Your Eyes Shine Like The Stars At Night

“That house looked like an egg,” Jack observed as he drove us to his parents’ house.

I turned my head to him, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion. “What?”

“Your sister’s house. It looked like an egg,” he repeated.

“Um…care to elaborate…?”

“Yellow house with eggshell white shutters, trim and fence. It looked like it was hatched from a chicken.”

I laughed, lightly hitting his shoulder.

“Hey! No foul play while I’m driving! It’s hard enough to see through all the snow as it is.”

Minutes later, he turned into the driveway of a light blue, modest sized house. Nothing too fancy; just a cute, quaint, little home.

“Looks like May and Joe are already here,” Jack muttered, noticing the extra cars in the driveway. He looked over at me. “Just prepare yourself. Like I said before, Joe’s a horndog and May’s a bitch. Don’t get caught off-guard.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

I went to open my door, but Jack stopped me. “Wait!” He got out of the driver’s seat, running around the front of the car, opening my door for me. “See? I’m a good boyfriend!” he smiled proudly.

I chuckled and kissed his lips quickly. “That you are.”

“It’s freezing,” I complained, ducking my head into his shoulder as we fought the snow to get to the front door. He hugged me tighter, trying to warm me up. When he opened the door, a tall, older woman was waiting inside the threshold of the door, a huge grin spread across her face. “Oh, Jack honey, how are you?” she inquired, clasping her hands together.

“Good, Mom,” he replied, kissing her cheek.

“And you must be Scarlett! Oh, Jack’s told me so much about you,” she exclaimed, happy as could be. Butterflies approached my stomach when she said that.

I smirked at Jack, seeing his face turn red as his eyes pleaded with his mother to stop talking. “Jack, dear, don’t worry! Girls like it when they know their boyfriends tell their mothers about them. Don’t be embarrassed,” she chuckled.

I squeezed his hand, smiling at him. “Let’s just go sit down,” Jack mumbled. The three of us entered the living room, where the rest of the Barakat family was already located. A girl about Jack’s age, I assumed to be May, was sitting cross-legged, filing her nails and ignoring the company in the room. Joe was staring intently at the television screen, mouth agape, as he watched whatever show was on. And Jack’s father, who I’d learned was named Benjamin, immediately stood up as he saw his wife, son and I come into the room.
He grinned warmly at us, nodding his head at Jack, and shaking my hand. “Ben Barakat. I assume you’re Scarlett, correct?”

I nodded with a smile. “That’s me.” His siblings may not have been what I’d hoped for, but at least his parents were kind people. Mr. Barakat looked me up and down, surveying me and sizing me up. He sent a warm smile and a nod in my direction.

“Good pick, son,” he said to Jack.

“Thanks.” Jack squeezed my hand tighter. Thank god his parents approved of us.

“Well let’s get to know each other a little, shall we?” his mother asked, all too gleefully.

“Good idea, dear,” Mr. Barakat smiled approvingly. They were such a happy little family; it was strange to find that it was actually Jack Barakat’s family.

“So, Scarlett, honey, how long have you been seeing my son?” Mrs. Barakat quizzed.

“About two weeks. But we’ve known each other for a little over four months,” I nodded.

“How fucking sweet,” May snarled, filing her nails vigorously.

“Language!” Ben pointed his index finger at her, but she just scoffed.

His parents asked me a few more questions, seeming to approve of our relationship, before they went into another room. “They seem nice,” I said to Jack.

May looked up at me for a second, glaring. She, however, wasn’t nice.

I decided I needed to use the restroom, so I excused myself, walking down the hallway.

After I was done, I washed my hands and checked my reflection. When I entered the hallway, Joe was staring back at me, leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face.

“Let me just get right to the point,” he said smoothly, looking smug. “Why the fuck are you dating that loser?”

I scoffed, pushing his chest. “Don’t think just because you can get into other girls’ pants that you can get into mine easily. Because I’m not like that. And what’s worse is that you’re doing this behind your own brother’s back! How dare you.” I glared at him, angrily stomping back into the living room where Jack was.

