“You’ve got to be kidding me.”Ezekiel said just before he turned and left the room, closing thedoor behind him.“I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep and Ijust…got a little scared I guess.”Jake laughed a little, “Haven’t youever seen this before?”“No,” Cassandra replied, “Myparents weren’t very big on movies.”“Well, alright….try to keep it downok?” Jake said as he turned to leave.“Jake,” Cassie reached out for hishand, “Could you stay? Please? Just until the movie is over?”He only paused for a moment beforegiving her a slight nod, “Move over.”Soon they were both settled, Jake ontop of the covers and Cassie below them, and he couldn’t help thathis focus was more on the lack of space between them than on themovie itself. And each time something new scared her, Cassandra wouldmove just a little closer until she was turning her face into Jake’schest to avoid looking at the screen. In those moments, Jake was sureshe could feel his racing heart as he wrapped his arm around her.“Ok, that’s ridiculous.” Cassiesaid when Glen, aka Johnny Depp, was swallowed by his bed, “There’snot even that much blood in the human body.”“A crazy dude is killin’ teenagers intheir dreams and the thing that bothers you the most is the amount ofblood that shots out of this kid’s bed?” Jake replied with a laugh,ignoring how his arm tightened around her, “Hell, he was swallowedby a bed.”“His mother can see this though, soit’s really happening.” she said as she turned to him with a laugh,“How is that even possible?”“I don’t know, how is magic real?”Cassandra’s eye roll was so animated that it only made Jake laughharder. “It’s a movie Cassie. It doesn’t have to be possible.”“I know…it’s just gonna bug me.”They both fell silent after that as shewas once again sucked into the action on screen and he was distractedby her hair, which smelled like strawberries, as it tickled his arm.By the time the credits began to roll,Jake was sure his arm had fallen asleep and it didn’t take him longto realize that so had Cassandra. “Cassie,” he whispered whichonly caused her to wrap herself even more tightly around him, “Cass,I’m gonna go to bed.”“Stay,” she said quietly as hetried to move out from under her. When her blue eyes opened slowly tolook up at him, he almost didn’t have the heart to tell her no.“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”he replied while the rest of him protested.“Just tonight,” she continued, “Ifeel safer with you here.”With a sigh, Jake pulled up the coversand laid down beside her.Sci Fi:Her hands were full, like extremelyfull. The type of full that made you wonder why you didn’t take thatsecond trip because when, not if, you drop everything the time youthought you were saving would pretty much be wasted. But somehow,she was able to carefully balance not only two styrofoam containersfilled with eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns, but everything elseshe’d brought with her, while knocking on Jake’s door at the sametime. Once the task was complete and nothing dropped, Cassandra wasmore than pleased with herself.“Who is it?” Jake’s voice calledthrough the door.“It’s me.” she yelled back onlyadding her name once she realized that, it’s me, wasn’t exactlyclear.“The key is under the mat.”The key is under the mat…becauseof course it is.It took her a moment, but she was soonable to walk into his apartment with everything in hand. Jake satstaring at her from his couch with a look that was somewhere betweenannoyance and amusement while she set everything on his dining roomtable. Once everything was out of her hands, Cassie rested them onher hips and stared back, blowing a piece of hair out of her face inthe process.“I brought you breakfast.” she saidmatter-of-factly before heading into the kitchen.“All that’s breakfast?” he calledto her the moment she’s out of sight.“All that is breakfast and snacks andsomething for lunch and dinner,” she replied reappearing withknives and forks in hand, “And some books from the library-”“Cassie darlin’, I broke my leg isall. I’m not entirely useless.”She ignored him, placing the utensilsand the breakfast containers on his end table, before turning toclear off his recliner. “And I brought Star Wars.”“Star Wars? All of them?”“Ew, no.” she wrinkled her nose indisgust, “The original trilogy only. The prequels do not exist asfar as I’m concerned….”Something in her tone made Jake pausefor a moment, eyeing her wearily, “You still brought them didn’tya.”Cassandra stopped cleaning, “I know Ishouldn’t like them…but they’re still Star Wars, Jake. StarWars.”