Chapter 2: Coffee Date

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"Ugh" Jake groaned and rolled to grab his phone Emily Smith Missed call x4 Jake answered the phone

"Yo, what's up"

"Jake!" Jake jerked his phone away from his ear, cringing at his friend's ear-piercing scream "What is with this gossip girl post, is it true?!, are you two dating! For how long?! How long have you been keeping this a secret from us?!"

Jake sighed and responded "Em, EM! Slow down, No, No, we met yesterday, and never. I ran into her on my way to meet you guys on the beach and we started to talk." He got up from his bed and headed into the bathroom.

"Just be careful Jake, you know how much drama was caused last year by her, and how much her last boyfriend was targeted by everybody. I just don't want to see you hurt because of her"

Em I'm fine, don't worry about it I can take care of myself, hey I have to go, I'll see you Thursday."

"Oh, okay see ya then" Jake put his phone on the counter, grabbed his toothbrush, and started to brush his teeth. After that, he went back to his room put on some gym clothes, and went down to his private gym in the basement.

After lifting some weights Jake checked his phone for the time and saw that it was 6:20, to finish off his workout he decided to go on a Jog around the Hamptons.

After starting his Apple watch, Jake started his run at a good, steady pace. Waving to people walking by and hanging out in their yards. On this particular morning, the salty breeze kissed his cheeks as he pounded the scenic beachside trail. The rhythmic sound of his sneakers on the pavement was a calming soundtrack to his thoughts.

As Jake's heart pumped and his breath quickened, he couldn't help but feel the sense of freedom that the Hamptons offered. The sprawling estates, hidden behind tall hedges, turning a bend in the trail, Jake's jog led him to an unexpected encounter with two familiar faces. There, amid the golden morning sunlight, he found Serena and Blair, both adorned in their athleisure best. The Hamptons had a way of bringing together the unlikeliest of souls, and this was no exception.

Jake shot Serena a smile and waved at her as he jogged by. Serena, with her effortless grace, flashed a smile as her eyes met Jake's and returned the wave. Blair, always poised and ever the planner, had a hint of surprise in her expression. Jake had only seen her in passing through school and hearing about how beautiful she was. Seeing her now though she was nothing compared to Serena.

Jake peeled away from them, the last thing he sees is Blair turn towards Serena to start interrogating her about him. Jake's jog gave him a chance to clear his mind and do some thinking but after running 5 miles now it was time to head back to his house.

Blair has never been more shocked. Here she was trying to convince Serena to go and ask the lifeguard that's been making eyes at her out on a date, when a boy no he was a man jogged by Serena and her and waved at Serena. This usually wouldn't be an un-normal thing, Serena's beautiful and sexy, the thing that shocked her the most was when she looked at Serena, SHE WAS BLUSHING!

"Who the hell was that?! Serena answer me!" She was starting to get mad that something happened without her knowing or Serena telling her.

"he's just a guy that I met at the beach, we're grabbing coffee later."

"Oh? So, does this finally mean you're done with Brooklyn Boy? I thought you would never move on from him." She really didn't understand what she saw in Humphrey, he abandoned her whenever things got difficult for them. She was disgusted with him.

"I don't know, Dan means a lot to me, and I don't think I'm ready to fully move on yet." Serena looked down, her eyes wetting as tears began to fall "Everything is just so confusing" Blair felt bad now, here she was making her best friend cry. She reaches over and hugs Serena patting her on the head

"There, there don't cry. Let's go get you ready for your date later"

Arriving at his house Jake went straight to his bathroom and hopped in the shower. After the shower, Jake went to the kitchen and started to make breakfast. Cooking's always been something Jake has enjoyed, it's one of the few things he has in common with his mother. Growing up Jake and his mother would always fix breakfast in the mornings, while his father would sleep in. Jake would handle the eggs and bacon, while his mother would fix the French toast and sausage. Thinking back on the memories left a warm feeling within Jake. It was a family tradition, but it seems like family traditions are starting to disappear with his parents choosing not to come on the beach trip this year.

Remembering that his parents did not come started to put Jake down so instead of making the feast that he normally eats for breakfast, Jake settled for some toast and eggs. Even if he wanted to, he did have his date with Serena in 2 hours, so he didn't need to eat too much.

After finishing his meal Jake grabbed his connected his phone to the speaker system around the house to relax outside

The cozy coffee house, nestled in a quiet corner of the city, was bathed in a warm, inviting ambiance. The soft hum of conversations and the scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the air.

He glanced at his phone, checking the time. She was running a few minutes late, but he didn't mind. It gave him a moment to gather his thoughts and calm his racing heart. He had never felt this way about someone before.

Serena: Hey, running late, ran into traffic but will be there in 10

Jake: No worries, I'll go ahead and grab us a table.

Jake sat at a corner table, a sense of excitement and nervousness coursing through him as he waited for Serena, and then, there she was. Serena's presence seemed to light up the entire coffee house as she entered, her radiant smile drawing the attention of everyone in the room. She was beautiful, her long, flowing blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders, and she was wearing a long flowing blue sundress.

