I'll Be Right Beside You

I followed him up to his apartment, and he quickly ushered me into his room. I turned on the light, and didn’t see anything other than the fact that he’d cleaned.

“What are you wanting me to do? Dress in one of your T-shirts and a pair of boxers?” I called, and heard him snort.

“No – go in the closet,” he responded, and I took a deep breath before opening the closet doors. A garment bag was hanging there, and when I unzipped it I couldn’t help but gasp. A gorgeous black and white dress was hanging up, matching black heels in the little shoe bag. I gingerly ran my hand along the silky fabric, unable to believe what I was looking at.

“Cam? Everything all right?” Jordan asked as he walked in, his tie loose and undone. He saw me staring at it, and immediately started stumbling over his words.

“Do you not like it? I mean, I thought it would look really good on you and…” he trailed off as I threw my arms around him and pressed my lips to his.

“It’s gorgeous Jordan – and you picked it out yourself?” I asked, and he nodded, his cheeks turning red and making him look like a bashful schoolboy. While he could look devishly handsome, it just took his cheeks turning pink and a tiny grin to make him look like a fifteen year old again.

“Yeah – I mean, I had to ask Becka what size and all, but I picked it out myself. The shoes too,” he proudly told me, and I kissed him again, before leaning my head against his chest.

“You’ve got good tastes,” I giggled. Slowly he pulled away, and motioned towards it.

“Well you better get dressed – Becka dropped off some other stuff too because I didn’t know what you’d want or need to get ready,” he told me, and with a long kiss he left his bedroom. I slipped out of my clothes and into the dress; it went to just above the knee, and was a one-shoulder dress blocked with black and white. The strap was black, and the bust of the dress was white. From the waist of the right side down to the hip of the other was black, in an almost triangle. Underneath that section was white in the same pattern but facing the other side, and then black towards the bottom hem. It was modern, yet classic and simple while still being fairly bold all at once, and I understood why it caught Jordan’s attention. I wasn’t a huge fan of dresses and skirts, but I adored this dress.

I quickly slid into it, and pulled out the black pumps – smiling when I saw the peep toes as well as the studs along the back of the shoes. Hanging behind the garment bag I found my makeup bag, Becka having obviously added to it because she always felt my makeup supply was lacking severely. I put some slightly darker eyeliner on, as well as putting on some mascara and a little bit of lip stain, before deciding I was ready to go. I walked out, only wobbling slightly in the high heels, seeing Jordan had successfully managed to re-tie his tie. His jaw visibly dropped, his blue eyes widening, making me wish I was in a pair of his gym shorts and one of his hoodies. That way I felt much less ridiculous and exposed.

“Oh my God – I’m dating a supermodel,” he blurted, and I felt my face heat up some more.

“Shut up, you are not, you’re dating a hockey player, remember?”

“But if she wanted to be a supermodel, I’d be dating a supermodel,” he insisted, leaning in for a kiss, his arms snaking around my waist and pulling me into him and against the hard planes of his body, a place I loved to be.

“I’m too short, and I can’t walk in heels to save my life! Jordy, I know you’ve watched those Victoria’s Secret shows – I’ve got nothing on those girls,” I argued, but he cut me off with a deep kiss, turning me to putty. I thought I had trouble standing in heels before; throwing Jordan into the mix was dangerous.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit babe,” he murmured against my lips, before he caught sight of the clock behind me.

“Shit! We’ve gotta get going or we’ll miss our reservation,” he blushed. I pecked his lips quickly, grinning at his usual blunt self, and blushing again when he helped me into my bomber jacket, even offering to carry my oversized clutch purse-thing as I slid my arm through his. We took the elevator down for once, because I knew stairs and these shoes would end in total disaster on my part. Once we were in the car the city just seemed to become a whole new place; the lights going by, the soft music of the radio playing in the background as Jordan drove to a part of town I’d never been in before.

He parked and ushered me into a fairly nondescript building. As soon as the waiter saw Jordan he started showing us to the table. I was shocked when we got into an elevator. I looked to Jordan, but he avoided my gaze, a small smile playing at his lips as we were lead to a door. I felt Jordan's hands move from my arms, and looked to him, finding a cute grin on his face.

“Trust me?” he asked quietly. I nodded, and he covered my eyes with his huge mitts of hands, using his body to direct me. Finally we stopped, and the room soon went quiet.

