I fidgeted with the hem of my purple sweater dress, wondering whether I should change out of it not. I bit my lip as I took in my appearance, the dress, black jeans and my hair which was curled into soft waves. My lips were tinted with red and my eyes stood out thanks to the mascara I had applied. I can't believe I'm going on a date with Jake...my boyfriend.
I feel a grin creep up onto my face and can't control the small giggles that escape my lips as I get giddy from the thought. It just felt so right...calling him that. The giggles intensify when I remember the incident in the morning, when Chase walked in on us cuddling. Let's just say the sight was not pretty.
I groan slightly as the sunlight streams through the uncovered windows, turning around I snuggle closer to my pillow...which just seemed to be moving. I furrow my eyebrows, refusing to open my eyes and break my sleep as I try to remember yesterday's events. My eyes snap open as I recall that I was not cuddling with my pillow, instead I was cuddling Jake.
Our legs were tangled together and his arm was wrapped securely around my waist, my head tucked away in the crook of his neck. I was pulled flush against his arm laying underneath my head. I felt myself blush at the intimate position and slowly lifted my head praying that Jake was still asleep. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he was indeed, still asleep.
I found myself staring at him, drinking in his features hungrily. He had a serene expression on his face, his hair falling onto his forehead casting a shadow on his eyelids. His sharp jaw and cheekbones and those soft lips which had kissed me which were now curved into a small smile. Damn, he's hot.
On their own accord I found my fingers tracing his jaw, moving up to brush the hair off his face, he stirred slightly and before I knew it I was on my back with Jake hovering above me. I look up at him in shock, my eyes as wide as saucers and my breaths coming out in short pants.
"You know, you make it really difficult to keep my hands off of you" he all but growled as he brushed his nose against mine, his voice was husky since he had just gotten up and it sent shivers down my spine.
"And why's that?" I ask him, my voice just above a whisper. He gives me a soft smile, complete honesty in his eyes and confidence in his tone as he answered.
"Because you're a beautiful, smart and incredibly stubborn girl" he adds the last part just to annoy me and I scowl as I shove him off me.
"Jerk" I mutter and he laughs a cheeky glint in his eyes as he pulls me closer to him so that my left shoulder is touching his chest.
"You love it" he murmurs his head buried in the crook of my neck. I roll my eyes but don't move away, enjoying the warmth and comfort being in Jake's arms brings me. Unfortunately the sweet moment was ruined by my overprotective brother barging in.
"Hey Amelia have you-WHAT THE HELL!" his eyes turn wide in shock and I curse under my breath, Jake meanwhile had fallen off the bed in shock. And if my brother wasn't looking like he'd kill someone I would've laughed.
"Jake bloody Carter I'm going to bloody kill you for defiling my little sister" Chase growled in a scarily calm voice and I quickly jump out of bed to stand in front of him.
"Woah calm down Chase nothing like that happened here!" I tell him placing my hands on his chest to stop him advancing on Jake who looked like he was about to faint any second now. Could this situation get any more awkward? Or wierd for that matter?
"Really? Then why was he in the same bed as you?" he asks looking down at me with heavy sckeptism.
"We fell asleep okay?! Nothing happened! I swear" he gives me a glare and backs off but not before giving a stern warning to Jake. "I'm keeping an eye on you Carter and I swear you hurt my sister's heart and I'll personally break all your bones"
Once he was out the door Jake and I breathe a sigh of relief and he flops down on my bed with a groan.
"I swear he was going to shoot a bullet through my head just then" he mutters and I grin.
"Nah that would've been an instant death, he'd have wanted you to suffer a bit more" I tease him, pecking him on the cheek when he sends me a glare. "Now as much as I would like you to stay here a bit longer, I think it's best if you leave now. Before Chase changes his mind on killing you after all"
"I think you're right. I'll pick you up at six?" he asks standing in front of me, his hands holding mine.
"For what?" I ask confused, I don't remember us making any plans last night. But then again I did fall asleep.
"For our date silly" he rolls his eyes and flicks my forehead lightly. I blush and look down, embarrassed.
"Oh, yeah... sure" I feel Jake's fingers underneath my chin as he slowly pushes my chin up so that I'm now looking into his eyes.
"Well then I guess I'll be picking my beautiful girlfriend up at six then. Dress warm" he gives me a soft smile and a sweet kiss to the lips before he hurries out to my balcony.
"My house does have a door you know?" I shout out to him.
"But balconies are just, so much cooler" he winks and with that climbs onto his balcony. I shake my head at his antics and start to get ready for the day.
