Waiting on You

Chapter 21

One year ago.

"Get in the car."

These were words that meant I was supposed to run as fast as I could.

I planned out the situation in my head: don't look back, run away from the school and towards the diner, then call my mom to come and pick me up.

But then I look down at the frosty ground and I hear the crunching of tires next to me and I know that my plan is not an option.

"Rory?"

I freeze and slowly turn my head around. Suddenly, I am greeted with bright green eyes and a warm smile.

"Oh my gosh," I breath out, gazing at the cloud that flew from my mouth.

"Did you think you were being kidnapped?" Jacob rests his arm on the window, leaning towards me. His car trails beside me slowly.

I blush. "Well, you just said 'get in the car' so of course I was sort of freaked out."

He laughs. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," I shrug, pulling my coat tighter around me. "So are you gonna let me in or not?"

Jacob looks surprised at my intensity and for some reason I am pleased. I wanted him to be surprised sometimes. "Y-yeah, sure."

I walk around the side to the passengers door, then open it and hop in. As soon as I buckle in, I hear Jacob chuckle. I whip around to look at him. "What?"

He runs his fingers through his dark hair and gives me a sloppy grin. "Your so small that you have to actually jump to get in the car."

I slap his arm. "No I don't!" Staring at the frost that has gathered on the window, a small smile grows on my lips. "And I'm not that small, I'm five three."

The rest of the car ride is silent, and I don't bother to ask where we are going until I see that we are driving into through an abundance of trees and brush.

"Okay..." I press my nose to my window and stare outside, looking for any sign of human life. "Are you sure your not actually trying to kidnap me?"

Jacob laughs and rests his hand on mine. "If it wasn't illegal, I would."

"Well that's comforting," I mumble, even though I am blushing so furiously that I could melt all of the frost on the window. I couldn't tell if that was romantic or not.

"Then where are we going?" I ask, looking over at my boyfriend.

He just smiles. "You'll see."

We are in the car for what seems like forever, Jacob behind the wheel and me right beside him, hand in hand.

When we finally come to a stop, I look around curiously. Just trees and snow.

"Now will you tell me where we are?" I ask excitedly. "I need to text my mom to tell her that I am probably not being kidnapped."

He pulls the keys out of the ignition and plants a kiss on my forehead. "We're going for a hike."

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The hike up to the top of the mountain was long and cold, but I was hoping that whatever waited for me at the top was worth it.

Jacob walked in front of me, leading the way through the white forest. The wind whistled around us, caramel colored leaves flying through the air and towards the unknown.

Snow crunches underneath our feet, darkness seeming to swallow up our legs as the sun tucked itself away.

"We're here," I hear Jacob say breathily. He hops up over one last ledge and stops to help me up. I grab his hand and let him pull me towards him.

Together we walk across the the top of the mountain, but I stop right before the edge. I gasp at the sight that was down below us.

It looked like magic. We were staring at a frozen city. People were too small to see, but I didn't mind. I imagined what they were doing, who they were with. I imagined them staring up at Jacob and I, wondering the same things that I was.

"Isn't this so cool?" He asks me, smiling.

I wrap my scarf up to my nose and even though he can't see me, I smile. I smile for myself. "It's beautiful."

Jacob wraps an arm around my shoulder, leaning on me slightly. "Your the first girl to actually make it to the top."

My cheeks flush. What did he mean "first girl"? But before I can ask, he has already moved on. He wraps my hands in his and pulls me towards him.

"Tucker would love this," I sigh, staring into the snow filled sky. "Juliette, not so much. But Tucker... He loves this kind of stuff."

I feel Jacob stiffen, and he pulls away slightly. He looks down at me, his eyes as cold as the snow. "Why are you always talking about Tucker?" He asks.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"I mean," he starts, looking off into the distance. "You always talk about Tucker... Do you guys have a thing or something?"

I step away, creasing my eyebrows together. "Why do you say that?"

He crosses his arms. "Come on, Aurora. He obviously likes you. Do you like him back?"

I let out a small, dry laugh. "Tucker doesn't like me. We're just friends."

Did Tucker like me? Did he think of me as more than just a friend? Of course not, he was Tucker. We had know each other forever. He could never like me like that.

Jacob stares at me for what seems like forever, and finally his stone cold expression softens. "Okay, I was just wondering."

I clear my throat, avoiding his eyes. "S-so, do you like anyone else?" I ask nervously.

He goes quiet and my heart stops. Did he like someone else?

Finally he shakes his head. "I like you, Rory. Just you."

I breath out, relieved. "I thought you were going to say that you liked Chelsea or something."

"What? Why did you think that?"

The sky gets more and more gray by the minute, and suddenly I feel rushed to get this conversation over with.

I shrug, forcing my eyes to look into his. "It's just, when I saw you two in the library..."

Out of nowhere he pulls me towards him and kisses me, making heat radiate through my body.

When he pulls away, I see the Jacob that I had met a couple months earlier, and I feel myself ache for him, I feel myself falling in love all over again.

"I love you, Rory," he whispers, and I can barely hear it over the wind.

My heart skips a beat. He had said it so many times before and I had never said it back. The words gathered on my tongue, I was ready to speak them back to him, to make him officially mine.

"I-I," I start. I hesitate, thinking about the different feelings I got when I was with him, all of the girls and friends that would be a part of him. And then I picture that library boy once again, and I know that I can say it. "I love you, Jacob."