Tagged | J. Bratt

CH 32

"Allison." Jesper dragged out the end of her name as he brushed his hand over the sleeping girl's cheek. She sturred and eventually awoke, looking right at Jesper since he wasn't there when she fell asleep.

"Good morning." Allison said, her usually soft voice slightly rough from sleeping. Jesper smiled at her, his hand resting on her cheek. Allison softly smiled at him, her expression still showing she's tired.

"It's almost 10 o'clock. We, well, you, need to start getting ready for the day." Jesper said while pulling his hand away from the girl in front of him so she can sit up. When she finally does, the first thing Jesper does his press a kiss to her lips, making her smile.

"We've got plans?" Allison asked, only knowing that Jesper had made dinner plans for the two. He nods and gets off the bed to go pull something out of the closet. Allison's eyes widen when she sees the two pairs of skates in Jesper's hands, another thing he bought her.

"We're teaching you to skate and then we can do whatever you want until dinner." Jesper's smile turns amused as Allison sighs. This was going to be a long day.

...

"Jesper, that's a hill. I can't do that." Allison said, fear creeping into her voice as she looks down the small hill. Jesper places his hands on his hips as he gives her a look that reminds her a lot of when her mother catches her doing something she's not supposed to be doing.

"It's practically a flat ground. The driveway is steeper than this." Jesper said. Allison sighs and takes his hand. If she's going down, he is too. Allison pushed herself forward as little as possible, afraid the hill is going to pull her faster than she can handle. Jesper held her hand as he skated with her, never taking his hand out of hers.

...

"Tyler got traded." The words hung in the air as Jesper looked down at the ground in front of himself and Allison. She knew Jesper was shaken up about the trade, but he'd been expecting it, just didn't want to believe it would happen. He fell into Allison's opens arms, his arms tightening around her lower back.

"Is losing a friend always this bad? He was only here for a season, but-" Allison interrupts Jesper, her hand moving through his blond hair.

"But he's still your friend. It's going to hurt when he's going away." Allison said, her words making Jesper go quiet. For some time they stood there, arms wrapped around each other before Jesper pulled away from her. His left hand moved from her waist to her cheek.

"You're really good at the whole... comfort thing." Jesper smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Allison shrugged.

"I've had experience. Being alone for pretty much your entire college career make you really good at comforting yourself and other people." Allison said, her smile never flattening. Jesper's eyebrows furrow as he listens to his girlfriend speak.

"You were alone?" Jesper asks, his voice more upset that it was when he was talking about Tyler, that conversation long forgotten anyways. Allison's a good subject changer too.

"I mean, I had Maddie and Calum, but they didn't major with me. We didn't have the same classes and we didn't even share a dorm." Allison laughs at how crazy it sounds. She really was alone.

"I went through a tough time without them, but it's all okay now. I have you, Jack, Luke..." Jesper sighs before removing his hand from Allison's face, making her soft smile fall. Jesper runs his hand through his hair before sighing.

"There's a lot I don't know about you, huh?" Jesper asks, his voice slightly breathless.

"It's not anything I wouldn't mind sharing with you." Allison grins. She presses a kiss to the corner of Jesper's mouth before walking away, Jesper's eyes trailing after her.

"How about we talk over dinner?" Jesper asks, his smirk become more apparent as he talks. Allison's smile doesn't fade as she runs to her bedroom giggling.