Rollercoaster • Jesse Lingard

𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟

The next day I manage to leave work just after three. Quickly getting changed before I leave the office I make my way to the park where me and Jesse have decided to meet. I've seen Hope a few times, it's not like I've avoided her but most of the time when she's with Jesse I'm at work however this is the first place we've been that isn't home.

"Hiya!" I say walking over to Jesse's car as we meet in the car park "I grabbed coffees on my way here" I say handing Jesse a Starbucks cup.

"Thanks. Did you really leave the house at seven this morning to be able to finish work early?" Jesse asks and I was kind of hoping he hadn't heard me leave.

"Maybe. I know you couldn't wait to see me so I took the opportunity" I say with a laugh as we start walking.

"Can you believe we came to a park and Hope's fallen asleep" Jesse says looking at his sleeping daughter.

"It's still nice to walk around though. Like I know none of this relationship thing is real but I quite like being out and about with you without things feeling awkward or like an argument is brewing" I say looking over at Jesse. I feel like I can genuinely consider him a friend now and after we get divorced I hope things stay that way.

"Don't say that, we haven't argued that much considering everything we've gone through. Do you ever think your grandad has a plan when he does things like this? He easily could've just let us pretend nothing happened"

"Jesse that man always has a plan. I haven't worked out what it is yet but he's up to something. He's a crafty old man" I say smiling thinking of my grandad. There's always a reason behind everything he does.

"Let me know when you find out because I'm interested to find out what he thinks he can do with this situation"

Walking around the park with Jesse I realise just how comfortable I am around him. My family have taken him onboard as one of us without a second thought and his family have been just as good with me, something I didn't ever expect to happen. For me in my head, my biggest test is how Hope reacts to me.

"What's on your mind? If I've learned one thing about you it's that you go quiet when you're thinking" Jesse says stopping to look at me.

"It's just that we're lying to so many people but both of our families have been so supportive of this whole thing. Okay your mum knows the truth but she could've still been completely against this whole arrangement" I say as we sit down on a bench near a lake, probably closer to each other than we should be sat but neither of us moves.

"My mum is far more understanding than I could ever ask her to be but that's just her in general. When I told her about Hope she could've been so against everything but she was so excited" Jesse says looking over at Hope "she was there when I needed someone to talk to about being scared and she put my mind at ease so many times"

"I know I don't really know your mum but she sounds like an amazing woman. I can see how much you respect her and truthfully Jesse, it's an attractive quality to have" turning to look at Jesse I can't help but feel drawn to him. He's a good person and even to someone like me who doesn't know him that well it's obvious. He's a good dad and I can just see looking at him that Hope means everything to him "You're a good man Jesse and if I had to pick someone who I had to ruin my life with and randomly marry in Las Vegas you'd be high on that list"

"Am I high on that list or am I top of that list?" Jesse asks with a smirk on his face. There he is, he's back, playful Jesse who I can have a laugh with.

"You'll never know will you. I'm going to leave it there and not say anything else" I say with a smile as Hope wakes up.

"It's not like you're marrying people for fun so I'm obviously top of that list however you could say we did get married for fun" Jesse says picking Hope up "Hi Princess"