The Heart That Beats For Her || jenlisa

Chapter Nineteen

When Lisa's groggy eyes slowly pull apart, she finds a clock on the nightstand glowing red in the violet morning. Six in the morning. She sighs, blissfully happy when she discovers a mess of wild curls decorating her chest like warm strokes to a blank canvas. Her fingers move all on their own, threading so gently through those silky knots, generating the deepest groan of approval in return. A smile blossoms across her face and without even thinking, she presses her lips to the crown of Jennie's head.

Jennie hadn't pushed the issue any further the night before with seeing the transplant scar and Lisa was so thankful for that. After the quick peck they shared, Jennie granted Lisa some privacy to change and prepare for bed and when Lisa had returned from the bathroom, Jennie was already passed out. So, she crawled into bed and slid perfectly behind the woman, needing to hold her close after the mess of emotions she made her feel.

"What time is it?" Jennie's scratchy throat breaks through the silence of the peaceful early morning.

"Six. The sun should be coming up soon. My internal clock reminded me that someone said the sun rises on this side of the house."

"That someone should have known you would want to watch the sunrise. Idiot," she grumbles, clearly still half-asleep.

Lisa chuckles softly and squeezes her close, placing one more kiss to those wild curls. "Come on, it's going to be so beautiful," she murmurs into the strands that smells so damn delicious, she wants to spend an entire winter in there hibernating.

"You know what else is beautiful? Sleep. Sleep without a nightmare, preferably longer than five hours."

"I know, I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep. Maybe tomorrow you can watch the sunrise with me," Lisa sweetly offers, her fingers methodically scratching Jennie's scalp to soothe her back to sleep.

"I'm already up," Jennie groans, "but tomorrow you let me sleep."

"Deal," she whispers. "So, no nightmares last night?"

"No," Jennie sighs in relief and maybe she doesn't realize the action, but she definitely nuzzles her face closer against Lisa's chest. Lisa's heart swells, her mind replaying all the incredible things Jennie had said to her the night before about her scar. "It's usually only once every other week now."

Lisa hums at first, her fingers slipping out of the tangles to lightly scratch up and down Jennie's bicep. She's been holding off for a while now, not wanting to push, but she thinks they have made some huge progress in their relationship since coming back to Jersey. "Will you tell me about them?" She timidly inquires, already expecting Jennie to shut down.

She can feel the way this delicate woman inhales sharply and holds her breath, but then Jennie shifts, taking Lisa by surprise. She slowly crawls on top of Lisa, carefully places her hands over her chest and rests her chin there. They lock eyes and Lisa can't help herself, she lifts her hand and gently touches the scar upon Jennie's forehead near her temple, memorizing the faint indent against her own flesh. Then, her fingers skate down to tuck the hair in disarray behind Jennie's ear.

"Every dream starts off the same, it's of Mino and I driving on the expressway toward the airport. We were going to take a vacation to the Bahamas for Christmas and New Year's, for two weeks. It was going to be the first one in over five years," Jennie pauses, her eyes instantly turning glossy.

"If it's too much-"

"No, I'm ready to share with you," Jennie vows and Lisa knows how serious she is by the determination behind those wet orbs. "I-I can't remember what we were talking about, that's still a little fuzzy...a lot of things still are, but Dr. Ji Won Kim has been helping me with that." Lisa nods encouragingly, but she remains abnormally quiet, entranced by Jennie's words. "But in my dreams, he's laughing at something I had said as he reaches for my hand and kisses my knuckles. That was something he had always done with me, take my hand, kiss my knuckles and hold my gaze to make me feel like I was the only woman in the room."