I feel good. I feel happy. I feel... warm.
Instead of feeling my head on a soft pillow, I woke up with my head on something hard, yet comfortable.
I opened my eyes to see I wasn't in my room.
I was in Jack's.
Looking up I saw that my head was lying on Jack's bare chest along with my hand, and with his arm around my waist.
I smiled at the position. I reached up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, hoping to wake him. But did he? No.
I shuffled about so I could reach up further and I started kissing his lips. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and groaned because of the light.
But then he realised what I was doing, smiled against my lips and started kissing me back.
When we pulled away for air he rested his forehead on mine.
"That's a nice way to wake up" he said smiling boyishly.
I hummed in response.
"Seriously, we're sleeping in the same bed every night now" he said leaning back down for a kiss. I giggled.
"I love you" he whispered.
"I love you too" I whispered back.
We lay there snuggled up with each other for God knows how long, before Jack spoke again.
"I'm taking you home"
"What? Why?" I asked disappointed.
"You need to get ready" he said with a smirk.
"What for?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm taking you out on a date" he said with the biggest grin I've ever seen.
"Oh okay" I grinned. I went to get out of his bed but he pulled me back to his chest. "I thought you said I need to get ready?"
"Yeah just ten more minutes" he hugged me close to his chest and shut his eyes.
But I didn't protest.
"No, no, no, no, no!" I said firmly as were sat in the car.
"But why not? I love you" he whined.
"And I love you too, but if you're taking me on our first official date, you will have to sit downstairs with my father"
"But I've met your father before, I've know him for fifteen years!" he protested and turning to look at me.
"Eyes on the road!" I screeched. Oh did I mention he's the one driving? This is only the second time I've been in a car with him while he's driving, other than the time when I was drunk as a skunk and I feel asleep so I wasn't really concerned.
"I've passed my test, you don't need to worry" He rolled his eyes.
"Okay, just keep your eyes on the road please. At least until you've been driving for a few months or something"
"Fine. Do I still have to sit downstairs? I'd rather come watch you get changed" he smirked.
"Yep" I said popping the 'p'.
He huffed. "Fine" he elongated the length of the word.
A few minutes later we arrived at my house. I used my key and opened the door.
"Honey, is that you?" My Mother called.
"Yeah Mom, its me"
"Where were you last night?" I heard her footsteps making their way towards us.
"I was at Jack's" I said, just as she walked through the door.
"Oh" she said then she glimpsed at Jack. "Are you two okay then now?" she was obviously referring to our fight.
I looked up and smiled at him only to see him smiling at me too.
"Yeah, we're good" His arm was wrapped around my waist and he lent down and kissed the top of my head.
"Awww" My Mom cooed. "At last! George get out here!" she yelled excitedly.
"What do you want?" He groaned as he walked through the door. "Oh Jess, you're home" he glanced at Jack, and then at his arm around my waist and smirked. "Jack, its been a while"
Jack smiled. "Yes Mr Cooper it has. How are you both now? I assume you're both okay after the accident?" he asked politely.
"Yes thank you Jack, and please how many times have I told you over the years? Call me George"
"Okay" he nodded. Mom smiled happily.
"So what are you both up to?" she asked.
"Umm, well with your permission, I'd like to take Jess out on a date" Jack replied before I could.
"Hmm, a date you say?" My Dad asked and Jack gulped nervously before nodding. "Okay well, Jack, come with me and we'll have a little... chat"
He shot me a nervous glance, but I just giggled and gave a gentle push in my Dad's direction.
They walked into the living room and Dad shut the door behind them. I turned to look at Mom and we both shared a look before squealing happily.
"Oh darling I'm so happy for you"
"Thanks Mom" I said as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.
"So where is he taking you?" she asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know"
"Oh well we better start getting you ready. Discuss all the possible outfit options for the date"
"Okay" I laughed before she hurriedly dragged me up the stairs.
I picked a pair of black jeans with rips on the knees, a baby blue satin camisole and my white converse.
