AN: This chapter gets a little racy, but nothing too explicit. And I've decided that the theme song to this chapter is Tonight You're Perfect by New Politics.
Amy collapsed onto her bed, somehow managing to navigate her way through the dorm without turning on a single light and without injuring herself. It was nice to be in a familiar surrounding again, after all of the events of that night seemed like a dream. A mirage she imagined because she was dying of thirst or something, a complete delusion. She compulsively checked her phone every 10 minutes or so to make sure that Jake's number was still in there and that she really hadn't imagined the whole night, and him. When she inevitably looked back up at her ceiling because she couldn't keep her eyes closed for more than a few seconds, she kept expecting to see stars.
She had goosebumps covering almost every inch of her flesh, but her blood felt paradoxically hot under her skin.
And everything she was feeling was just strange. So unusual and weird and wonderful. Amy wished that Kylie was up, because she definitely needed to ask her about it. About everything. She had no idea if this was what everyone felt like when they were attracted to someone, or if it was just another case of her freakazoid nature. And if everyone had felt like this before, why the fuck didn't they tell her it felt so good?
She finally forced herself to get out of the bed and distract herself, because if she thought about it any longer, she knew she was going to work herself into a frenzy. She walked to the kitchen and got everything ready to make herself a cup of tea (even though she actually had to turn the lights on to accomplish this). Amy went through the familiar motions of putting water in the microwave, grabbing a random tea bag that had the word sleep in the title, and then steeping it absentmindedly to let it cool down. This was a routine for her, every time she was up late at night with no hope of resting. It never actually helped her sleep, like the label promised. But it always managed to taste like home, so it gave her just the right amount of comfort when she needed it.
She nearly dropped her mug (narrowly avoided 3rd degree burns) when she heard her phone's text tone go off. She raced back to her bedroom and flipped on the light, expecting to see her phone on the night stand. Which, of course, it wasn't. She always had the worst luck. She threw off the sheets of her bed hoping that it would tumble out onto the floor with each piece of fabric, but once again, her search was fruitless. She turned on every light in the hallway and checked any random counter space that she would probably absentmindedly set it down without even realizing it- but all that seemed to be useless too. She knew she was being an idiot for being this worried about finding it, but she couldn't stop hoping it was Jake. Even though that was highly unlikely. There was probably a 50% chance it was Marco, a 20% chance that it was one of her brothers, a 29% chance that it was a wrong number, and a measly 1% chance that it was Jake. But she knew she had to find it for that 1% chance.
She sat down on the couch in frustration when she knew she just had to accept that she wouldn't be able to find it until the morning. And then she realized what an absolute idiot she was when she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She wasn't sure if it was more or less embarrassing than when she couldn't find her glasses that were sitting right on top of her head, but they seemed pretty equal.
She prepared herself for disappointment when she opened the text completely sure that it wouldn't be from the person she wanted it to be from.
Jake:
Is it a social faux pas to contact someone 3 hours after you got their number? If it's not, doing so before 5 am definitely is, isn't it?
Amy:
I am absolutely not the right person to ask about social faux pas.
J:
I didn't wake you, did I?
A:
No, I wasn't going to be able to sleep for hours anyway.
J:
Oh. Why?
Amy typed out a reply, and then decided it was stupid so she erased it all. She tried again, and it was even stupider the second time. She knew that she was taking entirely too long to reply, and she was sure he could see that little dots that meant she was typing, which didn't help speed her up any. She tried to find some way to sum up what she was feeling, but she didn't even know how to describe it to herself. She thought she may have found the right thing to type, but she spent a crazy amount of time deciding which punctuation mark to use, or if she should leave it out. Amy was positive she was probably the only person in the world who read that much into whether a message ended with a period or a blank space, but that didn't change anything.
A:
You.
She was never good with words either way, so she thought that simple would be better. And that really was it. Jake was the reason her mind was racing. And it wasn't just one thing about him. Like how cute he was. Or how much she loved the color of his eyes. Or how kind he was. Or the heat she could still remember from their kiss. Or that she could practically still feel his hand on hers.
No, it was just him. Everything about him. The fact that it was even possible for him to exist.
J:
In a good way or a bad way
Amy didn't even have to think about her reply.
