caroline → john swift

ten

as swazz promised, he picked cara up for their date the next day. he honked three times to let her know he was outside. cara said goodbye to her mom and then raced out the door, towards john's car.

"don't make me regret this." cara said as she got inside his car.

"well hello to you too." he slightly rolled his eyes. "beside the rudeness, i got you flowers... well a flower." john said, picking up the pink rose that was in his lap, handing it to her.

cara broke out into a smile as she took the flower, "john." she blushed, smelling the flower. she glanced out the window slightly at her neighbors yard. she looked back between the flowers and the ones in the garden. "john, did you steal this out of my neighbors yard?"

swazz bit his lip, to hide his laughter. cara scoffed, throwing the flower back at him. "unbelievable." she muttered.

"babe, i'm sorry i didn't have time to pick up flowers. i'm sure your neighbors won't mind, right?" john swiftly placed his hand on her thigh.

"one," cara removed his hand. "i'm not your babe. two, where are we even going?"

-

"dave and busters?" cara questioned when swazz pulled in the parking lot, stopping the car and they walked inside together.

"yeah!" john grinned. "what? were you expecting me to take you to some fancy expensive restaurant? sorry babe, not all of us have money like that. we can't ask daddy for everything."

"well i don't ask daddy for everything . my dad isn't in my life." cara replied.

swazz's face fell. "oh, i'm sorry." they both walked in silence. "may i ask why?"

cara shrugged, "it's kinda one of those personal things."

john nodded, but then he suddenly stopped. "cara, i really want you to trust me. i want you to let me in."

"john..." cara sighed.

"no, hear me out caroline." swazz said, leaning up against a random game. cara rolled her eyes at the mention of her real name, but decided to listen. "i do want to be your boyfriend... i would like to be your boyfriend, but you gotta work with me. let me in. i'm not asking for a whole lot, just a tiny bit."

cara bit her lip, taking in his words. it truly was hard for her. she had a lot of trust issues because of her dad. she didn't like to talk about much, because the story truly upsets her. "i have trust issues, but i'm willing to try," she said, making swazz grin. "i said try. no promises."

john looked down, chuckling. "alright, caroline." he grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "i'll take what i can get."