With a groan, Jennie rolled over and switched her alarm off. She felt awful. Her throat was aching and her head was banging as she sat upright, wincing at the crack of light peeking through the curtains. Scrambling for her phone, Jennie sent a quick text to Somin, asking her to cancel all of Jennie's appointments and meetings for the day. Luckily it was a Saturday so she didn't have many meetings anyway. Rolling back over, Jennie fell back to sleep shivering, and hoping that she'd feel better when she woke up.
-----
She woke up at twelve to the incessant buzzing of her phone. Blinking away the last remnants of her sleep, Jennie grabbed her phone and slid across to answer, not bothering to take the time to check who it was.
"Yes?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
"Hey, It's me. Are you almost here?" Lisa asked.
Jennie shot up in bed, remembering she was supposed to meet Lisa at their café for lunch. "Fuck. No, I forgot. Sorry, I'll be there as soon as I can," Jennie said, before dissolving into a coughing fit.
"You sound awful, is everything okay?" Lisa's voice came through, coloured with concern.
"I feel like shit, I think I'm getting sick," Jennie rasped, collapsing back against the pillows, and throwing an arm across her face.
"What is it? The flu? A stomach bug?" Lisa asked, panicking slightly.
"Relax, it's just a sore throat and a slight cold. I'm fine," Jennie reassured Lisa, pushing aside her concerns. "I'll meet you there as soon as I can."
"No, no. You stay in bed, I'll be there as soon as I can," Lisa told her firmly, leaving no room for Jennie to argue.
"Um, okay," Jennie mumbled, her voice coming out scratchy.
"Okay, see you soon. Love you, bye."
Jennie paused at Lisa's words, her mouth opening as she thought of something to reply. There was silence on the other end, and before Jennie could reply, Lisa hung up. Jennie stared down at her phone with a bewildered smile on her face.
She stumbled out of bed and had a quick shower, hoping the hot water would make her feel better. Dressed in some clean pyjamas, Jennie wandered into the kitchen to grab some painkillers and a glass of water. After she quickly downed them, she wandered back into her room and crawled back into bed. The darkness of her room helped soothe Jennie's headache, and she could feel the effects of the painkillers kicking in. She momentarily drifted off to sleep as she waited for Lisa to arrive.
-----
Almost an hour later there was a knock on the door. Jennie pulled herself upright and shuffled to the front door. Pulling it open, she revealed a nervous looking Lisa, weighed down by numerous paper bags.
"Hey," Jennie croaked, stepping aside to let Lisa in.
"Oh, you don't look well at all," Lisa tutted, grimacing at Jennie before making her way into the kitchen. She set the bags down on the counter and turned around, gesturing for Jennie to come closer. "Come here."
Jennie obeyed, and closed the distance between the two of them. Lisa gently touched the back of her hand to Jennie's burning forehead and cheeks, checking her temperature. "I think you have a fever. Have you taken anything for it?" Lisa asked, her forehead wrinkling with concern.
"Um, I took some painkillers earlier. I don't know if they're for fevers or whatever, but my headache's gone, so there's that," Jennie told her, shrugging slightly. With a sigh, Lisa rummaged through the bags until she found what she was looking for.
"Take two of these the next time you need to take some pills," Lisa told her, placing the box on the counter, "and for God's sake, get back to bed. You look like death warmed up."
"I think that's just my usual complexion actually," Jennie joked, the corners of her mouth quirking up in a slight smile. Lisa gave Jennie an exasperated look and made shooing motions towards Jennie's bedroom.
Jennie looked at Lisa with an amused look on her face. "Yes Sergeant," Jennie saluted sarcastically, letting out a quick laugh, which turned into a coughing fit.
"Very funny. Would you prefer it if I made you up a bed on the sofa?" Lisa asked, raising her eyebrows in question. Jennie nodded, and padded over to the sofa. Lisa disappeared down the hallway leading to Jennie's bedroom, and returned a few moments later with pillows.
Jennie watched her with a peculiar expression on her face, and once Lisa had finished making the bed, she turned around. Catching sight of Jennie's expression, she tilted her head to the side, frowning slightly. "What is it?"
"I-, it's just... no one's ever looked after me when I've been sick before," Jennie confessed, shrugging slightly. She let Lisa guide her down onto the sofa and tuck the blanket in around her. Leaning down, she placed a gentle kiss to Jennie's burning forehead.
"Sorry, I can't risk getting sick," Lisa apologised for the lack of a proper kiss. "And that's what people who care about you are for."
"I've never had one of those before," Jennie reminded Lisa, who gave her a sad smile.
"Well, lucky for you, you have me, and I happen to know the best remedy for being sick," Lisa said, her voice bright with enthusiasm. "Or at least mom has the best cure, and it kind of stuck with me since I was a kid, but that's besides the point, and I'm pretty sure she's onto something anyway."
Jennie pushed herself up onto her elbows, craning her head to watch Lisa as she walked over the the paper bags. "So, first things first; grapes. Not sure why, but it's a necessity. Secondly, Lucozade. It's this British energy drink, I have no idea where my mom got it from, but, I don't know, I guess it's good for electrolytes and whatever."
