Hanging Around [Open]

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity had called Jasper, and they set up a date, in her mind it was anyways. She was dressed in dark faded jeans, and a black corset top, laced at the bottom, and a cute silk bow under her breasts some. On her feet, she wore black two inch heels, that had many slits on the side. It was how it was supposed to be. On her left wrist she wore a three black bead bracelets, and on her right wrist she wore a black metal bracelet that went from her wrist, up her arm six inches. She wore matching earrings, and a dark colored necklace also.

Walking over to a table, she sat down, waiting patiently. Usually she was a really impatient person. She never liked waiting, and usually was a bitch about it. But it was her who decided to come early. She really wanted to see Emma again, and even more, Jasper. She was falling for him, hard. She loved how he looked, and spoke, and even walked.

Laying her head on the cold table, she closed her dark eyes, which had a sparkly black eyeshadow on her lids, her eyeliner wasn't sparkly though. She sat back up, looking through her purse for her phone. She found it and texted Jasper. "Hey. What are you doing?" she pressed send, and waited for a reply. Her heart was pounding, nervous, yet excited.

Running her hands through her black hair she sighed softly. She straightened it, before she left home. She usually never straightened her hair, she wasn't sure how it'd look. Surely Jasper would notice though. She wouldn't care if he didn't, to be honest. She looked at the time, 10:30. Gladly, there was no school today.

[Jasper Devine]

clothing: jasper / emma

Like most people, Jasper Devine wasn’t exactly a fan of waking up early. In fact, he was so against it that when he was a teenager he swore he’d never got a job that would require him to get out of bed at the crack of dawn, simply because his internal clock was broken beyond repair. Apparently, though, this promise became void once he accepted a job as a teacher. One would think he’d make a conscious effort to actually get to get a little earlier than usual, and maybe shoot for nine or ten in the evening rather than his usual one or two in the morning. But, unfortunately, it was no use. Hard as Jasper may try, he always found himself tossing and turning, wide awake in bed for hours, until he finally fell asleep around midnight or later. So, if that strategy was out of the question, why bother? Instead of just lying there watching the seconds tick by and his mind race, he decided to take those few hours and do something productive. It gave him more time to get work done, to catch up on some reading, or writing, which was much more beneficial than just doing nothing. At the same time, though, it was quite a tiring habit, one that often caused his mornings to feel very bitter and unsatisfying. In fact, if it wasn’t for the coffee he drank every morning, Jasper had great potential to snap one day and just start biting people’s heads off… well, so to speak.

However, today was a little different. He wasn’t getting up early for just any reason, like work or school. Today, Jasper had to wake up and get ready to meet Serenity at the nearby café for brunch. Over the past few days, their little date was the only thing he could think about, and now that it was finally here, he couldn’t help but feel a mixture of excitement and anxiety for what was to come, especially considering all that had already happened between the two. Things could only get better from here, though, right? After all, they wouldn’t have to worry about any principal’s showing up with more intentions of seduction, or jumping out windows or anything of the sort today – right? Jasper hesitated, the thought stirring a little bit of fear in his heart. Well… knock on wood.

Plus, today was going to be different in that it wouldn’t be just the two of them. His daughter, Emelia, was also going to be joining them, which was kind of a change from the normal routine. It felt kind of funny, bringing her along on a date, especially the first one – it probably felt even worse for her, though she didn’t show it – but Serenity wanted to meet her, to get to know her a little more. Therefore, Jasper had to let the little girl tag along. Hopefully the two of them would hit it off. He didn’t see a reason that they wouldn’t, but then again, Emma could be kind of fickle sometimes, and this was this first girl he had an interest in since Juliet left. So, this would either go down as the most awkward date in history, or things might actually go well. Needless to say, Jasper prayed for the latter of the two.

After getting beaten senseless with one of Emma’s little princess pillows, he finally rolled out of bed and stumbled into the shower, while his daughter “prepared breakfast” by spilling half the box of cereal all over the place and the vast majority of milk onto the floor, instead of in the bowl she was aiming for. There was yet another reason Jasper disliked mornings: he was always in a rush, and things were almost always a complete and total mess, both literally and figuratively. Luckily, though, today, things went a little smoother than usual, because for once, his hair, his makeup, and his daughter all decided to (for the most part) cooperate with him. He threw on a nice fairly thin yet tight light brown sweatshirt – at least, it looked nice on him; whether it was appropriate for a date remained to be seen – along with a pair of tight, black jeans, and his tall, red, Doc Marten boots that just magically matched any outfit Jasper chose to wear. Emma picked out her own outfit today, made up of a multi-colored, short-sleeved shirt with forest animals on it, blue and black horizontally stripped pants, and finished with blue slip-on flats. Though both decided to dress fairly casual, they looked fairly nice for just throwing some things together.

