"But I'm rich," Jonah argued. "We're rich. We can buy any house anywhere, we can get Daisy into any private, prestigious school in America, buy her everything she needs, everything you need."
"One day you're gonna run out of money," I pointed out, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "If you don't manage your Hollywood well enough, you're gonna end up bankrupt. There are a lot of celebrities who ends up in the street."
"Like who?" he challenged.
"Like... like... I don't know!" I huffed. "You can Google it. 'Celebrities who fell off'. It's real! Buzzfeed probably has an article on it."
"Well I, for sure, am not going to waste all money that I have for drugs and gambling and stuff like that."
"Which is awesome because you're a married man with a kid."
He rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is; we both want the best for our kid, don't we? And I'm not stupid. And if I were a Hollywood star, I know I wouldn't have fallen off."
I groaned. "Just because you're some rich and famous dude at the moment doesn't mean you're gonna be forever."
"Let's just pretend that I am," he said with a smirk. "So make up your mind. First things first; where do we live?"
I sighed. "I'm gonna cross off all the huge ass mansions you put down on the list," I warned.
He tsked. "You're not fun."
"We don't need a castle to live! There's only three of us! Unless we're Brad and Angelina, then a medium-sized normal house will do."
"But that's so boring. I'm a movie star. Don't you want a personal gym? Home theater? Indoor pool? A bar and a high-class chef in the house? Or maybe even a personal salon and spa in the house ready twenty-four-seven?" he persuaded.
I scoffed. "I can go to the normal salon and spa that normal people go to."
"Well I don't wanna share my gym with random people and get paparazzi pointing at my face!"
"I'm sure there's some private celebrity gym of some sort that A-list stars go to," I waved off.
He rolled his eyes at me.
"Jonah, think about it. Do you really honestly think that you would need all that? If you basically have anything in the house then you won't have a reason to go out and actually have a social life that isn't just for some stupid publication. Think about Daisy! If she has everything she needs in the house, buy her all the toys and Barbies and fancy dresses she won't go out and hang out with her friends like normal kids! We shouldn't be spoiling her rotten or she's gonna grow up into a brat. It's unhealthy," I reasoned.
"Fine," he huffed.
"Come on, don't be a baby," I said, teasingly. "We're gonna buy a comfortable, homey house that the three of us can live in. Sure, of course, it can be a larger house than our actual, real-life houses, but you don't need a personal chef. You can already cook for yourself."
"Can I at least have a pool?"
I sighed. "Alright. Fine."
He grinned. "And gym?"
"No."
His grin dropped, but he didn't object. "What about the home theater?"
"No!"
He looked even more disappointed, but I didn't care. "How many cars do we have?"
"At least one for you and one for me," I said with a shrug. "I don't need a fancy car but you probably do, so whatever. I'm not good with cars. At least it shouldn't be more expensive than our house."
"Alright," he drawled out. "And Daisy's school?"
"I was thinking a normal, public school, but if you're actually as famous as you're making yourself to be, maybe she should just go to some private school somewhere. Somewhere safer."
"Right, we're not exposing her to the public too much."
"We're not exposing me to the public either. I'm just a normal nobody."
"You don't want me to show you off to my Hollywood friends? Maybe you can actually become friends with, I don't know, Taylor Swift?"
I looked at him weirdly. "Do you even know who Taylor Swift is?"
"Little sister at home," he reminded me.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not interested in all of that."
He raised his eyebrows. "I thought you wanted to become an actress?"
"This Hannah does," I said, pointing at myself, before pointing at the paper in front of him. "The English-teacher Hannah doesn't."
"Alright, what else do we need to discuss?" he asked himself, reading over the piece of paper. "I think we're good for now."
I sighed in relief. "Alright, go give it to Mr. Herberg."
"Will do," he said, standing up and going toward our teacher's desk. They talked for a while, until Jonah finally nodded and went back to his desk next to me. "He wants the financial details for next week."
I waved him off. "We'll do it over the weekend."
He nodded. "So what now?"
I shrugged. "How long until this period ends?"
