Fuck It I Love You

24

Joseph

We've been in the car for an hour, and we've sat most of that hour in a comfortable silence. I steal glances at Jane beside me, but she's staring out of the window.

"Are you hungry?" she shrugs at my question and I narrow my eyes. "Buttercup? You okay?" I ask softly and she looks at me with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I look at her and grab her hand, gripping it tightly, and I feel her tremble beneath my touch.

"Come on, Jane, what's wrong?" I ask desperately as I pull into a garage to get some fuel. She stills for a moment before looking at me, her expression blank.

"What happens once we're back in London?" I sigh and rub my face with my hands. I'd been expecting her to ask this, but I shake my head and mutter 'I don't know' under my breath. "Well? Like, what is this Joseph, please. Are we a thing or what?" I look at her when the last sentence leaves her mouth.

"Can we talk about this once we're back in London, please? I don't want a perfectly good weekend to end in an argument." she sighs but nods, and I step out of the car to add fuel to the tank. I pay on the machine attached to the fuel stand and get back into the car to find Jane reading a book a couple of minutes later.

"What are you reading?" I ask politely as I pull out of the garage and onto the motorway. She just hums in response and I roll my eyes and pluck the book out of her hands, causing her to cry out.

"What was that for?" she whines and I just laugh.

"Put some music on or whatever, but for the love of god, dont ignore me Jane, please." She stares at me in wonder for a moment before putting some music on quietly.

"Can I see where you live?" she asks, and the question takes me back by surprise.

"Why?" She shrugs her shoulders and looks out the window.

"I want to see what you look like in your element." she says simply and I think about it for a moment.

"Yeah, you can look around before I drop you home." I give her a small smile then force my gaze back onto the road. We fall into a comfortable silence once more, the only noise breaking the silence is the music playing quietly in the background.

"Do you read?" Jane suddenly says and I let out a laugh.

"Why?" she shrugs her shoulders.

"You just knew about Mr Darcey's house and stuff." I smile warmly to myself and shake my head.

"You think, me, an English teacher, haven't read Pride and Prejudice?"

The look on her face is priceless.

"Well, how would I know?" she mumbled, slumping further into her chair.

"Use your brain next time. I'd hate for all of your intelligence to go to waste." She scrunches her nose in disgust but doesn't say anything further, which causes me to smile even more.

"We'll be back in around an hour." I say and her face lights up instantly.

"Can't wait." She smiles to herself, and I smile too.

I can't seem to wait either.

***

Jane fell asleep soon after our conversation had ended, and didn't wake up until I was pulling into the parking spot outside my flat. She rubbed her eyes and looked around for a moment before realising that we've stopped.

"We're here?" I nod and turn off my car and take my keys out of the ignition.

"Let's go." I say under my breath and open the door to exit my car. Jane follows suit and gets out excitedly and runs towards the doors, and I can't help but smile at her excitement. I lock my car and jog to catch up to her, placing my hands on her shoulders from behind and guide her towards the stairs.