Bucket List | Jack Duff

t w e n t y

— ARIA—
(This is going to be probably the longest chapter in the whole book, but I promise what's about to happen will make up for all of that)
(Ya'll are gonna have to use your imagination a little in this one to picture it because it'll be more special and real if you do that)

It felt strange, and weird to be woken by Jack in the morning, knowing I wasn't being woken to go and complete a goal but being woken to go on a date with my best friend. It even sounded weird saying it in my head, "going on a date with my best friend". I think it was because I was used to going out with Jack when we're just going on a friendly outing and now it's an actual date, it feels different.

It feels special.

"Come on," he said, leading me through the flat, the place I stayed last night as it was the first place that I stayed when we first met. "I need to show you something first"

He grabbed his jacket off the hook by the door and led me out of the flat, leaving the other boys sleeping as we stepped outside. The air was crisp and cold, making me shiver to which Jack turned around and put his jacket over my shoulders. He took me to somewhere that he'd never taken me before - there was a small building around the corner from the flat, seemingly abandoned and hidden by brambles, with a ladder attached to the back of it, which we climbed up. From there, we could both see the sunrise perfectly and it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen, especially being sat here with him after everything we'd been through. I wondered what this place was, and why he'd brought me up here to start off our day.

"I think it's some type of old, unused garage," Jack mumbled softly, as of reading my mind. "There doors at the front, but it's locked with a coded padlock"

"Where did you find this place?" I asked him softly, lying my head down on his shoulder.

"When I first officially moved to England after I joined the band, when I was still getting used to things, I'd become easily homesick," Jack started. "It was hard suddenly being so far away from my family as I was so used to being with them all the time and I found myself being out of the flat a lot, being alone and wanting to escape the reality that I couldn't back down now and that these boys needed me. I stumbled across this place when I was having one of my bad days and it's been my little place of solitude ever since. I haven't been here in a while but I used to come here and watch the sunrise everyday and I remember vowing to myself that I'd bring you here and we'd watch it together one day, and today seemed like the right day"

I smiled at him.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, not wanting to break the quiet persona we'd managed to build around us. "Thank you for bringing me here"

"Hey believe me, this is just the beginning" he said, standing up onto his feet. "If you think this is good then you've a lot of surprises coming your way today, trust me"

･:**･:*･:**･:*･:**･:*･:**･:*･:**･:*

"So, why have you brought me here again?" I asked him as we stood in the middle of Euston Station, people running past us to catch their tubes and trains and almost knocking us flying a few times and their eyes didn't leave from the ground.

"Do you not remember what happened here?" he asked me.

"Of course I do silly," I said. "This is where we first met. But I mean, why here?"

"Because this is one of the first places I ever set my eyes on the real you," Jack started to explain to me. "I'd never seen you other than through a computer screen and when I got off my plane at Manchester Airport and caught my train to here, I knew that you were going to be waiting on the other end of it all; the real you this time, not the you that I knew through a computer screen. This place is so special"