Jen's pov
I shook my head in disbelief. My brain could not comprehend what he had just said. I pushed back my chair with a lot of noise and hurried myself to the exit of the restaurant.
The cold air hit my face when I stepped outside. It was a cool evening, but it helped me to think better. I walked across the street and leaned on the railing so that I could look out over the water. The sunset colored the sky beautifully. I sighed and shook my head. Jack liked me. I knew there was a certain amount of chemistry between the two of us, but he had never admitted aloud that he liked me. Now, out of the blue, he admits that he has had a crush on me for a long time and that I'm possibly the only woman for him. I shook my head in disbelief again.
'Jen?'
I turned around and looked into Jack's worried face.
'Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?' he asked as he approached me.
I shook my head. 'No. It's okay. Really.'
He quirked his eyebrow. He didn't play with his eyebrows as well as Colin used to do, but it gave me a warm feeling inside. He took a step closer and gently wiped a tear from my face with his thumb. A tear that I hadn't even noticed myself.
'It's not okay. What is it?' he whispered
I leaned my back against the railing and stared at my wobbling feet while I fumbled with an elastic band between my fingers. I took a deep breath. 'You overwhelmed me' I finally admitted.
A sigh of relief escaped his mouth. He came closer to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I finally gave in and wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my nose in his t-shirt. 'Let's take things slowly' his lips whispered to my hair. I lifted my head and looked at him. He looked down at me full of passion and love and I was sure I wanted this. That I wanted him. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.
He doubted for a second but kissed me back gently, carefully. It wasn't gentleness I wanted. Not now. Not after all this time. I knotted my fist in his shirt, pulling him more firmly against me. He groaned softly, low in his throat and his arms circled me. He sighed as I slowly pulled back.
'Jen...' he murmured. 'This isn't 'taking things slowly. Although I loved kissing you'
I quirked my eyebrow. 'Loved?'
He smirked. 'Love. I love kissing you'
'Good' I whispered back.
'Jen, did it scare you when I told you that I would be able to love you?'
I nodded. 'It's just... it feels so real when someone says those words, you know...'
His hand went up and down my spine and I felt my body warming up under his touch. 'Jen... I think I already started to love you ever since you walked into my life'
I stared at him in awe and disbelief. If he had said this at the dinner table I would have walked away. Well, I did, but I would have left him there and would never see him again. I wasn't able to respond so instead I pressed my lips against his. I felt him smile against my lips before he gave in and kissed me back.
When he kisses me it's like somehow the silence around us explodes and a world of colors appears before my closed eyes. Every thought in my brain is stripped out and replaced with him. Him. Him. His lips pressing into mine. His hands pulling me closer, running up and down my spine, into my hair. The taste of his mouth and the heat of his breath. When I finally convinced myself to pull away to tell him something important, my brain failed to string any thoughts together. I simply pulled him back to me and hoped that my kiss will show him those five words. I start loving him too.
It has been a really really long time since I've updated. The last time was august 2019 so that's almost a year ago. A lot has happened in my life during the past year and for a very long time I wasn't in the right mental headspace to write fanfiction. Recently I started missing it a lot and I really hate unfinished stories, so today I decided to finally write again and I have to admit: it felt really good. I know, this is a very short chapter but I wanted to update anyway to let you know that I'm still here and still willing to finish this story. I'm still struggling a bit so I'm not promising anything but hopefully the next chapter will be up way sooner :)