Convincing her

"Have you really made up your mind about dating me?" James asked Laura who was abnormally silent while they were walking.

"Mmh" Laura replied.

"Really?" James asked to make sure.

"How many times do you want me to repeat myself? You were like this last night too" Laura complained since James kept asking if she was sure about her decisions.

"I need to make sure you aren't taking this too lightly. I don't date often but I tend to be serious when I do, I want to make sure we're on the same page" James explained.

He was worried that Laura was taking him lightly and was just curious about him and had no intention of seriously dating him. He never did things casually as he found that they were a waste of time since he doesn't benefit much from them.

"Do I look like I'm taking this lightly?" Laura asked as she stopped to look at him. James looked at her and raised his eyebrows as if to ask her if she really wanted him to answer her question.

"Don't answer that," Laura said with a sigh and boldly held on to his arm. "I'm being serious though, I've never been interested in anyone enough to ask them out myself" Laura said as though she was trying to reassure him.

James felt slightly strange when he heard her. Was she trying to coax him or something? James looked at her feeling slightly confused. Laura thought that he did not believe what she was saying so she reassured him even further.

"I've never gone out with anyone before so I'm not taking you lightly at all, okay?" Laura said without any hesitation although her cheeks were slightly reddened from embarrassment.

"You haven't dated anyone before?" James asked incredulously making Laura fee embarrassed.

"Is it a problem?" Laura asked in a challenging manner.

"No, not at all" James said and patted her head making Laura raise her head to look at him.

"What is it? Is it funny?" Laura asked when she saw him smile.

"It's cute" James and brushed his thumb across her cheek.

"How is it cute?" Laura asked with her eyebrows furrowed. James leaned down close to her till their noses touched. Laura's eyes could only widen when he moved close to her.

"To think that you probably haven't done this with anyone else" James said their faces still close to each other, Laura could feel his warm breath against her lips and her heart was beating so fast it threatened to beat it's way out of her body.

Laura looked at his grey eyes and noticed that he had ridiculously long lashes and she almost went cross eyed trying to look at the rest of his face at such a close distance. James chuckled when he saw ho ridiculous she was being and pulled away from her.

"Don't worry, i'll accommodate your pace" James said and draped his arm across her shoulders before pulling Laura closer to his body. Laura was still in a daze so she was just being pulled along on their walk.

*

Jen had a lot of fun with the horses and she even brushed the horse she had ridden. It was a long time since she had gone horse riding so her whole mood had improved after being with the horses.

As they were returning from the stables, Jen texted the girls that she would be leaving with Lucas after lunch.

After lunch, surprisingly Jen left with Lucas alone, she understood Nancy who had decided that she wanted to at least see the horses and Lucas reassured her that Dave can take the girls back a bit later.

They were able to leave immediately because Lucas had told Jen that she could just leave her things in the closet since they would be coming back again at a later date.

Once Lucas parked at his spot, Jen had suddenly become happy. She was happy that she was not around so many people at once and she did not have to constantly worry about her friends now that she was home.

Since Lucas had said that they would get home, then she trusted him to make sure they did.

She placed her finger on the scanner and the elevator doors opened before she went inside with Lucas following closely behind.

"What are you so happy about?" Lucas asked when he noticed that she was smiling like a fool.

"We're finally home" Jen said and turned to look at him with a huge smile.

"It makes you that happy that we are home?" Lucas asked as he pulled her closer to him. Jen hugged his waist and nodded her head against his chest. She was really happy that they had returned.

Lucas stroked her head as they watched the floor numbers change until the elevator eventually stopped on their floor. When the doors slid open the familiar corridor really improved Jen's mood.

She got out of the elevator while pulling Lucas who was trailing behind her with a smile. Jen opened the front door and quickly removed her shoes and wore her slippers.

Lucas took his time as he looked at Jen in fascination as he did not understand why she was so excited. Jen went to turn on the lights in the house and came back for Lucas once more who had just put on his slippers.

"Surprise!" Jen shouted once they were at the living room.

"Eh?" Lucas responded.

"What's with that underwhelming response? Don't you notice a difference?" Jen asked when she realised that Lucas hadn't figured out the surprise she had prepared. Lucas focused on the living room trying to figure out what was different before he finally exclaimed.

"Oh! the carpet!" Lucas said.

"Took you long enough" Jen said while laughing.

"You wanted a carpet?" Lucas asked

"The floor is too hard, I like working on the floor sometimes, I even added the floor cushions and pillows. Tsk tsk, how couldn't you notice?" Jen asked in mock anger before going to the kitchen.

Lucas speechlessly looked at the living room. It was cozier but how is it that she added these things for him? Wasn't she the one who wanted them in the first place?