The Rise of Lydia Rowe ↠ Jasper Hale (ON HOLD)

[1.12] the field of flowers

THE REST OF THE WEEK dragged on, but eventually, the weekend came. Lydia and Jasper had made plans to hang out Saturday afternoon. He'd offered to pick her up from her house, even insisting that he introduce himself to her mothers. Lydia damn-near swooned at that, but she kept reminding herself that he was just being polite—it didn't mean anything.

Saturday morning, she woke up early, her nerves and excitement for the day preventing her from falling back asleep. When she came down to the kitchen for breakfast, Johanna was at the stove, flipping bacon in a frying pan. "Good morning, Lydia," her mother greeted her. 

"Morning, Mom," Lydia replied. She poured herself a cup of orange juice and sat down at the kitchen island. "Where's Mama?"

"She's eating breakfast with a potential client," Johanna told her. "Want some breakfast?"

Lydia nodded. "Please."

"So," Johanna said, flipping the bacon, "are you excited for your date?"

Lydia's cheeks flushed. "It's not a date, Mom. It's just two friends hanging out."

Johanna smiled, putting the bacon onto a paper plate and carrying it to the island. "I'm just teasing you, baby."

"You're not funny," Lydia mumbled, her cheeks still warm.

"I think I'm hilarious," Johanna said, starting on the eggs.

Lydia nibbled on a strip of bacon as she waited for her mother to finish making breakfast. Quietly, she asked, "Do you think it's too soon for me to start dating? I mean, it's barely been two months."

Johanna took her eyes off of the stove to look at her daughter. "Only you can say if it's the right time, sweetheart," she told her. "If you think you're ready, then I say give it a try. From what you've told us about him, Jasper seems like a sweet boy."

"He is," Lydia said softly.

Johanna smiled at the look on her daughter's face. She was glad that Lydia was doing so well now. In the days following Lydia's assault, Johanna and Tracy had feared that they might lose their daughter. Lydia had locked herself in her room whenever she could, preferring to drown her thoughts in music or television. But now, two months later, she seemed to be coming back to life in a sense.

It was all Johanna could ask for. 

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At a quarter past noon, there was a knock at Lydia's front door. Seeing as Lydia was still in her bedroom upstairs, making sure she looked presentable, she didn't manage to beat her mothers to the door.

She heard Tracy greeting Jasper as Lydia made her way down the stairs, praying her mothers wouldn't purposefully embarrass her. When she made it to the entryway, both of her mothers were shaking Jasper's hand in succession, smiles on everyone's faces. Okay, she thought. So far, so good.

"Lydia's told us a lot about you, Jasper," Tracy said, sending her daughter a teasing glance.

Jasper chuckled softly, which made Lydia's heart stutter just a little. "Good things, I hope," he said, smiling in Lydia's direction.

"So far," Johanna said, adopting the role of the bad cop. Even though she was acting tough, Lydia could see that she already liked Jasper—she had since Lydia told her Jasper insisted on officially introducing himself to them.

"We should go," Lydia said quickly, hoping to save herself from any possible embarrassment. She loved her mothers to death, but she was a teenager, and they loved to tease her. "Bye, Mama. Bye, Mom. Love you!"