From the anonymous prompt, "Jacob want their first kiss to be amazing but when he trying to kiss Cassandra somebody or something being interrupted them."

Oh my god it's ten to four am I need to go the HELL to bed, I have a midterm to bomb tomorrow

(this prompt was cute. I added in the bit with Ray when I realized that by doing so I could make it a five times x and one time y fic. also, like I said, it's four in the morning, which is basically a normal bedtime for me even if it shouldn't be, but I AM tired, so if I missed anything editing, I will most likely find it tomorrow. okay, enjoy.)

Jacob hadn't been expecting this eventuality, but it was hard to deny that the moment was ideal. He and Cassandra in a hot air balloon, drifting slowly away from the small mountain where Eve and Ezekiel had been left behind. It wasn't the best escape plan, nor the smoothest, but it worked, and they'd seen the other two take the Serpent Brotherhood's truck, so in theory everyone on their team was safe and the Brotherhood was left to traverse their way down the mountain on foot. In the distance, they could see the truck making its way down the mountain road, presumably to meet them at the rendezvous point Cassandra had suggested after a few quick calculations, before the balloon was untethered. In the meantime, the balloon had plenty of fuel, the radio was out of range for communication, and there was nothing much to do but talk.

They'd been chatting away, and even flirting a bit, for the better part of an hour now, taking turns keeping an eye on the burner. It hadn't taken them long, working together, to figure out how it worked. They stood together in the little basket, climbing or descending as Cassandra calculated was best based on the wind speed and direction, and otherwise just admiring the afternoon as it eased into early evening.

"Another experience I get to cross off that brand-new bucket list," she told him with a smile.

He grinned at her. "Must be a pretty long one, huh?"

"Yeah. The sudden knowledge that I have a whole life ahead of me is pretty exciting. There's all kinds of stuff I can't wait to do," she answered. He watched the breeze tousle her hair and thought, not for the first time, that he'd never seen anything better. Well, he'd been waiting for the perfect time.

"Anythin' else I can help you with, you think?" Jacob asked, that flirtatious note in his voice again. Cassie turned to face him, matching his smile.

"I dunno. Maybe," she answered, half-teasing and half-shy.

He straightened up a bit from where he'd been leaning on the edge of the basket, stepping closer to her slowly – partly the mood, partly not wanting to wobble the basket too much – and stopped directly in front of her, only inches away. They were both still smiling. He leaned in, only a fraction of a second away from her when suddenly–

The radio on his belt made a horrifying screeching noise and they both jumped. Jacob cursed as Eve's voice crackled through.

"—hear me? Stone, Cassandra, DO YOU COPY. Guys—"

Irritated, he ripped it off his hip and brought it to his mouth. "We read you, Baird."

"God! I hate the range on this thing. Are you two okay?"

"We're fine," he answered grumpily. Cassandra peered over the edge of the basket for a moment, then pointed at the road a distance away.

"There they are!"

"We see you," Jacob told Eve with a short sigh. "You guys good?"

x

Jacob didn't mind one bit that it was his turn to be Cassandra's fake date. He wasn't wild about that bimbo character she always played, but when she smiled at him over her shoulder he could see the real her shine through, and that was the girl who could make him weak in the knees. The evening gown she wore was drop-dead gorgeous, and it was hard to keep his hands off her. Luckily that worked just fine for their cover.

Eventually he found an excuse to swirl her onto the dance floor, and he couldn't have been much more pleased about it. Spinning her gently around and then pulling her close, finally getting the chance to take her away from everybody else's attention and have her to himself for a moment – it was a little selfish, but part of him didn't want to share.

"You're a good dancer," she said softly, apparently amused.

"Surprised?" he teased, shooting her a grin.

"A little," she answered with a giggle. "But pleasantly so."

"Big family," he explained. "Lotta weddings. You pick it up."

Now she laughed outright. "Well, it paid off. This is really nice," she told him.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed. The dance allowed him, then, the opportunity to pull back just far enough to get a good look at her face. She smiled at him. God, but she looked beautiful; his heart damn near stopped. It was just about the end of the song. It would be the perfect time to…

Jacob was leaning in, and he thought Cassandra was too, but at that precise moment, Flynn collided with them from the side. He grabbed one of their arms in each hand and dragged them with him as he barrelled across the dance floor, not even stopping.

