The smell of garlic and spices drifted up the stairs, curling beneath Lisa's door like an unwelcome guest. She ignored it, staring at the ceiling, her heart thudding with the weight of something she didn't want to name.
She had stayed up here for hours, pretending she wasn't home.
The soft murmur of her father's voice floated up from the kitchen, blending with Minnie's occasional bursts of laughter. It should have been comforting—the simple, familiar sounds of home—but tonight, they felt distant. Like something she wasn't part of anymore.
She hadn't been able to sleep properly since that night.
Since Jennie had come to her.
The memory was sharp—Jennie, standing in front of her, eyes wide and raw with something Lisa didn't want to acknowledge. The words Jennie had said echoed in her mind, refusing to settle.
Lisa shut her eyes, willing the memory to fade, but it never did.
Jennie's face, the softness in her voice, the hesitation when she reached out—everything about that moment had unsettled Lisa in ways she couldn't explain.
And yet, she hadn't responded.
She had stood there, walls raised, and let Jennie walk away.
The ache in her chest hadn't left since.
Jennie's sudden reappearance, the lingering weight of what happened before graduation, it all felt like too much.
Lisa exhaled, dragging a hand through her hair. She couldn't hide forever.
Her bare feet pressed against the warm wooden floor as she pulled open the door, descending the stairs quietly, the stairs creaking beneath her weight as she descended. She didn't bother looking at the family pictures lining the walls. They felt too far away, like relics from another life.
The sound of cutlery against porcelain greeted her as she rounded the corner into the dining room. And that's when she saw her.
Jennie.
Seated at the table.
Lisa froze mid-step, the air sucked clean from her lungs.
Jennie's head was tilted slightly as she listened to something Lisa's father was saying. Her dark hair framed her face, falling softly over her shoulders, and she sat like she belonged there, like she had been at this table a hundred times before.
But she hadn't.
Lisa's feet felt rooted to the spot. Her grip on the banister tightened until her knuckles turned white.
Jennie wasn't supposed to be here.
She had never set foot in this house. Not in Thailand. Not in this part of Lisa's life that felt too fragile to share.
Her father noticed her first. His eyes crinkled as he wiped his hands on his napkin, pushing his chair back slightly.
Lisa couldn't move. Her eyes flickered to Jennie, but Jennie didn't look up. Her gaze remained fixed on the plate in front of her, her expression unreadable.
Lisa turned to leave, but her father's voice stopped her.
"Lisa," he called out casually, as if nothing about this was strange. "Come sit. Dinner's still warm."
"I'm not really hungry," Lisa muttered, already turning toward the door.
"Nonsense," her father replied in their mother tongue. There was warmth in his voice, but it was threaded with something firmer—an expectation she couldn't wriggle out of. "Sit. Don't be rude to your guest."
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Need You To Need Me | Jenlisa
Fanfiction"Don't come too near". These were the first words to leave her mouth. They hadn't seen each other in six months and these were the only things she could say. "Why?" Jennie said, she wasn't surprised or disappointed. She just never understood. This i...
