Spark (GH Series #5)

Part 37

Ellie

I lay awake for hours whilst Jack was gently snoring next to me. It had been a week since she asked me to officially move in with her and it's plagued my thoughts. On breaks at work, I've been looking at houses online and whilst I am more than self-aware that we have a lot of money through Jack, I was adamant that the house had to be split equally so that reduced our budget quite significantly, but I also know Jack and she wouldn't want to buy a house too up market.

I had narrowed my search down to a handful of houses and whilst after another successful date night out in public, it made me even more determined to find our dream home. We had discussed what we are looking for and now with these handful of houses, I'm itching to go out and see them, which we are doing this morning, but my impatience is getting the better of me. Looking at Jack, I kissed her cheek softly and slipped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. If I am up and showered, Jack will likely follow suit.

Except when I turned on the water and stepped inside, relishing in the hot water cascading over my body, an unsettling feeling plague me. Is this for real? I know that I love Jack, I would want to spend an eternity with her. Are we rushing into this? I closed my eyes and tried to shake off my self-doubt, knowing it's just my mind playing tricks on me. I let out a small gasp as Jack's hands slipped around my waist. I never heard her come into the bathroom or get into the shower with me. Her lips kissed my shoulder and I smiled softly. "Get outside of your head, Els."

"How...?"

"I know you, remember? I want this, I want you. You just need to find a way in believing in it. We don't have to go house hunting this morning if its freaking you out." I spun around to face Jack.

"I know my therapy sessions are triggering a few things lately, I can only apologise."

"I don't need your apologies, but I am here to support you too." I leaned in and kissed Jack softly on her lips.

"Thanks babe. We better get a move on or we will be late to meet the estate agent." We showered quickly and grabbed a quick breakfast on the way out.

Several hours later, Jack still had a smile plastered over her face, whilst I was starting to get frustrated. We were being diligent with taking notes, Jack being a successful handywoman has it perks and there were some houses her eyes went bug-eyed and she simply shook her head. We reached the last house of the day and I was immediately disheartened. "Why the face?"

"It kind of looks run down."

"Look passed the cosmetic aspect of the house, I can easily fix that up. Let's go inside. I like the look of this place." I followed Jack in, and the estate agent allowed us to walk around in private and I was getting more frustrated. Jack's eyes were glistening with excitement and nearly bouncing on her heels. "This place is amazing."

"Are you sure...?"

"You are still looking at the cosmetic side of things babe. I like the structure. It has four bedrooms, a massive back garden, an office downstairs big enough to house both of us and the kitchen...holy shit did you see the size of it?" I smiled and as Jack continued to explain various things to me and how she could change my complete outlook on this house, and she had. "Fancy putting an offer in?"

"What do you suggest?"

"I'm going to knock out an offer that is less than the asking price, I can probably flummox them with my knowledge of houses, but I'm going to strongly suggest that we don't go over their asking price. I know I can get materials and things cheaper, but it's the manual labour that will raise the cost." I looked at Jack and I was completely in awe. I wandered around the house again and with Jack's vision clear in my head, a flash of our future zapped through my mind's eye making me smile.