Sapphire’s P.O.V
His words rang in my ears like a tornado siren, loud and clear, but unexpected. My lungs were gradually losing oxygen as I forgot how to breathe. Joshua had truly left me speechless as my brain continued to try and rack around what he just admitted.
“Sapphire, you okay?” Joshua inquired as he waved his hand in front of my face.
Snapping out of my thoughts I gave him a slight nod. “Yeah, me, I’m fine ... peachy in fact ... so ... Ummm...”
“Peachy? A guy tells you he is falling for you and you are doing peachy?” Joshua jokes with a wide smile that made me want to melt. “Hey, listen, Sapphire, I am not sorry about tell you that I’m falling for you but ... I am sorry for springing it up on you right here and now. I would have picked somewhere more romantic to tell you ... but my big mouth just let it slip out.”
I chuckled, “Its fine Joshua. I’m just glad that someone in my life can be honest.”
“What do you mean?”
Biting my bottom lip I realized that I had told Joshua that I broke up with Blake, but I didn’t tell him the circumstances of the break up. Knowing that it wasn’t the right time or place, I shook head. “Oh, nothing...” With those two words Joshua and I locked eyes.
Shaking his head at me, Joshua indicated he knew I was lying but for some reason he didn’t press for a truthful answer. “Anyways,” Joshua said before taking a long sip of his coke.
I looked down to see that my Sprite was in front me. Squeezing the lemon in the clear, fizzy drink, I waited from Joshua to speak some more.
“I wanted to talk to you about two things,” he finally spoke after setting his drink back down on the plastic wooden patterned table.
“None of which involve you telling me that you don’t want to be around me anymore, I am guessing.”
An appalled look fell on Joshua’s face. “What? ... Oh, Sapphire, don’t tell me that that was what you were thinking about back in the car.”
A guilty look found me as I realized he had caught me. “Okay, that was not what I was thinking,” I teased slightly hoping to lighten the subject at hand.
Giving off a small but deep chuckle, Joshua shook his moppy brown haired head. “I don’t want to stop hanging out with you ... especially since I know you like me back.”
“Hey! I never said I liked you too!”
“But you were thinking it. I could tell because your face is an open book.” Joshua replied right when the food landed on our table.
Thanking Kyle once more, we began to dig into our yummy food.
As if he had stayed silent long enough, Noah removed his pacifier and started to ramble ninety to nothing in childish gibberish.
Both Joshua and I broke out in laughter at Noah.
“You sure have a lot to say Buddy,” Joshua stated as he stared at his son.
Noah gave off a giggle as if he knew what his father had said. Suddenly his big blue eyes found mine and he smiled at me before talking in his own made up language.
Once we were about midway through our meal, Noah was playing with a rattler and Joshua was cracking jokes that had me all but rolling on the floor laughing with my sore sides.
“Anywhoo,” he spoke after a particularly good joke. “I wanted to talk to you about two things...”
Setting my fork on the side of my plate I looked up at him to continue. “What is it?”
“Well, for one, this Friday, my mother wants to take you shopping.”
“Alright...”
“So, I was thinking for Friday you can go shopping with my mom after school. Then we can meet your friends for the group date and then finally ... if we wanted ... you can go trick or treating with Noah and me.”
“You are going trick or treating with Noah? He is only six months old.”
“Well, it is first Halloween and I want I’m to enjoy it ... plus he can’t eat candy, so that means we collect candy and eat it on his behalf.”
I chuckled, “oh, the benefit of being a parent,” I joked. “But, yeah, tell your mom I will go shopping with her. Give her my number.”
“Already did,” Joshua admitted. “And Sapphire, I want you to know ... before we start dating ... that Noah ... he is my son and he will come first. Not saying that you won’t matter and all... butt.”
Cutting Joshua off I gave a small laugh, “I would want nothing less. He is your son, flesh and blood come first. Trust me if I had to choose between you and Linx I would choose... okay maybe my brother is not a good example due to the fact I would personally toss him off a bridge.”
A snicker escaped Joshua’s lips, “But Sapphire, Noah is important to me ... but so are you...”
“Ditto.”
****
Joshua’s P.O.V
After dropping Sapphire off at her house and making sure she got inside, I started the drive home. A goofy grin refused to leave my face as I turned down familiar roads and listened to Noah yell out random things that he only knew the meaning too. It wasn’t until I pulled down my cove that I fully realized that Sapphire and I were dating. Upon pulling into my driveway, I found myself furrowing my eyebrows. An unknown car was parked in my driveway, blocking me from pulling my car in the garage.
