Dinner rolled around the next night, the rest of my day having passed uneventfully. I stood in front of the full-body mirror hooked over the top of my bathroom door. I pulled up the medium blue hem of my jeans, them resting just above my bellybutton. I pivoted my lower half in the middle, the blue of my jeans transitioning into a lighter shade at the hem.

I heard the familiar chime of my text tone from across the room, it pulling my attention from myself. I moved and picked it up from the table beside my bed, Jeremiah's contact name present and telling me that he's five minutes away. My eyes widened momentarily as I realized I had to speed up the process.

I scurried back to the mirror, pulling on the suede combat boots I had picked out for myself. Once those were tugged and laced up, I grabbed the tan wool Burberry coat I had gotten for my birthday a few years ago. I glanced back into the mirror and adjusted the blush-colored turtleneck that was snug against my neck.

My phone sounded once more. I crossed the room again, another message from Jeremiah reading that he was now outside. I cursed to myself as I rushed around the room to gather all my essential items into my little black circular shoulder bag. I stepped into my bathroom for a moment to grab my lip gloss from the counter. I took a beat to apply an ample amount before sticking that in my bag and heading out the door.

The brisk January air slithered up my sleeves, causing goosebumps to form on my skin. I smacked my lips together as I locked up my door and treaded carefully on the icy pathway to Jeremiah's car. I was rubbing my hands together to try to gather some warmth, as I had forgotten my gloves... Again. You would think I would have learned this lesson from yesterday.

I heard the car doors unlock as I reached for the door handle. I pulled it open and was immediately tempted by the warmth radiating from inside. There was no hesitation from me as I hurried into my seat with a muted thud, the sound absorbed by the material.

"Ahh, warmth." I hummed as I closed the door and shut my eyes, relishing in the feeling of the heat sweeping my body from my head to my toes.

"Hello to you, too, Baby," Jeremiah sounded from the driver's seat.

"Aww," I responded with the exaggerated pout of my bottom lip. "I'm sorry, Baby. Hi." I drew out my greeting as I placed a hand on his cheek.

He recoiled and took my hand into his. "You're freezing!" He wrapped his hands around mine, the coolness felt in my fingertips dissolving slightly. He left a space between his thumbs and his palms, a hole in which he blew into in an attempt to warm me up. "Any better?" Only his eyes settled on my face as his hands rolled mine, a chaste kiss following on my knuckles.

"Much better," I affirmed with a curt head nod. "Thank you, J."

I leaned in and puckered my lips for a kiss. To my pleasure, I was greeted with a short succession of kisses, a few more following on my knuckles once again, before he held my hand in his as we pulled off.

As we neared the half-hour mark, I rested my elbow on the window control jutting out from the car door, my cheek resting on top of the fist I was making. "I didn't realize you lived this far from me."

Jeremiah's eyes stayed glued to the road as he responded, "It's only thirty minutes." A nonchalant shrug accompanied his words.

"Still, I would've been giving you gas money or something," I said with a shrug of my own. "All those miles start adding up."

"For the first part of our relationship, it wasn't my miles adding up." His eyes bounced to me as a toothy smile graced his face.

"Very true." I nodded in agreeance, my lip corners quirking downwards as they pursed. "Whatever happened to all the flashiness?" I leaned back in my seat and let my head loll, it swinging so I could look at Jeremiah.

"What happened is I asked you to be my girl in a nightclub bathroom, and you said yes." His expression morphed into smugness for a few moments, fading to concentration when the car slowed to a stop, Jeremiah positioning himself to parallel park. "I realized I spent way too much money on you then."

I clicked my tongue at him and his playful tone. "You had me locked in the bathroom with nowhere to go! What else was I supposed to do to escape?" My hands flew up in exasperation, them relaxing down crossed against my chest.

"Fight your way out. I like the strong-willed."

I rolled my eyes once more, the conversation dying briefly as Jeremiah focused on parking.

I watched as his hands were able to grip the steering wheel with such strength, yet they still looked as they were gliding across the spinning wheel with no effort. The pink of his tongue appeared between the brown of his lips, his eyes squinting slightly as he concentrated. His jawline revealed itself as he craned his neck to look through the back window, and, at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to trace the curve of it, the hairs shaved close contrasting against my smooth fingertips.