Just as Jasper began to head out the door, shooing little Emma ahead of him, he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and quickly pulled it out. What are you doing? A text message from Serenity read. Both panic and confusion struck him like lightning as he quickly checked the time. What was she talking about? It was only ten thirty – he still had a half-hour before he had to be there, right? Jasper paused, leaning his shoulder on the door as he replied, ‘I thought we agreed on eleven?’ Though he was planning on waiting around for her response, Emma tugged on his hand, entreating him to get moving. So, he simply pushed his cell phone back into his pocket and retreated down the long corridors and stairwells of his apartment building, hoping to God she wasn’t pissed at him already. Well, wouldn’t that be a great way to start off.

It didn’t take them long to reach their destination, the corner café, where Jasper often stopped for coffee in the morning before school. However, they were still a little delayed, for the two of them started bickering over whether or not the clock in Jasper’s car was right or not, and once he realized it wasn’t, he just had to correct it right then and there. Once he finished with his little compulsion, Jasper took Emma’s hand as the walked across the parking lot, his stride a bit hurried due to his trembling nerves. However, they got inside, and the little girl immediately broke away from her father, skipping away toward the table where Serenity was sitting. “Hi Serenity,” She greeted sweetly, taking a seat across from her, a smile over her face. Needless to say, Jasper wasn’t all too pleased by this. He tried to grab her, to hold her back, but unfortunately, he missed, leaving the poor man to walk by himself to meet his new friend. “And I thought I was early,” He joked, cracking a smile as he sat down next to Serenity, gently kissing her on the cheek. "You weren't waiting around long, were you?"

[Serenity Lane]

Feeling her phone viberate back she sighed, "I didn't mean it that way. I know we chose eleven. I just wanted to know what you were up to. Kinda bored. =D" she sent back, setting her phone down.

Looking up, she saw Emma. "Hey!" she smiled at the girl, watching her sit infront of her. She then looked up, to see Jasper. She smiled as he kissed her cheek. "I didn't know what to do for another thirty minutes." she giggled, embarassed. "Why are you here so early?" she teased lightly, poking his side lightly. "No. I got here a few minutes ago." she said, looking up into his eyes. She then looked to Emma. She was so cute. "How're you two?" she asked, looking from Emma, to Jasper. She wanted to kiss him, his lips, but she held herself back.

[Jasper Devine]

Jasper couldn’t help but flinch as Serenity prodded his side. Like a reflex, he immediately shooed her hand away and laughed playfully, her touch inducing chills down his spine. It was a less than masculine way to react, but it wasn’t his fault he was a little ticklish. “Because I didn’t want to be late.” He managed to choke out as his laughter subsided. His cheeks flushed a light pink as he looked around the room, fearful he had drawn attention to himself with his sudden outburst. Great. It wasn’t even five minutes into their date and already he was making an ass out of himself. He quickly tried to pull himself together, suppressing a smirk by pretending the situation had never happened. That was another problem Jasper had: once he started laughing, he had a hard time stopping. This wouldn’t be an issue, if he was actually mature enough to know when not to laugh. Instead, he found humor in everything, and had to show it externally. For example, if a waitress or waiter was to fall and break some glasses or plates, he might have a hard time holding back laughter. He’d be concerned, too, of course, but at the same time it would be kind of funny. It was a mean and extremely childish way to look at things, but Jasper couldn’t help it – he swore he had some kind of disorder, but considering all the other diseases he diagnosed himself with over the years, no one took him seriously.

He gave a small nod, lifting his head to look toward Serenity once again. Well, that was a plus; at least she wasn’t waiting around long for him to get there. Boy, would he have felt bad if she was. Jasper was pretty good at being on time, though… usually, anyway. There were days that he was guilty of losing track of the clock, but that didn’t bother him too much since everybody had that problem once in a while. Once again, Jasper reached up his hand to fix his hair, pulling down the hood of his sweatshirt in the process. “Pretty good, thanks.” A small smile crossed his lips, “What about you?” He asked in response, suddenly recalling the situation that had occurred the previous night. His face went slightly pale at the thought. Great. Of course the only evening in his life that he was trying to forget (maybe not the only one) just had to pop back into his head, at the most inopportune time, too. He sighed quietly, resting his chin in his palm as he waited to hear Serenity’s voice, hoping her response would help to distract him from such a dismal memory.

