Where I Found You

Chapter 36 - Alyssa.

Chapter 36 - Alyssa.

Christmas Eve comes by very quickly. I'm surprised when my mum opens my bedroom door while I'm wrapping Jack's present to reveal Katy, who looks quite cold but is smiling in this kind of infectious way - like she used to do before the forest thing.

I put down my scissors and cello tape, then watch as my mother leaves and Katy sits down on the bed.

"I thought you'd be with Jack," Katy announces first. Then she looks over at what I'm doing and I stand up, going to sit down next to her.

"No. I think he must be busy with his family, right now."

We watch eachother for a while and I realise I haven't had much girl time with Katy. I haven't had much girl time with anyone else either. I hardly contact Zara or Reina from high school anymore, and at university I see Irene quite a bit but Anthony and Martin are always around.

"Maybe we should go shopping or something soon?" I ask Katy randomly.

She slowly smiles, then nods. "Yeah. It was good when we went to London."

We look at eachother for a while - a long time - until suddenly Katy seems to crumble and she slowly sighs.

"I'm sorry. About that day when Niall and I were in the forest. I'm sorry I was awful to you. And he was, too."

"Forget it. Jack just made a big deal out of it," I whisper. I don't want to talk about things like this.

"He had every right to." Katy shakes her head and then lays a hand on my arm. "I'm sorry. And . . . I really did appreciate it. Thank you."

Sometimes I wonder whether I care at the wrong moments. It seems that I care about things that hardly anyone else does, but now I don't care at all about the whole forest thing and it seems that Jack and Katy really did.

Why am I such an anomaly?

-

Katy goes after a while, saying that she had to help her parents with making dinner for Christmas Eve. In her place it seems, Jack arrives on my doorstep and I grab my coat and scarf then pull him along, away from the house to somewhere we can get away.

I don't know if he wanted that, but I do.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" He whispers, as our hands swing while we walk. I lean closer to him, noticing the slight pinkness of his cheeks from the cold.

I nod. "Yes. I'm coming round with presents for everyone."

He looks down at me and I see apprehension slowly appearing on his face. I don't ask what he's thinking about.

I lean up to kiss him, and it's cold, fresh. Then I ask, "How's your nose?"

Jack grins and then pulls me along to start walking again. "It feels somewhat normal. Still hurts a bit."

I wrap my arm around his, shivering slightly. Closing my eyes, I imagine we could be an elderly couple in loads of years' time, walking along like this one future Christmas Eve.

"What are you thinkin' about?" Jack whispers, and I open my eyes again. Still walking. Still breathing.

"Us. Doing this again. Just walking."

"When we're old?"

I look up at him and try to imagine my Jack as an old man, but I can't. Just end up laughing. "Yes, maybe."

"I love you." He grins, and then stops again. I close my eyes tight as I see him leaning down to kiss me, and he strokes my cold cheek with his cold hand as our lips move against eachother sort of hungrily, his hands now on my waist and mine around his neck.