HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE READING!
Now on to part two of Jonah and Sinead's first date!
Sinead hadn't known what to expect when Jonah changed course and had even felt a little wary. But she shouldn't have been.
"This is awesome." She told him.
He had taken her for a walk on the beach. At first, Sinead wasn't sure why he had been so excited. Sure, it was beautiful and all, but then she had heard the music. Farther up the beach a live band was out playing acoustic rock.
Jonah didn't go up to the crowd (probably still worried about being recognized) but they could hear the music clear enough from where they had decided to stop and sit and she actually enjoyed the stillness.
The sun had already set, so it was a little breezy, but warm. Sinead took her hands and started running them through the sand, then sighed and looked over the water.
"I know, it's beautiful out here." Jonah replied.
He too was looking over the water, a thoughtful look on his face.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked curiously, hoping that he wouldn't reply 'you' or something else totally cliché.
"How when you look over the ocean and the vastness of everything and take into account the different cultures and customs all over the world, life just seems so..." He trailed, trying to find a word.
Sinead frowned. She wasn't one for poetry or 'why are we here' questions so she wasn't sure how to answer him. But he must have snapped out of whatever because he turned and smiled at her.
"Never mind." He said, "Night makes me like that sometime."
They sat for a few minutes, basking in the moonlit ocean and sounds from the band, then Jonah spoke up. "So what do you wanna do tomorrow? Our cousins are going to the beach."
Sinead shrugged. "I hadn't thought about it." She said truthfully. "I want to spend as much time with you as possible, but I also want you to get to spend time with them too."
He looked over at her. "What about you? Don't you wanna spend time with them?"
"I already have today." She pointed out. "And yesterday."
At his contrite expression, she felt bad and added, "Plus when you leave, I'll spend plenty of time with them."
"Yeah." His thinking face came back. "We could go to the beach with everyone tomorrow, then hang out again by ourselves tomorrow night. The next day is when I fly out."
Sinead swallowed hard. "What time?"
"Later in the day, so we can spend that day together too. Sound cool?"
"Sure. You're a good planner." She said admiringly.
He let out a short laugh. "Not really. I have to make myself do it with my career, but even then my dad does most of the planning."
Sinead shot him a disbelieving look. "You planned plenty today."
"But that's cause it's you." He said. "I hafta work hard to impress someone like you."
"Someone like me?" She wasn't sure whether to be offended or not.
"Yeah you're super intelligent." He said factually, like he was stating one needed oxygen to breathe.
A smile tugged at her mouth at the compliment but Jonah was still talking, "And it's a good thing but you have high expectations. It makes someone like me, who normally just goes with the flow, a little nervous."
"You get nervous? Around me?" She scoffed to cover up her surprise. "I'm not the person in this relationship that is super talented and super famous."
And super hot.
He shot her a look. "You're talented too. And who cares about fame?"
She just shook her head in mock annoyance. The subject changed shortly after that to other things, and Sinead was glad. After about an hour of relaxing and talking, they headed back to the villa, although Sinead didn't think either of them really wanted to.
Jonah got her door for her again and they headed up the steps. Sinead wasn't sure what they would do when they entered - it was a little awkward staying at the same place - but Eric and Broderick were sitting in the front room, answering that question for them.
"Hey you two." Jonah's dad smiled. "How was your date?"
"It was good." Jonah answered vaguely. "What are you two still doing up? Aren't ya flying back early tomorrow Eric?"
Eric nodded, "Your dad is too. We were just discussing some things. Looks like we are good to go and we will see you in London on Wednesday."
"Hey everyone is out in the pool. I think they set a volleyball net up too, if you guys want to join them." Broderick put in.
"Sounds great to me." Sinead said, relieved that she wouldn't have to worry about what to do. "I'll just go change."
She backed up, feeling awkward in front of Broderick and Eric, especially since Jonah had skipped out on them early. But neither man seemed perturbed, just politely said goodbye, even Eric.
She didn't know if Jonah was behind her or not, but when she got to the top of the stairs she could hear him still talking downstairs.
Quickly changing, she put on her bathing suit but also put a t-shirt and shorts over it, remembering back to the last time Jonah had seen her in her bathing suit. She had felt self-conscience enough in her dress all evening, catching his admiring gaze several times.
As she took down her hair and removed her makeup, she thought over the night and felt pleased that everything had gone so well.
I didn't do anything stupid. And it was nice to be alone with him.
Five minutes later, she was ready to go. It was quiet downstairs, and she saw that the front room was empty when she walked through it.
The calmness didn't last long though; she could hear the noise from outside before she even opened the door.
"Sinead!" Reagan hollered. Sinead smiled back at her cousin, then glanced around and noticed that Jonah wasn't there yet.
