In Too DeepㅣJENLISA

Chapter 9

A small ray of sunshine peeked through a tiny hole in the leaf blanket covering the shelter, falling precisely in the middle of Lisa's closed eyelid. The lieutenant stirred in her sleep, veering away from the disturbing light. Suddenly, a strong pain shot down her left arm, completely pulling her out of her calm slumber.

Sleeping turned out to be a big struggle while having a fresh deep cut into your flesh, she found out in a hard way. Even though she tried to keep herself lying mainly on her right side, multiple times during the night she was awakened by the stinging sensation every time she unconsciously changed her position.

She was exhausted, her eyelids felt heavy when she tried to open her eyes, groaning in pain in the process. Lisa knew she wasn't going to get any more sleep than she got during the tough hours of freezing darkness, so she decided it was time to finally get up and start with the tasks for the day.

She let her eyes adjust to the newfound light and turned to the right side of the hut, expecting to find Jennie's sleeping form laid next to her. Instead, she was met with an untouched pile of leaves. Where was she? Lisa wondered. The lieutenant pushed herself up carefully and crawled out of the small space. She was immediately met with the pleasant sensation of the now slightly warmer air tickling her soft skin after having spent a whole night under the jungle's glacial embrace.

She quickly stretched her stiff back, rolling her ankles, wrists, and neck in the process. She sighed and looked around herself. In the distance, she was able to see the bottle still hanging down from the long thick vine but her eyes couldn't exactly register the amount of water collected. She needed to check it out as soon as possible. The last night's campfire was now completely put out, leaving behind a pile of black soot and burned wood covering the dry soil.

But the thing that especially caught her attention was sleeping Jennie curled up on the ground exactly where Lisa had left her the night before. Soft breaths left from between her parted lips, the fingers on her hand twitched slightly every now and then, hinting that brunette probably had a bad dream. Her cheeks were coated with traces of dried-up tears, most likely because of Lisa.

Maybe the lieutenant shouldn't have gone so harsh on her the previous night but that was how she genuinely felt. She needed to guard her broken heart, to be selfish for once. She was frustrated at the brunette for breaking her trust, even if everything was a single mistake made more than a year ago. Unfaithfulness was something unforgivable for the lieutenant.

She knew, though. She knew the truth. That under all this façade of ineffable anger she still hid her undying love for the small brunette. Lisa was scared that if she gave in to Jennie's desperate begging and pleading, if she forgave her for what she did, even with no intention to continue what was once broken, she would break and give in to her feelings.

She was still in too deep.

Lisa was scared that If she did, she would get hurt. She was scared that Jennie hadn't changed, that she would betray her all over again. Another broken heart and mind full of regrets was something the lieutenant couldn't afford to go through for a second time.

But it was hard for her. Seeing Jennie again after more than a year, still as beautiful and tempting as always, didn't make it easy to push her away. Lisa thought that she had buried her feelings in the deepest ends of her heart, but after meeting Jennie once again, she saw the determination with which the small brunette was trying to dig up every single piece of her love.

All the lieutenant wanted to do was to scream her heart at the woman, let out everything she had to tell her, show how frustrated and disappointed she was with her before taking her into her arms, kissing her lips, and showing her that her love was stronger than anything else she felt.