Turning off the car, I watched the driver’s door of the car in front of me open. A lean guy got out with ruffled brown hair and dejected eyes. His whole demeanor screamed depression.
Sighing I got out of my car. The man, who I knew to be Blake, watched me intently as I got out and went to the back car door. Opening it and unbuckling Noah, I sighed in relief that he had fallen asleep. I was not in the mood to deal with his crying and Blake.
Closing the door, I tried not to focus on Blake’s shocked face as I walked past him and towards my side door. Setting the car seat down on the door mat, I grabbed my house key and unlocked the door. Reaching down I picked Noah’s car seat back up and took a step into my house. Before I got more than a step away from the door, I looked over my shoulder at Blake who was just standing in my driveway like a black sheep.
Shaking my head I sighed. “Are you going to come in, or stand out there all day?” I half shouted as I tried not to wake up Noah. Looking down I saw it worked because all he did was stir a little. In my peripheral vision I saw Blake make his way to the door. Walking in my house some more, I entered the kitchen. Placing Noah on the black marble counter I walked over to the sink and washed my hands.
When I was done I turned around to find Blake seating in a bar stool by the kitchen counter. His green eyes were flickering between Noah and me in confusion.
“He is my son,” I answered his unspoken question.
He gave me a silent nod and looked solely at me. Blake was trying his hardest not to have emotion present on his face, but I could see flashes of hurt and anger across his face before he quickly composed himself.
“Why are you here Blake?” I asked him as I leaned against the counter parallel to him.
Blake looked next to him on the counter. His eyes studied the red and black car seat. “Does she like your son?” He abruptly inquired.
Taken back by his question, I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back on the counter some more. “I suppose she does .... Why?” I questioned as I pondered on what he was getting at.
“Oh, just wondering ... you know, she was always good with kids. I remember last year when my aunt and uncle came into town with their six children. I wanted nothing more than to escape the house. I called Sapphire over and instead of her rescuing me for the rambunctious kids; I found her playing tag with them. She wouldn’t leave even when I begged her to come with me... she was having too much fun with them.” Blake’s eyes glossed over in heartbreak. I almost felt sad for him, but I wasn’t sure how to express my pity for him. After all he was the ex of the girl I am falling hard for. “What does it feel like?”
“What does what feel like?” I asked Blake in confusion.
“What does it feel like to be in love?”
Uncrossing my arms I scratched the back of my neck “Why are you asking me this?”
“Because, you are older than me. You have had a child ... and I can tell you have been in love.”
“How does one who doesn’t know what love feels like ... know I’ve been in love?”
Blake shrugged his broad shoulders. “I just can tell.”
I gave a louder than normal sigh as I started to piece together in my mind how to describe love. “I am not sure how to tell you what it feels like to be in love. That is like asking how pain feels, it hurts, but it is hard to tell you exactly how it hurts without getting into medical terms.... but love ... well ... for one, it is deadly. It is a feeling that keeps you up in the wee hours of the night, and love is a feeling that makes you rise with the sun. To be in love, is like something has a hold of you and you are engrossed in that person. When you are with the person, you life is complete and when you are away from the one you love, your life is empty, incomplete. To love someone, is to push your needs and wants back, to focus on them and what they need ... Love is powerful and it consumes every fiber of your being...” I looked on the ground trying to think of more ways to describe love.
“Are you in love with Sapphire?”
“I think ... I think so...” i muttered.
Hopping of the bar stool, Blake approached me. When he was a few feet in front of me, he stopped. His eyes slowly narrowed. “Good, because if you love her you will stay away from her.”
Giving him a short chuckle I shook my head. “No can do kiddo.”
“I thought if you love someone you put them first.”
“Yes, you do,” I stated trying to find out where he was headed with this.
“Okay, then why are you dragging Sapphire into your screwed up world? You are twenty-four, with a son, and a crack head ex ... Lily, right?”
I tried not to act shocked that he knew her name as I tried to figure out what game he is playing. Suddenly my door bell rang and I looked at the doorway that leads to the front door.
“Might want to get that Joshua, who knows who it could be,” Blake said.
Looking at him I noted that all the sadness and depression had flooded his features. In fact he was starting to look a little smug. With quickness in my step I went to the front door. I took in a deep breath as I opened the door ... my mouth laid ajar at who was standing before me.
Lily.
“Hi, Joshua, missed me?” She asked as a sweet coated smile crept on her pale face.
***
Keep up the amounts of comments you guys are giving me and you might get a chapter everyday (O.O)