"Ready?"

I came back to myself and looked at Jeremiah, an expectant twinkle in his eyes as he awaited my answer. "Of course." I smiled brightly, unbuckling my seatbelt to signal I was ready.

I stepped into the brisk winter air, a shiver traveling the length of my spine. I closed the car door behind me, my eyes focusing on the plain building in front of me.

The outside of the building was bare brick, lights brightening up the walls as people bustled behind their windows, blinds or curtains blocking the view inside from the sidewalk. There were few trees planted nearby, their leaves long gone, frost draping over the bare branches. Overall, the whole outside of the building was bland, failing to draw any attention.

"You look unimpressed."Jeremiah had now joined me in leaning against the car.

"No! No, not at all!" I exclaimed in a weak attempt to defend myself. The truth was that I was beyond unimpressed with the building, but I couldn't let Jeremiah know that. This was his home, and me coming in and prematurely judging his home without even seeing the inside was unfair. But still...

He looked at me in that way he does when we both know I'm lying, but we both pretend I'm not. The space around us was quiet, save for the cars driving distantly in the background. A few more beats of silence passed before he simply stated, "Your rich girl is showing."

I sputtered, my arms crossing over my chest. "My rich girl is not showing!"

"Sure thing." He dismissed me quickly, his hand hovering in the air in front of me as he waited to take me inside.

I continued to be unimpressed with the building that my boyfriend lived in, just as I continued to attempt to not let my face portray my actual thoughts. We walked down a hallway, the carpet below our feet a dirtied gray, the walls an overwhelming white with not a single picture hung on it. The only excitement popping out to me were the gold plates that read the room numbers.

We stopped in front of a door marked by the number eighty-one, Jeremiah's keys seemingly materializing as he moved to unlock the door. I braced myself for what I prepared to see, a tiny grimace sneaking onto my face as the door pushed open. Jeremiah led me inside by the hand, the breath I was holding coming out in relief.

We walked through the door, and the first thing that grabbed my attention was the spiral staircase leading to a second floor. I curiously checked out the loft as I shrugged off my coat and draped it over my arm.

The oak floors stood out against the dark gray and yellow theme of the living room. The dark sectional sofa curved under the window, yellow curtains draping above as plants rested on the windowsill. A like-colored coffee table stood in front of the couch, a thin yellow fabric running along its length, the extra material flowing off the ends of the table like a golden waterfall.

"I can see you're impressed now," Jeremiah said as he took my coat from me and hung it on the rack drilled into the wall.

"I was never unimpressed," I continued to defend. I let my eyes linger over the at least fifty-inch TV on the wall opposite the couch before they landed on Jeremiah behind me. "I was just surprised to see you living in squalor, but I'm glad I'm wrong."

"And you tried to say your rich girl wasn't showing." He rolled his eyes, a playful smile pulling his lip corners as he moved towards me. "And this building is nowhere near squalor." He narrowed his eyes at me slightly before placing a sweet kiss on my lips.

I failed to respond with words, instead opting for a short hum.

"You don't believe me," Jeremiah noted as he entered his kitchen.

"How perceptive." I followed him, not entirely sure where I could settle myself.

"I find it hard to believe that you see a building like this and think it's the worst of the worst." A few glasses were pulled from a cupboard, followed by champagne to fill them with. "I need to take you to where my parents grew up," he continued with a light scoff. "Being there, you'd think this was paradise."

I accepted my glass of champagne with a small thanks. "I'd hate to think that this was paradise." I took a brief sip of my drink, allowing the bubbles to dance around on my tongue before swallowing. "Not that your loft isn't great because, well, look at this place!" My glass found its way to my lips again. "The outside just doesn't do it for me, that's all."

"This is years of learned classism revealing itself for the first time. I don't even wanna try and argue with you on this one, Chief." Jeremiah took a deep breath in before letting it blow through his lips, a gulp of his champagne following.