“Ready?” I nodded, and when Jordan removed his hands I gasped.

The wall was completely made of glass, and never in my life had I seen a more beautiful view of Pittsburgh; we could see a few of the bridges, all lit up with the reflection on the water. And right in front of the window was a table set for two; Calla lilies in a small vase in the middle, lasagna, garlic bread and Caesar salad set out, as well as a bottle of wine chilling on ice. I whirled around and wrapped Jordan up in a hug, feeling a little overwhelmed. I would’ve been happy with ordering in Chinese food and curling up on the couch together.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his voice quiet with apprehension. I nodded, hoping that I wouldn’t burst into tears and end up looking like a raccoon.

“I love it Jordan – it’s incredible. You didn’t have to go to all of this work for me,” he shook his head, cupping my cheeks softly. I couldn’t tear my eyes from his baby blue ones, seeing he was in a similar state to me.

“You’re worth all this and way more babe,” he whispered, and I had to bite my lip to keep from getting ridiculously emotional over it. I could wait until we were back at one of our apartments to actually flip out over it.

“Want to sit down?” he asked, and I nodded as he pulled out the chair for me. I sat down, and then he sat down across from me as we started eating. The conversation stayed light, and fairly quiet.

Once we’d finished the waiter seemed to appear out of thin air, taking our plates, and coming back with cheesecake. Of course Jordan would do this – knowing it was my favourite dessert of all time.

“Wow, Jordan…” I didn’t even have the words to express how incredible all of this was. He just nodded and kissed the back of my hand, before running his thumb softly over my skin. I squeezed his hand back in response, and took a spoonful of the cheesecake, holding it up for him. He chuckled before leaning in and eating it, and we proceeded to eat our dessert in this fashion until we were both too stuffed for our own good.

“I, uh, got you something, by the way,” Jordan admitted a few minutes after the waiter had disappeared with our plates. He ran his hand through his hair, tipping me off that he was a little nervous as to what I would think. Even though we’d said we weren’t going to do a really big thing about it I’d kind of expected it from him, and had found him a gift as well.

“I got you something too, actually,” I grinned sheepishly, watching my boyfriend visibly relax and then grin.

“Close your eyes,” he urged, and finally I did so, playing with the Claddagh ring that I wore all the time, except for practicing or playing hockey.

“Ready?” his voice was quiet, and nervous. I nodded, taking a breath before I felt him place some kind of box in my hands, and felt my palms turn clammy as I wondered what it was.

“You can open your eyes,” he told me, and when I did so was nearly in tears again. In my hands was a soft blue box tied with white ribbon, and I didn’t even have to read it to know it came from the famed Tiffany & Co.

“Jordan…” I looked up to him, and saw him fidgeting.

“Just open it,” he urged, and carefully I untied the bow, realizing my hands were shaking. I lifted the lid, and gasped when I saw what was sitting in the box. I’d went there once with Vero, and while jewelry isn’t really my thing I’d absolutely fallen in love with one little pendant necklace. I couldn’t find any reason to buy it, figuring I probably wouldn’t wear it enough to spend like a thousand dollars. I wouldn’t spend that kind of money on any necklace. But I’d never told Jordan about the necklace, just that we’d went there.
Nestled in the velvet was that exact Elsa Peretti drop pendant, looking just as beautiful as when I’d seen it in the store.

“Jordan… it’s… it’s…” I began to choke up, and so stopped talking, instead opting to reach for his hand and give it a tight squeeze.

“You like it?”

“I love it,” I assured him, and saw a hesitant smile on his face.

“You’d told me that you’d went there with Vero that one time, and I know you’re not big on jewelry but… what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t get you something from Tiffany’s?” he asked, making me chuckle. “I walked in and spent like a half an hour looking around the store, but nothing seemed right. Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and it was this. It was just perfect, I had to get it for you,” he smiled, and it was all I could do not to launch myself across the table, wrap my arms around him and kiss him for all I was worth. He hadn’t even asked Vero about what to get me, something I would’ve almost expected.

“You want to know something?” he nodded, watching me intently.

“When we went I fell in love with this necklace,” I whispered, and his eyes widened.

“You’re kidding. You’re just saying that.”

