the eras of us ⎹ Lana Parrilla & Jennifer Morrison

Chapter 9

"No, I didn't... you are— I know you said so, but how was I supposed to know that? I am not coming home; I already drank— No, Marcus," Jen sighed as her fiancé interrupted her again. She closed her eyes while absorbing his harsh words, which always surfaced when he was stressed due to work. "Can I talk again, please?" she eventually cut him off. "I'm staying the night here; we can talk when I come home tomorrow... I don't know, afternoon? I have to pick up Ava from my sister, and— I'm hanging up now." She made her words come true and ended the call only a few seconds later. Still standing in the hallway of Lana's house, the blonde savored the newfound silence for a moment. Marcus had been particularly loud and didn't even let her finish her sentences. With the alcohol in her system, she felt her body reacting more than usual—her hands were slightly shaking.

"Hey."

The soft voice made Jen turn around, looking directly into Lana's eyes. The brunette seemed concerned and took a few more steps until she stood right in front of her ex co-star.

"Is everything okay? Why did Marcus call?"

"He, uhm... He just had some stress at work and needed to, I don't know, vent? He thought I'd be home and apparently forgot that I told him I had plans tonight."

Lana nodded slightly, still focusing on Jen's uncomfortable-looking face. "Are you okay?" The brunette's voice was almost a whisper, making the question even more difficult to answer without tearing up.

"Yeah, I'm okay," the blonde smiled. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, Julie is still telling the story about her second ex-husband accidentally calling the police while they were having sex."

Jen scrunched her nose, asking, "Do I want to know?"

"Absolutely not," Lana answered, and both women chuckled softly—still standing in the hallway together. "Do you like the evening so far?"

"I do, actually, yeah. I didn't know Julie was so fun to be around; she always seemed so serious and... strict."

The brunette smirked, "Well, she can still be intimidating, I'm not gonna lie. But only if she thinks that someone is getting treated unfairly or if she wants to protect me."

"That's a good thing."

"Yeah, it is," Lana nodded, before an uncomfortable silence fell between the two women again. Both knew that it would take a lot more 'hang-out days' between them before they could return to a somewhat normal relationship. All the texting they had done in the past week just didn't cut it; they needed to be face-to-face, feel the presence of the other one, without the luxury of contemplating for 20 minutes what to answer when messaging over the phone. It wasn't a bad thing though, not at all—Lana was already thinking about all the possible things they could do together next.

"Lana, Jen!" Trish's voice echoed from the living room, punctuating the air with excitement. "Come back; we're playing games now, and I am gonna—" Her words were cut off, leaving the two actresses exchanging curious glances. Muffled murmurs followed, and then Bex's voice chimed in, "Take your time, sweeties!", the redhead yelled.

Lana and Jen couldn't hold back an amused laugh, before they walked back into the living room.

As the night progressed, Julie's homemade alcoholic concoction turned out to be more tolerable than initially thought. After a couple more shots, everyone had become accustomed to the robust flavor and the intense burn it left in their throats. Now, following several rounds of UNO, Monopoly, and SKIP-BO, they even discerned the subtle hint of caramel that Bex had mentioned earlier in the evening.

"That's so unfair," Bex exclaimed after Jen won another round of UNO. "Don't they say 'lucky at cards, unlucky in love,' or am I missing something? You're freshly engaged!"