The rain pours down from the sky covering every inch of the ocean and every inch of the beach. Sand sticks to my bare feet as we sprint down the now soggy beach back to where we believe our van to be, not that we're actually able to see where we're going due to the thick coat of rain in front of our faces. Gripping tightly to Jesse's hand in fear of it slipping out of his grasp I finally pull him to a stop.
Despite the thick sheet of rain between our faces I can still see his golden hair, now brown sticking to his forehead and a look of confusion drawn on his face. I feel my heart beat against my ribs as if it were trapped in a cage and begging for release and in a sudden moment I feel Jesse's face cupped in my hands as I pull him towards me in for a kiss in the Georgian rain.
As our lips would move against each other's with the rain slipping down our bodies I can't help but think of all the times I'd dreamed about this moment, the perfect moment, the perfect kiss, the perfect person. And today it seems they're all rolled into one, here and now with the rain padding on our bodies and Jesse right next to me I can't help but form a new dream in my head. I dream that I'll never wake up, that I'll be right here with Jesse locked in passion and in some sort of nostalgical love forever. My father doesn't exist, neither does Ryan or my mother or even my friends and brother. It's just Jesse and it's just me.
+++
My body shivers in an attempt to warm itself as Chris tosses me two more blankets from the back and I throw them around my now dry pair of clothes that cover my body. Jesse's sleeping silhouette rests next to me as his soft snores fill the stuffy air around us along with a few rumbles from my stomach.
"Naomi, John," I call up to the front as John's eyes stay focused on the road and his sandy brown hair seems a lot longer than it did when we first started the trip, it falls just passed his ears and I watch as Naomi brushes a strand out of his eyes.
"Yeah Kir?" John responds and glances in the rearview mirror at Jesse and I.
"When are we going to eat my stomach's got the rumbles," I question while pulling the blankets tighter around me. Who would've guessed that I'd need so many blankets in Georgia?
"I saw a small resturant around the corner earlier, we can stop there," he calls back and Katie mummbles a 'oh thank God' as she holds onto her stomach. I glance at Jesse once more to make sure he's sound asleep before sliding in next to Katie and wedging myself between her and Chris with a sly grin on my face as my brother lets out an aggrivated sigh.
"What do you want?" Chris groans as he scoots over a bit.
"Only to sit next to my lovely best friend and not so lovely brother," I grin at him and he only purses his lips as if preventing himself from saying something he'll regret later.
I snuggle in next to Katie and look at Jesse's sleeping figure across the van, his lips stay slightly open and his eyes remain sealed with his chest rising and falling slowly. Just seeing him like that makes me want to crawl back to him and curl myself up next to his chest.
"Daydreaming about your boyfriend?" I hear Katie laugh from next to me.
"Hm?" I question and glance at her as she smiles down at me.
"You were staring at him like you wanted to jump his bones or something," she chuckles and I roll my eyes at the comment.
"Don't get me dreaming about that yet," I huff with a small smile and hers spreads farther if possible.
"You really love him don't you?" she whispers and my gaze goes back to Jesse who looks so young and vulnerable as he lays curled up with a blanket. I don't respond, instead I just stare at him for a moment and ponder the question myself, I have dreamed about living the rest of my life with him, heck we've even talked about it.
"You know I've known Jesse my whole life," Katie sighs as she rests her head on mine, "And it wasn't until you showed up that I've seen him so lively. I mean I thought it was the whole new girl thing, he doesn't know you and you're obviously attractive so I just thought once you'd fall for him he'd get scared and run away like he did to so many other girls."
She lets out a long sigh and I feel her shake her head, "But it seemed he started falling long before you started falling. He just got happier and livelier with each day he spent with you, heck the whole school saw it happening, but I," she smirks at me, "I got an up close look at it all." I let out a short laugh at that and as I do the van suddenly slows and I look out the window to see an old diner with a neon sign reading 'Mamas' and smile at the name.
Chris is the first to get up out of the three of us and then Katie gets up with some of his help and I'm left crawling back over to Jesse.
"Jesse," I place my hand on his shoulder and shake it slightly in an attempt to get him up. He mumbles something incoherent before grabbing my hand and snuggling into it. I almost snort at how funny he looks, that is until the very door he'd been leaning on is slung open and he falls straight on his back.
"Oops," John mutters as he stares down at Jesse who's groaning at his feet.
"John," I grumble and hop to the ground to aid my cussing boyfriend. Jesse's eyes squint slightly as he stares up at me and into the setting sun, "Kira I want to go to bed," he grumbles as he places his head on my feet as a makeshift pillow.
"Jesse we're at a diner," I sigh laughing a bit at his small pout.
