Their hands held onto each other in a tight embrace while their elbows on the same arm rested against the table they sat at. Their other arm was held behind their back and with the help of two of their siblings, they made sure to keep it in place to give their older sibling the extra struggle. The third siblings sat on top of their shoulders. For Merida, it was one of her triplet brothers; for Jack it was his youngest sister, Sophie. It was quite an adorable sight to see, and funny too once I realized Jack was losing the arm wrestling fight with Merida.
His face was scrunched up in pain and determination; it was obvious he was fighting hard to find strength. Merida, on the other hand, didn't look like she was even trying. She smirked evilly at Jack, sweat not coating her face while it soaked his. Merida's three brothers all wore her same evil smile, but Jack's twin siblings, Jamie and Emma, wore a face of horror as their brother's hand slowly went down. Sophie, however, was all smiles and clapped at Merida's victory.
Jack looked up at his youngest sister and said something to her that was deaf to me. I could only assume that it was something along the lines of "Why are you clapping? I lost! Whose side are you on?". I had to hold in a laugh at the thought.
I had watched the entire scene from a distance just like the rest of the group, and felt my smile grow bigger and bigger the closer we got to them and the clearer they became. It was easy to find them. A pair of teens with extraordinary red and silver-white hair isn't hard to find at all, especially since both of their hair is never tamed. Always wild. Just like their personalities.
It's clear that Merida's triplet brothers are just as wild. Perhaps even more so than Merida herself, but Jack's siblings appear to be on the calmer side. All six of the siblings are so cute too. I've seen them in pictures that Jack and Merida would show me, moreso Jack than Merida, and they are way more adorable in real life than on screen. Despite this, I still felt very nervous. I've been told that Merida's brothers are very unpredictable. They only predictable thing they ever do is cause trouble; nobody knows just what kind of trouble though. And Jack's siblings...well it feels like I'm about to meet his mother, who I thank God isn't here. I would love to meet her one day, but...I'm just so nervous. The thought alone has my nerves upset. Meeting her other children already has my anxiety high, especially since I know they'll probably tell their mother about me. Or am I just being too self-absorbed and paranoid?
I most likely am…
Sophie was the first to notice us and when she sees Bunny she started to jump on Jack's shoulders and giggle. "Bunny!" She exclaims. "Hop, hop, hop!"
That got the others attention and when Jack sees me his smile is wide. At least...I think it was me he saw. He could have been looking at Tooth or Rapunzel. Hell, it could have been Maui he was smiling at. I don't blame him.
Bunny's whole tough guy demeanor changed upon hearing Sophie, and when his lips curl into a wide smiled that had Jack's beat, it was a sight I never thought I would see. "Hey, Sophie," he says as he easily picks her up from Jack's shoulders, "did you miss me?"
Sophie nods as she giggles and hugs his neck. "Bunny! Miss you lots!"
"Oh my god," says my sister, "she's so cute!" I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to hold her.
When Sophie saw her she smiles and points to my sister's braided pigtails. "Pretty!"
Anna's squeals at this. "Thank you! Your hair is pretty too."
Actually, it was a tangled mess, much like Anna's when she wakes up in the morning, but it was still cute nonetheless. Sophie then points at Rapunzel's and Astrid's braided hair. "Pretty! Pretty! I want braid. Braid, braid, braid!"
I always wear my hair up in a bun. I never do any other style. Never a ponytail, never a braid of any kind, never down, never half-way up...Always just an elaborate bun because that's how my mother always wore it and I miss her and father like crazy. I feel close when I wear my hair like this, but now...I am severely jealous of my sister, cousin, and friend. I never thought I'd ever want the praise of a toddler.
Bunny chuckles as he shifts her on his hip so he could readjust his grip on her. "Okay, okay. We'll braid your hair. You definitely need it. What rides have you done that did this?" He gently tugs at a strand of her tangled hair and looks to Jack for an answer.
"Just the Tilt-A-World," he says and runs a hand through his own messy hair.
Maybe it was the perfect angle of sunlight or perhaps it was just because I haven't seen him do that action in a while or...something...I don't know...but whatever it was...seeing him do that made me blush. Hard.
"That's the only ride she likes to do," Jack went on then put his hand on his stomach, "and let me tell ya, as much as I love every ride here, I can't do them back to back to back constantly. I nearly got sick back there."
