Just The Girl

Chapter 11

D A H L I A

It was now the 13th of May, me and Jace were huddled together inside my room. He was busy doing his work on my study desk while I was busy organizing an outline for my speech at the student body rally coming up next week. This rally would mean a lot to me, most especially since it would add to my credentials and would give me incentive points for my grade. If I can't get a flat 4, might as well just bag another honor roll like I usually do.

Me and Jace's relationship had gotten even better considering that he was now chilling inside my room.

He met both of my parents yesterday, invited him over for dinner, my mother had insisted. Jace had a way with my dad, for the older male had suddenly started warming up to him, and vice versa. They were talking about the hype about racing cars and Formula 1, me and my mother could only give sideway glances at each other before sneaking little smiles.

My parents loved Jace, it made me so happy.

So now, Jace was free to come over any time he wanted to. From spending time at Café Bistro turned to hanging out at my place during Saturdays, this was now a new part of our cycle. Convenient, even.

Jace had took me out on a late-night drive after dinner today. He told me he wanted to take me somewhere, more like show me something. We ended up going off road, up a hill, until we landed on a clearing that overlooked the whole city—lights from buildings and houses flowed beautifully below us, looking like stars at sea. If that was even possible.

We sat at the back of his pick-up, feet dangling in the air, music blaring from inside his car, its melody a faint noise in the background.

"This place looks oddly deserted, how'd you know a place like this existed here?"

Jace was sitting beside me, the calmness radiating around him as the moonlight shined above the both of us. He looked comfortable, disheveled hair, loose white shirt and grey sweatpants. He looked exactly like the way I wanted him to look, someone who felt like home.

"Do you bring your girls often here?" I teased. Jace turned to look at me, nudging me on the sides before shaking his head. "How about Benjie?" He shakes his head again. "Oh, how about Steffi? You're ex-girlfriend?"

"She doesn't even know this place existed."

I then arched a brow towards him, "So you're saying you come here alone?" This time, he nods his head. "Why? Is being alone up here such a problem for you?"

"It's not that, I just can't imagine you ever being alone while doing stuff like this. You look like you always have someone by your side, a circle around you—a crowd."

Jace chuckled, slowly reaching up to ruffle my hair, making me whine as I slightly sent out a light glare, before fixing the mess he made as I finger comb through the locks of it.

Spending time with Jace like this was so calming and peaceful, every moment with him was just so serene and beautiful, like nothing else mattered except for me and him, and the moment we're sharing.

"Jace, can I ask you something?" I turned my body to face him, to look at him, as I saw him nodding his head, his eyes never leaving the view in front of us. "What is it?"

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" Realizing I had context that wrongly, I then proceeded to correct myself. "What I meant was—yes, we're adults now, but what are your future plans? What do you want to do after everything?"

I could see him thinking about it, his neck craning from the side, before he turned his face to look at me before letting out a shrug. "I don't have any plans yet." He simply said. I then let out a soft sigh, a small smile spreading across my face.

"You know what? I've always wanted to own a coffee shop."

"A coffee shop? Why?"

I had thought about the reasons, the beauties of that future plan, the wonder it could bring to my life, the passion I had for wanting to make and serve coffee for people.

"Coffee shops just bring people together, you know? If two people want to meet for the first time, isn't a coffee shop the first place they would want to go? If you want to hang out with friends, you also look for a coffee shop to hang out to." My smile had gotten wider this time. "A lot of things can happen inside a shop, a lot of beautiful things." I was now staring at his eyes, as he was staring at mine as well. "A lot of stories a simple shop could hold, a lot of feelings and emotions. That wherever people would go, wherever their feet would take them—their hearts will always go to that one, small coffee shop that holds one of their beautiful memories. And I'd love to be there if they decided to come back to experience those memories all over again."

After speaking, I noticed how Jace had suddenly turned silent, but his stare never left my face. I slightly got startled when he suddenly pulled me closer, both of my hands now on his chest as his arms circled my waist.

"J-Jace?"

His smile is still as radiant as the first time I've seen it, gentle and sincere. I fell deeper to him, I wanted him, and I needed him. Slowly, he combs a piece of my hair to the sides, placing it behind my ear, the palm of his hand now resting against my cheek.

"Since the first day I met you, I knew you were going to be someone special to me." He started, his words a whisper in between us. "When you walked through that door of the art shop, even when your face held an obvious frown, in that moment I knew how much I wanted to put a smile on your face." My heart was swelling now, hands shaking, chest about to burst.

"Ever since then, I wanted to keep seeing you, to keep talking to you... to touch you." My breath began to hitch, he was inching closer and closer now. Was this it? Was this going to be our first kiss together? Am I finally going to kiss Jace Yamashiro?

He paused for a moment to stare at my lips, then went back to stare at me deep in the eyes. "I want you in my life, my Lia. For the days to come, I want you beside me. For whatever life throws at me, I want you here. Through those ups and downs, I want to continue holding your hand." I want all of them too, Jace. All of them.

"Will you be mine? Officially?"

And in that moment, I felt like my heart was about to burst. My face was aching with how much I had smiled in that very moment, probably looking like the Grinch with how wide it had gone that it was enough to reach my ears. I wouldn't know, I wasn't the one looking at me—Jace was.

I felt his hand roll towards the back of my neck before pulling me in as our lips finally touched. Both of his arms pulling me in closer, tighter. My arms are now circling around his neck as we shared a long kiss under the moonlight.

Our first kiss.

Once we pulled away, slightly breathless from that amazing kiss. I looked back at him again, giving him a faint and gentle smile.

"I love you, my Lia." He loves me. Jace doesn't just like me, he loves me now.

"I love you too, my Jace."

He then pulled me in for another kiss.