i am sooooo sorry for the wait, but i hope it was worth it guys! this chapter is very important in Dave and Jade's relationship ;) i tried making it as cute as i could

CHAPTER EIGHT

Your name is Dave Strider and it was almost time for your date with the beauty that is Jade.

In any other case you would have vented to your bro, John, but what Rose said was still hanging on your mind. What did she mean 'don't tell John'? Why not? Eh, whatever it doesn't really matter you suppose, all that you should focus on right now is making yourself stop breathing like a dog in summer.

You were standing outside the coffee shop, the smell of cocoa bean and mocca was faintly seeping out into the cold air. It was getting close to that time when you could start seeing small wisps of your breath, but only just a bit. Okay, deep breaths Dave. Show time.

You pushed the door open and scanned around. Jade was behind the counter, taking off her apron. She looked up at the sound of the bell and immediately grinned when she saw you. "Oh! Dave you're here, great timing. My shift just ended, gimme a sec to get dressed."

"Yeah kay, I'll just chill over here, take your time." She bounded into the back room and you gulped. Nope nope, gotta ignore the thoughts of Jade changing clothes. Haha, no Dave. Bad Dave.

"Are you the jackass that annoying as fuck Jade won't shutup about?" You almost jumped when you heard a loud angry voice next to you. You looked sideways, and then down. What the fuck?

"What's it to you, short stuff? Gotta crush on her?"

"Fuck no! Idiot, it's just been the greatest fucking annoyance to any poor bastard that asks her about it. So naturally I wanted to know if you were the motherfucker who's the cause of it." You were trying not the laugh, holy shit this guy held a lot of anger for someone so short. He had messy dark hair and hazel tinted eyes, his skin was pretty pale and he was uber pissed off.

"And what's your name, kid?" You absently crossed your arms over your chest and glanced back at the door across the room to check for Jade.

"Fuck off, I'm not a kid. And it's no business to you what my name is, asshole."

At that you were a bit surprised, how was he not a kid. He was a good head shorter than you. You looked at him through your shades. "Not a kid? But... are you sure?"

"You are such a moron," He rolled his eyes and huffed, "Of course I know if I'm a fucking kid or not, what do you think I am? Stup-"

"Kaaaarkat, are you bugging Dave?" You heard a light, sing song voice. Jade tutted and poked Karkat's face, to which he flinched in response and waved his arms up to shoo her away. You noticed she was wearing a simple, but pretty cute, little outfit. A dark earthy, green jacket with wool around the hood. Underneath she was wearing a copper colored blouse and her blue jeans were tucked into fur lined snow boot (the kind with two fuzzy balls hanging on strings). A blue patterned scarf was tied loosely around her neck.

"All I was asking was for the prick's name, have fun macking on each other, fuckers." He shuddered and Jade blushed. She turned to you, who raised an eyebrow. Jade waved her hand absently giggling awkwardly.

"Haha, sorry about him. He's Karkat, my co-worker. He's a headache most of the time but I suppose he's an okay guy." You nodded in acknowledgment.

"He seems like quite the little handful." You huffed, Jade laughed.

"Oh don't make fun of his height, Dave! Come on let's go now." She grinned and looped her arm in yours, pulling in close. You gulped and opened the shop door.

"Ready, milady?"

"Totes, Mister Strider." She giggled and you led her out onto the street, where you had parked your car. Jade gasped, "Oh! Dave it's sooo cool! Wow!" She jumped over to it and starting admiring the red paint job and the seats inside. You chuckled to yourself and opened to passenger side door.

"Ladies first."

Jade giggled and batted her eyelashes, "Ooh lala, such a gentleman." She got inside and pulled her coat around her.

You got in and turned the key in the ignition. You looked over at Jade who was putting on her seatbelt, her breath came out in small wisps. She was so damn pretty. Her hair was left down today, falling delicately around her shoulders. You noticed she wasn't wearing glasses today, maybe she had contacts in? And her lips, they looked soft and pink and completely perfect. She turned to catch you staring, you quickly averted your eyes to look into her crystal green ones.

