irene leans in, fascinated.

What the fuck does that even mean?

"What?"

"Does the bush match the tree?"

"What?"

"Oh, bloody hell," Irene exclaims and rolls her eyes skyward, as if it's Lisa's fault this lady's insane. "Does the carpet match the drapes?"

"Yes," Lisa answers hotly. "My pubic hair is nice and blonde, thanks for asking. Would you like to know the consistency of my vagina while you're at it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

The words aren't said by Irene, but rather Jennie, who comes to a halt at the table with a platter of pork chops in her hands.

Lisa palms her face. Well this is going swell.

Irene, on the other hand, looks delighted. "Blonde and fierce. I like it. People used to wonder about me all the time, you know. Would come up with all these bloody nicknames. Fire crotch. Carrot cunt. That's my personal favorite. I even had a boyfriend once ask me if I was a ginger between the sheets before we even had a shag. The stupid wanker - what does that say about me?"

"You have atrocious taste in men," Jennie deadpans.

Irene raises her wine glass in thought before slowly deciding, "Yes. But he was a good fuck."

Jennie sets the platter down with a disgusted, "Must you always be so crass? It's like you have no filter. And - has anyone seen Ella? I told her to set the table ten minutes ago."

She leaves, taking her search to the living room, leaving Lisa to fend for herself. She takes a sip of water, watches nervously as Irene eyeballs her over the rim of her wine glass and says -

"So, Lisa. How long have you been a lesbian?"

Lisa chokes on her water.

Dinner becomes a feasting frenzy when Ella comes rushing in with plates and utensils, laying down all the rules.

"Just don't leave the broccoli. Mom hates that," she whispers, all business.

Luckily Lisa doesn't have to suffer through awkward conversations, as Ella does a lot of the talking. She's quick to prattle on about her day in between Jennie's retorts to not talk with her mouth full, and Irene's witty remarks that has her laughing with her mouth full anyway. It's unexpectedly charming, Lisa thinks. This somewhat dysfunctional family having dinner together, not quite fitting the way they're supposed to. But glued together in a way that works.

She learns that Ella spends her mornings with her aunt when Jennie goes to work - Irene, who spent most of her childhood in a boarding school in England. Who also owns a high-end lingerie store in the city called Velvety British.

The name is so ridiculous that Lisa almost snorts. But then Irene is brandishing her phone and the five-star rating it has on Yelp.

"What those Harvard Law snobs wouldn't pay for a little risqué in their dull lives," Irene sighs.

Jennie is the chief executive of the city council, or something equally as important. Lisa may have stopped paying attention halfway through Jennie's political rant to stare at her face instead.

It's at this point that Irene jabs her enormous heel into Lisa's shin. She catches Lisa's glazed expression with an irritating, knowing smirk.

"Lisa works for the city too, Mom," Ella chimes in, snatching Lisa's attention. "She's a cop ."

"You are?" Jennie asks, surprise coloring her features.

"Not exactly..."

"You said you were a bounty man!"

"Bondsperson," Lisa corrects dutifully. "It's more part time now. Most days I train clients at a gym."

"So you're a physical fitness instructor?" Irene leers over the rim of her third glass of wine for the night. "Fascinating."

"Not really," Lisa says meekly.

"It certainly explains those arms of yours," Irene observes and leans in a little too close. "Perhaps you can give my dear sister here a demonstration. I'm sure she'll find the experience quite... stimulating."

Lisa stares, mortified.

Oblivious to the blatant sexual connotation, Jennie snarks, "What're you suggesting? That I'm not in shape?"

"Honestly, sis. I'm surprised you've managed to keep your figure after sitting behind a desk for six bloody years."

"And what do you think yoga is?"

"Oh, I don't know. A bloody waste of time designed to keep housewives busy during their midlife crisis?"

"God, you are such an insufferable -"

"You're not unfit," Lisa interrupts. Feels herself stiffen when three sets of eyes are suddenly on her. "I think you look beautiful."

Jennie's eyes remain on her, burning a hole into Lisa's skull. It's heavy. Lisa tries to decipher what the look means, but her senses are torn between her sweaty palms, her spiking heart rate, and the dramatic sigh Irene heaves beside her.

Ella glances between the two them. "Um. Why does it feel weird all of a sudden?"

"Because your Mummy's a twat," Irene mutters, low enough to reach Lisa's ears, and stands up. "Well. I can't stand to watch this any longer. Come, Ella. Let's leave the idiots to their suffering and go watch a movie."

Ella immediately leaps out of her chair. "Can we watch Lord of the Rings?"

"My Gods. You are such a colossal nerd."

They take their bickering to the living room. Lisa stays seated, inspects her plate. She didn't even get to finish her broccoli.

Jennie begins clearing the table, gesturing to Lisa's plate. "Are you finished with that?"

Lisa nods. "Here. Let me help you."

"Nonsense. You're our guest."

Gathering up the rest of the utensils, Lisa adds, "I'm not going out there to argue their nerd logic. So I guess you're stuck with me."

That pulls a small smile from Jennie, and Lisa feels herself relax now that the tension has dwindled. And Irene isn't around to toss her smartass comments.

"Very well," Jennie says and hands Lisa a dishrag. "We've been having issues with the washer since we got here. So you're on drying duty."

Lisa could honestly say she can dry dishes with Jennie all night and be ecstatic.

"Okay."

Nothing else is said during those first few minutes. Lisa is beginning to wonder if she's even capable of having a conversation with someone as sophisticated as Jennie, or if she's forever going to be stuck in this hole of nervousness.

But then Jennie begins speaking.

"I wanted to apologize," she says, taking Lisa by surprise. Jennie passes her a wet plate. "For our first meeting. Not that it's an excuse, but I did spend six years of my life as a small town Mayor. Sometimes I forget how to interact with people who aren't old, white men."

Lisa snickers, gently places the plate in the pile next to her. "You know you already apologized for that."

"Yes. But this time I'm saying it out loud."

"Fair enough." Lisa grins, glancing at her from askew. "Can't say I've been the most hospitable neighbor, either."

"If there's anything Irene's right about, you're fierce. It's been a while since I met anyone with a spine," Jennie tells her. "There's always room to appreciate that."

"Two compliments in one night. Wow. I must be doing something right."

Jennie breathes out a laugh, silently hands over another plate, but otherwise doesn't respond. Lisa debates whether she can work with the blush she swears is tinting Jennie's cheeks.

Instead Lisa says, "I kinda have to be. Growing up in the foster system, you have to have a thick skin in order to survive."

Jennie pauses, reaches over to turn off the faucet before turning to give Lisa her full attention. Some unreadable emotion envelopes her face.

"You were in the foster system?" Jennie asks. It's almost a whisper.

Lisa nods lightly. "I was abandoned on the side of the road when I was a baby. Never got adopted out."

Jennie's expression flickers, and her eyes are softer when she says, "I adopted Ella when she was a week old."

"She's lucky to have you."

Jennie's answering smile sends a flutter beneath Lisa's rib cage.

"I was engaged to my fiancé at the time. His name was Jongin," Jennie says. "He died in a car accident before Ella got the chance to meet him."

"I'm sorry."

Jennie waves a hand. "It's in the past. I'll always love him, of course. It's always just been Ella and I, and occasionally my sister. For a while I dated a man named Harold, thinking it'd be good for Ella to have a male figure in her life. Then I find out he was married all along."

Lisa's smile tenses.

Okay. Shit.

Shit. She's straight.

Inwardly Lisa's emotions are in shambles. So what if she's only dated men? So did Lisa and she turned out - not so straight.

Lisa puts on a straight face. The irony of this pun doesn't escape her.

"He sounds like a real douche."

Jennie laughs. "He was. Yes. Luckily his wife divorced him in the end. It turns out two women betrayed by the same man can become good friends."

Lisa grins broadly. "That's awesome. Guess it all turned out for the best."

Jennie hums her agreement.

It's quiet now, with only the faint murmur of the TV filtering in from the living room. The dishes are nearly done. Lisa technically has no other reason left to stay.

"You said the dishwasher isn't working?" Lisa supplies. Pulls the question straight out of her ass.

At Jennie's nod, she adds, "Mind if I take a look at it?"

If Jennie's surprised by the offer, she doesn't show it. She gestures for Lisa to go ahead, so Lisa does, kneeling low onto the floor to unlatch the cover plate.

"It doesn't clean properly," Jennie explains. "I tried getting someone over here to take a look at it, but his quoted price was ridiculous. I do have a sense of pride."

Lisa snorts. "I know," she mutters. "I had a foster dad who used to be a handyman. He taught me everything I know now. It could be something as simple as cleaning the spray arm, though. If not, you might need to replace the inlet valve, which will take longer."

Lisa replaces the cover after some further investigating and stands. She's puzzled when she finds Jennie's gaze snapping back to her face.

"If you give me some time tomorrow, I think I can fix it," Lisa offers. Jennie's eyes couldn't have been glued to her ass just now.

At least not intentionally.

"You... want to come by tomorrow. To fix my dishwasher," Jennie states in a way that's phrased between a question and a disbelieving statement.

Lisa swallows. "Yes?"

And then Jennie does the unforeseen - she laughs. Deep and hoarse and Lisa's torn between feeling awestruck or embarrassed.

"Or not," Lisa says tersely.

Jennie's laughter subsides. She's still smiling her dazzling smile, though. Luckily it doesn't seem to be mean-spirited.

"It's not that," she assures Lisa. "You just... continue to surprise me."

That's good, right?

Lisa shoves her hands into her jeans pockets, offers a tentative grin. "So. Yes?"

The smile Jennie sends her is unlike any Lisa has seen yet. It's soft. You can almost say it's affectionate. It makes the air snatch in Lisa's throat. Leaves her breathless.

"Yes."

.

.

So. That plan to fend off those special feelings for the hot new neighbor?

ERROR
Damaged and cannot be repaired lol
:)
Press OK to continue the fuck on.

OK

.

.

Shit shit shit fuck fuck fuck

Fifteen minutes later, Lisa comes charging into her room with the speed of a gorilla. She slams the door, pulls out her laptop.

Googles how to get over a straight girl.

And then replaces 'girl' with 'woman', because Jennie's no fucking girl.

The results are about as satisfying as you would think. Which is to say, not at all. Lisa finds she feels even worse now after skimming through the key points.

Maybe don't fall for the straight girl. Great fucking advice.

1. Acknowledge what you find hot about the situation
2. Figure out what you need to do about your feelings
3. Value the friendship as it is
4. Try to move on

It's disheartening, and perhaps a bit melodramatic when she has no concrete evidence of what Jennie's sexuality is. But it's the first course of action Lisa knows how to take in order to curb the bubble of emotion swelling inside her.

And for whatever reason, it's not fucking working.

Grabbing a flashlight from her nightstand, Lisa trudges over to the window. The shades are open on the other side, lights on, meaning Jennie is still awake.

It's enough justification to point the flashlight straight ahead and flick it on and off.

It takes a minute, but eventually the flickering draws Jennie's attention. She approaches the window in a silken bathrobe. Even from this far, Lisa can tell her features are pinched in irritation.

Lisa quickly scribbles over her notepad and holds it up.

What time should I come over?

That's something she probably should have asked before interrupting Jennie's nightly routine. But it's too late now. Jennie seems humored by the question, at least.

A few seconds later, she's wielding a white board. The number scrawled across it is definitely not a time.

207-359-0130

Oh.

Lisa lunges for her phone, has the number and a text message keyed in fifteen seconds flat.

This is Lisa

It's the best Lisa can come up with. She's pretty sure if Jisoo were here, she'd have no problem telling Lisa she reeks of desperation.

Her phone buzzes not too long after.

A flashlight, Miss Manoban?
Couldn't wait until the morning
to knock like a normal person?

Lisa rolls her eyes. She's grinning like a moron anyway as she replies -

What can I say? Maybe I'm just
to fix your dishwasher

Come by at 11 then.
I'll have lunch
prepared for us.

Ok. See you then :)

Her phone remains idle for several minutes. Lisa guesses Jennie's gone to bed by now - the lights are off in her room, but the blinds are wide open.

Her phone buzzes one last time for the night.

Goodnight, Lisa.

Lisa takes in the message for a solid minute, wonders if this is the type of thing you reply to or leave as it is. In the end Lisa puts her phone down, sprawls back onto her bed and stares up at the ceiling, willing sleep to take her.

The house is very quiet.

.

.

Fixing the dishwasher is a piece of cake. Dealing with Ella's persistent questions?

Not so much.

"What's that?" She points to the plastic piece tucked between the wires.

"That's called the inlet valve. It controls the flow of water."

"Is that what's broken?"

"Hopefully not."

"How do you know how to fix it?"

"Someone taught me a long time ago. I can be sort of a handyman... woman sometimes."

"So you catch criminals, exercise and fix things?"

"Yup."

"Wow."

Her curiosity knows no bounds, not that Lisa minds. It's painfully cute, and Lisa discovers that teaching her the uses of a screwdriver is kind of therapeutic.

It's Saturday morning. Lisa had knocked on the door at 11 o'clock sharp, only for Ella to swing it open with the biggest grin on her face. Jennie was holed up in the living room, stalking around in her fancy pumps while muttering angry orders into her phone.