“And what made you think I’d want towatch Star Wars?”“Because it’s Star Wars. Everyonelikes Star Wars.”“True that is.” he replied causingCassandra to grin at him, a gesture that he returned.“And you sounded absolutely miserableon the phone yesterday and I know these movies always cheer me up, soI figured they’d do the same thing for you.” She disappeared for amoment only to return with drinks.“I figured you for more of aTrekkie.” Jake said, deciding to go along with this impromptu moviemarathon thing she had planned. He literally had nothing but layingon the couch and wallowing in his own misery planned anyway.“While it’s true that they are morescientifically accurate, I mean I don’t recall Star Trek everreferring to a parsec as a unit of time instead of distance, I justfind Star Wars more appealing overall. I mean, Princess Leia, HanSolo, Obi Wan…they’re amazing.”Jake smiled because only Cassandra,“And your parents were fans too?”“Yes,” she replied with a smile ofher own, finally sitting down before handing him his breakfast. Asecond later, she realized she’d forgotten the movies and quickly gotup to get them. “It was one of the few things they actually let mewatch as a kid.”“Alright, it’s what? 10 am? Yourealize this is gonna be over 12 hours of movie watchin’ that youhave planned?”“794 minutes to be exact. Just over13 hours.” she smiled to herself, “Smells like popcorn.”“Then lets get started.”Fantasy:She felt like death…though she didn’tactually feel like she was dying, she knew what that felt like. No,she simply felt like soon she’d be so unable to breathe that she’djust become some sort of harbinger of death that occasionally ferriedpeople between worlds.That didn’t make sense.Cassandra suddenly realized that shewas spending far too much time with Jake and his mythology texts.Speaking of:Sick.She quickly typed the four letter replybefore rolling over on her bed, covering her head with blankets andwishing that she could time travel to some point in the future wherethe flu didn’t exist. Suddenly, her phone rang. Cassandra groaned asa form of greeting.“Hey kid, you ok?” Jake started andthe worry in his voice made her realize how incredibly vague her texthad been.“Flu.” she replied, apparently shewas not only typing in monosyllables, she was speaking in them too,wonderful. Jake let out a tension breaking laughand Cassandra couldn’t help her grin, “D’you need anything?”“Sleep.” she mumbled already halfway there.“Alright, see you later.”Later was sometime after her noonbreakfast of a piece of dry toast and apple juice and her two o’clocklunch that was simply a bottle of water and Tylenol. Wrapped in arobe and her quilt, bunny slippers on her feet, she answered when heknocked on her door.“I brought soup, it’s my ma’srecipe.” Jake said as he stepped around her without invitation.Cassandra was ok with it, the smell of chicken soup seemed to makeher feel better almost instantly anyway. She followed the smell andJake into her kitchen.“You didn’t have to, Jake.” shesaid, knowing that it must’ve taken him a few hours to make the soup,“What about work?”“Once Jenkins found out that both youand Ezekiel were sick, he pretty much kicked me out of the Annex so Iwouldn’t ‘contaminate’ anything.” he replied as he pulled bowls outof her cabinet. She didn’t quite register when it happened, butapparently they both knew their way around the other’s kitchen. Thetotally domesticity of it made her face warm…or warmer, at leastshe thought it did, it could’ve just been her fever.“How come you’re not sick?”“Strong immune system I guess….Goback to bed, I got this.”“Thank you,” she sighed as she didwhat she was told. It wasn’t long before Jake came into her bedroomwith a tray, that she didn’t even know she had, laden with soup and aglass of ginger-ale. She thanked him again as she began to eat saidsoup. “Jake, this is amazing.”“Yeah, the recipe is about 80 yearsold. It always made all us Stone kids feel better and I reckon youcould use it.”“Thank you…again. I think this isprobably the best chicken noodle soup that I’ve ever had and I’ve hada lot of chicken noodle soup.”They both fell silent as sheconcentrated on eating the now famous soup and soon Jake was standingin the middle of her bedroom awkwardly scratching the back of hisneck.In the middle of her bedroom…oh god,“Ummm, so-”“What are you watching?” Jake said,cutting off what was bound to be an extremely awkward statement fromher.