It had been a week since I had turned up at Jack's unexpectedly and things seemed to be okay between us, but he was really good at hiding his feelings from the world. I was usually very good at concealing how I felt, but somehow Jack saw through every mask that I hid behind. As things had been pretty heated recently, Jack had decided to surprise me with a weekend away from it all. Although this time we were doing it where our parents knew we were out for the weekend unlike the last time which had resulted in the police having to come out looking for us, although I wasn't going to tell my mother my exact plans. Jack was due to collect me soon and I still hadn't gotten out of bed. Regretfully I dragged myself into the shower so that I could be ready on time. Forty minutes later and I was lying on my bed waiting for my best friend to arrive. I could have called him to get him to come early, but my phone was just out of reach from where I had chucked it after turning my music on.
"Alex, Jack's here!" My mom called loudly from downstairs.
"Dammit Isobel, I was gonna creep him out," Jack replied sauntering into my room like he owned the place.
"Hey Lex," he said when he saw me.
"Hey Jack," I grinned as I sat up.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah." I followed my friend to the front door.
"Have a good time boys."
"See you Sunday," we both chorused.
"So where are we actually going?" I asked about five minutes after we had set off as Jack had conveniently forgotten to tell me any of the details of this weekend.
"It's a surprise Alex. And if you ask again I shall be turning the car around."
"Speaking of why are we taking mine?" I asked. "Last question I promise," I exclaimed when I saw the look Jack gave me. We were taking my truck instead of Jack's car like we usually did as he insisted on driving. He claimed it was something to do with my bad driving and fearing for his life.
"Fine but this is the only bit of information that you are getting for the entire trip. It's for a surprise later if we get there on time," he replied before turning on the radio at full volume. We drove for several hours without conversation but instead we spent the time singing along, very badly, to our favorite songs.
"Jaaaack I'm hungry."
"We're in the middle of nowhere. What do you want me to do about it?'
"Feed me?" I asked hopefully.
"Can you wait twenty minutes when we'll get to the next town? I'll even treat you to lunch."
"You treat me so well."
"Only the best for you baby," he grinned at me. He carried on driving until I saw the first signs of a place that served food. I made Jack pull over and buy me something even though he wasn't a fan of the place.
"Don't say that I never do anything for you," he grumbled as he got back into the driver’s seat ten minutes later handing me my food.
"I love you Jack."
"I love you too, now eat your food."
“Yes mom." We carried on driving with Jack stealing my fries every so often.
"Jaaaack."
"Alex I swear to God what do you want?!"
"Are we nearly there yet?"
"It's gonna be another six hours."
"What? Where the hell are we going?" I asked almost shouting through my frustration.
"Back home. I turned us around quarter of an hour ago."
“What the hell! Why?"
"Because you still haven't noticed we haven't been moving for the last half hour!" He said bursting into laughter.
"I also hadn't noticed it was dark, but there you go," I muttered.
"In your defense I think you fell asleep for a while." Jack got out of the car and started to move our stuff around.
"Where are we anyway?"
"Patience Gaskarth. Patience."
"Did you want me to do anything?" I asked opening the door, only to have Jack close it again.
"Just sit there for five minutes and look pretty."
"Are you sure you're talking to the right person?" I asked my voice considerably quieter as I poked at my fat thighs.
"Hey none of that okay? We've come out here to get away from all that and forget for forty eight hours." He slapped my hand away lightly before holding it out expectantly. "Hand it over."
"What?"
"You know perfectly well what."
"I don't have it on me." He raised his eyebrows.
"Alex, this is me you're talking to. You can't lie to me."
"I'm not. You took the only one I had last week," I replied. He stared at me for a couple of seconds to make sure I was telling the truth before his face relaxed.
"Are you sure because otherwise I'm gonna have to strip search you," his usual cocky grin returned to his face as he reached through the window and grabbed at my shirt.
"Any excuse to see me naked Barakat. No, oh my god no! Stop it!" I couldn't help but laugh as I half fell half stumbled it of the now open car door. When Jack stopped attacking me and I caught my breath, I took a look at our surroundings and found what I was guessing to be an empty car lot.
"Where are we?"
"We are just outside of town and I thought we could stop here for the night and finish the journey tomorrow."
"Why not just go into town for the night?"
"I know how much you love space, so I thought while we have an opportunity we could watch the night sky from the back of the truck and sleep here tonight."
"I really fucking love you right now." I said as I climbed into the back of my truck and laid back in all the pillows and blankets that had been laid down.
"I know Lex." He lay down next to me, pulling me closer when he was comfortable.
"Thanks for doing this for me Jay. It means a lot."
"It's okay." We laid there for a while and talked about nothing in particular and everything as we just stared at the stars. After a while I began to get sleepy, so I shifted my body, placing my head on Jack's chest and pulling the blankets over us to keep us warm throughout the night.
