Fact:
I am a terrible best friend.

Ever since that lunch, which was two days ago, I have felt so guilty about not telling Holly about me and Jackson. I don’t know why I couldn’t tell her, because I knew that the sooner I did, the faster she’d get over it, but I just couldn’t do it. After we got back to the house, I tried to tell her again, but I wimped out and I continue to wimp out every time that I see her. It was a hard time.

But it was also a really amazing time because while I felt guilty about hiding this from Holly, I’ve been spending most of the time with Jackson. You know, because he’s my boyfriend now, in case you forgot. I never thought I would ever be able to say that- like how crazy is it that in just a few short months, we went from close friends to falling love? Just like that, just because of a one night stand that led to more. Much more, obviously. Most of the time, we stay in either my room or his room, because we still have to hide from everybody because only Ryder, Tommy, and somehow Brendon know. I don’t know how or why Brendon knows, but he does. Other times, we’ll hide out in the game room or the patio or some other fancy room in the mansion-castle. Jackson even showed me the tiny bowling alley.

“What are you doing tonight?” Jackson asked curiously as we were sitting on the beach. We were sitting in the sand where the water waded up and splashed against us only when the wave was specially aggressive. I knew that Holly and Andy were home, so we weren’t making contact, even though I really wanted to hold his hand or let him wrap his arms around me because that would have felt nice, but only Elle and Isaac were out right now, so I knew that we couldn’t.

“We’re going to the movies tonight.” I replied. “Andy, Elle, Holly, and me. We’re going with Taylor and her friends.”

“Wouldn’t it be a shame if you… I don’t know, got sick or something?” He asked me with a playful smirk.

“It would be a shame, I really want to go.” I told him. “I haven’t spent a lot of time with the girls at all and Andy’s starting to freak about the wedding, which is coming up, so it won’t be long before bridezilla makes her return.”

“You’ll have all the time in the world to spend with your friends after this vacation.” Jackson mentioned. “Please?” Damn his pouty face. And his abs, since he was in his trunks, me being in my black bikini.

“What did you have in mind?” I sighed.

He grinned at me, knowing that he’d won. Damn him. “Well, everyone’s going to be out tonight, so I figure that if you stay home from the movies, then I can take you out. Like a date.” He explained, just a little sheepish.

“A date?” I echoed in shock.

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “I told you that I was going to. I mean, it won’t be anything special because I can’t make it too big because if I do that then the paparazzi will get wind of it and then Holly will hear about it. But maybe a dinner or just something small.”

“Fancy?”

“If you want.” He told me. “But be warned, when we get back to America, I’m going to blow your mind away.” Jackson grinned his gorgeous grin.

“Like what?” I squeaked.

He shrugged. “I’ll think of something.”

“When do you think I should tell Holly?” I asked him randomly. “Obviously, she has to find out at some point, but I just don’t know when.”

“When we get back to America.” He told me bluntly. That surprised me, since he usually didn’t have an opinion on this issue. When he noticed my confusion, he sighed heavily. “It’s stressing you out way too much. So just don’t worry about it for the rest of vacation. Enjoy what’s left of it, we still have a few weeks, and enjoy the excitement of sneaking around, it’s kinda fun.”

“If we weren’t sneaking around, we could be making out right now.” I sighed, but I did have to admit- the thrill of sneaking around was kinda fun. “I’ll tell her when we get back to America, but she’s going to be so mad that I waited so long to tell her.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“I’m a terrible best friend.” I whined.

“No, you’re not.” Jackson assured me.

“I am.” I argued. “What kind of best friend doesn’t tell their best friend that they’re dating somebody? Who does that?!”

“You do that.” He told me. “And you’re Libby, you never do things the mainstream way.”

I shrugged. “Okay, true.”

He laughed and stood to his feet. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”

“Holly’s still here.” I pointed out. “Everybody’s home, actually, except for Elle and Isaac.”

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing that your TV is broken.” Jackson mumbled, pulling me to my feet as he led me up the beach towards the mansion-castle. “Because I’m going to have to stay in there with you while I fix it.”

“You can’t fix TVs.” I laughed.

“That’s true.” He agreed. “But nobody needs to know that.”

I rolled my eyes at him- he’s so stupid sometimes.

“What do you mean?!” Holly wailed that evening.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked in a raspy voice. “My throat is killing me, I can’t go.”

“You’ve gotten sick a lot lately.” She huffed. No, I haven’t. I thought to myself. I’ve just lied to you a lot lately.

