Clare inhaled sharply before letting her breath out. The pen in her hand moved swiftly across the blank notebook paper, scrawling down each thought that came to mind. Lately everything had been so jumbled together that she didn’t know what she was thinking. It was like writers block, but seemingly worse for her. She didn’t know how to deal with it this time around.
She was on her second page when the pen stopped. Glancing over the paper, she smiled and moved out of her chair. She made her way downstairs and searched for her spare notebook she kept around the house. Forgetting where she left it, she began a mini scavenger hunt.

The cold air whipped past Clare’s face when she stepped onto the steps outside. “This is the perfect weather,” she mumbled to herself, rushing back inside to find mittens and a scarf. Searching her room for the two items, which she quickly found, she decided to finally tell Jake where she wanted to take him. Biting her lip, she knocked lightly on his door and waited for him to open up.

xjakemartin:

Clare seemed to have more faith in him than he did in himself, he just wished that he could believe in himself as she did for him. It wasn’t hard for him to be sweet, he loved her. Everything he said to her, it wasn’t apart of an angle, he wasn’t trying to just say things to get his way with her. Jake had meant every word, he loved her more than he loved himself sometimes, if that were even possible. As her lips touched his, Jake touched his hands to her waist, keeping her steady as his lips moved against hers, though as she pulled away, a soft sigh escaped his lips, as he missed them on him immediately. “Shall we get some rest Clarebear?” Jake said, pulling the blanket over the two of them. Although it wasn’t cold, every now and then the wind would his him, sending shivers down his spine, and the two of them didn’t need to get sick from sleeping on the roof.

Clare nuzzled into Jake’s neck, her hand resting on his chest under the blanket. “That would be lovely,” she replied, smiling sleepily. She submersed herself into her thoughts about what they discussed, and the atmosphere around them. She shuddered automatically when the next breeze blew through; but before she knew it, she was sound asleep in his arms.

xjakemartin:

Jake had thought about architectural design before, but really, that was more of Imogen’s thing than his.She was amazing at seeing the bigger picture, at designing the buildings. All Jake would be good for us putting it together. “I’m not that great of an artist Clare, I’m more of a hands on guy.” He wished he could figure it out, Jake would love nothing more than to go away with Clare to university. That way, it didn’t matter what they did. It would be like their New York trip, they could be themselves without having to worry about who saw them. “You say you don’t, but I know you Clarebear. You’re ambitious, you’re driven. I know whatever you do, you’ll be incredible at it, because that’s just the kind of girl you are. Its the girl I fell in love with, and I’ll support you with whatever you do.” Jake meant every word, he loved Clare, regardless of whatever her plans were. It didn’t matter what she did, or what became of the two of them, as long as her future included him by her side, he could care less how they get there. 

“And you could be the one building from it,” Clare stated, somewhat cluelessly. Architects had the motivation that he did as well. However, that was his future, not hers. Whatever his intentions were, it’d be okay as long as they were together. Moving a strand of hair behind her ear, she looked up at him, chewing on her lip as Jake’s words echoed throughout her mind. A large smile formed across her face that she couldn’t stop. “Why’d you have to be so sweet? Every day I find something else that makes me love you even more.” Clare laughed, putting her hands over her red cheeks. She put one hand over his, meeting his gaze. “You know I mean it when I say I’ll always be right there with you, too. No matter what.” Leaning in, she lightly pressed her lips to his, lingering in the moment before pulling away.

xjakemartin:

Jake shrugged his shoulders, not really seeing the big deal. University had never seemed important to him, it was just something he planned on doing because he didn’t know what else to do. “I don’t even know what to major in Clare. I’m going in undeclared, I haven’t figured it out. I mean, I like to work with my hands, I don’t really need to go to college to do the kind of work I’ve been doing with my dad for years.” If their parents hadn’t put the pressure on Jake to go to school, he would have moved out after college and gotten a job somewhere, at least for a few months until Clare went off to school and he would meet her there. While he didn’t think he needed school, Jake knew that higher education took high priority in Clare’s life. “I don’t have it all figured out Clarebear. I’m not like you.”

Looking at Jake, Clare sighed. “You could major in architectural design… I mean, architects create the fundamentals for carpenters.” She suggested openly, not sure if his choice was such a big deal. Education did mean something to her, but in all actuality, she was understanding if he wanted to wait or if he had no intentions of going. Clare sat up and looked down at the houses around them, lost in her thoughts about what he said last to her. Had she really planned her future out? The rush to graduate high school had always been there but, afterwards, what was next? All she really seemed to focus on was writing whenever the opportunity presented itself. Was that what she planned on doing? Becoming an English major? Clare shook her thoughts from her head and stared up at the stars. “You think I have it all figured out but, the truth is, I don’t.”

xjakemartin:

Jake pulled away, gasping for air as Clare surprised him in her kiss. She had never kissed him with such fervor before, he was completely taken aback by it. “Wow,” he whispered, looking at Clare as he never had before. Jake had always been so cautious around her, never wanting to push things too far between them, not wanting to scare her off. Now,it seemed as though she had wanted more, but Jake was going to still be careful, let her set the pace. He had no intentions of rushing her. “Uh, camping sounds nice,” he told her as he regained his composure and brought his lips back to hers, his arms wrapping around her waist as he pulled her closer. 