He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "About five minutes."
"Have we really been talking about all that for that long?"
"I guess," he said, before lightly laughing. "I can't believe we actually got so worked up about it. None of it was even real."
I joined in his laughter. "I know, right?" I shook my head. "Personal chef, really, Jonah?"
"Hey, a guy can dream," he defended. "You know, in some alternate universe where we could have all of that. Wouldn't you?"
"Sure," I nodded with a laugh. "An alternate universe."
He smiled at me, something soft and sweet. "You, me, a Hollywood mansion."
"And Daisy," I reminded him.
"Alternate me is a lucky bastard," he murmured. But before I could reply, he continued, "You're still going out on a date with me tonight, right?" he asked anxiously.
"Yes, Jonah," I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm still going."
He smiled happily, just as the bell rang. "I'll pick you up around five."
I smiled back, gathering my stuff and standing up. "And I'll be waiting."
[]
Jonah somehow managed to get off work early today, so he could pick me up around five. He said he would work double shift this weekend, maybe even triple because he had also taken a day off on Wednesday for the recital.
I told him that maybe we should just do this "date" on weekend, but he insisted that he wanted to do it today since he seemingly was so eager to go on a date with me. That made two of us, I guess, since I also couldn't wait to see what he had planned.
So around five thirty, the doorbell rang and I sprang up from the couch in the living room, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Daisy was snuggled in my arm, clad in her baby coat and knit cap. I was dressed in a comfy pair of pants, shirt, sweater and my own knit cap, and I was also holding my blue coat in case it got cold later tonight because I didn't have any idea where he was taking me.
Jonah wore a white shirt and thin sweater, and a shy smile on his face. He immediately took Daisy from my arms, as well as her bag, and we both went to his car together.
He told me to wait outside the car as he sat Daisy down in the baby seat, before opening the passenger door for me. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
Once he'd started the car, I immediately asked, "Where are we going?"
He glanced at me and smirked. "Somewhere."
"Fine," I huffed. "But it better be good."
He turned on the radio and glanced at me. "Hopefully."
Not even five minutes later, he pulled up in front of a house, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Bring your coat," Jonah said, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the door. I was still staring at the house curiously when he opened the passenger door. "Come on."
With Daisy in his arms, he led me up to the front door, unlocking it and opening the door wide.
"Welcome to my house," he said. "Mom and Clara are out for the rest of the weekend so the house is all mine. The heater's still not working properly, though, so it's a bit cold."
My eyebrows rose into my forehead. "We're having a date at your house?"
He shrugged at me. "I think pigging out on the couch and watching movies from Clara's collection would be our kind of night."
The corners of my lips pulled up in amusement.
"We can go out somewhere after we have dinner if you want," he told me as we both walked into the living room, where two bowls of popcorn and a few boxes of DVDs already sat there on the coffee table. A pile of blankets were also there on the couch. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. "Pick any movie," he told me, and I immediately went through the DVDs.
Just as I was crouching down in front of the table and starting to browse through the movie collections, something warm and furry brushed against my leg, and I shrieked in surprise. I looked down and saw a gray ball of fur snuggling itself on the floor next to me, and I immediately felt my heart melting.
"Oh my god, Grace," I cooed, pulling her up to sit her down on my lap. "Jonah! Did you leave her in the house alone all day?" I scolded.
I saw him rolling his eyes at me. "She's a smart cat. She's not a toddler. And she knows not to shit outside her litterbox."
I frowned at Grace, scratching the back of her head softly. She meowed in response. "Poor you little girl," I told her. I held her there as I continued browsing through the movies. I smirked when I found one movie that immediately caught my interest. "Jonah, did you say any movie?"
"Any movie," he confirmed, his back turned to me as he turned the lights off, leaving the light from the TV screen as the only source of light in the room. When he finally turned around and saw the DVD I was holding in my hand, his expression immediately turned sour. "Oh, god. Not that one."
"Nuh-uh, you already said any movie."