"Work problems," Ella had whispered to her. "Mom says everyone there is in-com-pe-tent."

"That's a big word," Lisa whispered back.

"Yeah. I learned it today."

Jennie comes striding in forty minutes later. She looks exhausted, aggravated, but nearly stumbles to a halt when she catches sight of Ella, who's covered in pancake batter.

Lisa waves her spatula from her place by the stove. "In my defense, she started it."

"No I didn't," Ella counters.

"Whatever the case may be, you still lost big time, Ell."

"What -" Jennie blinks, takes in the mess around her. "Are you making breakfast? It's noon."

"Technically it's brunch. I figured you'd want a break after that phone call," Lisa tells her. "Dishwasher's fixed, by the way. How do you like your eggs?"

It's ballsy. Lisa knows that much. There's also a relatively high chance that Jennie may kick her ass to the curb after this.

Instead Jennie sets her phone on the counter, observes Lisa's face for a long moment before reaching out to swipe her thumb over Lisa's chin - brushing away the smear of Nutella Lisa had no idea was on her face.

"Poached," is all Jennie says. She dips her thumb between her lips.

And then casually whirls back around in her ridiculous pumps and struts out of the kitchen.

Lisa must have been gaping at the wall for an unknown period of time, because Ella's voice snaps her out of her stupor.

"Incoming!"

A glob of pancake batter hits her square in the face.

Brunch is - surprisingly - a normal affair. Ella had insisted on blueberry pancakes, since those are her favorite, with extra syrup that has Jennie eyeing over in disapproval.

Lisa, on the other hand, has never made a poached egg in her life. Of course Jennie would choose something that needs to be carefully simmered and crafted into perfection by the egg Gods.

A quick google search laid out the instructions simply enough. And the fact that Jennie's face doesn't completely scrunch up in disgust is a win in Lisa's opinion.

It's halfway through her fifth pancake when Ella slides her plate out of the way, puts on her most serious face - which is hard to take seriously at all when she's covered in pancake mix and syrup - and says -

"So what's next?"

"Next is a shower," Jennie tells her sternly. "And then maybe we can go see a movie."

"Can we go to the library, too?"

"Only if you can be ready in twenty minutes."

The speed in which she lurches up from her seat and sprints up the stairs is impressive. Lisa hardly has time to laugh before she's turning to Jennie with raised eyebrows.

"The library?"

God. Irene wasn't kidding. The kid's an absolute dweeb.

"She likes to read," Jennie explains with a small, proud smile. "Nowadays she's gotten into comic books. But she's always loved going to the library."

"So did I when I was a kid," Lisa surmises, matching Jennie's small smile. "Until I was twelve. Then the other kids started making fun of me for it."

"She's been bullied before. I'm just hoping this new environment will be... different," Jennie admits and begins clearing the table, observes Ella's plate with a deliberate pause.

"Thank you, by the way."

At Lisa's quizzical look, Jennie elaborates, "For fixing the dishwasher. And making us breakfast."

"Brunch," Lisa can't help but point out.

Jennie fixes her with this heavy stare, her lip twitching upward.

"Brunch."

Lisa's chest suddenly erupts in tiny palpitations.

"You're welcome," she murmurs, the words constricting in her throat. She glances down at her sweaty palms, knows that if she doesn't leave now, she may as well quit her job and become the idealistic trash she's meant to be.

"I should go. I already took up most of your morning."

Jennie's eyes flash in... something. Disappointment?

"Oh," Jennie says and turns to the sink. Her back remains on Lisa as she prepares to get up and go.

She slowly counts to three. One, two, thr

"I was under the impression that - Well. Would you care to join us?"

.

.

They go to the library.

Lisa must be going through some deep level of crazy considering how quickly she'd accepted the invitation. She hasn't stepped foot into one of these in nearly a decade. It's a Saturday afternoon. And here she is.

At a library.

"You are so whipped."

Yes. It's beginning to dawn on Lisa that she is, indeed, very whipped. She wishes these were words she'd voiced out loud on her own.

Instead Chaeyoung gawks at her from the front end of the check out counter.

One thing Lisa had forgotten about the city library? After a bet gone awry, Chaeyoung now tends to volunteer there every other weekend for the unforeseeable future.

"Don't," Lisa warns her in a terse whisper. "Don't you even start."

But Chaeyoung's wide-eyed gaze is already flicking between her, to Ella, who had dragged Jennie straight to the children's aisle the moment they walked in, and back to Lisa.

"I'm telling Jisoo," Chaeyoung whispers in response.

"Don't tell Jisoo," Lisa hisses.

"We have a bet going."

"Are you serious?"

"I shit you not."

"Chaeyoung Park."

"Shhh."

The hush doesn't come from Chaeyoung, but rather a nearby spectator shooting old lady daggers at her. Chaeyoung is tapping away on her phone faster than Lisa can blink, and so she gives up, makes a detour to the Young Adult section with a wistful sigh.

Lisa hates the library.

Twenty minutes later, Lisa is nose-deep in a Harry Potter book when Ella plops herself on the floor beside her.

"Whatya reading?"

"Prisoner of Azkaban."

"My favorite's Goblet of Fire."

"You read them all, huh?" Lisa asks and smiles to herself when her floppy hair shakes with her nod.

She reaches out for the stack of books she's collected.

"I read this one when I was your age," she says, handing her the book. "The Giver. I think you'd like it."

"Wasn't this a movie?"

"No one mentions the movie, Ell."

She grins, side-eyes her pile with growing interest. "And those?"

"This one's called Holes. A classic." She passes her the rest of the pile. "Matilda. I used to love that one as a kid. What I wouldn't give to be able to move things with my mind. Obviously can't go wrong with Percy Jackson. And A Wrinkle in Time. Haven't read it, but I heard it's good."

Ella hums as she sorts through the pile, but otherwise doesn't comment. She snuggles into her, her little head coming to rest over her shoulder as she silently turns to the first page of The Giver.

Fuck. There's a knot in Lisa's throat now. Affection was never her strong suit.

She glances up, finds Jennie in the next aisle over. A book is sprawled open in her hand while she observes them, but then her eyes are moving to Lisa's. They linger on her, the softest of smiles on her face before she returns to her book.

Lisa's heart contractions don't go away for the next hour.

.

.

When they leave, Ella checks out every book from Lisa's pile, including the one she doesn't put down the entire ride back.

.

.

The rest of the afternoon goes like this.

They do end up going to see a movie. It's a challenge, when Ella's insistent on seeing Jurassic World and Lisa's insistent on not.

"You're not missing anything. I promise."

"But dinosaurs, Lisa," Ella is quick to whine. "What's cooler than that?"

"Superheroes."

"Antman's not a superhero. He's dumb."

It's Jennie who decides on the Incredibles. She purchases the tickets with an elaborate eye roll, muttering 'children' underneath her breath. Lisa can't say she's offended. The kid has a way of bringing out her inner stupidity.

The issue comes with the seating arrangements, and the gigantic tub of popcorn Lisa had planned on eating herself. Her eager hands dig into that as soon as they sit down, though, and somehow that makes Lisa the middle bitch.

Jennie settles in beside her, hitting Lisa with a waft of perfume.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"You should tag us here," Ella mumbles over a mouthful of popcorn.

"Maybe you should stop eating all my popcorn," Lisa suggests and swats her hand away, thoughtfully adding, "Tag us where? Instagram?"

"Mhmm."

"What're you even doing on Instagram? You're like, nine."

"Almost ten."

"Ignore her. She's been trying to convince me to let her get an account for months now," Jennie whispers, leaning in slightly.

It's close enough to catch another whiff of Jennie's perfume, notice the scar above her lip that Lisa immediately has the urge to kiss.

Choking on a popcorn kernel, Lisa whips out her phone - tries to keep it away from Jennie's line of sight. Lisa hasn't exactly cleared out Jennie's profile page since the last time she'd gone on a Instagram stalking spree - and sends a friend request.

"There," Lisa says and flaunts the screen in Jennie's direction. "Can't tag us if we aren't friends."

"You're unbelievable."

"Unbelievably charming, right?"

The eye roll Lisa receives could put Jisoo's to shame. Nonetheless, Jennie takes out what Lisa's fairly certain is an iPhone 13 Pro Max, accepts the friend request in a single tap.

"Don't flatter yourself," Jennie mutters. But her face is definitely holding back a smile.

Lisa, on the other hand, can't stifle her grin even if she wanted to.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

She tags them at the theater, doesn't realize that her smile may as well swallow her entire face until she catches Ella's eye. She's regarding her with an odd expression.

Lisa puts her phone down. "What?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing," she says, which sounds like a load of bullshit to Lisa. But she turns back to the screen and crams a handful of popcorn into her mouth, effectively ending this equally strange conversation.

.

.

As the final days of July come to an end, so does Lisa's withering sanity. The summer weather is shaping up to be filled with thunderstorms, and as a once-lonely orphan with only a raggedy blanket to hide under, Lisa is not a fan of thunderstorms.

It's the Thursday following her outing with Ella and Jennie, and since then she's managed to see Ella a total of six times. Twice in the morning before she's about to go on her morning run. And four times in the evening, when she knocks on her door just so she can slip past her and talk about her day.

It's as mystifying as it is sweet. It also doesn't hurt that she now has a reason to see Jennie when she drops her off next door each night. And every time, Jennie invites her in for a nightcap.

It's become the sort of routine she can look forward to while she's sending Jennie stupid memes throughout the day, because why else would Jennie give Lisa her number?

"She's doing that creepy smile thing again," Jisoo notices from the sofa.

They're camped out in the living room for the evening while the storm passes. It's been raining on and off all week. For whatever reason, there's a documentary playing on the TV.

Lisa peeks up from her phone to frown at her. "What?"

"That's a dollar," Jisoo points out, speaking to Chaeyoung. "Jar's in the kitchen."

"Are you shitting me?" Chaeyoung groans, the sound muffled when she has her face shoved into a pillow. "That's like, the fifth time today. What am I? A stripper?"

"Weren't you?"

"We don't speak of those days."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Lisa bites out, frustrated now with the cryptic conversation.

"We're saving up for Biznywod," Chaeyoung mutters. It's hard to hear her when she's sprawled over on her stomach, her face still nestled into a pillow, but Lisa's pretty sure she said Disney World.

"We put a dollar in the 'Lisa' jar every time you grin stupidly at your phone," Jisoo explains. "Every time you mention Jennie. And two dollars every time you're in denial."

"Denial of what?"

"Do you think that counts?" Jisoo asks Chaeyoung.

"I hope not," Chaeyoung moans. "My broke ass is broke."

"Your broke ass is getting kicked out for butting into my life. Again. An Lisa jar? Really?"

"It's working," Jisoo says with a shrug. "We put in fifty-six dollars since Sunday."

"Not to mention ten minutes of my life wasted trying to hook you up," Chaeyoung grouses.

"What?"

"Check your Tinder app."

Lisa wasn't even aware she had a Tinder app. She opens it, finds her own face staring back at her in one of her (admittedly) better photos.

Lisa, 29
📍less than a mile away
——————————————
Fitness dork 💪🏻🏋🏼‍♀️🌈 my milkshake brings all the ladies to the yard

"I'm twenty-eight," Lisa mutters. "And fitness dork?"

"I quoted the milkshake song and that's what you're upset over?"

Before Lisa can consider what this means for her case of denial, there's a knock at the door. It's careful, but urgent. Lisa doesn't know what to make of it when the weather's too awful for any late night visits.

"Must be for you, Li," Chaeyoung snickers. "Your daughter sure misses you."

Lisa pelts her with a pillow, relishes the yelp that gets her before she rolls off the couch to answer the door.

She isn't surprised to see Ella on the other side of it, holding a cage in her hands. But standing behind her, holding an umbrella, is Jennie - and that's about as every bit surprising as the overnight bag she seems to be carrying.

"Hey, Lisa. We're here for the sleepover."

Ella is quick to make herself at home, breezing past her so she can drop Frodo's cage by the TV and occupy her spot on the couch.

Lisa turns to Jennie. "Uh. Sleepover?"

It's clear Jennie is embarrassed by the assumption. "Our power went out. It may be the old wiring. I would've called, but my phone died while I was trying to pack our things."

"So... you need to stay the night?" Lisa is too stunned by the fact that Jennie is nervous to come up with a better response.

"If that's okay," Jennie says tentatively.

"Of course it is!"

That would be Chaeyoung, whose head is no longer stuffed between the pillows, but glancing between them with the most holy terror grin imaginable.

"Come on in." Chaeyoung stands and ushers her in with far too much enthusiasm. "Excuse the roommate. Lisa here is a terrible host."

"Chaeyoung," Lisa hisses.

But Jennie is shrugging off her jacket, eyeing Lisa in amusement. "I see that."

Lisa fights the urge to palm her face and hastily takes Jennie's jacket. She sucks in a breath when their hands brush.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Chaeyoung offers with dramatic flair. "We here at Casa Chaeyoung are notorious for our alcoholic beverages. We've got Jack. We have Jager. We also have BudLight Lime because Lisa has no taste. Our sleeping locations consist of this couch and Lisa's bed. You're okay with taking the couch. Right, little girl?"

