< Chapter 44: The Fresh Outdoors >

♥ Jamie's POV: ♥

It didn't take long for the limo to drop Justin and I back at my house. I was still a bit stumped that our first date ended the way it did. I've always loved this dress too, and now it's torn.

I grumpily followed behind Justin, who was walking towards my house and ringing the doorbell. He looked back towards me and smiled weakly. It seemed as though he was blaming himself for all this when, clearly, it wasn't his or my fault either.

"At least the first part was fun.." I said, trying to cheer up the mood, but that didn't really cut it.

"At least..." he spoke slowly, right before the door opened to reveal Phoebe.

"How did it all go? Besides the restaurant's kitchen fire?" she asked immediately. I looked down at my dress and held up the part where the fabric had ripped. Phoebe's eyes widened and she looked at me with shock.

"Whoa!! What happened?!" she gasped. Her sudden commotion attracted Chaz and Ryan to come up behind her to look at us. I guess Ryan had arrived not too long after we left.

As we walked inside, I explained everything that happened from ice skating to running from the fans and falling.

"That's terrible! I'm so sorry!" Chaz said sympathetically.

"That's okay," I shrugged with disappointment. I think my hair was a mess by now and my make up isn't as good as it was when I had left the house earlier, I'm guessing.

"Well we really wanted this date to go perfect for you two, but we heard about the kitchen fire and not being able to go have dinner," Phoebe began, "so I got Chaz, Ryan and Jamie's mom to help out with something. Specially after hearing about those fans, you two could really use this."

There were smiles forming on Phoebe, Chaz and Ryan's faces and I was starting to get really curious as to what they had planned.

"Help out with what?" Justin asked, as confused as I am.

"You two are still getting that dinner, believe me," Chaz said.

"But we'll have to fix a few things," Phoebe spoke thoughtfully, eyeing me up and down. "Come with me, Jamie."

"What? Where?"

"No questions, just c'mon!" she commanded, taking my hand and dragging me away immediately. I was about to ask a billion questions but felt as though it would be useless to question her behavior. In a matter of seconds, we were up in my room - door locked - and Phoebe digging through the closet.

"You can't wear that poor torn thing to this dinner, now can you?" she said, pulling out a beautiful, long blue dress. It was absolutely gorgeous, and it looked like it was worth a lot.

"Ph-Phoebe... Where did you get that?" I asked, admiring it a while longer.

"Some mall," she shrugged, walking towards me, "but you're going to change into it."

My eyes widened when she handed me the dress, signaling me to try it on. "Wait... Who's is this?"

"Yours."

"No, isn't it yours?" I asked.

"Not anymore," Phoebe answered. "I bought it because Noah and I were going to a fancy date soon and I wanted to be prepared, but trust me, you need it more than I do. Go wear it and have the time of your life with the man of your dreams. It's yours now."

A huge smile was planted on her face and I did a double take. "Why would you just give it to me?"

"Because you're my best friend! Now stop wasting precious time and change into it! The night won't be young forever!" she prompted, shooing me into the bathroom. Once I had quickly changed dresses from torn and black color to blue color and beautiful, I fixed up my hair and make up, making sure I looked presentable again.

Once I had returned from the bathroom, Phoebe took one look at me and squealed. "Oh my god! You look stunning!! Even better than I looked in that dress!"

"Aww, thanks Phoebs. I'll make sure to make it up to you and buy a beautiful dress for that date with Noah," I smiled, hugging her. "By the way, what's this dinner we're still having?"

"Here comes the fun part," she winked, dragging me back out downstairs. When we returned to the living room, I noticed all the boys were gone.

"Where's Justin?" I asked, searching for my sexy beast. I scanned the living room and when Phoebe wasn't answering, I locked eyes with her, but she only smiled at me. I gave her a confused look, wondering why she was so happy. "Where is he?" I repeated, walking off near the back door. Through the curtains, it seemed as if there were many lights in the backyard and, curious as to what was happening, I opened the back door and my jaw dropped.

My backyard... It looked so different. A beautiful different. The flowers looked pretty even in the night and there was a perfect view of the stars. The entire backyard was decorated with beautiful lights, and right in the middle stood a nicely set up table with two chairs on either side. I took one step forward and finally spotted Justin standing near a chair. His hair looked nicer, since all the running and touching it all the time sorta messed it up a little. He still looked as sexy as ever in his suit, and he stood tall, smiling lightly at me. Suddenly, Ryan walked out towards me and took my hand, leading me towards the table.