The little girl at the other side of the table watched the two adults curiously, for once not saying a word. Normally, Emma was awfully talkative – in fact, it was hard to keep her quiet – but today was a little different. Though she acted polite for her father’s sake, Emma was still a little uncertain about what to think of Serenity. She was a nice girl, kind, and loving – or so she seemed. Jasper gave her constant assurance that this new lady wouldn’t be a replacement for her mother, and yet here he was, kissing and chatting with her the same way he did Juliet. Honestly, though, she was a little more worried for her father’s welfare than gaining a new parent. What if this ended the same way it did the last time? Jasper was so shaken up by her mother’s leave that Emma wasn’t so sure he would be able to handle another devastating break-up. He seemed happy, though, like he trusted Serenity. Maybe there wasn’t anything to worry about – maybe things would be fine between them. And then again… her father had taken a cigarette for the first time in weeks, something he only did in times of extremity, after he got back from meeting her, which made Emma question whether or not their relationship was really starting off on the right foot. So, she wasn’t quite sure what to think.

After pushing some of her long, blonde hair over her shoulder, the six-year-old reached over the table and grabbed the four-pack of crayons that were lying in the middle, deciding to color on the back of the paper placemat while her father and Serenity talked to each other. Maybe if she actually did something semi-productive it would take her mind off of the mess her father could potentially be walking into.

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity giggled softy, looking up at him. "Hmm. Ticklish?" she teased, watching him. "Oh. Well we both had alot of time." she blushed, looking down some. She put her arms around him, in a hug.

"Good." she replied, looking at him remove his hood. "You're hair is so cute." she said, her eyes looking to his. "And your eyes." she said, looking down shyly. She needed to stop her blabing.

She looked rom his pale face, to Emma, her arms moving away from Jasper. She blushed even more. "Maybe we should...stop all the kissing infront of her." she suggested. She looked to Emma, "So... Emma. How're you doing?" she asked, smiling some. She did want kids, but then again, she didn't want to go through the whole being fat thing. But if she had to, she would. But with Jasper, she had Emma too. If her and Jasper would even ever get that far.

[Jasper Devine]

Jasper shifted in his seat, looking down in embarrassment. “Maybe a little,” He mumbled. Maybe that was a bad thing to reveal, since now she had the power to use it against him. She could make him squeal like a chick at any given moment just by touching him in the right spot, which had the potential to be both a blessing and a curse. With any luck, Serenity would be kind enough to keep such a secret to herself, rather than using it to torture and/or humiliate him whenever they were in public. She didn’t seem like that kind of person, but then again, he really only knew her for two days.

He almost jumped again at the feeling of Serenity’s arms around his waist, paranoid over the idea of her tickling him again. However, he calmed down immediately to find she was simply giving him a hug. A smile crossed his face, returning the gesture by wrapping his arms around her. The little compliments she gave made him both blush and laugh, feeling somewhat unworthy of such comments. “Thank you,” Jasper responded quietly, running his fingers through her hair, “So is yours. It looks nice.” He made eye contact with her and held it for a moment, hesitating before he finally gave in. Just after he rested his hands on her cheeks, he leaned in and kissed her, unable to resist any longer. “And your lips,” He mumbled under his breath, just loud enough so Serenity could here. It was kind of cheesy – actually, it was very cheesy, but Jasper couldn’t help himself. At least, until she reminded him Emma was still sitting just across the table, prompting him to let her go. Whoops. He pulled away from Serenity completely, looking away, as if breaking eye contact would be enough to remove the urge to kiss her. Thus was another good reason to leave his daughter at home. Not that Jasper didn’t want to spend time with Emma – in fact, there was nothing he enjoyed more – but on a first date, her prescence just kind of made things awkward for everyone.

“Daddy, what’s the boy word for ‘slut’?” The blonde interjected, looking up from her coloring just in time to see her father break away from Serenity. Jasper’s head snapped immediately over to his daughter, eyes wide with embarrassment. Awkward. His jaw dropped and his lips quivered, searching for the right way to reply. “E-Emma!” He finally called out, disapproval in his whine. Emma simply laughed, shrugging her shoulders, clearly not phased by her father’s scolding, “I was just asking!” She cried back, a smile over her face before she went back to her coloring. Honestly, though, Jasper wasn’t quite sure why he was so surprised; when it came to personality, his daughter took after him in many ways, one of which being his manner of speaking. His language could be quite colorful sometimes, so it was no wonder Emma had began to pick up on some of it. Not that he was happy about it, of course, it just wasn’t as shocking as it probably should’ve been.