The question is directed to Ella, who shrugs.

"Sure."

The thought of sharing a bed with Jennie throws Lisa into a panic.

"Uh, no. No," Lisa says, flinging Jennie's jacket on the coat rack. "I'm taking the couch."

Chaeyoung is undeterred. "But the couch is the perfect size for Ella's scrawny frame."

"I'm not scrawny," Ella counters.

Lisa ignores her. "She's also our guest," she grits out. "Why let our guest sleep on the couch?"

"Like you sleeping down here is any better. You hate thunder."

"What if Ella does, too?"

"I like thunder, actually," Ella points out. Unnecessarily. Lisa could wring her little neck.

Chaeyoung calmly gestures to her. "See? Logic."

"More like bad accommodation," Lisa says stubbornly. "Look, they can take my bed upstairs. That's only fair. I'll fend off the big scary storms. But I'm taking the couch. Capiche?"

.

.

Lisa does not take the couch.

It's partly her fault. Ella insists on reading the first few chapters of Matilda with her, and she's now fast asleep on the couch, her head nestled into her lap.

Jisoo comes down to bring a pillow and several blankets over, helps Lisa readjust her so she's at least snoring into a nice, comfy pillow rather than Lisa's thigh.

Jisoo appears vaguely smug once Lisa finishes tucking her in.

Lisa folds her arms defensively. "What?"

"You're good at that," is all Jisoo says.

"What? Tucking a nine-year-old kid in?"

"Taking care of a nine-year-old kid that isn't yours," Jisoo elaborates. "You always said you could never be a parent. But you're not half bad."

Lisa knows it's a compliment. Coming from Jisoo, it's the compliment to end all compliments. Lisa is overcome by an odd sense of pride, which quickly morphs into panic.

Before she can express her discomfort, Jisoo hands her a spray bottle.

"Chaeyoung told me to give you this."

Lisa squints at the label. "Rose water? What for?"

"You spray it in your underwear. Two whiffs. Makes your coochie smell like flowers."

At Lisa's look of dawning horror, Jisoo raises her palms. "Her words. Not mine. Just don't get too carried away. Remember we share a wall."

With that, she heads upstairs, leaving Lisa with the dreadful knowledge that she is most certainly not going to be fucking anyone tonight. Nonetheless spraying her coochie with flower water.

She finds Jennie in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea.

"She's asleep. Apparently reading to her is the secret," Lisa says from the entryway, fidgeting anxiously. "So it looks like we're bunking together."

She hopes the observation comes off as casual, but Jennie is doing that thing with her eyes, studying Lisa in a way that makes her heart thump harder in her chest.

"Is that... okay?"

"That depends." Jennie smirks over the rim of her cup. "Do you talk in your sleep?"

"Maybe. I've been told I snore."

Jennie laughs. "I assumed you did."

"And I bet you're the type to take up the whole bed," Lisa guesses, relaxing now that they're on familiar grounds.

This is safe. Banter's good.

Jennie's sly smile in no way falters. "I've been told I take up more space than I need."

"Figures," Lisa laughs, peeks at the time before she adds, "Feel free to head upstairs. My room's the last door on the right. Sheets are clean and everything."

Jennie places her cup down on the table, head tilting in confusion.

"And you?"

"I'll be up in a minute," Lisa assures her and pauses.

"Say... ever reset your breaker box before?"

.

.

Lesson number one in the world of common sense - don't go resetting the breaker box in the pouring rain.

It was an easy trick she'd learned in the various homes she's lived in. Reset the breakers. Restore the power. Sometimes.

Lesson number two? Bring an umbrella.

What's at first a mild drizzle becomes a storm in the making when, just as Lisa manages to flip off the final breaker outside Jennie's house, a flash of lightning strikes the sky and it begins to pour. Lisa has enough sense to know water and electric switches don't mix. And yeah. Maybe she's fucking terrified of thunder.

By the time Lisa stumbles back into the house, she's drenched. There are water droplets trickling off her neck. Her t-shirt is clinging to her chest, a cold reminder that she'd forgone a bra for the night. Real fucking classy.

What's worse is Jennie is already in bed - Lisa's bed. The sight alone stops Lisa dead in her tracks. She's perusing a book, but raises her head when Lisa comes in.

And then falters. Jennie blinks slowly, her eyes resting on Lisa's face before dropping down to her drenched shirt, more noticeably to the nipples that Lisa can now safely say are on full display.

Jennie continues to stare without a word, long enough for Lisa's skin to heat up in a blaze.

"It started raining again before I could reset the whole thing," Lisa explains in the most awkward fashion possible. "I'll try again in the morning."

Jennie doesn't answer. Her face is frustratingly composed. But at least her eyes are leveled with Lisa's again.

"I'll... um." Lisa blindly reaches for a towel as she backs into the hall. "I'm gonna go."

She trips over a shoe.

"Dry off."

There's a third lesson in here somewhere. Lisa figures that's the case once she's in the bathroom, clutching a towel to her chest with her back pressed against the door.

That lesson?

Assuming someone's sexuality is definitely a no-go.

Lisa should've learned this during her senior year of high school, when she'd asked Nayeon Im on a date, all on a hunch. Turns out Nayeon Im liked boys more than she could ever like Lisa.

But now Lisa has that same hunch again, backed up by what she's just witnessed - that maybe Jennie Kim isn't as straight as Lisa assumed.

Despite that, there's no saying whether Jennie could be interested in Lisa in the gay way.

Could she?

Lisa's thoughts are a jumbled mess when she returns to the bedroom. Jennie had gone to bed. She's facing the wall, her back turned to Lisa, and a part of Lisa is relieved she doesn't have to deal with her conflicting emotions while Jennie's awake.

She slips in on the other side and turns off the light. Stares at the ceiling. A beat passes as a heavy silence fills the air.

A clap of thunder shakes the whole house. Lisa jolts up.

Jennie stirs over on the other side, doesn't turn around completely to look at Lisa, but -

"Are you okay?"

"Mhm. Yup." Lisa says gruffly, laying back down to curl up on her side. "Peachy."

A pause.

"Chaeyoung mentioned you didn't like thunderstorms."

Fucking Chaeyoung.

"It's nothing," Lisa murmurs, attempts to calm her racing heartbeat. "I guess it's an old fear from my foster care days. Never got over it."

"How did you manage it back then?" Jennie asks. Her voice is especially hoarse tonight, whether from tiredness or something else. It's fucking attractive.

Lisa bites her lip. "Usually curl up in a blanket," she admits. "Hide underneath the bed. I had a foster sister who used to hold me. That helped a lot."

Jennie doesn't respond to that. There's another stretch of silence that puts an end to the conversation. Or so Lisa thinks.

Jennie shifts again, this time sliding across the bed to Lisa's side. She presses into Lisa back, loops an arm around Lisa's waist. The warmth of Jennie's body, the smell of her, shocks Lisa to her core.

"Jennie. What're you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Jennie mutters into the back of her neck. Her hot breath spurs a shiver down Lisa's spine. "Breathe a word of this to anyone and we'll never hear the end of it."

"Right. Yeah. Of course." Lisa nods frantically. Wonders if Jennie can feel her heart pounding out of her ribcage. "I don't want you to feel obligated to do this."

"Do you not like to cuddle?"

"Yeah, no. I love to cuddle," Lisa hastily says. Is it her imagination or did Jennie tighten her arm around her waist? "I'm practically a professional cuddler. I just... didn't peg you for one."

Jennie's chest expands against her back as she inhales into Lisa's hairline. Lisa finally relaxes into her, snuggles in a little closer, until her backside collides with Jennie's pelvic bone. A puff of breath hitches against Lisa's neck.

"I make exceptions for some people," Jennie breathes.

Lisa swallows. "That's good. Just, you know. Let me know if you get uncomfortable. Or don't. Obviously you have the choice to pull away. Or even if it gets hot. We try to keep the AC on full blast but sometimes it can get really stuffy in here. Especially around three for whatever reason -"

"Lisa."

"Yeah?"

"Just go to sleep."

"Okay."

Lisa closes her eyes, listens to the rhythmic sounds of Jennie's breathing against her skin. This is nice. A little too nice, but Lisa's done overthinking for the night.

So she doesn't think about thunderstorms or neighbors or the fluttering in her chest. Or the thumb lightly tracing circles over Lisa's stomach.

.

.

She doesn't think about it.

Until Lisa wakes up the following morning with Jennie sprawled on top of her.

It's the kind of thing Lisa thought only happened in movies, or the ultimate cliché of romcoms. But Jennie has her locked in at the edge of the bed, her cheek nuzzled up against Lisa's sternum, hand fisted around the hem of Lisa's tank top. At some point she must have draped a leg over Lisa's, because it's now nestled in between Lisa's thigh.

There's also a dull throbbing between Lisa's thighs. Makes sense. She typically wakes up with whatever female variation there is to morning wood. Obviously her subconscious is overly fond of Jennie, however inappropriate it's being.

Before Lisa can begin to freak out, Jennie stirs in her sleep. She arches against Lisa's thigh, her heart rate picking up against Lisa's stomach, before releasing the most obscene moan Lisa's ever heard.

Oh.

If Lisa thought she was turned on before, it's nothing compared to the sudden need to run her tongue all over Jennie's body.

This is gay.

Like, so gay. Gayer than Lisa's rapidly intensifying gay drive can think to comprehend this early in the morning. Unfuckingbelievable.

She scrambles to get off the bed, carefully detangles her limbs before Jennie wakes up. But Lisa's foot gets caught on the bedsheets, and she staggers forward, straight for the floor.

"Shit."

Somewhere up above, she hears Jennie's faint, raspy chuckle that tells Lisa she's definitely awake. Rather than acknowledge the mishap, Jennie simply rolls back over on the other side of the bed without a word.

Lisa sighs. Her head hits the floor with a thunk.

.

.

It's a hot summer morning in the final days of July, and Lisa comes to the startling realization that maybe - just maybe -

She might be falling a little bit in love with Jennie Kim.

.

.

.

Ella's birthday is approaching. She makes sure to tell her that every chance she gets.

"You know my birthday's in three days," she reminds her.

It's the second time in that afternoon alone. They're sitting inside Irene's lingerie store while Jennie finishes up what looks to be another argument she's having with her sister.

She'd originally asked if Lisa could go and pick Ella up, as she was going to be late getting off work to do so herself. But Jennie ended up meeting them there.

And now Lisa's here. In an extravagant lingerie store called Velvety British.

"No." Lisa feigns surprise. "I had no idea. How old are you gonna be again? Nine?"

"Ten," Ella says proudly, oblivious to Lisa's silent snickering. "Mom says she's taking me to Disney World."

"Yeah?" She can already imagine Chaeyoung fuming with jealousy. "You know, any other almost-ten-year-old would be saying that with more excitement."

"I'm excited," she insists. "We went to Disney World two years ago. All the other kids at my school would have birthday parties, though. I never really had one of those."

"You never had a birthday party?"

"I never had a lot of friends."

Lisa's insides shrivel up at her words, sinking into the pit of her stomach in a pile of bricks. It feels an awful lot like dread.

She clears her throat. "How about this. When you get back from Disney World, I'll have a surprise birthday party all set up for you at my place. Make sure to bring your mom and aunt. And Frodo. Can't forget about him."

"It's not a surprise if you just told me about it," Ella points out.

"Semantics."

She peeks up at her from the fringe of her hair, her eyes suspiciously red-rimmed. "You'll be there?"

"Duh," Lisa says. "We're friends. Remember?"

"I remember," Ella whispers, biting down on a soft grin. She holds out her pinky. "Pinky promise?"

Lisa swears she must be PMSing, because there's no way she's about to have an emotional breakdown over a fucking pinky swear.

She links their pinkies anyway.

"Pinky promise."

She sees Jennie approaching them, Irene following not too far behind, wearing an overbearingly smug smile.

"Lisa's throwing me a birthday party, Mom!" Ella chirps.

Jennie quirks an eyebrow, focuses her attention on Lisa. "Oh?"

"After you guys get back from Disney World," Lisa elaborates, flushing under her gaze. "Whenever that is."

"We're leaving tomorrow morning, actually."

"Ah."

Jennie levels her with a knowing look. "I'd planned on telling you today. I was going to ask if you can watch Frodo while we're gone. But a birthday party sounds... perfect. That's sweet of you, Lisa."

Lisa's ears are burning. "I can watch her. It's no problem."

"As adorable as this is," Irene drawls from the side. Lisa forgot she was standing there. "I'm getting a cavity simply watching you two. Lisa, dear. Tell me. What do you think of this for my lovely sister?"

She pulls out a lacy negligee from the pile Jennie has mounted in her arms, dangles it up between her fingers.

"Lush enough to tear right off, no?"

"Gross," Ella mumbles, and returns to her book.

Lisa, on the other hand? Lisa would very much like to die right now.

"Give me that." Jennie snags it back with a furious, "I told you I'd be willing to try these on. Not showcase them to the world."

"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" Irene whines before snatching another piece from the pile. "Now these are the finest knickers I've ever seen. Made from the softest silk in Paris."