Since then I had received a number of phone calls from Bridget, Rebecca, Danielle and Courtney all wanting to know what happened yesterday. I think they're more excited about this date than I am and that's saying something because I feel like I have freaking elephants stomping around in my stomach. Not to mention that I can't keep still for more than a few seconds and I have the need to check the time every few minutes.
Julia was seated on my bed flicking through some magazines and Alex was sitting on my desk chair. The two had kindly sat through and listened to all my nervous rambling and Julia even helped me rustle up the perfect outfit.
"Amelia, would you stop pacing it's making me freaking dizzy" Alex complains chucking a soft toy my way.
"Hey! I can't help it!" I scowl at him quickly fixing my hair, before freezing at the sound of the doorbell.
"I'll get it!" Chase's voice came seconds afterwords and I freak out pulling Alex of the chair and shoving him out the door. He protests of course but I shoot him a glare and he shuts up.
"Make sure Chase doesn't do anything stupid" at least with Alex keeping an eye on my brother I could breathe easy as I quickly did a last minute check to make sure I had everything.
"Good luck Amelia. Have a great time, oh and relax!" Julia waves me out and I wave back as I hurry downstairs, purse in hand.
"Hurt my daughter boy, and you'll be sorry" my dad's voice floats down the hall and I groan not him too!
"Dad!" I scold as I walk into the living room to see not only my dad and brother staring Jake down but Alex as well. I grab a pillow that just conveniently happened to be near by and chuck it at Alex before walking over to Jake and holding his hand in mine.
"Would you guys stop trying to scare him away" I start to say but Jake cuts me off with a squeeze of my hand.
"With all due respect sir, I would never intentionally hurt your daughter. I'll make sure that you never find a reason to hurt me in anyway. I respect Amelia and I would never want to be the cause of her tears... though I am only human I'll try my absolute best" he says looking my dad in the eyes and I felt myself melt at his words.
"Well done Jake, you've proven that you're a real man and willing to take responsibility for your actions. Have fun on your date and bring her back home by ten" my dad smiles and walks out of the room and I beam, though slightly confused by what just happened.
"You look...amazing" Jake breathes as he looks at me and I blush.
"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself" I grin up at him. He was dressed in jeans, a black shirt and leather jacket that brought out his blue eyes. He looked like quite the bad boy in his outift with his muscles nicely outlined by the jacket.
"Shall we go?" he asks and I nod excitedly ignoring my brother and Alex as we make our way out of the room.
"So where are you taking me?" I ask him once we're seated in his car. I catch him glimpse at me for a second before he diverts his attention to the road a smirk growing on his lips.
"Surprise" I groan and he laughs, the sound loud and carefree. I smile as I look at him, our relationship had progressed a lot since I first met him and I couldn't deny that moving to Los Angeles was a great idea on my dad's part.
"Why are you smiling?" he asks looking my way with a confused frown before brushing his hands over his face "Is there something on my face? Shaving cream in my ear?"
I laugh lightly reaching over to ruffle his hair "No Jake, there's nothing on you face or in your ear. I was just smiling"
"Just like that?" he asks skeptically and I roll my eyes.
"Yes, just like that. What? Am I not allowed to smile?"
"Never said that" he replies quickly shooting a cheeky grin my way, the car makes a turn and not too long after I feel Jake's hand on mine, clasping my fingers tightly. Sweet as the gesture was, I didn't want to land in an accident because of my inability to control my hormones.
"Hands on the wheel Jake" I reprimand, pulling my fingers from his hand gently, he turns his head to look at me with a small frown but does as I say. Not too long after the car descends into an uncomfortable silence with Jake refusing to look my way and with me wondering how to fix my stupid mistake.
The sound of a deep sigh pulls me away from my thoughts and I turn towards Jake who still had a frown painted on his face and who was now making a big show of making sure I knew that he was not a happy camper.
I watched him for a couple more minutes my lips curving into an amused smile as I did so. He looked so adorable when he was grumpy! His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were downturned but had a little pout to them like a child who had been scolded. As the thought passed my mind I couldn't control the urge to laugh and once it slipped out of my mouth the silence that had settled in, lifted.
"What are you laughing about Johnson?" Jake mutters gruffly his hands twitching on the steering wheel.
"Oh Carter, where do I start?" I tease him before leaning across the console and stretching up to reach Jake, which was quite a task considering I was confined by the seat belt. Once I managed to reach him I placed a light kiss on his cheek, grinning at the look of surprise on his face.
