Chapter 51

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It's already been a few days since Stefan and I talked about the bathroom incident. He told me how he had heard Cara speaking with Ana on the phone and how they were plotting to put everything on the internet. Honestly, I'm really glad that the three of them are rotting somewhere in jail now. Stefan has made sure that they won't be able to get out for atleast a few years.

Right now, the three of us are in the garden. Stefan is playing with Liam while I read a book. When I lift my eyes to give them a glance, I find myself looking at them with a fond smile. Liam's hearty laugh and Stefan's voice make the atmosphere so much lively and better.

"Mama", Liam calls out when he sees me looking at them.

Stefan turns to look at me and picking Liam up, he comes to sit besides me. He instantly climbs on my lap happily.

"What are you thinking?", he asks me and taking my book, he places it besides him.

"I am just thinking how being with you and Liam make everything better", I confess and cuddle Liam close to me.

"We feel the same thing about you", he states, affectionately and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.

"I have a surprise for you", he continues in a soft tone. "Get ready before seven in the evening. We are going on a date and this time it will be a proper one."

"A date?", I smile, excitement already bursting through my veins.

"Yes", he reciprocates my smile. "Ciara and Leo will watch after Liam while we will be gone."

"Where are we going?", I probe with eagerness.

"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise anymore", he taps the tip of my nose with a grin.

"But I need to know", I say and add a little lie. "So that I need to know how to dress accordingly."

"I have already bought a dress for you", he declares. "It's in our room. You'll find it on the bed. Last time our date night got ruined but this time, it'll be different. It will be perfect."

I look at him awe. He is really trying to make up for the past. I still get roses every single day and with each second going by, I find myself getting drawn to him even more. I find myself craving his touch and his kisses. Just like right now, I just want to grab him and kiss him.

"You okay?", his brows draw together slightly as he watches me.

"Yeah", I clear my throat, shyly.

"You don't even need to ask", he grins and leans down to kiss me himself.

When his lips touch mine, that's when I realize that I want to be his completely. I don't want to hide myself from him anymore. He makes me feel confident and I don't mean it in a co-dependency way. Stefan genuinely makes me feel confident through his words and the way he looks at me. He has really open my eyes, regarding myself. Through him, I learned that confidence is a state of mind and loving myself is the only way, I can achieve that.

Little by little, I am finally starting to be free from my past memories. Letting go is making me realize that holding on to something that is beyond my control is more hurting. I can't change my past and the more I hold on to it, the more I am going to stop myself to fully live in peace and hurt myself. I want to make new memories with Stefan. I want to experience every part of life with him.

"Be ready at seven", he runs his fingers softly on my cheek. "Don't be late okay. I can't wait to see wearing the dress"

"I won't"

Ciara once again helps me to get ready. She keeps smiling by herself while doing my hair. Stefan has bought a gorgeous greenish long dress for me and honestly it is droolworthy. After telling me about the date, he just left and told me that he would be home later. I even asked him where he was going, he just told me that he has some work to finish.

I stop thinking about him when Ciara styles my hair in a wavy way and does some braids to let some tendrils fall freely around my face.


Once I'm ready, she applies a dark red lipstick as the final touch on my lips. I look in awe at my reflection. I look so beautiful and the dress hugs my curves so well.

"You look so gorgeous Jess", Ciara looks at in a dreamy way. "And Stefan did a pretty good job by selecting this dress."

"Jess", she holds my hands and her face becomes serious all of a sudden. "I am honestly so happy that everything is okay between you and Stefan. It used to hurt my heart so much to see both of you miserable without each other. Stefan and Liam is so lucky to have you. God, I don't want to cry but trust me these are happy tears. I am just so happy for my brother and I love you."

"Thank you C", I hug her tightly, bless to have a friend like her. "I love you too."

"Let's go", she looks at me from top to bottom on last time, satisfy with her work. "Stefan is waiting. It's nearly seven."

I nod and follow her out. When I start climbing down the stairs, Stefan gets up from the couch. He is wearing a black suit with a white shirt but his tie matches my dress. His eyes widen slightly. I see the appreciation on his face and blush. He walks towards me and just as I climb down the last step, he offers me to take his hand.

"You look gorgeous", he praises me, in wonderstruck.

"Thank you", I clasp his hand in mine.

"Wow B", Leo says in appreciation. "You look enchanting and hot. Doesn't she Liam?"

"Thanks Leo", I smile when Liam claps his hands for me happily.

"You two get going now", Ciara says urgently. "Leo, distract Liam before he sees them leaving please."

"Right away", Leo turns towards the television. "Have fun guys."

Stefan wraps his hand around my waist instantly and starts leading me out.

"I love the dress", I say. "Thank you."

"The moment I saw it, I thought about you. This dress was made for you", he runs his eyes on me again. "You look perfect and I want to kiss you so bad."

I smile before leaning up and press my lips gently against his. "You look handsome too."

"Thank you", he kisses the tip of my nose. "Let's go now. I don't want us to be late."

He opens the passenger door for me and once he is in as well, he starts driving. No matter how much I keep asking where we are going, he doesn't disclose anything.