"That's probably because you ate too many fried oreos," says Jack's other sister, Emma.
"I'm just trying to look like Maui," Jack teases, which causes Moana's cousin to punch his shoulder.
"Ha!" says Maui. "You? Look like me? Only in your dreams, Frosty." Maui then glances at Merida, who still had one of her brothers on her shoulders. "Whassup, Red?"
Merida smirks. "What's up? Well, I'd have to say my brothers. They're on your back, six feet off the ground."
Maui's eyes weren't the only ones that widened when they notice the two curly redheads gripping onto his shirt for dear life. How did they get up his back without him knowing? "What the hell?" says Maui as he starts to wiggle around to get them off. "Merida! Get your brothers off of me!"
Merida burst into laughter, as do the others and I, and when she whistles and yells their names, they jump off Maui and run to her like puppies. She even patted their heads. "Good job," she says to them.
Maui shudders and says, horrified. "I didn't even feel them on me."
Anna, much to my amusement and embarrassment, links her arm through his and says, "Don't worry, Mountain Man. I'll protect you."
"I thought I was Mountain Man," says Kristoff, a little offended.
"You're a pebble compared to Moana's cousin," Anna says without skipping a beat.
"I thought I was a pebble," Hiccup joined in, to which Astrid replied with, "You still are."
"Kristoff's more like a boulder," Rapunzel comments, which just sends the group laughing until Sophie says, "Braid, braid, braid!"
"Okay, okay," says Bunny, who turns to Astrid and says, "Do you mind?"
Astrid smiles and says, "Of course not. I love braiding hair, especially Sophie's."
"I'll help too!" Rapunzel says. "She's Rapunzel 2.0 after all, so of course I'll help."
"Rapunzel 2.0?" Flynn and I say at the same time.
"Yeah," says my cousin as she and Astrid brush gently brush through Sophie's hair with their fingers. The little toddler was still in Bunny's arms, and was being distracted by my sister who was letting her play with her pigtails. "She has blonde hair and green eyes like me. She's like my twin."
"Or Hiccup and Astrid's daughter," Merida comments, which causes the two teens to blush.
"Shut up Merida," they say in unison, which makes their blushes deepen. Astrid kept her gaze on Sophie's hair, but Hiccup was glaring daggers at his cousin.
"Is it always going to be this way?" He says to her.
His cousin shrugs and says, "You ask that all the time and my answer is still the same. Yes, it's always going to be this way. Just until Astrid actually develops a crush on someone. Then I'll be rooting for them. But I mean, come on, Sophie totally looks like she could be your daughter."
"She has your green eyes," Maui says.
"And her blonde hair," Moana continues.
"And she's clumsy too," says Jack's brother Jamie. "Like you Hiccup."
"Actually, if they have a daughter," Jack joins in, "I can see the coloring being reversed. She'd have Hiccup's hair color instead of Astrid's, but would have Astrid's eye color instead of Hiccup's. So brown and blue instead of blonde and green. Their son on the other hand would definitely be a genderbent Sophie."
"Okay, can you guys please stop talking about our kids that are never going to be conceived." Astrid begged, growling out her plea. "It's weird."
"Never say never, Astrid," says Tooth as she nudges Hiccup and winks at him. "Hiccup might pull a Neville Longbottom in the next year or so."
The conversation took a huge turn when Jamie suddenly says, "It's you, isn't it?"
All eyes turn to the young boy who, to my great surprise, was looking at me. I was so engrossed in the conversation happening before me that I hadn't even noticed his eyes were on me. This caused the others to look back at me as well. "Um…" I found myself saying, confused beyond belief. "I guess that depends on who you're talking about."
Jamie grins from where he stood, next to his older brother and twin sister who were both looking back and forth between him and I as the others are. "You're Elsa, right? I can tell because of Jack's description of you. He talks about you a lot. Did you know that? He never shuts up. So obsessed. I'm certain he has a huge c-"
"JAMIE!" Both Jack and Emma exclaimed, wearing equal horrified expressions. I'm pretty sure I look the exact same. What was he going to say? Jack has such a huge what? It sounded like it started with a C. Oh god was he going to say...yeah, I'm not going to finish that dirty thought. Why would he even say that? Why would I think that? Oh my god, I'm disgusting.
