I'd like to think that I wake up, snuggling next to Jackson or something in the lines of that. Instead, I wake up cuddling a tyre.

"What the..."

I jerk away and look for Jackson.

He's not here... Confused and with a killer headache, I stick my head out of the tent. I feel like the dead and there Jackson is, packing Betty like he has all the joy in the world inside of him. Jackson hears me and turns around. "Ah, the walking dead is awake. How's that head of yours?" he asks with a stupid grin on his stupid face.

I growl.

"Here, drink this," Jackson says and hands me a bottle of water and a pill.

I gulp it down and swallow like my life depends on it. After another breath, I drag myself further out of the tent.

"Am I getting a thank you?"

Growl.

"Are you going to be grumpy?"

Growl.

"Have you forgotten to speak?"

Growl.

Jackson sighs and continues packing Betty. "What do you remember from last night?" he asks. I rake my brain for anything, but I come out empty handed.

"I had a death battle with a bear?" I try. My throat is raspy and sore. Did I yell or something?

"It wasn't a death battle. You yelled at the bear and then he walked away."

"Why did I wake up with a tyre?"

"Don't you remember anything from last night?"

"It'll come to me in a moment."

Jackson chuckles and grabs the tyre from the tent. He puts it back in Betty's boot and then comes back to roll the sleeping bags.

"After we drank our hot chocolate, you insisted on having a proper cheers and demanded that I find alcohol somewhere. I told you I had a bottle of brandy, because I'm prepared for anything unlike you, and you told me to bring it. I fetched it and then we played a game of 'never have I ever'. We we're neck on neck, but after I said, 'never have I ever played tug of war with a bear', you basically downed the bottle.

"After that, everything went to shit. I was pretty drunk myself, but I don't think you've ever really drank that much before, so you, my dear, went crazy. You told me at one point I was hot, I agreed, and then you said you changed your mind and I said you can't do that and then you grabbed my arm and we ran through the woods. We got at a river and you said we should skinny dip..."

Oh my God.

Jackson smirks at my grave expression and continues the story, "I told you, you're going to regret it. And then you got all aggressive and told me not to assume what you'd be and then... you started stripping and don't look at me like that, I looked away! But we did end up skinny dipping though..."

I want to jump in a grave and never come out again.

Jackson continues, "Then, you heard something and yelled that the bear is back for round two. I told you it was just a bird and you ran back to the campsite butt-naked. I grabbed your clothes and ran after you and fortunately you put your clothes back on when I asked for the hundredth time.

"At the end of it all, I said you should go sleep and you got all deep and told me you've been sleeping your whole life and I said I'm going to go sleep, so you insisted that you should sleep too. But before we slept, you demanded that Betty sleep with us. I tried to explain that the Jeep can't fit in the tent with us, so you went to fetch her spare tyre and here we are," Jackson ends off with.

"I'm mortified," I say.

"You should be."

"Nobody must know..."

"I'll take it to my grave," Jackson laughs.

I help him pack the rest of the things and when Betty is loaded and ready to go, I start to feel a little sad. Today we have to go back home... Back to the real world...

"What's wrong?" Jackson asks.

"I don't want it to be over..." I admit.

"It's not over, we still have to do another task on the bucket list! Then we go home," Jackson counters with a cheerful smile. I marvel at those dimples he has and how bright his blue/green river eyes always are.

Right.

With the tent folded and everything in the jeep, I give the little campsite one last look before we climb into Betty and make our way to where Jackson plans on completing our task. Here's no signal, meaning we can't listen to the radio, but I'm still trying to work my headache off, so I don't really mind much.

We drive for half an hour before we stop at a dead end.

"You ready for number six on the bucket list?" Jackson asks.

"Remind me what that is again?"

"Put on your bikini, I'll get the ropes and meet you there," Jackson says, pointing to a path through the trees.

"That sounds very kinky, Jackson. Are you trying to seduce me?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Jackson leaves with a laugh.

I shake my head and then ravage through my bag for my bikini. Black or red? The black bikini is plain and practical, but the red one... I don't think I've ever attempted to climb into the network of straps and gaps. It's very sexy though...

I take the black one.

When I'm dressed and blushing like a tomato, I make my way to Jackson. Thank God I shaved!