"Did you have fun on your date? Where did you go?" This came from Madison.
Sinead evaded the question, not really wanting to give details to everyone.
"It was good." She used the same phrase that Jonah had with his dad. Walking over to the pool, where everyone was but Amy, she asked, "Who's winning? That's the team I want to be on."
"Mine!" Dan said, "We have all of the good players."
"Hey!" Natalie protested, who was on the opposite team of her boyfriend.
"Except for you sweetheart." Dan quickly added, shooting her a big grin. "You're amazing."
"Awww!" Nellie gushed, but then rolled her eyes. "Nice save."
Sinead thought it was kind of funny how Natalie perked up at the obvious kissing up, but laughed a little. Natalie and Dan really had changed a lot since they had started dating. Sinead wondered if she and Jonah would do the same. It was just too weird to think of long-term after only one date though, so she had a hard time picturing it.
Ted's voice cut into her thoughts. "Hey Jonah, come be on our team! We need help!"
Sinead turned and saw that Jonah was approaching them, coming to stand beside her.
"Ok." He said easily. Then he looked at her. "Which team are you on?"
"Dan's." She said, frowning at his attire. He was still wearing the jeans and white shirt from their date.
"Why didn't you change?" She asked, puzzled, then hoped that she didn't sound to critical, like she was nagging or something.
"I forgot to pack my swim stuff. But I can buy new clothes, no biggie." He said, sounding unfazed, hopping down in the pool and taking his place on the team. "Besides, I wouldn't want my tattoos to throw you off your game or somethin'."
She froze, slowly throwing each of her cousins a deadly look.
"Who", she emphasized through clenched teeth, "Has been talking to Jonah?"
Everyone's eyes had widened into innocent expressions, but she could also see that they were trying to hold back laughs.
She sighed. "Never mind. You know what? I'm not ashamed."
She got into the pool also, loving the feel of the warm water swirling around her.
"So I like a few tattoos. So do other people." Refusing to let herself get embarrassed by her annoying cousins, she shot them all a sweet smile. "What's the score?"
A few moments later, the game had ended and they were talking about starting a new one, the losing team demanding a rematch.
Sinead, who noticed that Amy had just been sitting at the other end of the pool dipping her feet in and not saying anything to anyone, excused herself from the game.
"I need to unwind for a second." She shot over her shoulder as she joined Amy.
She didn't say anything for a moment, until Amy finally looked up and Sinead saw that her eyes were red.
"What happened?" Sinead demanded.
"Tell me about your date." Amy said, like she didn't hear her, but Sinead shook her head.
"We can talk about that some other time." She said firmly. "What's wrong Amy? Did something happen while I was gone?"
Amy looked down. "No."
Sinead wanted to push, but knew that it probably wasn't the best thing to do. Instead, she just sat silently by her friend, wishing that Amy would tell her so she could try to help. It wasn't right that Sinead had just had one of the best evenings of her life when her friend obviously hadn't.
"I really would like to hear about your night." Amy said after a few moments. "Please, it will be a good distraction."
She sighed but gave in, hoping that it wouldn't make her feel worse. "Well, he took me to a really fancy French restaurant. Then we walked on the beach and sat and listened to a band play some music. It was nice."
"It sounds like it." Amy's eyes lit up. "How did he act? Did he try to kiss you?"
"He was really sweet." Sinead admitted, keeping her voice low, although with the noise the game was making, she doubted anyone but Amy could hear her. "He opened my doors, pulled out my chair, bought me my favorite flowers, complimented my outfit and everything. No kissing though, which is fine, I don't mind taking it slow."
Knowing that Amy would keep a secret and suddenly wanting to share other stuff with her, she added. "It was the little things too. Like he actually asked me first if I would care if he ordered our drinks. And then he took me to that beach because he remembered that the last time he came here they played the kind of music I like."
Amy grinned, "See? He's not bad at all, just like I tried to tell you the first few days."
Before Sinead could say anything, she stated, "But I know that you know it now. I'm glad that he's treating you good."
"He totally is." Sinead agreed. "And it's so easy to talk to him. I felt awkward at first, but he noticed and told me to relax, which helped."
They sat there for a few more seconds, and then Sinead tried again.
"Are you sure you're ok? Don't worry about messing with my night or anything stupid like that. You're my friend." She said firmly.
Amy didn't say anything at first, frowning up at the sky.
Finally, she said "It's just hard. Being around Ian. Earlier we hung out away from everyone else and it was a lot of fun."
She sighed, turning towards Sinead. "But then he withdrew on the way back and would barely even look at me. I hate it. I can't deal with his mood swings anymore. And I wish I didn't care so much."