“The Lord of the Rings extendededitions. I’ve had them for forever, but I’ve never had time to watchthem so I figured, why not?” she said in a rush, her voice growingincreasingly rougher as she paused to have a coughing fit.When she looked up, Jake’s crystal blueeyes were wide with excitement. It was odd until she remember whatshe was talking about. “I’ve never seen the extended editionseither. There was never a good time….”“Do you want to stay and watch themwith me?” Cassie croaked, “I mean, I wouldn’t want you to catchthis, but it’s up to you.”Jake left the room for a moment only toreturn with one of the chairs from her living room and it wasn’texactly a light chair so she knew he was way more excited for thisthan she initially thought. It was adorable.Once they were settled, she played themovie, thankful that she was mostly at the beginning anyway.Of course, Cassandra ended up dozingoff every now and then, being sick and all, and yet each time sheopened her eyes she’d see Jake just as absorbed as ever in the actionon screen. She smiled to herself at the image of a young Jake readingTolkein and not just marveling at the story, but at all of the detailthe author had put into Middle Earth itself. With maps and languagesand myths, Jake must’ve loved it.There was enough soup to last her therest of the day, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way, whileJake raided her fridge for whatever she had left in there that wasedible and he made sure to keep her medicated and hydrated as themarathon continued.Cassandra fell asleep again sometimenear the end of Return of the King, which meant she was going to missthe end of the marathon, but frankly she didn’t care. It was onlywhen she felt Jake’s lips against her forehead that she awoke.“Hey,” she said with a sleepysmile, the credits theme playing in the background. She’d have towatch it again tomorrow.“Sorry,” he replied, “I didn’tmean to wake you.”“Don’t…it’s sweet.”Jake smiled down at her, “I thinkyour fever’s breakin’, but you should probably stay here tomorrowtoo.”“Yes, Dr. Stone.” Cassandra saidsnuggling into her pillow even more, not exactly coherent enough tothink of a better reply. She was also a bit too distracted by thememory of how his lips felt against her forehead.“I’m gonna head out.” he whispered,but she was already sleeping, “Goodnight Cassandra.”Period Drama:Jake had absolutely no idea how thishad happened, he did not agree to this. Keira Knightley and whoeverit was that played Darcy were dancing on screen and the only thingrunning through his mind was how much crap he was gonna get ifEzekiel ever found out about this.(The kid already wouldn’t stop with thecomments about how he didn’t get any chicken noodle soup.)It also reminded him too much of themission they’d been on earlier that day and how he held her in hisarms while they danced, his heart beating so hard he’d been so sureshe could feel it.“Cassie-” Jake started only for herto shush him and shove popcorn in his mouth in an effort to silencehim. She was sitting on the edge of her seat and he could tell thatshe was too absorbed in what was happening to pay him any attention.So, he chewed his popcorn quietly and waited until Elizabeth andDarcy were done dancing before he tried again, “Cassie, I think I’mgonna head out.”“What?” she turned to him, eyeswide, “I thought…isn’t this a thing now?”“What?” he replied, not quiteknowing what she meant. She was sitting too close and he was havingtrouble forming his thoughts…she still smelled like strawberries.“Watching movies together, it’s athing we do now, right?”He sighed, how the hell had he gottenhimself into this? “Well, yeah, but not ones like this.”“What do you mean ‘like this’?”Cassandra replied, not entirely sure where this was coming from. “Isthis because it’s a girly movie?”“Yeah it’s because it’s a girlymovie.” Jake said, his arms flailing around slightly.“Really? Are you embarrassed?”Jake couldn’t be sure how she meant thequestion, was she curious? Was she offended? This was new anddangerous territory. “No, I just…” He didn’t know how toelaborate either because he wasn’t sure entirely sure why this wasbothering him so much.“I really didn’t think you were thisshallow, Jake.” she snapped and clearly offended was the rightchoice. They’d both gotten to their feet and were standing muchcloser than he’d like, which meant he’s was clearly crazy for takinganother step towards her.“I’m not-I didn’t mean it like that.”“So, you just don’t want to watch itwith me.”“Yes!” he shouted back only toregret it once he saw the look on her face, “I mean no. Why are wefightin’ about this?”