"Come on", I pout. "Tell me. Pretty please."

"We are almost there", he laughs and holds my hand. "Be a little patient."

We pass by a high skyscraper and he enters in an underground parking and I gape at it when I realize that it is the most famous and expensive restaurant in the city. He gives the valet his keys after helping me out of the car.

We walk in, and he makes sure to keep his arm possesively around me when I see people watching us, especially men. We get in the elevator, ushered by the manager.

"I'll meet you there Sir", the manager says to Stefan, before the elevator closes.

"Where are we going?", I ask, puzzle when he presses for the last floor.

"We are almost there", he gives my waist a reassuring squeeze with a knee weakening smile.

The elevator open and Stefan opens a door and leads me inside. My jaw drops open when I see the decorations. Stefan's eyes remain on me the whole time.

"Is this floor only for us?", I question, gazing around, astound by the beauty of the room.

"Only for us", he confirms with a beautiful smile. "You like it?"

"I love it", I gush out happily. "It's so beautiful."

There's lanterns and lights everywhere and in the center, lies a beautifully decorated table. He guides me towards the table and pulls out a chair for me. Once, I sit down, he takes a seat opposite me and gives me a rose.

"Thank you", I take it and smell it. "I love everything here. Thank you so much for the surprise."

"This is not your surprise yet", he grins.

"There's more?", I ask with wide eyes and he nods, amuse.

"What is it?", I probe further.

"You'll have to wait sweetheart", he winks.

He pours champagne for us and offers me a glass. Our dinner date goes really well. We order a lot of food and he makes sure that I get my favorite desserts as well. We talk about everything. He tells me about this modeling experience, how his childhood was and about his younger days. We get to know each other even further on a more deeper level.

"Will you dance with me?", he asks after we are done eating.

"I would love to dance with you", I clasp his hand and get up.

'All of me' by John Legend starts playing and he places my hand on his shoulder while he holds my waist. I lean completely on him while we sway to the rhythm on the song.

"Did I mentioned how captivating and beguiling you look this evening?", he asks, his lips near my ears.

"You did", I smile and leaning my chin on chest, I look up at him. "Your eyes told me a thousand times."

"I can't take them off you", he confesses, still looking at me with awe and adoration. "You look so beautiful and you are all mine."

"All yours", I smile and hook my arms around his neck. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything baby"

"Why you never told me that you recognized me from the start?", I ask slowly.

"Because I liked how carefree you were around me. You would spoke whatever was on your mind. I felt that if you knew that I remembered you, you'd never feel at ease with me because you don't want people to know the old you."

"I don't"

"I adore the old you so much", his gaze takes a slight far away distant look as if recalling the old me. "You would always walked around with Leo. He was so skinny at that time and as always so loud. But you stood out from everyone there. I still remember the first time, I saw you. My heart had literally skipped a beat but I was an ignorant asshole who ignored it."

"You were", I agree with him with a laugh.

"The first time, I had saw you, Leo was arguing with you to take new pictures for some kind of ID, I think and you were refusing. Then, when you looked at me, I couldn't move my eyes for a few seconds. You were so cute and your cheeks were so full. I had almost an urge to poke them."

"You always ignored me", I point out with a pout. "I don't believe you."

"That's because you would always be so flustered every time you saw me or whenever I approached you. I thought I made you uncomfortable because you were always quiet."

"That's because I had a little crush on you", I voice out loud. "You would looked at me so intensely and I was kinda awkward."

"You liked me?", he stops dancing as if he just got the biggest shock in his life. His eyes are wide as he stares at me.

"Yeah", I finally admit, despite arguing about this with Leo for years. I hope he nevers know that I have finally admit it otherwise I will never hear the end of it.

"God Jess", he almost looks mad at himself. "If only I knew you liked me as well, I would not have waste time to be with you."

"I don't think you would have like the old me that much", I state slowly, recalling my old self. "You called me ugly yourself, remember?"

"I lied", he declares with a guilty sigh. "Last time, I just started lying to make Cara believed me and for you to believe me as well so that instead of feeling pain, you'd be angry to hate me in that moment."

"What do you mean you lied?", I probe. "When I came in the room with the drinks, one of your friends did said that you found me ugly."

"I didn't", he denies and frowns a little bit. "Kyle, the guy who said that I found you ugly had a crush on you but he knew we'd often watched each other on sets so that's why just so you stop looking at me, he said the word ugly. That bastard!"

"Why did you said then?", I demand, ignoring the fact that he just told me his friend had a crush on me as well.

"I told him that you were the cutest chipmunk I had ever seen", he says proudly with a grin.

"That's not funny Stefan!", I smack his chest. "How could you called me a chipmunk?"

"A cute chipmunk", he laughs and leaning down, he bites my cheek gently. "I used to love your cheeks baby. Whenever, I used to see you walking around, I wanted to just squish your cheeks. And when you would smiled at something, your whole face would lit up. God, you were so cute."

He tries to squish my cheeks but fails causing me to laugh out loud. "I miss them."

"Too bad", I mock him. "I'm never having chubby cheeks again. I hated it."