Again, Emma looked up from her artwork, eager to answer Serenity’s question in full. “I’m good. Daddy got me ice cream ‘cause I got mad at him and the teacher gave me a gold star for my drawing.” As she was talking, Jasper buried his face in his hands, sighing with worry. This had the potential to go downhill faster than he anticipated. What if Serenity didn’t think such talk was cute, but instead was offended by it? Or worse, what if he said something that offended her? He had done it before without meaning to, so it was quite possible he’d end up doing it again. Though he tried to remain calm, panic suddenly struck him. His head lifted slightly in search for their waiter or waitress, suddenly feeling the need for some water, or something to just keep his mind relaxed. Maybe if he could just stay cool and composed for the next few hours, he might be able to get through this without completely screwing things up… hopefully. “We hung it up on the fridge.” Jasper added as he leaned back in his chair, finally jumping back into the conversation after his moment of worry.

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity giggled, "Now I have something against you." she teased, though she wouldn't tickle him unless he would let her. Her arms stayed around him, and giggled softly. "Thank you too." she said, smiling widely. After staring into her eyes, they closed as his lips went to hers. "Mmm. I love your lips too." she whispered soflty to him, her nails gently moving down his back. After her had moved away, and looked off, she did the same, embarassed.

A laugh escaped her lips as the blonde child spoke. She looked to Jasper, "What have you been teaching her?" she joked. She watched the girl go to her coloring again, then looked to the male beside her.

As the girl spoke, she looked back to her. "Well your drawing is amazing." she smiled, looking down at her. "Very pretty." she said. She looked to Jasper, who has his face burried into his hands. She frowned some, was he embarassed of his own daughter? Her hand went to his back gently, rubbing slightly. "Jasper...what's wrong?" she whispered. She watched him look around, wondering what was going on. She smiled again, "That's cute." she said to him, looking into his eyes.

[Jasper Devine]

A shiver of nervousness ran down Jasper’s spine at her little joke, managing a small yet fearful smile crossing his face. It sounded like she was just messing around, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever follow through with her new-found advantage over him. However, after a few minutes passed, and Serenity’s lips were against his, all worry scattered like a puff of smoke. The feeling of her nails digging through his clothes to his skin was sensational, sparking pleasure throughout his entire body. Unfortunately, though, it didn’t last long, for he was quickly reminded that Emma was sitting just across from them. Of course, this small yet significant fact halted any and all physical interaction between the two of them for the remainder of their time together, keeping them from doing anything that might make his child uncomfortable. Jasper probably wouldn’t admit it out loud, but honestly, he was kind of disappointed. But, anything to make his little angel happy, right?

Since Jasper was still in shock over Emma’s blatantly open question, she decided to answer for him, taking advantage of the opportunity to embarrass him, “Aunt Stephie says that daddy has quite a mouth on him.” Needless to say, her father was less than pleased by this statement, and was quick to defend himself by playfully snapping back, “I do not!” Though it was clearly meant to sound a little menacing, Emma simply laughed, clearly not very bothered by her father’s “threatening words.” In fact, she was rather amused by his suddenly high-pitched and defensive statement… if it could even be called such a thing, considering it was barely three words.

The little girl’s head tuned to look at Serenity as she complimented her drawing, pride instigating her to sit up a little straighter, “Thank you.” Emma said sweetly, an adorable smile over her face. However, it disappeared after her had turned to look at Jasper. She froze for a moment as she watched Serenity and her father, also taking notice of his discomfort. However, Jasper quickly looked up at the feeling of her hand on his back, drawing a deep breath before he lied, “Nothing. I’m fine.” A smile crossed his face as his eyes jumped from Serenity to Emelia, trying to come up with something to shift the attention away from him. “She made a poster for some contest the fire department had over the summer --” However, before Jasper could finish his little reminiscence, Emma interrupted him, taking the initiative to finish, “I came in first place.”

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity looked up at him, watching his fearful smile. She frowned slightly. "I wouldn't use anything against you." she said. She looked from his daughter, to him once more. "Do you now?" she giggled softly.

After asking Jasper what was wrong, she sighed lightly. "Obviously something it wrong." she whispered lightly. She smiled as he spoke again, trying to change the subject. "I suck...at coloring. And drawing." she laughed. "You're a talented girl, Emma." she said, raising an eyebrow slightly.