"Please, I've watched it a hundred times because of Clara. I say no. Look, she has some decent action movies here, why don'tâ"
"Nope," I cut him off, already putting the movie to the DVD player. "We are definitely watching this."
He groaned. "What kind of a date is this?"
I grinned at him, taking off my sweater and settling myself on the couch, with Grace on my lap. I patted the empty space next to me. "Come sit, come sit."
He grudgingly sat down, taking off his own sweater and threw it to the empty chair next to the couch. "I should've just taken you to the cinema like normal people do on their dates."
"But we're not that normal, aren't we?" I said and took the bowl from the table. "Just enjoy the night. We'll both be laughing at this movie together and it's gonna be fun."
[]
We only went through half of the movie I pickedâwhich was the first Twilight movieâbecause we simply just couldn't take it. I finally gave in and let him put on the original Spider-Man movies after almost choosing the first High School Musical movie (the glare he had on me when I held out the DVD was so full of disdain), and now we were cuddling snugly in the couch, our popcorn bowls empty, wrapped in a large blanket with Grace asleep next to me, already coming toward the second half of the movie.
"I never really liked Mary-Jane all that much," I said to him. "She kind of sucks."
He shrugged. "She's hot."
I glared at him.
"What? It's true."
"I thought you prefer blondes," I huffed in annoyance.
He chuckled. "That, I do."
I bit my lip to hide my smile. "Have you watched the Amazing Spider-Man movies? The newer ones."
"I watched the first one with Clara," he said. "I liked the plot in the original movies better, but the visuals are much better in the new one. I haven't watched the sequel, though, so I don't know."
"Mm-hm, and what do you think of Gwen Stacy in that movie?" I asked curiously.
"The blonde girlfriend, right?"
"Yep."
He thought for a while, as if trying to remember the face. Then his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Now that I think about it, she does kinda look like you."
I grinned. "Really? You think so?"
"Yeah..."
I sat up from the couch, disentangling my body from Jonah's arms. "Which one do you like betterâMary-Jane in this movie, or Gwen in that movie?"
"Gwen's way hotter," he answered easily, as if it was obvious.
I pumped my fist into the air. "Yes!"
He laughed at me. "Only because she looks like you."
"So you think I'm hot, then?" I baited, grinning at him.
He shrugged at me without answering my question, but he was smiling. "Come on, let's go back to the movie."
I nodded, settling myself back into him, letting his arm wrap around my shoulders as I lay my head against his shoulder. "Jonah?" I called out quietly after ten minutes of silence.
"Hm?"
"Gwen Stacy died in the second movie."
He was silent, and then he groaned as if he was in pain. "I hate you."
I was grinning.
"I never read the comicsâwhy are you doing this to me?" he complained dramatically. "Spider-Man's actually one of the few movies I actually like and you're spoiling it. I hate you so much right now."
"We'll watch it together once the DVD's out."
"I don't feel like watching it anymore."
"Oh, shush."
He kept grumbling, "I hate you."
"I hate you too," I chirped back, and then we watched the rest of the movie mostly in silence, with Jonah occasionally grunting over and over again about how much he hated spoilers and how much he hated me.
[]
About ten minutes before the movie ends, Jonah excused himself to the kitchen and told me to keep the movie on. I shrugged and let him go, even though I kind of started to miss the heat of his body against me. When the credit finally rolled, I pulled myself up from the couch and went into the kitchen.
He already had two steaming mugs on the counter, and he was heating something in the oven. He looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at me with a smile. "I told you to wait."
"The movie's over," I said, propping my elbows against the counter. I smelled chocolate from the mugs and smiled. "What do we do now, Mr. Gibbs?"
"Now we have dinner," he said, checking up on the oven. Then a faint sound of a cry came from the living room, and he frowned. "I think Daisy's at it again."
"I'll go take care of her. You finish whatever you're doing."
"Alright."
I went back to the living room and came over to Daisy who was sat at one of the chairs. Grace was up and alert, staring at Daisy in confusion from the floor. Looking at the blinking light on her foot, I took a diaper from her bag and immediately changed her. When she kept crying, I finally took her in my arms and began bottle-feeding her, lightly rocking her as I hummed a song to her.