I head through the little path and whack branches away that's blocking my path. Barefoot, I wince at stepping on a stick every few seconds and that only results in more branches snapping towards my face. When I finally fight my way through the path, my insides freeze as I spot Jackson... Standing at the edge of a cliff... With ropes...

Now I really know he wants to kill me!

"You took forever," Jackson complains when he hears me.

"Jump off a very high cliff without the ability to swim..." I breathe...

"Any headlines going through your mind?"

"I have a few."

"Trust me," Jackson says.

I want to be brave. To smirk and tell him, I've got this, but... I take a step closer to the edge. That's quite a fall...

"I thought you weren't afraid of death. Are you starting to like life, Danny?" Jackson asks like the cocky bastard he is.

"Don't call me Danny," I grumble. The mock however triggers my instinct to prove a point. Looking a lot more confident than I actually am, I walk over to Jackson. "Do your worst," I say and regret it immediately.

I'm crazy, I'm crazy, I'm crazy, I'mcrazy,I'mcrazy,Imcay,Icry,IczIr...

Jackson raises his eyebrows in surprise and crouches down with the ropes to start tying my legs together. He keeps my arms free and helps me hop to the edge. I pear down at my possible death. I know my legs have to be tied, because the bucket list specifically said I have to jump without the ability to swim. But damn, it makes it so much worse.

Cliff, edge, water, dark water, rocks, death...

Trust me, Jackson said.

I do.

But I also trust in gravity to get my splattered or that dark water to hold the Lockness Monster.

"On the count of three, jump over there. You have to jump there. A little to the right or left might let this end differently..."

"Uh-huh."

The air leaves my lungs and my heart beats so fast it's going to explode out of my chest. It actually starts to hurt.

Sure, I've written this scene. I let Adara jump off a cliff in my first book and I thought I knew what it felt like through her, but I really have no idea. I didn't mention the adrenaline and the fact that I'm not brave at all. I didn't mention that it feels like you have to pee and that you have this irrational fear that you'll be blown into the sharp-looking rocks.

"Three..." Jackson starts.

I'm going to die.

"Two..."

It's going to hurt.

"One..."

I don't move.

"I'll buy you pancakes," Jackson offers.

I jump without a second thought.

Falling, is not years of air under you and the feeling that your flying. There's no time for deep thoughts about what it could mean. There's really only one thing that goes through your head:

Shit, shit, shit. There's no going back. Shit, shit, shit.

Water.

My legs are tied together so when I penetrate the lake like a bullet, I can't kick my way to the surface. The long fall really has me deep in the water and I can't reach the surface fast enough by just flapping my arms. I forgot to suck in air and suddenly feel like my lungs are going to explode.

Not like this, not like this. I'm going to drown!

Something hits the water and there's an explosion of bubbles. I turn and find Jackson grinning at me under water. His hair floats around him like he's some sort of god of the sea. Aquaman indeed.

He grabs my waist with one arm and helps me swim to the surface with the other.

I break the surface and gulp in air like there's no tomorrow. Jackson keeps us floating and our eyes lock. I can't look away.

Kiss him.

I don't.

"I did it," I say.

"Yes you did," Jackson grins as he swims to keep us above water.

"I want those pancakes, though," I grumble.

"You'll get them."

"This was crazy."

"The best things in life are," Jackson replies and swims us to land.

He helps me out of my bonds before jumping back in the water and wading around. I take a moment to just look at everything. The infinite blue of the lake and the unlimited green that surrounds it. The sun makes the surface of the water glitter. Feeling like I can't let Jackson have all the fun, I dive in after him and we swim together.

This might actually be the best day of my life.

Any day with Jackson is the best day of your life, a voice whispers to me.

Jackson really is Mister Perfect. He's headboy, rugby captain, the smartest kid in our school and probably the only person that can raise someone from the dead.

We swim and splash around for what feels like an infinite three-hours, before we climb out. Our towels are at Betty and Betty is all the way up the cliff. Fortunately, the sun keeps us warm and dries us within no time. We hike in our swimwear and I can't help noticing Jackson's abs.

God, he's hot.

I stare down at my own body and notice that I picked up some weight. The good kind. Gone are the days where I'm too bony and my ribs are showing.

"You look good," Jackson comments.

I whip my head to him, "What?"

"You look good," Jackson repeats and my face turns crimson.

"You don't burn my eyes either," I reply.

Idiot, he knows he's hot. He can have any girl he wants!