"Flynn-?" Cassandra managed.

"I pissed off a whole troop of gremlins in the basement," he squawked breathlessly. "We have to go."

x

All five of them were on a boat on the ocean, nothing to do but bob on the waves overnight. A day's diving had turned up nothing yet, but Flynn and Cassandra weren't convinced it was a lost cause yet, so a night onboard was the next step. Jacob got seasick when he went below deck, so he was standing on the bow, admiring the night sky. Without the light pollution he'd started to get used to in Portland, there were more stars than he'd ever seen in his life. It was an amazing view.

"You can't sleep, either?" Cassandra asked as she came up and leaned on the railing next to him.

He gave her a little smile. "Get sick down there. Fresh air and clear view makes it better."

"You'll have to sleep eventually," she teased him, bumping his shoulder.

"Maybe I'll just sleep up here," he tossed back, grinning.

She looked up into the sky. "Incredible how much you can see from here."

He nodded. "I was pickin' out constellations. They're almost harder to spot when there are so many stars. And the view is different than it would be at home this time of year, so I didn't know what I was lookin' for."

"Can you point them out to me?" she asked.

He gave her a bemused look. "You must already know which ones are where."

"Yeah," she admitted, "but I like hearing you talk about them." She looked at him again, smiling gently.

He was flattered. "Cassie…" He straightened up from the railing a bit, stepping closer to her. She was still smiling. God, he was so close he could feel her breath on his face—

"Hey, what're you guys looking at?" Ezekiel asked. Jacob jumped back, his hand coiling into a fist and then settling against the railing with a thump.

"You're still up, too?" Cassandra asked.

"Got hungry," Ezekiel answered, holding up a box of crackers in the light from his phone. "Thought I'd come up and listen to the waves while I ate. I like the ocean." He was grinning, and Jacob wasn't convinced the thief didn't know exactly what he'd interrupted.

x

"Thanks for helping me look, Jacob," Cassandra said, slipping her arm into his. "I can't find this book anywhere. Jenkins doesn't know, either. It's weird to have something go so missing."

"No problem," he told her as they strolled down the centre aisle of the Library, into its increasingly mazelike stacks. "It is kinda strange. But hopefully with a little teamwork…"

After a few minutes, Cassandra veered left, leading him towards a particular shelf. "This was the next spot I wanted to try," she said, setting up the little folding stool she'd brought with her. "I'll look at the top shelves if you'll try the bottom ones?"

"Sure," he answered with a smile. He began skimming the titles on the lowermost shelf as she stepped up on the stool and started along the top one. He kept one eye on her, just to be sure, which turned out to be a good idea – she leaned over too far and started to wobble.

"Whoop!" she squeaked. Quickly he stepped close to catch her before she could lose her balance completely, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the stool from slipping out from under her. Acting on instinct, he scooped his arms around her waist as she fell toward him, and he let her down to the floor gently.

She let out a sigh of relief, placing her hands on his chest. "Thank you," she said with a sheepish smile.

"You're welcome," Jacob said quietly, loosening his grip on her already, but he couldn't quite tear his eyes off her face. It wasn't the kind of perfect moment he'd been trying for, but then again, they were alone together in what had long been both of their favourite place in the world, and what could have been more fitting?

Hands on her waist, he started to lean in, but a heavy smack on the floor behind her startled them both. Cassandra turned around and saw the book she'd been searching for, having fallen out of the shelf opposite the one they'd been checking. "Oh!" she said happily, leaning down to pick it up. "Thank you, Ray!"

Jacob closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. "Thought you mighta been on my side, here, Ray," he muttered in a low voice.

x

Cassandra sat down next to him again on the bench. "Just got another text from Eve. Jenkins is working on the door. He recommends we stay put."

"I'm all right with that," Jacob said affably. "I can think of worse company than Van Gogh."

The two of them looked at the paintings on the gallery wall across from them. "I did always love his sunflowers," she agreed. "Some of my favourite artwork."

"Yeah?" he asked. "I didn't know that about you."

She gave him a smile. "Mhm! I don't know nearly as much art as you, obviously, but Van Gogh's one of my favourites out of what I do know."

