The Stages of Loving You

09.

"My brother liked sweet things, too. He would have loved these blueberry pancakes," She finally says...letting the sentence sink into the space between them. Jacob pauses, setting his fork down. "Then call him around, I can't wait to meet your brother,"

Evie's stares at him. Suddenly the blueberries in the pancake mixture stir in her stomach, bittersweet memories flooding back.

"Evie?" Jacob soft tone hits her. But everything becomes a blur. In front of her, the redhead boy is taken aback, rubbing at his neck. His tell, whenever he's shy, nervous or says something out of term. However, the boy could never say anything. How could he....when he didn't know Evie's older brother was no longer apart of her life. He had left to become a star in space...shining over her so brightly.

"Evie?" the boy repeats. "Then why do you look so sad?"

She blinks. Then drops it into the air surrounding them. "My brother recently passed,"

Jacob stands up from his stool, his head hanging low. "I'm so sorry."

Evie feels the lump in her throat grow. It gets hard to swallow the emotions. "It was hard, seeing you make the blueberry pancakes....earlier." she admits. "My brother always used to make them every morning."

"If we have breakfast again, we can always do something else. Waffles maybe?" He tries to make light of the sistation, but what the girl of his dreams told him made him rage at himself, made him rage at the world and made him soft. So soft for her, that all he wants to do is cradle her in his arms, in lap, in his hoodie until she's over the worst of her stormy grief.

He holds back.

The girl didn't need his comfort. She needs someone to break her away from her thoughts, make her smile, listen to good music, drink coffee with, and laugh with. Always laugh with.

Was he the person to give her these things?

He was going to make damn sure he will be.

Because Evie Wilson was special.

"You're special," he blurts out. "So special. I'm sure your brother knew just how much and if he was looking down on you know - which I'm sure he will be - he'd be proud of the girl, no woman you're becoming. I mean, you let me make the blueberry pancakes, you didn't judge me for eating peaches and cream with them. I also know, you deserve to be happy,"

With me, he wants to add.

And with a sneaky grin that slips onto his lips, he grabs the whipped cream from his plate of pancakes and swipes it across Evie's face.

She squealed. "Jacob, the hell are you?" And she grabs her pancake from her plate, and smudged into his mouth. He chuckles, nearly choking on the food, but is happy to see the girl in front of his vision....smile the prettiest smile he's seen.

And he starts thinking of loads of possibilities. Like how he'd make her smile for the rest of lives, how he;d make her blueberry pancakes in the morning, kiss her worries away on top of her head---

He stands up and starts throwing more cream at her. It lands on her t-shirt, and Evie's mouth hangs open. "What will your parents think?"

"They won't be thinking anything because once we done here, they'll be nothing left,"

"I'm scared now,"

"Don't be, Ma'am. " he grins. "But care for a strawberry?"

Evie watches as Jacob turns to the fridge, and grabs out the strawberries. They are ruby red, glistening in the sunlight, and she watches with curious gaze as he sits back down across from the breakfast table and bites off one.