The rest of the drive runs smoothly with Jake cracking a few joke here and there on how I'm just head over heels in love with him and with me shooting some sarcastic remarks of my own. He still hadn't backed down on the whole 'surprise' thing and since I still hadn't grown that accustomed to Los Angeles so I had no idea where he was taking me.
"Okay, we're here" I turn and look out the window to see just where 'here' is. Let's just say luck was not on my side today as I stared up at the big bold letters on the building.
'Paradise Ice Rink' When exactly, would it be a good time to tell your boyfriend that you absolutely, positively can not, to save your life ice skate?
My vision becomes hazy, my breathing erratic as I fumble with my seat belt. It felt like a thousand needles were pricking my arms and as if the weight of the world was resting itself on my chest as I thought back to that winter all those years ago.
Children squealing with happiness, the sound of laughter and casual chatter....slipping, falling hearing someone scream my name as I fell down...down into the freezing water. Water, just heaps of water...why couldn't I move? Sinking...black dots...silence.
"Amelia!" two hands were gripping my shoulders and a voice was calling my name, jerking out of my flashback I open my eyes to see Jake looking at me in concern. He was half inside the car, the passenger door wide open as he hunched down to look at my face.
"Oh, hey sorry about that shall we go?" I ask him quickly trying to divert the attention from my flushed face and erratic breathing.
"How about we don't?" he asks before shutting the door and walking back around to the driver's side of the car.
"What's wrong?" Stupid! It's obvious what's wrong, moron you obviously freaked him out with your random spaz attack! How about you just walk out of this car and save the embarrassment of having to ride home with Jake in complete and utter silence?
I turn towards Jake as he stares out of the windshield, his mouth turned into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed. A stark contrast to when we first left my house in a fit of nerves, excitement and smiles; briefly I wonder if this is the last time Jake and I will talk. Have I scared him off that badly?
"Are you okay? his voice was thick with frustration yet he made an effort to turn my way, his eyes scanning up and down my figure as if trying to search for any physical injuries. My heart softened a little as I tried to decide what to do now. I could either a) tell him everything is fine and walk inside the ice rink-which would basically be lying or I could b) tell him the truth.
It was a no brainer really.
"When I was ten my cousins and I were skating in the local ice rink- it was a make shift one that the locals skated on" I could feel Jake's eyes on me but I ignored him, needing to get through this story without any distractions and I didn't need to see his reaction to this.
"My uncle told us to wait for him, that he'd take us soon. But we were so impatient we went anyway my eldest cousin, Eric leading the way. The place was pretty busy so we went to a little corner that no one seemed to be using. We didn't realise the ice was too thin until it was too late, I had already gotten on and less than a minute later I was falling into the freezing water"
I take in a jagged breath as the memory came rushing back again, I feel something warm enclose my hand and look down to see Jake holding my hand. A small smile forms on my face as I squeeze his hand in appreciation.
"Of course my cousins were freaking Eric was only twelve, Chase was back at home and Rose was only nine. Not the kind of situation you want to be in at that age, while they called over a nearby adult I was slowly sinking, my skates pulling me down, by the time they got me out I was unconcsious. I was admitted into the hospital with pneumonia and had to stay there for a whole two weeks, since then I haven't been ice skating"
There were a few minutes of silence as Jake absorbed what I said before reaching over and pulling me into a hug. It was a slightly awkward position with the console in between but none the less I wrapped my arms around him and let his warmth soothe me.
"I'm sorry" he whispers into my hair his hand moving up and down my back in a soothing motion. "I didn't know-if I did I wouldn't have taken you here"
"It's fine Jake, like you said you didn't know" I whisper back pressing myself closer to him.
Suddenly he pulls back a new spark in his eyes as he looks at me with a grin, I stare back slightly wary as he continues to grin.
"Okay...I know this might sound crazy and you might not be ready for this but just hear me out okay?" he asks and I tentatively nod.
"Ice skate with me, this is a real ice rink Mia, no thin ice. And I guarantee, if you fall I wil be there to catch you-always" he says with such seriousness I'm taken aback. I bite my lip as I think it through, the incident was years ago and Jake does have a point. I nod slowly as I grow slightly more confident in my decision and Jake beams, quickly getting out of the car and opening the passenger door for me. I laugh at his enthusiasm and clamber out.