“I don’t know Jake, why are wefighting about this?” she asked quietly with a look that was alltoo knowing. They were so close now that he only needed to leanin….Jake hesitated, if only for a second,but it was enough. A moment later she was on the other side of herbedroom door and he was left standing alone in her living roomwondering what the hell just happened.Action:“Dude, you should’ve kissed her.”Ezekiel said, he couldn’t help how annoyed he was about this entirething that Jake and Cassie had going on. It was more than a littlebit frustrating when he had to witness them making eyes at each otherwhile they were all on a case.“We don’t make eyes at each other.”Jake said grumpily as he watched Rocky punch his opponent.Ezekiel was clearly unfazed afterhaving said that last bit out loud. “Oh yes you do. I had to throwa bloody rock at your head the last time just to get your attention.”“She was hallucinating.”“No she wasn’t, she was wearing askirt.”“She’s always wearin’ a skirt.”“And you’re always staring.”“Why am I even here right now?”Jake sighed as he rubbed a hand down his face.“Because you need guy advice and I,Ezekiel Jones ladies’ man and thief extraordinaire, am telling youyou should’ve kissed her.” Ezekiel took a drink of his beer andsmiled toothily at Jake, reveling in his pain.*****
“Hi,” Cassandra said, fidgetingwhile she stood in her doorway. Jake was standing in front of herand, thankfully, he seemed just as nervous as she was.“I’m sorry about-”“Do you want to come in?” she askedthe question in an effort to cut off his apology. He had nothing tobe sorry for and she just wanted to forget the whole thing happened.It was childish of them both. They were adults, they could deal withthis like adults. “I was about to put in a movie.”Jake laughed as he walked into herapartment, “You’re really tryin’ to catch up on this whole moviething aren’t ya?”“Well, when you spend most of yourchildhood with your head in a book working out mathematicalequations…” They were in her kitchen now and Jake gave her a nodof understanding from where he stood leaning against the archway thatseparated the kitchen from the rest of her apartment. Cassandraswallowed hard and looked away. “Would you like some tea? I wasgoing to make myself a cup of chai, but I think I have earl grey andchamomile. I might possibly have some sleepytime too, but I’m notentirely sure how good it is and I really don’t know why you’d wantto drink it unless you wanted to get sleepy-”“Cassandra,” He was beside her, hishand resting gently on her arm, and she was suddenly aware of all themillions of nerve endings that’d come to life beneath her skin,despite the fact that the rational part of her brain was telling herthat it was highly unlikely that she was actually feeling his toucheverywhere….she felt herself blush.She could taste chocolate.“Jake?” she questioned, turning tohim slowly, her eyes trained on the floor because she was unsure whatshe’d find in his.Jake’s hands cupped her face gently,the warmth of his thumbs on her cheeks made her breath hitch, andbarely a moment past before her gaze met his. His blue eyes staredinto hers for what seemed like forever and it wasn’t until he wasleaning toward her that she fully realized what was about to happen.He was tentative at first, his lipssoft against hers almost as if he wasn’t sure quite sure that thiswas the best decision, that this was what they both wanted. Once shegot over her initial shock, Cassie kissed him back.In an instant, they were both lost ineach other.She wrapped her fingers around Jake’swrists to keep herself grounded because she felt as if the second helet her go she’d end up floating away. Her grip only tightened as thekiss went on.When he finally pulled away, theirforeheads remained firmly pressed together as they drank in eachothers’ shaky sighs that were quick to turn into shy laughter. Jake’shands traveled down her back until they settled on her waist makingCassandra feel warm all over.Her senses seemed to be on overload.For a moment, she was sure there was an orchestra playing somethingfantastically triumphant in the distance as she smiled up at him. Hefelt red, smelled warm and definitely tasted like the best chocolateshe’d ever had. She was surrounded by him.His nose nudged her’s as he pulledCassandra impossibly closer, “I thought it was about time we didthat.” Jake’s voice was low and rough, his accent out in fullforce, and Cassandra would never be able to put into words exactlywhat that did to her.So, she grinned at him, unashamed ofthe fact that she was pretty sure her face matched her hair, “Ibelieve that was a correct assessment Mr. Stone, but in the spirit ofscience, I do believe more data is needed.”