♥Chapter 20: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ꜱʜᴇ ɢᴏᴇꜱ ᴏɴ ᴀ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ♥

✿Kennedy✿

"Aww look at him, Jake. He's so cute," I coo, picking up a white fluffy puppy.

There.

Are.

Puppies and dogs.

Everywhere!

For our date, Jake brought me to this park. Once a year, according to Jake, the park has a puppy-themed event where there are puppies and dogs everywhere.

Imagine the horror of cat lovers.

I show Jake the puppy and he just looks at it as if it's his everyday cereal.

"Oh come on Jake." I say, "At least pet its head."

He looks from the puppy to me and raises an eyebrow.

"Go on." I lean forward towards Jake with the puppy.  

He gives an uncertain look before hesitantly bringing his hand up and patting the puppy's head.

"Aww," I gush immediately.

I can't stop saying 'aww'. Everything is so cute here!

A gasp comes out of my mouth as I spot another cute puppy, "Jake, look at that one, isn't he cute?"

Jake furrows his eyebrows but says nothing.

"Oh, oh, oh, that one too," I point at another one.

"Jake, what would happen if we accidentally step on them?" I ask and he lets out a sigh.

"They'll fucking fine us."  He says.

He's starting to look bored.

Eh, he always looks bored.

"Can we fucking leave now?" He grumbles.

"But we just got here," I pout, letting the puppy in my hands run away.

He shoots me a look, "We've been here for five fucking hours."

"Just a little while longer?" I ask.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

I huff, "Fine."

I look around at all the puppies around me before giving a sad look. They won't be here again until next year.

"Don't," Jake warns.

I look at him, "What?"

"Don't make that face."

"What face?"

"That face." He says.

"What face?" I question in confusion.

"The face that makes me wanna let us stay here for another five fucking hours." He glares.

I give him the face again. "So is it working?"

He narrows his eyes at me.

He puts his hand around my shoulders, wheeling me out of the park and into his car.

He starts driving while I increase the volume of the music until I can feel my heart dancing along to the music. I dance in my seat while Jake drives, glancing at me from time to time.

I would have broken into my extra special dance moves that'd blown his mind if it weren't for the seatbelt I put on.

We drive somewhere that takes more than half an hour and I swear if something exciting doesn't happen, I'm gonna fall asleep.

Jake's head suddenly jerks up, his eyes snapping to the rearview mirror. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He mutters, a frown taking over his face.

"What?" I ask.

"That asshole is literally following us." He growls.

I turn around in my seat to look behind to see which butthole is following us.

It's hard to see at first with the windows and all but then it all comes—

Corey?

He's trying to duck low on his seat, with sunglasses on his face. Sucks for him, his face is known to everyone and is hard to disguise. Anyone can tell that it's Corey even from a mile away.

"Oh," I say.

"I knew he'd do something like this!" Jake's face scrunches with anger.

"Maybe he wants to come with us," I say.

"He wants to ruin this date."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because he's Corey." He replies, sourly. "The first-born child of satan."

"Oh look, that's Toothy too." I point out when I notice her sitting in the passenger seat with her phone.

"He brought her into this," Jake glares. "I'm gonna try losing him."

And now it's a car chase.

Jake speeds up on the road, sliding in between as many cars as he could while also taking many turns.

The whole time, my face remains pressed against the window, with excitement bubbling in my chest.

"He's getting near!" I inform Jake.

"That fucker." He grumbles before taking a turn and increasing the speed.

Corey's at our tail for about fifteen minutes before he slowly starts losing us.

Other cars come in between us, leaving Corey way behind.

After half an hour or something, we finally lose him.

"I can't see him now," I inform Jake.

"Finally." He grumbles.

"I should've played a thrilling song or something." I turn towards him. "Should've called the cops too, ya know? It would have been more fun with police sirens and the car screeching effects and all."

He stares at me. "I was trying to get rid of Corey, not put him behind bars."

Another hour later, we reach this empty field land type place where there are no buildings, cars or anything. Only grass and greenery.