She grinned and hugged herself, "So where are we gonna go?"

You coughed and shot her a smirk, "I was thinking we'd get some pizza and head out to the park, go for a walk and shit."

"Oh! Yes pizza sounds awesome!" She bounced, "Away we go!" You laughed and pulled away from the curb. Revving the engine twice and then heading off to go find a pizza place. You probably should have planned where to eat ahead of time so the ride took longer than you would've liked, but Jade was smiling the whole time so it was worth it. She jumped up and pointed, "Ooh! Ooh! How about that one! It's a new place I heard about."

You pulled over to it and parked. Once the car stopped moving Jade immediately jumped out. You couldn't help smiling as she started twirling around in the open air, smiling brightly. You adjusted your red hoodie and opened your door to step out, locking it behind you.

She came over to you and breathed out heavily, "Look Dave, imma dragon!" You put your arm around her timidly, but she sank right into it, leaning up against your side and even putting her own arm around your waist. Your face felt a bit hot but if you were blushing, Jade didn't notice. Good thing it was getting kinda cold out, most people's faces would be red anyway.

You both made your way into the little restaurant and up to the counter. "Table for two." You told the girl at the counter, she nodded absently and directed you to your seats. The place wasn't to busy at the moment, but it wasn't exactly empty either, which was cool. You pulled out the chair for Jade and did a dramatic bow like some kind of butler or something. Jade giggled and sat down, taking off her coat, leaving her scarf on.

You sat down too, not bothering to take off your jacket. Jade was looking around the place, bright eyed and smiling, "This place is so cute, it's like a cozy little house that smells like food!"

"You know what you wanna order?"

Jade looked thoughtful for a moment then looked down at the menu, "I dunno, how about we share a pizza." You nodded and the waiter came over, a weird, preppy girl named Aradia. You ordered and she grinned at you. You couldn't help but feel just a tad creeped out.

Neither of you said much while waiting for the pizza to come. It was weird, you've never really had that kind of awkward first date feel before, but with Jade...you just didn't know what to talk about. You coughed, Jade looked over at you expectantly. "Uh...so. I suppose you should tell me bout yourself, so we're not sorta strangers."

Jade nodded, "Yeah sure, uuuuuh. I don't really know what to say, most of my life I just lived by myself. I guess in normal people's you terms my island was kinda dangerous but I handled myself, my grandpa-"

"Whoa hold up, did you say you lived on an island your whole life?"

"Um, yeah."

"That is a craaazy coincidence." You had to admit you were a little freaked out, Jade however looked the opposite of spooked. She leaned forward, bright eyed.

"Oh my god! Don't tell me you lived on an island too?!"

You chuckled, "No sorry, I lived in a big Texas city."

Jade leaned back and furrowed her eyebrows, "So what's a coincidence?"

You shook you're head, "Nothing really, just a bro of mine has some kinda sister that came over here from an island."

"Oh, is she cool? Maybe we could be friends." Jade grinned at you and you shook your head, leaning back and folding your arms across your chest.

"Haven't met her."

"Hmm." Jade tapped her fingers on the table. "Well Dave, tell me about yourself, it's your turn."

You flushed, the last thing you wanted was to tell Jade about your fucked up family life. She's probs get freaked and bolt right out of a window or something. "Uhhhh, oh thank the lawdy, pizza's here." Jade looked over to see Aradia set down the food. You immediately stuffed a piece in your face.

"Daaaave you're avoiding the question."

You mumbled something that you hoped sounded like, "No I'm not."

Jade sighed and smiled, "It's fine, I can take hints. You don't like talking about your family life. I respect that, Dave." This surprised you, jesus how great was this gal?

You gulped and mumbled a thanks and an apology, Jade laughed and said that it's fine. That's how the next half hour played out, you both ate pizza, talked about playing music to plants, had a sausage throwing war (only for a little while because Aradia started to come over), and Jade told you some more about her island. It sounded like some kind of Jurassic park scene(which you thought was totes awesome, Jade must be pretty badass to have lived in a place like that).