He saw my livid expression, and stood up. “What’s wrong?” His voice was fraught with worry.

I shook my head. “You were right about your brother. He did try to flirt with me.”

He laughed. “Sorry, he’s just like that…”

“It’s not funny! What a dick,” I muttered.

“I’m sorry about him. Wanna step outside for a minute?”

I looked at him like he was crazy. It was freezing outside, and it was snowing madly. “Are you psycho? I’ll turn into an ice cube!”

“Not if you wear your coat,” Jack pointed out in a “duh” tone, laughing at me.

“Fine.” I slipped on my heavy white winter coat, waiting for him as he pulled his over his sweater. “Aren’t you gonna zip that?” I asked.

“No. My sweater’s good.” I just chuckled, taking his hand as we walked to the front yard.

“I’m so cold,” I whined, nuzzling my head into his neck.

“I’ll keep you warm.” I smiled into his neck. It was times like these when I couldn’t resist Jack. “Oh, know what we should do?” he asked suddenly, a childish smirk on his face.

“What?” I inquired suspiciously.

“Catch snowflakes on our tongues!” He seemed so excited to do something so juvenile; I just had to grin and play along.

“You go first,” I said. I laughed as he stuck his tongue out as far as he could get it, making an obnoxious “ahhhhhhhhh!” sound as he did so.

“Yum,” he exclaimed, smiling widely.

“You freak.” His tongue was still extended out of his mouth, and he licked my nose. “Ew!” I wiped his saliva off my nose with the palm of my hand.

He didn’t respond, and instead pressed his lips to mine. I sighed contentedly into the kiss, enjoying the moment of us being together, on Christmas, under the falling snow. It was perfect.

“I love you,” he mumbled softly against my lips.

I immediately pulled back and stared at him. “You…you what?”

“I said I love you. I mean, I think I’m falling in love with you,” Jack repeated quietly, but completely serious. He suddenly seemed nervous, and I didn't know what to do.

I blinked. I was at a loss for words. I knew I loved him, but was I in love? I hadn’t thought about that until now. “I…I…”

“It’s fine, Scarlett. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. I just wanted you to know,” he nodded.

I smiled, taking both of my hands and grabbing each end of his open coat, and pulled him into me. I kissed him deeply, then pulled apart. “I love you, too.”

Jack’s grin was a mile wide. “Really?”

I nodded. “Really.” He cupped my face in his hands, kissing me passionately.

“I have something for you,” he said softly, his eyes still closed as he moved his head back. “It’s in the car.”

I walked back with him into the car, thankful to get inside. The first thing he did was turn the heat on full blast, then rubbed his hands together for warmth. Looking over at me, he smiled and said, “I’ve been waiting to give this to you for a while. But I figured Christmas was the best time to give it to you.” He reached over my body, opening the glove compartment and retrieving a small, unwrapped, white box.

“Thanks for wrapping it,” I teased, taking the box in my hands.

“Wrapping paper’s overrated,” he chuckled.

I proceeded to take the lid off the box, gasping when I saw the contents. “Oh my god, Jack…” I could barely breathe as I pulled out the delicate necklace. It had a silver heart, and there was an engraving on it. “Forever” it said simply.

Tears pricked my eyes as I looked at his expression. His face was one of nerves, but relaxed when he saw my smile. “You like it?”

“Jack, it’s gorgeous,” I gushed, playing with the heart. “Help me put it on?”

He nodded, taking the chain and unclasping it. I pulled my shoulder-length hair around my neck, allowing it to fall into place on my chest to clear a space on the back of my neck. He wrapped the chain around my neck, and the silver heart dangled under my chin. His rough, calloused fingers ran along my skin, causing goose bumps to appear on my flesh.

“It looks great on you,” he said softly, leaning in and kissing me.

“Thank you so much.” I didn’t give him a present then, but I did have one for him. It just wasn’t the kind of present you could wrap in a box.