I placed the napkin I used beside my plate and reached for the glass to have some water.
The waiter approached our table with the bill and handed it to Jasper. While we were having our meal, Jasper told me to not think of paying for the meal since it was a date.
Jasper placed some notes in the bill book and handed the book to the waiter. It was nice to see someone finally paying with cash. I went on dates and everything was paid by a credit card. We got up from our table and made our way to the exit. We thanked our waiter and also the man at the front.
We walked out and walked back the same path walked. The sky was clear with few clouds floating around and the sun could be seen but it wasn't any warmer.
"So Jasper, where are we going next?" I ask.
"I'm not going to tell you where we are going next." He looks at me with a smile, we not a smile exactly.
"Of course." I sigh. "At least tell me about this place." I look at him.
"Well, this place comes alive only in December, basically just for Christmas. It's where there's a lot of music and so much more." He closes his eyes and describes a little.
"Is that all you're going to tell me?" He chuckled as we crossed the road. "Yup that's all I'm going to tell." I sigh and we walked to the car. He made me sit, closed my door and then came to the other side to sit on his seat.
"You're description doesn't really tell me much of the place." I put on my seatbelt.
"What's there to look forward to if I told you where we are going?" He asks me as he switched the engine on. "Besides it's not something that many wouldn't know. A lot of people know about this place during Christmas." He continues to say.
Clearly, I'm not one of them.
"You'll like the place, a lot." He assures. I lean back on the seat and watched the road ahead.
After beating the little traffic that was there we reached a new place. I could see nothing very specific except some trees with no leaves. Jasper parked the car and told me that we were here. I got off the car and he came over to my side.
We walked down the sidewalk and came to an entrance which after constantly staring at, I realised that it was the famous park in Philadelphia.
"You brought me here to the Love park," I say as we walked into the park.
"Glad you know the place but the park changes a lot for Christmas. There's a mini market here and you'll find plenty of fun things to do." He tells me.
"You sure are not like the other guys." I chuckle and say. "And I like that about you," I tell him.
"Thank you, I'll try to be same I guess." He blushes and we walk into a lane that has many little stalls on either side of it.
As Jasper described they were beautiful. There were speakers at different intervals that played some soft Christmas music and each stall was different.
We stopped in front of one of the stalls and I found a snow globe that I felt looked like something Emma would like. She had a small thing for collecting snow globes. I bought them for her.
We stopped in front of many more stalls. Jasper bought me some hand knitted beanie and I bought him the same so that we had the same thing. It was hard to convince him into letting me buy it for him.
We picked up little items which did not cost too much. We walked further in and there was a photo booth. We looked at each other and it was a mutual decision to get some pictures taken.
"I really haven't taken any pictures from a photo booth," I tell him as I stepped into the booth. "I don't have much experience either. I've just come here with the twins." He tells me as he sat beside me. "There's s first for everything." I looked at him, he was already looking at me and there was a flash of the camera.
Realising that the camera was on its job, I smiled, so did he and that's how our second picture was clicked.
I laughed and I wasn't sure of the face he had on but that was our third picture.
The next one we decided to a funny face. I stuck my tongue out and he did something with his eyes and had his tongue out as well.
The next one he pulled me into a side hug, I could help but blush and lean my head in the crook of his neck. Once that picture was taken, I pull away a little and kiss him on the cheek.
He looked at me and then without warning me he cupped my face and kissed me on the lips.
Oh, Lord! I could kiss this guy all day. His lips were soft and his kiss was passionate. When he pulled away, I was left wanting more but it's not to have too much of it so soon as well.
We stepped out of the booth, Jasper paid the man and got two copies of our pictures. He handed me one of them and I placed it in the pockets of my hoodie.
As we walked in a new direction, I felt his hand take mine and for the rest of our walk, I let him have my hand. It felt good, it felt different.
It felt safe.
----
"So, did you enjoy the market?" He asks me as we walked back to the car. The sun had almost set and the lights on the streets were on along with more lights since it is the holiday season.
"I did." I sip some hot chocolate from the mason jar I was holding. "You're enjoying the drink as well." I look at him.
"I am but it doesn't have anything magical in it. It's one of the best I've had." I tell him.
"Really? So where have you had the other best hot chocolate from?" He asks me. I smile to myself and take another sip. "Central Park, the evening you convinced me to believe that the hot chocolate I had was extremely special." He chuckled.
He opened the trunk of the car and waited beside him as he put all of the things we bought in there. I told him that I would seat myself in the car. I got in and closed the door. While I put on my seatbelt, Jasper got in and took his seat.
He started driving and as I continued to drink my hot chocolate, I saw the lights that hung above across the streets. The street we were currently on had many stars as lights, reminded me of the glow in the dark stars and the lights I had in my room back in California.
"It's so beautiful," I comment on the beauty in front of my eyes. "It is. One of the reasons why it's always good to be home for the holidays." I heard Jasper say.
I place the mason jar in one of the cup holders and then looked at him.
"The sun has set and the lights have come on, where are going now too?" A smile appeared again on his face. "A place you might have gone to. I can't be sure if you have but in case you haven't, then all you have to do it trust me." He looks at me.
Where was he taking me to?
I didn't want to ask him more about it. I wait patiently as he drove down the street. I look out from the window and looked at the way everything was decorated.