Mom straightened my hair and I added a light coat of make up.
"Aww you look beautiful" she cooed.
"Thanks Mom" I blushed.
I grabbed my phone and purse and put them in my bag.
Mom rushed down the stairs before me, alerting Jack and Dad that I was ready and I descended the stairs.
Although when I reached the bottom, I found Mom peering through the door. Why hadn't she gone in?
I tapped her on the shoulder, opening my mouth to ask her why, when she put a finger to her lip, shushing me. She stepped aside slightly and pointed through the door; and the sight that I saw warmed my heart.
Dad and Jack were sat on the sofa talking animatedly about the football match they were watching. They looked so natural together, almost like father and son. I was glad that Dad approved.
I tiptoed in and snuck up behind Jack before planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey" he said happily.
"Hey"
Dad stood up and Jack did also. "Okay I want her back before twelve. If you're going to be any later, text your Mother or I"
I nodded. "Okay Dad, love you" I gave him a hug and pecked him on the cheek before Jack shook his hand.
"Thank you George. Thank you Mrs Cooper" he gave my Mo her hug before kissing her hand. I rolled my eyes at his silliness.
"Please call me Eleanor" Jack nodded and I gave Mom a hug as well. "Okay you two, have fun. Oh and use protection" she winked.
"Mom!" I groaned and Jack started guffawing loudly.
I exited the house quickly, dragging Jack behind me.
We got into his car and I face palmed. "Parents" I groaned.
Jack laughed again and the drove off.
"So where are we going?" I asked.
"That I'm afraid, is a surprise" he winked.
"But why? I want to know now" I whined.
He chuckled. "Just be patient"
"Patience is a virtue I do not have" I mumbled.
"Funny, Beth said the exact same thing the other day"
"So what were you and my Dad talking about?" I asked.
"You and me mainly. But when we were done you're Dad put on a football match and I suppose you could say we... bonded over it" he grinned boyishly.
"Oh" I said happily, inwardly squealing that Dad likes him so much.
Suddenly he grabbed hold of my hand gently and held it for the rest of the journey.
When we arrived at our destination, I recognised it instantly.
"Really Jack?" I let out a laugh.
"Yeah, for old times sake" He laughed and dashed out of the car, running round to my side to open the door for me.
"Aww thank you. Who said chivalry was dead?" I chuckled.
'Dawson's Paintball Arena'
We stood in the small queue and waited to get our equipment.
We went through all the same safety procedures and got prepared for the all too familiar 'War Zone'.
It seems strange to be back here doing this with Jack again. The last time was because of Tom, and weirdly enough, this time was sort of because of him as well.
I mean, if you think about it, Jack and I probably wouldn't be together. I might have not realised my feelings for Jack if it weren't for Tom cheating on me.
So in a weird sort of way, we have Tom to thank for us being here today.
Unfortunately Jack and I were on separate teams this time, which he was pouting severely over at the moment.
"But I want to be on your team" he winged.
"I know and I do too, but it doesn't matter"
"It does. I want to be on your team so I can protect you"
I giggled. "Listen I can take care of myself, and you never know, Todd might be here again. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to look after me"
I smirked as he growled possessively. "Don't bring up that asshole"
"Why not? He's your cousin"
"Because the last time we were here he wouldn't stop hitting on you, and your mine now"
Then a siren sounded, alerting us we needed to start going over to our teams.
"Go on, go. I'll be fine, I'm sure I'll make some new friends"
He sighed. "Okay, but if any guy so much as looks at you in any way, tell me and I'll go kick their ass"
I nodded. Suddenly he leant down and kissed me passionately. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his arms gripped my waist tightly.
"What was that for?" I giggled as he rested his forehead against mine.
"To show people they need to keep their hands off you"
I laughed and the second siren went off.
"Okay we really need to go now" he nodded.
"Okay, I love you" he said before walking away.
"Jack" he turned round. "I love you too"
I blew him a kiss and he pretended to catch it.