"I wasted all these times without you", he utters. "I'm so mad with myself right now. If only I knew you'd liked me as well, I wouldn't waste any time to be with you."

"It's okay", I console him. "Maybe God had everything planned for us this way. Liam was the one who was going to bring us back together."

"Liam could have been ours. I wish I told you two years ago", he mumbles and maybe he is right. Liam could have been mine and his but the old Jess would not have been ready to be with him.

"He is still ours", I point out gently when I realize that he is still beating himself up for not confessing to me. "And Stefan maybe the younger me would not have been ready to be with you. You were a womaniser and I would always be so insecure. I would not feel confident enough to be with you and your friends were the greatest bully ever. No offence, but I hated them."

"Yet some of them liked you", he almost sulks. "And you would often smiled at them but not even once you smiled at me."

"That's because I was always nervous around you and I know you knew it because I would often catch you smirking", I grumble.

"I liked that I was the only who had that effect on you", he smirks arrogantly. "

"I don't even believed that some of them liked me", I add further and look away. "Most of them were so mean."

"You were so oblivious to your surrounding baby", he explains and tilts my chin gently to look at me. "You are so beautiful yet you are not even aware of the beauty you possess. Just like back on sets, you had the power to get anyone with only a look and a smile. You just didn't knew it."

Now thinking about it, I do remember some of the guys would always be smiling at me and would sometimes flirt with me. But I just thought that they are being nice just to make fun of me. Was I really that dense? Maybe when you don't love yourself, you won't realize someone's attraction for you because it will seem impossible.

"Jess", Stefan utters my name in a serious tone suddenly. "How do you feel now that you are with me? You told me the younger you would not be comfortable to be with me. What about now?"

"You should be lucky that you have me Stefan", I claim in a teasing way. "Because now I feel like I can get anyone I want to. Yet, I chose to be with you."

"An ego boost. I like it", he chuckles and his gaze softens as we stop dancing and he holds my face in his palms.

"I am really lucky to have you with me", his voice turns huskier as he leans down and presses his forehead against mine. "You can't understand how happy I am to have found you back. I only had your picture at first and now, I have you in person. I feel the luckiest man alive."

"Where did you even get my picture?", I finally ask him.

"I found it on the floor when you were leaving from the studio one day", he says. "And I liked it so I didn't want to return it back. You looked so cute and it made me want to just keep it."

"I love you", I kiss him and envelop him in a tight hug. "I have never feel this happy Stefan. I feel like I can burst with happiness at any moment."

"You deserve it", he claims and tightens his arms around me. "You make me so happy as well darling. I just can't imagine living life without you."

"Yet you took the risk of letting me live one without you", my voice cracks when I recalled him getting shot. "You took the bullet which was meant for me."

"I would lay my life happily for you Jess", he affirms in a strong and steady voice but his eyes get glossy as he continues. "I will give up everything for you, even my soul if that means you are safe. That's how much power and control you have on my heart and mind. I will happily take any pain meant for you on me."

"You are whipped", I say while smiling to stop my tears but it's too late. I am both crying and smiling. "And I love you too. So freaking much."

Stefan kisses me to silence my cries. I close my arms around him and cling on him. Heat rises from my stomach to my chest and my heart pounds quickly as his soft lips move against mine. His hands explore my back. He presses my body more closer to him when my lips part for him. My whole body tingles as he claims my mouth again and again, hungrily and intensely until my knees almost give up on me.

"I have one more surprise for you", he rasps against the corner of my lips while we catch our breath together.

"What is it?"

"Come on", he interlinks our hands together and presses a kiss on the back of my hand. "Let's go."

My mind is still reeling from his kisses and I follow him till the elevator. I wonder what his next surprise could be. He has been full of surprises tonight, starting from his revelations that he used to have a crush on me and he wanted to be with me. He never acted on his feelings because in his mind, I was uncomfortable in his presence. If only I knew, we were meant to be together after all.

I wrap my hand around his arm as we walk outside and give him a loving look while we wait for his car. He looks down at me and gives me a smile. The car arrives and we get in.

"Where are we going?", I ask, impatiently.

"Patience my love", his eyes twinkles when he gives me a glance before looking at the road again. "We'll get there soon."

I watch as he switch lanes and start driving in a more secluded area. There's huge and tall tress on both sides of the road and it almost looks like it's a private area. He stops the car suddenly and parks it on the side of the road.

"I need to do this first", he brings out a blindfold from his jacket. "Turn around."

"Why?", I look at him in a weird way.

"Just turn around Jess", he holds my shoulder and tries to turn me around himself.

"Fine", I say and he puts the blindfold over my eyes, capturing me in total darkness. "This is the part where you start acting kinky right?"

"Yeah right", he chuckles and leans his lips closer to my ear. "We are a miles away from everyone. So you can be really loud if you want.

"Haha really funny", I drawl sarcastically but my heart jumps at his words. I feel hot all of a sudden.

He starts driving again and I lean back on the seat. I can fall asleep with the blindfold on.

"Don't sleep", he warns as if reading my mind.

"I am not

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