Dark Eyed Dreamers

When we arrived people flew at us from all angles greeting us and embracing us. Jack and I earned a few sceptical looks which made me blush. Jack would always brush it off with a smile and guide me somewhere else though. I finally met Rian’s love interest, Kara and Carolyn and Zack snuck in and spent a lot of the night hiding from various adults. We’d danced, we’d talked, we’d laughed. It was turning out better, but I couldn’t help the nagging feeling deep inside of me. I was sat outside on a low wall sipping at the last of the punch in my cup until it was dry. Carolyn was first to find me, taking a seat next to me and asking me what was wrong. I explained the basics of the situation to her before letting out a deep sigh.

“So let me get this straight,” she began. “You’re scared of being around Jack tonight because you don’t feel good enough,” she clarified. I bit down on my lip. The way she put it sounded stupid but it was right. I kept quiet, closing my eyes and shaking my head. “It’s okay, I’ll go get him. He’s worried about you,” she said. She tucked her long black hair behind her ear and kissed the side of my head before walking in the direction of the hall. I held my head in my hands. What was I doing? I was making other people miserable because of my own insecurities. I sighed as other people came in and out of the hall.

“Brianna?” I heard a familiar voice. Looking up I saw Jack making his way over from the double doors.

“Hey,” I smiled.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked taking a seat next to me on the wall.

“I dunno. I have a little explaining to do,” I started. Jack’s arm snaked around my back as he pulled me into him.

“Well, you know you can tell me anything. I’m here for you, I always will be,” he assured me. I nodded to myself.

“Well, I was close to not coming today,” I confessed feeling guilty. “I was just really scared about what everyone’d think and... I don’t want to let you down,” I whispered the last bit. He took in the look on my face as I played with my fingers in my lap.

“Brianna, you will never let me down. You are so important to me and I’ll support you in anything you chose to do,” he confirmed.

“Promise me?” I asked.

“Always,” he smiled. I let out a breath and returned his smile. I saw him bite his lip as he looked down at the gap between us.

“What’s wrong?” I asked a tad worried and a bit confused. A smile dared to tug at the corner of his mouth as he hung and shook his head.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered. I placed my hand under his jaw and pushed it up so he was looking me in the eyes.

“Jack, I’m here for you too. You can tell me if something’s wrong,” I spoke softly. His eyes studied my face for a while before he finally replied.

“Anna, I’m finding this really hard,” he confessed. I frowned in confusion, my hand still on his neck.

“What do you mean?” I asked tilting my head to the side. I saw him roll his eyes in an ‘oh come on’ manner.

“Are you seriously trying to tell me you’ve not noticed how differently I treat you compared to everyone else?” He asked with one eyebrow raised. I shook my head slowly, not quite grasping what he was saying. His hand moved up, taking mine from his jaw and holding it in his own.

“Bless you Bri,” he whispered.

“I’m confused,” I admitted tilting my head again and thinking over the possibilities. Is this what Alex meant?

“Have you seriously not noticed that I love everything you do, I’m always being supportive towards you and I get a bit too close to you sometimes?” He asked.

“Well yeah but, I thought that was just,”

“Normal?” He finished my sentence. I nodded my head slowly as he let out a low chuckle. “It’s not me being friendly, I find it hard to control myself sometimes and I forget that you’re my best friend. I guess I just really need to let you know what’s happening,” he finished suddenly turning more serious. “I have really... strong feelings for you,” he confirmed. My eyebrows lifted lightly as I processed his words. “I know you like me a little more than a friend I just don’t know if you want anything to happen,” he finished looking away from me and letting his hair hang in my face. I smiled, leaning forward I pressed my lips to Jack’s cheek.

“Are you serious?” I asked smiling. He kept his eyes away from me, another smile threatened to tug at his lips as he nodded. “Jack, of course I do. It’s whether you want to or not,” I shrugged. I suddenly felt a lot more open with my feelings towards Jack. Since he’d worked me out for himself I thought his aim was to get as back to normal as possible, but I’d been misled once again. Lifting his head, Jack turned to face me. A warm smile appeared on his face as he took in my features.

“You have no clue how much I want to kiss you right now,” I heard him whisper as his eyes fixed on mine. I let out a small giggle and shrugged.

“I’m not gonna stop you,” and with that he stopped talking, slowly leaning forward to test if I was joking or not. Steadily, we both moved in, checking if we were okay with this. My eyes fluttered down to his lips, lingering there as our faces inched closer. Jack’s hand wrapped tighter around my back as we both turned to face each other better. I felt his warm breath on my lips and let my eyes flutter shut. His breath was soon replaced with another warm feeling. I smiled as I realised what was happening. Things were perfect. After so many years of patiently waiting it was all paying off. Everything I’d wanted was sat right in front of me and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.