“So, what you’re sayin’ is, we needto make out…for science?” he asked, playing along as he walkedher backward until she bumped into her counter.She ‘mm hm’ed in reply, wrapping herarms around his neck before pressing her lips to his once more. Amoment later, she pulled away with a giggle as he easily lifted heronto the counter so she could sit on the cool tile, her legs wrappingaround him as she got to work on the buttons of his shirt.Romantic Comedy:Jake woke up with a face full of redhair and he honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way…even thoughhe had to blow a few strands away so he wouldn’t end up with amouthful. He felt as the red head giggled, her fingers drawingcircles along his chest, the sensation was what pulled him from sleepin the first place.Lifting her head, Cassandra turned tohim with a smile, “Good morning,”Jake caught her lips in a shearing kissbefore he replied with a ‘Good mornin” of his own. It wasn’t longbefore she was pinned underneath him and any thought of startingtheir day was forgotten.Around eleven Jake got up to makebreakfast, because if he didn’t they’d most likely forget about foodall together, and when he returned with omelettes and orange juice,Cassie (clothed in nothing but his t-shirt) was curled in a ball likea lazy cat on her newly stripped bed, her eyes glued to the TV whilethe washer hummed through out the apartment.Jake stood half naked in the middle ofher bedroom with food, yet she was still watching Tom Hanks as hetyped on an old laptop. “Ooook,” he muttered to himself beforetaking a seat next to her.“Shhhh,” she whispered, herposition never once changing. Jake subtly set her plate and fork infront of her with the hope that she’d eat before it got cold.“So,” Jake said once a commercialbreak started, “You’ve Got Mail?”Cassandra brought up the guide, “Yes,wait how did you know that?”Jake blushed and cleared his throat,“I…ummm-”“Oh my God,” Cassandra’s eyes wentwide, “Jake Stone, you do secretly like girly movies.”“Alright fine, maybe I do.”She poked him playfully in the stomach,“You just don’t like watching them with anyone around. I bet youlove lifetime.”“Hey, I never said that. I just don’tlike watchin’ ‘em while I’m tryin’ to ignore the fact that I’m inlove with the girl sittin’ next to me.”“What?”“What?” That did not just comeout of my mouth, Jake thought to himself before taking anotherbite of his omelette with the hope that the mouthful of food wouldsave him from having to repeat what he just said.Cassie eyed him suspiciously beforeturning back to watch the rest of the movie. Sometime later, shesmiled to herself when Tom Hanks visited a sick Meg Ryan, rememberingwhen Jake did the same.Once they finished breakfast and theplates were no longer in their way, they watched the rest of themovie while wrapped up in each other as Tom and Meg’s characters grewcloser, moving from adversaries, to friends and then to somethingjust a little more than that.At one point Jake nuzzled her neck, hisfingers moving her messy hair to the side, only for her to lightlyslap the hand he had around her waist and yell him for distractingher.Eventually, as movie began to draw to aclose, Jake was suddenly made aware of Cassandra’s sniffles whileKathleen Kelly, aka Meg Ryan, stood in the middle of a garden in NewYork.“Are you crying?” he whispered nearher ear, holding her tighter despite the laughter in his voice.“Shut up.”“Don’t cry Shopgirl, don’t cry.”Joe Fox’s words tumbled from the screen carrying inspiration withthem.Jake smiled to himself, “Don’t cryMathgirl, don’t cry.”“You are really not helping,”Cassandra replied, her eyes never leaving the tv.“I wanted it to be you. I wantedit to be you so badly.” Kathleen’s reply was met with a loudtearful squeal from Cassie that caused Jake to rest his head againsther shoulder to keep himself from laughing too hard.Once the couple kissed and ‘The End’was typed among the clouds, Cassandra turned to Jake and kissed himsoundly, her fingers threading through his hair. Pulling away shewhispered softly, “I love you too.”“Yeah?” he replied even as heleaned back so she could straddle him.“Yep,” she said, the p popping justbefore she kissed him. Unfortunately for Jake, Cassandra quickly slidoff of him and began walking away from the bed, her giggle causinghim to let out a groan of frustration. “I’m going to shower.” her voice was light as she opened the door to her small bathroom.Jake watched as she turned the water on, making sure it was the righttemperature before she removed his shirt and got in.A moment later, Jake joined her.