She did like Emma, but at the same time, she kind of wanted to be alone. Maybe their next date, it'd just be her, and Jasper. Eyes trailing back to Jasper's perfect face, she couldn't help but smile. Simply looking at him made her smile, and his voice. And, his touch. She knew she was falling for him, she was allowing herself to.

[Jasper Devine]

There was a small sigh of relief emitted from Jasper’s mouth, his eyes fixed on the table. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about Serenity reaching over and prodding his stomach if he said something that she didn’t approve of… hopefully, anyway. Luckily, though, Emma’s little comment distracted him from dwelling on the subject further, drawing his attention away from such a silly fear. His jaw dropped as if to say something, though, strangely, no words came out. He hesitated, and instead, drew a deep breath, his eyes narrowing slightly. Jasper didn’t like to admit it, but considering he came seconds away from responding with, ‘fuck no,’ maybe she was right. “… maybe a little.” He mumbled reluctantly, a small smile crossing his face as he listened to the two girl’s laugh. Well, at least they were having some sort of fun.

After another short pause, Jasper shook his head, his gaze still aimed downward rather than up at Serenity. "No," He responded quietly, finally working up the courage to at least look at her. His shoulders shrugged nonchalantly, "It's nothing, really. Don't worry about it." Jasper managed a small, somewhat reassuring smile and gently draped his arm over her shoulders. Lying wasn't exactly his strong point, but he didn't have much of a choice; after all, it was kind of hard to express how badly you want to be alone with someone while your daughter is sitting less than three feet away.

"Thank you," The little girl cut in sweetly, her voice slicing through Jasper's thoughts. He felt like an asshole for thinking such a thing, for wanting his daughter gone, but he couldn't help it. Of course, it wasn't because he didn't love Emma, or because he didn't want to spend time with her -- quite the contrary, for Jasper cared about her more than his own life, and loved nothing more than being with her, but -- he sighed again, his stomach sinking with guilt. It was just that in this scenario, he wanted to focus on Serenity, on getting to know her, and unfortunately, that was hampered by the fact that every five seconds he needed to look over and make sure that Emma was entertained and happy.

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity giggled a little more, then put her arms around him. "You seem to be easy to laugh at. But at least you aren't dull, and serious 24/7." she said, looking into his eyes for a moment.

She let it go, and nodded, allowing his arm to drape over her. "Okay, but... you're telling me, sooner or later. Since I told you I liked you earlier." she whispered into his ear lightly, kissing his neck two or three times before stopping.

She looked back to the girl, staring at her drawing. It was cute, surely better than Serenity ever could do. She looked to Jasper, he looked someone upset, and guity. She sighed softly, "Tell...me what's wrong..." she whispered to him softly. She knew Emma wouldn't be happy if he was upset. She kept her arms lightly around him, waiting for a reply.

[Jasper Devine]

Jasper’s brow ruffled in confusion, tilting his head to the side as she spoke. Well, it was nice to know he was amusing to someone… sort of. Though being laughed at wasn’t really the nicest feeling, he doubted that Serenity meant her statement to sound so offensive. She probably was referring to something he said, or did. After all, she was giving him a hug; what kind of person would so openly mock someone else and then proceed to hug them? It seemed a little backwards. “Thank… you…? I think?” Jasper stuttered hesitantly, an uncertain laughter rolling off of his lips.

Before he could let any more worry set in about what exactly she meant in her comment, he felt her breath against his skin, and soon her lips, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine. But, as nice as it was, Jasper was certain it would feel twenty times better if he didn’t have to worry about his daughter, who was most-likely bothered by how physical their relationship was. “Yeah, o-of course.” He complied quickly, nodding a few times. Apparently, Jasper didn’t have much of a backbone if he’d give in to someone at the drop of a hat like that. Talk about being easily persuaded, since all it really took was some sort of sex appeal and/or threat to get him to switch up his game.

“We just got finished discussing this.” He shot back quickly, glancing from Emma to Serenity. Why did she have to keep bringing this up now, after they just planned to talk about it later? A sigh rolled off of his lips as he watched his daughter draw, admiring her cute little display of a field with a rainbow and what not. It was fairly good for a six-year-old, he had to admit. However, his eyes shot downward at the feeling of a vibration in his pocket, realizing he had forgotten to turn his phone off. Whoops. Well, it could’ve been much worse, though – a least he remembered to turn off the sound. He pulled it out of his pocket, skimming through his mixed text messages, one in particular catching his eye. It was from Juliet, Emma’s mother, reminding him that she was planning to take Emma to the mall later that day. For the first time in years, Jasper was actually excited to hear from his ex-girlfriend. Thank God. It was like a blessing, like someone was actually smiling down on him today or something, because now he’d finally have the chance to spend some time with Serenity – alone.

