"Good morning, gorgeous," I heard Jack purr behind me, feeling his hands brush along my stomach and rest on my hips as he hooked his chin over my shoulder, hot breath fanning out over my neck and causing me to shiver slightly. I leaned into the touch as I stared at the pill bottle grasped tightly in my hand, shaking it slightly to discover that it was almost empty.


"Are they helping?" Jack asked, and I nodded, using my free hand to unscrew the cap and pour a pill into my palm.


"I'm just glad that I can feel again," I sighed as I popped the pill in my mouth and swallowed it down with a gulp of water, then pulling away from the younger boy's embrace when I realized I forgot to take food with the pill. "Shit," I muttered, mostly to myself as I inserted two pieces of wheat bread into the toaster and went on a search through the kitchen cupboards for Nutella.


"What's wrong?" Jack asked confusedly, and I just sighed again.


"I just forgot to eat breakfast with this damn pill," I informed him as I peered down into the toaster slots to see if my morning meal was ready. "I wish I could make it through the day without a medication pushing me along."


Jack had a thoughtful look on his face as he searched the refrigerator and eventually came up with a carton of orange juice, wincing slightly at the seemingly overdue expiration date and dumping it down the sink. As he poured us each a glass of non-spoiled milk, I sat on top of the granite counter and munched on my toast, gratefully accepting the glass of milk from my boyfriend and clearing a space for him to sit next to me.


“What if,” he began, stealing my other slice of toast that I planned on offering to him anyway, “we just forget about everything and take a day to ourselves.” Jack offered.


“Don’t we do that all the time?” I clarified, and Jack just shook his head.


“No, not just lazing around and cuddling, I want us to take a day to ourselves to actually go places and do things and see things and have fun. I’m going to make you feel perfect today, Lex. I’m going to make sure of it.”


I smiled at Jack’s plan and agreed to it, finishing my breakfast and laughing as Jack slapped my butt to shoo me upstairs to finish getting ready for our ‘big day’ together. I simultaneously brushed my teeth and straightened my hair in the bathroom, earning a giggle and “you’re so cute,” from the boy when he walked in to get ready himself. I rolled my eyes and sprayed my hair with hairspray, happy that it actually came out the way it was supposed to, for once.


Maybe today would be a good day, after all.


***


Jack seriously has the most random ideas for a fun day. That’s one thing I love about him: how spontaneous and creative he can be. We pulled up in front of a bowling alley around 9 am, the parking lot already dotted with cars occupied by elderly people who appeared to bowl in a league together.


“Not quite what I was expecting,” I confessed, lacing our fingers together as we walked in and received our shoes. “But I know it’s going to be fun!” I reassured.


“Well I remembered that a long time ago you told me that you love going bowling but you never go often enough, so I figured...?” Jack said hesitantly. “We can go somewhere else if you don’t want to-”


“Jack, it’s fine,” I laughed. “I still love bowling.” I told him, picking up a purple bowling ball and yelling “FOR THE RAVENS!” as I launched it down the lane. When all ten of the pins fell down, I jumped in the air, turning around to see Jack in front of me. He picked me up and spun my body around and kissed my face everywhere before taking his place on the lane. “Good job,” he said, picking up an orange ball and attempting to use my method.


“FOR THE ORIOLES!” Jack yelled, throwing the ball and knocking down six of the pins. “I tried,” he shrugged, and the game went on like this for a while.


“That’s not fair, Lex!” Jack defended as we left when we were finished playing. “You’re not allowed to be that good at bowling,” he pouted, crossing his arms like a small child throwing a temper tantrum.


“Sorry, Jacky,” I smiled, clambering into the passenger’s seat of the car and turning to him. “Where to next?” I asked excitedly.


“It’s a surprise,” he informed me. “And speaking of surprises,” he muttered, searching around the backseat until he came up with a red bandana. “Put this on!” he said, and I hesitantly obliged.


“Are you going to murder me?” I asked as I tied the blindfold securely behind my head.


“No,” he replied, and I could imagine him playfully rolling his eyes at me like he always does. “And don’t be impatient, the ride is only going to be able twenty minutes, and then we have to walk for a few minutes.


Patiently, I waited for the ride to be over, attempting to count the turns to figure out where we were going, but I found myself at a loss.


“We’re here,” Jack eventually announced, cutting the engine and unbuckling my seatbelt for me. I heard him open and close his car door, and eventually I heard my door open and Jack gently guided me to my feet. “I would have you just follow my voice, but that might be a little dangerous, so I’m going to stand behind you and guide you...” he said, clutching my right hand and we walked and walked, while I only managed to stumble once, for which Jack apologized a million times.


Eventually, we came to a halt, and I finally had a chance to use my senses to try and figure out where I was. Everything smelt fresh and nature-y, and I could faintly hear the sound of rushing water and birds chirping. Jack had definitely brought me somewhere that was outside.


