Something new

chapter 59

Jake was licking his ice cream silently, thinking about what André could've possibly meant with his statement.
Is he a hater? I'm sure they're the one.
When he glanced down at their ice cream cone however...
He frowned.
Maybe the flavors weren't meant for me after all..

(Name) noticed his odd silence and nudged him, "You seriously believe in that shit? Come on get a grip dude."

"Do you like me, (Name)?"

"What."

Of course he had to ask that question on their first date.
Probably also their last date with how it's going.

Jake sighed and looked up at them, finally leaving the ice cream cone unwatched.
"I don't think you like me the way I like you."

They paused. Of course they didn't like him, they knew they didn't like him. But actually telling him that he's right was harder than they thought.
They assumed that after this date Jake would lose interest in them anyway.

They stayed quiet and just stared at him.

"Why did you go on this date with me then?"

"Well- I didn't want to be rude, I guess."
They rubbed the back of their neck, an uncomfortable urge rising in their stomach. Why did he have to address it like that?
Couldn't he have just noticed their disinterest in something romantically with him and let it go?

No, of course he had the right to address it. He asked them out to go on a date with him and they said yes. It's their fault.
But he didn't even mention the word date up until later when they had already said yes to him.

"You only told me later on that this was a date. How was I supposed to react? Cancel it after telling you we could meet up? That's straight up rude. I don't do that to a friend."
Jake's eyes softened, he didn't even realize he was frowning from the irritating worries he had. He chuckled lightly and put his hand on top of theirs, his ice cream cone melting in his hand.
"See, this is why I love you. Even though you always act like you don't care, you still do everything to not hurt the people around you."

(Name) stared into his eyes, getting slightly flustered by his words.
They didn't like hearing that from him. Why did it have to be him that would say such strong words to them?
They sighed and pulled their hand away from his, a slight glare making its way to their face.

"Jake, you're not in love with me. You don't know me well enough to say that you love me. Don't just spit that word around as if it doesn't have a strong meaning."

He furrowed his eyebrows. Why wouldn't they believe him? He does have a crush on them, so obviously the word love is the only word that fits in this scenario.

"I'm sorry."

That wasn't what he wanted to say.
What did he want to say?
He could've argued with them about it and defended himself.
Or he could've explained explicitly why he has the right to use that word for them.
He could've listed every small detail about their hair, their face, their voice, their laugh and their personality that drove him more into them.
But he didn't.

He stared down to his ice cream cone, the once beautifully set balls were melting into one another, running down his arm.
Was this a sign?
He couldn't tell. To be quite honest, he didn't want to see the sign.

And just when he opened his mouth to try and save this date, to keep them fixated on him, to just lit at least a small candle in their heart for him, ... he came.

Chat Noir in all his glory jumped down a few meters away from them, a sly smirk on his face as he approached them.
Jake was confused and honored to have a hero approach them, he wanted to tell (Name) that this is awesome.

But when he turned to them he realized what was up.
The way their eyes lit up upon seeing him, the way the corners of their lips twitched upwards for a second, heck even the way they immediately sat straight up.
Chat Noir was a hero, of course they'd be enchanted by a hero. He thought to himself.
After all, he was also excited to have THE Chat Noir approach them.
But their excitement was different than his.

"Hello love birds, sorry to interrupt but I really need to steal (Name) (LastName) for a moment. I hope you don't mind?"

Ah.
Perfect timing, huh? The hero this teen is having a celebrity crush on is here to pick them up.
Jake knew he lost all their attention from that moment.

But when he turned over to them, (Name) was irritatedly glaring at Chat Noir.
Probably because they were in the middle of a date that was going down.

"Oh.. You see this is a very bad timing, Chat Noir Sir. We're kind of busy right now."

"It's urgent."

Before they could argue further, Jake watched his crush be picked up in a swift motion and he immediately jumped away.
The last thing Jake heard was an apology Chat Noir shouted his way.

...

He sighed, looking down on his cone once more, his arm was wet and sticky from all the ice cream that had run down.
His cone was almost empty.

He looked over to his side, seeing that (Name)'s ice cream cone was still there. They didn't even have the chance to finish it. But their ice cream cone looked fine. Their ice didn't melt.

His chance already ran out.
Their's didn't.

He realized now that they weren't meant for him, even though he was so sure that he was meant for them.

..I blew it.