rookie mistake {dak prescott}

xii || hold a candle

"what do we do now..?"

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Joy bubbled inside me like the sparkling grape juice that Dakota brought over. The sun seeped into my bedroom and I gently opened my eyes. I was so afraid to open them, in fear that last night had been a dream. A dream I had had so many times over the last couple of months.

I breathed easily when I felt his breath blow against my forehead. Our legs were still tangled beneath the sheets and his muscular arm was wrapped tightly around me.

Sleeping peacefully in my bed. His bare chest warmly pressed against my skin, only our child lay between us.

I put a hand on my stomach. There was a visible bump now and it didn't look like I had just eaten a bunch of food anymore. The bump was real. I moved my hand around my stomach, trying to find where our child was laying when I felt a movement.

It felt like a cricket had just hopped across my stomach. I gasped at the sudden movement which woke Dak up. "Are you okay?" He asked, suddenly alert. He sat up, fully prepared to drive me to the hospital.

"Shhhh.. everything is fine," I lightly laughed. His face calmed when I spoke."Feel this," I took his hand and placed it where I felt the flutter. The cricket hopped again. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah! What was that?"

"The baby just kicked. That was the first time I ever felt it move," I said guiding his hand across my stomach, following the movement of the tiny foot.

He put his forehead against mine. "I'm so glad I was here to witness it.." he said putting his lips on mine.

"Me too..." I smiled. He moved his hand slowly from my stomach to my back, pulling me closer to him.

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I dressed in a simple evening dress. It was black. Slimming. My hair simply lay on my shoulders. I had just finished strapping my black heels when there was a knock on my apartment door. I grabbed my purse, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Layne, you look beautiful," the quarterback said. Color rushed to my cheeks, providing a natural blush.

"You look very nice yourself, Dakota."

"Thank you. Shall we go? Our reservation is at 7," he asked gesturing for me to follow him out the door.

The drive was nearly silent. Not uncomfortably silent. Just silent.

I hadn't realized that when the moment came for Dak and I to come back together, that it would be so hard to get back to where we once were. Thankfully, he was playing music I actually knew. Sometimes, he liked to play his rap music that got him pumped up for games. But this time, he played familiar music. Music that I was capable of finding meaning in, finding him in.

The restaurant was in the heart of Dallas. Dak was able to reserve us a quiet table in the back of an otherwise crowded restaurant.

The rookie quarterback pulled my chair out for me before going across the table to take a seat of his own. His face was lit up by the lone unscented candle in the middle of the table. The waiter handed us our menus with a polite smile before returning to his podium. Dak scanned his meal options.

"I'm nervous," I blurted out. Dak put his menu down to look at me.

"What?"

"I'm nervous."

"Why? About what?" he asked, now concerned.

"I don't want to have to get over you again. I can't take it. My heart can't take it," I said. Our first real date in months hadn't started off the best, which made me fear we would just end in flames again.

"You won't have to! I'm here," Dak said, grabbing my hand from across the table.

"You're here now. What about when I go into labor? What about in 6 months when the baby is up crying all night? Or when you lose a football game?"

"I'll be there. This is me and you. I love you and I'm not going to leave you again. Not this time."

"How can I know?" I asked, a tear trickled down my cheek.

"Layne, I screwed up last time. Big time. I was wrong to quit on us, I know that. I was wrong to walk out on you when you were pregnant. I was wrong to throw away what we had. But I realize that now because the same pain you went through, so did I. I realize that I can't sleep without you, eat without you, and I really can't lived without you. I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you for causing you so much pain. I promise."

He left me speechless. The only thing I could do was squeeze his hand to let him know that I accepted his answer. I looked between his deep brown eyes and the candle that illuminated them. "Reign Dakota Prescott, no one can hold a candle to the happiness you bring me, the pain you caused me, and the love we share."

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Okay, you guys. I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! I'm really going to try to be better at updating my stories for you guys. But here it is. What do you think of Layne and Dak's conversation? Do you think it will last? Let me know in the comments!

No update until I reach 55 likes!