Happy Anniversary.

The hotel Jack made our reservations at was pretty in a run down sort of way. Green moss crept up the sides, covering up the peeling white paint. The painted red sign advertising the name was crooked and fading. Even though it was nearly forty degrees outside, I was beginning to feel damp from the humidity that accompanied being near the ocean. Licking the still, salty air from my lips, I walked into the lobby.
"Reservation for Barakat, please?" I asked over the soft rock music playing to the dark-skinned lady with dreds who, at the moment, was the only other person in the lobby. She typed the name into the computer and handed me a key. "Room 243. It's right back the hallway, sir." She said with a slight Jamaican accent, grinning. I gave her a suspicious look; she must know something. Hoisting my bag over my shoulder, I thanked her and headed back the way she directed.
The room itself was small, only containing one double bed, a dresser with a TV on top, and a small bathroom. I threw my bag next to a green duffel, assuming it was Jack's, before turning to the bed and picking up the white sheet of paper and red rose.
I'll be on the beach waiting...
Eager, I changed from my skinny jeans and vans to looser jeans and a pair of flip flops. Making sure I had my phone and key, I headed out of the room.
The hotel was right off the boardwalk, so within minutes I was in the sand walking towards a small blanket with about ten candles lighting it up. It wasn't totally dark outside yet, but it was dark enough that the candles would help. A body with a basket sat in the middle of them. My heart started fluttering faster and faster. This was it. Thiswasit. He was sitting right in front of me, and this was it. I wanted to run to him, but my feet seemed to have forgotten how to work. A hand connected to the body waved me forward. "Alex, over here!" It yelled, standing up and brushing the sand off its pants.
It was like his voice broke what trance I was in. I fell into a sprint, going as fast as I possibly could to reach Jack. He took a few steps towards me, moving out of the way of the candles. It turned out to be a smart idea, and just before I reached him, my foot tangled in a pile of dried seaweed. "Whoa!" I shouted, falling forward. I was unable to stop myself as I knocked myself and Jack to the ground, resulting in sand flying everywhere. "Shit, I'm so sorry." I started just as Jack started laughing underneath me, his laughter shaking my own body.
He was underneath me.
"Don't apologize." Jack said as I moved off of him. I couldn't look at him without feeling embarrassed. "That was really cute." He continued laughing, and I couldn't help but join in. I held my hand out to help him up, which he gladly took. He jumped up, knocking my chest as he did so. We ended up being almost face to face. Not even a sheet of paper would fit between us. I hadn't realized how tall he was until now, when he stood up right in front of me. He was about two or three inches taller than me, and I was at least 6'1". "Hi." His breath fanned across my face, and I smiled shyly.
"Hey." His finger found its way under my chin, and he used it to guide my blushing face to look at his. His other hand found one of mine and intertwined them together. "You hungry? I hope so. I made food for us!" He looked excited, having the energy of a five-year old.
"Sure. What did you make?" From there, he launched into the menu for us, which consisted of chicken sandwiches - which, thanks to me, now contained actual sand - , salad, strawberries, chocolate covered pretzels, and fine white wine.
"I hope that's enough for you. If not, I think I saw a McDonald's down the street. Whatever's fine with you." I found it adorable how he was rambling; it was obvious all he wanted to do was make my night.
"This...this is great." I lied. How was I going to eat any of this? I couldn't do it. I was doing so well. Over the past three weeks, I had lost ten pounds. Maybe no one else saw it because I was so fat to begin with, but I could tell, and I wasn't planning on gaining any of it back anytime soon.
He pulled me down to sit on the towel with him. As he went through the basket, he kept one hand clasped to mine, even if that meant he was working slower than he wanted to. Since he was right-handed and holding me with his right hand, it was entertainment for me to watch him try and eat with his non-dominant hand. I was more than happy to laugh along with him, as it took up most of his attention and he didn't notice that all I was doing was nibbling on strawberries and sipping Chardonnay.
Eventually, Jack's hand moved from mine to around my shoulders, pulling me so my body was touching his. I involuntarily shivered. "Are you cold?" He fretted.