“I’m fine, but I have a cough and I don’t want to interrupt the movie for you guys.” I explained, feeling guiltier than ever. I’m going to hell, I swear.

“If you’re sure.” Holly whined with a disappointed frown. “Just get your boyfriend and he’ll take care of you.” She added with a small smile.

“I’ll spend a lot of time with my boyfriend.” I assured her, proud of myself for not lying. Deceiving, yes. But not lying.

“You’re really cute together, by the way. And I’m really happy for you, Lib. Tomorrow, though, we’re having a movie night, okay? Just me and you, and I’ll get duct tape or something so I won’t blabber too much.” She added.

I laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”

She grinned me and I found it so uncomfortable, but luckily, the girls left soon after that and then the guys, including the three Australians next door, went out to some bar or night club or something, leaving me and Jackson alone in the house.

“You have an hour to get ready.” Jackson informed me once everybody was gone.

“That’s it?” I wailed.

He shrugged. “I already made the reservations, just hurry.”

I sighed heavily and hurried into my room. I don’t know how I did it, but I showered, got dressed, did my hair and makeup, and found the perfect pair of heels within an hour. I have to admit, it was lonely getting ready for a date by myself- I’m always with either Holly or Holly, Andy, and Elle. But this time, I was alone. However, I do have to say I looked decent.

The top of my dress only had a strap over my right shoulder and the top of the dress was golden with sequins. The bottom was short and black with a chiffon layer over top of it that was short in the front, long in the back. My shoes were black platform heals with an ankle strap, I have no idea why I had them or what they were doing in my closet, they might be Holly’s, but they were cute and matched my dress. I had a small pretty purse and my hair was in a dressy pony tail, since I couldn’t really do anything special with it- I only had an hour and I wasn’t a magician.

After another long look in the mirror, I decided that I was ready to go, so I said goodbye to my reflection and fled out of my room, down the hallway and stairs and then into the living room where Jackson was sitting on the couch- I hope I didn’t take too long.

He was wearing a nice-looking suit that made my heart beat pick up dramatically. He was so attractive. He was so… everything. And perfect. And I am way too cheesy sometimes. When he heard me walk in, he immediately stood from the couch, looking me over as my heart was in my throat.

“You look great.” He breathed as I walked up to him.

“Thank you.” I said softly. “You do too.”

He smiled before ducking his head and placing his lips on mine for a short kiss and then intertwining our fingers, leading me out the door and to the SUV outside.

“You have to remember that this is only a temporary first date.” Jackson told me as we drove down the street. The sun was setting and it looked beautiful outside. I love Australia. “When we get home, I’ll give you a real first date, so just keep that in mind.”

I giggled softly. “I’ll remember that.”

But as the night continued, I doubted that he could top this night, because it was pretty much perfection. We went to this super fancy restaurant that was on the beach, but it wasn’t in the sand, it was on like a deck kind of thing, so you could walk outside and stand on a platform that hovered over the ocean. We got a table for two and we ate and we laughed and we just forgot about all of the problems going on inside of my head. I forgot about my lying habits and I forgot about everything except for the boy in front of me. Sure, we got a few odd glances from the people around us, but because it was such a fancy restaurant, there were no teenage girls going crazy over Jackson. Well, you know, except for me.

After dinner, we walked out to the patio kind of thing and, because the sun was completely gone for the night, only the moon was there to keep us company as it shined down onto the lapping waves of dark ocean water. The ocean looked so pretty, and to get closer to it, I carried myself over to the edge of the wooden patio with my heals clacking away in the humid night. I placed my hands on the cold wooden railing that kept people from falling over the edge and looked out into the ocean. The moonlight on the ocean water looked really cool and all, but I was kinda hoping for a shark to pop out of the water because I think that’d be really cool. Don’t they come out at night?

Before any excitement could occur, I felt Jackson’s strong arms wrap around my mid-section and his body was pressed against my back as his chin rested on my shoulder and we looked into the water silently. Maybe this is when people think about deep things, like my love for Jackson, but I didn’t need to think about it, I already knew that I loved him. It was weird, but I knew that I loved him. I didn’t think about my friends or the guilt or any of it. I was just looking for sharks.

“You’re not going to find any sharks.” Jackson whispered in my ear.

“How’d you know that’s what I was doing?” I asked in confusion. I mean, is there a where-are-the-sharks kind of expression that was on my face and I wasn’t aware of it?

“Because I know you.” He laughed, kissing my cheek. “You might find dolphins, though.”

“I want to see a shark, though.” I huffed.

“I’ll buy you a shark when we get home.” He assured me softly.

