When I woke up on the morning of June first it did not cross my mind that I would be leaving the place I was lucky enough to call home. I got out of bed and stretched before putting my sweater on and walking out into the hall with all three cats following me. I could hear humming and the clatter of dishes coming from the kitchen. It was the first time Jack had been up before I was. I stepped into the kitchen and giggled. He was dancing around the kitchen, humming while he made breakfast. He wasn't wearing a shirt, not that this bothered me as I'd spent the last five years with at least five boys in the house, but it was the first time I'd ever really gotten to see his tattoos. They were pretty fascinating.
    Jack turned when I giggled. He smiled and kept going. I took a seat at the bar and watched while he made breakfast.
"Sleep well?" He asked. I shrugged. "Pancakes okay?" I nodded and he set a plate in front of me. He then proceeded to dig around in various cupboards until he found a bottle of syrup. He handed it to me and then went back to flipping pancakes.
"Eat quick."
"Why?"
"You have somewhere to be in an hour and a half." My poor tired brain couldn't wrap itself around that.
"I do?" He chuckled.
"Yes. Now eat." I began eating faster and when I finished I went and got a shower. I got out and gently dried my hair with the towel before throwing it up in a bun. I got dressed and then applied my make-up, not that I had much. When I was all ready I waited in the living room for Jack. A few minutes passed and then he came out dressed and ready for the day.
"To the car!" He announced, picking me up and heading for the door. I giggled.
"Put me down you weirdo." He laughed and shook his head. We got outside and he stood me beside the car before running back to lock the door.
"Where are we going?" I asked once we were in the car.
"Some place fun." I rolled my eyes playfully. The drive was short and uneventful. We pulled into the parking lot of a park. I looked at Jack, confused.
"Why are we here?" He just smiled and pointed out the window. I turned and gasped at what I saw. Leo was standing there. I got out faster than I though possible and threw my arms around Leo.
"I missed you." I whispered. He laughed and let go of me. I turned to look back at Jack. He had rolled the window down.
"I'll be back to get you in two hours." I nodded and then waved at him as he left. I took Leo's hand and drug him over to the swings. We sat and talked. I cried. He comforted me. We laughed and held hands. It was perfect. All too soon however it came to an end. We were rocking gently while sitting on the swings, holding hands, when he started to talk again,
"Annie there's something I need to tell you and I need you to promise me you won't laugh or make fun of me." I met his gaze and saw the sincerity on his eyes.
"Okay."
"I-" he stopped and turned red. He wasn't looking at me anymore, but past me. I followed his gaze and saw Jack walking towards us. I smiled, waved and then turned my attention back to Leo.
"What were you saying?" I asked.
"I love you."
"I love you too. Why would I laugh at you for that?" I was oblivious I know.
"Not platonically, Annie." It caught me off guard.
"Oh."
"It's fine if you don't feel the same way. I just had to tell you before it was too late." Before I could respond Jack was in front of us.
"Having fun?" I nodded and looked at Leo. He was staring at the ground. "Great. I'm sorry to break up the party, but we have other things to do today."
"Okay." I stood and Leo did too. I gave him a hug and whispered, "I'll call you tonight." He gave me a gentle squeeze as a response and let me go.
"Bye, Annie." He mumbled and then turned to walk away.
"Bye Leo." I called after him.
"Is he okay?" Jack asked as we walked to the car.
"I don't know." He opened my door for me and I slid in. I felt tears collecting in my eyes and hurried to brush them away before Jack got in the car. But no sooner were we driving towards home and the tears started falling. I tried to hide them, but I sniffed and that gave me away.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked. I shrugged, because to be honest there wasn't anything wrong. I was just tired and leaving Leo made me sad. Jack rubbed my shoulder gently.
"'M just tired." I mumbled and wiped my eyes. I glanced at Jack. He was frowning.
"Well I have a surprise waiting for you at home."
"You do?" He nodded. I dried my eyes and tried to make it look like I hadn't been crying. It didn't work all that well. We got back to the house and Jack said,
"Part of your surprise is waiting on your bed." I glanced at him and then walked down the hall after kicking my shoes off. Laying on my bed was a pastel purple suitcase.
"You got me a suitcase?" I asked, loudly.
"Open it." He called back. I unzipped it and lifted the cover. It was full of stuff. Clothes and other things.
"I don't understand." I yelled.
"We're going on a road trip and you didn't have any summer clothes. Lisa got most of it. So if you don't like it blame her." I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe.
"Road trip?" I asked. He nodded.
"Every year I spend the entire month of June doing things I enjoy and something I've never done is go on a road trip in my car with only one other person. So this year that's what I'm doing."
"Why do you spend June doing things you enjoy?"