“No – I fell in love with this exact necklace, but I couldn’t see the point in spending that kind of money on a necklace, and I didn’t say anything to Vero or you about it because you’d either go and buy it or Vero would tell you to go get it because I wanted it,” I told him, and saw his grin relax.

“Wow,” was all he could say, and I nodded, giggling.

“So, I, um, I got you something too,” I told him, smiling at the shocked look on his face. He must’ve thought I was joking earlier when I told him I had bought him something.

“You didn’t have to go and do that babe,”

“But I wanted to,” I insisted, and pushed the small box towards him. I’d worried about it being too cheesy, or too much of your average gift, but I didn’t really know what to get him; the man had everything he wanted. So I’d opted for something he kind of needed, but would appreciate because it wasn’t too much of a run-of-the-mill thing, even though it kind of was.

He opened it, and his eyes widened as he took in the TAG Heuer watch. I’d decided on the black one; the black sapphire and stainless steel was supposed to be scratch resistant, because he always managed to wreck his watches or scratch them to the point he couldn’t read them anymore.

“Oh my God – Cam these are… do you know how much these things cost?” he asked, and I nodded, trying not to laugh.

“Yes I do – I bought it, remember?”

“Shit… Cam you shouldn’t have spent this kind of money on me!” he burst, unable to take his eyes off of the watch he had in his hands. I just chuckled, which caught his attention.

“Jordy – I wouldn’t have bought it if I hadn’t wanted to give it to you,” I insisted, and he still seemed absolutely shocked by the gift. I knew how hard he was on watches, so I wanted to get him something that would be tough enough to handle him, as well as looking classy, because as much as Jordan liked to chill around in sweatpants, when he dressed up he liked to look good.

“I… I…”

“You didn’t see all of it,” I told him, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

“What?” I motioned to the box, and he carefully lifted the watch and it’s stand and saw the pocket knife. It was simple, and it wasn’t expensive; it was silver and black, with little hints of gold here and there, and his name on it in silver.

“Cam… you really shouldn’t have…” he floundered for words, and I just shrugged.

“I wanted to Jordy,”

“No, you really shouldn’t have done all this for me,”

“Well if you’re so worried about it you can consider it your one and two year present,” I teased, but didn’t expect him to agree with me.

“Okay. You’re not allowed to get me anything for our two year,” he decided.

“No, Jord—”

“No, that’s final,” he insisted, and I rolled my eyes.

“Fine then, no gifts for our two year,” I shot back, and he groaned.

“That’s not fair,” he pouted. I leaned over and kissed his pout, feeling him react immediately. I flicked my tongue against his velvet lips, hearing him let out a soft moan; usually he was the one who initiated something like this.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked suddenly, catching me off guard once again. I blushed, because I have two severely left feet, and shrugged.

“There’s no music Jordy,” I weakly argued, and he shrugged, mocking my earlier gesture.

“That’s okay, and if you want I can fix that,” he whispered, pulling out his phone and putting music on. He stood up, and offered me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me in close, letting me rest my head on his chest as we gently swayed to the music, overlooking Pittsburgh.

“This was amazing Jordan,” I whispered, feeling his chin resting on top of my head.

“I’m glad you liked it Cam,”

“How could I not love it? I got to spend the night with you,” I lifted my head and we kissed again. The song ended and as he moved to select a new song he gently picked up the necklace, taking it from the box, undoing the clasp and holding it out. I stepped toward him, pulled my hair to the side and turned around, feeling the cool silver settle against my skin as he placed the necklace and did it up. I turned back around, and saw him smile.

“Suits you,” he told me, and I grinned as he lifted my hand and kissed the ring he’d given me at his parents’ in Thunder Bay.

Just as he’d done for me I put his watch on, and he couldn’t stop ogling it, still having trouble believing that I’d bought him such a fancy watch. It looked good on him too; it really suited him.

“Well, babe do you want to go home?” Jordan asked quietly as we stood in the middle of the room. I nodded, feeling emotionally exhausted from our night.

“Yeah, home sounds good,” I agreed, and he nodded, before a smile was playing at his lips. I left him alone until we were in the car, but then I couldn’t resist trying to find out what had him grinning.

“What?”

“I just love how that sounds,” he shrugged nonchalantly, as if his answer was the most obvious thing in the world and I somehow knew what he was talking about.

“How what sounds?”

“Home,”