The Bucket List

Chapter 22

Hi everyone, I'm sorry I haven't been active on here for so long. But here is a very short chapter. I thought little was better than nothing :)

– Kiss a stranger.√
– Hollywood movie kiss.
– Get a tattoo. √
– Swim naked under the moon.√
– Do something I'm afraid of.
– Swim with dolphins.
– Fly in a hot air balloon. √
– Shower in a waterfall.
– Scuba dive.
– Sail on the Themes.√
– Go to a strip club.
– Catch a fish. √
– Learn how to play an instrument.
– Join the mile high club.
– Graffiti on a wall. √
– Sell a painting.

Chapter 22

The following week was busy. I had loads to do when I got back to work Tuesday morning, and I was exhausted by the time I made it home in the evenings. But I had a week off next week and I couldn't wait. The thought of being able to relax and have a lay in, was my motivation to get up in the mornings and drag myself to work.

Jayden had popped over Wednesday for a movie night with pizza. He had been nothing but a good friend that evening, listening patiently to me moaning about work. He had then proceeded to let me cuddle up to him on the sofa when we watched the film.
He stayed the night as I fell asleep halfway through the film, and he woke me up when it ended. By then had it gotten late, so I told him he could stay. I fell asleep on his chest that night. Which  made it so much harder to get up and out of bed the next morning, with him laying next to me.

Thursday evening was pub night with the girls. I went out with them even though I was knackered after the day I'd had at work. I didn't tell them about Jayden, I mainly just listened to them talk about their lives and everyday problems.

Right now was I waiting outside work, I was waiting for Jayden to come and pick me up. He had insisted on driving us to Hastings, so I had taken my bags with me to work so I was ready to leave right away.
I had told him that he really didn't have to come with me. It might be a bit weird now that we were having sex, to meet my family. But he insisted on coming with me, because he knew I would have a hard time this weekend
On one side did I not want him there because I might feel awkward. But on the other side will it be really nice to have him there. He had gotten to know Amy so well in the short amount of time they knew each other, and he always talked about her, he didn't list around, afraid of mentioning her name.
I spotted Jayden's car and waved him over. He pulled up and I jumped in the passenger seat and threw my bags onto the backseat.

"Hi you." I smiled as I put my seatbelt on.

"Hi. You mind putting the address into the GPS?" Jayden asked handing it to me. "So how was your day?" He asked as I had sorted the GPS out and he had pulled back out onto the road.

"Let's just say I'm really happy that I have a week off before I have to be back." I didn't want to think about work now, I just wanted to enjoy my time off and getting to see my family.

"A whole week huh?" Jayden asked, the corner of his mouth going up into a small smile.

"Yeah, I asked for a small summer holiday months ago."

"Sounds good. Do you have anything planned?"

"Nope. Just sleeping and relaxing." I couldn't wait.

"So, tell me a bit about how this weekend is going to be." Jayden asked as we reached the M25.

"Well, a lot of drinking and food. A lot of pirates. We're going to stay in a house just down the road from where my grandparents live. Their names are Daisy and Pete. We know the owners and rent the same house every year. My mom's sister will be there. Her name is Jill, and she's married to Louie. They have two kids. Rosie and Oli. I believe Rosie has her boyfriend Jamie with her. I think that's all you need to know really." I explained. "The GSP say it'll take us a bit over 2 hours until we get there. We'll get dinner when we get there, but if you want to, we can stop for a snack on the way?"

"No I'm not hungry, so unless you're hungry, then I think we should just get it over and done with and drive until we get there?" Jayden asked glimpsing at me out of his eye.

"That's fine by me. Any other questions come up, please just ask. And I'll try to say their names as much as I can during the weekend to help you out." I knew how difficult it could be to all of a sudden be the only new one, and have to remember everyone's name.

"Thank you. Well what about Sunday, does your family go to church?" Jayden asked.

"No. Thank God. I'm not religious and neither is my dad. I think maybe my mum likes the idea of a God. We have never gone to church. The only time you'll see me in one is if someone is getting married, baptised or buried. I don't enjoy going to church. Is your family religious, are you?" I asked. I had never understood the whole going to church every Sunday. For me it seemed pointless, I had grown up without having any mention of God in life really. For me religion was more like fairy tales.

"My dad's side of the family is, they're Christian, but my dad became the black sheep of the family when he became an atheist. So no we're not either, but I know that some people go to church every week. I've given it some thought myself, but I know I don't believe in it. I can hear you don't either." Jayden replied with a little smile on his lips.

"No I don't. For me to believe in something I need evidence, I need proof. Like if I run into a wall I can feel it hurts, or if I drop an apple I can see it falls to the ground. If someone can prove to me a god exist the same way as you can prove gravity, then I'll believe in it. But I can't believe in something invisible. But if there is some sort of creature up there, then I hope it's the Norse Gods, they're way more fun, or the Greek Gods." I loved the Norse mythology, I had read a lot about them.

"Norse mythologyhuh? I've never learnt much about them. You have?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me about all the main religions there are, plus some of the old ones. I really enjoyed the Norse God's stories, they're fun and weird and a lot more interesting than the religions we have today in my opinion. I read up about the old Greek Gods as well."

"You'll have to read me some of these stories one day." Jayden said quickly looking my way. Music was playing and it was a comfortable silence. It had been a long day and I was happy to just relax and enjoy not having to do anything for the next two hours. Jayden grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, we were on the motorway and he didn't need his hand to change gear right now. Holding his hand made my whole body warm up and I noticed my heart started beating faster. All I could focus on was how my hand was in his, how natural it felt. He held my hand almost the whole way. He would pull away to change gear or if he had to use both of his hands to drive, but whenever he could, would he hold my hand. He pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed my hand a few times as well, making my stomach react to his touch every time. We listened to music the whole way there, we talked a bit, but we mostly sat in comfortable silence.

"We'll be there any minute now." I said as I noticed the ice cream store where me and Amy used to go every summer for ice cream.

"You recognizing it?"

"Yes. Amy and I used to get ice­ cream from over there. And over there around the corner is the playground I used to take her when we were smaller." I smiled at the thought, she was so cute when she was little. "Are you sure you want to go? You could just drop me off and I'll say I got the train down here?" I offered him a last way out.

"Don't be silly, we're here now anyway." Jayden said as he pulled up in the driveway. I could see Rosie, she was getting something out of the trunk of a car as we pulled up. Rosie had brown shoulder long straight hair and brown eyes. She's one year older than me, so we grew up together, always having each other to play with at family gatherings.

"That's Rosie over there." I pointed out as Jayden parked the car. "When Amy was born we used to play her parents and dress her up. My parents loved it because that meant free time for them."

"Rosie was your cousin right?" Jayden asked turning the car off and getting his keys out of the engine.

"Yes she's my cousin." I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned around in the seat to grab my bag from the back. "You ready to meet my crazy family?"

"Yeah it'll be interesting" Jayden cracked a smile and got out of the car. I opened the car door and followed him.