"Because it's my birth month." I nodded.
"Oh. So how long will we be gone?"
"Pretty much the whole month. We'll leave tomorrow morning."
"What about the cats?"
"Lisa said she'd take care of them for us." I nodded again and then turned back to the suitcase.
"I have to go find my suitcase, so I'll be in my room if you need me."
"Okay." I began carefully pulling things out of the suitcase. There were shorts and tank tops as well as a couple summer dresses. There were sandals, a pair of pale blue Nike sneakers, and a light weight sweater. I also found a box of pads and one of tampons. Bless her. Honestly I had been worrying about what do to when my period started in June so I didn't have to have that conversation with Jack. There was a sticky note stuck to the front of the box that said, I thought you might need these and I know you probably don't want to have that conversation with Jack. She also got me some new make up including eyeshadow and eyeliner neither of which I could apply. Well not without many make up tutorial videos at least. And she bought me a pack of razors. There was a one piece swim suit and a bikini. There was also a bottle of the shampoo I used and a jar of hair gel.
"Anna!" Jack called.
"Yes?" I responded.
"Come here for a sec?"
"Coming." I walked out of my room and down the hall into Jack's. His room was a mess. Clothes strewn everywhere, the bed unmade and a suitcase laying on top of it with clothes only halfway into it. Tesla was curled up on one of his pillows, she had taken an instant liking to him.
"I have one more thing for you."
"Seriously?"
"What?"
"You need to stop buying me things."
"I like buying you things. Being a parent is a whole new thing for me and I'm spoiling you because I want to and I can. Now this is all me so if you hate it blame me." He walked around the bed and bent over to pick something up. He held up a backpack. A really cute backpack.
"This is also for the trip." He handed it to me and I almost dropped it because I wasn't expecting it to be as heavy as it was. I sat it on the edge of the bed and opened it. There was a phone and an IPad as well as two books, a notebook, a sketch pad, a pencil case full of pens and pencils, and a small digital camera.
"I-I-thank you. I mean I-," I stopped talking, took a deep breath and collected my thoughts. "You're gonna have to show me how to use this." I held up the phone.
"It's not that complicated." I stuck my tongue out at him. "Oh I also made Twitter and Instagram accounts for you."
"Instagram is the one where you post pictures right?" He nodded.
"Yep. I followed myself, Alex, Rian and Zack for you on both and you can follow whoever else you want to."
"Ok." The rest of the day was spent with me helping him pack and him helping me figure out how to use my new phone ad IPad.
    I did call Leo that evening, but he didn't want to talk to me. Allison told me he hadn't been doing well since I left. He hadn't been sleeping. I ended up talking wither her for close to three hours. And when she hung up I started to cry. I never even considered how my leaving would affect Leo. The guilt weighed me down and then I got angry at myself for feeling guilty.
I didn't sleep well that night and the next morning it was glaringly obvious. I had bags under my eyes and I kept yawning. It came as no surprise that Jack picked up on it.
"Did you sleep alright? You look exhausted." I shook my head.
"I am." I yawned again and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. Jack frowned.
"I've noticed there's been a few mornings where you've looked exhausted. What's wrong? Why aren't you sleeping?"
"I don't know." I did know, but I wasn't quite ready to divulge all my problems to him just yet. Jack wasn't very satisfied with my answer, but he let it slide. An uncomfortable silence settled over the two of us.
"Well," Jack cleared his throat, "Ready to hit the road?"
"Yeah!" He smiled at my enthusiasm.
"Bring your suitcase out and I'll take it to the car for you." I nodded and ran down the hall. I grabbed the handle of the suitcase and threw my backpack over my shoulder. I met Jack at the door and he took my suitcase from me. I followed him out to the car and got in while he loaded the suitcases. He came and got in.
"Check the glovebox." He told while he got buckled. I popped it open and found a dozen CDs. I pulled them out and looked through. Three were Green Day albums, four were Blink 182, two were New Found Glory, one was All Time Low, one was Panic! At The Disco and the last one was Jimmy Eat World.
"Other than Green Day and All Time Low I've never heard of any of these bands." Jack gasped and pressed a hand over his heart.
"Put in New Found Glory. I need to educate you." I laughed and put in one of the CDs. The first song started and Jack began singing along. We hadn't even pulled out of the driveway. I pulled my camera from my backpack and took a picture of Jack. I decided in that moment that I wanted to remember every detail of that trip and I was going to take as many pictures as I could. I leaned toward Jack and took a picture of the two of us. I looked at the picture and burst out laughing. Neither of us were even in it. I had aimed the camera too high and all I got was the ceiling. I showed Jack and he laughed too. I don't think we could've had a better start to our trip.