“Stay right here,” he instructed, and I listened to the sound of his feet padding away over the soft earth and crunching leaves.


“Jack?” I asked, after what seemed like forever of waiting.


“One minute,” he breathed out, sounding distant.


After what felt like a lifetime of standing in the same spot, Jack finally instructed me to take off my blindfold. Carefully, I untied the bandana and slipped it over my hair, blinking and letting my eyes adjust to the bright sunlight surrounding me.


“Jack?” I called, looking around and becoming alarmed over the sudden misplacement of my boyfriend. What if he brought me out here to kill me? There’s the anxiety: taking over my life as usual.


“Look up,” he called, and slowly my eyes scanned over the horizon to see Jack sitting perched in the strong twisted branches of an old oak tree.


“Oh my god,” I breathed out, the memory suddenly coming back to me.


I leaned forward too far out of the tree trying to talk to Jack, and lost my balance on the branch I had percherd myself on, effectively making myself tumble down out of the tree. Hitting a few branches on my way down gave Jack enough time to get under me to catch me, but then when I hit another branch I ended up falling away from where Jack was standing, and I hit the ground with a hard thud.


Jack immediately rushed to my side. "Oh my god, Lex, are you okay?!" he asked frantically. I tested out all of my limbs, and my left arm, where I landed, would not move. That's when I realized how much pain that arm was in. "Jacky, I think I broke my left arm..." Jack looked so terrified, like he didnt know what to do. I reached out my right arm, signaling him to help me stand up.


"Lex, we need to get you to the hospital." he told me. I nodded. "Let's walk back to my house, and my mom can drive us." "Are you sure? My house is closer, my mom can take us and we can call your mom to meet us there?" "Don't worry, Jacky, it's just my arm. I'll be fine."


“So you remember this place?” Jack asked, slowing beginning his descent from near the top of the tree.


“Of course I do,” I smiled. “How could I forget the bright red cast plastered to my arm for weeks?”


Jack laughed as he hopped down from the lowest branch and successfully landing on his feet.


“We can’t all be as graceful as you, Mr. Barakat,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes playfully, causing him to just smirk and shrug at me in response.


“So, is it okay if we hang out here for a little while, then?” he asked, smiling.

“Of course,” I replied, plopping down in the soft grass and patting the space next to me, gesturing for Jack to come and sit next to me. “Cuddle,” I murmured, throwing my arms around the taller boy and falling back into a laying position.


“Yeah sure I guess we can cuddle,” Jack laughed, securing his hold on me as he got as comfortable as you really can when you’re laying in the middle of the woods.

“This might sound really cheesy,” he began, and although I couldn’t see his face in my position, I could just hear that little smirk in his voice. “But there is nowhere else I’d rather be and nobody else I’d rather spend this moment with,” he declared, nuzzling his big nose into my hair and sighing contently.


“Same to you, my hairy lebanese friend,” I replied, laughing. “Same to you.”


~~~


Jack and I spent the entire day laughing and having fun together. It was like we were teenagers again. After going to the park and spending some time there, we went back to my apartment to play some video games and scream at each other, followed soon by walking downtown and finding a cute little cafe to eat lunch and have coffee. The afternoon was spent building a blanket fort and watching movies on Jack’s laptop inside of it, and stealing chaste kisses whenever possible.


“You know I love you, right, Lex?” Jack asked softly as we got ready to call it a night.


“Of course I do, Jack,” I replied, smiling and actually feeling like he meant it for once.


“And you know that I think you’re the most perfect human being on this entire earth?” he confirmed, coming up behind me to wrap his arms around my waist and hook his bony chin over my shoulder.


“Yes, Jack,” I laughed, feeling his warm breath fan out over my cheek and throat, sighing in content.


“I’m not sure you get it,” Jack said, placing light kisses along my jaw at first before he began to bite and suck a little bit.


“Shit, Jack, you’re gonna leave marks,” I warned, and he just chuckled.


“Then you’ll never be able to forget just how much I love you,” he declared, nudging me back until my knees hit the end of the bed.


"Let me prove how much I love you," he requested, hands running over every inch of my chest and abdomen as he straddled my waist, tent starting to pitch in his tight jeans.


"O-okay," I choked out. "It's been far too long," I thought out loud, giving in and letting Jack show me just how much he really seems to love me.


Yes, I think I could get used to the warm feeling in my heart when I decided that I actually believe him for once.

Notes

Wow hey I have returned once again with a slightly longer update than you've been getting lately
And some almost-smut which I didn't feel comfortable writing as I sit here in my study hall
This took me forever to write since I wrote it in little bits and pieces ugh
But I hope you enjoy <3
From this point on, I know exactly where the story is going and how it's going to end, so stick around to see the closing of this series~
Thanks for sticking with me for so long guys wow ily ok

Love,
SaraBethGaskarth<3