Never let go.

I blushed at James’s compliment. I brushed my hair out of my face as he helped me into his Audi. I smiled as he climbed into the other side. “What are you smiling about?” He asked, tilting his head to one side. I giggled to myself, before answering.

“I haven’t been in a car like this for ages.” I admitted, smiling as he laughed to himself. “Because I’m constantly in a SUV with blacked out windows.”

“Is this okay?” He asked, obviously nervous. I nodded my head.

“It’s perfect.” I said, smiling. He nodded my head and he pulled out of my driveway. I couldn’t stop looking at James, he scrubbed up really well. I blushed as I thought about James. He looked over at me, smiling softly.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked, turning back to look at the road. I shrugged my shoulder, playing with the bottom of my dress.

“Where are we going?” I asked, looking over at him. A small smirk played on his lips before we pulled up at a pair of traffic lights. “Are you going to tell me?” I asked, poking him in his side. He twitched, making me burst into laughter.

“No, if you are going to do that to me.” He muttered, making me laugh even harder. “It’s a secret.” He lifted his finger to his lips, before pulling away from the green light. I pouted softly, before running my fingers through my hair. If Danielle saw me, she’d kill me. “So what have you been doing in the last 3 days I haven’t seen you?” He asked me, watching the road. Suddenly, I felt very comfortable in his presence.

“Well, not much. I had to do a couple of things with the Jonas Brothers.” I rolled my eyes to myself. “But other than that, I’ve been lazy around in my house.” I shrugged my shoulders; I didn’t want to go into the whole Joe thing today. “How about you?” I asked, attempting to put my flirty voice on. It failed.

“Well, I’ve had my little sister constantly complained that I was going on a date with the girl best friend with the Jonas brothers.” I laughed softly. “Other than that, I’ve been watching TV and eating a lot of ice cream.” I nodded my head, interested.

“So how old is your sister?” I asked, playing with the bottom of my hair, flirty.

“She’ll be turning 14 in 3 weeks.” He nodded his head. “What about your little brother, Reece was it?” I was shocked that he actually remembered my little brothers name.

“He turned 5 two months ago.” I nodded, remembering the party where Joe ate too much cake and didn’t feel well after. I chuckled to myself as we pulled up into a parking lot. I looked over at James, then at the restaurant. “You are taking me here?” I asked, getting excited. The Fountain had to be one of the posh restaurants around. James looked at me and laughed.

“No, I thought that I’d just park in the parking lot, and then you can inhale the smell, then leave.” I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed and hopped out of the car. I watched him as he walked around and opened the door. I was used to this with the Jonas’s, but something with James made it feel different. He held his hand out, and I slipped mine into it, grabbing my clutch with my other hand. He helped me out of the car but never let go of my hand. He looked over at me as I blushed. “Is this okay?” He asked, his voice a whisper. I pushed my hair out of my face with my clutch as I nodded my head.

“It’s fine.” I whispered, feeling rather silly and foolish. James flashed his teeth at me, before we started to walk towards the entrance. He held the door open for me, but never let go of my hand. It made my stomach flip as he gave my fingers a soft squeeze. We both walked over to the podium as the waiter looked up at us.

“Smith.” James announced and the waiter nodded his head. He grabbed two menus and we followed him, still holding hands. The waiter placed two menus down on the table and walked away. James let go of my hand and pulled the chair out for me. I thanked him as I sat down. I placed my clutch bag next to me, and I could hear my phone vibrating on the table. I rolled my eyes, but left it. James took the seat opposite me, smiling.

“So what’s good in here?” I asked, picking up the menu and browsing over it quickly. Suddenly, my eyes hit the pasta on it, and I immediately knew what I wanted. I placed my menu back down on the table, crossing my arms. James’s bright blue eyes scanned over the menu, as if he wanted to check everything over a million times. His eyes peered over the top to look at me. He narrowed his eyebrows and I must have turned red because a smirk played at his lips. “Just analysing.” I muttered, brushing my hair out of my eyes. He raised his eyebrows and went back to looking at his menu. I attempted to get the blush out of her cheeks.

“So Isabelle.” James said, putting down his menu and copying my position. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

“Yes, James?”

“Tell me something that nobody else knows.” He said, his voice just above a whisper. It was rather romantic and quite cute. I smiled at him.

“Well…” I said, musing to myself. There are things that my family don’t know, but Joe knows everything. Every tiny piece of my life. “I am glad you asked me out.” I felt embarrassed, but I admitted it.

“So am I.” He whispered. I nodded my head and fluttered my eyelashes at him. He laughed, throwing his head backwards. As he calmed himself down, the waiter came over to us, all smiles.

