DIE ➳ JACK JOHNSON

XXVII. WE'LL BE ALRIGHT

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chapter twenty seven - july 29

"Come on now, love," he called out to Alaska, who was a few feet behind him. "We've got to keep going."

"I swear I heard a snake," Alaska grounded out, standing exactly where she was.

Jack sighed, and walked back to her. He grabbed her hand in his, and intertwined them. He kissed the back of her hand, and glanced up at her. "I would never let anything happen to you. If anything, I'll do down with you," he offered with a playful smile.

She smiled, but kept an annoyed look on her face. "You better. You're the one who dragged me out here in the first place."

"And I'll drag you up this hill," he said, pulling on her hand. "I promise you the view will be worth it."

"I'm hoping for it to be. My legs feel like they're going to fall off," she groaned childishly.

He chuckled at her lazy state. "We're almost there."

She picked up her feet, and lazily moved it across the ground. "That's what you said last time," she pointed out.

"That's because you kept on complaining," he replied back. He noticed her opening her mouth to speak again, so he quickly pecked her on the lips to prevent her from saying anything else. "Just trust me, okay? We're supposed to be having fun."

"Okay," she sighed, "fun. It's crazy to think of how we were when we last went on a hike."

"Well, that's not necessarily a fun conversation, but yeah," he blew out, awkwardly. He didn't really want to remember that time. He didn't really like to remember how weak she was then, because it scared him to think that there's a possibility that she could be like that again. He didn't want to remember the time when they weren't together. He wanted to think about right here and right now, when they're happy. Instead of saying all of that to her, he said, "We were different people then. I'm glad of how things turned out."

He smiled at her, and of course she smiled back at him. How could she not when she's in love with him, and he made her fall even more every single time, especially when he spoke like that. She clasped their hands tightly, and brought them to her side.

"It's so nice out here. So peaceful," she clarified with a light tone. "I miss this feeling. I don't get this a lot at home," she whispered, wishing that her and her father could have a nice relationship like how she felt right now.

"Oh," he muttered, remembering the hardships she had to face. He looked at her, and it was hard to tell how miserable she truly was, because she always had the look of joy on her face. It was something he was getting so used to. An image that made his day. "How was it like before your mom..." he trailed off, not knowing how to sentence it correctly.

She kicked at the little rocks near her feet as they walked. "It was normal. Nice. Happy. We were all happy. We did everything together, and shared everything to each other. We were so close," she whispered so softly, because it was so hard for her to think about those times.

Jack understood what it was like for her, so he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. "You know, sometimes it's better to let it all out, instead of keeping it with you all this time," he told her. He felt like she wasn't telling him the full truth. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable, so he didn't pressure her. He just wanted to know to help, to help her one last time.

"It's supposed to be a fun trip remember," he said with a lighter tone. "Let's go have fun." She grinned at him one last time, before removing her hand from his grasp and ran off. She glanced behind her shoulder, and sent him a wink, followed by a fit of giggle before taking off again. "Catch me if you can," she taunted.