It has been a few days since I've seen Hailee. The weekend mostly consisted of practice and meetings, the usual. Coach has been making us practice extremely hard since the playoffs are just around the corner, and this year the Sparks have a good shot at going all the way to the finals. I've been hitting the gym pretty hard as well, making sure I'm in the best shape I can be in order to perform the best I can on the court for these upcoming games.

On Sunday I went to visit my Mom, to check in on here and see how she's doing. She made me lunch, which consisted of grilled cheese like she used to make me as a kid. I did notice however that when she was cooking in the kitchen, she was coughing a little more than usual. I have been trying to brush it off, but I know my Mom. There have been times when she doesn't tell me certain things in order to avoid me worrying, since I already worry and overthink every other aspect of my life.

I've also been in contact with Lizzie here and there, which has been nice since I do miss her. I brought her up to speed on everything with Hailee, and she seems genuinely happy for me. She told me she's having a blast on the set of Multiverse of Madness, and I know that's true since playing Wanda is one of her favorite things. I managed to facetime her once, and we talked for quite a while. She even put Xochitl on the phone, and she waved to me very excitedly. The first thing she asked was if Hailee was there, and I had to tell her the bad news that she wasn't. I'm really glad she got casted as America Chavez, she's a great kid. Lizzie reminded me that Hailee and I are going to be guests at the premiere once it comes out, and Xochitl freaked out.

Tonight is a Wednesday, feeling like eternity since I last saw Hailee which was this past Friday. I made plans with her for the evening, and I didn't mention what we were doing. I should have known that wasn't a good idea, because she has been bugging me left and right trying to figure out what the plans are, but my lips are sealed. The only thing I told her was to dress a little more formal.

As I'm changing into my outfit for tonight, my phone lights up. It's Hailee.

Hailee: can't wait to see you tonight for whatever you sneakily have planned

Jayden: patience my love, i'll be on the way soon

Like always, I take one last look in the mirror to make sure I'm satisfied with my appearance, and then I head out the door.

There was a bit of traffic on the way to Hailee's, but I still managed to arrive on time. Instead of waiting in the car, I decide to get out and greet her at the door. I knock a few times, until I hear her shout to come in, notifying to me that it's unlocked. I walk in, not seeing her at first until I notice the downstairs bathroom open with the light on. I walk towards it, lightly knocking on the door to signal that I'm here. She looks away from the mirror as she's doing her makeup, smiling widely when she notices my presence.

"Hi my love." She tells me, smiling so hard her eyes are squinting. She pulls me into a hug, and my body melts at the contact that I longed for.

"Hi there pretty girl." I reply, giving her a kiss on the head. As she looks down, she notice what I'm holding in my hands.

"Flowers!"

"Mhm. For you." I tell her.

"You're so freaking cute I can't." She says while making her way to the kitchen to place them in a vase. I watch as she returns to the bathroom.

"I'm almost ready to go, I had to restart my makeup because I messed up I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey it's okay no worries at all. You look beautiful." I reassure her, her head turning back to face herself in the mirror.

I give her some space to finish up her makeup, taking a seat on the couch. Without warning, Martini jumps up on my lap, landing right in between my legs. I wince at the shooting pain, but it goes away slowly.

"Watch where you jump Teenie." I tell the dog jokingly, as if she can understand me. Martini takes a seat right next to my lap, and I pet her head while waiting for Hailee. About a few minutes later, she comes out of the bathroom, presenting herself to me.

"Beautiful like always." I note.

"Thank you. Let's go! I'm dying to know what this is all about."

"You'll see." I tell her as we walk to the car. I open the door for her, not closing the door until she is secured in the passenger seat. I walk back around towards the other side, getting into the drivers seat and starting the engine. I pull out of Hailee's driveway and we begin our drive to the destination. As we are driving, Hailee is still trying to get me to say any clues as to what we are doing.

"Is it a fancy dinner?" She asks.