Once she finally stopped crying, I put her down on the couch, next to the cat who was already snoozing again, and wrapped a blanket around her until I was sure that she was warm enough. Jonah told me that Grace never attacked the doll, so I figured that it was safe to leave the two next to each other. Grace even moved closer to Diasy and snuggled against her, for some reason. I stood up and turned around, only to catch Jonah leaning against the door frame, watching me with a smile on his face.
"I like it when you sing," he commented quietly.
I blushed. "Please don't ever creep up on me like that again."
"I couldn't help it," he said simply, standing up straight. "Put on wear something warm. We're going out."
"Where?"
He grinned. "The backyard," he said, pointing his thumb at the backyard of his house. "Come on."
I slipped into my sweater and grabbed my coat in case the air was still too cold, and followed him out. He laid out a blanket over the grass and told me to sit down.
"I'll go get the food."
I smiled. "Okay."
It was a nice night out here. It was cold, but it wasn't cloudy. I could see the stars blinking clearly in the sky. I was trying to make out a shape of a cat when Jonah finally came out with a picnic basket. He took out what was inside: two sets of cutlery, and a food container. There was also two empty plastic cups, along with a large jar of water.
Then he took out his phone, tapped on it for a while, and played a slow song. The sound was soft and faint, a song that I didn't recognize, but I liked it since it filled the silence in the air.
He handed me a plate and opened the container, revealing freshly chopped vegetables inside, with a smaller container filled with what I guessed was salad dressing.
"Are you really feeding me with salad?" I asked in amusement.
He rolled his eyes at me. "This is only the first course. I'm not gonna let my date go hungry."
"Oookay," I drawled out. He portioned the salad on each of our plates while I filled our cups with water.
He raised his cup. "Cheers."
I raised my eyebrows at him in amusement, and held up my cup to meet his. "Cheers, I guess."
We started digging into our salad, and I tilted my head to the side.
"This is good," I said after I swallowed. "The dressing. What did you put in it?"
He grinned. "Love."
I flicked his cheek with the back of my fork. "You gotta teach me how to cook one day," I declared, pointing my fork at him as I chewed. I hoped I wasn't scaring him off with the way I ate. So far, he hadn't run away. "The only thing I know what to do with a stove is heat water on it."
He chuckled at me. "Alright."
After we'd put down our empty plates a few minutes later, he went back into the house, and came back out bringing some lasagna. My mouth instantly watered at the sight and he smirked at me as he scooped some into my plate. It was still slightly steaming, and the smell was incredible.
"Oh, my God," I kind of sort of moaned once I tasted it. I literally wouldn't mind if I died buried in this lasagna. "And you still ask for a personal chef. I'd like you to be my personal chef."
He smiled a little, amused by the look on my face. He calmly ate as if this lasagna hadn't had a touch of heaven in it while I was literally stuffing my insides with it. "It's not that good."
"Not that good?" I exclaimed. "I don't even wanna argue with you about it. Just shut up and let me eat."
I ended up eating half of what was supposed to be his portion (I was embarrassed by it but my stomach had demands and Jonah didn't mind all that much) and we just sat there once we were done, listening to the music from his phone.
"Alright" I hummed. "What's next?"
"I got dessert, of course."
"Oh sweet mother of god. Bring it on."
He laughed at the crazy look on my face. "Are you sure? My stomach's still pretty full. Let's just sit here for a while."
We both settled on the grass, music softly playing. He'd grabbed my hand a while ago, twisting our intertwined fingers around. He even tapped the handmade ring on my finger with his thumb a couple of times, while I stared at our joined hands almost in awe.
"What's the matter?" I asked, when a couple of minutes passed in silence.
"Sorry if this date sucks," he said quietly. He then moved to clean out the plates and cups and tissues scattered on the blanket, putting them all inside the picnic basket and setting it aside.
"Hey." I scooted closer to him. Then I said with a grin, "It doesn't suck that bad."
He cracked a smile, but there was still a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.