Lisa walked over to the sofa, carrying the grapes, the energy drink and a book. "Here, try some," Lisa told her, handing over the bottle. "You also have to have a book. I'm not sure what healing powers mom thinks they have, but every time Rosé and I were sick she'd buy us a book."
Jennie smiled at Lisa, taking the offered gifts. She quickly unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of the energy drink, which was surprisingly nice. "Thank you," she croaked, placing the drink on the floor and popping a grape in her mouth.
"I brought chicken soup, because obviously that's a given, and I picked up some DVD's for us to watch too," Lisa told her, walking back to the kitchen and placing the soup in the fridge. "Which drawer do your bags go in?" Lisa asked, holding up the paper bags.
"What do you mean? I just put them in the recycling bin," Jennie told her, frowning slightly at Lisa's question.
"Oh. So, like, you don't have a drawer with bags that you hoard all the other bags inside?" Lisa asked, giving Jennie a strange look as she binned the bags and walked back over to her.
"Who does that?" Jennie asked, letting out a quick laugh.
"Um, the entire human population?" Lisa replied, gesturing widely as she sat down on the sofa, lifting Jennie's legs so that they were resting on top of Lisa's lap.
"Weirdo," Jennie muttered, smiling widely at Lisa.
"It's a common domestic thing, okay. You're the weirdo. Who doesn't have that drawer?" Lisa argued defensively, giving Jennie an exasperated look.
"Whatever you say," Jennie laughed, throwing a grape at Lisa.
-----
They ended up watching two movies, and Lisa spoon fed Jennie chicken soup for Dinner, much to Jennie's amusement. The pills that Lisa had brought her seemed to be helping, and the throat lozenges lessened the scratchy feeling in Jennie' throat.
Jennie sat there toying with the edge of the blanket as Lisa inserted the third DVD. Once she sat back down, Jennie cleared her throat gently, deciding to broach the topic with Lisa.
"Hey," Jennie said slowly, getting Lisa's attention. "So, um, I heard something surprising earlier on the phone."
Lisa's face flushed red and she ducked her head down, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Oh yeah? Um, well I-I was, uh. You see, I was, um, it was just..."
She trailed off helplessly, looking up to give Jennie a sheepish smile. She looked embarrassed as she scratched the side of her nose, shrugging in a noncommittal way.
"Sorry, I just-, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable. You can just... forget I said anything," Lisa mumbled.
"Hey, no, don't apologise," Jennie said, frowning slightly as she gently laid her hand on Lisa's arm. "I-I want you to be honest with your feelings, okay? Please don't ever feel like you can't tell me things because of, well, me. I just hope you can understand that I ... need more time to, you know, figure things out."
"Yeah, no, of course. I don't want to... push you," Lisa said, giving Jennie a hesitant smile. "You said before that I overuse the word love, and I know that you don't use it, so I understand that it's different for you."
"Yes, but that's not what you're saying is it?" Jennie asked, her eyebrows drawing together at the seriousness of the conversation. "It's not I love you. That's easy. I know I love you, just like how you say you love inanimate things, although that might be hard for me to say anyway. But what we're saying is 'I am in love with you', right? Not just love, but in love. There's a very big difference."
Lisa let out a quick laugh, her nose crinkling as she smiled at Jennie. "Yeah. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. That I'm in love with you."
Jennie's eyes prickled slightly at Lisa's admission of truth, and she felt an aching feeling in her chest. No one had ever said that to her before. She'd never felt this feeling before. She smiled at Lisa, lifting her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. "Well thank you. I-I know I'm not the easiest person to... love."
Lisa shook her head, pulling her hand out of Jennie's so that she could cup Jennie's face. With a bewildered half-smile on her face, Lisa stared into Jennie's eyes, as familiar to her as her own.
"No. Loving things – people – it's the only thing I know. And loving you? Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. It's easier than breathing, and I would sooner stop breathing than stop loving you. Whether you want me to or not," Lisa argued, placing a kiss to the tip of Jennie's nose.
"I do. I want you to," Jennie whispered, choking slightly on the words as they came out.
"Then you have it. All of it," Lisa smiled, her fingers gently tracing the side of Jennie's face as they looked at each other. Too overcome with emotions to talk, Jennie nodded, her own hand coming up to rest against Lisa's cheek.
-----
Lisa stayed over that night, making sure that Jennie had someone to look after her. Jennie kept her up half of the night, tossing and turning as her temperature switched between freezing cold and boiling hot. Still, Lisa lay beside her all night, clutching her tightly to her chest when she was cold, and making sure the covers were off her when she was hot.
Jennie fell asleep quickly, exhausted by the symptoms of her sickness. She slept restlessly, only falling calm at the quiet, comforting whispers of Lisa's voice piercing her unconscious mind. She mumbled and cried out occasionally, until Lisa's reassuring voice calmed her down, lulling her back into sleep.
The next morning when Jennie woke up, she found herself wrapped in Lisa's embrace, feeling marginally better than she had yesterday. Noticing the dark circles under Lisa's eyes, she stayed as still as possible, letting her sleep and taking comfort in the arms of someone who loved her.