To Kiss Kate

11. the hospital

Jackson Michael's Point of View:

Kate looked gorgeous. I almost couldn't believe I was here. We were at the beach, sitting on a blanket against a cooler. My sister had come up with the idea. I thought it was stupid, assuming that Kate had spent her whole life on the beach. But, when given the option, Kate had chosen the beach over my house.

But, maybe that was a bias towards my parents. Anyways, everything seemed to be going well. I hadn't made a move yet, but mostly out of fear. She was telling me a story about elementary school, but I kept getting distracted at how perfect she looked.

"Are you listening? This is the best part." She said, lifting her head to look at me. I smiled a little. I had to do it. I just stared at her until she smiled back, then I grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her. To kiss Kate felt like nothing else. It felt warm, and comforting, powerful. The kiss deepened and I could feel her smiling.

"You look so good, Kate." I whispered, letting out a breath. She gave a light moan in return and kept kissing me. I grabbed her at the waist and pulled her towards me. I didn't ever want to stop, I had never felt like this about a girl before. Even Angela hadn't made me feel the way Kate did. I felt stupid since I barely even knew her, but I knew in my heart that she was meant for me.

She pulled away after a few minutes, smiling wide. I pulled her even closer so that she melted onto my lap. After a few minutes, she pulled away and let out a long sigh.

"I should get going. I have to work at 6 tomorrow." She let her arms fall loosely around my neck.

"AM or PM?" I asked, chuckling a little and looking at her like she was crazy.

"AM.... But I don't wanna leave you." She smiled and placed her lips on mine again. I smiled through the kiss. "I don't know how I feel this way about you, Jack. It scares me." She said, barely taking her lips off mine. I pressed a kiss again and pulled away.

"I know exactly how you feel. Its a fear I wanna face." I admitted to her. "I've never been more scared, Kate. For some reason things just feel different with you." She nodded slowly and pulled the hood of the sweatshirt she had borrowed over her head, wrapping her arms around her body. She dropped her head to my chest.

"The only thing that scares me more, is knowing that in just a few months, we'll be thousands of miles away from each other." I had never even thought of that, somehow. This was crazy, and I couldn't believe I was falling for a girl so quickly, all for it just to end so suddenly.

"Don't say that." I said, wrapping my arms around her and staring at the waves. The moon wasn't that bright tonight, so it was actually pretty dark and the waves were just visible beneath the sky.

Suddenly she moved and stood up. "I should really go. Thank you for tonight." She reached her hands down, expecting to help me stand up, but I rolled my eyes at her and stood up myself, bringing the blanket along with me and picking up the cooler.

"Slow down, girl. I have to drive you home anyways." I spoke loudly from a few yards behind her as she walked much quicker towards my house. She laughed and turned around to face me, her smile still shining bright. She stopped to wait for me and I looked her up and down as I walked towards her. She was wearing one of my Penn State sweatshirts, it was obviously way too big on her, but she still looked perfect. I couldn't believe what I was doing to myself. Fuck.

We walked to my garage together and got in my car. This night had been perfect. I didn't give a shit about my parents or anything they had said today. Kate was perfect, and deep down I could feel that she was it for me, I had known it the moment I met her. 

It was just past midnight by the time we got to her house, so I didn't spend as much time as I would've liked kissing her in the front seat. She gave me a warm hug goodnight before taking off the sweatshirt and opening the door. I had encouraged her to just give it back later, hoping for an excuse to see her but she had refused, saying she wasn't one of "those girls."