I took a sharp breath, the protest dying on my lips because, deep down, a part of me knew that he was right. My upbringing allowed me to live a life of luxury that most don't experience—private jets, drivers to bring you wherever you wanted, houses with more rooms than you can count...

"So, call me out on my shit instead." Although an expression barely registered on Jeremiah's face, I still noticed the slight narrowing of his eyes. "I'm forreal, Boo. That's how I was raised to think, and I never thought anything of it because that was my world. But, now I'm in yours, and I shouldn't be so easy to pass judgments."

He put his glass down with a little more force than necessary, a sigh heaving from him and deflating his shoulders.

"You didn't judge all the glam when we went to those business events. Who am I to not offer you the same courtesy?"

"Baby, it's not that—"

"You don't have to tell me what it really is," I interrupted. I, too, placed my glass down on the black marble countertop, a subtle white swirling across the surface. My hand found Jeremiah's cheek, him leaning into my touch as if we'd rehearsed. "What it really is is that I love you, so I'm going to try and do better for you."

A taut smile pulled Jeremiah's lips as his eyes explored my face, most likely looking for any indication of insincerity. I offered a small smile in return, making it known that I could let go of the hurtful biases I had for him.

"Okay," he spoke after a minute. His smile failed to change in nature, it instead stretching his lips across his face even further. He kissed me, his lips barely a whisper against mine. "Now, let me start making this food before I get champagne drunk." He waved his empty glass in the air lazily before setting it back on the counter.

The time quickly escaped us as Jeremiah got caught up preparing our meal, uninterrupted conversation flowing between us. One of the things I loved most about this man in front of me was that there was always something we could talk about. Silences never plagued us, no topic off-limit.

"Mmm," I hummed. My nose was in the air as I leaned against the counter, my nostrils flaring as I inhaled the aroma of Jeremiah's cooking. "Smells fantastic, Baby."

Jeremiah's back was turned to me as he worked his magic over a pan of asparagus. I snuck up behind him and snaked my arms around his waist, my chin resting between his shoulder blades. I popped onto my toes to plant a kiss on the back of his neck before I removed myself from him altogether.

"Thanks, Babe." He peered over his shoulder, half the white smile on his face visible to me. "Only the best for you." He kissed at me over his shoulder before returning back to his work.

"You spoil me," I noted, a smile on my face and a sparkle in my eyes. "Now, where's the bathroom? Cause this third glass of champagne says hello." He chuckled before directing me up the stairs and to the door on the right.

When I returned from the bathroom, Jeremiah was no longer in the kitchen, but he now sat in his living area. A TV remote was in his hand and pointed at the screen in front of him, the Spotify logo on the screen. I rounded the stairs and noticed that a brand new bottle of champagne and our glasses had followed us to the coffee table. I eyed him as I said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get me drunk for a reason."

His head snapped in my direction as he noticed me approaching, my socked feet silent against the hardwood floor. He glanced over to the filled glasses in front of him before his eyes locked back to me. "It has nothing to do with that," he denied, his expression giving him away. "But, even if it did, that's not the only reason that calls for champagne."

I squinted at him as my expression entered the realm of confusion. "What's the other reason that calls for champagne?" I joined him on the couch and pulled my feet under me.

"I have found a permanent, well-paying job." He leaned towards me conspiratorially as he revealed his news.

My eyes widened as my mouth formed an O-shape out of shock. "Baby, that's amazing!" I held my hands up, them lingering as I tried to find how to use them to express my full excitement. I scoffed as his head nodded enthusiastically, a bright smile on his face. I held his face between my hands and placed a small kiss on his lips. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday."

"What? Why didn't you tell me when I called you?" I punched his shoulder, it holding the power of a gentle tap.

"I didn't want to steal your thunder," he responded with ease. "Doesn't matter. Now we can celebrate both of our accomplishments." He grabbed his glass from the table and raised it in a toast.

I clicked my tongue in disapproval and rolled my eyes before following Jeremiah's lead. I took my glass from the table and clinked it to his, a ding reverberating off the glasses.

"You could never steal my thunder," I assured, a confident smirk appearing. "I am the thunder."