"Are you secretly a cow?" I ask Jake.

"Huh?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"Am I a cow?" I ask.

"What?"

"Where are we?" I ask, gazing around in the dark. The moon shines lightly in the sky.

He shrugs, cutting off the engine and relaxing in his seat, "Just somewhere quiet."

"Oh, okay." I nod and relax into my seat too.

I look up front ahead as silence stretches over us.

Okay...this is cool.

There's grass here.

It's green.

There's a sky above me.

The seat under me is warm and is also starting to get a little uncomfortable.

I don't have to fart right now.

We're all alone here.

Just Jake and me.

Breathing and blinking.

"I don't get it." I finally burst, making Jake sigh. "What are we doing here?"

He turns his torso until he's facing me. He stares at me for a while before leaning over towards me.

My cheeks turn warm when his face nears mine and his scent reaches my nose along with the sweet warmth of his skin.

But he only stretches his hand to my side of the door and lowers down the window.

He retreats back to his seat leaving me completely flushed.

He lowers down the window on his side too.

"Listen," He says softly.

At first, I thought he was going to say something more and that I had to listen to that. But what he actually meant was to listen to my surroundings.

I close my mouth and get my ears to listen.

At first, all I got was nothing.

But then I put more focus and finally I could hear the faint crickets chirping along with the gentle rustle of leaves.

The air from outside flows into the open window, breezing my warm body cool.

Jake's hand reaches out and gently pushes my forehead back onto the seat until my back and head are relaxing against it.

His hand then sweeps over my eyes, making them shut. My hearing senses heighten, and I can listen to the serene sounds. 

A feeling of calmness settles in my chest.

My muscles seem to relax, and I feel like water at that moment.

Holy Mama, this feels so good.

I lay on the seat for a while, enjoying the cool breeze and the calmness of nature. Everything seems so still and peaceful.

Something nags me after a while, and I feel eyes on me.

Slowly opening my eyes, I turn my head to see Jake's sea-green eyes looking much darker in the night, gazing at me.

His face remains relaxed, although there's something unreadable in his eyes. My cheeks turn warm with a blush rising through them. My heart does weird flips.

Jake's looking at me right now as if I'm hypnotizing him. He's barely blinking. His eyes are gonna water if he doesn't blink soon. I think I have eye drops with me.

A jittery feeling tousles my chest.

"Can I kiss you?" I blurt.

His lips quirk up and I almost facepalm myself.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from. You don't have to kiss-"

He leans towards me and captures my lips with his. My eyes widen in surprise as his lips move against mine softly. He feels my lips with his for a little longer before leaning back a bit.

He looks me in the eyes with a teasing glint, "You were saying?"

"Uh..." My voice stutters.

"Your lips are perfect." He whispers, a haze clouding his eyes.

"My lips are marvellous." I agree.

His mouth quirks up into an amused smile before he leans in again and this time there's a force to his kiss he moves his lips against mine. Warmth spreads from my chest to all parts of my body. 

His hand slips into my hair and grabs the back of my neck, holding my face to his as he kisses me.

Oh mama, I'm going to faint.

"You make me horny." He whispers against my lips and my eyes widen.

"Do you want a Bible?" I breathe out and he makes a noise in his throat before aggressively crashing his mouth onto mine.

My mind loses itself and my heart repeatedly slams against my chest.

His hand holds me firmly to him and I have to force my brain to not completely shut down.

He pulls away after a while.

"Oh mama," I suck in a breath.

✯✯✯

"Jake, I swear if you don't open your mouth any wider I'm gonna tear it open," I warn.

I take another grape and aim it at his mouth.

He glares at me, "Babe, it's my fucking mouth, not the black hole."

Babe?

I ignore the flutters in my stomach.

"Hush," I say, closing one eye and concentrating on his mouth. "You're putting me off focus."

He rolls his eyes and doesn't open his mouth.

"Jake." I snap. "Open your freaking mouth!"

He doesn't.