"I'm actually having fun," I told him. "And the food you cooked? I'd take this over a cheesy movie theater date any time."
He wasn't convinced. "Yeah?"
"Yes," I answered. "Honestly? I would enjoy even watching Grace take a shit as long as I'm doing it with you."
He chuckled. "That's gross, Hannah."
I shrugged at him, completely meaning it. "But I mean it."
"You're weird." He smiled. "Come here."
Jonah pulled me down so we were lying on the blanket, staring up into the sky. The stars blinked back at us, and I settled myself against his chest. He reached out a little bit to change the song that was playing, turning the volume up a little.
"I'll make a better planning next time," he murmured. "I think I'm rushing up things a little bit too fast."
"This has been a truly amazing date. But," I paused to pull myself away a little so he could see the grin on my face, "just to confirm. There will be a next time, yeah?"
"Only if you want."
"If I want? Oh, Jonah." I laid my head back on his chest, chuckling.
He tightened his arms around me, and I snuggled deeper into his body. "Hannah. I like you."
I could hear him tell me this a thousand times over and over and over again, and my heart would always stop every single time.
"Do you like me too?" he inquired quietly, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.
I let out a light laugh. "If it wasn't obvious yet; yes, Jonah, I do like you. I think I've even told you that."
I felt him press his lips against the top of my head, and I think I felt myself nearly passing out. "Just making sure."
"Alright."
"Alright, Hannah."
It was silence. "Jonah?"
"Mm?"
"You have to understand," I started, "I'd rather have this date all over again than have some fancy dinner in a room full of people."
"Yeah?"
I nodded. "Tonight was perfect." The song from his phone changed and I smiled when I recognized it.
What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I told him, "Just you and me; and it's more than enough for me."
He ran his fingers through my hair for a while, before moving to sit up, pulling me with him. We sat there, cross-legged, facing each other. He had a smile on his face that probably matched mine, and I'd never seen his eyes so bright.
"And you have to understand," he told me, "that I've never done this before and I have no idea what I'm doing right now."
"Neither do I."
"I'm probably doing this all wrong, but," he scooted closer. "I like you, and you like meâand it's as simple as that, right?"
All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here
I nodded. "It is that simple," I agreed.
He reached out and toyed with a strand of my hair, before tucking it behind my ear. "Tell me if I'm ever making a mistake."
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people
With nothing to do, nothing to lose
"I'm scared that I will end up hurting you." The frown stayed on his face, even as I shook my head at him. "I don't know how to make relationships work. I've never been in one. I don't even have any friends. I don't..."
"And you think I know any better?" I asked him gently. "You got nothing to be afraid of. It's just you and me."
He just stared at me for a while, until he finally leaned his face closer to mine. Our foreheads touched and he slid his eyes shut. He then said, his voice barely a whisper, "I'm gonna kiss you now."
"Okay," I breathed shakily, closing my eyes as well.
I felt him slowly take my face in his hands. Then his lips were pressing against mine, so delicately as if he was scared that it would break me. So, I moved forward to deepen the kiss, and he gingerly agreed with the move. That all lasted not even five seconds before he pulled away.
"Did I do it wrong?" he asked nervously, and I almost groaned out of annoyance.
With my eyes still closed, I grunted, "Shut the hell up." And then I grabbed his face and kissed him again, taking control of it until he finally got enough balls to lead the kiss. Butterflies erupted from my chest, stealing my breaths and making my head go dizzy. I'd never felt anything like this before, and I never wanted it to stop.
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you
Faintly, I heard Daisy cry inside the house, but I pretended not to hear it. I purposefully grabbed the sides of Jonah's head, covering his ears with my hands, and I made sure he couldn't hear the sound of our fake baby crying in the distance.
[]
Jonah eventually heard the robotic cries, and he pulled me to my feet so we could shut her up.
I was groaning all the way into the living room. He was too giddy himself to take note of my disappointment, though, as he was literally bouncing in his steps.