A:
Good way. Definitely a good way.
Their conversation was cut short (even though an hour of texting wasn't really short- any amount of time talking to him was too short) when Jake's replies started lagging behind. After a couple of slow replies, he began apologizing profusely for being so tired, and admitted he probably needed to crash. He made it seem like needing sleep was something entirely under his control and that it was his fault he needed rest. Amy reassured him that exhaustion was not a voluntary process and that he really should go to bed.
He promised he would message her again when he woke up, and she was already anticipating it.
Amy decided she would make some coffee since the sun was already up. She wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep if she tried, but she knew that if she got a nap in during the day it would mess up her sleep schedule for the whole week.
"You're up early," Amy noted when Kylie walked into the kitchen in her pajamas, her brown hair knotted together and sticking up at odd angles.
Her roommate made a habit of never waking before 8 AM, even on school days, so her being up at this time- on a Saturday no less- was highly unusual.
"I was studying for my sociology test all Friday night- and I swear it's a crime to have a test that counts for this much of your total grade this early on in the year. And I know you told me to tell the girls I wasn't going running on Friday, but I forgot and felt bad so I went anyway." Kylie told her, which still didn't explain why she was actually awake at the time. "And I know you told me that this would happen so you kept reminding me that I would hate myself if I did both of those on Friday, and I know it's my fault, and I know you were just trying to save me from myself, but don't get too smug about it." Amy smiled at her order.
"So I came home and went to bed at 5 pm. Got damn near 14 hours straight of the best sleep of my life," she smiled as she savored the memory. She kicked a chair out to sit in from the table that Amy was at with her cup of coffee. "How'd last night go?" Kylie asked nonchalantly, fully expecting for her roommate to have a horror story to go with it.
"Fine," Amy told her, revealing nothing. She really was dying to tell her roommate everything that happened, but she wanted to try to be the cool, calm, and collected one for once. But she failed and broke down not even 10 seconds later. "I kissed someone last night."
"Oh my god! Are you okay? Do I need to beat someone up? Do you remember what they looked like?" Kylie asked, automatically assuming that someone had forced themselves on her. Based on what Kylie knew about Amy, and based on what Amy knew about Amy, it was a fair assumption.
"No, I kissed someone. On purpose." She enjoyed the look of surprise that flashed across Kylie's face again. She didn't know if it was a good thing, but Amy felt quite proud of herself for actually doing something unpredictable for once.
"I thought you didn't like Marco like that," she referred to a conversation the two had had a few weeks back where Amy made it clear that she did not feel at all that way about their mutual friend. She couldn't blame her for assuming that either. Amy had only 2 friends, and they both knew that. If it you had asked her yesterday, Amy would have told you it was impossible that she would kiss a stranger by the end of the night.
"I don't. It was someone I met at the party. I kissed a guy I met there," Amy bit her lip to keep from beaming.
"Oh screw you," Kylie emphasized. "I was actually worried about you for a second. And don't insult my intelligence. Next time you try and trick me, at least make the lie semi-believable." Her roommate stood up to fix herself some breakfast since she assumed the conversation was over.
"I'm not kidding! And if I was trying to trick you, I would pick something more believable. But I'm not, because it actually happened. I wouldn't make up something so ludicrous," Amy insisted. She couldn't think of a possible motivation that she would have to lie about something like this.
"A likely story," Kylie nodded her head while her tone contained utter distrust. "I'll believe it when I see it." Amy rolled her eyes, realizing that it wasn't possible to convince her with mere words. She understood why Kylie didn't believe her, but she didn't need to be such a jerk about it.
"You should go out like this more often. Bed head is a good look for you," Amy said sarcastically motioning to the birds nest that was her roommates hair.
Kylie just stuck out her tongue.
Jake:
Good morning
*afternoon
Just woke up. Still half asleep.
How's it going?
Amy:
Swell. Get in some good rest?
J:
You don't know the half of it
Amy had been more or less waiting for him to wake up for hours, though she supposed that if he slept in till 2 PM, he really need the sleep. She wanted to tell him the annoyance that Kylie didn't believe that he was real, but she realized that would be show how truly lame she was. There wasn't any reason a friend wouldn't believe someone kissed someone unless that person was a total loser who never did anything exciting or unpredictable. She knew that she was a loser, but she didn't want to absolutely prove it to Jake. But, as always, she did the stupid thing.
