~Althia~

There was a knock at Jessica's bedroom door as we sat in front of her full length mirror doing our makeup

"Come in" Jessica said

Seconds later, her dad's head popped in the room to greet us

"You two look lovely" He complimented us

We both thanked him as he took a seat on Jessica's bed and watched us as we continued our makeup

"Dad before you ask, I have no clue where I'm going and what we're doing or when I'm getting home" Jess looked at her dad through the mirror

"Oh no, I'm not worried about that" He told her "Jeff called me yesterday and told me his whole plan" He added

"Wait, does that mean you can tell us what we're doing?" I asked him as I turned around

"Althia, you know I can't do that" Mr Davis answered me

I let out a sigh as I turned back around to face the mirror to start applying some lipstick

"Can you at least tell us why he's doing this?" Jessica asked her father

"Something about catching up on the tea, whatever that means" He answered

His response caused us to laugh as he wondered why

"Well you two should finish up, Jeff is gonna be here in a couple of minutes" Mr Davis announced as he got up and left the room

Jessica and I finished up our makeup and put on our accessories before taking a couple of pictures. As if right on cue, the doorbell rang.

Jessica and I practically ran down her stairs to her front door where her dad had already opened the door for Jeff

"Whoa" Jeff said when he saw us

Jess and I flashed him a smile while we quickly put our shoes on. We said a quick goodbye to Mr Davis before each taking Jeff's arm to get guided towards the car

"I seriously mean it, you ladies look perfect" Jeff told us

"Thank you Jeffy" We both cheesed at him

Once we got closer to the car, I noticed that it was a nice Rolls Royce Phantom

"Uh, Jeff, what the heck is this?" Jessica asked him once she noticed the same thing as me

"Ladies, I just got out of the hospital for being in a car crash... My car is completely ruined" Jeff reminded us

"So you decided to get a Rolls?" I questioned him "With a driver?" I looked at him as I saw an older man coming out of the driver's side once he saw us to open the back door

"Did you guys really think my mom would let me out on my own and drive a car myself so quickly?" He asked us

"True, I guess we're just dumb and didn't think about anything" Jess replied

We got in the car and for the whole ride, we tried guessing where we were going but Jeff didn't give out any hints and our windows were tinted black

The car ride was long so we knew we were going into the city. After 2 and a half hours of driving, we finally slowed down and the driver got out to open the door for us

I thanked him as he helped me get out of the car before looking at my surroundings

I realized we were at a restaurant when I saw people going in and out of the building, dressed even fancier than us

"The Savory River" Jessica read the sign out loud before turning to Jeff "What the heck are we doing here?" She asked

"Come on" Jeff held out his arms to us

We wrapped ourselves on each of his sides as he led us inside

I looked around as we waited in line

There was ceiling lights everywhere as well as couches and chairs in the waiting area. From what I could see at the seating area, there was a bunch of huge tables covered by white tablecloths with table candles and more lights

"Hi, reservation for Atkins" Jeff greeted the host once it was our turn

He typed in his computer before looking at us once again

"We are finishing your table, Mr Atkins, please take a seat while you wait a few more minutes" He gestured to a couch "You can look through our drink menu as you wait so you can order it right away as you get seated" He added, handing him the menu

We took a seat as Jeff went through the menu not letting us look at it

We were soon escorted to our table that happened to be a more private eating area. Our table decor was the same as the others except we had white flowers on it as well

Jessica and I sat down as we exchanged some looks

"We'll take the Wildhaven Untamed Red Blend to drink please" Jeff ordered

"We'll have that coming right your way, sir" The waiter nodded as he took the menu from his hands

"Jeffy, seriously, what is all of this?" Jessica asked him once the waiter was out of hearing "We don't belong here" She added, making me nod in agreement

"What do you mean we don't belong? You two look better than all of these girls here combined and we're allowed to be here just as much as the rest of them" Jeff said

"Jeff, how did you even get us in here? This is clearly one of the fanciest restaurants in town" I asked him

"More importantly, why did you take us here?" Jess questioned

"Look I just wanted to catch up on everything that I've missed and I felt like you two deserved more than just a movie at someone's house so with the help of my mom, we organized this for yous" Jeff answered

"Thank you" I smiled at him, finally deciding to accept the fancy way he was treating us

Jessica thanked him as well

"You're welcome, now please tell me everything that I've missed and spill the tea" He clasped his hands together and leaned forward on the table, giving us his full attention

Jessica and I exchanged worried looks before I spoke

"Jeffy, there are some things that we can't tell you because it'll bring stress to you and the doctors specifically requested that we don't let any stress get in your way" I started

"Ugh come on, that's such bullshit" Jeff groaned "They wanted me stress free because of my concussion but now she's gone because hi I'm obviously out of the hospital and I highly doubt that supposed stress will hurt my ribs even more than they already are hurting" He added

Jessica opened her mouth to say something but our waiter came back with three glasses and a bottle of wine or champagne

As the waiter started to pour our drinks, I soon realised that it was red wine

Jeff lifted his glass up and tilted it towards the waiter as a way of thanking him before he left the bottle at our table and told us someone would come get our orders soon as he handed us the menus

