Charms or Banjos?

Chapter 10

Throughout both Alex and Jessica's car rides, they messaged each other, smiles on both of their faces every time their icon popped up. "Dad, are we stopping for breakfast?" Jessica asked once they reached the two hour mark. "I don't know Jess, we might but there's not many bigger service stations for another hour and a half, then at that point, we're only half an hour away." Her dad replied. "Okay." She said before turning back to her phone. Alex was sending Jessica voice notes whilst she responded with texts due to her brother making fun of her for the smile on her face every time Alex's name popped up. "Where are you going again?" He asked. Jessica replied, telling him she was going to Norfolk as her grandparents had a house there. "No way, we're going there too." Alex told her. Jessica did a little dance of joy when she heard that, and called Paige.

"What's up Jess?" Paige asked once she picked up the phone. "Are you going to Norfolk?" Jessica responded. "Yeah, Alex's dad found this house on Airbnb for us all to go to, why?" Paige replied. "My grandparents have a house there, we always stay there over Christmas. Paige, we can finally see each other over Christmas." Jessica exclaimed. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH, I totally forgot about that. I'm so excited to finally spend the Christmas break with you." Paige said. "I was so prepared to be out of contact with you and Alex over the break but I actually can't wait to see you guys." Jessica told her. "Me too. I've got to go, we're getting breakfast in a minute." Paige said. "Wait, where are you?" Jessica asked. "Oh, we're already here, my dad speeds and he was the navigator so Alex's family is already here too." Paige answered. "Oh, we're about half way there, but hopefully I'll see you soon." Jessica said. "Okay, talk to you later, bye."

Alex and Paige's families pulled up to the house after breakfast, the humongous structure intimidating to the eye. "Thank God for Paul's massive Christmas bonus." Sam said once he got out of the car. Paige's mum gave him a slight slap on the back of the head at that before helping Dan to get the suitcases and bags of presents out of the car. Paige sent a picture of the outside of the house to Jessica, with a caption that read: 'house tour coming soon'. The nine of them walked into the house, both sets of parents discussing which rooms they would take, whilst their kids went to find their rooms. Being a group of nine, the two families often ran into spacing issues when booking holidays so when a listing on Airbnb came up with seven rooms and five bathrooms, Paul didn't think twice before hitting 'book'.

"Okay, so when you walk in, you're met with this amazing book shelf. Good taste too. Then to the left, there's the living room. I mean look at the size of those sofas Jess. Okay, moving on, here's the kitchen. Oh Alex, want to say hey to Jess?" Paige asked as she filmed the house tour for Jessica. "Hey Jess." Alex said, smiling. "Enough of that, look at the size of this place. They must love cooking in this kitchen, I know I will. The dining room is a part of the kitchen too. God this is obscene. Just these two rooms are bigger than my whole house. Next, I'll show you my parents room and Alex's parents. They're downstairs, which I'm low-key grateful for 'cause my dad snores so bad." Paige narrated, walking away from Alex, who was telling Jessica how excited he was to be able to see her over their first Christmas as a couple.

"Okay, and here's Alex's room. Jo got first pick because she's the oldest, then my brother, then me, then Alex and finally Grace. Alex chose the one next to mine because Sam snores hella bad, and I picked one of the two rooms left on the other side of the house. Now I'll show you mine. Jess, you have to come here for at least a day this week, if your parents let you. It's incredible." Paige told the video as she moved into her room, where her brother was looking around. "Sam get out, I need to unpack." Paige said as she put her phone in her pocket. "I still think it's not fair that you and Jo get en suites while me, Alex and Grace have to share one small bathroom." Sam sulked, sitting on the spare bed in Paige's room. "It so is fair, Jo's the oldest, and it was my birthday less than a week ago, this is still technically my birth week." Paige stated. Sam huffed before getting up. "I'm gonna ask mum to let me borrow the car to run to the shop for some stuff, do you and Alex want to come. I asked Jo but she's calling Mason." Sam said as he stopped in the doorframe. "Yeah, I'll message Alex." Paige responded, pulling her phone out.

"Welcome, gosh, Jessica you have grown." Frieda, Jessica's grandma said once her family arrived at their house. "I haven't grown that much grandma." Jessica mumbled as she was crushed in a hug. "Okay kids, you remember where your rooms are, right?" Jessica's dad asked. "Yeah, dad once all my stuff is in my room, can I walk to the shop to buy some snacks?" Jessica asked. "Of course, just remember to keep your phone on ring." Her dad replied before moving towards the kitchen for a drink.