A:
My roommate doesn't believe you exist
Jake sent her back a picture of himself that he had evidently just taken. He was upside down, hanging off what she assumed was the side of his bed with a huge grin and a peace sign. His hair was all fussed up in the hottest way possible and his drowsiness was still written all across his face.
J:
Even photoshop has nothing on nature when she created this beautiful mug.
Tell her I said hi.
Or hello.
Or salutations. Whichever will make the best impression.
Is that what salutations means? I can only remember watching Charlotte's web in 4th grade so well.
Hell, might as well go with seasons greetings.
Amy laughed at the last suggestion seeing as how it was late August in the middle of a heat wave. She called her roommate over and showed her Jake's picture, and Kylie's eyes widened as she finally began to believe her.
"Tell him you have to go," Kylie ordered. "Because we are about to have a very in depth discussion."
"You met him for the first time last night? And you kissed him? You initiated it?"
"Yes," Amy repeated for the third and hopefully the last time.
"You scandalous whore," Kylie said in mock shock. She and Amy both knew that she had gone a lot further with people after knowing them for only an hour. She had taken a seat across from Amy on the other end of the couch after informing the latter to get comfortable, because they were going to be there for a while.
"Oh shut up," Amy laughed. "You want me to tell you what happened?" She asked, and Kylie nodded vigorously.
So Amy told her everything that happened the night before. Well, all the events. She left out all of her inner turmoil and tangled emotions. She couldn't keep a smile off her face when she described all of Jake's actions, and their conversations, and especially their kiss.
"And why didn't you ever tell me liking someone felt this good?" Amy finished. She never realized what she had been missing out on before. Just how giddy she felt, this whole range of feelings that she never even knew were an option.
"What do you mean? I thought you'd had a boyfriend before. What's different?"
"Yeah, years ago. And I never felt anything like this. No where even close."
"Tell me about it," Kylie asked, obviously trying to ferret something out, but Amy had no idea what. She felt a little self conscious about telling her friend about the muddled mess of all her confusion, but she went ahead with it anyway.
So Amy told about how it felt like she was flying. And she couldn't stop thinking about him, and she couldn't stop smiling when she did. And how he made her heart race. And how last night was easily in the top 5 nights of her life.
"Oh sweetie," Kylie said consolingly when Amy finally stopped talking. She placed her hand on Amy's arm in a sympathetic move. "You're too far gone."
"What? What are you talking about?" Amy asked having absolutely would make Kylie say that. Her friend gave her a pitying smile.
"You're in love."
Things went great with Jake all week. They messaged back and forth and she actually managed to come across as a normal person, something she could rarely pull off. She even succeeded to act normal when she accepted that she probably was in love with him. She didn't want to believe it at first, but eventually she had to admit that it was the most likely scenario. Before, Amy didn't believe you could fall in love with someone in a single night. Truthfully, she wasn't even sure she believed in love. At least not like that. She'd had crushes before, but she assumed that that was what people were talking about when they said the word love. She thought that movies and books that described anything more than that were just exaggerating. But now she knew she was wrong.
So everything was going fantastic. Until Friday. All because Jake sent her a simple text.
Jake:
I want to see you again
She should have been ecstatic. And a part of her was. But she couldn't ignore her growing sense of apprehension.
They had built up a great rapport, but she wasn't so sure that would transfer back over to the next time they meet in person. She kept thinking about those couples who met online and had great chemistry when the messaged, but when they meet in person for the first time and it's just awkward. No spark. And yeah, she and Jake had met in person first, and that night had gone really well, but she was still worried. She told him she wanted to too, which actually wasn't a lie. Everything she felt when it came to him was so conflicting. She was just left begging the universe for mercy to let it all go well.
J:
Where do people even go on dates these days?
A:
I like how you think I'd know.
It didn't take him long to figure out what he wanted to do, but he was especially secretive about it. All he would tell her was a place and a time. A golf course at 11 PM that Saturday. Amy felt a little bad that the Emerald Course was closer to her than it was to him, but she didn't complain in case that would make him change his mind. She was way too curious to risk that. The course was about 45 minutes away from her, but she would still describe it as out in the middle of no where. She assumed Jake was just using it as a landmark for a meeting place, but there really was nothing around there that was worth doing. She was still anxious about how it would go, but her excitement at the mystery grew with every passing second.