"What?" Jamie says, innocently, just as fake as Jack would be. "I was only going to say-"
He's cut off by Jack suddenly getting to his feet and saying, "Okay, that's enough talk. Let's go do some more rides before mom comes back to get you. You two done yet?" His question was for my cousin and Astrid.
"In three," Astrid counts down as her fingers pick up speed, "two…"
"One!" Rapunzel finishes. The two blondes high five each other then. "Our timing is perfect."
"One of these days," Astrid says as she caresses the top of Sophie's hair in a very motherly way, " you and I have got to compete to see who can braid Merida's hair the fastest."
"Oh I'd like to see you try," says Merida, who also got to her feet. She had a brother on her shoulders again, while the other two were down below holding onto her hands.
"Her hair isn't even braidable," Flynn comments. He walks over to her side then and ruffles her already messy mane. "I mean, look at it. I'm pretty sure my dead or dead beat parents are in there."
Only Jack, Kristoff, and Maui laugh at the horrid joke because they could relate.
Instead of swatting his hand away, Merida's brother on her shoulders does it for her, so hard that it causes Flynn to yelp and yank his hand back. "Jesus, Merida," he says as he steps away from her and retreats to my cousin's side, going slightly behind her as thought she would protect him. Knowing Rapunzel's crush on him, she most likely would, even if it's against a child. "You need to teach your brother some manners."
"And you need to learn not to touch a girl's hair without her permission," Merida says, smugly.
Jack and Maui say "Oooohhhhh" in unison and instead of saying something snarky right back, Flynn says, "You're right. My apologies." And he meant it. No sarcasm at all.
Merida smiles as she nods in his direction. "Thank you. Now," she looks at each of her brothers, "who wants to do the Spaceship 3000 again?"
While her brothers cheered yes, I couldn't help but say the same in my head. After growing up too fast, I'm finally going to release my inner child.
~1.5 Hours Later~
Who knew releasing your inner child could be so...painful? This was a mistake. A fun mistake, but a very painful one too.
The Spaceship 3000, The Himalaya, and The Zipper were the only rides I had done in this last hour and a half due to lines being so long, but oh my gosh despite the long lines the rides were so much fun. Well, the Zipper was fun, but the first two were, as I said before, painful. But through the pain I did enjoy them to an extent. The Spaceship 3000 made me severely dizzy, weak in the knees, and my face was sore from the ride's speed pressure. Definitely not a ride I should have done for my very first time ever.
The Himalaya was more painful because my sister and cousin squished the hell out of me. My cousin had warned me while we were in line that because I was the tallest between her and my sister that I would have to sit by the cart's entrance, therefore I'd experience a lot of pain. But oh my god...I wasn't expecting it to hurt that much.
The Zipper went a lot smoother. Although, I will admit, even though I couldn't see the ground all that well, I was still a bit scared once we were high in the air. I even screamed when the first loop happened. After that, I found my screams to be out of joy. What I find both funny and pathetic is that I was more nervous of Emma than the ride.
Maui and Moana rode together, as did Astrid and Merida, Kristoff and Hiccup, Tooth and Anna, and Rapunzel and Flynn. Bunny stayed below with Sophie and Merida's three brothers, whose names I have long forgotten. The four toddlers wanted to ride the Zipper so badly, but unfortunately they're too small. Jamie and Emma are tall enough, so while Jack rode with his younger brother, I rode with his younger sister.
She didn't talk to me while we were in line because she had her brothers to keep her attention on, but once it was just us buckled up in the Zipper, I had to force my shyness away to not only make things less awkward, but to also keep my mind off of how scared I was.
"So…" I had said to her as I had tightly gripped the chest bars, "...is this your first time riding the Zipper?"
"Nope," she had replied, then paused to look at me. I had turned my gaze to her when I felt her eyes on me and saw that she was grinning. "Are you scared?"
As much as I had wanted to be brave in front of her, I couldn't lie. "Terrified."
She had giggled and said, "After the first loop around, it's really fun. I was scared my first time too, but I had Jack to comfort me. I'm sorry you couldn't ride with him. If Jamie and I were tall enough to ride without a taller person with us, I would have made sure you went with him. Not only so he could comfort you, but also so you could ride with your crush. I mean, what person wouldn't want to ride with their crush and be comforted by them?"
