"It's about time you picked up," Faye says in lieu of a greeting as Stella makes her way up the slight slope of the lawn, the grass dewy underneath her feet.
A stray warm morning breeze whirls past, bringing out a whiny whistle from the rotary drying rack as it moves with the wind. Stella's shirt flutters lightly against her skin.
"I was beginning to think you're avoiding me."
A wave of guilt washes over Stella as she steps into the kitchen, curling into a knot at the base of her stomach.
"Me?" She asks through a rather forced, airy laugh. Picking up her cup where she's left it next to the coffeemaker, she leans back against the kitchen counter. "I would never."
A pause; silence wraps around the kitchen, weaving its way through the lingering scent of coffee beans. A car blaring its horn cuts through the call. Followed by another. And then another. Like a trail of dominoes.
"You're lying."
Shit.
Stella clears her throat. "No I'm not," She sips her coffee—slowly, carefully. "We've been busy, is all."
"We?" Faye asks, and just from her tone Stella can imagine the deep notch between her sister's brows—heels of her pumps digging grooves into the pavement as she's halted in her tracks in the middle of the sidewalk at rush hour. "Who's we?"
"Jake and I," Stella says, rolling her eyes at herself as a small smile curls on her lips simply from speaking his name. "You remember Jake right? About this tall?" She motions with her hand even though her sister can't see her, a splash of coffee escaping over the rim of the cup. Holding back a sigh, she bends to wipe it off the floors. "Your best friend or whatever?"
"I remember Jake," Faye says dryly. "I just thought–"
Cutting herself short, Faye pants into Stella's ear as she rambles off a rather creatively strung together sentence of colorful curse words.
Straightening up, Stella leaves her coffee cup be and frowns. "What just happened?"
"You don't want to know."
"Did a bird poop on you?"
"No."
"Did you step in puke again?"
Just the thought has her grimacing, a faint taste of bile creeping up her throat.
"Only nearly. Oh, and as I salvaged my shoes from someone's intestines–" Faye pauses as the bustle of the city streets fade into a quiet calm, her voice picking up a lighter tone as she greets someone on her end. The sound of elevator doors sliding shut follows. "I spilled coffee all over my blouse. This is great, just great."
Stella's eyes flicker sideways as the front door's swung open, revealing Jake with an embrace of grocery bags on the threshold. Phone pressed between her shoulder and ear, she lifts her finger to her lips in a hushing motion and walks over to relieve him off one. To Faye, she says, "Rather coffee than intestines."
Jake's lips twitch up in confused amusement and Stella shakes her head with a small smile, cheeks flushed with faint warmth. Mouthing a "Hi" she slouches over the kitchen island, elbows propped up on the wooden counter.
Faye snorts. "They should put that on a tote-bag," She says. Then, "We were talking about something. What were we talking about? Oh! I thought Jake decided to stay in Acebridge?"
"He did," Stella tips her cheek into her palm, eyes lazily lingering on Jake as he unpacks the groceries. Catching her gaze, his cheeks tighten with a smile—those quite-not-dimples-dimples flashed her way. "But he came back."
"Why?"
For one flickering moment Stella wonders if she should simply blurt it out. If she should just tell Faye she's begun falling for the boy they both once—at Faye's 10th birthday party—declared they'd rather eat worms than lock lips with.
In Stella's defense she'd been seven years old, and rumor had it boys had the cooties.
Then again, maybe she should give herself a chance to figure this thing out on her own before dragging her (sometimes stubbornly opinionated) sister into the mix. After all, she likes Jake and she wants this to work out—whatever this is.
"I guess he..."
She trails off, lips twitching dangerously as Jake raises his brows, mouthing a "Me?". His t-shirt rides up as he stretches his arms overhead, and Stella's gaze lingers on the lines of his abs a moment too long.
Shaking her head, she straightens up. "— didn't feel entirely done here, or something."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know," She lies again, hoping her sister's 'is-Stella-telling-the-truth?' detector has been forced into the backseat now that she's arrived to the office. "Maybe he wanted to put the opportunity of a vacation to full use."
Faye sighs. "I could use a vacation," A beat of silence passes between them, exchanged for the soft tapping on keys. "Maybe I should've just gone with you while I had the chance."
Stella presses her lips together. "Yeah, maybe."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows she should ask her sister to come join them. Just as Jake and she spoke about back in Acebridge, dancing in the dark by the sea. She'd been the one to bring it up, the one who'd said her sister could use some time off. Somehow though, the words remain lodged in her throat—kept back by the knot having nestled its way into her heart.