She catches Lisa's eye, draws out a coy, "My sister would look delicious in these, would she not? Lisa. "

Jennie ends up buying most of the lingerie, including Lisa's favorite - an elegant lace garter set that, truth be told, would be the object of Lisa's dirty fantasies for months to come.

Before she can follow Jennie out the door, Irene flings a pair of lacy panties at Lisa's face.

"Here," Irene drones. "Consider it an act of charity."

Lisa holds up the garment in disbelief. "Charity?"

"Your jacket is an absolute eyesore. It's bloody summer first of all. And judging by your horrendous fashion sense, I gather your knickers are bland and as white as my arse."

Lisa bristles. "Blue, actually."

"If you want to shag my sister, go red."

"I'm not trying to shag anyone -"

"Brilliant. Thank you for shopping at Velvety British, where all your velvety, wicked fantasies come true. Please come again." She shoves Lisa out the door. "Ta ta now! Bonsoir!"

Sometimes Lisa wonders if that five star rating on Yelp is all Irene.

Jennie is quick to apologize for Irene's behavior when she meets them back at their house. Lisa outwardly takes it with a grain of salt, when in reality her emotions are in turmoil. Irene's teasing had only confused Lisa further, leading her to wonder -

What if?

What if the feeling's mutual? What if Lisa isn't the only one concealing this... intense romantic attraction after all? She'd have spent all this time pining over Jennie from the window across the yard.

And now Lisa is stuck at a crossroad. Because Lisa has never been good at dealing with feelings.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Jennie asks when Lisa only stands at the door.

She's tentative with the question, more careful with her words, like she's been lately ever since that night they shared a bed. It drives Lisa insane not knowing why that is.

"I -" Lisa hesitates. If she wants to retain some semblance of her sanity, she really shouldn't.

"I can't."

Jennie briskly covers up her disappointment. "Very well."

"I've got this... thing I promised to do for Jisoo."

"You don't have to explain yourself, Lisa. You drove into the city to pick up my daughter. I couldn't thank you enough."

"It's nothing. Really," Lisa says truthfully. "There's not a lot I wouldn't do. For her."

Before Jennie can respond, Ella scampers in from the living room, stops in front of them to throw her arms around Lisa's waist.

"Bye, Lisa," she says, the words muffled against Lisa's stomach. "I'll make sure Mom brings you back some ears from Disney World."

She ruffles her hair. "Good. It's your job to protect her from those Stormtroopers, then. I hear they're making a comeback."

Her face creases up in determination. "On it."

She rushes out of the foyer. Lisa waits for her to disappear up the stairs, only to find Jennie is watching her.

"So... I guess I'll see you guys again in a few days?"

"In a week," Jennie answers. She has that unreadable look on her face again. Like she wants to say something else, but is holding herself back.

"Okay."

Lisa fidgets - how does she even say goodbye? Ella had hugged her effortlessly.

But she and Jennie don't hug. Not on a normal basis. And especially when Jennie's only leaving for a week. It's not something they do, despite every cell in Lisa's body craving to do just that.

"You have -" Jennie steps forward, her hand outstretched, interrupting Lisa's mental dilemma. "- a feather. In your hair."

She's not wrong. A feather's plucked out of Lisa's hair as Jennie holds it up for her. Lisa guesses it's the result of Irene's stupidly massive selection of feathery corsets.

"Keep it," Lisa says, making no move to retrieve it from Jennie's grasp. "For good luck."

Jennie breathes out a laugh. "My mother did use to tell me feathers were a sign of hope."

"See? It'll give you something to remember me by," Lisa cheekily affirms.

Jennie regards her, eyes glinting with some nameless emotion. It's a weighted stare that makes the world around Lisa come to a halt.

"Somehow I doubt I'd ever forget you, Miss Manoban."

And that's better than a departing hug could ever be.

When Lisa gets home, she drops Frodo's cage off in the living room. She must be smiling goofily, because Jisoo glances up at her from the kitchen counter and grumbles out an annoyed -

"Fuck."

This is accompanied by a certified Jisoo-glare as she slams a dollar into the Lisa Jar.

.

.

She sees Jennie again later that night, through the window that Lisa is beginning to dub The Window.

It's purely coincidental - Lisa had no intention of waking up to grab the bottled water on her desk, but Jennie's lights are on, which is a rarity considering it's well past midnight.

Taking a swig from her bottle, Lisa observes the scene in front of her with shameless curiosity. Jennie is standing to the side of the window pane, her attention drawn to a book. She's wearing a different dress than the one she wore earlier that afternoon. This one is a bright shade of blue, the wide collar exposing her shoulders. It's the type of sophisticated dress that should be worn at a banquet hall, or a Mayoral meeting.

Leave it to Jennie to put on something so fashionable at 1:30 in the morning.

Lisa appreciates it anyway.

She takes one more sip of water, prepares to climb back into bed, but then she stops. Jennie had peered up from her book, her gaze now fixed on Lisa's window. Heart in her throat, Lisa waves in an attempt to reveal her cover. But Jennie's blank stare doesn't so much as acknowledge her. Instead she looks away, closes her book.

Great. Now Lisa's the perv next door.

She grabs her phone, ready to fire off a text. Jennie emerges in front of her window again, having vanished for several short seconds, and proceeds to unfasten her earrings. Necklace.

And then the zipper on her dress.

Lisa drops her phone. It skids across the floor and underneath her bed.

Oh my god.

"Fuck," Lisa whispers, running a shaky hand through her hair. " Fuck. Not again."

This is far worse than last time. Jennie isn't even aware that Lisa is watching her, and now Lisa's frozen, a whirlwind of emotions twisting inside her. One set says stay. The other one says behave.

And Lisa was never good at behaving.

Jennie unzips the dress as far as her arm can reach, letting the sleeves drape over her shoulders. Revealing the smooth skin of her back. The sides hover there for a moment, until Jennie shrugs out of the fancy Mayoral dress completely, letting the material pool at her feet.

She's wearing the elegant lace garter set.

The same one that had Lisa literally tripping over a mannequin.

Lisa's head is pounding. She's imagined Jennie naked plenty of times, but nothing lives up to the real thing. It's like witnessing perfection for the very first time, after believing your entire life that perfection doesn't exist .

And it doesn't. Unless you're Jennie Kim.

It's when Jennie bends over, unclipping the garter and presenting Lisa with an incredible view of her lace-covered ass, that Lisa finally manages to tear her eyes away.

It's a hassle. But Lisa's no Peeping Tom.

She fishes her phone out from underneath her bed, considers sending that text over anyway. Jennie beats her to it.

Enjoy the view?

Lisa drops her phone again.

"Shit," she mutters, her heart sinking straight to her stomach. Her eyes must be playing tricks on her. Jennie couldn't have -

Her phone buzzes again. Twice. Lisa picks it up.

I gathered the garter set was your favorite judging by your reaction.

What did you think?

Lisa thinks she might crawl underneath the bed and die. That's what Lisa thinks.

I think it looks good

She exhales roughly through her nose. What else can she say without sounding desperate?

Perfect

"Wow, Lisa," she mutters. "That doesn't sound gay at all. You dirty pervert."

Good. I'm glad you think so.

Lisa stares at the response. She wonders if she should explain herself, clear the air now that Jennie doesn't seem upset, so she knows that Lisa wasn't intentionally spying. At least not for long.

I'll see you in a week.

Goodnight, Lisa.

Lisa surges forward to turn on the light, makes a dash back to the window to see Jennie has a robe on over her bra and garters. The sight of her leaves Lisa dumbfounded.

It's Jennie who waves this time, her smile amused when Lisa simply ogles back. It's with a final departing gesture before the shades slide shut.

.

.

It's 3:27 in the morning when Lisa types out one last text.

Missing you already

She promptly deletes it.

.

.

The first two days without Ella and Jennie are boring as hell. Lisa tries not to think about why that is.

She comes back from work in the evenings, sore and tired, half expecting Ella to show up at her front door to begin her daily ritual of making her even more sore and tired. She doesn't, of course. Somehow that puts her in a sour mood.

Then there's Jennie.

Lisa hasn't been able to go to bed at night without at least one filthy dream invading her sleep. It's absolutely sinful, the fact that she's missing the kid, the kid's mother, while at the same time envisioning taking the kid's mother against every surface of the house.

Jisoo and Chaeyoung notice the change at Day 1.

"You know, if I wasn't so jealous that your wife and kid are currently at Disney World," Chaeyoung says over a tub of ice cream, "I'd be making fun of you more often. How does being whipped sound? Do you want some whipped to go with that resting bitch face?"

She tosses Lisa a bottle of whipped cream, narrowly missing her head.

"You're an asshole," Lisa grunts, but takes the bottle anyway, squirts some of it into her mouth.

"That's because I'm not at the happiest place on Earth right now. Where we at, Jisoo?"

"A hundred and sixty-two dollars," Jisoo drawls from the couch. She doesn't glance up from her book. "Not counting the forty-three cents in change someone conveniently misplaced."

"I didn't have a dollar," Chaeyoung admits. Shoving an entire ladle of ice cream in her mouth, she adds, "'o you 'hink we s'ould a' mo'ing to 'he list?"

Lisa spends the rest of the evening in her room after that. Not moping.

Jennie makes sure to text her throughout the days, which might be the only thing getting Lisa through this sudden loneliness. She sends over photos of the rides and character costumes they're seeing, of Ella wearing a Ravenclaw hat far too big for her head. The photos aren't really necessary. That's what Instagram is for.

But Lisa saves them all, files them off in an album called Ella's Birthday.

On the morning of the Ella's birthday, Lisa has an early training session at the gym with Chaeyoung. She debates whether she should send over a generic birthday text in the meantime.

She Facetimes Jennie instead.

Ella answers on the first ring. "Lisa!"

Her big head is crammed into the screen, but Lisa can tell she's in a hotel room. She's beaming, too, and something about seeing her so incredibly happy makes her heart swell.

"Hey, Ell. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks! Mom says we're going to Hollywood Studios today. We're gonna see Darth Vader!"

"Sweet. Remember what I said about keeping an eye on your mom."

"I remember. I've got my light saber and everything."

Eventually she removes the phone away from her face long enough to give her a tour of the hotel room. It's extravagant, nothing Lisa wouldn't expect from Jennie.

"Mom's in the shower," Ella informs her, wrinkling her nose. "I'll hang up before you have to see her in a towel."

Chaeyoung, who had been silently listening in on the conversation from the bench press, bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

She receives a text from Jennie thirty minutes later.

Thank you for calling Ella.
You made her morning.

Ofc! :) had to remind her to
use her jedi skills in caseyou get
into trouble

She's insistent on bringing the lightsaber with her.

This is entirely your fault.

Maybe if you'd show me the
mickey pic you took, we
wouldn't be having this problem

Jennie sends her an eyeroll emoji in response. She very rarely uses any sort of emoji in her texts, so seeing it now has Lisa grinning stupidly at her phone.

She doesn't hear back from Jennie for the rest of the day after texting her own emoji. Not until it's late in the afternoon and she's watching some fishing documentary with Jisoo.

Attached to the text is a picture. Lisa taps on it.

Ella is smiling up at the camera, Mickey ears attached to her head. Beside her is Jennie with a similar pair of Winnie the Pooh ears. It's an unbearably cute picture.

"I think my blood sugar just rose," Jisoo says, leaning over her shoulder. "You should make that your lock screen."

Lisa scoffs. "Please. I'm not that sappy."

Jisoo hums at her as if she doesn't believe a word coming out of Lisa's bullshitting mouth. Apparently Lisa is that sappy.

By the end of the night, she has the picture saved as her lock screen.

.

.

In the days leading up to Saturday - Jennie had texted her their arrival time for that morning - Lisa begins planning the birthday party.

She's never planned one of those before, especially not for a child. Having spent her past birthdays in between various homes, the most Lisa knows about birthday parties is that children hate clowns.

So she hires Chaeyoung to dress up as a dinosaur instead.

"Dinosaurs?" Chaeyoung snorts when Lisa lays out the costume for her. It's one of those T-Rex inflatables with the massive head. "That's your genius theme?"

"The kid likes dinosaurs."

"Couldn't she into something more generic like a Disney princess or some shit? I'm getting claustrophobic just looking at the thing. I'll pass."

Lisa fishes out a wad of one dollar bills. "I'll give you thirty bucks?"

Chaeyoung swipes it and the costume with record-breaking speed.

"Deal."

The biggest problem arises when Lisa discovers that you just can't have a kid's birthday party without any kids.

"It's weird," Jisoo points out while Lisa is having a mental breakdown. "That's like walking into a Build-a-Bear to build yourself a bear."

Lisa groans and runs a hand through her hair. "Where the fuck am I supposed to find some kids, Jisoo?"

"Relax. I've got you covered."

Lisa is highly dubious of that. "You're not going to lure them off the streets with candy, are you?"

"Don't be stupid. Our neighbor down the road is Mormon. She's got like, ten of them."

With the guest list situation handled, Lisa focuses on the decorations and cake. She already has Ella's gift all wrapped up - some books she'd found at a thrift store, as well as a piano keyboard with interactive capabilities.