"Sorry I'm a bit late," she said, her voice soft and apologetic. "I got caught in traffic."

Jake couldn't help but smile. "Hey, you're good, I haven't been here for that long"

As Serena took a seat across from him, their eyes met, crystal blue meeting emerald, green. He thinks they're probably the most beautiful eyes he's seen.

"Jake?" "Jake?" Jake shakes his head.

"Sorry, sorry spaced out there for a sec." Jake gives her a smile "So tell me about yourself, we didn't really get to know each other when we talked on the beach"

Serena smiles at him "Well, as you know my name is Serena van der Woodsen. I grew up on the Upper East Side my entire life, only leaving on trips out of the country with my mother. I love to model, it's just something I've always loved to do. Trying on different types of clothing with my friends is so much fun."

Yeah? Didn't I hear about you modeling for the Waldorf design line last year?

Serena smirks at him "Yeah no, they wanted me to but once I heard that they kicked out my best friend I told them that if they didn't have both of us then they would have either."

Jake laughs "nice"

Serena takes a sip from her coffee "Okay enough about me, tell me about yourself, Jake. What do you like?"

"Well, I like hanging out with my friends, I like watching movies, kind of a movie buff. I love working on my truck adding all kinds of things to it. I love listening to music and playing my guitar." Jake can already tell that they're different but the way he feels right now, it doesn't feel like that's a bad thing.

"Wait you work on your truck?"

"Yeah, I like to think that if you don't make it yourself or modify it yourself then it's never really yours. So, when I turned 16, I asked my parents for a semi-old truck so I could work on it myself." Jake's truck has always been something he has been proud of. It's something he can show people and say 'Look, I did this' "I can show you it if you need a ride back to your place"

Serena's eyes never left him, and she never looked disgusted like most UESs would if they heard somebody was actually doing Manual labor. She actually seemed intrigued by it. "that's really cool"

They came to a comfortable silence, they finished their coffees and headed outside. They started walking down the street until they reached a park for them to walk and talk in.

"Something you probably don't know about me is that I am a volunteer firefighter right now and I plan on becoming full-time right after we graduate from high school."

"Yeah, I work on it whenever I have time, but what takes up a lot of my time, besides school, is that I'm a volunteer firefighter." Serena's eyes go wide

"What? What makes you want to do that?"

He is hesitant to tell the story about Will, the event still painful for him to tell people about. So Jake decided to just stay vague with his reasoning.

"It's just something I'm passionate about, I had a bad experience with fire growing up. I decided that I didn't want other people to feel the same as I did that day so I'm training to help them."

"I can't believe you do that, that's really brave of you. Can you tell me some stories about the job?" Serena has this look of wonderment on her face as Jake tells her some of his best stories, mainly exaggerations because he hasn't yet gotten the chance to do anything other than doing chores and training.

He was feeling like the date was going well, Serena was listening to his stories, and he was listening to hers and the more she talked about herself the more he wanted to learn about her.

Their laughter filled the air as he got to the end of one of his fire station stories.

Serena giggled "I can't believe that you accidently dyed the dog red."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault the dog ran through the brand-new red paint, you know how long I had to scrub the floors to get the spilled paint out of them."

By now they're holding hands and walking so Jake decides to take the next step. Jake pulls her body flush against his, one hand around her waist and the other behind her neck. Their first kiss was gentle, and tender but filled with passion.

Jake pulls away and sees Serena's mouth quirked into a small smile.

"So, what are the odds we do this again?"

"We have all summer to see where this goes"

Jake and Serena turn and continue walking, this time with Jake's arm around his waist. After a little while Serena needed to get back so Jake drove her home. When they arrived at her house, they both get out of the truck and Jake swears that he sees a head of Brunette's hair in the window when in a flash it is gone. He walks Serena to the door, where he pulls her in for one more kiss before saying goodbye. Walking away Jake couldn't keep the grin off his face as he texts Liam to meet up.

Blair rounds the corner to see Serena with a dopy smile on her face, leaning against the front door.

"Well? How did it go?" She's been freaking out waiting for Serena to get back home. She almost had Dorota follow after her so she could be kept updated but decided against that plan and settled to interrogating Serena when she got home.

"Serena answer me, I swear if he drug you?"

Serena laughs "No, no he didn't drug me. The date was so good, he was so sweet actually listening to me when I told him stuff and not just staring at my body" Serena thinks for a second the dopy smile coming back to her face. "After coffee, we went for a walk where he was telling me stories. After telling me a funny story he pulled me in and kissed me."

Serena giggles "And what a good kisser he is"

Blair smiles and starts pulling Serena to the chairs outside "Come, come tell me about everything, and don't leave a single detail out"

As the two girls walk away their phones, sitting on the table, start to buzz

Spotted in the Hamptons: Jake and Serena, turning up the heat on their date. 💋 Looks like sparks are flying, and lips are locked! Can't say we're surprised. Is this the real deal or just another summer fling? Keep your eyes peeled, Upper East Siders! XOXO, Gossip Girl 💏 #HamptonsRomance #SecretsOnTheShore