A stubborn kind of selfishness; she wants to keep the lake house all to herself.
Realistically, she knows it makes no sense. This isn't her house. At the beginning of the summer she doubted she would ever feel at home in this town, never in the same way the rest of her family does. Now however, this time she's got left in the house—the time she has left with Jake in this house—seems far too important to share: to just let it slip away.
She clenches and unclenches her jaw, lips parting with an invitation even though her heart beats hard in wild protest.
Then, before she has the chance to speak, easing the fresh taste of guilt at the tip of her tongue, Faye says, "Not that I could. I have too much on my plate over here as it is."
Stella's brows draw together as her chest fills with concern instead. "How's everything with that?" She asks, fingers tightening in their clutch of the phone. "I tried asking mom but I don't know... it felt like she's holding back on me."
"Nothing you have to worry about."
"Well I do worry. Shipping me off to the lake won't magically stop that."
She can practically hear Faye's frown through the call. "Stella."
"Come on Faye."
"I'm not even working on mom's thing right now," Faye says, that sound of fingers pressing down on keys filling the silence again. A beat passes before she says, "We have it under control. Or something."
Stella swallows. "Or something?"
"It's fine. Ignore me, I barely got any sleep."
"Yeah, okay," Unconvinced, Stella nods. Pulling at a loose thread in her shirt, she begins to bid her sister goodbye. "I should probably let you focus on wo–"
"No."
Mouth half-caught between an amused smile and a frown, Stella echoes, "No?"
"You're not hanging up on me Stellie-tubbies. We've barely even caught up yet!"
"I'll call you later, I promise," Stella vows, and this time she means it. "It's just... Jake needs me for something."
Taking his eyes off a half-solved crossword she's left out, Jake glances her way.
Faye sighs in her ear. "Yeah yeah—I'll hold you to that. Tell him hi."
"Will do."
After they've bid goodbye, Stella sets her phone down on the counter, repeating the sentiment. "Faye says hi."
Jake straightens up. "How is she?"
Stella lifts her shoulder in half-a-shrug, rounding the kitchen island so that she's stood next to him instead. "Good, I think. Very Faye."
He smiles, and the clean hit of his aftershave tickles her nose as his arms come to rest lightly on either side of her. "Good morning."
"Morning," Stella's smile widens as Jake brushes his lips over hers. Arms twisting around his neck, she pulls back just an inch. "I have coffee breath."
"I don't care."
Absentmindedly letting her fingers trace a line in the nape of his neck, she asks, "How'd you sleep?"
"Excellent," Jake's smile splits into a grin. "You?"
"Not too bad," Stella hums, leaning in for another kiss just as her phone's ringtone goes off again.
Eyes swiveling to the ceiling, Jake lets out an amused groan.
Stella shoots the screen a glance. "It's Jessica."
Jake shrugs as she raises her brows in a silent question. "Go for it."
"I'll be quick," She promises as she slides her finger across the screen, answering with a "Hello?"
"Good morning!" Jessica sings, an airiness to her tone. "I just thought I should check in with you after yesterday: is everything okay? Are you both alive and well?"
Lips quirking up, Stella catches Jake's gaze. "Are we both alive and well?"
Something clatters to the floor on Jessica's end—a saucepan maybe, or a bowl. "He's there?"
Jake, having overheard, leans closer to the phone's mic. "Hi Jess."
"So," Jessica draws the word out. "I take it you two made up?"
Stella's cheeks round with her smile, a comfortable warm flutter wrapping around her chest. "Yeah."
"Did you make out?"
Biting down on her lip, Stella chokes on a chortled breath. "Mhm."
"What happened to you not giving a damn about white horses? Or whatever."
"I changed my mind."
Jessica's tone shifts from curious to genuinely kind. "Well, I'm happy for you and I won't keep you then. Oh, before I forget—do you want to come with me to brunch at Paisley's tomorrow? You could tell me all about last night without having Jake breathing heavily into our call."
Jake rolls his eyes, and Stella lets out a small laugh.
"Yeah, okay. Sounds good."
"I'll text you."
Bidding goodbye, Stella puts her phone away—again. Her gaze drifts to the one unpacked bag of groceries still left out on the counter. "Did you get us breakfast?"
Jake absentmindedly traces a pattern over her hip. "Considering there's nothing edible in that fridge other than a few stalks of celery, I figured it'd be for the best."
"I've been meaning to shop," Stella brushes her fingers against Jake's as she twists halfway, reaching for the bag. "Are there sugar donuts?"
