Unseen

Chapter Twenty-Two

What are you supposed to wear on a date when he tells you to dress warm? I wanted to wear something cute, but Oliver said our date was taking place outside, and it's the middle of November. My only option really is to bundle up with my large puffer jacket, boots, a beanie, and mittens. I was anxiously waiting in the living room for his white jeep to pull into the driveway. I still didn't know what he had planned for our date tonight. I tried everything I could to get it out of him but he's very good at keeping a secret. Luckily for me, my mom was out getting dinner with some of her old college friends tonight so I didn't have to worry about her embarrassing me in front of Oliver. It seems like every time they cross paths, she manages to say or do something that makes me feel super awkward. Oliver doesn't seem to think anything of it, but maybe he's just trying to be polite. I saw the flash of his headlights through the window, signaling that he had arrived. I didn't hesitate to grab my bag and run out the front door. He wasn't even completely out of the car by the time I had made my way over to him. I practically jumped into his arms, he wrapped me in a warm tight hug. "You smell really good." He comments with his face snuggled in the crook of my neck. "Thanks, my sister just bought me a new perfume for my birthday. I think it's vanilla and rose." I replied. He took a step back so we were looking at one another. He gave me a confused look. "For your birthday?" He questioned. "Yeah, my birthday is tomorrow..." I replied. I absolutely hate celebrating my birthday so I try to keep it on the down low. The more people that know about my birthday, the more of a big deal they make it. I don't like being the center of attention, so the less people who know the better. "I can't believe you weren't planning on telling me about your birthday!" He frowns back at me. "It's really not a big deal. I don't like celebrating it." I admit, causing him to frown even more. "How could you not like celebrating your birthday? It's a special day dedicated just for you." He replies. "I don't know, I guess we are just different." I state. He looks at me with a curious look, but doesn't protest any more. He walks me over to the passenger side of his car and opens the door for me to get in. "So where are we going?" I ask excitedly. "It's a surprise." He smirks back at me as he gets into the driver's seat. "Come on! I've been so patient... you owe me at least a hint!" I protest, causing him to laugh. "Let's just say, I'm glad you took my advice and dressed in warm clothes." He chuckled. After a fifteen minute drive, we pulled up to a park in the mountains, it reminded me of the place my sister had her wedding. Nothing but nature surrounding us. Oliver grabbed a blanket out of the backseat and I followed him over to a grassy space nearby. He smoothed out the blanket and patted for me to sit down next to him. "You brought me here to sit on the cold ground in the dark?" I asked as I took a seat next to him on the blanket. He laughed at me, and pulled me down so we were both lying facing up at the night sky. My breath caught in my chest, my heart pounded with delight. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The sky was dark, almost black. Little white lights lit up the night, I've never seen the sky look so pretty. "I figured you were getting tired of staring at your glow in the dark stars, I thought it would be nice to see the real deal." He grabbed my hand and placed his fingers between mine. I looked over at him with a wide smile. "This is amazing. I've never seen the stars shine so brightly before. I didn't even realize how many stars are up there." I replied. "That's because where we live there's light pollution. When you come out to a place like this where it's completely dark, you can see the stars much better." He explains. "So you've done this before?" I ask, looking back up into the sky. "I used to come out here with my older sister when we were kids. We didn't live that far down the road so we would come to the park after dinner and wait until it got dark so we could stargaze. Our mom used to get so worried about us. Sometimes we'd lose track of time and she would go looking for us." Oliver smiled at the memory from his childhood. "I didn't know you had another sister?" I replied, trying to remember back to when we were kids. "She was four years older than us." Oliver replied, glancing over in my direction for a tiny second. "Was?" I questioned him, sitting up off the ground. "She died when I was eight." He replies without taking his eyes away from the stars above us. "I'm so sorry Oliver. I didn't know." I go to touch his hand but he quickly pulls away. "It's okay. I don't talk about her much. I mean, there isn't much to talk about anyways." He replies, sitting up and standing to his feet. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" I tried not to think about how he had pulled away from me earlier. He was probably just upset, I shouldn't take it personally. "We should actually get going. It's getting late." I stand to my feet and watch him begin folding the blanket. "We just got here though." I protest. "Don't worry. Our date isn't over. I have another surprise." He finally looks over at me with one of his sweet smiles. That's the Oliver I know and love. At least I'm pretty sure I love him. I would never say that to his face though. I don't want to scare him off so soon in our relationship. I smile back at him and follow him to the jeep. Less than fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to his house. "What are we doing here?" I'm quick to ask. I started to worry about meeting his parents, since I still haven't met them yet. I wondered if they would be nice, or if they would like me. "It's a surprise." He replies with a smirk. I follow him up the large stone steps and walk through the double doors. It was dark inside, and I was starting to think his parents weren't home. I followed him to the basement where there were streams of twinkly lights hanging from the ceiling. There was a fort made out of blankets and pillows, with a bunch of different snacks spread across the floor. "What's this?" I ask as I take in my surroundings. "Well, my parents aren't home this weekend so I thought it would be fun to have a movie marathon." He admits, helping me take off my jacket and placing it on the couch. "Can we watch musicals?" I asked excitedly. He laughs and takes a seat on the pile of blankets. "We can watch whatever you want." He replies with a warm smile. I take a seat next to him and he offers me some popcorn and candy. "So do you have any fun plans for your birthday tomorrow?" He asks while I scroll through the musical section on Netflix. "Not really. I don't like celebrating my birthday." I admit. "Why not?" He questions. I was hesitant to answer, knowing that if I did, he would learn something very personal about me and I wasn't sure if we had reached that level of comfort yet. "My father left the day after my birthday when I was seven." I watched Oliver's eyes widen with sadness. "I'm so sorry." Were the only words he could form. "It's okay. I mean, it's not okay, but it was a long time ago. I guess ever since then, it's been hard to enjoy my birthday because of the constant memory that the next day he was gone. No note, no goodbye, he was just gone." I could feel Oliver watching me but I couldn't look in his direction, otherwise I thought I might begin to cry. "I guess I should just be grateful that he waited until my birthday was over to leave..." I joked, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room. "He's an idiot for leaving." Oliver replied, lightly wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I finally glanced up at him and gave him a soft smile. "Thank you, you're sweet for saying that." I replied. I turned back to look at the tv to continue scrolling through the musicals when he gently touched my chin and turned my head towards his. He lightly pressed his lips to mine. It was the simplest of gestures, and it spoke louder than words possibly could. I knew at that moment that I loved him. I always have, and I always will.