"Table for two?" he asked in a fancy voice, and only then did I notice he was also dressed up quite nicely in that dashing tuxedo.

"Yes sir," Justin played along, rolling his eyes. He then slid out my chair for me to sit on and then went around to sit on his own.

"Welcome to the Hughes' Backyard Restaurant, my name is Ryan Butler and I will be taking your order for tonight. Afterwards, another handsome man who's not as sexy as I am would be serving out the food cooked by the lovely Jade Hughes," he informed us. My smile widened and I was trying hard not to laugh, knowing that the 'other handsome man' was Chaz.

"Where's the menu?" Justin asked, looking at the table in front of us, which only held utensils and napkins.

"Well... You have no choice but to eat Mrs. Hughes' special cooked lobster," he winked, "But I will take any beverages request."

Justin and I ended up asking for juice and as Ryan walked away, Phoebe was the next to come up to us.

"We set this all up so you two could at least have a nice dinner under the stars. I hope you guys enjoy the meal since it's Jamie's mom that's cooking," she laughed.

I was about to say something but Justin beat me to it.

"You guys are seriously the bestest friends anyone could ever ask for, if that's a word. I love you all," he smiled wide, about to give Phoebe a hug, but she stopped him.

"Nope! Not now, you're on a date! Now excuse me while I go play some romantic music to set the mood," she winked, turning away before we could protest.

I'll have to genuinely thank her later. This is literally one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for us. It really, really means a lot.

"We have amazing friends," Justin smiled at me.

"And an amazing mom," I pointed out, remembering my own mother was part of this plan. He laughed and agreed with me before looking up at the sky. I followed his gaze and was in awe when my eyes settled on the beautiful night sky.

Just being in the fresh outdoors with Justin is... even better than ending up in that fancy restaurant. We don't need all the elegant food and set ups, everything we need is right here, in my own backyard.

I looked back at Justin who was still admiring the stars. I watched how his eyes were glowing and a small smile was planted on his face. Just then, romantic music you would hear at a fancy restaurant began playing from the outside speakers.

Wow. Phoebe really did mean she was going to do that.

At the sudden music, Justin's eyes met mine and I smiled back at him. He really did look so friggin cute right now. Not that he never does, anyway. 

"So..." I giggled, looking back at the house to see Chaz and Phoebe watching us from a window.

"So..." he repeated, chuckling in the process. He looked at the house too, and then rolled his eyes playfully.

"You know we're being watched now, right?" I pointed out.

"Yeah," he nodded, "but I don't care. Let's just enjoy each other's company."

"Agreed," I said, resting my elbows on the table and holding up my head with both hands. "So any concerts coming up soon?" I asked. And I really wanted to know, just to see how much time I really have with him.

"Maybe next week," he answered, pouting that he'd have to leave me. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I mean... It's your job.." I said, a little bit disappointed at the thought of him leaving me.

"Hey, it's okay," he assured in a soothing voice. He leaned across the table and pecked my lips. "We'll do everything we've done the past few years when this happened. Skypes, calls, texts, t-"

"-They're not enough," I interrupted. He paused and looked at me.

"Why not?"

"Those don't allow me to kiss you. I'd just be kissing my screen and that's weird.." I laughed.

"True, but it's the best we can do right now," he pointed out. I sighed and leaned back on my chair. Chaz chose that moment to show up.

"Sir, madam, your beverages," he simply said, putting down our juices on the table. I giggled at his accent.

"Thanks Chaz," I smirked.

"No! I am Sir Somers! Get it right!" he sassed, walking away just like that. Justin began cracking up and I laughed at Chaz's, umm... behavior.

Maybe our first date will still turn out to be the best after all. Thanks to our amazing best friends..

*******************************************

Hey there, hey.

Just letting you know the date's not over YET!

QUICK QUESTION for you guys! This will help me decide how the story will end and if there'll be a sequel or not. Really quickly, do you guys like reading stories where the main character's child is growing up, or do you just find that boring?

Just asking 'cause I previously heard some people do, but I wanna ask you guys.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

#Jastin <3

- Nina xx