I open my closed eye and give him a glare.

He stares back at me before giving out a sigh and unwillingly opening his mouth.

I launch the grape.

It hits his eye.

"Fuck!" He hisses.

"Jake." I hiss, looking around at people who are staring at us in the restaurant. "Shh."

"You hit my fucking eye." He glares.

"Stop being a baby. You have another eye."

"Are you fucking serio-?!"

"Shh!" I shut him up before giving the nosy people around me a polite smile.

Jake continues glaring at me.

"Here, why don't you try?" I say, giving him a grape, "You'll know how hard it is to aim."

He takes the grape from my hand and aims it at my mouth while I open it. Wide.

"You see how wide I'm opening my mouth?" I ask him. "You were supposed to open up like this."

A smirk curls his lips. "Uh-huh."

He launches the grape.

A gasp escapes my lips when it hits the opening of my throat, landing perfectly in my mouth.

An expression of surprise comes onto my face while Jake gives a smug look.

"Beginner's luck," I state, looking away from him and chewing the grape.

"Sure." He replies dryly.

We continue eating our food with me chatting constantly. It wasn't until Jake's eyes that lands on something behind me that he curses loudly making me stop talking. "Oh fuck."

I twist around in my seat. A huge smile lights my face as Corey strides between all the tables, walking in our direction.

"I'm gonna kill him," Jake growls.

"Hey! It's my two favourite people!" Corey cheers, grinning, grabbing two chairs and bringing them to our table. "After you, milady." He says to Toothy behind him and she sits down.

"Don't look at me. He forced me into this." She says to Jake.

Jake glares in return.

"How did you find us?" I ask as Corey sits down beside me, throwing an arm around my shoulder to which Jake's glare zeros at.

"Toothy's a great stalker," Corey replies.

"Liar," Toothy says immediately. "It's you who's so obsessed with Jake."

Corey puts a hand to his chest. "I'm always here for my bro. Wherever thou goes, I go."

"Go to hell." Jake snaps. "If you don't get the fuck away from here, I'll throw you out."

"This isn't your restaurant," Corey says. "Although I might say, nice choice. I seriously thought you'd take Kennedy to the museum or to a hospital something."

"Hospitals are fun." I grin. "Have you ever heard three nurses scream at once?" I ask.

"Why? What'd you do?" Corey looks down at me, his arm still around my shoulder.

"Mixed up all the babies."

Toothy eyes snap at me with an expression of shock that matches Jake's and Corey's.

"What?" Corey echoes.

I keep up with the grin until I can't anymore and deflate. "Nah. I was just kidding."

They release sighs of relief.

"Damn you had me worried for a second," Corey says. "So what did you actually do?"

"Nothing." I shrug. "It was someone else. I only heard those nurses scream."

"I pretended I was dead to scare my teacher," Corey says. "She slapped me awake thinking I was sleeping in class again."

"You didn't leave, yet?" Jake glares.

"Does it look like I left?" Corey raises an eyebrow.

"Toothy." Jake turns to her for help.

Toothy raises her eyebrows. "For someone who chased you down and tracked you, you think I'll be able to help?"

"Oh, now you don't wanna give those narrowed scary eyes to Corey?" He glares.

"Please don't." Corey jumps, looking scared before Toothy even does anything. "I am behaving." He states.

"Kinda." She mutters before taking out her phone.

"Toothy!" Jake throws his hands up.

She gives him a bored look. "What?"

His eyes flick to Corey before looking back at her. "Get rid of him. Please."

"Oh mama." It wasn't me this time who says it. Corey's staring at Jake wide-eyed. "Did you willingly say the word please?"

Jake ignores him and instead gives Toothy a continuous pleading look.

"Oh look, those are some big lambs." Corey lets out a low whistle, looking at someone's table.

"Stop looking." Toothy snaps.

"Jake, order us some lambs," Corey says. "I'm seriously hungry."

"I'm not ordering shit." Jake snaps.