I ran into the room quickly and a girl giggled at me.
"You two are cute" she smiled.
"Thank you"
"I'm Chloe by the way" she held out her hand.
"Jess" she nodded as we both shook hands.
As the instructor went over the safety instructions, we all listened.
Afterwards I found out that Chloe was here with her boyfriend and his friends.
When I met them they kept bragging about how they were really tough and manly.
But when the siren went off for the third time, it was a different story.
Everyone ran in and found hiding spots, but as soon as the first few gun shots were heard, they bolted.
I laughed as Chloe muttered "whimps" quietly to herself.
I told her to follow me and she did so willingly.
We ran round a little bit and I shot a couple of people. Chloe seemed a bit nervous when it came to the whole shooting thing so I had to give her a bit of guidance; yelling the occasional "shoot" or "fire".
I mean really it only scared her so she just pulled the trigger by accident but she got in a couple of good shots on people.
When we came to a dead end in part of the arena, we had no other choice but to get on top of the blocks like Jack and I had done. We decided walking back along could prove dangerous because someone could have followed us down there.
I helped Chloe onto the top and then she pulled me up as well.
We crawled on our hands and knees for a bit, so we didn't get seen.
Chloe saw her boyfriend and tried to shout for him, but I clasped my hand over her mouth so she couldn't.
"We wouldn't want our cover to be blown would we?"
When realisation hit her, she 'ahhhhed' and nodded her understanding.
Unfortunately, a short while later, the closest cube to jump to, wasn't close enough, so we were forced to jump down and take cover on the ground.
Due to the fact that most of the arena floor was cover in twigs or bark, whenever you took a step something generally snapped or crunched.
But as neither Chloe or I were walking, my senses went on high alert. I spun round and started to fire my gun.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"Ow!" I recognised that cry of pain.
I looked at the curled up figure on the floor, covered in 4 multicoloured, circles.
"Jack?" I tried not to laugh but it came out as a stutter.
"Shit Jess! That hurt" he groaned.
"Sorry but you're on the other team" I said sweetly.
"Yeah, that's right" he stood up, almost stumbling. "So, umm guys..." He smirked and looked around the corner.
Realisation hit me, he was getting his new friends to come and attack us.
"Chloe run!!" I yelled as I spun around and charged off around the corner.
She followed shortly after and we charged off. I quickly glanced round and saw that they weren't behind us; but they weren't far behind. That much was obvious from the shouts and threats from them.
We hid on two opposite corners and I told her to shoot on the count of 3.
We heard the pounding of their feet.
"One" I mouthed.
They got closer.
"Two"
They were just a few meters away.
"Three!" I shouted.
We turned the corner so we were facing the oncoming attackers and fired a whole lot of paint.
They looked stunned whey they saw us, and by the time they'd prepared themselves to shoot, they were already out of the game.
We laughed in their faces and high fived each other.
"But you're girls!" One cried.
"Don't be so damn sexist" Chloe yelled.
"How the hell you shoot me though? These I can understand, they're pathetic, but me... I'm a rugby player" another shouted.
"Hey! Who are you calling pathetic?" Another growled.
So we ran off as they continued in their argument, laughing too ourselves.
I looked up and saw the tower where they hid the flag not too far away.
"Look, the flags in there" I pointed it out to Chloe and she nodded.
"Okay, let's go kick ass" she grinned.
I beamed back at her nodded in agreement.
We started to run through the arena and up to the tower.
Chloe seemed to possess a newfound confidence since the shoot down of Jack's comrades.
She was now shooting more people than I was. I had to stifle a laugh when she shot the guy even after he was dead and he'd let out a disgruntled groan.
We reached the tower and tiptoed inside and up the stairs.
It seemed dark and smelled faintly of damp, rotting wood.
When we got to the top I put my finger on my lip to signal to Chloe to be quiet.
The floorboards that the guard was stood on had unusually large gaps in between each plank of wood.