My eyes had gone wide at what she was suggesting, but before I could correct her the ride had taken off, and the conversation was long forgotten as we braced ourselves for impact. I hadn't thought of what she said at all as the ride went on, but afterwards...it's all I can think about, especially now since it's time for her, Jamie, and Sophie to go.
"Do we really have to go?" Says Jamie after Jack got off the phone with their mother.
Jack sighs as he puts his phone back inside the pocket of his blue hoodie. "Yes, Jamie, you really, really, have to go. You'll be back tomorrow though."
"And the rest of Fall Break, right?" says Emma, looking hopeful.
Jack smirks as he ruffled her hair. "Don't piss me off and you just might."
Little Sophie, who was in Bunny's arms again, gasps in shock and points at Jack in an accusing manner. "Jack say bad word! Bad, bad, bad!"
Tooth smacks Jack arm and says, "Jack! You know better."
He takes a step back and holds his hands up in defense. "Whoa, in my defense, she should mind her own damn business."
"Jack!" Tooth hisses and hits him again.
I couldn't stop the laughter that escaped me and immediately blushed in embarrassment, blushing deeper when I make eye contact with him, and even more so when he grins. "See," he says to everyone, "Elsa agrees."
"I said no such thing," I defend, trying to hold back a smile. "And you really should watch what you say."
"And I hope you know," Emma says without skipping a beat, "that I'm totally telling mom on you."
"Me too!" Jamie agrees, and Jack gasps in shock.
"How dare you?! You know what," he wraps his arms around each of their necks, putting them in a headlock. "It looks like I'm not bringing you two back after all." His twin siblings took no hesitation in protesting while struggling to get out of his grasp.
Tooth links her arm through mine then and squeals, reminding me so much of my sister and cousin. "Oooohh I can't wait until you meet their mom. She's the sweetest."
"Wait, what?" I blurt, wide eyed. "M-Meet their mom?" My heart starts to race at the thought. I was well aware that I'd meet his siblings, but his mother? Meeting her other children was nerve wracking enough, I don't know if I'll be able to manage meeting her.
"Yeah," Jack replies as he releases his siblings from their headlocks. Jack must have noticed the anxiety in my eyes because he frowns and says, "If you want to. You don't have to meet her if you're nervous."
"I'm not nervous," I lie, hating him for a split second. Thanks for just throwing me under the bus like that, Jack.
"Well, I am," says Merida as she held onto one of her sleeping brother's body. "Mum is going to kill me when she finds out my brothers overdosed on sweets. Wish me luck." And as she walked out of the fairgrounds, Astrid and Hiccup followed after her, both of them holding the other two sleeping brothers.
"I think Harris ate the most," I hear Hiccup say as he walked passed me, "he weighs a ton." And yes, he was indeed struggling to not drop his cousin.
"Okay, then," says Bunny as he looks at the blonde toddler in his arms. "It's time we get you back to your mother now too."
Anna whined. "Nooooo! I don't want to say goodbye," and as she and Rapunzel and Moana said goodbye to Sophie, I took my time to say goodbye to Jack's other siblings.
"Well," I say to the two of them as they each stood on Jack's sides. "It was so nice to meet you. I hope I get to see more of you in the future."
Both twins smile. "I do too!" Says Emma. "Jack was right. You really are nice and cool."
"And a little intimidating," Jamie adds, much to my surprise, and I laugh when Jack smacks his shoulder and says, " Jamie! What the hell?!"
"Nice, cool, and intimidating?" I repeat, looking at Jack with a raised eyebrow. "Is that so?"
He nervously chuckles. "Kids. They're dumb."
"Are not!" Says his twin siblings.
Sophie grabs my attention then by shouting: "Bye-bye, Ella." She waved at me too and I couldn't stop the 'awww' that escaped my lips. Neither could everyone else. She's so freaking cute.
"It's Elsa, sweetheart," Bunny corrects her, but Sophie didn't like that.
"No!" Says the blonde toddler. "Ella! Ella! Ella!"
Bunny rolls his eyes, but doesn't suppress his smile. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say." He then looks at me and says, "You're Ella from now on."
I giggle and say, "I'll be sure to inform my parents."
If they ever call.