I couldn't help but smile. "No, I-I'm fine." I laid my head in the crook of his neck, his 5 o'clock shadow scratching my forehead. As we watched the pale blue sky darken into black night, I couldn't think of a better way to describe my definition of content than this exact moment, lying in the sand with my favorite person in the world, listening to the waves crash on themselves and watching the wind blow out our candles one by one, leaving the moon as our only light.
"What are you thinking about?" Jack whispered, his lips pressed into my beanie.
"This is just...absolutely perfect." I replied just as quietly.
"I'm glad you like it." He shifted beside me as he began to put the food away. I went to help him, but he stopped me. "I got it. I don't want you to have to do any of the work. Don't worry about it. Just relax." I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my grin from splitting my face.
"Thank you. For everything. This is the best thing anyone's ever done with me."
"Good. That's what I was aiming for." As he leaned over to pick up the food still in front of me, his eyebrows furrowed. When he understood why there was so much food left, he looked at me. It was a sad, sympathetic look that broke my heart in half and made my chest feel like it could collapse. Neither of us commented, but the look in Jack's eyes spoke enough for the both of us.
While he was finishing up, I took out my phone. My mother had texted me an hour ago to let me know her flight was landing in London. I quickly responded with an okay before closing out of her messages. Looking at the boy by my side to make sure he wasn't paying attention to me, I opened our conversation.
You're wonderful. I sent him.
Finally cleaned up, with everything back in the basket except for a blanket he pulled out, he relaxed beside me, covering our legs with the soft fabric. He reached his feet to mine and tangled our bottom limbs together. He laid back on the sand and pulled me with him so we were staring at the starry sky. Our breath came out in little clouds and I shivered - out of coldness, this time. Jack just pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around my waist so we were facing each other, our noses nearly touching. I tried to discreetly glance at his lips, and I saw him lick them as he tilted his head slightly. Our lips were millimeters apart when Jack's phone began going off.
Did I seriously just cock-block myself?
Jack's face rested on my chest as he retrieved his phone from his back pocket, chuckling. "Why are you texting me?" I didn't answer the question; I was too busy listening to the ringtone he had set for me.
Little Things by One Direction??
"Dude. Your ringtone?" I asked.
"Stop. Don't even go there." Jack groaned, his face still hidden from me.
I tried to hide my laughing. "It's...cute."
"Shut up!" He yelled while tickling my sides. "By the way, I know I'm wonderful."
I couldn't stop laughing. "Stop! Jack! I can't breathe!" My legs spasmed out and Jack somehow ended up on top of me, pinning me down and tickling everywhere his hands could reach. By now, I was giggling like crazy and tears were falling down my cheeks. Jack was smiling and laughing above me. Somehow, I found myself thinking that I could watch him like this all day. He made me want to be this happy all the time.
I grabbed his hands to make him stop tickling me, and instantly the mood changed. He locked our fingers together and squeezed them. I bit my lip and stared at our hands. How'd you get lucky enough to snag this one, Gaskarth?
I don't know, and I don't care. All that matters is this moment, when his body can't seem to get close enough to my own, how his body weight pushed me into the soft sand, how the soft, chilled wind blew through his blond streak, how I would do anything to keep that goofy, lopsided smile on his face forever.
He gave a frustrated sigh, breaking me out of the moment, before rolling off of me and lying where he was before, once again pulling me to him. "I love this." He mumbled into my neck.
I didn't respond; there was no need to. Soon, I found myself drifting off to sleep, and I don't think Jack was too far behind me.
~~~~~
Salty ice water seeping through my clothes and freezing my skin was what woke me. "Shit!" Jack yelled beside me, jumping up and grabbing everything he brought. I was too groggy to realize what was happening until I saw a wave crash not to far from where I was laying and glide up to me, once again soaking my jeans.
Jack gave me his hand, which I gratefully grabbed and pulled myself up. "You ready for bed, love?" For the umpteeth time tonight, I shivered. His love. I couldn't shake how beautiful that sounded coming from his lips.
I nodded, speechless. Grabbing the wet, sandy blanket and throwing it over his shoulder, he let his free hand wander to mine, twisting them together and pulling me up to our home away from home for the next week.