"Yeah," He pulls them out of the bag, placing them on the island. "Oh, and I got these."
"Popsicles? For breakfast?"
"We're adults; we can do whatever we want."
"Mhm," With a silent snort, Stella gladly accepts the pineapple flavored popsicle Jake holds out for her, fingers curling around the paper bag of donuts. Making her way out onto the patio, she throws a glance over her shoulder. "Grab the coffee?"
"Aye aye."
Light rays of sunshine cast a pattern over the terra-cotta tiles, their warmth sprawling over Jake and Stella as they sink into two chairs next to each other by the table. Leaning back in her seat, Stella brings her knees to her chest—arches of her feet resting against the edge of the thick cushion.
Jake turns in his chair to look at her, twirling a strand of her barely damp hair around his finger. "Did you go swim?"
Stella's gaze lingers on a few birds traipsing about the dock. "Yeah."
"How'd it go?"
"Good...," Popping the paper of her popsicle, she meets his gaze. "Though I mostly drifted around on my back, thinking."
"What about?"
A gust of wind rattles the flowerbeds, having the sultry fruit-like scent of gardenias drift their way. Stella inhales, her exhale coming out shorter as she presses her lips together to quell her widening smile.
She brushes her palm over her denim shorts. "You told me you want to fall in love with me. Yesterday."
As she lifts her gaze, Jake's lips have settled into a curios smile, the skin around his eyes faintly creased. "I did. Was that okay?"
Stella nods. "I liked it," Shifting in her seat, she lets her knees fall to the side and turns to fully look at Jake. "We live together—kind of."
"That's true."
"Is it just me or is everything moving at breakneck speed?"
Jake lets out chortled breath. "Time to slow down?"
Sharing the small laugh, Stella says, "I mean, it's not like one of us have to move out. Unless you'd want that," Jake shakes his head no, having her lips curl up. "But a little bit, yeah."
"Okay good, because I have no idea what I'm doing."
"You don't?"
Jake's lips part with a soft "No."
"Huh," Stella cups her palm underneath the popsicle to save her blouse from a spill. "I figured you'd held tons of declarations of love before."
"Declarations of love?"
Mouth half-caught in a smirk, Stella says. "Well, that's what it was."
Jake rolls his eyes. "I already regret it."
"No you don't."
"No," Jake picks up the pen lying atop the crossword they brought out with them, absentmindedly clicking it once. "I don't."
Stella drapes one of her legs over the arm of her chair, scooting closer to glance at the crossword.
She flickers her gaze to Jake. "For not knowing what you're doing, you're off to a good start."
"Yeah?"
She brushes her fingers over his arm. "Yeah."
Jake smiles once before letting his mouth fall into a purse of consideration, eyes zeroing in on the crossword. He taps the pen to a clue. "...Keg?"
Tearing into a sugar donut, Stella speaks through a mouthful. "What? Oh, maybe; that could work. Put it down."
Jake rips open his raspberry popsicle. "We could go for a walk later."
"Yeah okay. I'd like that."
━ ♡♡♡ ━
A few days later Stella lies in bed, staring up at nothing in the shadowed dark. She's not sure how long it's been since they said goodnight, but—tired of tossing and turning—she sits up with a deep sigh, kicking her comforter aside as she flickers her gaze to the ajar door.
"Jake?"
A "Yeah?" Comes from across the hall.
"Are you up?"
"No I'm talking in my sleep," He deadpans and Stella rolls her eyes, an upward tilt to her mouth. A beat passes before he asks, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Stella says, drawing a line in her sheet. "Just bored."
"Want to go for a swim?"
Stella's lips quirk up. "Now?"
"Yeah."
Climbing out of bed, Stella strips out of her pajamas and grabs one of her bikinis from where it's thrown over the edge of a pulled out drawer in the bureau.
"Just to be clear," She calls, pulling an oversized gray sweater over her head. "We're not skinny dipping."
The smell of nighttime hangs in the air as they step onto the dock a moment later. Cold and warm at once—a heady outdoorsy scent. Floral yet damp in its earthy state.
Dropping the towel Jake brought her to the ground, Stella lets her sweater fall into a heap next to it. "See you in there."
Her hair flutters gently against her skin as she runs along the narrow wooden planks, the dock creaking beneath her feet. Rolling onto her toes, she pushes off the edge and dives in. Her smile widens as she's momentarily enveloped by an ink black darkness, fingers sprawled before her as she kicks her way back up through the surface.
