LIBBY

***

True to his word on our bet, Jasper paid, and as soon as the waitress left us, he stands and leaves the restaurant.

People stare at us as we leave and when the door closes, Jasper goes to the closest window and puts his face right in front of someone else's.

"Hey, come on," I pull his other arm as he flips the person off and tug him towards me.

"Fucking rude, man. They were fucking staring at us the whole time," he tears his arm from mine and wanders on ahead so I'm left trailing behind.

"Jasper!"

"No, Libby don't. Let me vent for a minute. I'll be okay," he huffs, and I can see he has his fists bunched. His knuckles are white as he gripping so hard but I do as he says and give him a few minutes of space.

By the time we get to the truck, or rather I get to the truck, Jasper is at the seafront. He stormed on ahead of me. I tried to keep up but his longer legs just accelerated and I gave up. I made sure he was in eye shot, because I didn't know where I was going, but I think he was doing the same. Every now and again he'd check back behind him, just to check I was still there.

Jasper had parked the truck backwards so I jumped into the bed and leant on the cab of it, waiting for him to finally calm down enough to come talk to me. I don't know how long I waited, but by the team I heard a pair of footsteps it was almost dark.

"I'm sorry," he says, leaning his chin on the truck and draping his arm over.

I stretch over and cup his cheek, smiling and he kisses my palm.

"You okay now?"

"Better. But I wanted to show you something," he gives me a small smile before jumping in next to me and grabbing some blankets.

"Show me what?" I whisper, as the surroundings were eerily quiet.

"Why are you whispering?" He chuckles as he puts his arm around me.

I shrug, leaning into him. "Feels like I should. It's so quiet."

He paints calming strokes up and down my arm and I can sense he's still not recovered, but that he's trying... for me.

"What are we doing?" I ask after we've been quiet for nearly ten minutes.

"Shhh, just wait," he whispers and I swat him as he laughs. He's mocking me.

"Jasper, you're a knob."

"I'm sorry," he chuckles.

I just shake my head and pull a blanket up onto my lap.

"You cold?" He asks, looking down at me. Even in the relative darkness I can see the concern in his eyes.

"A bit," I shrug, burrowing deeper into him as he holds me closer.

We don't say anything much, just holding each other, but soon I realise why he'd brought me out here. I look up at the night sky and I see a shooting star glide across the now-black sky.

This was followed by about twelve other stars gliding across, and then after they'd finished, the stars came out, twinkling brightly and beautifully above us.

"Ja-" the words catch in my throat and tears come to my eyes.

This was the best date I'd been on in... well, ever. No one had ever taken me to the beach, taken me to a nice restaurant and ordered the perfect meal for me. And no one had ever thought to take me star gazing.

And as stupid as this sounds, it felt perfect that it was Jasper. Sam and I went to club nights at uni, and maybe he'd take me for breakfast the next day, but the only dates we'd been on were the usual dinner and a movie. Jack had taken me to one nice dinner, but I think once he got that out the way he reverted to McDonald's and Pizza Express. Don't get me wrong, I love a Maccy D's as much as the next girl, but it gets dull after a while.

This though, this was perfect. And I'm guessing we were sleeping out here as well, and for once the thought of sleeping outside doesn't put me off.

The stars are so bright, and there are so many of them. There's a light patch of sky running through the middle, and I swear I'm looking at the Milky Way. I can see Jasper's just as entranced, and I can't help the smile that crosses my face.

"You done this before?" I ask him softly as he continues to look up at the night sky.

He shakes his head. "Not since I was a kid, and when I did it was with my grandparents. They lived down here."

"They don't anymore?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, they died about eight years ago now."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "They were old don't worry. I swear Grandad was like two hundred when he died."

I giggle at his fond smile. He obviously liked his grandparents and remembers them with fond memories, which more than I could ever say.

My mum's parents died before I was born, but my dad's parents are horrible. Even he thinks so. Nan has her moments but she is nothing but negative and insulting to us. Dad's one of four, and I think he's the second one to break contact with them. We put up with them for a few days at Christmas every other year, only for a few days, and then we're all good for the year. They complain they never see us and yet when they do, they're nothing but hostile.

"You okay?" I hear Jasper's voice through the darkness. "You've been quiet for ages."

