For Jakob

29: by a thread

T W E N T Y - N I N E

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Jakob's POV

Her eyes were wide as she looked at me and back onto the sight in front of us.

Then back to me.

The tension in my body didn't ease at the sight of the shock on her face.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

When I had asked her out on a date two weeks ago, I hadn't really planned for what it would entail.

I just had done enough waiting.

The idea of going back to our regular lives left me feeling almost hollow. The last two weeks had only solidified that feeling.

We were both busy and it felt like a crime to only see her here and there.

I knew it was because we were in an odd place of will they or won't they, and I had had enough of that.

I wanted to make sure she knew that I was hers.

And then we could go from there.

Hopefully go somewhere, where we didn't just see each other for lunch a few times a week.

Asking her on the date had been easy, but I had spent the next two weeks panicking.

I was a planner.

I liked having things figured out.

Every little detail of every assignment was planned out.

And yet, I had scrambled to think of a single thing for tonight.

Truthfully, nothing in the world would have been good enough for her. Which is why I had gone through a million and one ideas and not one had stuck.

Adler had of course, caught onto my panic and offered up some help once he got over being smug.

But, just taking her to dinner seemed too simple.

Renting out the entire restaurant was my next thought, but it just wasn't her.

I wanted something nice, just the two of us, no distractions.

And then, on one of my occasional visits to the rooftop to de-stress, the idea hit me like a tonne of bricks.

I felt as though I was holding my breath when she looked at me again.

Her silence was making me re-think everything.

The table for two, the lights, the candles, the flowers.

It all seemed so stupid.

"E-Elijah..." she whispered, her eyes still wide, "Is this...you did this?"

"I-" I couldn't speak. I was too busy staring into her eyes.

Her bottom lip quivered and my eyes softened. She closed the distance between us, wrapping her arms around my waist.

My body practically deflated, and I held onto her tightly.

She sniffled and I froze, "Eliana-"

"No I'm not-" she pulled her head back to look at me, "I-I'm not crying I promise," I could see the tears in her eyes, "I can't believe you did this."

Oh thank goodness.

She wiped at her eyes, laughing lightly, "Sorry, I told myself to be cool and collected but," she laughed again, pulling away and grabbing my hand, "You ruined that plan."