Loved You First (Jenlisa) COMPLETED

13

Soft rock played quietly from the iPod dock in Jennie's green and white kitchen three nights later. She loved her kitchen. It was probably her favorite room in the entire world, homey and smelling of fresh spices she kept on the rack.

It was nearly eleven that night, and even though she had to be up at four the next morning, she was in project mode and very little got in her way when that happened.

Baking had always been her security blanket, and after the week she'd had, the kitchen called out to her. Instead of dwelling on the things that bothered her, she could lose herself in the creation of something sweet and wonderful and the world would be a better place when she was done, wouldn't it?

Peanut butter cups were the mission du jour and she was up to her arms in flour. Encouraged by Pink Floyd and the way her mind got all soft and slow when she baked, Jennie kept her head down and her hands moving as she sashayed her hips in time to the music. Therapy, she thought.

She danced her way to the too high cabinet above the stove and felt blindly for the jar of peanut butter she kept there. But damn, it was empty because she'd needed therapy the week before too, when she'd stayed up all night perfecting her chocolate chip pound cake and then the five thousandth batch of Nini's Truffles she'd need for the festival.

Derailed and furious at herself for forgetting to pick up a new jar at the grocery store, she stood in the kitchen weighing her options. This was not an ideal situation, this peanut butter crisis, but it wasn't insurmountable. When one needed peanut butter, one should venture out into the world and get some. So she grabbed her keys and headed to the bakeshop. Once there, she quickly flipped on the lights and scanned the shelves of the walk-in pantry until she located the large jar they kept there. In another horrifying peanut butter blow, they were virtually out there too. She checked the paperwork, and sure enough, Nayeon had added peanut butter to this week's grocery order.

Well, damn it all to confectioner's hell.

She checked her watch. It was after eleven thirty and Samcheon Grocery would be closed for the night. But she was this far in. Why not take the drive to Namgu? It was only one town over? It would take her eighteen minutes each way, but it was a matter of principle now.

She wasn't going down like this.

She hopped back into her car and set out on the winding, dark farm road. Surprisingly, she found herself actually enjoying the late night drive. As the Eagles sang about Hotel California on her radio, her mind drifted to the very thing that had her baking in overdrive.

When Lisa left her standing alone in the bakeshop's kitchen three days ago, she'd drawn in a shaky breath and struggled desperately to regain her equilibrium. When it came to Lisa, it seemed her mind and body were in a war for the ages. As Lisa had pressed up against her in those shorts and thin work out top, she'd felt it all the way down to her toes. She now understood that she was more attracted to Lisa than even she realized. The very person she could not be attracted to by the laws of the Universe.

But she knew the power they carried now. The two of them.

She'd felt it full on in the kitchen. And all she had to do was avoid moments like those, delicious as they may feel, at all costs. Because there was guilt involved, a whole hell of a lot of it, and Jennie had spent the rest of the week bathed in it. Not to mention what it would do to her relationship with the Manobans. It was hard enough for Lillian to hear she was interested in dating again, but her becoming romantically involved with Lisa could devastate the balance and ruin their relationship forever.

On the other side of the coin, she hated what this newfound dynamic was doing to who she and Lisa were to each other. Lisa was important and by pushing her away, she was losing her altogether and that didn't feel right either. Because when Lisa arrived back in town, something shifted into gear for Jennie. The shop was going under, but just having Lisa around again made her feel that there was hope for Flour Child.