After turning his phone off, Jasper looked up again, a slight smile on his face as he spoke. “Your mom just said she’s going to pick you up later this afternoon to go to the mall, Em.” He reiterated, leaning back in the booth. Considering all the negative connotations of the phrase ‘your mom’, it kind of sounded like some sort of bad joke. But, he felt bad referring to Juliet by her name around Emma; it made things feel less personal, less family-oriented. And though Juliet definitely wasn’t the best of moms, she had been making some sort of an effort to spend time with Emma lately, so… that had to count for something.

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity smiled, kissing his cheek once more. Sighing softly, she nodded. "Yeah. I don't mean it in a mean way. Just messing with you." she said.

She looked at him and smiled again, looking away. Her smile turned to a frown, and she moved away from him. She was worried about him. Was it so bad? She looked at him, then to the ground for a moment, thinking. "I think I'm gonna go. I need to go fix my hours for work anyways." she said, moving from her chair.

As she grabbed her bag, she heard Emma was going to go to the mall. She ignored it, glancing to Emma. "Bye Emma. Maybe I'll see you later." she forced a smile, and her eyes dropped to Jasper's. She sighed lightly, walking off to go find her car. Maybe this was all just a bad idea, trying to have a relationship with someone again. She ignored the thoughts, and made it to her car.

[Jasper Devine]

A smile crossed his face as she kissed him, his heart melting at the feeling of her lips against his skin. Well, that was kind of a relief. At least she really didn’t think he was funny-looking; Jasper might’ve developed some sort of complex if she did, considering how much time he spent on his appearance every morning. But, unfortunately, this content feeling didn’t last long, for again, he did, or said something to upset Serenity. His head turned to look at her quickly once she pulled away, a puzzled look over his face. What did he do wrong this time? “B-But, Serenity, relax, Jesus, we just –“ However, before Jasper could even finish is sentence, Serenity was up and out the door, leaving him feeling both bewildered and remorseful.

His jaw dropped as he watched her walk out, dumb-founded by her sudden departure. Had he really just messed everything up? Again? If he could barely keep her happy for less than an hour, maybe this relationship really wasn’t going to be worth it. It was only their second encounter, and already things were falling apart. “Looks like you blew it, daddy.” A little voice squeaked from across the table, grabbing Jasper’s attention. Emma was looking at him, her eyes showing a disapproval for his actions that was quite beyond her years. Her father sighed in annoyance, finding a sudden determination to prove his little girl wrong. “Wait here.” He instructed as he pulled himself up out of the seat, running to chase after Serenity.

He called her name once or twice before he finally caught up to her, grabbing her wrist in order to try and hold her back. “Come on, Serenity, please don’t do this.” Jasper begged, earnestly. Another sigh rolled off of his lips as he hung his head, aware that he had quite a lot of explaining to do if he wanted to keep Serenity with him. But, as most people who knew him were well aware, Jasper wasn’t exactly the best at articulating how he felt into clear, coherent sentences. So, as was expected, his reasons came out sounding jumbled and incoherent. “Listen, Serenity, I – I mean, I just wish that… it could’ve just been me and you today, you know? Please, don’t get me wrong, I love Emma – I mean, I love my daughter more than anything, but… on a date like this – on a first date like this – I just, I don’t think it was right for her to tag along… a-and I felt bad for thinking it, because there’s nothing I like more than spending time with Emma, but… I just think that until we figure out where we’re going with this, it should just be the two of us…” He hesitated, tilting his head to the side, hoping that she was able to make sense of his wordy and disjointed phrases. “… you know?”

[Serenity Lane]

Serenity heard her name, and sighed, only feeling his hand grab onto her wrist. She turned, looking up at him. Pulling her wrist away lightly, she listened to him beg. Her eyes looked over him, at his hung head. She listened to his explanation, and nodded slightly. "Well...next time it can, Jasper. Don't think our date was ruined because of Emma..." she said, looking over his eyes, which weren't looking at her. She felt like crying, for leaving like that. He didn't deserve it.

She put her arms around him, sighing lightly. "I understand though.... Jasper. I really do." she said, kissing his forehead lightly. Her hand went to his lightly, and she kept herself close to him. She glanced around, "Where is Emma?" she asked, a bit worried now.