I turn and look into his eyes. "Yeah, no, I'm fine. I was just thinking about grandparents actually."

"Oh yeah? Are you close to yours?" I shake my head in response and look down at my fingers. "How comes?"

I look up and sigh. "Let's just say they take evil to a whole other level. My dad and his brother don't talk to them other than at Christmas, and even then they barely tolerate them."

"Aw man. I'm sorry."

I shrug, not knowing what else to say. It is what it is and it doesn't bother me that much.

"Anyway. Can we talk about how amazing this date is please?" I say, and I turn myself around and throw my leg over Jasper's lap.

He smiles and kisses me as I lean forward, putting his hands on my hips, bunching the blanket closer so it's still covering my legs.

"Wait... Lib," he stops my hands from unzipping his hoodie. "I don't think we should..."

I look at him and I'm not quite sure how I feel about him stopping me. But when he ducks his head down to meet my eyes, making me laugh slightly, it makes me smile.

"Libby don't be upset okay. I know we've done... stuff. But I want it to be special for you okay." He looks down and swallows before meeting my eyes again. "I really like you. More than I've fucking liked anyone before. And I don't want to jump into this and go too far."

It all came out so fast that I don't think even he knew it would come out.

"I know we've done stuff too... and it's been great," I stroke his cheek and he subtly tips his head into my palm. "But I like you too Jasper. More than I'd expected, and I love that you're trying with me."

"Libby, I want to make it special. Fuck do I want to do it, usually I have by now, but I want to do this right."

"Charming," I giggle.

"I think you're it," he says and from the way he's looking at me, he's being sincere. "And I know it's only been a week, but when I couldn't talk to you or even hold your hand last week... it was as if my world was already falling apart around me."

He pulls me closer.

"I know I'm a handful sometimes. And I'm working up to telling you," he says, looking down and playing with the fabric of my hoodie.  "And I will. But I do want to... which is a start."

"And I'm here for you. No matter what, okay. You are so much more than what I'd expected. When I saw your friends, I feared the worst."

He chuckles. "I've had it with them too to be honest," he sighs. "But I don't know how easy it'll be to get out of there."

"Sure it is. But Jasper I'm not asking you to stop seeing them. They're your friends. Sure they're a bit strange... but they're your friends." I shrug because it's the truth. I wasn't going to tell him what to do. He does what he wants anyway, but if he wanted to hang out with them, then I'd do my utmost to be there for him.

"Strange is an understatement," he chuckles. "And I get what you're saying. And I love that you'd try."

We'd both said love now. I knew I could love Jasper, but I don't think I love him yet. Nearly... maybe.

"I just hope Steph knows what she's getting into with Ziggy. He's not really a person you can say no to. Have you spoken to her by the way?" He asks.

I shake my head. "Nope. She wasn't in our world history, or rather she walked in late wearing his t-shirt from Sunday, and I didn't want to talk to her."

"Wow. He spoke to me on Tuesday. And I was supposed to see him yesterday, but then you showed up."

"Why didn't you go?" I ask innocently, remembering he'd come in the side. Becca and I wouldn't have known he was home if Pete hadn't come in the front door.

He chuckles. "You turned up," he clarifies. "How long had you been there?"

"At yours? Maybe like an hour. Like I said, I was worried about you after you stormed out of Abrams' class."

He nods and I can see his brain working over what we were talking about.

"I just helped with the shopping and asked if they'd seen you," I clarified. "I didn't ask anything else, I promise. I just missed you."

He smiles at that. "How is it that you've burrowed this close to me in such a short time?" He laughs, tucking a piece of hair back behind my ear.

"What's that saying... 'when you know, you know.'"

"I think I know," he answers softly, smiling as his cheeks pink.

"I think I know too."

***

We star gaze and chat about life for the next couple of hours before start to fall asleep.

I fall asleep first, and I feel Jasper moving so that we shuffle down into the bed of the truck and covers us with another blanket.

The last thing I remember hearing before sleep took me was his heartbeat under my ear, strong and steady, followed by him whispering, "Sleep tight baby."

Today had been a beautiful and perfect day. A perfect day with him, getting to know him, having fun with him. And if this is what it's like to fall in love... well then I was excited to find out.