She'd even gotten the ferret a gift - a green knitted sweater, courtesy of Jihyo. It has an 'S' embedded in it for Slytherin, because he's a cunning little shit.

When Lisa goes to put it on him, she finds the cage door wide open. Ferret MIA.

"Shit," Lisa whispers, dropping the sweater. "Shit. Jisoo! "

It's not the first time he's escaped, but it is the first time it's taken Lisa over an hour to find him. After the second hour of scouring through the whole house, she's getting ready to text Jennie on her deathbed.

Jisoo walks in seconds later with Frodo hanging off her arm, a cat in the other.

"Here. I think you lost this." She hands Frodo off with no other explanation.

"Whose cat is that?"

"I found him in the backyard. That's where the ferret was, by the way," Jisoo says, running a hand through its ginger-colored fur. "His name is Mushu."

"You named it?"

Jisoo shrugs. "He likes me."

That might be the case when it's purring contentedly in Jisoo's arms. Lisa doesn't care to mention at this point that Chaeyoung is allergic to cats.

She takes a picture of Frodo in his sweater, sends it over to Jennie. She gets a reply in less than a minute.

Ella can't stop laughing.

She loves it.

It's the Friday night before they're scheduled to come back. Lisa smiles over the balloon she's inflating, writes in return -

Party's tomorrow.
Will you still be able to make it?

Lisa ties up the last of the balloons, flicking it towards the rest of the pile. The decorations are mostly finished. Now Lisa needs to get through the next day without everything blowing up.

Her phone pings.

Of course.

There's a lag afterward in which Lisa contemplates what to say next. But another message comes through, this one brightening up the dark hole she's been sinking into for the last week. It's worth every second of mind boggling stress she's had to endure.

We wouldn't miss it for the world.

.

.

The next day, Lisa comes to the conclusion that children are the epitome of evil and destruction. It might be a bit of an exaggeration, but when you have hurdles of them dashing across the house, Lisa will exaggerate all she wants.

The party kicks off earlier than Lisa anticipates when, fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time, the Mormon neighbor Jisoo mentioned comes knocking with her nine children. Three of which are too old to be showing up to a dinosaur themed birthday party, but Lisa's just glad it's not a total bust.

Five minutes after that, a man named Jefferson shows up with his daughter.

Lisa has no idea who he is. But he appears slightly unhinged, as if he walked out of a mental institute yesterday. Lisa writes him off as someone she should keep an eye on. Just in case.

Next is Irene.

"Oh, silly me," Irene says breathlessly from the doorway, a gift bag falling to her heeled feet. She has a whole mountain of them stacked in her arms. "I suppose I'm fashionably late."

"You're two minutes early," Lisa corrects her.

"Yes, well. Feel free to gather the rest of the presents. They're in the car."

"You mean there's more?" Lisa exclaims when Irene simply bustles past her in a hurricane of wrapping paper.

"She's my niece," Irene sniffs. "If she wants a bloody pony, she's damn well getting a bloody pony."

Others slowly start to trickle in after that, mostly people Lisa's never met. Eventually she's able to lug all of the kids to the backyard. While Jisoo is on food duty, Chaeyoung's job is to keep the little monsters entertained before anything gets destroyed.

Obviously this entails playing tag in a giant inflatable dinosaur costume.

"You look nervous," Irene observes from the sofa. She's settled in by herself, casually sipping on a glass of wine while Lisa paces in front of the door. "I assume you haven't told her."

Lisa stops pacing. "What?"

"You're smitten with my sister."

It may be the first time anyone's outright said it, tackled Lisa's feelings as something more than a small infatuation. Hearing it out loud sends the air bursting out of Lisa's lungs. She immediately recoils.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What rubbish. I swear. If you're going to lie, do it like a true American," Irene sneers, setting her glass down on the coffee table. "Now let's try this again. Why don't you bloody tell her already?"

"I can't," Lisa grits out, too drained now to deny it. "I don't want to risk it."

"Risk what? Your abnormally yellow mane?"

"This ," Lisa emphasizes. "This thing I have with Ella. With her. I'm scared, okay? I can't risk ruining it all if she doesn't feel the same way. If she doesn't want... me."

Irene hikes up a perfectly arched brow. "And you truly believe that?"

"I... honestly don't know anymore."

There's a knock at the door, cutting off whatever it is Irene is about to say. Lisa can only hope it would've been a snarky reply, rather than the emotional advice this conversation was heading towards.

As soon as she opens the door, Lisa is tackled by a mop of brown hair.

"Lisa!"

"Hey, Ell," Lisa murmurs, feeling her insides light up as she returns her tight hug.

"I missed you," she mumbles into her stomach.

"I missed you, too."

She glances up at Jennie, who's standing behind her in a yellow summer dress, which is not your typical Jennie Kim fashion. Her cheeks are pink from the heat, and she looks like she's gotten some extra sun, judging by her reddish complexion. She looks beautiful.

The longing hits her hard. Lisa wants nothing more than to press Jennie against the door and kiss her.

"Hey, Pooh Bear," Lisa jokes.

Jennie's mouth tilts up in a smile. "I doubt you'll find it as funny when you're wearing yours."

"We got you some ears, too!" Ella chimes in, handing her a headband. "I chose them. They're Lion King ears."

Lisa holds back a laugh. At least they don't include a giant mane.

"You should try them on," Ella urges.

Lisa shrugs and slides on the lion ears. "How do I look?"

"Ferocious," Jennie says with a straight face.

"The worse," Ella agrees.

Lisa has the vague impression that they're making fun of her. Before she can call them out on it, Irene steps in, shoulders past Lisa with her signature glass of wine and pulls Ella in for a hug.

"And how's my favorite birthday girl?" she preens, peppering her face with kisses.

She laughs, wiggles out of her grasp. "Aunt Irene ."

"Irene," Jennie sighs. "You're smearing lipstick all over her face. Again."

"Take a lesson, sis. At least someone in this family knows how to use it," Irene says shrewdly, casting a curt glance in Lisa's direction. "Let's go, dear. I'm sure you're excited to play outside with the other children."

Ella frowns. "Not really -"

"Splendid. Come, come."

She leads a reluctant Ella away, leaving Lisa to suspect this was all a setup. It's both surprisingly lifting and nerve-wracking, having Irene Kim as the slightly deranged wingman Lisa never asked for or wanted.

Lisa realizes she's been left alone with Jennie. While the tightness in her chest has loosened since their arrival, Lisa's nervous .

"How was the flight?" is the best thing Lisa can come up with.

"Good. Long," Jennie says, sounding understandably weary. Lisa notices the dark circles beneath her eyes and wonders if there's more to those words than Jennie is letting on. "Trying to keep a ten-year-old entertained for three hours is not the easiest feat."

"I bet."

"Thank you, Lisa. For all of this," Jennie gestures to all the decorations. "I offered to give her a birthday party every year, but she was always so reluctant. Eventually I gave up. But this year... she was so excited."

Lisa's feels her face grow hot. "It was my pleasure. Seriously. But you need to stop thanking me, or I might really think we're in the twilight zone."

"I used to think of you as the obnoxious blonde next door, you know," Jennie informs her. "I think we've passed the twilight zone at this point."

"Right. Your sister didn't exactly make that one a secret," Lisa says wryly. She stops short, weighing her options. "What about now?"

"Now?"

"Am I still the obnoxious blonde who lives next door?"

Jennie bites her lip on a smile. "You're obviously still blonde. And obnoxious? Sometimes."

Well then. That's not the answer Lisa was looking for, but she'll take it.

"But otherwise you're... you," Jennie says teasingly. "Not quite the pain in the ass I thought you'd be."

"Yeah?" Lisa breaks out into a toothy grin. "You really know how to flatter a person. Can't have anyone thinking you're going soft."

"Definitely not."

Lisa's cheeks hurt from smiling. She feels more at ease right at this moment than she has all week.

Jennie's eyes are on her, considering her. There's something in her expression that makes Lisa's pulse speed up, makes her think nothing about this is one sided.

"Lisa..." Jennie starts and steps closer, jolting Lisa's thoughts.

The back door slides open suddenly, Chaeyoung's voice screeching in from the kitchen -

"Dinosaur down!"

She collapses face-first in her T-Rex costume, an entire swarm of children clambering over her back and roaring . Literally.

It's chaos.

"Lisaaa - oof ," Chaeyoung grunts. "Mayday. Mayday ."

"Looks like you're playing hero for the day," Jennie quips lightly, brushing past her. "I'm going to check on Ella."

"But -"

She's gone in a blink of an eye, leaving Lisa to wonder what the hell Jennie was about to say.

.

.

Aside from Chaeyoung's incident, the rest of the party goes smoothly.

Ella is tentative with the new kids around her at first, timid in a way Lisa's never seen before. Fortunately she loses some of that timidity halfway through, and soon enough she's chatting with some of the other kids her age.

Lisa may have underestimated the amount of people that would show up to this thing. When it comes down to the cake, she doesn't think a half sheet can feed the fifteen over-excited kids who want to touch and slobber over everything.

Lisa is so unprepared.

"Wait, wait," Irene cuts in before Ella can so much as breathe on the candles. "Family picture time!"

"Irene. Now's not the time," Jennie hisses.

Lisa's attempt to step out of the frame is foiled when Irene flips her phone out like a pro and shoves her straight into Jennie.

Lisa panics. "Wait. I'm not -"

"Say 'rawr', " Irene sing-songs.

"Rawr," Ella chirps out happily.

Lisa feels her eye twitch. The flash is blinding and Lisa is still blinking spots out of her eyes as Ella finally blows out her candles.

"There," Irene says and brandishes her phone in Lisa's face. "Very suave, yes?"

Irene's face takes up half the picture, but behind her Ella is beaming up at the camera. Jennie has one eyebrow raised and could not look more unimpressed. And Lisa is about as out of place as Irene's bright red hair.

"I'm not family," Lisa mutters when Irene returns to typing passionately into her phone.

"Yet," is all Irene says, and then tags her on Instagram.

By five, the last of the guests begin to clear out of the house. Lisa could not be happier.

The place is trashed, down to the guest bathroom where little cake-smeared handprints cover up the walls. She needs to disinfect every inch of the place. Not to mention she owes Chaeyoung an extra twenty dollars because being assaulted by ruthless elementary school children was not part of the job description.

Lisa is exhausted, physically and mentally, but it's all worth it to see Ella's face light up at every opportunity.

"Woah. Mom, look! Aunt Irene got me a Wii," Ella declares, tearing through her assortment of gifts with the speed of a kid who's obviously spoiled every year.

She holds up a game. "And Mario Kart."

Jennie pinches the bridge of her nose and mutters, "I'm going to kill her."

"Bet I can kick your butt in a game of Mario Kart," Lisa says.

Ella grins. "You're on!"

She doesn't immediately go for the Wii, but rather the keyboard Lisa had gotten her. She's taken a special liking to that gift.

Jennie passes by her, touches her shoulder. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

Lisa blinks in surprise. "Oh. Sure."

"You look like you need it."

She does.

Watching Jennie roam through the kitchen like she knows the place is strangely pleasing, mostly because it's Lisa's kitchen. And Lisa's coffee maker that she forgot existed. With her early morning classes, she usually grabs a cup on the go. But this she could definitely get used to.

"You know, as the hostess, I think it should be my honorary duty to make the coffee," Lisa says.

Jennie tosses her a smirk. "And as the guest, I think I have the upper hand. Cream and sugar?"

"Oh yeah. A lot of it."

Jennie chuckles softly beneath her breath. "I knew it."

"Let me guess. You take yours bitter like your soul?" Lisa lightly taunts.

Jennie hums in the negative, passing Lisa her mug. "Just cream."

Lisa smiles at that. She takes a sip of her coffee, which is remarkably good for a generic store brand Jisoo tends to buy. She hums into it, makes a pleased noise against her mug.

"This is good. Thanks."

Jennie, who had been staring at her with a slightly flushed face, glances away. She clears her throat.

"You're welcome."

Lisa can't pinpoint what it is about Jennie blushing that sends a jolt to Lisa's stomach. She tries to keep her face neutral, and not like she's thinking about taking Jennie against the kitchen counter (in multiple positions), when she asks -

"So did you get me anything cool while you were in Florida?"

Jennie laughs over the rim of her mug. "What? Were the lion ears not enough?"

"The ears were a given."

"Then I guess it's your lucky day," Jennie says, sounding content. "Ella went overboard on souvenirs. They're still packed up. But I have your keychain here in my bag."

"Keychain, huh? Is it another lion?"

"Try a poisonous apple," Jennie replies distractedly as she scrounges through her purse. Lisa can't tell if she's kidding.

A pamphlet slips out of Jennie's bag before she can ask, skidding to Lisa's feet. She bends over to pick it up, her brow scrunching up in confusion at the bright green letters on the front page.

For Sale.

Come See Your Dream Home Today!

"Hey. You dropped this," Lisa tells her.

Jennie blinks in surprise, her face swiftly becoming impassive. "Oh, that." She shoves it back into her purse without even meeting Lisa's eye. "We had some realtors doing a presentation at our resort."

"Right."

"This is yours." Jennie hands her a keychain.

It's an apple, just like Jennie said it was, which would've had Lisa rolling in every Wicked Queen joke imaginable if the air wasn't so thick .