He turned to face her better, grinning. "So who're your other favourites?"

Cassandra lit up. "Well, Monet's probably my favourite favourite," she answered. "His paintings are always so peaceful, they make me feel so at home. Um… I like Matisse's colours. Actually, I like fauvism a lot in general. It's so bright and exciting."

"I always thought fauvism was underappreciated," Jacob agreed readily. He didn't think he'd ever been more in love with her than he was just that moment.

She was looking up as she tried to recall other names. "Umm… I love Gauguin's paintings from Martinique and Tahiti. Oh! And Georges Seurat!" She met his gaze again and saw the enormous grin on his face. "They're all very mainstream artists, I know. Nothing like your favourites, I'm sure," she added shyly.

"No, but I like hearin' you talk about art at all," he told her. "I don't think you've ever brought it up before. I didn't know you had any interest."

"Well, my parents did bring me up to be 'cultured,' whatever that means," she joked self-consciously. "But even if they hadn't, I don't think I could know you and not have developed at least a little interest."

Jacob didn't think he could handle another moment of this. One arm still along the back of the bench, most of the way around her shoulders, he leaned forward, not even slowly this time, he'd been interrupted too many—

"Ahah! Colonel Baird, it worked!"

Before Jake even had his eyes open again, he heard Cassandra saying, "Jenkins! You did it!" He opened his eyes in time to see her hop up from the bench, looking towards the doorway behind him. She grabbed his hand. "Jacob, come on, let's go show everyone what we found."

He couldn't believe it had happened again. He couldn't believe it. So many chances lost. But he let her pull him up off the bench and back into the Annex.

x

Jacob had never once in his life agonized over a kiss. He'd been kissing girls since he was fourteen – eight, if you counted Sally Deighton back in grade school – but never once had it caused him this much distress. Cassandra was as perfect a woman as he had ever met, and he wanted the perfect moment. He'd never fallen for anyone like he had for her. But far more ridiculous than that, by now, was the number of times he had failed. Over and over in the last few months, he had had an opportunity and somehow lost it. He was starting to feel like he was trapped forever in this strange purgatory, doomed always to come unbearably close but never to make contact.

But he adored her too much to do it any other way. He couldn't bring himself to just walk into the room and lay one on her one day. The moment had to be just right.

"Hey, Jacob," Cassandra had started one morning in the Annex. "My cuttings book is sending me to Paris. I know it's one of your favourite cities. Want to come?"

"Yeah," he had answered with a smile. He could hardly say no to her. And, hell, he could hardly say no to Paris.

After dealing with what had turned out to be a pretty straightforward haunting, they decided to spend the evening sightseeing. Jacob had already seen a lot, but Cassandra hadn't had much opportunity to wander Paris yet. He didn't mind going with her to all the standard spots.

They were standing next to L'Arc de Triomphe and watching the sun go down. It was one of those incredibly bright and colourful sunsets, painting the soft clouds in brilliant orange and pink. Cassandra couldn't help cooing over the colours, and Jacob couldn't help smiling as he watched her. When she turned to look at him, her eyes caught on his, and she stopped, smiling broadly. "Jacob…"

Was this it? Was this the moment? She was watching him all wide-eyed and happy, right there in front of him. There were people all around them, but none were their friends, with all their terrible timing. Maybe…

He took a cautious step closer to her to close the gap between their bodies. Nothing stopped him. She was still smiling. So he leaned in.

He was stopped by a finger against his lips.

Jacob opened his eyes and looked at her. She was still smiling. He pulled back slightly, eyebrows knitting in concern and confusion. "Cassie," he said, pained.

Her smile grew. "I just wanted to ask," she said softly, "why you never follow up after we get interrupted."

He stared at her for a moment, baffled. "I just... want it to be amazin'," he said finally, very quietly.

Cassandra's smile grew even further. "Have you been trying for the perfect moment this whole time?" she asked.

He nodded.

She laughed. "Jacob," she told him. "You're such an artist. You could have made any moment perfect just by doing it." Then she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down, kissing him soundly as the sunset faded.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, completely unwilling to let go now that he finally had her.

It was better than he'd ever imagined.