It didn't take long for us to pay our entry fee and to be place our rented ice skates on, Jake had his arm around my waist the whole time only letting go so that we can put on our skates. The air was quite chilly and there were quite a few people enjoying the ice rink in the centre of the place. There were bleachers on one side of the place and a cafe and ice skate hire area on the opposite side,
"You ready?" Jake asks me as he stands up holding his hand out for me, I smile and place my hand in his nodding.
With Jake by my side, we walk towards the gap in the glass shield surrounding the rink and step onto the ice my hands clutching onto Jake's for dear life. It has been such a long time since I've ice skated and even then I wasn't a good or even semi-good ice skater.
Jake stepped onto the ice first before letting me come on too, I grabbed for the railing clasping it tightly as I edged my way around the rink with Jake skating beside me an unamused expression on his face.
"You know...Mia, the whole point of me taking you here was so that I could hold you, right?" he drawls now skating backwards so that he can look at me better. I shoot him a scowl.
"Well there's no need to show off Carter" I mutter causing him to chuckle and to extend his arms out. I stare at his arms like they're some alien...thing and he sighs half in amusement and half in frustration.
"Jeez get with the program Johnson, hold my hands" he rolls his eyes and I shoot him a glare before doing as he said albeit reluctantly. Before I knew it he had pulled on my hands so that I skated forward, my ice skates bumping with his, his hands had left mine and were now wrapped loosely around my waist so that we still had room to skate. My hands were now on his biceps and I glared at him as I took in our new position.
"What? You can't exactly say I didn't warn you" he tells me sending me a cheeky grin and I find myself grinning back, shaking my head at his antics. We did a couple of rounds around the rink before Jake effortlessly skated to my side not once letting go of my hand and now that I had enough confidence and skills we were ice skating nicely around the place, my hand clasped tightly in his. The smile never left my face as we talked and teased each other, along the way.
We eventually took a break and took seats in the warm cafe, drinking hot chocolates and eating warm chocolate chip cookies. Jake's left hand was lightly holding mine and his foot was wrapped around mine despite him sitting opposite me.
"This is fun" I tell him with a small smile and he grins back.
"I'm glad" he gives my hand a small squeeze and I feel my insides turn into mush. I take this as a chance to give him a once over. His hair was now out of place due to us skating quite fast and it gave him a more rugged and windswept look, his blue eyes were sparkling with happiness and his cheeks were flushed. Aren't I lucky? Not only to have an extremely hot boyfriend but to have one who was also sweet and understanding.
I was just scanning his face again when I noticed that he was no longer focused on his cup of hot chocolate but was watching me with an amused smirk his eyes staring into mine, his stare was incredibly intense and I found myself blushing under it. I cast my gaze down to my plate of cookies completly embarrassed but find my eyes widening in shock as I felt Jake's warm lips touching my cheek.
"There's no need to be embarrassed...especially since I was doing the same thing to you not so long ago" he smiles sheepishly and I let out a light chuckle.
"Well...I am irresistible. I don't blame you for staring" I tease him and he laughs the sound loud in the tiny cafe but instead of being embarrassed by all the attention we were receiving I focused on Jake's warm, deep laugh.
"I'm definitely not denying that. But it seems I'm a bad influence...your're starting to sound like me" he teases me and I gasp dramatically.
"Oh no! That just won't do! I'm afraid we'll have to break up" I fake a sympathetic look and lean closer to him, he quirks his eyebrow leaning in as well.
"Oh really?" his gaze flickers down to my lips and I smirk.
"Mhmm" I hum before leaning in to close the gap between our lips. The kiss lasted only a couple of seconds-after all we were in a public place with kids around so anything more would not be appropriate. The kiss however was just as perfect as all the others.
"How about now? Still want to break up?" Jake whispers once we pull apart.
"I think I can stick around a while longer" I answer nonchalantly leaning back in my seat but I'm pretty sure the humongous grin on my face gave me away.
"You better. Because I'm not about to let you go anytime soon...if at all" there was no smirk, no teasing glint in his eyes as he looked at me in all seriousness and I was shocked into silence.
"Good to know" I whisper back clutching onto his hand tightly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
14/2/14 to 2/3/14 (yes it took a long time to write this and I apologise but it's difficult for me to write couple scenes when I've never been in one. Don't judge me! LoL)
Okay so only three more chapters to go after this and that includes the epilogue...kind of sad I didn't get much of a response to the Author's note on the last chapter so I just went with the suggestion given by sapphire237. Hope you enjoyed Jake and Amelia's first date :D Sorry for the slightly serious note with Amelia's trauma but we all have a weak spot.