A Poppy In The Stars

Chapter 19

After promising the doctor not to go out if it isn't for an emergency, he let me go home. I was so glad to see my room after three long days, and even more happy to see Jacob and Eva sitting on my bed, waiting for me to come home. We chatted and laughed and even made some chocolate chip cookies. What fun?!
Jasper came and went whenever he could to check on me, and my heart lifted whenever I saw him coming through our front door. Even Robby was happy to see him. Jasper liked him too and they got along pretty well.
One day, we played fetch with Robby in our small back yard, while mom got ready for the evening barbeque.

"Good boy, Robby." Jasper said and patted him on the head as he bounced the ball back at him. Jas turned to me, his hair matted with sweat. "Hey Hope, you want to have a go with this buddy?"

I smiled, but shook my head. "No. I love to watch you guys play. I think Robby loves you more than ever."

Jas smiled back and turned back to Robby. "Here you go, bud." He threw the ball across the yard, making Robby run after it, his golden curls glistening in the evening sun.

"Jas, why don't you come here for a while?" I called as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He turned to me and nodded, then started walking up to the bench where I was sitting. Robby followed, the ball in his mouth.

Jas sat beside me and patted Robby on the head as he rested his head on top of Jas's knees. "Oh, I love you so much Robby." He said with clenched teeth, clearly he has overcome with love towards the pup. "You are my best friend now, you know."

"I guess you got that one right." I said to Jas as he kissed Robby on the head. Robby licked Jas's face, making me chuckle. "You two go along pretty well."

"Well, I think he approves me as your boyfriend." He said, turning to me with a smile. "And I'm glad."

"I am too." I replied.

"So, what do you want to do this weekend?" He asked, throwing the ball for Robby to fetch.

I shrugged. "Mom won't let me go anywhere anytime soon, so nothing."

"That sucks."

"Mhm. Of course that sucks. But I had fun, you know, while I'm out there."

"I wish I could take you back to my house." He said as he retrieved the ball from Robby's mouth to throw it back again. "You know, continue from where we stopped."

I swatted his arm as he laughed. "Shut up, Jas! We'll get our chance when it's the right time!"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You want fun or me alive?" I asked rather sharply than I intended. He turned to me, his smile fading.

"You alive of course. I'm sorry." He said and kissed my cheek.

"Let's not talk about going anywhere until I'm back to normal, okay?" I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Okay. And I promise that you'll be fine in a couple of days."

"And I can't wait." I muttered.

"Guys!!" Mom's voice called from the other side of the yard. We both looked up to see a thin line of smoke rising from the barbeque grill. Mom came out of the back door with cutlery and plates. "Time to have supper. Come on!" She nodded towards the grill and said.
We both stood up and followed her to the spot. We sat on the thick green grass cross legged.

"You guys don't want to go in there to have food?" Mom asked, handing out plates.

Jasper shook his head. "No, thanks Mrs Williams. We are fine down here."

"If you say so." She said and placed steaming pieces of meat on our plates. "If you want drinks or anything else, it's in the kitchen."

I frowned. "Why? Aren't you going to eat?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Im going to have some bread in there." She said and clapped her hands together. "Okay, I'm going in there. If you want anything, grab it from the kitchen, okay? Help yourself to whatever you want..., Oh and Hope, ask and give whatever Jas wants, okay? Don't make him feel uncomfortable."

I rolled my eyes. "I won't,mom"

"Good. Okay then, enjoy." She said and went back inside.
Me and Jasper shared our food with Robby and had a great time, laughing and eating and teasing until it was finally the time for us to go in to clean our plates.

After dessert, Jasper and I went to the living room to watch some TV. Mom was nowhere to be seen, probably asleep after a long day of cooking and screaming at me for trying to sneak out of the house.

"Thank your mom for the food, it was great." Jas said as he flipped through the channels. Finally we decided to watch an old episode of Big Bang Theory.

"What's the time, Jas?" I asked after a couple of minutes, yawning.

Jas checked his watch. "It's almost eleven. I should get going." He said.

"No, wait a little bit longer!" I poured, making him smile.

He hugged me closer to him. "Only for another two minutes, or my mom will call for a curfew."

I laughed. "Does she do that?"

"Once she did. I had a very hard time sneaking around. I used to creep out of the window of my room."

"But your room... it's very high up."

"Yeah, but I reminded myself to place the ladder out there by my window every night. How clever is that?" He boasted.

I smiled. "Pretty clever." Suddenly, something crossed my mind. Something I've been waiting to ask from him for a long time. I looked up at him, making him look down at me. "You remember the incident with Ace the other day?" I asked.

Like I've expected, his face went pale and his jaw clenched, but he kept his cool with me. Always. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Well, I remember him calling you his cousin brother, and something about a secret? What was all that about?" I asked.

"He is my cousin, Hope, but I don't like to call him my brother." Jas explained. "And there's no secret. Trust me."

"But then why would he say that?"

"Probably he wanted to mess with you, and he kind of succeeded." He said. "Now, can we please stop talking about this?"

I didn't want to push him more, so I nodded and sat in his arms silently.

His two minutes passed, and another three minutes passed. He checked his watch and announced that he really has to go now. I nodded sadly.

"I won't leave your side, you know that. Now don't give me that sad eyes." He said and pressed his lips on mine. I kissed back, and tugged on his jacket, hoping to keep him for myself. He pulled me closer to him, and ran his fingers slowly all over my torso. His lips travelled to my neck and back up to my lips, making me shudder. As his lips pressed on the soft spot on my collar bone, I gasped. I've never felt this way before, even with him. I wanted more of him, but I understood that it's not the right time. So I kissed his lips gently, until we both pulled away to breath.

"I love you, Hope." He whispered in my ear, sending a shiver up my spine.

"I love you too, Jasper." I breathed back.

"I promise to come back tomorrow, okay? Let's have some real fun hopefully." He said and smiled. I smiled and nodded.
He stood up from the couch and made his way towards the front door, closely followed by me. He turned to place a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Bye."

"Bye."

Then, after bidding Robby a goodnight, he exited through the front door. I closed the door behind me as his car turned the corner and disappeared. What a night it has been?
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