Then finally you both found yourselves outside, walking side by side. The park didn't have many trees, but enough so the ground was a mixture of dead leaves and a light coating of frost. The sky was in splotches of grey. You looked over at Jade, she had wedged her hand into yours and interlocked your fingers. It felt pretty nice, being it was cold and all. Your other hand was in your pocket while Jade swung your other arm back and forth, humming and looking around at everything.

She looked amazing, her skin was light cream, rose red dusted her cheeks and nose. Her eyes of green emerald shards were wide and bright, and her perfect, soft lips were pulled into a small smile. Her hair rustled in the slight breeze, sending black strands flicking around her shoulders.

You gulped and looked away. "Dave?" You heard her light voice next to you. "Daaaaaave."

"Hm." You grunted, keeping your eyes straight ahead. She pressed herself against your side, like she did outside the restaurant. You felt her stand on her tiptoes to reach the side of your face, you felt your cheeks get hot.

She leaned in close to your ear and whispered, you felt her breath brush across your skin, "Let's go, boy."

She leaned away and you practically choked, "Wha-" You turned around- and found yourself with a face full of dead leaves. Jade laugh and bounded away while you sputtered.

"Leaf battle!" She cried and launched another fistfull at you.

You got over the shock quickly and brushed the leaves off, Jade leaned over for another handful. You grinned and ran over, she squeaked and threw them at you. They fluttered harmlessly past you. Jade laughed and ran for it. You chased her around, the both of you kicking up dead leaves and frost underfoot, laughing and calling out loudly.

Damn, Jade was fast. This is not going as smoothly as you hoped. Just as you'd come up close, she's back a turn and twist around you, darting away through the open grass again. You huffed and smiled, the cold air stinging your lungs. You pumped your legs as fast as you good, gaining distance. Jade grinned and darted sideways.

"Oh no you don't!" You slammed your foot into the ground and launched sideways, arms extended to catch Jade. She let out a small cry of shock as you both tumbled onto the grass, rolling once of twice. You found yourself laying on top of her, arms under her lower back. Both of you were breathing heavily, sending wisps of air into eachother's faces. She was grinning.

"Wow, Dave. You're pretty fast." she winked and you got of her quickly, brushing leaves off of you. You offered Jade a hand and she took it, pulling herself up onto her feet. You mumbled a sorry, still smiling. She was smiling back, right in front of you.

Her hair looked windswept, littered with leaves, cheeks bright pink and grinning like a doof. You both locked eyes for a long while. Jade's smile lessened and she looked at you in fascination. she extended her hand and touched your face, soft and warm. "Dave..." You were utterly confused, but then horrible realization dawned on you and your smile faded.. "Your eyes."

Oh god. Fucking hell, your shades fell off when you tackled her. You pulled away from Jade's hand and she looked hurt. Shit, you fucked up. you fucking let her see your eyes! God dammit! You turned away, scanning the ground for you shades.

"Dave..." She sounded choked up. You didn't turn around, instead started walking the opposite direction, looking desperately for your shades. "Dave!" She grabbed your hand.

"Don't..." You uttered hoarsely, trying to pull out of her grip. Fuck, she was strong. "Jade please...I-"

"Shutup, idiot!" She tugged you backwards and grabbed your hair, pulling herself up to you face. You didn't have any time to react before...before you felt her lips on yours. At first you froze up, completely still. Then slowly, you lifted your arms and hesitantly put on on her back. Jade closed her eyes. You followed her lead, and kissed her softly back. She pulled away slowly, taking you into a hug and shoving her head under your chin.

She looked up at you, your red eyes stared back at her green ones, wide with shock, "But...but why would you...I'm a freak."

She flicked your nose and grinned, "You think I'm gonna hate you because your eyes? You are a dummy, Dave! I like you, I like you a lot. And I think your eyes are beautiful."

She snuggled her head into your chest again and squeezed tightly. You wrapped your arms around her. The warmth felt perfect against the biting chill of the air. You rested your chin gently on the top of her head, her hair was so soft. You closed your eyes and breathed out softly.

"You're the one who's beautiful...Jade."