She drove into the parking lot 30 minutes early. She always arrived at places early, but the only reason she was there half an hour before she needed to be was the fact that she was going to pace a whole in the floor if she stayed at her dorm any longer. She had expected to have to wait a while for him to get there, so she was surprised to see him already waiting when she parked.
Jake was leaning against the chain link fence seeming completely at ease, holding one of those flashlights shaped like a lantern. His demeanor was that of casual indifference, and she was even more aware of just how worked up she was.
He looked exactly like every stereotypical bad boys in those cheesy 80s movies that you could tell was the cool kid because he was smoking a cigarette and completely apathetic. One of those boys who was an absolute jerk at the beginning of the movie until he gets his act straight and the audience starts rooting for him to get the girl.
And, in this situation, Amy was the girl.
She took a deep breath and got out of her car. When he saw that it was her, his whole face lit up. Gone was the aloof appearance he had on just moments before, replaced with childish delight. She knew at that moment that she had nothing to worry about. All the doubts that had plagued her before where completely baseless.
"Where are we going?" She asked when she reached him.
"Here," Jake told her as he patted the fence behind him. The fence that was a good 10 feet tall, and the gate a few feet away was padlocked. She hoped he didn't expect her to climb it.
"Don't worry, I've got a key," he assured her seeing the look on her face.
"Are we supposed to be here?" Amy whispered like someone would overhear them. The whole course was dark, the only light coming from the lantern and and the few streetlamps that lined the parking lot.
"Not at all," Jake grinned as he lead her through the gate. She knew it was stupid, and that they would get in so much trouble if they were caught, and that it was technically illegal. It was absolutely and incredibly stupid. She knew that. Still, she followed him in.
"Where'd you get the key?" Amy asked after they had been walking for a minute or so. She wasn't sure if he had a particular destination of the course picked out or if he just planned on walking the whole time. The lantern illuminated a radius of a couple feet around them so she wasn't in any danger of tripping, but she still kept her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn't stumble over a stray rock.
"One of Gina's many hidden talents slash neurotic tendencies is her kleptomania. She has keys to all over the city, and we have no clue how she got half of them. Seriously. She has keys to our old high school, 2 of the 3 libraries in town, almost every restaurant, and she even has a master key to city hall. She could bring down the whole town in a night if she wanted to."
"What if someone comes?"
"No one will. Each of us come up here every once in a while when we need to get away from everyone else in existence. This place is abandoned from 6 PM to 9 AM," Jake guaranteed.
Amy considered what he said. It was pretty obvious that this was a secret place, and the fact that he was showing her felt like a privilege. He described it like this was a place he only came alone, and she was the only exception. Which was highly unlikely, because this was a great place to impress a girl. Amy was very impressed.
"And there we are," Jake informed her as he pointed to a light on the ground a ways away. As they neared it, she realized that it was another lantern that he had set close to a blanket he had apparently spread out earlier. When they reached it, he turned off the lantern in his hands a laid across the far side of the blanket with his hands behind his head.
"The stars are nice," he nodded up at the sky.
She hadn't even noticed that night, but when she looked up she had to agree that they were beautiful. The sky was lit up exactly like the last time she was with him. She wasn't sure she would ever get tired of looking at them. She laid down beside him and stared back up at the constellations. Their shoulders were probably only a couple of inches away from each other, and all she wanted to do was reach out and make contact, but she contained her impulse.
"You come out here with people often?" Amy asked. She wasn't trying to insinuate anything, but she needed to figure out what he meant by getting away.
"Nah. I haven't even been out here with the other guys. Just me," he answered. And Amy had no idea what that meant, if it meant anything at all. She was the first person he brought here. She was pretty sure that meant something, something important, though she didn't know what that something was.
They stayed there in silence for some time. But it was a good, comfortable silence. It was nice, just lying there and... experiencing. Just letting things be.
"You're awfully quiet," she noted. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit... nervous, y'know?"
Amy scoffed at that.
