crossways: a jack hughes story

chapter 17

you wake up the next morning to jack tickling you.

"stop jack, no!"

"wakey wakey." jack laughs as he keeps tickling you.

you squirm around the bed, trying to get jack's hands off of you.

"jack! seriously! stop!"

"fine, fine. i'm sorry. here." he hands you an iced coffee.

"aw thank you."

you take a few sips and place the coffee on the nightstand, curling back up into bed.

"no, no, wake up. it's road trip day." he says with the biggest smile on his face.

jack's let his hair grow out, and it's getting a little too long for your liking. he's kneeling over you, and you tuck his hair behind his ears as he tries to get you out of bed.

"what time is it."

"4 am."

"JACK."

jack's expression changes from his gleeful smile to a concerned, scared stare.

"what? what's wrong?"

"what do you mean what's wrong? it's 4 am jack!"

"but it's the first day of our road trip, i thought we could start early." his face drops, he looks like his dog just died.

"oh jack, i love you. i'm not trying to delay our road trip, but can i go back to sleep for at least 30 minutes? then we can go at 5. sound good?"

guilt starts to surround your head, so you pull jack back into bed and kiss him on the cheek. you fall back asleep immediately, but jack stays up.

he wants everything to be perfect for this road trip. he's actually been awake since 3 am, making sure the rv was set to be picked up, double checking that everything's packed, he even grabbed you an iced coffee from starbucks, knowing you would crave one.

you hear jack whisper into your ear.

"it's been 30 minutes."

you feel his smile on your ear as you finally get out of bed.

jack starts to applaud as you step into the bathroom.

"don't get too excited. i'm going back to bed in the rv."

"not for too long, we have a strict itinerary."

"you're adorable. i'm shocked at how much you planned this, i've done nothing."

"don't worry, i wanted to do it. all you have to do is enjoy." jack kisses you as you begin to blow dry your hair.

after walking out of your house, you and jack carry all of your luggage outside. the rv is already parked and waiting for you. jack meets the man next to it and signs papers, which you're guessing are waivers. the man gives jack the keys, and jack thanks him.

he opens the door, letting you step in first.

"welcome to our little home sweet home for the next week."

the rv is bigger than you thought; it has two bunk beds, a small kitchen, a table, a bathroom, and a couch.

you set down the bags and make your way to the passenger seat. jack sits down next to you, turns the rv on, and puts your first stop onto the screen.

"ready?" jack says as he clicks his seatbelt into place.

"ready to go back to sleep? yes."

jack laughs.