When we reached Jake's apartment he put me straight to bed and snuggled up next to me until I drifted off to sleep.
The next couple of weeks he took perfect care of me. Even though I looked hideous with my red eye, stitches, and my bruises, he never made me feel anything but beautiful. The healing was slower than I anticipated but I had to admit, being taken care of by Jake was pretty nice.
He got up every morning and cooked breakfast. Each night, he snuggled with me and we watched movies. I didn't leave the house the entire time, it was too embarrassing to be seen like that but he was my constant companion.
Often, I would wake up to him just staring at me. He made sure I ate a balanced diet and took my vitamins, he kept insisting this would only speed up the healing process.
I asked him to check every day to see if the new Rock movie had been released but to my dismay it never was. Each time, I would make a pouty face and he would laugh at me.
It was so amazing waking up in his arms every morning and he was a perfect gentleman. In fact, he treated me like I was some kind of china doll he was scared of breaking. I wasn't fragile though, I was tough. I had realized just how much as I lay there with nothing but time on my hands.
When I finally started feeling better, I could see him growing more excited with each day. He was like a child waiting for Christmas to come. I found it all very curious and even more so the morning I woke up and he said, "Your face has finally healed, are you feeling better?"
"I am feeling much better," I replied as I looked in the mirror to check my reflection.
He was right, the bruises were still visible, but they had faded to a point that I could easily cover them with foundation. I literally screamed with excitement, I had been hemmed up inside for so long, I was bursting to get out and do something, anything.
"Spend the day with me?" he asked as if I had so many better options.
"I spend the day with you every day Jake," I replied rolling my eyes. He looked at me with his crooked little smile and I knew he was up to something.
"Great, were leaving in an hour," he announced, leaving the room to get a shower.
I jumped in after him and before I knew it, we were off. He was so fond of surprising me. At first I thought it was going to drive me insane but grew to enjoy the mystery of it all.
"So where are we off too?" I pried.
"I have had something on my mind the last couple of weeks and thought now was as good a time as any."
I was a bit shocked when we pulled up in front of the same tattoo shop we had visited earlier on.
"What are we doing here?" I inquired with a puzzled look on my face.
"You will see," he said as he grabbed my hand and led me inside.
The gentleman at the desk was clearly expecting him and led him straight back. Jake sat down and the man began, etching words vertically down his side, next to the bird tattoo we had gotten together. He did not tell me what it said and when he was done, I tried to read it.
Faremo una grande fuga
It was in a different language and I was growing more frustrated by the second.
"Jake, tell me what it says, please?"
"It means, 'We'll make a Great Escape' in Italian."
I thought intently about what he just said and how perfect it was. When we got our first tattoos it was to represent freedom and this one was an affirmation of a plan to do just that. We would make our great escape, both leaving our worlds behind us to pursue a future all our own.
A smile stretched across my face, "Same" I said to the tattoo artist.
Jake looked at me a bit surprised at first and then shook his head as if he knew I would eventually arrive at that decision. I hopped up on the table and Jake held my hand, just like the first time. When he was done, I could not contain the smile on my face.
We left the tattoo shop and the next stop on Jake's agenda was the theater. It was a small, quaint theater in a shopping center of all places. The interior looked like a throwback to theaters of the past with a small bar inside and deep red decor everywhere. It looked a bit like a Hollywood Red Carpet threw up, but it was charming in its own way.
"What are we doing here?" I questioned him as we entered the theater.
It didn't take long to realize that we were the only ones in the place, aside from a few employees. I just kept staring at Jake as he led me into one of the small theater rooms.
When we entered, I saw a table on the elevated part complete with a table cloth and two chairs. There was a candle and a rose in the middle and on each plate was our favorite, burgers and fries.
Jake pulled out my chair for me, motioning for me to have a seat. The lights dimmed and the movie that started playing was the one I had been begging to see. It was the new Rock movie, and I LOVED the Rock.
I looked at Jake with amazement in my eyes, was this really happening? I truly thought The Rock was the most handsome man on the entire planet, aside from Jake of course. The movie was great, as if it would be anything else. When it was over I tried to stand up to leave but Jake just grabbed my hand and led me over to the actual seats.
"It's not over," he said as I looked at him curiously.
I sat down, not knowing what to expect and another movie started to play, only it wasn't an actual movie. It was as a collection of candid photos Jake had taken of me and I had never seen them before.
There were some of me sleeping, me laughing, and what felt like a hundred more. Each one made my heart swell. Jake held my hand through the entire thing and I wondered how he was so darn sneaky with his camera phone.
When it was over he looked at me and I of course had tears in my eyes. He caressed my face and said some of the sweetest words, I have ever heard.
"When I saw you in that hospital, everything you mean to me became very clear. It sickened me that I had been putting you through so much emotional bullshit when you were literally fighting for your life at home. I am so sorry that I ever made you doubt how much I love you and I will spend forever trying to make it up to you. These pictures, they are how I see you, your beautiful Sky, and I don't want a life without you. That old saying about my soul recognizing yours, it does and I am never going to let you go."
Okay, so by that time I was really crying, I had never felt so loved before. Jake was filling up holes in my heart that were left long ago. We left the theatre hand in hand with my head resting on his shoulder.
The parking lot was empty with the exception of Jake's truck and one car. It was a silver Honda Civic. Jake shot me a mischievous look and threw a set of keys at me. My mouth fell open and my eyes got as big as saucers. I was looking at him apprehensively.
"Go on, it's yours," he said with a huge smile plastered across his face.
"No way Jake, absolutely not, this is too much and you said it yourself, you only have enough to get by," I protested.
"Well, I think your idea and my idea of "getting by" may be a tad different. Besides, this is a necessity." I continued staring holes into him, completely unsettled by his grand gesture.
"Oh really, and how do you figure that?"
"Because I am going to UGA and will have an insane schedule with football. You, on the other hand, will be working in the office and have weekends free. So if we are gonna see each other at all, this is the only way," he explained.
I let that sink in for a moment and had to admit that his reasoning was solid. He was doing this for the both of us. I begrudgingly took the keys and headed for the car. On the way, I couldn't help but do a little happy dance.
I had never owned a car in my entire life and I was so excited I literally thought I might burst. On the way home, I called Jenny, over the car speaker no less. While that may have been common technology to the rest of the world, it was absolutely foreign to me. I filled her in on everything that happened that day and she caught me up to speed on her romance with Tag.
When I pulled up at his place, I was still smiling. I was on cloud nine for the rest of the evening and when bedtime finally came around, I grabbed a shower and pulled on my favorite t-shirt. Jake was already in bed when I walked up to it, climbing in, resting on my knees.
"I have not properly thanked you for my present, and this amazing day, " I told him.
He smiled at me, "You know, come to think of it, I don't think that you have."
I leaned over him and kissed him whispering a sincere, "Thank you." It took about two seconds for me to realize that things were getting a little too heated.
"We better stop, before we lose control," I whispered, nearly out of breath. My heart stopped and my body froze in place when I heard his reply.
With his hands placed strategically on each of my thighs he said, "Losing control with you just might drive me insane but it's worth the risk."
******
A/N
So what do you guys think? Are they ready to take this step or are they getiing in over their heads? Please remembe to vote if you enjoyed this chapter. Your votes and comments meand the world to me.