"I'm sure you've dated tons of girls before. What in the world do you have to be nervous about? Shouldn't you used to it by now?" The idea that he would have any reason at all to be nervous was absurd.
"I wouldn't say tons of girls..." he disputed, avoiding the actual point of her question.
"More than 5?" She offered as a definition for tons, in this case at least. He made a noncommittal sound that she knew was a yes. "So what could you possibly be worried about?"
Jake was quiet for another moment, and she wasn't sure if he was trying to form an answer or if he just wasn't going to answer her at all.
"If anyone tells you they're not nervous, they're lying. Everyone's nervous. Unless they don't care about the relationship one way or the other," he informed her. "So yeah, I'm nervous."
"I think I know a way to distract you," Amy told him. It was odd how comfortable she was, and actually even confident. She was never confident, even if it was something she knew how to deal with, like math problems or something. And she had absolutely no idea how to deal with people. So the confidence was new, but very welcome.
"Yeah?" Jake indulged her while still staring at the stars.
She more than enjoyed the surprised look on his face when she suddenly rolled on top of him, replacing the constellations in his vision with her eyes. He looked at her like she was insane.
"Yeah," she whispered as she brought her lips to his.
And this kiss was just as good as the last ones, if not better. They weren't confined to the frame of his car and didn't have to contend with a stick shift in between them. It was just them. Amy and Jake. She pulled at his lower lips with her teeth until he finally acquiesced and parted them. Her tongue roamed every inch of his mouth as she savored his taste, trying to memorize every bit about him even though she knew her memory could never do him justice.
His hands moved out from behind his head to wrap around her shoulders and press her further to him, and she felt like his palms could burn holes into her skin- simply from the fact that every point of connection between their bodies was blazing.
She pulled back when she was practically gasping for air. He wasn't much better off judging from the quick and dramatic rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were closed for far too long when all she wanted to see were his coffee colored irises.
"God, you're gorgeous," he breathed when he finally opened them. His pupils were dilated and he was looking at her like she was the 8th wonder of the world. She was never going to become accustomed to the way he looked at her. Like she was something important.
Jake slowly sat up, careful to support her until she was effectively sitting in his lap. She dipped her head down to join her lips to his again. Before she knew it the back of his shirt was bunched up in her fists, and she couldn't have released her grasp even if she tried. His fingers trailed their way up her back and she realized that if she thought his hands through her shirt were burning, then on her bare skin they were searing.
He ghosted his lips down her neck, pausing to suck and nibble hear and there. When his nips got just the slightest bit harsher she let out a completely involuntary moan. She stretched her throat away to grant him better access which he quickly took advantage of. She was digging her nails into his back when she had a sudden shot of clarity of what they were doing and where they were. She pulled back much to Jake's obvious dismay.
"We are so not having sex on the first date in the middle of a golf course," she asserted. Her comment seemed to bring him back to reality with the sudden realization. He looked around them like he had forgotten where they were, and she couldn't blame him for getting a little lost in the moment.
"Yeah," he slowly agreed as if he was having trouble to form a single thought. "Yeah... Wasn't expecting to. Got a little carried away. Sorry."
"S'okay. I did too," she admitted. Neither of them were really sure what to do at that point so they both just went with silence. "Wanna head back?" Amy suggested, and Jake gave her a single nod.
She attempted to get off of him in the least awkward way possible, but she didn't think she succeeded. He picked up the lantern and blanket in a single hand, while she took the second one. On the walk back he carried himself like he thought he did something wrong, so Amy interlaced her fingers with his to show him everything was okay.
They made it back to their cars and Amy thought they were about to part ways. But she didn't want to leave things like this. Things were okay, but she didn't want to leave it as okay. She wanted to leave it as good, or great, or fantastic.
"I'm not really like this," Amy said suddenly. The had both loaded up the supplies into Jake's trunk, so her hands were free to wring themselves until they hurt.
"Huh?" He asked, not knowing where she was coming from. Hell, even she didn't know where she was coming from. Or going. She had no clue what her next words were going to be.