"Nope."

"Ok good thank god." She replies, continuing to contemplate. "Are we going to a movie?"

"Nope."

"Hmm what about an event? Oh! Like a museum or something?"

"Still nope."

"Am I hot or cold?" She questions.

"Very cold. Freezing cold." I emphasize and she giggles.

"Okay are we eating something?"

"Maybe."

"Omg! So it is a restaurant, but it isn't fancy. Hmm." She says, trying to put the pieces together.

"Okay you have one more question because we are almost here." I tell her.

"Is it Italian food?"

"Nope." I reply while pulling into the drive-thru.

"In and Out!" She exclaims when she sees the sign, and also noting that we are entering the parking lot.

"Surprise! Well this is only one part of it."

"This is already more than enough. The flowers, now my favorite fast food. You don't need to go any further."

"No can do Steinfeld. You're along for the ride here." I note.

We continue following the narrow drive-thru lane until we reach the first window. I roll down my window so that I can order

"Hi can I get two cheeseburgers, both plain, and a side of animal style fries please?" I tell the cashier.

"Anything to drink tonight?" They ask.

"Two milkshakes please, one vanilla and one chocolate for the lady here."

"You're all set, second window to the left." They tell me while handing me the receipt.

"Hey you remembered my order from the first time we came here." Hailee notices.

"Of course I did, that way if you ever want it I know what to order for you." I respond, and she smiles at the fact I remembered.

After a few minutes, we reach the second window where we are handed out food. I thank the cashier, and from there we are off to the next location. It only takes a short drive to reach the destination. Hailee immediately recognizes where we are.

"Is this the park we came to on our first date?" She realizes, and I nod while handing the burger and milkshake over to her.

"This was such a great surprise Jay, thank you so much this is so sweet."

"Hold your horses, this still isn't the end of it."

"What! No Jay this is already enough. Just being with you is more than enough. I don't even care if we just sit around in silence I would still be enjoying myself." She exaggerates.

"I know, I know. But that doesn't mean I don't get to do things like this for you."

"You're right. Okay hush while I think of what surprise I'm going to do for you now." She says while looking out the window in contemplation while we sit and eat for a few moments in comfortable silence, music playing lowly in the car.

"Are you excited for playoffs?" She asks, breaking the silence.

"Mixed feelings. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. This is the first time the Sparks have made it this far in a while."

"That just goes to show how the hard work you and your team have put in has paid off." She mentions, and I nod.

"What about you? Excited for Hawkeye?" I ask, wanting to know more even though she's not supposed to talk much about it.

"So excited I can't even describe how excited I am."

"That's awesome love, I'm excited for you." I tell her honestly.

"It's just.." She begins.

"Tell me."

"I start filming in the fall. We will mostly be in New York." She tells me with a frown.

"I figured. Kate is from New York anyways so it only makes sense. I love New York, it's going to be so fun for you."

"Yeah but, what about you? I can't even imagine being away from you for that long." She says, now looking down at her shoes in the car.

"Hey." I tell her, reaching over to grab her hand. "It's going to be okay, let's enjoy today and every day after today. We will cross that bridge when we get there."

"You're right. Ugh I'm sorry, you had this whole thing planned and I totally just killed the mood."

"No Hailee not at all." I reply while looking around. I quickly spot the children's playground. "Come on follow me." I say while getting out of the car. Hailee follows my direction and we make our way to the small jungle gym and play area. I begin to climb the small steps, looking to Hailee while she watches from below.

"Get up here! I can see the whole city from here." I say sarcastically, knowing the jungle gym is only a few feet of the ground. She rolls her eyes and eventually gives in, meeting me up at the top.

"Quite the view huh?" I remark.

"There's a big tree in front of us, if that's the view your talking about." She replies while letting out a small laugh.

"See, there's that laugh I love." I tell her, and she blushes. "Come on, let's go down the slide. I'll meet you at the bottom!"