Sinead felt a wave of sympathy for her friend, remembering how she had felt a few days prior when she didn't think she and Jonah could be together. It was an awful feeling.
"Amy, I'm sorry. I wish that there was something I could do."
She just shook her head. "You don't have to feel sorry for me. I'm being an idiot. Here I am, letting it ruin my evening when I should be over there having fun."
Amy gestured towards the other end of the pool, where Nellie was shouting at a teammate for missing the ball but ended up laughing because they accidentally fell backwards into the water trying.
"He's having a grand time." Amy muttered bitterly.
Sinead found Ian in the crowd and actually thought that he looked miserable, but didn't think it wise to mention to Amy.
"Let's go over there." Sinead said firmly. "Show him that you are fine without him."
Amy wrinkled her nose but agreed cautiously.
Sinead led the way, sliding up beside Dan. "Amy and I are joining you."
They had the same teams as earlier so she spotted Jonah across from her. He flickered his eyes from Sinead to Amy and looked slightly concerned, but when he noticed Sinead's glance he threw her a wink and a warm smile.
She smiled back but darted her gaze away, not wanting to endure more teasing from anyone.
Just like the volleyball game on land the prior week, Sinead's team was winning. Everyone had been missing the ball occasionally, but no one had as much as Jonah, she observed.
Ted noticed too as another ball sailed right by the star's head. "Man!" He complained. "You didn't even try to go for it. It was right by you!"
"Oh sorry." But Jonah seemed preoccupied, barely looking at him.
Reagan put in. "You told us you could play volleyball, what's your deal?"
"It's not my fault." He protested. "Sinead's distracting me."
"How is it my fault you suck?" Sinead said incredulously. "I'm just standing here!"
The look he shot her spoke more than anything he could have said in response. She blushed at his lingering gaze, and decided that perhaps it was time to go in.
She lifted her chin. "Fine, I'll just go inside. Then I won't 'throw your game off or somethin'." She quoted back to him as she turned and climbed out of the pool.
"Hey you can't leave!" Jonah protested. "Our date hasn't ended."
"I thought our date ended when we walked in the front door earlier?"
"I haven't kissed you goodnight yet." The grin in his voice was evident.
Sinead froze, but heard snickering from behind her and decided that two could play this game.
"Well, you know that book I was talking about earlier? It states that kissing on the first date is a huge faux pas. So sorry." She said this airily, grabbing for her towel.
She had barely wrapped it around her when he appeared right beside her, reaching for his towel also and throwing her a patient smile.
"Too bad I don't care what your dang book says."
Behind them, Nellie groaned. "This is like Dan and Natalie all over again."
"Actually," Natalie said in a prim voice, "Daniel and I have never argued about kissing."
"Sinead and Jonah are way worse." Dan agreed. Then he turned to them. "Can you please take your fighting inside? My delicate ears really don't want to hear this."
"We were just leaving." Jonah said, putting his arm around her and guiding her to the door.
Sinead let out a long suffering sigh, but didn't protest. Anyways, she kind of liked the way she could feel his hand on her waist through the thin material of her t-shirt.
"We have to stop and get my flowers." She reminded him as they entered the front room, trying to push down her nerves about kissing him. She definitely wanted to, but had only kissed a few guys. None of them had been very good at it, either not knowing what to do (like her) or trying to take it too far too soon.
She moistened her lips, wishing that they weren't so dry, and that she had talked to Jonah already about her amateur relationship skills. Now just didn't seem like a good time. She glanced over at his profile but he was reaching for the flowers with his right hand, still keeping his left one around her.
"Hey." She decided to say instead, after they had reached the top of the steps. She waited until he looked at her, and then continued softly, "Thanks for taking me out. You really put a lot of effort into it, and I know that Eric and your dad probably weren't happy and-"
He cut her off, "Sinead."
"What?"
They were at the door, so he handed her the flowers, then turned to face her.
"Thank you for being the best date I've ever had."
"Really?" The thought warmed her, and she couldn't stop the happy smile from spreading across her face.
"Really." He said firmly.
His gaze fell to her lips, and she swallowed, trying not to freak out about what was about to happen.
But he surprised her, only leaning in and kissing the corner of her mouth lightly then stepping back, eyes locked with hers.
"Goodnight." He said.
Her answer came out in a whisper. "Goodnight."
She watched him leave, then closed the door softly and leaned against it, a huge smile slowly spreading across her face.
What a night.
:D
"I haven't kissed you goodnight yet" might possibly be my favorite line of this whole story...which might sound like I'm bragging but I'm not, really. I mean, it's JONAH'S line, he just forced me to write it for him ;)