Swan Song

Five

Friday came quickly, a little too quickly, and I was at home getting ready for my date with Jake when a knock on the door interrupted me doing my makeup.

"Are you wearing mascara?"

I sighed as Brad playfully pushed me to the side as he came into my house.

"Tell me again why I agreed to this," I sighed as I walked back to my bedroom and sat at my vanity.

Bradley sat on my bed, kicking back as he turned the tv on. I looked at him through the mirror and could see him laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I just can't wait to hear about all of it after you get home," he chuckled. "I'll definitely be awake to hear all about it."

"We can have a sleepover and stay up all night giggling and braiding my hair as I tell you about my date with Jake," I said with mock admiration before rolling my eyes.

I quickly finished my hair and makeup and then wandered to my closet to find something to wear. After some contemplation, I settled on a black dress with daisies all over it, grabbing a sweater to cover the open back before I put some black flats on and left my closet, doing a spin.

"I didn't know you owned dresses," Bradley muttered with a brow raised.

"I don't get a lot of time to wear them," I grumbled. "Is it too much?"

"You look great, Odette."

"You'd better say that," I muttered as I looked at my reflection and smoothed the sundress out. "Now you have to go before he gets here."

Per usual, I was one step behind because as Bradley and I left my room, there was a knock on the front door and I groaned before walking to open it.

"Bradshaw. Wherever Odette is, you're always two steps behind, aren't you?" Jake said as he spotted Bradley, a smirk on his face.

"Gotta have my guard dog, don't I?" I muttered as I glanced at Brad, earning a roll of his eyes.

The boys shook hands before Bradley excused himself back across the street to his own house, leaving Jake and I alone.

"You look great," Jake muttered as he gave me a once over. "Are you ready?"

"You too," I replied as I took note of his outfit before grabbing a small clutch that held my phone and even smaller wallet.

Jake waited as I locked the front door before quietly joining him in his truck— the same one that he had driven when we were much younger. He must have sensed that I knew the truck and chuckled.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," he muttered with a grin as he climbed into the drivers seat.

"So where are we going?" I questioned as I buckled my seatbelt, glancing over at Jake in the drivers seat.

"I know how much you love Italian food so I thought we'd go to this really great place down by the beach."

"You actually remembered that?" I followed up, a brow raised in question.

"You're not an easy person to forget. You do realize that, right?" Jake countered with a half grin.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I held in a laugh. There was no way that I wasn't the last person on Jake Seresin's mind since we had left the academy but he had a way of being extraordinarily charming and making me think otherwise.

"You act like I'm some kind of monster, Oh."

"You are some kind of monster," I countered with a slight shrug. "You hurt the people who care the most about you and you don't ever bat an eye over it."

"I'd like to think I'm making a decent run at redemption on all avenues," he replied.

"What? Like you and Bradley?"

"Exactly. Rooster and I made up. Why can't we?"

I sighed, my exhale pushing harshly against my lips and making a raspberry sound.

"Let's just forget about it," I suggested. "But don't blame me if I get a glass of wine or two so I can try and move past this too."

Jake laughed and continued to wear his smirk as he made the drive off base and towards the beach with the windows rolled down. With a lull in conversation between us, I allowed my hand to moved over the waves in the air just outside of the window.

"Always so delicate," Jake muttered with a smile as he watched me. "By the way, where have you been disappearing off to so quickly after work lately?"

I knew he was referring to me rushing away so I could meet Matt for rehearsals but the last person I wanted to share that with was Jake. Though I was proud of my work on the ice, I didn't want to share with too many people for fear of their comments.

"I, uh," I sighed. "I've just been happy to be spending time with my family. My dad just beat cancer for the second time so I've been helping a lot."

While that wasn't a lie, it wasn't the whole truth either but what he didn't know wouldn't kill him.

"I don't know how he still does his job while he was fighting," Jake said. "He's a strong man."

"You have no idea," I countered as Jake found a spot and we made our way inside.

We had immediately been seated and as we looked over the menu, a live band played music on the far side of the restaurant.

"Do you still dance?" Jake questioned.

"Not exactly," I replied with a smile. "At least not outside of the security of my house."

"Too bad," he teased. "I would've asked you to dance otherwise."

"What's this really about, Jake?" I questioned with a brow raised. "I do appreciate you bringing me to dinner but it just feels like there's a reason for it."

"Well, Odette. There is."

I tilted my head slightly in confusion as I set my menu down, my gaze finding Jake's.

"What is it?"

"I was going to wait until after dinner but since you're so persistent, here it goes. I wanted to see if I could have the privilege of taking you to the Navy Ball?" Jake asked, his confidence unwavering.

"You, Jake Seresin, want to take me to the ball? What's the catch?"

"Oh, come on," Jake grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "There's no catch and no motive. I want to take you to show you that I'm not the same punk kid I was when we were in school."

I licked my lips before sucking on the inside of my cheek as I thought about Jake's response and what my answer would be.

"The ball is in two weeks."

"So is that a no?" Jake questioned.

"Just thinking out loud," I replied. "What the hell. I'll go to the ball with you, Jake."

I watched a smile grow on his face as I picked my menu back up.

"It's a date!"

A date.