I duck and sit at the top of the slide. I push myself off, and I slowly make my descent down to the grass. I can hear Hailee laughing hysterically from above.

"That was the slowest slide ever!" She yells. "You were going as slow as a snail on that thing!"

"I'd like to see you try and do better." I remark. She takes the challenge and slides down the slide just as slow as I did, giggling the whole way down. When she leaps off the bottom of the slide, she falls into my arms and we connect into a warm embrace.

"Thank you." She tells me.

"What for?"

"Just for everything. Not just tonight but, everything you do for me. Like just now you made me feel so much better. I've been so worries about the future but you just melted all my problems away, you tend to do that when I'm with you."

"Same here my love, your presence just does that." I tell her, the both of us still hugging, until we pull away, both looking at each other.

"I adore you, Jay." She tells me, and I smile. She brings her face closer to mine, shortly after connecting our lips into a kiss. My hands attach to her hips, pulling her body closer to me resulting in a deeper kiss. Thankfully there aren't any kids here.

"Want to head to the final surprise?" I ask after we pull away.

"I don't think I have a choice, but yes I'd love to see what better be the final surprise! I mean it, tonight has already been amazing!" She chastises in a joking manner, pointing her finger at my face.

"Final surprise, I promise." I say while holding my pinky out. She latches her pinky with mine, sealing the deal.

We both walk back to the car, and I make sure to throw away the empty In and Out bags into a near by trash can. I star the car and we head to the final destination. Just like before, Hailee looks around trying to grasp her surroundings, hoping to aid in her guesses as to where we are going to end up. A few moments later, I parallel park my car into a space in front of an apartment complex.

"This is it? A building?" She asks confused.

"This is my old apartment building from college. Follow me." I reply, holding my hand out for her to hold.

We walk in through the double doors, and I lead her to the left side towards a staircase that leads up to a door at the top.

"This door says authorized personnel only." She points out.

"I'm pretty authorized I'll have you know, and plus I used to come up here all the time. Come on." I say, holding the door open for her. We are welcomed with a stunning view from the top of the building, the moon casting rays of light onto the flat concrete roof.

Hailee takes everything in, looking around at the stunning view. However, it isn't until this one section of the roof where she gasps in awe.

Across a small section of the roof lies a small blanket with candles surrounding it, creating a warm ambiance. A short road of rose petals leads the way.

"What is all this?" She asks, walking towards the set up.

"The final surprise. Come on, sit." I motion to her and we sit on the blanket together.

"Jay this is, just wow I don't even know what to say." She tells me, still processing the romantic gesture.

"I've always wanted to do something romantic like this for someone. Whenever I would sit up here I always hoped the day would come where I would get the chance to bring someone up here." I explain. "And I decided you would be the perfect person."

"This is so beautiful my love, I don't know how to thank you."

We sit together and talk like we usually do. Every so often we change positions for comfort. We alternate from sitting on front of each other, both of us getting a chance to play with each other's hair. As time gets on, nervousness starts to creep up on me as I have to face the real reason I brought her up here.

I wait for her to finish talking to me about some story from when she was filming Dickinson so I can can divert the conversation.

"It's so nice up here, isn't it?" I ask.

"Definitely. I can see why you would come here often." She replies.

"It's even better with you." I answer back. Our conversation falls into silence for a few moments.

"Hailee?" I begin.

"Yeah?"

"Ever since I met you at Lizzie's party.."

"Mhm."

"My life has just been so.. so amazing, and I think that all leads back to you. You're so special Hailee, in general and to me." I tell her while she looks up at me.

"Every time I'm with you I just, feel like my best self, you bring that out of me. You've helped me be more confident in all aspects of my life, you've taught me to have more fun, to let loose and to enjoy myself. To not be so focused on the only things I know, like basketball and training and that side of me. " I look down at her now, and I notice her eyes beginning to water.

