Far From The Truth

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I placed one hand over my mouth in shock as I took in the scene before my eyes. There was a white and blue checked blanket sitting peacefully on a bed of bright green grass. To the side of the blanket was a typical picnic basket made of weaved wicker and right in the center of the white and blue checks were a few short candles. All of this was sitting underneath what I thought was the most beautiful tree I'd ever seen, and it was looking over the beach, except instead of seeing children laughing and playing in the sand and parents reading romance novels, it was completely devoid of life. I could hear the crashing sound the waves made as they hit the shore.

I turned to face Blaise, my hand still pressed against my mouth because of the shock. "Did you do this?" I asked him after a few moments, calming down from the sheer surprise.

Blaise rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, something I had realized by now that meant he was embarrassed or bashful (I thought it was extremely adorable to be honest, but I would never tell him that). "Kind of," He replied, "My mom made all the food and set it up. But it was my idea." Blaise stepped closer to me and, looking down at me since he was a few inches taller, asked, "Do you like it?" I looked into his eyes and saw the uncertainty and the worry that I wouldn't like his surprise after all the work he's put into it.

"Are you kidding?" I exclaimed. smiling widely, "It's perfect, I love it."

Blaise breathed out in what I guessed was relief. "Well then, let's sit down." He took my hand in his and gently pulled me over to sit on the blanket. Blaise grabbed the basket from beside him and opened it. When he looked inside, he smiled. I was about to ask why he was smiling at the food in the basket when he pulled out a tupperware container full of what looked like potato salad. "This is my mom's potato salad. It is literally my favorite food. Ever." Blaise exclaimed, looking like a little kid on Christmas morning after he opened his first present. He dug a fork out of the basket and scooped some of the potato salad onto it.

"Here," He said, gesturing for me to come closer so he could give me the potato salad. I did as he said and scooted closer to him. When I was close enough, I reached out to take the fork from him but he stuck it in front of my lips, smirking. "Ah, ah, ah. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I wasn't overly romantic and cheesy on our first date?"

I laughed and Blaise stuck the fork in my mouth, taking that as an invitation. I snatched the fork from his hand, amused. After a few seconds I tasted the potato salad and I smiled, taking the fork out of my mouth. When I finished chewing, I grinned widely and said, "Wow, that's really good. But did you really need to stick the fork in my mouth forcefully?"

"Why yes I did pumpkin face." Blaise cooed in a mocking baby voice.

I raised an eyebrow, "Are you calling my face orange and bumpy?"

Blaise stayed silent.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

We ate and laughed, Blaise called me more weird pet names and I either blushed or laughed at them because they were so ridiculous. When we were done, I moved to sit right in front of Blaise. He took my hands in his and rubbed circles in the backs of them while I took the time filled with a comfortable silence to take a really good look at the setting around us. I took the time to classify the tree as an oak tree, and I just took in how perfect everything looked.

"Hey." Blaise said, catching my attention and making me swivel my head back to look at him.

"Yeah?" I asked, enjoying the feeling of him rubbing his fingers into my skin slowly, like a massage on my hands.

"Want to play a game of 20 questions?" He replied, still rubbing his hands on mine. Blaise looked at me and smiled his real smile, not the smirk used most of the time. I was really enjoying being one of the only people to see that real, beautiful smile grace his lips.