Charlotte's POV:
I can't believe it. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Jack did this for me?
I look around and see candles. Everywhere. They illuminate the darkness and cause the scene to look even more stunning than usual.
I look over to the dock and notice rose petals scattered over it. Everything looks absolutely breathtaking.
The overall mood is so romantic and peaceful. I turn to Jack with an enormous smile on my face. "I can't believe you did this."
"Do you like it?" He asks.
"I love it, Jack."
"Well you haven't seen everything."Jack says taking my hand. He leads me to the end of the dock to where the canoe lies.
"I remember you said that you liked canoeing." He says as he gets in. He offers me his hand to help me in.
"Well, I'm glad you remembered." I take a seat and notice there's only one paddle. "Wait, where's the other paddle?"
"It's not here. Did you really think that I was gonna make you work on your birthday?" He asks, laughing. I should've known better than to ask.
Jack starts to steer us towards the center of the lake. He suddenly stops when we get there. I look at him, kind of confused. Just then, he pulls out a basket from behind his seat. "I hope you're hungry." He says.
Jack pulls out a blanket and sets it down in between our seats. The canoe is pretty big, so there is plenty of room for us to sit. I join him on the blanket as he starts to pull out food. "I'm starving." I say as I watch him set it up. It all looks so delicious.
We start eating and finish within a matter of minutes. We lay down on the blanket in our usual position; my head on his chest with his arms around my waist. "You really thought this through." I say.
"I wanted it to be perfect, like you." I smile at his words. He always knows the right thing to say.
"Well, you did a pretty good job."
"Well, I'm not finished yet."
I sit up and look at him, slightly confused. He then follows my actions. As he does, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box, handing it to me.
I take it from him and slowly begin to open it. When I finally do, I am surprised to see what lies inside.
Inside the box is the most beautiful necklace I've ever seen. It's a silver chain with a locket on the end. The locket is heart shaped with diamonds on the front. They can't be real diamonds, can they? Jack would've had to spend a fortune to pay for this.
"Are these real?" I say as I trace my finger over the locket. It sounds kind of shallow asking whether they're real or not, but I want to know.
"Yeah, they are. And Charlotte, don't even try to give it back. I know you don't like it when I spend money on you, but don't even try to give that back." He says sternly. I laugh at how serious he is. I don't want to accept a gift like this, but I know Jack is going to make me.
"Jack, it's beautiful."
"Open it." He says quietly. I was too mesmerized by the outside that I completely forgot about the inside.
I open the locket and when I see what's inside, my eyes immediately fill with tears. Not bad tears, happy tears.
The picture on the inside is me and Jack on our first date. In the background, you can see the views of the mountains and lake from the restaurant. Jack looks absolutely gorgeous in the picture, and he says that I couldn't look more perfect. I remember taking the picture on Jack's phone, so I didn't have it. But, now I do.
But, it isn't how stunning the picture looks or how happy we are that's making me cry. It's what Jack said after we took the picture.
"Now whenever I miss you, I can look at this and we'll be together again."
It sounds really cheesy, but these words had a meaning to me that is greater than anything I've ever heard before. At first, I didn't know why, but then I figured it out. This was when I realized that I actually meant something to Jack that I had never meant to anyone else before. It made me realize that Jack actually cared. And it made me realize that, even if we were apart, we could still be together in our hearts.
Wow, that sounded really cheesy. But I don't care. It's the truth, and that's all that matters.
I look back at Jack and throw my arms around him. I can't believe he did all this for me. "I love you." I whisper in his ear.
"I love you, too." He whispers back. I can feel his smile against my ear.
We stay like that for a minute before deciding to go back to shore. We get back in our seats as Jack starts paddling. He hums softly as we drift across the water. Every time Jack sings or even hums like this, I can't help but feel relaxed. Something about his voice just seems to calm my nerves. It's just another reason for me to love him even more.
We spend the rest of the night in eachothers arms. I cannot even begin to describe how perfect this night was. But, I know that things never work out for me.
I know that with every good thing that happens, something horrible is bound to come.