"Jeff, you ordered us wine?!" Jess looked at him

"Shhh, don't act so surprised" He hushed her "We don't want to get ID'd, now pretend like we always drink wine" He said as he brought the glass up to his nose to smell it, causing Jess and I to snort out a laugh

I shook my head as I picked up my glass

"Swirl it around and then smell it, it's supposed to make the scent better and give your tastebuds an idea of what it's going to taste like" Jeff told Jess and I as he gestured to our glasses and demonstrated how we were supposed to smell our wine

To please him, we did as he said

"You totally googled how to do this, didn't you?" Jess questioned

"Yes but that's not the point" Jeff answered "Tell me that smelling this wine doesn't make you want to taste it" He looked at us

"Well can we now?" I asked

"Of course" He nodded

We each took a sip of our wine and sighed as we swallowed it

"I don't think I'm ever going to drink cheap wine ever again" Jess said as she closed her eyes and took another sip

Jeff glanced at me to see what I thought

"I'm in love with this, it tastes like strawberries and chocolate" I said

"There is a chocolate undertone, I'm pretty sure" Jeff nodded

Before any of us could say anything else a waiter came back to our table to take our orders which made me realize we never once looked at the menus but apparently Jeff had already figured out what we were going to eat

"Hi, we'll take the Jowl de porc fumé avec des cornichons(Smoked Pork Jowl with Pickles), the Escargots de Bourgogne(Snails baked in their shells with parsley butter), the Jambom persillé(Marbled ham with parsley), the Fondue savoyarde(Fondue made with cheese and white wine into which cubes of bread are dipped in) and the Ratatouille(a vegetable stew with olive oil, aubergine, courgette, bell pepper, tomato, onion and garlic) please" Jeff ordered

"We'll have all of that ready for you soon, Monsieur et Madames" The waiter nodded at us before walking away

I sipped the wine some more

"Now can you two please tell me what I missed and I'm not taking no as an answer, I'm deadass serious" Jeff looked at the two of us

We both sighed knowing that he wouldn't stop asking until he got what he wanted

"What do you want to know?" Jessica asked him

"First off, what did the cops ask you when I was unconscious?" He asked

"They took us separately but when Alex and I went in, they wanted to know if you had anything to drink and if something seemed off with you. They asked me if you drink frequently or if you smoked and when I kept telling them no, they kept rephrasing the question like I didn't understand " Jess started

"Monty and I went next and they basically asked us the same thing except with us they asked if you had found out something you weren't supposed to that might have upset you. They started asking that after Mont had grabbed my hand to console me. They then went on by asking if you had a tendency of going on binders. I kept telling them that you promised me you only had those two beers to drink and that you would never drive under the influence" I continued

"I might be a little stupid enough to drink under the influence and drive myself home but I would never get behind the wheel in that state if I offered someone a ride home and I would especially never do that after offering to take you two home" Jeff spoke

"That's exactly what I told them" I whispered as I tried my best not to tear up

I picked up my glass of wine and took another sip

"What happened at school?" He questioned, changing the subject

"Something completely pointless" I rolled my eyes "Bryce wanted to charge some of us for assaulting him" I continued

"Did you?" He asked

"Yes but we had a good reason" I answered

Jeff looked at me, silently asking me to continue but I looked at Jessica who was playing with a napkin

After a moment of silence, Jeff glanced at Jess

"Bryce didn't..." He trailed off

Jess simply nodded

"It's not as bad as you think" She said as Jeff clenched his jaw and fists

"How are you handling it?" He questioned

"I'm alright, Jeffy. My dad made me get another restraining order and I have a month of scheduled sessions with my therapist" She told him

"I'm going to fuck him up" Jeff responded with gritted teeth

"You're not going to fuck anyone up" Jess said as she gave him one of her looks

"Especially not with your ribs and everything" I added

"So you're telling that I can fuck him up after my ribs have healed?" Jeff looked at me

Now it was my turn to give him one of my looks

"Have you talked to Justin?" Jeff asked me, changing the subject, once again

"I've talked to him, but not like talked talked to him" I answered

"That didn't stop you from almost kissing him in the waiting room" Jess teased as she whispered but not low enough to have Jeff not hear it

"You almost kissed Justin while I was laying in my hospital bed?!" Jeff exclaimed, earning glares from the people around us

"Jeffery Atkins" I growled as I kept my head low to avoid making eye contact with anyone who was looking at me

"Shit, that was louder than I wanted it to be" Jeff replied, hiding his face as well

"He was comforting me and then he leaned in but every one came back in the room" I said

"How can you not talk to the person that is basically the main reason why your now ex boyfriend broke up with you but let him lean in for a kiss?" He questioned

"It's more complicated than that" Jessica answered for me

Jeff leaned back in his seat as he realized there was more to the story than he knows

I sighed and started to tell him about what happened at the dance, as well as what happened at that one basketball game, to exactly what Zach told me when he broke up with me and when we danced together at the party.

By the time I finished, our food arrived and we dug in.

Jeff basically forced fed us the dessert he had ordered which was a Crème Caramel Gateau(Caramel Cream Cake).

Once we finished at the restaurant, we went to the garden to take some pictures. Afterwards, we went back to the car and jammed out to music before eventually making our way back to Jess' after thanking Jeff for the wonderful dinner and the driver for taking us there.