Apparently, Daisy was cold because Grace had taken the blanket from her, and she was cold. The cat meowed in protest when I pulled the blanket out of her grasp, and I petted her on the head before wrapping the blanket around Daisy again. She ran away somewhere, disappearing into one of the rooms, and Jonah let her wander around the house.
There was a huge ass grin on Jonah's face, and I felt my annoyance slowly slipping away. I finally let a smile grow on my face as I rocked Daisy in my arms, her cries slowly ceasing as her temperature rose.
Jonah sat on the couch next to me, placing his chin on my shoulder. I shivered because it tickled, and he lightly laughed. "It's almost eleven. Should we call it a night?"
"I just reheated the hot chocolate," he told me, gesturing at the mugs on the coffee table, as well as the two plates of pies. "Also the pie."
I reached out to grab one of the mugs and took a sip. "It's perfect as usual."
We were silent for a while as we let the warmth of the chocolate warm us up a little bit. We'd spent a bit too much time outside the house that my fingers had started to feel numb about ten minutes ago, and the hot chocolate helped me regain the feelings in my fingers.
"I tried to imitate your mom's recipe but I don't know if it's good enough," Jonah told me once I'd moved on the the pie.
"Mmmm. Apple pie?" I asked after swallowing. I took another forkful.
He shrugged. "I just have a feeling that you like apples, so."
I almost choked. He frowned and rubbed my back. "And what makes you think that?" I asked.
"I don't know. I see you eat apples a lot, in the morning. I think I've heard you tell your friend that you liked apples before," he said. He frowned again. "You don't actually like apples, do you?"
"No, no, no," I interjected. "I actually like apples. I love them."
He eyed me a little bit weirdly. "Okay..."
I gave him a smile and a thumb up, continuing to eat the pie.
After a while, he sort of nudged me, so I looked up. "Mm?"
"Can you maybe finish the pie a little bit faster?" he said quietly.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why?"
He smiled sheepishly. "I wanna kiss you again."
I laughed out loud and put down the plate on the table. He didn't waste any second before grabbing my waist and pulling me closer to him. His fingers lightly tapped on my waist before full-on tickling my sides all in a sudden, so I pulled my head back and shrieked, grabbing his wrists to pull his hands off of me.
"Don't tickle me it's not funny," I gasped, but he just grinned. He moved to reach the back of my neck, his fingers running faintly across the skin. "Jonah! I hate you."
I successfully, somehow, locked his hands in mine, gripping them tightly so he couldn't tickle me again. He laughed and gave up after I basically dug my nails into his skin. "Okay, okay, I won't tickle you again," he promised, and I narrowed my eyes at him before letting his hands go. He gave me one more kiss on the cheek and I pulled him down, shifting our bodies so we were lying comfortably on the couch.
"Hey, I need to get you home  before midnight or your dad will kill me," he said.
I scoffed. "He won't."
"What if you fall asleep here?"
"Then you'll just have to carry me."
He sighed softly. "Come on, get up."
I groaned. "I don't wanna go home," I whined, but he was already pulling me up.
"We have all the time in the world to spend," he said with a smile.
I couldn't help but blush at the thought of it. "What are we now, Jonah?"
His forehead knitted and he frowned as he let me pull him back down to sit on the couch. "What do you want us to be?"
"I don't know," I said, playing with his fingers.
"Well," he said after a few seconds of silence. "I think we can be whatever we want to be."
"Is that so?"
He nodded, taking my left hand and tapping on the fake wedding ring on my finger. "We're already married anyway."
"Ah," I nodded back, smiling at him. "You're right."
A smile slowly grew back on his face as he stared at me. His cheeks turned pink. "Do you regret going on this terrible date with me?"
"Oh my god." I stared at him as if he was the dumbest thing ever existed in the world. He probably was. "Do I look like I'm regretting it? That I'm having a terrible time here with you?"
"No?"
"That's your answer, then," I stated. "Stop thinking so little of yourself. I like you, I like kissing you, and I like being with you. There's no doubt in that. Alright?"
He nodded with a newfound confidence, and he smiled at me. "Alright." He pecked my cheek again one last time. "Alright, Hannah."
Damn right.