"I said lambs anyway." Corey points out. "But if you wanna eat shit then I guess it's fine. I suggest you do it in private though."

Jake glares harder while I chuckle.

"Why the fuck are you even here?" Jake asks. "Don't you know it's a fucking date? You wanna be the third-wheeler now?"

"Me? Third-wheeling?" Corey places a hand on his chest. "For you, anytime." He smiles.

"He just can't believe you're still on a date. He wants to make sure you don't ruin it," Toothy speaks, her thumb scrolling through her phone. "Also because he's gay and is in love with you."

"Toothy! I thought that was our secret." Corey scowls at her.

I can't tell if he's joking or not.

"Well, I don't even give a shit if you throw yourself down a cliff. Get the fuck lost." Jake glares.

"Oh come, bro, don't be like that." A sad look comes on Corey's face. He looks down at me. "Did Jake tell you about the time when we ice-skated together hand-in-hand?"

"No, he didn't," I say.

"It was very romantic." He says, nodding. "I got butterflies."

"I get butterflies too!" I exclaim.

"Yeah?" Corey's eyes widen. "Damn girl are you gonna be my rival right now or what? Let's see who puts a ring on that thing first." He refers to Jake.

"May the best man win." I nod. "Or girl." Since I'm a girl.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jake mutters.

"You know what?" Corey says. "I can't hold it in any longer." He shoots up from his chair, grabbing the attention of everybody. "Jake, my love, will you marry me?"

Jake's eyes widen like the moon into a glare, Toothy's head jerks up from her phone to narrow her eyes at Corey, meanwhile, there's a big grin on my face.

"I will not." Jake hisses. "Get the fuck away from me."

The people in the restaurant have no idea that Jake and Corey are just playing and are openly staring at them.

"Corey." Toothy's voice comes out in a low warning tone making him freeze. "What did I say about behaving when we're outside?"

"Oh shit," Corey mutters.

"Everyone's looking at our table now and who's fault is that?" Toothy tilts her head.

He gulps. "Mine?"

I feel bad for leaving Corey standing all alone while people are staring at him.

I jump up from my seat, turning to everyone. "Those who don't want to die, get on the floor right now!"

"Get on the floor." Corey sings before clamping his mouth shut at Toothy's glare.

Everyone just gives me confused look.

"People! I just said you're going to die! Scream or faint or something, will ya?"

"They don't find you threatening." Jake leans back in his chair.

I scowl. "Why?"

"How can they when you look..." His eyes rake me up and down, looking back at my eyes. "adorable."

"Aww." Corey coos. "How do I look?"

"Charming," I say and at the same time, Jake says, "Like you smelled your own shit."

Before anyone can say anything, a waiter comes up to our table, informing us that we're making a lot of noise and to tone it down. His eyes are roaming over all our faces before he stops on Corey and lets out a gasp.

"Corey Matthews?" His eyes widen.

"Yup," Corey says.

"Nevermind." The waiter shakes his head. "Enjoy your evening." He says and walks away.

I frown in confusion. "What's wrong with him?"

"He just got Corey-Charmed." Corey grins. He looks at Jake and lets out a big sigh. "Fine, man, enjoy your date. I'll leave you now. Get me some lambs though."

Jake rolls his eyes. "I'll get you some on Friday."

Corey nods before looking at Toothy. "Let's go watch a movie or something."

When they leave, it's back to Jake and me again.

We finish our food and talk some more. We start aiming grapes at each other again while I hit every part of his face, he lands the grapes perfectly in my mouth. He then orders milkshakes which makes me want to cry because they're milkshakes.

"Wanna go home now?" Jake asks with an expression of boredom.

Even I'm getting bored but I don't want to go home.

Looking at the tiredness under Jake's eyes, I decide to just agree.

"Okay," I say, "yeah."

An immediate look of gratefulness comes over his face.  

He calls the waiter, pays for the food and grabs my hand, pulling me out of the restaurant.

We get into the car and it's really tempting to fall asleep right away. 