Bunny leaves then, with Tooth and the twins, and before Jack followed after them, he says to me: "Are you sure you don't want to meet my mom? I swear she doesn't bite."
I crack a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure. I just…don't want her to see me like this."
Jack laughs. "Like what? Perfect?"
"Perfect?" I repeat, laughing too. "My hair is a mess, Jackson." The once elaborate bun is now a low bun, nearly dangling to my shoulders, with frizzy strands popping out here and there.
Jack laughs again, and to my surprise, he reaches forward to brush my bangs up more to the side of my forehead. I was left frozen at his touch, but my blood was burning. He didn't even seem to realize what he had done until the second after he did it.
"I...uh…" his face goes red and he looks horrified, even more so when he glances at our friends, who I was unable to look up because of how surprised I am. "I'll be back." He says in a rush, avoiding eye contact with me, and dashing away. He speed walked to the point where he was almost jogging, leaving me still frozen and burning at the same time, astonished, and not alone in that department either.
Anna, Rapunzel, Moana, Kristoff, Flynn, and Maui all wore the same expression as I did, but slightly more shocked and definitely less red. Eyes wide, mouths agape, and then suddenly, Maui starts to laugh.
"Well, I'll be damned," he says as he shakes his head. "Jack finally has a girlfriend. Why didn't anyone tell me? I guess I should have known by the way he kept looking at you in line when you weren't looking."
I nearly choked on the air that was supposed to be keeping me alive. "Girlfriend?!" I exclaim, my voice going a bit higher than usual. "What?! No. No you got it all wrong. That's absurd. Jack and I are just friends."
"That's how it always starts out," Moana's cousin says, being a know it all that actually doesn't know it at all.
"Besides," he went on, "Friends don't look at each other the way you and Jack do. They don't stare lovingly at each other while one caresses the hair away from the other's face."
I tried to keep my frustration under control. I can't let him see that he's getting to me, even if he does mean well and is only teasing. Jack and Flynn tease all the time. But it's different this time since I've only just met Maui today. "I guess Moana was right when she said that you had no Brains to go with your Brawns." I only half meant it, I don't want to be mean on purpose, but I also don't want to be picked on. I got to stick up for myself even if it's playful teasing.
Moana and the others burst into laughter at the sight of Maui's shocked face. "Excuse me?" He says, all play and no real seriousness. "I'll have you know, Miss White Chick, that I am very intelligent man."
"Then you best stop with your teasing then," says his cousin, thankfully coming to my defense. "This isn't middle school, after all."
Everyone continued to talk amongst themselves after that, but I felt Anna and Rapunzel's eyes on me many times throughout the timespan of five minutes. They didn't say anything, which I knew would be in regards to Jack, and I was thankful for it. However, I knew they'd bring it up later in the privacy of our home or in a text. When the five minutes were up, Jack, Tooth, Bunny, Hiccup, Astrid, and Merida were back and our adventure at the fair continued.
We played games rather than ride anymore rides, and truthfully I found this more entertaining. Seeing the boys get so riled up because they suck was hilarious. Maui ended up in a cussing fit. It was up to the girls to save the day, which was even more hilarious. Astrid ended up winning the most prizes and gave one to whoever wanted it. She even gave some to random kids who would walk by, which I noticed put an adoring smile on Hiccup's face.
Somewhere along the line, Astrid deliberately won him a huge stuffed dragon. Not to brag and show off her skills, but because she had genuinely wanted to give him something. "You didn't take any of the other prizes I was giving away. I figured you would take one before Flynn and Maui would and I know you love dragons," she had said an hour ago, "So I thought: why the hell not? This black beauty had your name all over it. Besides," she had shoved the dragon into his chest roughly. "I saw you eyeing it earlier and there's no way you would have won it. Consider it an early Christmas gift."
He was more dumstruck than I was when Jack brushed my hair away from my face. So was everyone else. And as Maui had walked by, I heard him mutter under his breath: "Love is definitely in the air." Which had made me merely roll my eyes.
Rapunzel had won a small stuff chameleon that reminded her of her pet Pascal, which she gave to Flynn who happily took it. "How did you know frogs were my favorite animal?" He had asked, sarcastically.
"I didn't," Rapunzel had replied, "but that big wart on your head made me guess."
"WHAT?!"