I put the tip of my gun in between the largest slat. I aimed and then fired and it hit him straight in the leg, then another on the back.
"Ahh" he screamed out in pain and shock.
I opened the hatch with a smirk on my face.
"Take that, sucker!" I laughed and grabbed the flag, throwing it to Chloe. I slammed my hand down on the buzzer indicating we'd won and then we ran down the stairs singing our victory.
When we reached the bottom there was already a huge crowd waiting to praise us.
Chloe's boyfriend and his friends came and congratulated us, trying to worm their way into our victory, insisting that because they knew us, they were partly responsible. Of course we just laughed in their faces. Chloe's boyfriend lifted her onto his shoulders and then one of his friends did the same to me.
The two of us laughed at each other and cheered along with the rest of our team.
Once they'd put us down, I hugged Chloe goodbye, as it was time for us to part ways. It's a shame really, she was lovely.
I was just about to walk off and look for Jack when a hand grabbed me. I was about to scream for help when a hand was clasped over my mouth.
Great! I thought. One of those pathetic ass guys from earlier were still pouting about how I shot them and now they want revenge. Great, just great!
They dragged me into one of the huts and kicked the door shut behind us.
If today's the day I die, at least I knew Jack loved me.
When the hand was removed from my mouth and the arm from my waist, I sighed a sigh of relief.
"Listen mister, if you do anything to me my Jack is gonna kick your a-" but I was cut off by a pair of lips on mine.
Great, now I'm gonna be kissed to death. On my tombstone the inscription will be:
Kissed to death in a paintball arena
How charming!
Well that was my first thought, but then I recognised the similar smell of the guy I loved.
So I kissed him back. All thoughts about my untimely death gone to the wind.
"So where's this Jack, guy that's supposed to be kicking my ass?" He smirked when we pulled away.
"I don't know, but he said if any guy so much as looked at me, he'd kick their ass. And you sir, did a lot more than look" I said sweetly.
"Well lead me to him and I'll take my punishment, after all... I wouldn't want to get in your guys bad books; he sounds pretty badass"
"Well he likes to believe he is, but between you and me, I'm not convinced" I smirked.
"Oh really?" He said challengingly.
"Uh huh" I nodded.
"Well let's see if I can put this guy to shame"
"Okay" and with that he scooped me up bridal style and kissed me passionately. "Definitely puts him to shame"
"Well that's good"
After a bit more kissing, he carried me out. Once we'd gotten changed, we walked straight to his car and he drove off.
"Where are we going now?" I asked curiosity getting the better of me.
"Surprise" he simply said with a smirk.
"Of course it is" I groaned. He let out a boyish laugh as I folded my arms and looked out the window. Admittedly the view- a motorway- wasn't as attractive as the gorgeous male specimen next to me, but he was being stubborn and annoying so...
About 15 minutes later I felt the car stop and heard a window start to slide open.
"Uumm can I get a Big Mac meal and a three chicken selects meal please, both large and with coke" Jack said.
I shot my head round so I was facing him. Up until now I hadn't been paying attention so my surroundings had all been a bit of a blur, but now the world had my full attention all because of the sacred haven called... McDonald's.
"McDonald's, really?" I asked, I mean I'm not complaining, just curious.
"Yeah, I know we had such a great time last time we went out, just the two of us, so I thought, why not recreate it but with a bit of a twist?" He said with a grin.
I nodded my head in approval. "Fair enough, and how do you know what I would've ordered?"
He gave me an, 'are you stupid?' look, and said "Jess, I've know you for fifteen years, I think I would know what you would order from McDonald's by now"
"I suppose"
We drove to the next window of the drive through and collected the food and then payed.
Jack placed the bags on my lap and I opened Jack's one and started to munch on his fries. If he has a problem, tough shit! He's known me for 15 years- as he so happily pointed out earlier- he should know that I would pinch his fries.
After a few minutes he stopped the car in a car park and hopped out. By the time I'd got my seat belt off and munched on a few more fries, he had opened my door, grabbed the bags and offered me his hand to pull me out.