The water shifts as Jake dives in next to her, making a splash.
Tilting her head back, she pushes her hair out of her face and grins at Jake. With a few strokes, she makes her way over to him and reaches for his shoulder. "Hello."
"Hi."
"It's warmer than I thought it'd be."
"Yeah it–" A muffled chortle bubbles through the water as Stella—clinging to Jake—accidentally and successfully, shoves him beneath the surface. As he re-merges a small cough, the deep sound of his infectious laugh vibrates underneath her fingertips, drifting into the night air where it coils around the crowns of the trees.
"I'm sorry," She lets out through a few laughing hiccups. "I'm sorry; this looks so much easier in the movies."
Amusement dances over Jake's smile. "What does?"
Moving closer, now treading water on her own, Stella presses her lips to Jake's in a kiss. "This does."
"Oh that."
Cheeks round and warm from her smile, Stella lets out a satisfied breath. "This was a good idea."
"Yeah, I tend to have those."
A small laugh escapes Stella as she smoothes her thumb over Jake's cheek. "Who knew?"
He shakes his head, playfully pinching her in the side and she lets her mouth fall open in mock-disbelief, kicking back to float on her back rather forcefully—splashing water his way. Again, Jake's laugh bounces against their surroundings and Stella just cannot help but smile.
A short while later, Stella swims over to where Jake's sat leant back on his hands, legs dangling over the edge of the dock. Folding her arms over the wooden planks, she gazes up at him with a smile.
"You're staring."
"Sorry."
"Didn't say I don't like it."
Heaving herself up so that she's next to him, Stella's cheeks warm with her widening smile. Their shoulders brush as she tilts her head back—gazing up at the many white speckles dotted across the dark blue night sky.
"You don't see stars this way in the city."
"No," Jake shifts, moving his hand to allow her to lean back against his arm. "You don't."
Stella focuses on one glimmering star. "Do you see the stars in Acebridge?"
"Sometimes."
"We'll have to look for them, the next time we go," Out of the corner of her eye, she notices a faint quirk to Jake's lips. She turns her head to look at him, rolling her lips together with a smile as she realizes they're sat a mere breath apart. "What?"
"'We'."
"Oh," Stella brings her hand up to cover her shy smile, teeth grazing her lip as she bites down on it. "Yeah," Clearing her throat, she lets her gaze return to the expanse of the sky. "Remember that time we decided we were going to sleep outside and we brought all those pillows and blankets out onto the patio?"
"I thought you said you barely have any memories of this place?"
"I don't, not really, but I remember that. Do you?"
"Vaguely, yeah. Faye pointed out the constellations of the Milky Way; then she got mad at us for making up our own names for them."
Stella lets out a chortled breath. "I'd forgotten about that. Do you remember what they were?"
"No. Do you?"
"No," Stella lets her lips fall into a small pout before settling back into a neutral line, eyes tracing the lines of the sky. "Did you know Stella means star?"
"I didn't," Jake drops a kiss to her shoulder—simply, as if it's the most natural thing in the world; almost as if on an afterthought. "Makes a lot of sense though."
Cheeks blazing, Stella shakes her head with a small smile. Then, out of genuine curiosity she lets herself lean into Jake's side and asks, "What's the worst date you've even been on?"
A beat of silence passes between them.
"That bad?"
He laughs—a soft, short sound—, having a warm, fuzzy flutter wrap around her heart. "Just thinking."
"Because there's been so many?"
He shoots her an amused tired look, only having her smile widen. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"
"Go ahead."
"I'm not sure this qualifies for a date but I went out with this girl in college for a while—Kelsey. And one night we went to a bar with some friends, ended up playing pool or something like that–" Jake pauses, brows etching together as he thinks. "Anyways, naturally we won."
"Naturally."
"And well as we celebrated... I kind of scooped her up at the same time as she went in for one of those hugs. The 'let me just throw myself at you out of nowhere'-embraces you know?"
Stella presses her lips together to quell a laugh. "Oh no."
Jake pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and fingers, letting out a sigh. "Long story short I sort of—accidentally—threw her over my shoulder; and she crashed onto the floor. Just like that."
Stella's mouth falls open with a sound balancing somewhere on the edge of a chortle and a horrified gasp. "No."
Jake rubs at his chin. "Yeah. And to make matters worse Ethan—the idiot—absolutely lost it, nearly split his sides laughing while the rest of us tried to enlist a drunk pre-med student to figure out if Kelsey's nose was broken. It wasn't, by the way. We had to call her uncle, who's an actual surgeon, to ask."
