Finding Perfection

Chapter 23: How Many Idiots Does It Take To... [Part Two]

Jesse's hand wraps gently around mine, tugging lightly he begins to lead me down the dark path through the trees. Had it been any other male and or human I'd be freaking the hell out and probably running back to the car in the other direction, but this is Jesse. I'm safe, not so sure about him though. Well his heart anyway. 

Fighting that train of thought for now (there's still time to turn back), I take a moment to take in the scenery, but soon realize that's basically nothing at all. Just the few trees along the path, the rest is cloaked in darkness as thick as ink. This sends chills up my spine, the hair on the back of my neck standing up, thus causing me to walk closer behind him. A twig cracks in to my left and before I know it we're walking side by side, though I'm giving him a workout to keep up. 

He doesn't laugh. 

He doesn't tease.

He's just quiet and keeps pace with me. 

We reach a small opening, at least it seems small, but maybe it's just the darkness. Now I'm starting to wonder what the hell we're doing here- delayed reaction I know. I just didn't anticipate the blinding night. I stop first, as he keeps going, but I anchor him back with my hand. 

"No, we gotta keep going," he urges quietly, tugging at my hand a little stronger this time. Holding my breath I follow again, trudging a little now in my unwillingness. I'm in no mood for adventures, but hopefully he knows what he's doing. 

"Are we almost there?" I ask in a whisper, since anything above that volume seemed loud enough to be life threatening. Who knows what's listening... 

"Just another minute actually," he answers from ahead of me,sounding too loud for the scene, but I can hear the smile in his tone.

That's actually reassuring since I'm getting that strange feeling of being watched and followed at the same time, but I'm too freaking afraid to look back and check. We've crossed the clearing finally, and yeah it was a lot bigger than I thought. Feeling instantly relieved, I catch a glimpse of light ahead of us. It's no flood light or even bonfire, but light nonetheless. Something welcome to me right now.

"Here we are," he says then, motioning with an outstretched arm. 

My lips twitch skyward as I see what he's led me to. It's a big tree, with a wide seated swing hanging from its strongest branch. Underneath the swing is a blanket laid out smooth, to the side of the blanket sits a rather large cooler and a slightly smaller basket. Also some lanterns are set out periodically  all around to light up the whole area. Those are my favorite part right now. 

Well, I must admit, this is romantic. 

Sweet.

Cute.

Dreamy.

All that stuff I should be gushing over right now, Amy would be that's for sure, instead though I keep a small, tight, smile etched into my face. My arms cross over my chest and I don't make a move to sit. He doesn't seem to notice though, just takes the initiative and drops down on the blanket- patting the space beside him for me to join. Slowly I do just that, plopping down with my legs folded to the side since I'm wearing a dress. 

Something he complimented earlier, by the way.That was right before he opened the door to his car for me like a gentleman. Which was right before he asked if I had any dinner preferences, even though he apparently had this planned all along. Why does he have to be so perfectly date-able? 

Sighing quietly to myself, yet again, I draw myself back to the task at hand. With a big smile he pulls out two bottles of water, which is charming in an "I'm only an artist, this is all I can afford." kind of way. It actually makes me smile thinking that, but I try to keep my emotions in check. This is tougher than I'd predicted. This is gonna be a long picnic. 

"So for appetizers," he says in a snooty accent, not really any specific ethnicity though, which I find pretty funny. 

"Well there are no appetizers actually," he says then in his normal voice, a bit sheepishly. I could swear a small blush spread over his cheeks when he said it, but it was still pretty dim, I could be wrong. 

"That's okay," is what I say with my big goofy smile betraying me.