𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐣. 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬

𝟗 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 & 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐯

Sitting in Emilie's car, I let go of the breath I didn't know I'd been holding since I walked away from Jack. Oh my god, we almost kissed. My eyes shoot down to my lap, looking at the book bouquet that Jack had so kindly put together for me. It's almost like my brain can't process what just happened in the last ten minutes, from the time I met up with Jack inside after the game to the almost kiss next to his car.

"Char, what's up? You look like you've seen a ghost." Em is looking over from the driver's seat with worry plastered on her face. I snap out of my dazed state and look up at Em. "Umm... Well, Jack and I almost kissed after I cried in front of him like a baby for him putting this together for me." Simultaneously, we both look down at the present lying on my lap. Emilie knows that no one, not even my ex while we were together, had given me something like this.

"It's beautiful," getting a closer look at the books in the bouquet. "Wait a minute...He'd actually asked me about what books you like and I sent him a few recommendations, but he never actually told me why he wanted to know. But I guess now I know." Lightly nodding my head deep in thought, Em puts the car in drive and we start making our way home.

The whole ride was quiet with music playing lightly in the background. Em and I had a silent agreement once we drove off to let me process the events of the night. The more I thought about the present that sat on my lap the more my heart progressively melted at the kind gesture. It was almost hard for me to believe that Jack took the time to do something like this. This whole thing was almost like it came straight out of a book.

Once we made it home I carefully carried the book bouquet on my bed and stared at it again. Every little detail was so delicately placed and it was beyond perfect. Em lightly knocks on my door and I hear her stepping towards me. "Have you talked to Jack since we left the game?" Shaking my head no, "I haven't just yet. I was just letting the almost kiss sink in before I talked to him. Em, I wanted to kiss him and he seemed like he wanted to do it too. We both leaned in at the same time." She nods her head thinking of what to ask next.

"Well, then why didn't you? You guys were just about to, so what happened?" Slight confusion is written on her face as to why the kiss didn't happen if it seemed like both of us wanted to. "Right as our noses brushed his phone started blowing up. Once it got a little hectic, Jack apologized and that little moment that we had was broken." Right before either of us could get a word out, my phone pinged and with one quick look at the lit-up screen, I saw it was Jack. It was almost like he sensed that we were talking about him.

"Well, I'll leave you to talk to Jack and sort this out. I love you Charlotte and I know Jack feels something for you. Don't ask me how I know, but I just do. Goodnight Char." With one last wave, Em is leaving my room and heading to her own for bed.

iMessage
Jack - jacky boy 🏒
Charlotte - lotte 💫

jacky boy🏒 hey did you guys make it home safe?

lotte💫 yeah we did. thanks for inviting us to the game tonight and for getting Nico's girlfriend to hand with us

jacky boy🏒 no worries just wanted to make sure you guys had company

lotte💫 I know you probably don't want to hear me repeat this, but thank you so much for the bouquet. I love it and I can't wait to start reading the books

lotte💫 how'd you think of putting this together?

jacky boy🏒 well I did some research on Pinterest and I stumbled upon the idea