“Welcome!” He practically sang at us. I looked over at James, with my eyebrows raised. He let out a small chuckle, before the waiter spoke again. “Are you ready to order?” He asked us. I nodded my head and smiled.

“Can I have a Diet Coke, and the pasta thingy?” I asked, smiling. The waiter nodded his head, before scribbling it down on his pad. He turned to James, smiling.

“May I have a coke and the chicken parmesan please?” The waiter nodded his head, like he did with me, before scribbling it down. He looked at the both of us before walking off. I let out a soft giggle as James looked over at me. “He seemed a little…different.” I nodded my head, whilst still giggling. “Isabelle.” He said, making my look up at him. “Tell me, how do you know the Jonas’s then?” I sighed.

“Well, my mum went to school with their parents, so we have always known each other.” I shrugged my shoulders, as if it was a typical story. “Joe’s 3 months older than me, so we are pretty close. And my sister is only 6 months younger than Nick. We are practically family.”

“Nick.” James stated, making me confused. I tilted my head to one side. “My sister is distraught over Nick and your sister getting engaged. And she is rather annoyed that I’m out on a date with their best friend.”

“Who said with was a date?” I asked, folding my arms over themselves and leaning forwards, a smirk on my face. Suddenly, James’s face dropped, making me smile.

“Well, I thought--” I laughed as he stuttered. I held my hand over my mouth as I giggled. “Funny Isabelle.” He said a smile on his face.

“You have to admit, that was funny.” I said, still giggling. James rolled his eyes then smiled.

“It wasn’t bad.” I grinned at him, feeling rather smug about it.

“So, tell me about your family.” I asked, rather intrigued by the idea. James rested his head back against the chair, before talking to me.

“Well, to be honest, I’m a momma’s boy.” I laughed softly. “She stayed at home while my dad worked, so I got along with her more. But I have a good relationship with my dad.” I smiled at him.

“So what are your parents called?” I asked, entwining my fingers together and resting them under my chin.

“My mum is called Ellen and my dad is Brian.” He said with a smile. “My middle name is Ryan, after my granddad, whereas Katie is Marie after my grandma.” I smiled.

“You seem like a tight family.” I stated. James nodded his head.

“We are, I guess. I mean, most of the time we get along, but me and my sister fight. It’s mostly over nothing, but we get along.” He nodded his head. “What about your family?”

“Well, my mum is the head of the family. She is the one who is keeps us all together.” I admitted, smiling to myself. “My dad…” I said, breathing over the thought of that scum of a man that I used call my dad. “He left us ages ago. Don’t want anything to do with him. My sister, well, we get along most of the time.” James laughed, and nodded his head, to say that he knew what I was talking about. “And my baby brother, he keeps us humble and stuff. He doesn’t let us get too big-headed or too far into our depth. He is the man of the house.” I laughed about the thought of my 5 year old brother running the whole family. James smiled at me as our waiter brought over our drinks. We both thanked him simultaneously, then laughed.

“Your mum’s name?” He asked me, before taking a sip out of his drink.

“Rebecca.” I said, taking a sip out of my drink at the same time. He nodded his head, as if to process it.

“You seem like a pretty tight family as well.” He said. I nodded my head.

“Of course, defiantly. We can overcome anything, usually.” I laughed to myself, thinking about when me and Jess were arguing over making up with Joe. That was something we got over quickly.

“I’d love to meet your family sometime.” James said, then suddenly going red. I smiled at him. “I mean, if this goes well, and we---”

“James.” I said, holding my hand up to him. He looked at me, his face bright red still. “You can. Well, you’ve met my sister and my brother. So all you’ve got to meet is my mum.” I told him.

“And the rest of the Jonas’s.” He muttered, making me look over at him. “You said that they were like family to you.”

“I guess you do.” I said, before bursting into laughter. “Good luck.” I muttered. He smiled at me, and winked, making my heart flutter. I closed my eyes briefly and took in the moment. I don’t think I’ve liked someone as much as James at this moment.

“The ravioli?” I recognized the sound of the waiter’s voice, which made me open my eyes to look up. The waiter placed my plate in front of me and smiled. He handed James his food, and then left us. I took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the ravioli. I smiled, before James looked over at me.

“Enjoy.” He said, waving his hand. I grabbed my fork and started to make my way through it. It tasted absolutely delicious. James kept looking over at me, and then laughing.

----NeverLetGo----

“Oh my god, that was amazing.” I said, once we both had finished our food. James burst into laughter, as I threw my napkin onto the plate. “Thank you.” I practically cooed at him. He smiled at me and nodded his head.

“Anytime, Isabelle.” He whispered, making me smile. I rested my arms against the table and leant forwards. James copied my position “So, is Joe okay with you now?” He asked, looking over at me. I took in a massive breath, not really wanting to talk about Joe on my date.