After I shut the door and he'd locked up, he took my hand in his free one and started swinging it gently between us.
I sighed contented and smiled to myself.
Jack led us to a nice spot by a tree and we sat down and started to eat our food.
"Jess?" He asked.
"Yeah?"
"Where are all my fries?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
I pulled my most innocent face and shrugged. "I don't know Jack, maybe it was the fry fairy"
"The fry fairy?"
"Yeah y'know like the tooth fairy? Except this fairy looks after all the fries of the world" Yep, that sounded logical... ish.
"Right" he said dragging out the word.
After that conversation continued to flow smoothly and I realised the more time I spend with Jack, the more I fall in love with him.
After we'd eaten we went for a little walk around the park and he started trying to make me laugh by saying cheesy pick up lines.
"Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only, ten, I see"
"Do you have a name? Or can I call you mine?"
"You're hand looks heavy, let me hold it for you"
"Okay do you want me to go jump in the lake? Or are you gonna stop?" I asked laughing. He burst out laughing with me and thankfully stopped with the pick up lines.
A little while later we decided to head back to mine to watch a film.
One the drive back he picked up my hand again and held it the entire way.
After watching the final Harry Potter movie, a film Jack hadn't yet seen, he turned to face me.
"Can I take you out for dinner tonight?" He asked me with a really cute, nervous smile.
I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips before nodding. "I would love to"
Shortly after that, he left, saying he would pick me up in just over an hour.
An hour and 14 different outfits later, I was ready. I decided to pick a nice casual outfit for dinner. I had on a pair of hip hugging, high waisted dark denim jeans, a black strappy crop top and my baby pink kimono with pastel coloured flowers and butterflies edged in black.
When Jack arrived, I answered the door and he was holding a single red rose.
"A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl" he blushed.
"Aaww thank you" I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then we went to his car.
He took me to a semi formal Italian restaurant where all the waiters had a thick, authentic Italian accent.
The food was gorgeous. I had spaghetti bolognese and Jack had a lasagne.
Jack tried several times to impersonate many of the waiters.
The first was a little, chubby woman with dark brown hair and olive skin. She started shouting at a man, who we assumed was her husband and Jack tried to copy.
The next time, the man who was at first being shouted at, was now shouting at a younger man who was probably in his early 20s. From the bits and pieces we heard of the conversation, it sounded like he was the older man's son and he's messed up an order or something.
Jack tried to impersonate the older guy, when he said 'Mamma Mia!'.
It was absolutely hilarious.
When the night came to an end, Jack was a perfect gentleman. He opened my door for me once again, walked me up to my front door and then gave me a toe curling kiss.
We both said goodnight and then grinned at each other as the daylight was almost gone.
I watched him walk back to his car and we both waved as he drove off.
Once I'd entered my house and locked it all up again, I ran upstairs and screamed happily into my pillow.
Today was a great day!
Just as I had gotten into my pyjamas and was about to get into my bed, I heard my phone buzz.
Jack: I'm taking you somewhere in a couple of days xxxx p.s I had a great time today!
Me: What? Where? What about my parents? Xxxx p.s so did I!
Jack: Already sorted baby ;) xxxx
I sucked in a breath when I read that. Every time he calls me baby, it gets my heart beating a mile a minute.
Me: Okay xxxx
Jack: Night baby xxxx
Me: Night Jack xxxx
********************************
A/N Hiya Guys, you enjoy the chapter?
What do you think of their first official date?
I'm quite annoyed really, I'd wrote it all out and then BAM!!! All of a sudden my laptop decided to hate me and didn't save it!
But I've rewrote it and it actually turned out better, so I'm not as annoyed haha!
What did you think of the new character Chloe? She won't be appearing again, but from the small glimpse you saw of her, what dya think?
Also where do you think Jack will take Jess?
Anyway I hope you enjoyed!
Don't forget to vote and comment!
Love to you all ❤️❤️❤️
B- Xx