The look on that boy’s face. Unmistakable disappointment. And that’s when I start to let myself actually think things might be changing. That we’re not going to be just friends.
“It’s just,” he says, kicking his sock feet about on the floor. “It’s weird, isn’t it, how we’ve basically ended up sharing a bed for almost all of this trip?”
“Uh-huh?” I say.
“And, like, will I even be able to sleep by myself any more?” He gives me a furtive glance, then adds a, “Ha ha!”
He’s nervous. So am I. I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “What … are you saying, Nate?”
He looks up at me and chews his lip a bit.
I swallow. “Are you saying you would prefer to sleep in my bed?”
He shrugs. “I dunno.”
My eyes widen. Nate’s never gonna say it, not outright. This is Nate, after all. “That you would prefer it if we both were sleeping in the same bed?”
“I mean, it’s just—”
“Uh-huh?”
“It’s like a security thing, I guess…”
“Oh, right?”
“Like, for years, I couldn’t sleep without Patrick.”
“Patrick?”
“My teddy bear.” He gives me a look, as if to say, And what of it?
I nod. “OK. Sure. So, I’m like a kind of security blanket to you?”
“Do we have to label it, Jack?”
“Please, not Jack, call me Blankie.”
“We don’t have to,” he says. “I was only saying.”
I look at him, smiling, until he meets my eyes again and gives me a guilty-looking grin back. “What?” he mutters.
“Come on, then.”
His eyes actually light up, which is adorable. We get up to my room, and I arrange the bed so he has a pillow on his side, while he strips down to his boxers, before hopping in. I flick the light off and do the same.
“Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m actually glad all this happened the way it did.”
“Sure. Me too, I guess.”
We lie in silence for a bit.
“Jack?”
“Mmm?”
“Love you.”
I laugh. “Love you, Nate.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
NATE
“Morning, Jack. Hi, Nate.”
My eyelids flutter open. It’s Jack’s mum, standing by the bed and placing two mugs of tea on Jack’s bedside table.
“Still take sugar, Nate?”
I clear my throat and blink away the sleep. “Um … yeah. Thanks.” Jack’s eyes are closed, apparently fast asleep, on his back next to me. I glance at his mum. “We were up late talking, so we just crashed here.” Which, incidentally, is the whole truth. Nothing else happened.
“Don’t tell her anything, Nate,” Jack says, eyes still closed. “She’s only here because she sniffs gossip.”
“I was just bringing you tea,” his mum says.
“A likely story!” Jack replies. “We’ve been at it like rabbits, if you must know.”
“Jack!” I immediately blush. “He’s winding you up,” I tell his mum.
She shrugs. “Shame. He’s almost bearable when he’s getting some.”
Jack sits up. “OK, very good, thank you for the tea. Don’t you have some criminals to set free?”
“It’s not that sort of law.”
“Just FYI,” Jack says, “we’re heading down to Plymouth today. Don’t know how long for.”
His mum smiles. “So, does that mean everything’s sorted itself out?”
Jack flicks his eyes to her. “I guess?”
She nods. “Good. And just remember, all those fuckers at school? In ten years’ time they’ll friend request you on Facebook and ask you to like their page for the new cosmetics pyramid scheme they’ve joined, and that’s when it’s official – you won. Because you will literally have no idea who they are.“
“Ahh,” Jack smiles. “We already have won.” And he puts his hand on top of mine under the duvet, and he’s right, because whatever happens, or doesn’t happen next, this feeling feels a lot like winning.
When we finally arrive at Plymouth, Mum, Dad, Elliot and Rose meet us off the train and take us to where the camper van is parked.
“Announcement!” Rose tells us. “I’m married to Elliot now!”
“It’s been an eventful twenty-four hours,” Elliot says, looking rather browbeaten.
“Elliot’s my husband now, which means he will do whatever I say!”
“That’s not really how marriage should work, Rose,” Dad says, as we clamber in the van.
“All OK, boys?” Elliot asks, as Dad starts the van and pulls out of the car park.
I glance at Jack, and smile. He smiles back and my heart flutters, just like it did when he put his hand on top of mine under the duvet. And that’s a weird new development that I’m not sure I’m quite ready to face just yet. “Yeah. All OK.”
“So, Nate, we have something to tell you…”
“Oh, Mr and Mrs Nate!” Jack claps his hands together. “You’re pregnant? Congratulations! Aw, Nate, you’re gonna be a—”
“Um, no, Jack. No. That’s not…”
“God, no,” Mum says, looking actually sick. “No offence, kids, but I’m not doing this again.”
“Although in some ways,” Dad grins into the rear-view mirror, “it’s sort of like our little baby!”
Mum laughs. “Yes! I suppose so!”
“Are we getting a puppy?” I mean, I live in hope.
“No, Nate, we’re starting a business,” Dad says. “I’ve been looking for something new after the redundancy, and I don’t want to spend any more time doing things I’m not totally passionate about. Your mum’s going to help out—”
“I’m cutting down to four days a week from next term,” Mum says. “And hopefully it’ll be less as the business takes off.”
“Well, don’t keep us waiting!” Jack says. “What’s the big idea?”
Dad’s eyes sparkle. “Seize the day dot com. It’s basically a life experiences website – a curated selection of bucket list items so people can easily do and see the things they’ve always wanted to. Not just stuff like parachute jumps—”
“Or outward bound centres!” Mum grins.
“But also unusual camping places, restaurants that are off the beaten track, the best woodland walks, stunning views, so, like, some of it will be free stuff, others you’ll have to pay for. We’ll take a commission for anything booked through the site, plus adverts. A one-stop shop for living in the moment and doing the stuff you always should have done but somehow never got round to.” There’s a wistful look on Dad’s face, just for a moment. “I think that’s important,” he says.
“So