Clare’s heart was beating fast, the blood racing through her veins and rousing a feeling she wasn’t quite used to. It was equivalent to the butterflies in her stomach that she always had whenever Jake popped up, but more intense. It wasn’t too bad either; she liked it, in a way. Clare acknowledged her self-limits, and knew just how far she was willing to go without being pushed. With her eyes barely opened, she glanced at Jake when he pulled her closer towards him, taking the blanket with her. She loosened the grip she had in his hair and kissed him back, slowly, and gently.

xjakemartin:

Jake laughed at her pick up line, finding it incredibly cheesy and adorable. His thumb unconsciously stroked her shoulder blade, enjoying the calm of the night. “I’ve missed this, just being able to enjoy things like this. Its so hard with our parents and all. We need to figure out how to get away more often without them noticing,” he said, turning his head slightly to kiss her cheek. Jake stroked the spot on her cheek where his lips just were before turning her to face him completely and kissed her once more, his lips lingering longer than usual. His hands traveled to her waist as he pulled her closer, deepening their kiss as they lay under the moonlight.

Clare opened her eyes slightly, agreeing again with his statement. “That would most definitely be nice.” She let out a sigh she didn’t realise she had been holding in, and smiled at him. “We could always go camping,” she slyly suggested, subconscious to the fact that she was thinking aloud. When his lips met hers, her arms simultaneously moved upwards around his neck, her fingers running through his hair. She kissed him back deeply, matching the tempo in the night.

xjakemartin:

Once Jake was done with helping Clare clean up the dishes, he headed upstairs to the hall closet and grabbed a few blankets and pillows from the closet, figuring they would need a few to stay comfortable while they slept through the night. He wasn’t worried about sleeping on the roof, they had done it so many times before that it was like second nature.   “Come on Clarebear, let’s head up there,” he said as he walked out to get roof access. He helped Clare up there, making sure she didn’t fall or hurt herself, and laid out the blankets along the roof. Everything was set up just in time, the stars were bright, as bright as they could be in Toronto, and the air was perfect - not too hot or too cold, just enough for the two of them to snuggle under. Jake leaned against the pillows, holding his arms open for Clare to lay in and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the small spot on the underside of her neck softly. “This is perfect,” he whispered. 

Clare laid back in his arms, shivering at his kiss, and nodding in agreement to his statement. She snuggled into his side, pulling a blanket around them in the process. She loved being wrapped up in his warm embrace. Smiling, she nonchalantly said, “So, do you come here often?” She giggled at the cheesiness of the phrase with a bit of colour in her cheeks. Bringing her gaze up to his, she propped herself up slowly and kissed him softly on the lips. She backed away a bit, sighing slightly. “Definitely perfect,” she uttered.

xjakemartin:

Jake wasn’t sure what they could do after dinner. He always had a penchant for getting atop the roof and watching the stars with Clare, but they had done that so many times in the last that he wasn’t so sure anymore if it would be special. It didn’t matter what they did, spending time with her was all he really ever wanted. “Is the roof too lame?” he asked as he finished off his plate and stood up from the table, preparing to put everything into the sink. Once Jake got the dishes cleared off of the table, he joined Clare’s side, reaching his hand out towards hers and grabbed it, bringing the back of her hand to his lips. “What do you say? Blankets, pillows, rooftop fun?” 

Clare stared at Jake and slightly blushed, placing her arms around his neck. A blanket under the stars on the roof sounded perfect despite the normalcy of it. In a way, she thought of it as their thing. “I’d like that,” she replied, smiling at him. “Help me clean and put the dishes away first, though?” She gently placed her lips to his before pulling away to go wash the dishes. She gave Jake the option of drying them until the last dish was put down. Wiping her hands, she did an about-face and motioned for him to come help with the blankets.

xjakemartin:

Jake nodded, following Clare’s orders exactly. She needed him to get the chicken from the oven, and although she could probably do it on her own, Jake was much stronger than her. “I’m that someone strong?” he teased, flexing a bit before reaching into the oven and pulling out the pan of chicken. It smelled even more heavenly now that it was right underneath his nose and he couldn’t wait to dig in. “You’ve really outdone yourself here, love. Our parents are gone, you’ve cooked for me. Don’t tell me there’s some sort of anniversary of ours that I’ve forgotten about.” Jake made a face as he put the chicken onto the table and took his seat across from her. He couldn’t think of any special date of theirs, and it wasn’t like him to just forget things like that. It seemed as though she was just doing something nice for him, and it was incredibly sweet of her. Once his plate was fixed and full of food, he looked to her, reaching across the table to give her hand a small squeeze and smiled. “Okay, are we going to stare at the food all night, or can I eat now?”

Clare marveled at Jake’s flexed muscles and laughed. “Oh you’re definitely strong,” she replied jokingly. “I thought, with all that work you’ve been doing, that it’d be nice to make you one of your favourites.” Smiling up at him, she grabbed their drinks and added, “Plus, I was hoping to get you out of your room so I could spend time with you.” Following him and taking her place at the dinner table, she slowly made her plate like his but with smaller portions. Lost in her thoughts, she blushed when she caught herself staring at him before hearing him speak. “You can most certainly eat now. You look like you’re starving.” Taking hold of her fork and knife, Clare cut a piece of chicken and tasted it along with the macaroni salad. The flavours pleased her palate. Glancing up at Jake, she bit her lip nervously, hoping that she wasn’t the only one enjoying the meal. “So,” she asked, “what do you think? Does it taste okay? It’s not too dry?”