"Oh God."
"You asked," Jake nudges her shoulder, mouth half-caught between embarrassment and something amused as Stella's lips twitch dangerously. "Thought that's funny, did you?"
"I'm sorry, sorry–" Stella presses her lips together on a wheezing, short laugh. "Ignore me."
"Not possible."
Rolling her eyes, Stella gently bumps their shoulders. "Hush."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
Jake shoots her a pointed look. "What's the worst date you've ever been on?"
Stella's lips crack into a wide smile. "Oh, there hasn't been any. I'm faultless,"
A hint of a smirk dances over Jake's features as he opens his mouth only to close it again.
Sucking her cheeks in, Stella raises her brows—clearly amused. "You were about to disagree."
"I– No... Maybe?"
"I'm pretty sure that's not what you're supposed to do after a mere few days of..."
Catching herself, Stella trails off and gazes out at the lake; the water moves ever so slightly with the breeze.
"Of?" Jake prompts.
"Nothing."
Jake leans back on his arms. "You were about to say dating."
"No I wasn't," Stella twists in her seat, her gaze catching his just as a faint gust of wind lifts her hair. "Are we?"
"Dating?" Jake slants his head. "I mean, maybe it's a bit unconventional considering we see each other–"
"Every minute of every day?"
"Yeah," Jake lets out a silent snort. Then, "But I'd like to think so."
"Okay."
"Unless that's not what you want?"
Stella smiles, wrapping her arms around herself as her skin prickles with goosebumps; the wind seems to be closing in on the house. "No that's what I want."
Reaching for her sweater, Jake hands it to her—his fingers brushing gently against hers—and says, "We should head back inside."
Quelling a small yawn, she slips into her sweater and nods. "We should."
Jake gets to his feet, extending her a helping hand. "Come on."
As they make their way across the lawn, Stella lets her gaze roam over the constellations adorning the sky again. If her sister had been here she'd been able to tell her about them, but Stella's never really learnt. Not that it matters much right now; she's happy just watching them.
"What are you smiling about?"
Spinning around on her heels, Stella squints at Jake with a smile as she lets her palms come to rest over his forearms; his skin is warm underneath her touch, despite the long while they've spent outside.
"I'm just happy."
"It's a good look on you," He smooths his thumb gently over her cheek. "And I am too."
"So you're not regretting coming all the way over here with your boombox—declaring your undying love for me?"
Jake rolls his eyes at the exaggeration. "Never."
"You're only saying that because you haven't dealt with my snoring yet."
"You snore?"
"Only a little bit," Stella continues the trek up to the house, letting her fingers slip through Jake's to hold his hand. "So... barely, I guess."
━ ♡♡♡ ━
Once she's back upstairs, back in the guest bedroom—her bikini discarded on the floor, exchanged for a pair of pajama shorts and a slightly distressed t-shirt—Stella pauses by the foot of her bed.
She glances over her shoulder at her door and then, on soft footsteps, she crosses the hall in a swift sprint. Lifting her fist, she knocks gently on Jake's ajar door and peers through the crack.
Faint surprise flickers over his features at the sight of her, his smile matching hers.
Stella's teeth graze her lip as she only barely bites down on it. "Hey."
"Hi."
"I know this is ridiculous, because we've spent this entire week together and I should probably be happy to have some time alone but can I slee–"
Jake lifts his comforter for her, cocking his head to the side. "Get over here."
On quick feet, she crosses the room and slides under the covers—rolling her lips together to quell her ever growing smile, as well as the jittery flutter in her chest. Somehow though, there's barely any room for trepidation in the whirlwind of her mind; she's known for a long time she trusts Jake. She wants to be here, next to him.
And even more so, she wants to trust herself to act on her instincts—to allow herself vulnerability, not to let her shield come down exactly, but to learn how to use it right.
"You're not allowed to hug me."
"Noted."
"You are—however—allowed to kick me out: If I snore."
The mattress shifts underneath them as Jake sinks further into his pillows. "I think I'll survive."
Stella tucks her palms under her cheek, a small yawn escaping her lips. "Just saying," Catching his gaze, she smiles again before letting her eyes fall shut. "G'night."
Jake twirls a strand of her hair around his finger, gently tucking it behind her ear. "Night Stells."
. . .
hi hello!
I really don't have anything to say but I just wanted to say hi and that I hope you're all doing well <3 oh and to say thank you!!, again (sorry, it gets repetitive)
much love, always,
linn