Jasper soon pulled into a parking lot. He parked the car in an available spot and turned to me. Wondering why he parked in a parking lot which was a bit dark, I turned to him.
"Why are we here?" I ask him.
"This is it!" He exclaims as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
"What do you mean by this is it? There is hardly any soul over here." I show him with my hand. "And it's dark." I point out.
"Holly, there's light there." He points at the two poles that gave some light. "That's not enough." I cross my arm.
"Are you afraid of the dark?" He asked me, I nod my head. "So I'm not stepping out of the car." I sounded like a child but that's what darkness did to me.
"Holly?" I refuse to look at him. "Holly, look at me." His voice was something you could never deny, I look at him. "What did I tell you when we were driving to this place?" I kept quiet, of course, I remember what he told me.
"Do you trust me?" He asked me, I slowly nod. "I promise nothing will happen when you step out." I nod again.
How could I be afraid of darkness when I could climb out of my room for a party? Maybe because I wanted to go against my parents. I kept aside my fear to go against them.
Jasper got out of the car and came to the side I was on. He opened my door and looked at me, patiently waiting for me to get off the car. "It's dark because of the trees, the sun just set Holly." I let out a sigh and got out of the car.
He offered me his hand, I placed my hand on his and his hold was firm. We walked between cars and then I was welcomed with some bright lights. My eyes took time to adjust to the brightness but when it did, my jaws dropped.
"Ice skating!" I exclaim with a smile on my face. "Thank God." I turn to Jasper who let out a sigh of relief. "I was wondering if you'd like this place." He tells me.
"I love this place." I jump a little, he laughs a little at my excitement and we walked towards it and got into the room that had the skates.
Jasper paid the man who was standing by the entrance and then we walked into the room that had ice skates arranged according to size. I searched for where I could find skates that would fit my feet. I got them and took a seat on the bench and put them on. I tied the laces tight and I was ready.
Jasper and I stepped out of the door that would lead us to the rink. When I set my foot on it, memories of my time at the ice rink came to my mind.
As I skate, I remembered that the last time I ice skated was about two and a half years back. Awfully long time ago.
It felt great to skate again. I smile and I turn, I saw Jasper skate and come towards me. "You just took off." I laugh as he spoke.
"I'm sorry. The place just brought back so many memories." I say. "It's been a while since I skated." I look down at my skates.
"It doesn't seem like you haven't skated for a while." I look at Jasper.
"I know." I smile. We skate together along the side of the rink.
Jasper was good at skating as well. He told me about how Juliet and he came here when they were here.
We skated for some more time. I never wanted it to end, I just wanted to stay in the rink and skate.
After a while, Jasper somehow managed to get me out of the rink. I didn't want to get out of it, it's like how children want to be in the pool even after their skin begins to crinkle.
I removed my skates and wore my boots and then we walked back to the parking lot.
It was officially dark.
It got dark while we were at the rink.
I got into the car, so did Jasper. It was going to be a little long ride back since we were inside the city and since it was evening, there would be more people on the streets.
"Jasper, I honestly loved my day today. Thank you." I thank him.
"You're welcome." He humbly replied.
"It's probably the best date I've had or will ever have."I tell him.
"You can't be certain there." He points out. "I know," I agree, "But I'm almost certain of my first date will never match up to our date." I say.
"That's good to know." He smiles and continues to drive.
Today was just amazing and Jasper brought the real me out. He pulled me out of the shield I had built on my own.
"Jasper?" He looked at me for a second. It was a silly thought I had in my head but I felt like asking him anyway. "Yeah." I took a breath and then asked him.
"It's silly but does all your first date have a lot of, well umm like does it last for an entire day?" Okay, I totally have no idea of what I just asked.
He didn't reply and that got me a little worried.
He looked at me when he stopped at a red traffic light. "No." Was all he told, I just nod and look outside.
"It was just a meal like a lunch or a dinner out in a restaurant. I didn't have the money to spend and even if I did, I would save up to buy them a gift. I just thought of taking you out today because well I wanted it to be special and secondly I don't know if you'll ever come here." He tells me.
"What makes you think that I wouldn't want to come back here? Of course! I would love to come back here. This place and you just changed me." I tell him, he smiled and I placed a kiss on his cheek. "If coming here means spending time with you, the real you then I would come here anytime. You're my friend, well, a little more than a friend." I giggle and say, he chuckles too.
The light turned green and he looked back at the road and drove past the signal.
I lean back on the seat and looked back at the entire time I was here. Who knew things would turn out this way?
"Holly, I've been meaning to say something." I hear him say, I look at him. "I probably would regret to say this because I know how you will respond to this." I start to wonder what he wanted to say.
"I don't think I'm going to respond to it badly. Jasper, what is it?" I calmly tell him to go on.
He doesn't say anything for a bit and then he decided to say it.
"Take it from someone who cares about you. I care about you Holly and that is why I'm telling you this." I nod my head and he continues to tell me.
I wasn't very happy about it. I let him finish whatever he had to say but after that, I did not look at him and sat very silently on my seat.
The day was great and I was hoping that nothing would ruin it in the evening but he did.
---
A/N
Hey guys! New chapter!!! And there's a tiny cliffhanger.
Didn't they have the perfect little date?
And what do you guys guess about what Jasper must have told Holly?
Comment below!
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~Sapphire Castle
(There are people who are actually reading this book)