Jack let her sleep, and worked an arm around her shoulders gently, pulling her against him and rested his head against the top of hers. God, he adored her. How had he managed anything without her before? Look at him, on a bus, surrounded by people he didn’t know, going home again for the first time in a year. With his girlfriend. He never thought he’d have one, and yet here she was, in his arms, so beautiful and so wonderful for him.
He let his eyes shut too, lulled to sleep by her presence and the gentle motion of the bus, and is soon fast asleep as well.
She was floating on a wonderful cloud of happiness in her dream, laughter filling her mind as she ran around a huge field, Jack chasing after her and laughing with her, the rays of the sun on their backs.
It filled her with such warmth yet when the bus made a powerful lurch, Katelynn opened her eyes quickly, sitting up straight and looking out the window, the scenery outside unfamiliar to her eyes.
Are we almost there? she wondered, checking her cell phone for the time. They had managed to nap for a few hours and Katelynn felt a bit more refreshed, stretching back against the seat to wake up properly.
She looked over at Jack, seeing his wonderful face and reached over to barely trace a finger across his brow, memorizing every shape of his face.
“I love you..” she whispered gently, letting him sleep. She turned back to look out the window, waiting for their stop and wondering how much longer.
She couldn’t wait to reach his home.
He eventually awoke, and luckily he did since the next stop was theirs. Jack notified the bus driver thanks to a buzzer built into each seat. It wasn’t another half an hour though.
When the bus finally stopped the two got off, and the bus driver retrieved their bags from the carrier. Handing the bags over he wished them a happy new year, and got back onto the bus. Jack stood back as the bus started, and drove away.
They were in a great field, some of the snow had melted out here, so there were patches of green. The trees were giants, like Jack said they would be. He pauses and takes in a deep breath, before looking around at his surroundings, before back at Katelynn.
“This is Elmer’s Drive.” he explains. “It hasn’t changed in a year. Now,” Jack adjusts his rucksack on his back. “we’re going to cut across Anderson’s field itself to get to my house.”
Jack Maple 