“I don’t want you to buy me a shark.” I said with a small giggle, continuing to look over the ocean. Sure, Jackson said that there wouldn’t be any, but what does he know about marine biology? Diddly squat, that’s what.

“Why not?” He asked me.

“Because I’m sure that sharks are expensive, and I just want to see one, I don’t want to own one. What if it, like, ate me?”

That made him laugh, his breath fanning against my neck. “Okay, fine. No shark, then.”

“We should get going soon, we have to get back before the girls.” I sighed, hating myself momentarily for bringing up the fact that our perfect night was ending.

“Okay, but before we go, I need to tell you something.” He mumbled. “And I would tell you not to freak out, but I know you’re going to anyway, so I won’t tell you that.”

“What is it?” I asked, staying in his arms with his front pressed to my back.

“Holly knows about us.” He said quickly. “According to Ryder.”

Surprisingly, I didn’t freak out. Not only did it surprise me, but Jackson seemed surprised by that fact as well. “Is she mad?” I asked him.

“Well, she’s known since you went to lunch, so I don’t think so.” He informed me.

I thought back to right before she left for the movies and the weird smile she gave me when she told me that me and my boyfriend make a cute couple. I guess it made sense. “Good.” I sighed with a breath of relief. “That is so good.” I was actually really relieved by this wonderful news. “I love you so much.”

“I love you so much too.” He murmured. But we should go now, so we’re not too late.” He sighed heavily, reluctantly releasing his grip around my waist and interlocking our fingers with each other as we walked back into the fancy dark restaurant and then through to the front where we exited the building and climbed into the SUV- Jackson actually opened my door for me.

We drove back home in a comfortable silence as I soaked in the night. Now that there were no sharks to look out for, I had a moment to think. I thought about how much my life had changed in the past two and a half months and I thought about Andy’s wedding that was now two weeks away and I thought about my parents momentarily before forcing them out of my brain. I still haven’t spoken to either one of them since that horrid epiphany of a phone call and I was wondering if that was really going to be the last contact I’d ever have with my family. And then I thought about what Holly was going to do once I told her that I knew that she knew about me and Jackson.

When we got home I thanked every lord in the sky that the other SUV wasn’t in the driveway and none of the lights were on in the house, so everybody was probably still gone and if they weren’t out then they were at least asleep. But then again, that’s a stupid assumption, because it was a mansion-castle and I couldn’t see every single window from the drive way, so I didn’t know if anybody was awake, and there were rooms that didn’t even have windows, so they could be in those rooms. But I was sincerely hoping that my first assumption was correct. Even if Holly knows now, I don’t want her to see us walking in like this, it’d be so awkward.

“Do you want to… I don’t know, like come into my room or something?” Jackson asked, rather nervously, as we clambered up the stairs.

I giggled softly. “Why do you sound so nervous?”

He shrugged, biting his bottom lip- a small movement that had my heart racing. “I don’t want you to think I took you out just to get you into bed.”

I scoffed at that. “I know I may sound like a whore when I say this, but I think it’s been made clear that you don’t need to take me out to get me into bed.”

He smirked softly. “Is that a yes?”

“You bit your lip.” I pointed out randomly, walking down the hallway that was dark and silent, so I really don’t think that anybody was home.

“Okay…” Jackson said slowly, obviously not seeing my point.

“That means that I don’t have a choice in the matter.” I stated. “Understand that when you bite your lip, there is no argument left, that’s it. I’m gone, I’m yours.”

That made his smirk widen as I opened the door to his bedroom and immediately slipped off the heels that were on my feet, relieving them of the tension. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He murmured as he closed the door behind him, pulling me close to him like he did at the patio, with my back pressed against his front, as he moved his hand along my back, unzipping my dress.

I’m pretty sure if you looked up perfection in the dictionary, you’d find the definition for perfection, which I don’t know. But this night could very much possibly be in the example section of the Libby Dictionary. Okay, that made no sense but oh well, I was happy and I had a boyfriend that I loved and that says he loves me, so I don’t have to make sense. Ha!

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Her outfit is to the side, and the song is Lover Dearest, you know, like the title of the story. Anywho, happy maother's day :D I'm taking my mom to see Gatsby, even though I'm the one who wants to go see it and I can not explain to you how excited I am for this movie.

Okay, moving on. Just a quick reminder that I will be starting my new story tomorrow, it's called Wanderlust.. The teaser is on my other profile, if you wanna go look at that, but I'm pretty excited about it. So, yeah :P

Thanks for reading!! I love you <3