Page 60 of Never Too Late

Entering the post code into the sat nav, I notice it will only take forty-five minutes to drive to where we’re heading, it isn’t too far, but it’s long enough to keep Dax guessing.

It also allows me to see more of Wales, driving through the country roads.

It’s different to living in the Midlands where I was last stationed. Instead of being surrounded by buildings and busy roads, I’m now surrounded with open air, fields of green, and the sea. It’s much different than on the fields in Afghanistan. For a few seconds every morning, I feel the need to pinch myself to remember I’m not in a dream and this is real.

This is my life now.

Coming to the slip road noticing a signpost on the road that reads “B4310 to Nantgaredig” I come off, following the brown signs to the National Botanic Garden of Wales. I’m not sure if he has been here before, he hasn’t made any comments during the journey so far so I’m guessing he hasn’t. He sat quietly the whole drive, with his headphones in both ears, zoning out from the world, staring out the window taking in the sights around him. Every chance I got, I turned my head to my left, taking the sight of him in.

Taking my left hand from the wheel, I move it towards his knee, giving it a tight squeeze.

“I think we’re here now, pretty boy,” I say, bringing his attention to the window at the front instead of the side.

A huge glass dome comes into view, taking both of our words away, fields of green surrounding and protecting what’s inside. And I’m convinced I hear him whisper “Wow” no louder than a quiet breath. There’s no time for me to ask if he’s ready to go because as soon as the car is parked up, he’s already climbing out with a smile stretching across his entire face and wide eyes as he looks around.

Fuck, this guy.

If I knew this was all it took to put that look on his face, I’d have brought him much sooner.

But the look on his face right now, is enough to make my chest feel warm. To fill me with butterflies.

“Let’s go, old man,” he shouts, practically running towards the entrance. He’s like a child in a candy store. I’ve never seen him so excited before.

I laugh as I lock the car, making my way towards him.

I’ll let him have that one, he’ll pay for it later.

The gardens are beautiful, and to no surprise, Dax is able to tell me the name of the plant before we get to the signpost about them. He walks around slowly, taking photos on his phone, carefully inspecting each plant and explaining why they are the colour they are and what their purpose is. He’s already teaching me everything there is to know about them. I learnt at the start of our relationship about things he had a special interest in, music and flowers being the two things he hyperfixates on. Learning the amount of information he knows about both was effortless for him, it was almost as though he was born already knowing what he knows. It’s amazing really, seeing just how his mind processes and stores away information, which I couldn’t even remember half of if I tried.

Everything about him is fascinating.

We’ve been walking around the grounds now for three hours and I can hear my stomach rumbling. However, he hasn’t shown any sign of feeling uncomfortable or mentioned being hungry, so I’ve allowed him to enjoy himself, not wanting to ruin any fun he’s having.

“I’m getting kinda hungry now, are you?” he mentions.

Fucking. Finally.

With him taking longer than I thought he would on the phone with Tyler earlier, I managed to prepare a picnic and slip it in the car with a blanket without him realising. He’s not the best when it comes to food and I’d rather him eat. So, I made sure to pack all his favourite snacks and some leftover sushi from dinner last night for the both of us.

“I actually have stuff in the car, are you ready to head out? We can sit on the grass and eat before we drive back. If you want to stay here a little bit longer though, don’t worry. It’s all your call today.” I tuck the strand of hair that’s fallen out of his hair tie behind his ear before kissing his nose.

“No, I think I’m ready to leave. If we don’t go now, I won’t want to leave at all,” he sighs. “Today has been perfect, thank you so much for bringing me here. I can’t believe I haven’t come sooner.”

“We can come back whenever you want to, just say the word.”

He takes my hand in his, looking up at me with as much admiration as he has with the flowers the past few hours. With love. And we slowly make our way towards the car.

Chapter thirty-five

Jae

“You know what scares me the most? The idea of not having you anymore. I hate that I think about it sometimes. I don’t want to. But sometimes I feel like I have to prepare myself in case one day I do.”

I look to my side, admiring the look on Dax’s face as he softly snores in the passenger seat as we drive down the road. He’s managed to get more sleep recently, but it still isn’t enough. I don’t have enough fingers to count on both hands the number of times I find him awake in the middle of the night, staring out the window, looking into the sky.

What’s going on in that head of yours, beautiful?

Since he has been staying at my house the last few days, I’ve taken him to and from work – I know he’ll be missing his bike and the freedom it gave him, so on the way home, I make a pit stop to pick it up. My car isn’t as big as Tyler’s, but he assured me he’d be able to get the bike onto it somehow and said if he couldn’t he’d come drop it off himself.

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