"I'm going to start moving Ella's gifts back to the house," Jennie explains. "I'll be back to help clean up."

"Okay."

Once she's gone, Lisa dumps the rest of her coffee in the sink. It's cold now anyway.

Her throat is tight. She feels out of sorts, and it has little to do with knowing that her day with Jennie is coming to an end.

And everything to do with the fact that Jennie was definitely lying.

.

.

By Tuesday, Lisa still has no idea why Jennie would've been lying. But her lie detector had clearly pinged. It's apparent after Jennie left Saturday night with a rushed goodbye that something is wrong.

Lisa tells herself not to think about it - she's told herself a good hundred times by now. But the more she tells herself, the more she thinks about it.

And it's all one big fucking contradiction, isn't it?

She sends Jennie a text - the first after two days of radio silence - and asks if she wants to come over for dinner. Lisa doesn't hear back.

"Tacos?" Chaeyoung exclaims, practically shoving her nose into the assortment of ingredients Lisa has laid out on the counter. "You've been living here for almost two years and I've never once seen you pick up a bottle of spice."

Lisa slaps her hand away. "They're not for you."

"Oh my god."

"What?" Lisa grumbles.

Chaeyoung leans over the counter and aggressively whispers, "She's got you domesticated, doesn't she?"

Lisa makes sure to slap her hand extra hard when it reaches for a piece of lettuce.

By nine, Chaeyoung had all but inhaled the tacos, which is around the time Jennie finally texts her back.

I can't. I'm sorry.
Ella's been sick.

That explains why the kid hasn't showed up at her door these last two days. It relaxes Lisa to an extent, even though she feels pretty awful about her being sick.

That sucks :(
anything I can do to help?

She waits. Jennie's shades are drawn, like they have been all week. Lisa is beginning to feel antsy looking at them, not knowing if Jennie is on the other side. Wondering if Lisa did something wrong.

Lisa puts on a movie as background noise, distracts herself with a few pull-ups while she continues to wait. She doesn't get a response until 10:30, a full hour longer than Jennie usually takes to reply.

I'll be alright.
But I appreciate it.

Lisa doesn't get a wink of sleep for the rest of the night.

Come Wednesday, Lisa tries this new thing she likes to call 'communication'.

She's never been very good at it, but she figures if she's ever going to get anywhere in life, it's a useful skill to put on your resume. So she texts Jennie again that same morning, more blunt and to the point.

I feel like you've been avoiding me.
Did I do something wrong?

It works. She gets a reply in less than a minute. A fucking record.

You haven't done anything wrong.
I promise.

I've just been busy.

It hardly calms Lisa's nerves, but it's enough to get her through the rest of the day without piling on to her fears. Maybe all Jennie needs is space. Lisa gets that. She does. She's ghosted plenty of people in the past for the same reason, so getting a taste of it isn't the worst thing in the world.

Except it kind of is.

By the end of the day, she's wondering if there's a way she can sneak a walkie talkie in through the window, all so she can hear Ella's voice again. If that doesn't prove how deep in the shitnest Lisa is, then nothing will.

She gets a text from Jennie on her way home.

I think we need to talk, Lisa.
Please call me when you
get the chance.

Lisa slams on her breaks. She's 1.5 seconds away from calling Jennie, chance or not. But she's already home now, parked hazardly along the curb, and she spots the sign on the front yard before she can think to dial Jennie's number.

.

.

There's one other time Lisa can recall her blood running this cold. Eighth grade - her English teacher, Ms. Dara. She would always give Lisa a new book to read every week. Was the only adult to care that Lisa would sometimes show up with bruises on her arms.

Until one day she couldn't. She up and left, and there was a new English teacher to take her place. That might have been the first time Lisa felt her heart shatter.

But seeing the FOR SALE sign on Jennie's lawn comes pretty fucking close.

.

.

"For sale? " Lisa is simmering with rage by the time Jennie opens the door. "Is this some kind of joke?"

It's been four days since Lisa last saw her. The distance doesn't make this confrontation any easier. Jennie looks about as drained as Lisa feels; her cheeks seem sunken. Her face is paler.

Lisa hates that this damn woman can still make her heart race.

"Lisa," Jennie says gently. She doesn't appear at all surprised to see her. Lisa hates that, too. "I'll explain inside."

Lisa folds her arms over her chest. "I think I'll stay right here, thanks."

"Don't be a child. Come in."

Lisa clenches her jaw, but reluctantly follows Jennie inside. It's sad how much this place feels like a stranger's home now, knowing the truth behind the matter.

Knowing that she was right from the start. Everything Lisa loves eventually leaves.

"You're moving again." Lisa dives straight to the point. They're standing in the living room, where she briefly wonders where Ella is. "That sign on your yard - please tell me this is a sick joke."

"I'm afraid it's not," Jennie says. She has her arms over her stomach. It's the most vulnerable Lisa's ever seen her, and that makes this whole thing hurt so much more.

"So you've been avoiding me because of it? So you wouldn't have to tell me?"

"I was planning on telling you today," Jennie explains. "The realtor came in and made it official. I didn't even get to tell Ella until an hour ago."

"But... why? "

It's starting to sink in. These two people that Lisa's grown to care about over the summer - they're no longer going to live in the house next door. She'll never get to see Ella after this. Not Ella or Jennie -

The desperation leaks into Lisa's voice. "And Florida? That's what the pamphlet was for, right? What the hell's in Florida? It's all alligators and - and headlines of that Florida guy chasing you with an alligator. What -"

"My father's in Florida," Jennie admits.

"You have a father?"

Of course she does. Jennie had only mentioned her Mother. Lisa had assumed her Father was no longer in the picture, as well.

It goes to show how little she knows about Jennie, after all.

"I don't usually talk about him. He's not... the kindest man you'll ever meet. In fact, you'd be better off staying away from him. But Ella and I come down to visit every so often," Jennie informs her.

"Okay," Lisa says. "If he's not the nicest person in the world, then why are you leaving?"

"Because he has connections that I don't have, Lisa," Jennie vents, the fragility she was exuding now melting away into frustration. "He has access to various political fields. To the board of education. He can get Ella into one of the greatest schools in the country. How can I deprive her of that? Of a chance to go somewhere better for a fresh start?"

"I thought this was your fresh start. For her," Lisa grits out.

"Lisa. Don't."

"You moved here because Ella was miserable. She was lonely. So don't you think she should have a say in this, too?"

Jennie steps forward, her face a mask of fury. "Don't you dare bring my daughter into this. That's not your place."

"Don't you think she's already happy here?" Lisa presses on. "Aren't you ?"

Jennie's eyes bore into her, chest heaving angrily with every breath. If Lisa weren't so worked up and furious herself, she'd be fighting extra hard not to slam Jennie against the wall and kiss her stupid face right about now.

As it is, something in Jennie's expression shifts, her shoulders squaring up. She takes a step back.

"I'm sorry if you've become too attached, Miss Manoban," Jennie says, the indifference seeping through every word. "But that's not my problem. I can't let whatever this is get in the way of what's best for me and Ella."

Lisa wishes she could say she doesn't believe her. Not when Jennie looks this torn, like it had taken some effort to say those words out loud.

Lisa's heart says differently, though. It shrivels up inside her chest, tightens up like an elastic band. Makes it hard to breathe. She wants to slam her fist into a wall. She wants to snarl in Jennie's face again, anything to get rid of the cool disinterest in her gaze.

But mostly, Lisa wants to cry.

"You know. I thought you were just a mean, overall awful person when you first moved in," Lisa deems it fit to say, the anger inside her dimming to nothing. "I guess some things never change."

Jennie's expression falters for a split second, and even that doesn't satisfy Lisa. Not when the damage is already done.

"Good luck in Florida," Lisa says.

She means it. As painful as it is, she would never wish bad karma on her. Or Ella. She turns to leave, right as Jennie offers -

"Let me walk you out."

"I can walk myself out. Thanks."

And Lisa does. She makes sure to slam the door on her way out, too. There might be some limits to her pettiness - this isn't one of them.

.

.

When she gets home, Ella is already there. Curled up in a little ball on her bed.

Lisa sits off to the edge and gently pries her fingers from her pillow, moves her so she's curled up against her instead. Her body shakes with a silent sob.

"I don't wanna go," she whispers.

"I know."

She has her face pressed into her stomach, which is probably a good thing in Lisa's case. There's no saying she won't break down if she sees her face. The pain ricocheting through her body is enough to make her adult ass cry.

"I like it here," she murmurs into her shirt, and Lisa strokes her hair, finds herself biting down hard on her lip when she adds -

"You're my best friend."

"Oh, Ella," Lisa breathes out. She doesn't bother holding in her watery laugh, or the way her words tremble in her failing attempt to hold it together. "You're my best friend, too. But you'll make new friends. Better ones. Ones who can give you that secret handshake you always wanted. And even then we can still be friends. Distance doesn't change anything."

"Pinky promise?"

She has her pinky out. The sight of it brings a crushing ache to Lisa's chest. There is no holding it together anymore. She knows from experience that - no. This isn't the kind of thing you can promise, when more likely than not, she'll never see or speak to Ella again after this.

But Ella will move on.

"Pinky promise," Lisa whispers, linking their pinkies.

She nods against her stomach, seemingly satisfied, and speaks so softly into her shirt, Lisa has to strain her ears to hear her.

"I love you, Lisa."

It's raining outside. Lisa listens to it, the faint pitter-patter against the window sill in an otherwise silent house. The sound is comforting. She can almost pretend that she isn't crying enough for the both of them now when she whispers back -

"I love you, too, Ell."

.

.

And she does.

She really does.

.

.

The days drag on after that, bleak and dreary.

Summer is coming to an end, and with it, so is Lisa's enthusiasm for essentially anything that goes on around her. There's a weight bearing down on her shoulders no matter what she does to distract herself. It's like she's drowning in water, treading around obstacles with more effort than it normally takes.

It's hard.

Jisoo and Chaeyoung notice right away. It doesn't take a whole lot of investigation. The FOR SALE sign continues to sit in plain view on Jennie's yard. Lisa sees it every morning when she goes out for her run, and every night when she drives by it, hoping that maybe, maybe it might've been taken down.

It never is.

"Hey, Lis," Chaeyoung greets her carefully one morning, setting a plate of food down in front of her. "Made you some eggs."

That's another thing that's changed - the way her roommates are now tiptoeing circles around her, taking extra precautions not to stir the pot with her emotionally fragile state.

Lisa can't stand it.

"I'm not hungry," Lisa mumbles, pushing the plate aside.

"Lisa," Chaeyoung sighs, and gestures to Jisoo for help, who shrugs feebly back. "You can't keep going on like this."

"Like what?"

"Like you're having a Lindsay Lohan Lapse." Chaeyoung taps her finger against the table with each 'L'. "I recognize the signs of a meltdown, dude. A girl breaks your heart and you go out doing all kinds of crazy shit. Call it bisexual instinct."

Lisa stares blankly at her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"All I'm saying," Chaeyoung continues. "Is you can't let one girl ruin your life like this. So as a household of beautiful sapphic bitches, we need to stick together. We've already had our bad experiences with boys. Minus Jisoo. You've always been a flaming lesbian, haven't you?"

Jisoo slurps her coffee. "Yup."

"Thought so."

Lisa stands up. "Right. Great chat. I'm gonna go now."

"Wait, what about your eggs?" Chaeyoung asks.

Mushu chooses that moment to lunge himself on the table, slapping his tail across Chaeyoung's face. She sneezes.

"Holy shit, Jisoo. Your cat's fucking poisonous ."

The rest of the day passes by slowly.

Lisa hasn't heard back from or seen Jennie since their fight, and she doesn't expect to long after the house is vacated. She thinks she prefers it that way. A proper goodbye would make it all final and Lisa isn't ready for that. She's not ready to let go just yet.

She catches glimpses of Ella here and there. She doesn't come by as often.

"Mom says I shouldn't," she bitterly tells her one day. She sits on the swing, stares off into the distance as the sun begins to set. "That it's just going to hurt more if I keep visiting."

"She's not wrong."

The glare she shoots her is very Jennie-esque. It makes Lisa's heart clench. "You guys had a fight, didn't you? That's why you won't talk to her."

Lisa hesitates, nodding grimly. "Yeah, Ell. We did."

"Grown-ups can be really stupid sometimes."

She's not wrong, either.

Lisa had given in and bought them both walkie talkies, so at least when she isn't sneaking behind Jennie's back to come see her, she can rant about everything through an intercom. It's the only highlight of her day, coming home to find the kid trying to page her so she can describe what she had for dinner.

"Lasagna," Ella's voice echoes through the pager. "It's really good. I wish you had the chance to try it. Maybe I can sneak you a piece later if you want. Over."

Lisa smiles sadly at the walkie-talkie. "You don't have to do that, Ell. Can't know what I'm missing if I never had it."

"You're supposed to say over."

"Over."

"But it's better to have something good in your life than to never have had it at all, right?" Ella says, her voice cracking with static. "Over."

