Anonymous

I didn’t know what to feel.

Jess was standing up and smiling, an expensive-looking bag hanging off one shoulder, a rolled up magazine in her hand. And there was absolutely no denying that girl was Jess. Her face was exactly the same as the face I’d stared at on the computer, wondering if it were possible she was real.

Well, she was real, alright. And I’d never realized until that moment I saw her standing there that none of her pictures had been taken below the halfway point of her chest. I hadn’t realized she was hiding anything.

I neared her, still fighting with myself over what I should say. I didn’t want to make things awkward by pointing out that her weight shocked me, but I had a feeling that if I tried to ignore it, I’d just end up saying something dumb.

“Hi,” I said, smiling as I walked over to her.

“Hey,” she responded. Her voice was even nicer in person than it was over Skype, a sweet tone with an almost unnoticeable rasp that I’d never picked up on before. “How was your flight?”

I laughed a little bit and shook my head. “Ugh. Not great. Zayn decided that I looked like a good pillow, so I couldn’t nap like I wanted to, and the ride seemed a lot longer than it was.”

There was a short, uncomfortable silence before Jess cleared her throat. “Alright, this is awkward. I know that I’m not what you expected, and if you’re regretting your decision to spend the day with me, I completely understand.”

“Jess, what-?” I started, but she shook her head to interrupt me.

“Look, I know I’m not a size four model or anything, but I like myself. I like the way I look, and I don’t sit around, wishing that I could be skinny.” Her voice was hushed, and she was working hard to make sure I didn’t pick up on any sense of hurt in her voice, but the emotion was written clearly in her eyes. “But if you have a problem with it, I’m not going to keep you captive. You can leave with the boys, and we’ll pretend we never started talking.”

With that, she turned around, picked up her Diet Coke, and started to stalk off. She just made up her mind, without letting me say anything or give any kind of input.

She had gotten a pretty good head start before I chased after her, dragging my suitcase behind me. The wheels were noisy and scratchy against the floor, and it kept turning on its side from the immense weight. After about ten feet, I disposed of the thing, knowing that it was doing nothing but slowing me down.

“Jess, wait!” I yelled as I closed in on her lead, reaching forward with my left arm.

She turned around, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, just as I reached her. I didn’t have time to stop or think about anything before I pressed my lips to hers.

She was hesitant about the emotion at first, staying as still as a statue. But once she realized what was happening, what I had decided, she started to move her mouth in response, reaching up to loop her arms around the back of my neck. Mine found their way around her waist, pulling her body closely against mine.

My heart pounded like mad inside of my chest, adrenaline pulsing through my veins. I’d imagined kissing her since the second I started talking to her on her writing website, but the experience in real life was so much better than I ever could have imagined. We didn't have that awkward beginning, where our lips and tongues tried to figure out how the other operated; they just seemed to have a solid understanding and acted accordingly.

She pulled back after a minute, her breath a little heavy as she leaned back and looked into my eyes, shock written all over her face.

Smiling, I hooked a lock of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “I don’t care what your body looks like,” I told her. “I mean, I was shocked that you didn’t tell me, and it wasn’t what I was expecting, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the same way I did. I’m not that much of an arsehole.”

She laughed lightly and shook her head. “I don’t know why I thought it would matter. You just looked so…I don’t know.”

“I was surprised. But I didn’t start to feel the way I do because I thought your body looked a certain way. And you're absolutely gorgeous to me.” I looked behind me to find people grumbling as they stepped over my discarded suitcase, huffing before stomping away to get to their destinations. Clearly, they weren’t too happy with me.

“You should probably get that,” Jess pointed out with a laugh. “Security is going to pick it up and take it away if you don’t.”

“Good idea.”



“Wait, you can drive?” I asked as Jess pulled out onto the street to head into the city so we could grab something to eat.

“I can drive, yes,” Jess responded. “Why is that a big deal?”

“Because Zayn, Liam, and Niall can’t drive, but they’re much older than you. Or, how old I’m assuming you are.” I coughed a little bit uncomfortably. “Did I ask you already how old you are?”

“I’m almost eighteen,” she answered smoothly. “About a month or so more.”

“We’ll have to celebrate,” I told her cheekily, sitting back in the passenger’s seat.

“Wait, you’re going to be here in a month?” she questioned with a confused tone. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. We’re sticking around for a while. We have a few weeks of free time before doing press rounds and stuff, and then our tour starts around the UK. I might not be in London the whole time, but I’ll be here enough.”

I saw the corner of her mouth twitch just a little, which made me think that she was holding back a smirk or something, but she refused to let herself give into the emotion. “That’ll be nice, then,” she approved as she turned onto a new street. “And you can meet Elena.”

“Um…I don’t think so,” I answered gently. “I really value certain parts of my anatomy that I’m pretty sure Elena will dispose of if I meet her.”

“No!” Jess laughed hard, her cheeks taking on a nice pink color. “That’s not true. Elena will be on her best behavior. And I think you should meet her. She is my best friend, after all.”

I let out a long breath. “Alright, if it’s that important to you. I was scared enough about meeting your parents, but…”

She blushed again and shook her head. “I’m not sure meeting my parents is a good idea. If they find out that I met up with a guy I met over the internet, they’re going to kill me.”

“So say you met me in school,” I offered. “How are they going to know the difference?”

“They won’t, but my sister definitely will.”

I winced. “Oh, right. Your sister.”

“She’ll make a scene. I love her, but she can kind of be a brat.”

“We’ll wait and see what happens,” I allowed. “Don’t close off all your options. Maybe your sister won’t be around one day.”

“Or you can come over some day, and I can introduce you and threaten her with something if she tells… I just need to figure out what I can blackmail her with.”

“Hey, hey,” I broke in, trying my best to remain serious, “I don’t approve of your methods for this one.”

“And I just can’t seem to care,” she responded cheekily. “Now do you like Mexican food? Because I know this awesome little place that I think you’ll love.”

“Mexican’s great,” I affirmed, grinning at her. When I took in how happy she looked, how gorgeous she looked with her cheeks flushed, I wondered how in the world I ever hesitated when I first got a real glimpse at who she really was.