Bucket List | Jack Duff

three

— Aria's point of view —

After all the rowdiness and suffering of the play fight that broke out between Brooklyn and Andy and after the tending of Rye's bruised cheek from Mikey rouge flaying of his arm, everything calmed down for a few hours while the boys got together and gathered up a bunch of supplies for the night we were about to have - Jack had Brooklyn and Mikey run back and forth to the shops near my home while Andy and Rye sorted the living room out, giving Jack and I the small chance to talk alone. I was going to bring up what had happened earlier, but the boys kept running in and out of the kitchen so I held back, deciding it was better off happening later when it was quiet and there would be nobody to disturb our chat.

Everything was going so well. That was until the fort building actually commenced.

"Brooklyn I swear that if you knock this blanket fort down one more time you can go back to the flat and stay there on your own for the night," I heard Rye huff whilst I was in the kitchen with Jack. "We've come too far with it now for you to just knock it down, please be careful."

After the boys had finally returned from the shop, Jack and I were in charge of the food and drink for the inside of the fort which would last us all night or at least for a good portion of it. The boys had only been in the living room building for ten minutes but it was only a matter of time before another argument broke out. They were boys after all.

"Do I smell a threat?" I heard Brooklyn say back and I rolled my eyes. Those boys could be such children at times and I constantly found myself questioning whether any of them were actually over the age of ten. There was the sound of a slight scuffle coming from through the walls as I heard something thump to the floor - the loud laughter, which I knew immediately was Mikey's, echoed into the kitchen and then there was silence again. Jack and I both looked at each other in sync and my eyebrows raised, a chuckle escaping my lips.

"Don't know why you're looking at me," Jack chuckled. "I didn't do anything."

I sighed, laughing out loud as he grinned at me.

"Go and make sure nobody has a concussion," I said, pushing him lightly and he chuckled before making his way to the door. "If somebody has, tell them to come and get ice, I don't fancy a trip to A&E tonight thank you very much, too much effort and too much paperwork."

Jack laughed, his face lighting up as he disappeared through the door. I gathered up the food Jack hadn't managed to take with him and walked myself to the living room, juggling the food in my arms and taking care that I didn't drop anything. Despite the argument that had broken out and the threats that were thrown, the boys had done a dashing job with the blanket fort and it was big enough to fit all six of us into it comfortably. They'd positioned it perfectly so we could see the TV clearly and there was a clear place for us all to sleep.