Lisa thinks about it. She thinks about that first night in the basement, meeting this tiny nine-year-old kid with a pet ferret in her arms, not realizing she was about to change her life. She thinks about all the beautiful moments after that, from the moment Jennie stepped through her front door, to the second Lisa walked out of it, feeling like she'd lost everything.

"Yeah," Lisa decides. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Over."

She finds a plate wrapped up in aluminum foil on her front porch later that night.

The kid was right about that, too. Jennie's lasagna is fucking good.

It's closing in on a full week when Lisa sees Jennie again. She spots her behind the window, this time in broad daylight. Lisa had been keeping her curtains shut specifically so this wouldn't happen, but she was willing to risk it for a bit of sunlight.

Now she's having to watch Jennie sort through her clothes. She doesn't notice Lisa at first, too busy gathering everything into a box. But like clockwork, she peers up, her face surprised when she meets Lisa's gaze.

It's like a hammer struck Lisa right in the chest. Jennie stares at her, having dropped whatever it was she was doing to approach the window. And for a split second, it looks like Jennie is about to wave.

Instead she grabs the whiteboard from the side, jots something down, holding it up for Lisa to see -

I'm sorry

And yeah. Maybe if this was some other time, some other place, Lisa would've put on her big girl panties and apologized, too. But Jennie is still leaving. And the wounds are still so fresh.

It must be the red-hot anger that prompts Lisa to jerk the curtains shut.

"Mom's already packing," Ella explains over her walker-talkie later that afternoon. "It's weird. She's only doing a few boxes a day. Really slowly. Like that thing adults like to do that starts with a 'p.' Procro - pro-cras-ti-nate?"

"Nice job, Ell."

"Thanks. Do you see him yet? Over."

Lisa scans the backyard. It had been Ella's idea to release Frodo out into the open to deliver a 'package', as she likes to call it. Lisa doesn't have the heart to tell her ferrets aren't that smart.

Every so often she has to resist the temptation to peek over the other side of the fence, to the window on the top floor. She wonders what Jennie is doing right now.

"No, I can't - Wait. I see him." She recognizes Frodo's wobbly movements as he crawls along the side of the house. Lisa scoops him up, answers, "Package secured. Over."

There's a piece of paper tied around his back. Lisa slips it off, eyes squinting at the childish writing.

"You sent him over here so you can give me your email address?"

"It's so we can stay in touch when I'm in Florida," Ella reveals. "I know you keep saying I'll make new friends. But that doesn't mean I wanna lose you. Over."

Lisa swallows hard. "Wow. That's... really sweet of you, Ell. I'll make sure to email you every day."

She can practically hear her smiling on the other line.

"I hope they like me. Over."

"I'm sure they will. You're the coolest kid I ever met."

Ella laughs. It sounds sad.

"I'm gonna miss you," she tells her after a quiet pause. There's no 'over' to complete her sentence.

Lisa feels her throat close up, gets that same stinging sensation in the backs of her eyes that never seems to go away nowadays. She's starting to get the feeling that it never will go away.

"I'm gonna miss you, too," she says, cradling Frodo to her chest. "Over."

.

.

Two days later, Lisa doesn't know how, or better yet why, but she ends up telling Jihyo everything.

"So this woman's your neighbor," Jihyo surmises, eyeing Lisa carefully over the leg press machine. "Who's also a 'MILF' as you so eloquently put it."

"That's what I thought before I got to know her, okay? She's so much more than that," Lisa snaps.

"Okay... but she's moving to Florida soon with her daughter. And you're heartbroken about it -"

"I wouldn't say I'm heartbroken -"

"- because you're in love with her."

Lisa winces. "Okay. Yeah."

"Wow."

It feels good to let it all out, even if it is Jihyo. Lisa had learned several years ago - more explicitly the Christmas dildo debacle of 2012 - that Jihyo absolutely cannot keep a secret if her life depends on it. Fortunately she's a good listener.

And no longer too involved in Lisa's life to blab about her dirty secrets.

"So... what will you do now?" Jihyo asks, standing up to press a towel against her face.

"Nothing," Lisa says. "There's nothing I can do. I'm not anything to Jennie. I can't just walk into her home and... tell her how I feel."

"Why not?"

"Because this isn't a trashy romance novel. It's not even a good romance novel. It's my life."

Jihyo heaves out a sigh, takes a seat beside her on the bench press. Lisa scrunches up her nose.

"You stink."

"And you smell like cowardice and juvenile bullshit," Jihyo throws back, which... Lisa doesn't think she's ever heard a slur from Jihyo's Christened mouth before.

When Lisa merely gapes at her, she shrugs. "It sounds to me like she has feelings for you, too, Lisa. But you're scared she doesn't. So you're pushing her away like you always do when people get too close, because that's easier than dealing with rejection. And it's easier than the terrifying idea of her loving you back. Am I right?"

"Okay, Dr. Love. No need to sugarcoat it."

"Even if it doesn't stop her from leaving, I think you should tell her," Jihyo advises. "Maybe she's waiting on you to give her a reason to stay. Take it from an expert. I spent years pining after Daniel before I told him."

"And by told, you mean fucking him on Nancy's side of the bed in a sordid act of adultery."

Jihyo's smirk is positively shameless as she chugs back her water bottle.

"Yes."

Often times, Lisa tends to forget that Jihyo was once raised as a good Christian girl.

Lisa does take her advice into consideration through the course of the afternoon.

She has nothing left to lose, does she?

Not when her friendship with Jennie is already dangling at the edge, if not effectively destroyed. The least Lisa can do is put her own heart at ease. Gain some closure.

But she's haunted by another thought, by the frightening possibility of Jihyo being right. It would explain all the lingering looks, the weighted pauses, the obscene amount of sexual tension from the very beginning. Maybe Jennie's been waiting on her to take the initiative this whole time.

Maybe Lisa should tell her.

The idea stays with her until she gets home later that evening. Chaeyoung takes one look at Lisa's ashen face and immediately panics.

"Woah. Okay. Something happened. I can feel it. Why do you look like you just got your STD results in?"

"I think I'm gonna tell her," Lisa murmurs, uncertain. "I know she's leaving. But I think... I owe that much to the both of us. Right?"

"You're going to bare your heart and soul. Right, right." Chaeyoung nods inquisitively, somehow procuring a bottle of wine and depositing it into Lisa's hands. "Come. Sit. Tell Auntie Chaeyoung everything."

And so Lisa does.

The next morning, Lisa is no closer to discovering herself or the meaning of life, but she does feel a little better. After letting her guard down twice in one day, she feels uplifted enough to open her curtains up again.

She even comes out of her week-long phone vendetta to send Jennie a text. It's short and simple.

Hey

Lisa has no plan. But if she's going to bare her heart and soul like Chaeyoung suggested, then there's no point in delaying it. There's no time left to dawdle, not when Ella and Jennie will be gone by the end of summer. Lisa's just... scared shitless.

She gets a reply soon afterward.

Hey.

Lisa nods to herself. This is good. But there's a period at the end. What the fuck does that mean?

Can we talk?

When Lisa doesn't receive a response by the first minute, she grudgingly (and desperately) adds -

Please

I just dropped Ella off at Irene's.
I should be free in a few hours.

Ok. Let me know when I can stop by.

It's done. Lisa can't turn back now, unless she chickens out, in which case she really does reek of cowardice and juvenile bullshit.

She spends most of the morning brimming with nerves. She can't remember the last time she's felt this afraid, this... hopeless , as if she's minutes away from a life or death situation. Only dying seems less scary than this.

"Will you stop pacing?" Jisoo gripes from the couch. "You're giving me whiplash."

"I can't help it."

"Then meditate or something," Jisoo says in a habitually surly voice. "I never thought I'd be saying this, Manoban, but your gay levels have exceeded mine. How long have you been looking at her Tinder profile?"

Lisa draws to a dead halt. She hasn't swiped out of Jennie's profile since the first day, and lately her eyes have been consistently glued to her flawless face. Not that Lisa's noticed.

"A while," she mutters.

"Then what are you waiting for? Some notoriously bland white girl to stake her claim?"

"We don't know for sure if she's even into women."

Jisoo gawks at her, her answering silence far more disturbing than the sheer incredulity on her face.

It freaks Lisa out. "What?"

"For the everloving fuck," Jisoo curses. It doesn't happen often, which is why Lisa's taken aback when she lets out a long string of fucks in at least five languages. "You are such an idiot.

"What? "

"Your Tinder settings. You can only view women who are interested in other women, right?"

"Right..."

"Then how the hell do you think you're seeing her?"

Lisa blinks, the realization dawning on her like ice cold water. She turns to her phone - she hasn't swiped left or right. To be honest she hadn't been planning to at all. But now...

Fuck it. She swipes right.

.

.

.

It's A Matched!
You and Jennie have liked each other.
1 minute ago

SEND A MESSAGE
KEEP SWIPING

.

.
.

Two things happen after that.

Lisa's phone is hurled across the room, smashing into the opposite wall.

"Let me guess," Jisoo deadpans. "A match made in heaven."

Lisa ignores her. "I'm going out."

She grabs her shoes, is halfway out the door when Chaeyoung's yell suddenly echoes through the ceiling.

"GET YOUR GIRL, MANOBAN. LOOK HER IN THE EYE AND TELL HER YOU LOVE HER! BRING THAT SEXY MILKSHAKE TO THE YARD -"

It's promptly silenced by the slam of the door.

.

.

Lisa's emotions are in turmoil. In fact, she finds she's not thinking clearly at all when Jennie opens the door to Lisa's incessant knocking and raises her eyebrows in surprise.

"Lisa? What -"

"You can't leave."

They're the first words to come to mind, to spew out of her mouth in a moment of blind defiance. Lisa fidgets at the doorway, watching as Jennie's face goes from surprised to confused, to downright affronted.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You can't leave," Lisa says again, this time slipping past her to duck inside.

Jennie bristles and closes the door. "And what makes you think you have any say in what I should do?"

"I don't. That's the thing," Lisa declares, pacing across the living room. "I have absolutely no say in this. I mean, here you are, trying to give Ella her best chance. And I'm over here, wondering why the fuck the people I care about always leave me."

Jennie seems startled by this declaration. "Lisa..."

"Do you want to know why I'm here?" Lisa goes on. She's angry now, shaking with a sort of rage she has no idea how to process. "Tinder. Fucking Tinder, Jennie. It sucks. I hate it. But lo and behold, here I am."

"You're not making any sense."

"I have nothing else to lose, right? So I'm going to be selfish and say it. I don't want you to leave."

Jennie remains silent this time, regarding Lisa in a way that makes her dizzy.

"It's not fair. It's not fair that you think you can just waltz into my life like this, only to step out of it like there hasn't been some freaky unresolved romantic tension shit going on for the past few months. Like you haven't been staring at my ass half the summer -"

Jennie steps forward, outraged. "I have not."

"Yes you have. And Florida? What the fuck is in Florida, Jennie? The place is shaped like a dick. A chance to ride your pet alligator through the palm trees of hell, maybe?"

Jennie huffs. "You're insane."

"Funny. Could've sworn you were the batshit crazy one for deciding to move to Florida ," Lisa retorts.

Jennie's eyes flash, and she steps even closer, inches now from Lisa's face. Lisa's head is pounding, her heart thudding hard against her ribcage. She has no idea where this is going, but she's running with it.

"Are you just here to insult me?" Jennie seethes. "Because I can end you, Miss Manoban. Don't test me."

"And if I am?" Lisa says. She has a death wish, afterall. "Because I think you're full of shit. Stubborn to the highest degree possible. And you hog the bed sheets."

"And you're a complete pain in my ass. Foolish. Absolutely impulsive -"

"Yeah? Well I think you're beautiful," Lisa interjects. Smugly.

That catches Jennie off guard. "You - what?"

"And you like me."

"I do not."

"One can even say you might love me."

Jennie scoffs. "God, you are such an insufferable - do you really want to know what I think? I think you're the most annoying person I've ever come across. You're cocky. Not to mention you eat like a child -"

"I'm going to kiss you now," Lisa says.

"Excuse me?" Jennie stammers, riled up and downright flustered. "I - you think you have the gall to -"

The first clash of lips is admittedly clumsy.

Lisa kisses her, hard, partly to shut her up. Mostly because she can't hold back a second longer. She feels the startled breath Jennie lets out, the small, wanton noise that almost sounds like a whine. She has a fist clenched tightly around Lisa's shirt. And for a second, Lisa thinks Jennie is going to shove her right off.

Jennie literally yanks her in instead.

Jennie's back collides with the wall, and she has a leg hiked over Lisa's waist, exhaling a moan into Lisa's mouth that is borderline pornographic.

Lisa imagined what it would feel like to kiss Jennie for months, the taste of her, the shape and feel of Jennie's mouth. But it doesn't mean Lisa's prepared for the real thing. Or the way it makes her feel.

Jennie melts into her. She has a hand curled in Lisa's shirt, the other one shifting up to tangle in Lisa's hair, like she has to keep Lisa as close as possible - as if she could go anywhere. Lisa presses herself into Jennie's body, sucks gently on her lip, deepening the kiss.

"I've wanted to do that for months," Lisa gasps when she has to pull away for air. "You're really hard to read, you know that? One minute you're staring at my ass. And the next, you're like, a total asshole. Meaner than a Catholic nun, actually -"

Jennie kisses her again.