But figuring Jake prolly doesn't wanna spend the car ride alone in silence, I keep myself awake.

The clock displays the numbers 9:17.

"Do you like bears?" I ask him.

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion, "Bears?"

"Yeah." I nod. "Bears."

He gives a shrug, "I guess."

"What kind of bears? Polar bears? Grizzly bears? Brown bears? Pandas? Black bears? Baloo bear from the Jungle book?"

"What's your favourite?" He asks.

"Brown bears?"

He nods, "Same."

I smile, "Really?"

He gives another nod.

"What do you think about foxes?" I ask.

"What do you think about foxes?" He questions back.

I shrug. "They're not really my favourite animal."

He nods, "Same."

"Yeah? We have so much in common!" I grin, excitedly.

Jake pulls into the driveway.

The house appears blurry with my heavy eyelids halfway down my eyes.

Jake cuts off the engine, letting silence engulf us. He gets down the car while I'm still unbuckling my seatbelt.

He opens the door for me, and I slide down the car.

A yawn comes out my lips, "Oh mama, am I sleepy or what?"

He puts his hand around my waist, leading me into the quiet house.

We walk up the stairs with me putting most of my weight on Jake because I don't feel like wheezing and using my inhaler right now.

We reach the top and Jake suddenly pauses between our rooms.

He's looking between mine and his room with a small crease between his eyebrows.

A look of confusion comes over my face. 

"What's wrong?" I ask, my voice low with sleepiness.

He seems to hesitate, "Can you-" He stops himself shaking his head. "Nothing."

"What?" I prod. "What happened?"

His jaw is clenched.

After a lot of hesitation, he speaks. "Can you...sleep with me?"

I raise my eyebrows, "Sleep with you?" 

His hands are into fists, and he nods, "Only tonight? Just sleeping."  

I shrug, "Okay."

He furrows his eyebrows, "Okay?"

I pat his broad shoulder, "I'm really sleepy, buddy. I don't care if I have to sleep on the kitchen counter. I just want to sleep."

He nods, a look of relief on his face, "Okay."

We walk into the room and the first thing I notice is Jake's bed. Without anyone having to tell me, I fling myself on the bed, on my stomach.

I would have fallen asleep right away if it weren't for my clothes stretching uncomfortably against my skin. I sit up unhappily and spot Jake, standing near the foot of the bed with a hard unreadable expression on his face.

"What?" I blink up at him, "What's wrong?"

His eyes flicker up and down from my legs to my face.

I look down and a blush rises through my cheeks when I realize the skirt of my dress rode above my mid-thighs. I shyly pull the skirt down but that only makes Jake's expression even harder.

"Fuck." He groans, putting a hand through his hair.

"I'll just go change quickly," I say and jump off the bed and into my room.

I change into a white t-shirt and shorts before walking back into Jake's room.

He's sitting on the edge of the bed.

Shirtless.

God have mercy.

I go to the other side of the bed and under the covers. The fluffy pillow welcomes my heavy head and I let out a sigh of contentment.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" I ask Jake, who's still sitting.

His eyes rake my form on his bed, and something ticks in his jaw. He stares at me for a while.

He must be thinking 'god, she's so fat she's taking all the bed. I should kick her out'.

"You look so fucking good." He whispers, softly.

I blink in surprise.

I'm almost correct about his thoughts.

A blush rises through my cheeks, and I stay speechless for a while. I'm not used to compliments like...at all. 

"You look good too," I say, shyly.

He looks flippin' mouthwatering.

He finally gets under the covers and turns so he's facing me. His sea-green eyes watch me.

I give him a sleepy smile, "Goodnight, Jake."

He doesn't reply.

My eyelids get droopy, and I let them close letting a haze cover my head.

Warm fingers gently encase my hand under the covers. A thumb caresses the side of my wrist. 

"Goodnight, Ken."

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

There was actually going to be no Corey in this chapter. While editing this chapter I had the sudden urge to just add him.

Words: 3,700

Date of posting: 29th March 2022