Kristoff, with the help of Anna, got a stuffed snowman while she got a reindeer, which they both happily switched; Bunny won….well a bunny, which he gave to Tooth. Maui and Moana both won stuffed coconut monster looking things. Merida won six bears for her and her family. And Jack…
He won me a stuffed penguin.
Did I blush? Yes. Did my heart pick up speed? Yes. Did my stomach flutter? Yes. Did my eyes get a little teary because of how cute the penguin is and because of how sweet Jack was for giving it to me when he could have given it to one of his sisters? Yes. Did I suddenly want to kiss him? Yes.
Did I internally freak out after thinking that? Yes. But I kept it cool because...well...it would be embarrassing if I hadn't. But come on who wouldn't want to kiss him? He's very attractive. Even the blind could figure that out by just hearing him speak or sing. Or by the feel of his hand when it gently brushes away your hair from your face or-ANYWAY, my point is that yeah, I had wanted to kiss him, but only because I was grateful.
Emma's words from earlier, her accusation that Jack is my crush, which I had forgotten until that moment, quickly came back to me then, and oh how I wish she never said anything about it. Her and Maui both. They both have never been more wrong. I do not have a crush on Jack, nor am I in the process of developing a crush. I'm already connected to him. I do not need anymore...connections. No way. Not today. Nope.
And yet...my blush still hasn't gone away entirely, and my heart is still beating fast, and both have seemed to increase at the knowledge that Jack and I are going to be sitting next to each other on the Ferris Wheel. Alone. Just the two of us.
It was Rapunzel's idea to watch the sunset on the Ferris Wheel, but unfortunately the carts only held two people. So Maui and Moana sat together, then Bunny and Tooth, Rapunzel and Flynn, Anna and Kristoff, Astrid and Hiccup, and Jack and me.
Merida was going to go alone, but apparently that was against the rules, so she found a classmate of hers in line, Artie, and forced him to go with her. He didn't object, which was smart, but I couldn't help but cringe at the awkwardness that I knew they'd both face. Awkwardness I knew Astrid and Hiccup would endure too, and possibly my sister and Kristoff.
Which I'm surprised about. Astrid and Hiccup were thrown together, neither having a choice since Merida insisted that her cousin ride with her best friend, a.k.a his crush. And Anna...ha! She wanted to go with Kristoff. I know she and him have gotten a little but closer over the past few weeks since detention, but I didn't think it was to the point where she'd want to sit alone with him high in the air.
It wasn't until I looked back at her and Kristoff in the cart below us, and saw her grinning up at me, that I realized this must have been a set up. She wanted me to be alone with Jack. Maui's stupid words had gotten to her.
And now...here we were. Jack and I. Alone together on the Ferris Wheel as the sun sets. It's very...romantic, and oh I wanted to throw up.
"So," Jack says, breaking the silence between us that was definitely awkward. Things between us were awkward ever since he came back from the parking lot. Even when he had given me the stuffed penguin, his confident charm was gone, replaced with mild shyness that I was able to look over because I was so surprised at what he was doing.
But now I can't help but wonder. Why was he so nervous then? Why am I so nervous now?
"So," I repeat since he didn't say anything afterwards.
"How are you liking the fair?" He asks, shifting in his seat to get comfortable. Our bodies are tightly pressed together, leg touching leg, arm touching arm, shoulder touching shoulder.
"I love it," I reply, smiling honestly as I look out into the orange and pink horizon. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time." I look over at him then and nearly broke out into a sweat when I saw the sun's glow on his pale skin.
He's literally glowing. Oh god...he's hot. Like...really, really hot. Has he always looked this way? Surely he hasn't. Not this much at least. Oh my god, what's happening to me?
And when he grins, that's when my stomach churns into knots. Not butterflies, knots. "I'm glad to hear that," he says before turning his head and locking eyes with me. For a moment, he looked dazed as well, but then he quickly composes himself before I could and says, "Emma and Jamie love you by the way." He turns his gaze back to the setting sun. "You won them over quick. Mainly Emma since you and her talked more than you and Jamie. I think Jamie only likes you as much as he declared he did because you're beautiful."
There's the cocky confidence I'm so used to. I manage to smirk, ignoring the heat in my cheeks, the rough fluttering in my stomach, and the thundering heartbeat in my chest, and say, "How can you call me beautiful when there's an even prettier sunset painted across the sky?"