"Can I dine while I sleep or is that too much to ask?" he grumbles and I run my hands through his hair for a moment pulling it out of his face.
"They got milkshakes," I sing to him and he peaks his eye open.
"Chocolate?" he questions and I glance up at the diner. It looks completely old fashioned, like one that you'd see on TV that some biker gang would invade and for some reason that makes me confident that they have a chocolate milkshake.
"Yup," I grin and a small smile quirks on Jesse's lips.
"Ok let's go," he grins and stands back to his full height, towering over me in a split second.
The six of us stroll into the diner and sure enough once we get in I spot a jukebox in the corner and a bar in the middle that a couple is sitting at. John then leads us over to a booth in the corner that we all fix ourselves in and I find myself between Jesse and John.
"Oh they have milkshakes here," John voices aloud as he stares at the menu and Jesse's eyes snap down to the page that John is on to read the different types.
I immediately turn to the burger section to look for their best and most unhealthy one to fix my cravings. Just as I open up my menu a thin waitress who seems to be in her 50s shows up with a pen and pad of paper.
"What can I get you folks today?" she asks in her thick southern accent.
"I'll take a chocolate milkshake and cheeseburger hold the tomatoes please," Jesse answers first before anyone can utter a word.
"I'll take the same," I smile at her as she goes onto John.
"Well if you were going to get that I would've just asked for two straws," Jesse grins down at me and I roll my eyes with a smirk on my face.
"I don't trust sharing a milkshake with you you'd drink the whole thing before I'd even get a chance to look at it," I retort and he resists a grin.
"I wish I could deny that but I can't," he laughs and I simply smile up at him. Once we're all done ordering and the waitress is gone around the corner we sit in a comfortable silence as rain patters on the windows around us making me feel as if the entire world is calm for a single moment.
A sigh is heard from next to me and my head turns to look at Jesse as his arm stays slung around me with a soft smile playing along his features.
"Do I have something on my face or...?" I trail off and a wide grin breaks onto his face.
"Well I was thinking about how beautiful you are, but now I just have the image of you with barbecue sauce covering your face from the last restaurant we stopped at," he grins at me as I smile happily at the memory of the delicious chicken wings I'd eaten.
"But I guess you were beautiful even then," he sighs at me.
"You got something on your face," I poke the side of his lip and his eyebrows furrow as his fingers trail his lips, "I think it's cheese from how cheesy you're being right now." Right as I say this Jesse's hand drops and he stares forward in annoyance as I begin to giggle.
"You know I'm trying to be all sentimental and shit while being a good boyfriend and complementing you, and you just go and make fun of me," he holds a mock hand to his chest in offense.
"No, no, I like this new cheesy Jesse," I grin up at him as I place a hand on his leg and lean over him slightly to cause his gaze to drop to me, "It's cute."
Jesse's façade once more drops to playful annoyance, "Yes cause that's what ever 17 year old boy wants to be called, cute."
"Fine, I like this new masculine, strong, man-like Jesse," I nod my head with a fake pout of approval as a grin breaks out on his face.
"Man-like Jesse?" he remarks at me and I nod quickly with a triumphant smile on my face.
"Yes why? Would you prefer woman-like Jesse?" I retort.
"Man-like Jesse it is," he smirks as he pulls me gently to his chest and soon we're engulfed in a conversation with John and Chris about masculinity and if ballet is masculine or not, which according to John― it is.
My mouth begins to water as I stare at the glorious food that comes our way on a large tray and for a moment the waitress looks like an angel sent from God to satisfy my hunger which has only grown in the past ten minutes. The chocolate milkshake is placed in front of me and my lips find the straw before it's set on the table as I viciously sip at it. Then a greasy cheeseburger is placed in front of me with a pile of fries next to it and once my mouth leaves the straw it's around the large burger and soft bun.
"Kira," Jesse nudges me slightly with a small smirk on his face as he hold up his folded hands.
"Oh sowwy," I apologize through a mouthful of food as I fold my hands for Grace, which Chris makes extra long just so I have to be starved a bit longer.
"Amen," Chris finally concludes and my hands are on the burger and then the burger's in my face.
"Careful you might end up eating the basket," Naomi remarks as she glances over my shoulder.
"Honestly at this point I wouldn't be surprised," Jesse nods his head as he finishes up his milkshake and moves onto mine.
"Hey!" I snatch the shake back from him. He simply stares at me, pouting his bottom lip out slightly, widening his eyes just a fraction making his eyes a soft green as he begs for the milkshake like a little puppy. I let out a low groan of defeat as I slide the shake in front of him stating, "It's a good thing I love you."