"Your compliments seize to amaze me," Jackson says through a smile while shaking is head.

"I live to amaze," I declare.

"But clearly not to hike," Jackson mumbles.

"Excuse me?"

"You're slowing us down"

"I thought this was the pace!"

"This is almost walking backwards. By this rate we'll never get to Betty before sundown," Jackson says. My jaw falls open. He's seriously blaming our pace on me? I start to speed-walk. "Danny, now you're going too fast. You'll never last like that," Jackson laughs behind me.

"Don't call me Danny and keep up," I growl.

I get to Betty in one piece. Barely.

"Water..." I heave, "Now..." 

Jackson laughs at me and grabs water from the cooler. He chucks it at me, but I can't lift my hand to catch it. It hits my stomach and sends me tumbling.

I stay sprawled on the ground.

Jackson walks over to me and pears down. "Are you dead?" he asks.

"On the inside..."

"You're dramatic."

I heave in more air.

Jackson rolls his eyes and helps me into Betty. I down the water and regret drinking it so fast afterwards when my belly stretches. I pull on my shorts and a loose top while Jackson reverses away from the dead end. When we get to the road, Jackson floors the pedal and we're racing home.

"This was fun," I state when I have enough air again.

"It was," Jackson agrees.

"What was your favorite part of the trip?" I ask.

"Probably when you yelled at a bear," Jackson says with a chortle.

"How are you always so cool? I'm constantly the one with embarrassing memories while you laugh through everything," I grumble.

"Are you sulking?"

"I have the right."

Jackson grins and we get to the coast after a while. The sun is slowly, but surely crawling it's way to the horizon. "You ready for tomorrow?" Jackson asks.

"What happens tomorrow?"

"It's the farewell dance, Danny."

Oh... Right...

"And, it's also when our bet ends. Or whatever you call it. Remember? I told you that I can teach you how to live by the end of the farewell dance," Jackson says. I've almost forgotten about that to be honest.

"I remember," I answer.

"I still have to ask Scott to take Megan to the dance instead..." Jackson remarks, he looks ahead at the road as always, but I don't miss the look in his eyes.

Something foreign inside me wakes up. "No..." I breathe.

"What?" Jackson asks and spares a glance to me.

"Go with Megan to the dance," I say, "She needs it more than I do..."

Jackson turns to me and there's something in river his eyes. Pride? "I'll ask Scott to go with you," Jackson offers.

"Nah, it's okay. I can go on my own."

That foreign feeling inside purrs at the idea. I'm... I'm actually proud of myself as well... As little as I want to admit it, I'm a selfish person. It's who I am. But not anymore. I don't want to think just about myself. I want to consider other people.

"Well, if you're going alone, you'll need a killer-outfit," Jackson points out.

Uh-oh...

"I don't have anything to wear! It's on the bucket list and I have nothing to wear! How am I going to win best dressed if I don't have anything to wear?" I rant. I'm such an idiot!

"Don't worry, I have you sorted. Consider it an... early Christmas present. Christmas is only twenty-one days away in anyway," Jackson says.

"No... you did not buy me a dress..."

"You're actually right. I didn't buy you a dress. I bought you material and got a great designer to make you the dress I had in mind," Jackson admits.

"That must have costed a fortune!"

"Not really. The designer insisted that it should be free, and the material wasn't as bad."

I go all warm at fuzzy. "Jackson, you're too good for me," I say without thinking.

"I know," he says with a cocky smirk.

We drive the rest of the way with Jackson's Queen CD blasting through the speakers. At one point, Jackson skips all the way to Save Me. And we both sing like crazy when the chorus hits.

"Saaaave me! Saaaave me! Saaaaaaaave meeeee! I can't face this liiiiiiiife aloooooone!"

I sing those lyrics at the top of my lungs, not because I'm tone-death and I want to destroy Jackson's ears or because it's my favorite Queen song.

I sing it, because I'm really begging Jackson to save me.

Jackson is changing me and there's a part inside of me that doesn't want to face life alone. I want to face it with him. This boy, that so desperately wants to save me.

And suddenly I feel like that cliff is in fact not the biggest jump of my life.

Heyo golden cabbages!

AwwWwwWWw this chapter. I hope things are looking better.

Dat character growth tho. Feel free to comment whenever you spot it.

Please remember to vote! I love ya'll! Stay golden, stay cabbage!

~ Holly Shmit