~Blake~
Her hand was in his, and she was smiling.
“Okay, there’s a step down here,” he said softly. “Well, more like a small incline. That’s it. Watch out.”
She was blindfolded. He’d thought that she might protest it initially when he showed up at her house that night, but she’d been unexpectedly enthusiastic when he told her that he needed it to keep their date night a surprise. She’d stood still as he’d slipped it onto her, stepping behind her and tying it into place, turning her to him once he’d finished and placed a small kiss on the back of her neck.
“So excited,” she’d murmured, reaching out to feel for his face with her hands so that she could join her lips to his.
And she was still excited, without even knowing where they were going or what they were doing. He’d helped her into his car, and she’d sat there eagerly the entire drive, completely unaware of the destination as they drove to the outskirts of town.
He’d found himself praying that she wouldn’t think it was lame.
No worry about that, though, judging by her smile as he continued to walk her out to the area he’d been to earlier that afternoon, setting everything out just right, just like he’d planned. It was all still there, exactly as he’d left it. Picnic blanket underneath a large, sprawling tree on the hill, facing the setting sun. A large duffle bag that held the bags of takeout he’d gotten from the nicest restaurant he could afford. A picnic basket would have been better, but he had to make do with what he had. He’d laid it out alongside a bouquet of flowers, just for her.
They were celebrating the beginning of spring and sixth months together.
Six months. How his life had changed in those six months. He wasn’t sure that even Leslie could grasp the depth of it all, just as he wasn’t entirely sure how much she understood the seriousness with which he always said “I love you” to her.
“Are we there yet?” she asked, turning her head as he walked her towards the spot.
Blake couldn’t stop from smiling at her.
“Okay, we’re here,” he said, stopping her from going any farther. He pulled her close again, smiling even deeper as her breath caught, then took the blindfold off.
She took in the surroundings with a quick glance, and her features settled into delight.
“A picnic,” she said, her grin stretching wider as she said it.
“I thought you’d like it,” he said.
“Where are we, though?” she asked.
“Just a few miles out of town,” he said. “Far enough away that we’re all alone out here.”
They exchanged a meaningful glance at this.
They’d not been “all alone” for far too long, at least not to their liking. Travis had been pretty strict with his rules as of late, enforcing a tight curfew on Leslie on the nights he’d let them go out alone, and expecting them to stay at the house where chaperones were always nearby for the majority of their time together.
Blake could understand it. It was getting more and more difficult, being alone with Leslie. Being in a physical relationship with a girl had never before been so closely tied to his emotions. He wanted Leslie for more than her body – he wanted her heart as well. Knowing that he had it made it all that much more difficult to keep boundaries with her and all that much more crucial that he did.
Leslie pushed the boundaries sometimes, though. And as she looked at him and raised an eyebrow, he was pretty sure that she was thinking about pushing them now.
“All alone?” she mused. “I’ll keep an eye peeled for Travis, who I’m sure is somewhere nearby, waiting to jump out from behind a tree or something equally annoying.”
He was just being a good brother. Blake kept this to himself.
“Well, have a seat,” he said, pulling the duffle bag open and lifting out the meals that he’d so carefully packed earlier. “I picked up your favorite.”
“Italian,” she said, inhaling deeply as she sat down on the blanket, pulling her legs underneath her as he handed her a take out container. “Just right.”
He’d hoped it would be, but as he watched her look at the food, he was struck by the thought that this – even his best – was probably nothing compared to all that she had. He’d been around her house enough in the six months they’d been together to know that they were from two very different worlds. Was this, his attempt at doing something special for her, just a very lame gesture?
Not so, given the contentment in her eyes as she looked to him expectantly.
“I’ll pray for us,” he said, just like he always did, just like he’d learned to do from watching Travis do it.
He’d like to be half the man that Travis was. One day maybe.
“Amen,” Leslie said after he’d thanked God for their meal, for their six months together, and for the sunset, which was just now unfolding before them as they began to eat.
Leslie had grown quiet, which was quite a change from her usual chattiness. He loved that about her, that he almost never had to wonder what she was thinking. She was always good to tell him, flat out, exactly what she thought.
But she was taking more care as she ate her food, watching the sunset thoughtfully.
“Was this all okay?” he asked, nudging her shoulder with his. “A good way to celebrate six months?”
“A great way,” she smiled. “Though…”
She’d wanted something different. Of course, she had.
That annoying, nagging voice in the back of his mind began to tell him, all over again, that he wasn’t good enough for her.
“What was it that you wanted?” he asked, trying to silence it.
“This is what I wanted,” she said, her hand on his, her eyes insistent. “I only thought… well, I thought you were taking me somewhere else.”
Where else would he have taken her? Where did she want to go? Before he could ask the question, she gave him the impossible answer.
“I thought maybe you were going to let me meet your parents,” she said shyly.
Blake glanced up at her, surprise in his eyes. Why would she want to meet them?
“Why would you want to meet them?” he asked, unable to keep his thoughts from becoming vocal.
“Because I want to tell them that their son is the most incredible guy I’ve ever met,” she said, grinning now. “What’s so hard to believe about that?”
He could only imagine Tim’s response to that. You sure we’re talking about the same guy?
“Well, I am pretty great,” he said, affecting pride when he felt absolutely none.
“I’m serious,” she said. “And I just…”
Again, she fell silent.
“What?” he asked, worried that she could see the truth in his eyes. The truth about his parents, about his life, about how hard it was to live as someone’s disappointment, about the embarrassment –
“Are you embarrassed of me?” she asked softly.
He blinked at the question, uncertain for a moment if he’d heard correctly. In what world would he be embarrassed of her? A poor kid who’d barely been passing his classes before this year, embarrassed of a girl who had everything by the world’s standards and who would go so far in life because she was accomplished, talented, and driven?
He wasn’t embarrassed of her. She would be embarrassed by him and for him if she knew where he came from, though.
“I’m not embarrassed of you,” he said. “Not at all.”
“Then, what is it?” she said. “I feel like there’s this whole side of you that I’m missing, that I don’t know anything about.”
She knew him better than anyone else in all the world. Didn’t she know how vulnerable he’d become around her? How could she not know that he’d do anything for her, that she had complete control of his heart?
“You know me,” he said, putting his food aside and doing the same with hers so as to hold her hands in his. “My parents… they’re just parents.” He shrugged and made a face, then smiled, as if to casually dismiss it. Parents. Everyone knows how parents are.
Except for Leslie.
“They can’t be worse than Travis,” she said, making a face right back at him.
She had no idea. And he didn’t want her to keep poking around the subject, potentially guessing at what he was too ashamed to admit.
My father is a loser. And he hates me. And most days, I hate him, too.
“Well, Travis can’t be all bad,” he said, determined to get her to think of something else.
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Because,” he said, reaching out to put his hand to her face tenderly. “He let me take you out today. Which was a big deal.”
“I’m almost eighteen,” she said, leaning into his touch, almost visibly letting the subject of his parents go. “I can make my own decisions.”
Eighteen for her was freedom. From the security her brother had set up for her and the grace he offered. For Blake, who had already passed that milestone, it was responsibility and a scary unknown.
“Can’t live here forever,” his father had remarked instead of offering his son a happy birthday. “You gotta figure out what you’re doing because you’re out of here after graduation.”
Blake pushed the memory aside as Leslie turned her head and kissed his hand.
Tonight was a celebration. He wouldn’t let his dad have any more power over this evening.
So Blake leaned in to kiss Leslie, knowing that they’d miss the sunset entirely as she pulled him down onto the blanket with her and he forgot everything else.