"I don't get you. Or myself. I'm usually pretty consistent, but around you I never know what's happening. And it's weird. You're weird. In a good way. But still a weird way. I mean, you're normal, I'm weird. I'm weird around you. Or like I'm always weird, and I'm actually kinda normal around you, but that's not the point. I mean it's just... You." Amy was staring at her twisting hands too afraid to look him in the eyes, but not sane enough to stop rambling. "I always suck around people, I can count on that, but with you... You're an outlier." She was positive that she should stop there, because she was just saying the wrong things. She sounded psychotic, and creepy, and like a total freak. She needed to shut up and take a deep breath, but she couldn't stop rambling. "It took me months to be comfortable giving Marco a hug, and I had to live with Kylie for 2 weeks before I even said more than a few sentences to her, but I kissed you. I didn't even know you for 5 hours and I freaking kissed you. And it was wonderful. This is wonderful. You're wonderful." She paused for a moment to inhale, then when right back to it. "But that's not the only reason I'm here. Because I can function like half a normal person in your presence. Because you're great. You're really really great. And even if I had to bring a paper bag to breathe the next time I saw you, I would still be here. So I don't meant to-"
She hadn't even noticed Jake's hands on her face until he pressed his lips to hers. She didn't know how much longer she could last if she felt like she was gonna have a heart attack every time he kissed her. There wasn't any of the urgency or franticness they had only minutes ago, just gentle and soothing.
Her response was effortless, she didn't even have to think to move her lips to his simple and soft pace.
When he pulled back he had the sweetest smile on his face that she easily returned. He watched her with keen eyes as he tried to gauge if he had made a mistake by her reaction. Which, of course, he didn't.
"I want you to know I'm nervous too," Amy confessed. At the slight look of confusion on his face, she elaborated to remind him of their earlier conversation. "I'm nervous too. I want this to go well. But it's the good kind of nervous. Like the butterflies in your stomach kind of nervous, not the panic attack kind of nervous. And even better than last time I saw you, even though it was still weird," she admitted. "Like usually when I meet new people it's like 99% anxiety and like 1% me trying to calm myself down so I don't have a panic attack, so nothing really good in there. And when I first met you it was like 60% anxiety, and 30% butterflies, and 10% total confusion- which is actually kinda a big deal when it comes to me. But it's even better than last time now."
"I liked that you seemed more comfortable around me," Jake said with a touch of embarrassment. "Wait... does that mean I almost gave you a panic attack?"
"Maybe. Not really. I mean, sort of," she tried to sidestep the question, but he waited patiently for her answer. "Like sometimes I feel like I can't breathe around you, but it's the best breathlessness in existence."
"So where am I at now?" Jake asked, and this time it was her turn to be confused.
"Huh?"
"The levels. Percentages," he clarified.
"Uh..." Amy started, trying to accurately gauge how she was feeling. "Probably 60% butterflies, and 30% total confusion, and 10% anxiety." He considered her scoring, and she chastised herself. She really should have just told a white lie or something, or at least left out the anxiety part. She needed to stop saying stupid stuff around him. There was just something about him that made her default setting as honest, which was never a good thing with her. But she really did like being truthful with him, even if it was a stupid thing to do.
"Guess we're gonna have to start working on getting that anxiety to 0, huh?" Jake grinned. She was sure that it was impossible for the night to get any better than it was at that moment. She didn't have any words for how truly happy she felt.
"Are we dating?" Amy asked. "Like boyfriend girlfriend exclusive dating?"
"I hope so," Jake said.
"Me too. Let's do that."
"Yes ma'am," he saluted her. She couldn't help but laugh.
They both got in their respective cars, and he tried to wait for her to leave first, but Amy waved him off. She just needed to sit for a while and just exist. She rested her head on the steering wheel and took a several deep breaths in. Tonight was perfect. She had no idea what she ever did to deserve something so amazing. She was sure that she didn't deserve him, and knew that some sort of cosmic mix up must have happened to lead her to him. And she was so thankful it did.
AN: So yeah, I guess I've decided to turn this into a multi-chapter fic, so more is on the way. I was just blown away by the response this received. Thank you so much! For the favorites, follows, and especially reviews. And it was all of that that made me want to get this chapter out so quick. And reviews really mean so much, that anyone would take the time to do that, so thank you so much.
I tried adding more detail in this chapter, so let me know if it was too much, or too little, or just right.
And for some reason, I keep making Jake a trespasser in my fics. But that is totally something he would do, right? Right?
Hope you have a good day :)