The long way home || Shawn Mendes||

40

I check the time and realise that Jaiden will be here soon and all I have done so far today is lie on my empty dinning room floor. I get up and I go to what will be my bedroom and I put on some black leggings and a baggy white top. I tie my hair in a bun and I put on some runners. I start putting things in order and then there is a knock at my door.

"Hey," I smile when I open the door.

"Hi," Jaiden smiles.

"Thanks for coming," I smile probably looking like an idiot.

"So where do we start?" Jaiden asks.

"I thought we could start in the dining room," I say walking into the dining room.

We start building the furniture and I start to get the hang of it as we make more things. My dining table isn't getting shipped until next weekend so until then I will be having food on my floor or couch. A few hours go by and we have made a lot of progress.

"Hey do you want to get some Chinese?" I ask standing up of the floor as Jaiden makes the last chair.

"Yeah that would be great," he smiles.

I ring up the chinses place and I get a few things then I go and sit down on a pillow. I look at Jaiden and he's smiling at me.

"What?" I ask throwing a pillow at him.

"Nothing it's just I don't really know a lot about you," Jaiden says.

"Well what do you want to know?" I ask.

"Well start with your family," Jaiden says.

"Well I have on sister, her name is Hayden, she's 18 and a total troublemaker, but then again so was I at that age, she's like my best friend, then there's my mum, she use to be a mess but she's got her act together and then there's my dad I don't know much about him other than he's a businessman, my parents are divorced when he was around he wasn't really around and then my parents started fighting and then he left and we didn't show up for a few years and then he did and was just being a bulldozer so my mom finally cut him off and I haven't seen him since," I say looking down at my hands.

"I'm sorry Alex," Jaiden says looking at me.

"It's fine, so what about your family?" I ask.

"Well, there's my mom Liz, she is amazing and the best cook ever, I never knew my dad because he left before I was born, I have a step-dad Carl he's great a bit goofy, then I have two older brothers Mark and Oliver they are twins they're 26 but very much jocks all their life, then I have 3 younger half-brothers, Sam, who's 20 we are very close even though he is a complete nerd, Robbie, who's 18 he is the musician in our family and then there's Oscar who's 16 a skater boy, he thinks he is the coolest person ever and that we are all losers," Jaiden laughs.

"They sound great," I smile just as the door bell rings.

I go answer it and I hand the delivery man the money and then I go back and sit down. We eat and talk a little more and we end up playing a game of who can get pieces of chicken in their mouth. I end up throwing a piece and it hitting him right in the forehead. I burst out laughing and he starts laughing to.

"Here you got a little something," I say wiping orange chicken sauce off his head.

"Thanks," he says and I realise how close we are.

We just look into each others eyes no matter how hard I try to look away I just can't. I clear my throat and sit back a little.

"Em so, if you don't mind me asking what happened between you and the dad," Jaiden asks.

"Well his name is Shawn, he moved to my school senior year, I was a mess with my parents going through a divorce and having broken up with my then boyfriend who is now my mom's doctor which is a whole other story, I got a bad reputation and he helped me through it mostly but then he didn't tell me he was moving again and we broke up and then we met again while traveling at the end of summer and we started traveling and then dating again and then my mom got in an accident and I had to go home and then my friend found out that he cheated on me so I broke things off with him and then I found out I was pregnant and we tried making things work but after the girl that he cheated on me with showed up at his apartment I realised that we just aren't meant to be together, now I just see him for doctor appointments," I say holding my stomach as Squid kicks around.

"You really haven't had an easy life have you," Jaiden says.

"You don't know the half of it, but there's been a lot of good things and now I'm going to have a baby and I know I'm young but I think I'm ready," I say with a little smile.

"I think your ready too," Jaiden smiles.

"Thanks," I smile.

We do a bit more unpacking and building.

"It's getting late I should probably head," Jaiden says standing up.

"Thanks for everything Jaiden," I say standing up and walking him to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow,"  Jaiden says leaning against the door frame with his coat over his arm.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I smile and he walks down the hallway to the lift.

I shut the door and I lean up against it. I feel as if I haven't stopped grinning all day, like a little school girl. I start to tidy up a few more things while listening to music and eating the ends of the Chinese food.