Malia

It's been a week since I've seen Jas or Blair. Blair is still kind of mad, so I just stay away. I know Jasper is going crazy, but it's better this way. Blair needs time to come to terms with this in her own way.

My phone pings, and I smile as I look down at it.

Fuck this. I'm coming to get you. Be ready in twenty, we're going out. -J

I really have no objections, so I respond with a quick one word answer. I'd been lounging around in my pajamas for the past week, so I force myself to get up and get dressed.

I opt for a white and pink jumper and some white ballerina flats. I brush on a swipe of mascara and a bit of lip gloss and then grab my purse.

By the time I am finished, I hear the engine revving in my driveway.

I start for the front door. Before I can get to it, my mom wakes up from her hangover.

"Where you going?" She asks.

"Out."

"You haven't went out in a week. I said where are you going?"

I really don't want to do this with her right now. I know if I take too long, Jasper will come inside looking for me.

"I'll see ya later mom." I reach for the doorknob, but I am quickly jerked back and spun around.

"Make dinner before you leave." Her breath is awful. It smells like whiskey and rotten tobacco fields.

"I don't have time. Make your own dinner."

Twack!

My cheek burns from the slap. I stare at her in horror. In all my years, my mother has never laid a hand on me. She left that to her conquests.

Without another word, I open the door and walk out, rubbing my cheek.

Jasper is waiting, with the passenger door open for me. My mom watches from the doorway as I walk up to him and he pulls me in his arms.

"Whore." I can hear her yell.

Look in the mirror. I want to scream.

"Geez." Jasper whispers.

"Just get me out of here please." I plead. "We can hug and kiss later when we are far away from here okay?"

Jasper nods and walks around to the drivers side. I slide down in my seat, refusing to even acknowledge my mother standing in the doorway.

Janet. Brenda. Hugs. Love. Happiness. One day it will be mine. One day I'll be happy too.

Jasper pulls out of the driveway and drives for five minutes without a word. Then, he pulls over and looks at me.

"Are you-"

"Don't." I say, cutting him off.

I don't want to talk about this. I just want to let go and have fun.

"What's the plan?" I ask, offering him a small sad smile.

"Centennial Olympic Park." He says, biting his bottom lip.

"Perfect."

Jasper reaches across and laces his fingers with mine. It feels good to touch him again. I've been going crazy missing him this last week.

"I'm gonna kiss you in the middle of the fountain of rings. I hope you don't mind getting wet." He smirks at me, and I can't help but laugh at his double meaning.

"If anyone can get me wet, it's definitely you Jasper Jacobs."

Jasper squeezes my hand, and I look out the window. The radio is playing Trapt softly in the background.

It's one of my favorite rock bands, and it's weird to hear it so quietly. Normally it's blaring at full volume and Jasper is head banging as his fists beat a rhythm into the steering wheel.

Today though, it's just a background noise.

"I'm also gonna kiss you at the top of skyview. I've always wanted to kiss a girl at the top, while looking out at the beautiful sights of downtown."

I laugh, turning back to him.

"So basically we're gonna be doing a lot of kissing." I say.

"Oh yes. I have a whole week to make up for."

Jasper is dead serious. It's endearing. I can't help but laugh though.

"I guess you do."

Jasper stares at me for a moment before pulling back into traffic.

"Malia?" He asks as he turns down a side road.

"Hmm?"

"Please don't ever leave for a week again. I've been going crazy with worry. And maybe a little pent up sexual frustration after that night. My hand just doesn't seem to cut it anymore."

I blush, not wanting to think about him taking his frustrations out with his hand. What a sexy sight that would be.

"If it makes you feel any better, neither has mine." I say softly.

I'd never really admit that to anyone before. It's kind of thrilling to see his face contort as he thinks about it.

"You do that?" He finally asks.

"Don't all girls?"

Jasper looks down to his lap, and my eyes follow. He's definitely thinking about it. It almost looks painful the ways his jeans are stretched so tightly.

"I think I would like to see that. However, I don't know that I could watch without participating."

His lips lift into a subtle smirk and I blush again as I think about him joining me.

"I didn't peg you for the voyeuristic type." I say, looking out the window again. I don't think I can even look him in the eye right now.

"I guess there's a first time for everything sweetness."