She swipes her tongue over Lisa's bottom lip, drags it along with her teeth. Lisa's knees tremble.

"Has anyone ever told you you talk too much?" Jennie husks into Lisa's mouth. She slides her hands up Lisa's shirt, nails trailing over her stomach.

Lisa shivers. "Several occasions."

"Good. Stop it."

And then Jennie's hands are cupping her breasts, her very bare breasts, because Lisa did not remember to put on a bra this morning.

Lisa gasps, her own hands reaching out to palm Jennie's ass. She tugs Jennie into her hips, leveraging them when Jennie wraps her legs around Lisa's waist and nearly knocks her over.

"Why do I get the feeling you get a kick out of me carrying you?" Lisa mutters.

Jennie chuckles against her. Lisa leans in to kiss the corner of Jennie's mouth, the scar above her lip that Lisa's always wanted to taste, before delving underneath the hinge of Jennie's jaw, her throat -

"I do admire your arms," Jennie admits. Her pulse is racing against Lisa's tongue. She circles her thumb over Lisa's nipple, pinches them both. "Though normally I'd envision them wrapped around my thighs."

"Fuck."

Lisa groans into Jennie's neck. She pins her harder against the wall. "Bed."

"Too far," Jennie breathes. She drags Lisa up to kiss her, wet and demanding. "Couch."

Lisa breaks away briefly to glance around the mostly empty living room.

"There is no couch."

"The floor then. I don't care."

"The floor? Aren't you too queenly for that, your Majes -"

But Jennie is already tearing off Lisa's shirt, latching onto her with more aggression than Lisa anticipates. Lisa loses her balance. She stumbles to one side, staggers into a table -

"Lamp," Jennie hisses.

"Sorry."

- and breaks the fall with her knees, Jennie's legs still hiked up around her waist.

The floor it is, then.

"Where the hell is the couch?"

Jennie doesn't reply so much as she grabs Lisa by the nape of her neck and pulls her in for a deep kiss. Lisa greedily falls into it, slipping into the space between Jennie's thighs, where Jennie opens up to her. Arches into Lisa, really.

Lisa's hands instinctively drop to Jennie's hips. They dip beneath the hem of her dress, over soft, warm skin.

Under the waistband of her panties.

Jennie sucks in a quick breath. Trailing her mouth across Lisa's jawline, she nips at the sensitive spot below Lisa's ear and murmurs -

"Take them off."

"You're bossy in bed, too, aren't you?" Lisa hisses when Jennie scrapes her teeth along her tendon.

"Lisa," Jennie says warningly, and sucks at the patch of skin at the base of Lisa's neck.

Lisa groans. "You're gonna leave a mark."

"That's the idea. Yes."

Something about Jennie marking her sends a jolt through Lisa's stomach, leaving her more turned on than should be physically possible.

She clambers down Jennie's body, ignoring the weak moan of protest, and tugs off Jennie's black lacy underwear. Lets them dangle off her ankle, because they really do look nice there, against the ridiculous four inch heel Jennie still hasn't taken off.

It's a breathtaking image, no doubt.

Lisa wants to defile every inch of her.

"Lisa." Jennie is writhing as Lisa ducks in to plant kisses along the inside of her thighs. She clamps a hand into Lisa's hair and grits out, "Stop teasing me."

Lisa laughs against Jennie's skin, bites it a little. "It's hardly teasing."

Jennie pants, frustrated. "Then what would you call it?"

"A bit of foreplay. Have to make you scream somehow."

This time Jennie huffs out a laugh. "Don't get your hopes up. I don't - oh ."

The oh is soft. Breathy. Jennie arches into Lisa's mouth, and Lisa smiles against her, licks into her again before dipping her tongue inside.

"Lisa," Jennie sighs, driving her hips upward. "Don't stop. I - putain de merde"

Lisa stills for a moment, peering up at Jennie with wide eyes.

"Wait. You speak French?"

The sound Jennie makes is something between a growl and a moan as she yanks Lisa back down. Lisa gladly takes the hint.

She finds out that Jennie likes it rough. She finds this out when Lisa takes Jennie's clit in her mouth and sucks - hard - and Jennie curses explicitly in French before wrenching Lisa up for a filthy kiss.

"Harder," she whispers into Lisa's mouth, all tongue and teeth and breathless swears. "Inside."

Jennie is not at all quiet.

Lisa is grateful Ella isn't within a mile radius of the house to hear her mother cry out with every thrust, with Lisa so deep inside her, Jennie clamps down on Lisa's shoulder. Grazes her fingernails down Lisa's back. Shudders when Lisa presses her thumb against Jennie's clit, aims her fingers just right -

So Jennie is a screamer. It's with a relentlessly self-satisfied grin that Lisa nuzzles into Jennie's sweat-slick neck and asks -

"So... round two?"

.

.

Adding to the list of things that Lisa learns today - Jennie is an absolute freak in bed.

It becomes clear when, afterward, she makes Lisa come in two minutes flat, right there against the floorboards.

Or when she rides Lisa's fingers against the stairwell railing, and then again on the kitchen table, until Lisa's wrist cramps up. Jennie pushes her flat onto the table and uses Lisa's face instead.

It's raunchy and sinful and downright dirty. Lisa loves every second of it.

Because if Jihyo can have crazy adulterated sex on every surface of her household, then Lisa damn well can, too.

.

.

It's hours later when Lisa wears herself down. The house is silent.

Her clothes are strewn across various rooms, not that Lisa bothers to retrieve them. Jennie had gone into the kitchen to make them a drink. But after a minute of waiting out in the living room - where there's no couch - Lisa puts on a tshirt and follows her there.

Jennie is dressed in a silken robe, preparing some tea when Lisa walks in.

"There's a glass of water on the counter there if you're thirsty," Jennie offers, inspecting the fridge with a frown. "I haven't gone grocery shopping. But we can order in for whatever you're in the mood for."

"And if I'm in the mood for you?"

Jennie shoots her a suggestive smile. "Then I'd remind you that dessert comes after dinner."

Lisa laughs, small and somewhat bashful. She doesn't mean to feel nervous. But everything is different now.

Most of the kitchen has been packed up, Lisa notices, boxes loaded up against the walls. There are two singular cups in the cabinet when Jennie pours the tea. The fridge door is barren of the pictures that used to be there. In their place a calendar is taped to the door, a circle marked over the Saturday from today. Two days from now.

"How does Chinese sound?" Jennie asks, oblivious to Lisa's distress.

"No, I... I'm actually not that hungry."

"Was taking me against the table not draining enough for you?" Jennie jests. Her face falls when she takes in Lisa's expression. "What's wrong?"

Lisa doesn't reply - she doesn't know how to. Jennie patiently waits before putting the delivery pamphlet down.

She takes a cautious step towards her. "Lisa?"

"What's going to happen now?" Lisa asks softly. She hates the vulnerability rushing over her in waves. And it definitely doesn't stray from her voice.

"With?"

"With us, Jennie," Lisa forces out. "With this. You can't just fuck me on your floor and pretend like everything's back to normal."

Jennie observes her. "I wasn't pretending."

"But it's not like you've made an effort to talk about it either," Lisa says. "You're all packed up. You don't even have a fucking couch because you shipped it off to Florida. You're still -"

Leaving.

Lisa purses her lips. She feels queasy, like she might just puke on an empty stomach.

Jennie continues to stare at her, contemplative, until she's not and she's leaving the kitchen without uttering a word.

"Where are you going?"

Lisa stands in the middle of the kitchen, wondering if this is it. If this is the end of their short sexcapades, all because Jennie walked out on her mid conversation.

But Jennie comes back a minute later, carrying a sheet of paper, which she hands off to Lisa.

"What's this?"

"A voided contract," Jennie says. "I pulled out last minute. Luckily the seller already had a backup offer on the house in Florida. No lawsuit or financial tragedy needed."

Lisa stops breathing. "You're not..."

"Leaving?" Jennie finishes. "No. We're staying right here."

"But - since when?"

"Yesterday. I was on the phone with my realtor this entire morning. Needless to say he wasn't happy. But the house is no longer on the market."

Lisa's head is spinning, but she doesn't dare get her hopes up just yet.

"I don't understand," she says. "Why?"

"Because... we're better off being as far away from my father as possible," Jennie explains, drawing closer. "She might have his hands on everything, but I'll be damned if I let him get to my daughter. And because -"

At this, Jennie seems to hesitate, her eyes meeting Lisa's with a sense of reverence. "I realized you were right. Nothing he can offer will compete with what we have here. Ella's happiness always comes first. And she's happy here. I'm happy here. And you... you've helped with that, Lisa."

Lisa grins. "Wow."

"I know."

"That's awfully mushy of you, Kim."

"Keep it up and we're moving to Arkansas."

Lisa bursts into laughter. She feels like she's floating now, like she's weightless over a pile of clouds. It's incredibly freeing.

"So..." Lisa leans against the island, pulling Jennie in by the hand. "You're staying."

"I am." Jennie runs a hand through blonde tresses, brushes her thumb over Lisa's cheekbone. "Is that okay?"

Lisa burrows her head between Jennie's neck and shoulder. "Very. And I guess I'll still be the obnoxious blonde next door. The pain in your royal ass?"

"I'm afraid so."

Lisa hums. "Sounds like love."

Jennie slips her hand beneath Lisa's jaw, motioning for her to look up. Eyes dart across Lisa's face, bright and full of wonder, before Jennie leans in and kisses her.

"Take me out on a date first and maybe you'll find out," Jennie murmurs into her, letting her mouth dip along Lisa's throat.

Lisa's heart lurches, and she's grinning dopily even as Jennie sinks down to her knees, parting Lisa's legs. Trailing kisses over her thighs.

"Tomorrow," Lisa gasps. Jennie happens to be really good with her tongue, and Lisa so can't think clearly right now. "I want to - make it special. I want to take you out on a date. Tomorrow."

Jennie stops to peer up at her, and Lisa curses herself for saying this now.

But Jennie's gaze is soft, fond, like she hadn't expected Lisa to give in with such determination. Not so quickly.

Joke's on her, though. Lisa's unintentionally imagined their first date since day one.

Jennie presses a kiss to Lisa's thigh, licks up the length of her until Lisa's hips buck and she gasps.

"Okay."

.

.

They have dinner. Eventually.

.

.

Summer is coming to an end, September emerging in the way the air feels crisper. Cooler. It feels like the end of an important era.

And the start of Ella's first day of school.

It was somewhat of a nightmare, the preparations Lisa had to take to make sure she was there to witness it all. From getting up at the crack of dawn, to being the sensible one when Jennie tried to force feed Ella oatmeal.

Lisa made sure she was there to wish her good luck when she took the bus that morning - it took a lot of convincing Jennie to even let her - and now she's beaming at her from her front door hours later, all puffy cheeks and giddy excitement.

"I guess it went great?" Lisa says.

"It went so great! My teacher's the best. She kind of reminds of you, Lisa, but her name's Ms. Judy and she has a pet ferret, too. And she gave me a book she thought I'd like. The other kids are really nice, too. There's this one girl named Enid that played with me at recess. We have a secret handshake now."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think... I think I made some friends today, Lisa."

She clutches her hand during the walk back to her house, babbling the entire way. Apparently she'd gone home to gush about it first and her arrival was all a ruse, because Jennie is already waiting for them at the door.

"Oh yeah. You're invited to dinner, by the way. I was supposed to tell you that," Ella comments. "Guess that means you're staying now, right?"

"Smooth, Ell."

She grins impishly at her, ducks past Jennie to head inside. Lisa stuffs her hands in her pockets, smiles when Jennie gives her this look - the one that makes Lisa's breath catch in her throat every time.

"See? I told you she wouldn't trip over someone's foot and explode if you let her take the bus," Lisa feels the need to point out, to which Jennie only rolls her eyes.

"Buses are filthy," Jennie reminds her. "Not that we'll be having this argument again. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Depends," Lisa says and shuffles closer, bites her tongue when Jennie's hand comes up to rest delicately on Lisa's cheek. It's one of the things Lisa loves about her, the easy affection Jennie freely gives.

"Is this gonna be a third or fourth date?"

"Neither," Jennie smirks. "Dinner with my daughter doesn't count."

"Uh huh. Dessert before or after?"

"After. Much after. I thought I could lure you in with lasagna."

"You had me at buses are filthy, to be honest."

Jennie laughs at that, leans in to brush her lips over Lisa's as she murmurs, "Ella mentioned something to me the other day, you know. Something about that time you told her I was super pretty. Super smart."

"Super nice," Lisa adds, trailing kisses along Jennie's jaw.

"And something about me being... what was it again? A 'MILF'?"

Lisa's smile wilts.

"I can explain."

"No need. I had no idea how badly you wanted a madame to friend."

Lisa groans. "You're gonna hold that against me for the rest of my life, aren't you?"

Rather than reply, Jennie kisses her, smiles into Lisa's mouth as if this is just the beginning.

But like any story, this one has an end.

It's on a warm September afternoon where this story ends. Right here, in a house on Pink Street. Jennie grabs Lisa's hand, tugs her inside.

The door closes behind them.