Better Off Away (BOOK 2)(Wattys2016)

A Golden Light

Jack and I devour everything before us, which is saying a lot since he's gotten us a feast for the picnic. Every bit of the meal is delicious and I try to savor not only it, but the moment as well. Jack asks me about my life back home and I find myself telling him all about Gemma and Olive - how Gem is an amazing artist, completely in love and Olive is lost, trying to find herself, but kind and giving and an all around saint. I tell him about Clive and Eddie and Larkin and Dean. I tell him about Marilyn and Holden and how even though they annoy me, I miss them terribly.

"What about the little details?" He asks, after I've given him an overall view of my relationships back home.

"What do you mean 'little details'?" I ask, snacking on some grapes that are still in a bowl.

He shrugs, lounging back on the pillows and looking up at me. "I mean, what color is Gemma's hair or what was your favorite movie to watch with your friends? Or where did you guys just automatically hang out?"

"Why are you so interested?" I ask. "It's not fascinating in the least."

He smiles, taking my hand in his and tracing imaginary lines across my skin. "On the contrary, Sweetness. I find it completely fascinating. You forget I don't have any of what you had. My life was a constant blur of growing up and adding responsibilities."

I frown, realizing how sad that must have been for him. Jack must have been so lonely through all those years - probably still is. "Well... We'll have to change that then. Maybe, one day you'll get to meet my friends and they can be yours as well."

Jack smiles, but I don't think he believes it - it must sound too good to be true. "Perhaps, but for now just give me the details."

"To answer your question, Gemma's hair is brown, but not a dull brown... more of a chestnut brown that reminds you of autumn. And Olive's hair is... very blonde. And I guess, we always hung out at Gemma's house. It was always the happiest place for us. No little siblings to bother us, no drama with parents. It was all relaxed and chill there."

"Sounds nice." Jack says, his eyes closed as he continues to lounge on the pillows and trace patterns across my skin.

"Jack?"

"Hm?" He murmurs, opening his eyes to look at me.

"Tell me about your home back in England...?" I lie down next to him and rest on the pillows.

Jack looks at me, abruptly brought out of the daydream he'd been in. His eyes show me conflict between the good memories and the bad memories. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head ever so slightly. "There's not much to tell, Sweetness. I can't really remember."

I look at him, knowing that's not the truth. "Jack, you don't have to tell me about any of the bad memories. Just... tell me what it looked like... or a happy time you had there. It's only fair when I just shared my entire home with you."

He smiles at me, somewhere caught in between  a memory and in the now. "Yes, thank you for sharing, Sweetness. You've no idea what that means to me. But... you're right. I'll share some of my past as well."

I snuggle against Jack's side and settle against the pillows. I'm not sure how it happened, but sometime during our picnic we dropped all barriers between us and have become completely relaxed around each other.

"I can still remember how it looked... our home. It was beautiful. I loved it there. My mum used to take me to the beach, which was really close to our house. She would pack a picnic and we would spend the day building sand castles and running along the shore, our skin and hair becoming golden." Jack trails off, lost in the memory. I wonder if he sees the ocean or the sky, a mirror of that below.