We pull up at the park and he jumps out to open my door for me. I laugh as he extends a hand and pulls me from the car. This feels like a first date. I don't know how I feel about that.

"It's gonna be dark soon." I say, looking up to the sky.

"It's more beautiful at night."

I nod, letting him hold my hand as we walk around the park. There's lots of things to see, including an area of cement bricks with names and short messages on them. The bricks are for the people whose donations helped to build the park.

The whole park centers around the Olympics as an attraction. It's a whopping twenty one acres of beauty, built in 1996.

The buildings behind it look beautiful in the setting sun. We walk along, stopping every once in a while to take in the sights, or read a brick that catches our eye, and just enjoy each other's general company.

As the sky turns dark, Jasper leads me over to the fountain of rings. It's just starting to shoot water up to the music and lights and it's absolutely breathtaking.

Jasper pulls me to the middle, running through streams of water until we are right in the very center. He pulls me close, hands cradling my face as he stares into my eyes.

"I've thought about this a lot Malia. A whole lot. I've tried to rationalize my feelings for you, I've tried to explain them, I've tried to understand. But there's something you need to know."

The water shoots up again, and I look around me as the lights swirl brightly with the water.

"Yeah?" I ask, still watching the water.

Jasper turns my face to look at him again. Instead of saying anything else, he presses his lips hard to mine. It's probably the most romantic thing ever, standing here kissing as the water shoots up around us, then falls back into the little grates to start all over again.

Everything else fades away, and it's just us here, kissing as streams of water engulf us.

I feel that same spark that I felt that afternoon at his party when we kissed for the first time. I know in this moment, that I want to treasure this memory forever.

I pull away, and take off running through the streams. It's cold as the wind nips at my wet clothing, but I don't care.

"Catch me if you can." I scream.

I laugh, carefree and nothing holding me back as I try to dodge the streams steadily shooting up around me.

Jasper chases me, but I'm quick to weave in and out of the water and keep him at a distance. People stare at us, wondering what two teens are doing playing like small children, but I don't care. All I care about is the happiness I feel when I'm with him.

It doesn't matter anymore that my life is a living hell day in and day out. It doesn't matter that my mom is drunk more than she is sober. It doesn't even matter that I spend ninety nine percent of my time wishing I was someone else.

In this moment, I am happy that I am me and for the first time in my life, everything has clarity. For the first time in my life, I'm grateful that I'm not a part of the Jacobs family- because if I were, I wouldn't be able to be with Jasper like this. I wouldn't be able to kiss him as water shot up all around us. I wouldn't be able to kiss him as we laid on the sand at the beach, and I wouldn't be able to dream of a world where we could be together.

Jasper tackles me, throwing us both to the ground. I laugh hard, ignoring the shooting pain in my side from hitting concrete. I'm so happy I could burst.

Jasper tucks a wet tendril of hair behind my ear, staring down at me.

"Do you remember the other night at the beach?" He asks.

I nod. Song lyrics flow through my head.

"This tops that."

His lips press to mine and once again I'm lost in him. Lost in us. It's just us. It's always been us. It will always be us.

"I realized something that night Malia, and if you would stop running away I could tell you." He's panting and I wonder if it's from the kiss or from chasing after me.

"What Jasper? I'm not running away from you."

Jasper runs a hand across my cheek, sliding another piece of wet hair from my eyes. My skin burns from his contact, and a chill runs right through me.

I look around, realizing that everyone else has moved on, and it's just us here.

"I realized that-" he pauses, leaning down to kiss me again.

I kiss him back with all the intensity I have inside me. My hands wrap in his hair, pulling him closer.

Just as the water starts to shoot up around us again, he looks me in the eye.

"I love you." He says.

My breath is ripped from my lungs. I stare up at him with my mouth wide open, wondering if I heard him right.

"I fucking love you Malia Tatum. I'm so in love with you it's killing me. I've known it since that night at the beach."

I know instantly that I don't care anymore what Blair thinks or wants. I want to be with him, and nothing will hold me back anymore.

"Say something Malia. Did you hear me?"

I'm lost for words. No one has ever made me this speechless. I don't know how to convey how I feel to him, so I just lace my fingers in his hair and pull him back down for another soul jarring kiss.

So, Centennial Olympic Park is really beautiful, I'm just gonna drop some pictures down below and hope that I did it justice...