"Well," he heaved, his hands rubbing over his thighs. "I guess I'll have to settle for being the lightning then." A small kiss was placed on my cheek, his lips dragging to my ear. His voice fell to a whisper as he continued, "Because they compliment each other so well."

I took a deep breath in, my fingers curling tighter against the stem of my glass. Jeremiah's breath tickled my ear and sent a warmth throughout my whole body and a pleasant chill down my spine. My heart leaped in my chest as I shifted in my seat as if that would resolve the warmth that settled in my abdomen.

He pulled away, but not before nipping at my earlobe, the action so soft I could've missed it if I wasn't so acutely aware of his presence lingering a hair away.

I cleared my throat before peeling my eyes open. "Food almost done?" I pursed my lips as my voice betrayed me, my question scratching out.

"Just about," Jeremiah responded, a confident air surrounding his tone. "Let me go check."

Once he stepped away from me, the tension in my shoulders dropped and the hairs raised at the back of my neck relaxed. I moved to say something, my attention instead being pulled to the music pulsing out through the speakers next to the TV. It was so faint you could miss the fact that there's music playing altogether.

Something ticked in the back of my head as the familiar melody line continued. As if I willed it with my mind, the sound began to climb to a volume where there was no mistaking what song could be playing. I removed the rim of my glass from my teeth's grip as I stated, "This is Closer."

"By Goapele, yeah," Jeremiah confirmed. "Know it?" He sounded distant, and when I turned towards the kitchen, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Uhh," I wandered towards the kitchen, confusion lacing my tone, wondering how the height of the counter could completely block him from my view. "My mom used to bump this song all the time." I peered over the counter and caught Jeremiah digging deep through a cluttered bottom drawer. "I'm sorry. What are you doing?"

Jeremiah all but jumped up as he heard my voice a few feet away. He held his hands behind his back, his lips pressing into a thin line as he registered that he was caught doing... well, whatever it is he was doing. "You ruined the surprise."

My face scrunched in confusion, my gaze hesitantly looking at the counters in front of me that he gestured towards. There were two silver trays, each holding a plate with delectable smelling salmon, asparagus, and some kind of rice displayed nicely on both platters. Next to them was a third empty tray, congratulations written in messy cursive. Behind each was a matching silver dome cover, the realization dawning over me that I absolutely ruined the surprise.

"Did you buy those specifically for tonight?" I pointed at the fancy serving trays in front of us, segwaying from me ruining a big romantic moment for a moment. "I know that's not the point, but if you did, I'm gonna have to walk my ass right back to that couch and pretend I saw nothing." My thumb was pointed over my shoulder in the general direction of the couch.

"Nah, it's too late now, Boo." He brought his hands in front of him, a square velvet pox perched in his hands. He released a small chuckle as he watched my eyes hone in on the box in front of me before he opened it.

My shoulders slumped as I grunted in surprise. I joined Jeremiah in the narrow space between the two rows of the counter as I picked up the ankle bracelet, the thin chain slipping and adjusting around my fingers. I ran my fingers across the diamond-lined chain, the light reflecting off the shining surface and refracting in different directions. "Baby, this is beautiful."

"You like it?" He asked, although it presented as a statement.

"Baby, I love it." I tore my gaze from the ankle bracelet in front of me, the gold chain reflecting onto the palm of my hand. My face fell as I said something I never imagined I would when gifted something so extravagant. "I can't accept this."

His brows frowned. "What? Why not?" His lips followed the lead of the upper half of his face, the corners pulling down and forming a concerned and surprised pout at the same time.

"This was what? Two stacks, at least?" I shook my head slowly. "I'm a rich girl, and it sometimes shows, sure, but you don't have to match me. This doesn't fit your budget. I don't want you to buy outside of your means for what? Me?"

"I didn't buy you this gift because you're used to receiving expensive gifts. I bought you this gift because you're my girlfriend, I love you, and we're celebrating you tonight." He took strides towards me before taking my hand in his, curling my fingers around the jewelry in my palm.

I looked up at him through my lashes, a small sigh parting my lips. "You really don't have to. You can return it and get your money back. You might actually make