"When I'm not with you, I'm counting the seconds until I get to be with you again, be in your presence. We always have so much fun together, no matter what we are doing like you said earlier. You care for me despite my identity, and that alone means so much I can't even describe. You mean so much to me." I continue, and Hailee is looking up at me with a few tears down her cheek.

"I guess what I'm trying to say here is..." I start, getting a little choked up on tears after seeing Hailee's reaction to my words. "Sorry."

"No it's okay, keep going." She says while sniffling, wiping the tear on my cheek with her thumb.

"I'll just say it. I want to be with you Hailee." I throw out, and her eyes grow wide.

"I want to be with you and do things with you, and go places and adventure with you, I want to do it all, and I want you by my side every step of the way."

Hailee takes a moment to process everything I just said, and I wait for her to answer.

"Jay.." She says, grabbing my hand, looking into my eyes.

"Everything you just said, I..." She takes a pause.

"I want that too. I want it all, with you. So yes, a million times yes I want to be yours." She tells me, and my lips form a warm smile.

"Really?"

"Yes really Jay, come here." She says, wrapping her arms around my neck, plunging me into a long kiss.

"So this was the surprise huh?" She asks. "Your whole plan was to ask me to be your girlfriend?"

"Surprise." I respond and she smiles.

"Best surprise ever." She replies, bringing me in for another kiss.

We stay laying with each other, enjoying the bodily closeness for a little while longer. Once we are satisfied, we pack up the small area we had.

"How did you set this up anyways?" She asks in curiosity.

"I have some pretty amazing friends." I answer her question.

Hand in hand we take the blanket and other items back to the car. I open the door for her like always, and once we are both settled I start the car.

"Where to now?" I ask.

"I was thinking maybe we could, um go back to mine?" She says nervously.

"Yours? Yeah of course."

We make the drive back to Hailee's, my hand on her thigh the whole car ride home. Every so often I would brush my thumb in circular motions, which she seemed to enjoy. When we arrive at her house, I open the door for her, closing it behind us.

"Teenie!" Hailee shouts, bending down to pet her little dog. While she does, I stand by the door awkwardly. I watch as Hailee drops her bag on the kitchen counter, then as she walks up the stairs. I'm hesitant to follow her.

"Come up love." She says, motioning for me to go upstairs with her, and I do.

We reach her bedroom and I sit on the edge of her bed. She takes a seat next to me, placing a hand on my thigh.

"Tonight was really amazing Jay, thank you again." She tells me, slightly rubbing my inner thigh now.

"No, no worries. I'm glad you enjoyed it." I reply slightly awkward. We don't speak for a few seconds, and I notice Hailee hesitating to say something. She moves her free hand to my neck, rubbing it as well. She flashes me a smile before we connect out lips into a kiss, still both sitting next to each other. This kiss is different from all the rest. It is fueled by a burning passion, ignited by the emotions and feelings we shared just a few hours ago.

Hailee slowly starts to lean back, her head reaching the pillow. She pulls me so that I'm positioned over her, our lips still attached in a heated kiss. Her hands roam all across my body, mine plastered at her hips. We detach for a moment, both making direct contact while we catch our breaths. I lean back in to her, except this time I begin to kiss her neck. Hailee lets out a gasp when my lips connect to the soft spot she has by her jawline. While I'm doing this, I feel Hailee fiddling with the buttons on my shirt. I detach from her neck to look down at her hands unbuttoning my shirt. At first I'm hesitant, but I allow it to continue. I know Hailee still hasn't done anything sexual before, so I want to be 100% sure this is where we are going to go tonight. I'm left in just my pants and sports bra now, Hailee still fully clothed.

I pull away from our kiss for a moment, our eyes locking once again.

"Jay." She says in an almost whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm ready." She tells me, giving me the confirmation I needed.

"Are you sure?" I question once more.

"Never been more sure in my life." She replies.

3526 words