I did not look at him as I said this, and for a moment he does not answer. "Because," he finally says, and much to my disappointment, my head turns to face him, having a mind of its own, "you're the most beautiful creation God has ever made."
And for a second time...I wanted to kiss him. I look at his lips and squeeze the stuffed penguin in my hands nervously, praying that I wouldn't do something so stupid. But as his head leans closer, I don't pull away. I'm once again frozen. But not in shock or fear. I am unable to move because I want it to happen.
I want to feel his lips on mine and I want to feel his hands cupping my face or wrapping themselves around my waist, pulling me even closer to him than what we already are, in a more….comfortable position. Not like...a sexual one, but one where I can fully wrap my arms around his neck, and press my body against his in a passionate embrace. I just...I want his arms around me, I want to feel his warmth, I want to put my ear against his chest and hear his heartbeat, I want…
Him.
"Oh my god," I accidentally blurt out at the realization and say it again when I realized that our lips are a mere inch away. Were we about to kiss?!
"What?" Jack asks, worriedly as he leans back to give me more space. "What's wrong? Did I-"
"No!" I exclaim before he could saying anything like Did I do something wrong? Did I go in too fast? Should we take it slow?
Because no, he didn't do anything wrong at all. This is my fault for making him think I was interested in him. I...I'm not. I can't. And how can we possibly take it slow when there is no we? There never will be. It's not allowed. He probably wasn't even going in for a kiss. He was probably doing something else and I was too dazed out to realize.
"It's just…" I start, heart hammering against my chest so hard and fast that I'm sure he could see it pump against my skin. "I…" What do I say? Do I tell him the truth? What even is the truth? I don't know. "I'm scared."
Now that right there….that's the truth. 100%
Jack doesn't crack a smile like I had hoped he would. Instead, he leans his face closer again, staring deeply into my eyes, and whispers, "Scared of what, Snowflake?" Like magic, chills erupt all over my body.
I'm scared of what I'm feeling right now. "Of heights. This is way more scary than the Zipper." Which is both a truth and a lie.
Jack is surprised for a moment, not thinking that would be my answer, and then he burst into laughter, ruining the mood which is exactly what I wanted. "Why is that so funny? I didn't know I was such a comedian." I pretend to be heavily insulted, but am instead heavily relieved.
That is...until he wraps his arm around my shoulders, which I don't say anything about because I'm sure it's uncomfortable being squished between my body and his. "I find joy in everything. Damn, do you want me to be bitter instead?"
I laugh as I playfully nudge his side. "I'm about to get bitter instead if you don't hush and let me enjoy the sunset in peace."
"Meoooowwwww," he draws out, laughing all the while. "Looks like you got some sharp claws after all. But fine, if the lady wishes to have peace, then I shall grant you that. But first," he taps his shoulder, "you gotta put your head right here. Not only does it make for a better view angle, but I also have your head to rest on, and trust me Snowflake we are going to be on this ride for a while, and I need a nap."
I roll my eyes and say, "Of course you do. Emma was right, you really are a baby."
"I plead the 5th."
And so, I did as he instructed and placed my head on shoulder, immediately loving the feeling of it, and loving it even more when his head rested on mine. My heart, which I'm surprised hasn't given up yet, pounded like crazy the entire time, and my body was definitely tense despite how much I liked it. If Jack noticed, he didn't say anything about it. However, somewhere along the line, the tension I felt vanished, and I truly was at peace.
I even closed my eyes and listened to the sounds around me. It's noisy, but I like it. I love it. It's much better than the silence I'm so used to hearing in isolation. I took some deep breaths in too, smelling all the different aromas that made my mouth water. My favorite being Jack's cologne-
I cut the thought off real quick and open my eyes. No, I am not about to ruin this rare moment of peace. I need to enjoy it before Jack opens his mouth again and-
But when my eyes connected on a familiar face from below, kissing another familiar face, all the peace that I had felt instantly disappeared. "Oh my god," I learn forward to get a better look, causing Jack to remove his head and say: "What? What is it?"
I point down to the two bodies and say, "Look there. Is that who I think it is?"
Jack squints his eyes and then they widen. "Fuck. That's Lara and she's-"
My blood boiled in anger as I finished his sentence. "Kissing my sister's boyfriend."