“Yeah, he is okay now. He was just being a bit annoyed.” I shrugged my shoulders, not bothered about it. “Me and Joe always tell each other everything, and he got a bit upset that I didn’t tell him that we were meeting up.”

“Can I ask why?” James tilted his head to one side.

“Because...” I couldn’t say because Joe was acting weird with me. “Joe had a bad relationship, and just needs to gain trust in everyone again.” James narrowed his eyebrows, which made me laugh. “Do we really need to talk about Joe on our date?” I asked, making him shake his head.

“We don’t.” He said, making me smile. “What are you up to on Saturday?” He asked.

“Why?” I asked, smirking.

“I was thinking…” He stopped to smile at me. “If this goes well, then maybe we could hang out on then.” He said, getting embarrassed easy. I laughed at his cute face.

“I can’t bec---” Suddenly I had an idea. “I have a Road Dogs game Saturday. But you are welcome to come.” I flashed my teeth at him.

“Isn’t that softball?” He asked me. I smiled and nodded my head, dreading the game all of a sudden. He nodded his head, thinking about it. “That would be great.” An automatic smile stretched across my face. Then his face dropped. “Are you actually playing?” He asked. I looked at him as he tried to hold back a smile.

“Yes.” I muttered, still looking at him. “Why?”

“Just…it will be interesting.” He winked at me, before I burst into giggles. “What? I am interested in sports and--” He stopped.

“Girls?” I said, through my giggles He blushed a pink colour, making me smile at his cute-ness. “So now you are telling me, on our date, you are gay?” I gasped, pretending to be shocked. James playfully glared at me over the table, before laughing.

“That’s it Isabelle.” He said, slapping his hands against the table, making all the glasses on the table jump. “I’m going.” He laughed, before standing up. He looked down at me. “You don’t want afters do you?” I contemplated it, feeling rather full up from dinner. I shook my head, and James placed a couple of notes onto the table.

“Do you want me to pay some?” I asked, as I grabbed my bag to get some money. James placed his hand onto mine, which made me stop what I was doing to look at him. He gave me a full grin before shaking his head.

“I brought you out. I’ll pay.” He said. I nodded my head, before closing my purse. He looked over at me, and went to hold my hand. I looked at him. “Isn’t it okay now?” He asked, a smirk on his face. I stared at him for ages in the middle of the restaurant, before sliding my finger into his.

“It’s fine.” I said, smiling. He nodded his head, a cheesy smile on his face. We walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand. I felt successful. I started to really like James, and Joe hadn’t crossed my mind throughout the whole dinner. We walked over to his car and I went to pull open the door, before James shut it instead. I looked up at him, and he lent down at me. “I don’t kiss on the first date.” I said, just as his nose brushed mine, and the butterflies in my stomach wouldn’t stop fluttering. He pulled back, looking hurt, however he gave me a small smile. He pulled away from me and pulled open the car door. He helped me into the car, before running around and climbing into the driver’s seat. He turned on the engine and we slowly pulled out, driving away from the restaurant where I had the time of my life. I looked over at James, who kept his eyes on the road. “I had an amazing time.” I whispered, hoping he would hear me. He turned to me briefly and smiled, before looking back at the road.

“Me too.” He whispered. I grinned, happy with the outcome of our date tonight. I really liked James, and he did everything that made me smile. We sat in a comfortable silence until we got back to mine. James pulled up in the driveway, and I noticed the lounge light flick in. I laughed, knowing someone was waiting for me. James opened the door for me and held his hand out. I grabbed my purse and his hand as he helped me out of the car. He held my hand all the way to the front door, where we both stopped and he dropped my hand. “Isabelle.” He said, moving slowly towards me. “I had an amazing time with you.” He said, smiling. I smiled back at him, before moving closer to him. “And I really like you.” A blush arising on both of our cheeks.

“James.” I whispered, placing a hand onto his chest, feeling his heart beating. “I had an amazing time with you.” It fell silent as I stood on my tip-toes and James wrapped his arms around my waist. When I was finally millimetres away from his lips, he started to speak.

“I thought that you didn’t kiss on the first date.” He muttered, before pressing his lips against mine. I could have melted on the floor at that precise moment. I wrapped both arms around his neck as our lips moved against each other’s softly. As we both pulled away, we were both smiling.

“Apparently, I like breaking the rules.” I said, as we both moved away from each other. I closed my eyes briefly, before opening them again. “And apparently, I like you too.” James’s face practically light up and we both smiled. He placed a quick kiss onto my lips before walking away. My heart fluttered as I watched him get into the car. I sighed, before the front door opened and revealed Jess with a ridiculous grin on her face.