ғʀᴏᴍ ᴘᴏʀᴛʟᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟ.ᴀ. » ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟ sᴇᴀᴠᴇʏ

Chapter Thirty-Two

Sunday, September 30, 2018

I stretch my arms above my head to the compartment above the airplane seats, laughing at myself as I realize that two months later, I'm still not tall enough to reach the area where I need to place my bag.

My heart pumps rapidly in my chest when arms wrap around my waist from behind. Daniel nuzzles his face into my neck.

"Having trouble, shorty?" he whispers in my ear.

I can just hear him grinning because this is where and when the nickname came about after all.

I hold back a bubbly bit of laughter myself as I reach back and smack him playfully.

About a minute later, we're settled in our seats.

He takes my right hand in his left and sends me a look that conveys he's asking me for permission. Intertwining our fingers is my answer.

"Do you remember the last time we were on an airplane together and I accidentally grabbed your hand during takeoff and I was absolutely mortified?" I say, amusement evident in my voice, even though it was anything but funny then.

"Yes," he says, chuckling, "You blushed for minutes; it was adorable."

"You're adorable," I say.

Another light laugh escapes his mouth as he leans over and presses his lips to my temple.

"You're beautiful. And mine," he says, after he pulls away.

A voice from the aisle draws our undivided attention away from each other.

"You guys are disgusting," Jack says, looking at us curled up against each other. Daniel scoffs at him and he laughs.

"I'm just kidding," he says as he makes his way into the row behind us. "Kind of. I'm honestly just glad that you two are finally together."

"I'll second that," Corbyn says as he closes the overhead bin he was placing his belongings in.

"I agree," Jonah says, walking down the aisle towards us.

"What're you talking about?!" Zach calls from the front of the plane since he just got on.

I grin, shake my head at the scene the younger boy is making, and am grateful that we are some of the first onboard.

I look out the window as I hold the hand of my... boyfriend.

God, how is this my life? You bless me continuously. Thank you.

Before I know it, the airplane is lifting off the runway and heading to New York where tour anxiously awaits our arrival.

***

Looking around the car is enough to make me laugh.

The boys and I landed in New York about an hour ago, and now we're being transported to the hotel we will be staying at the night before our first show.

The vehicle booms with deafening sound- music. The boys' music to be exact. Our driver keeps glancing in his rearview mirror, grinning at the five of them bouncing around in their seats and singing their hearts out in horrible renditions of what the songs actually sound like.

I turn my head to the streets of New York outside, so similar, yet so different from those in L.A.

The car ride is a long one because the venue we will be performing at tomorrow night is far from the airport, hence, our hotel is far from the airport as well. This gives me plenty of time for my thoughts to wander to my mom.

Her house is so far away from the venue, but tonight and tomorrow will honestly be the closest I've been to her in over a year. I am astonished that that doesn't make my heart ache like it used to.

I'm not prepared for the sight that rolls into my view as I stare out the window.

I didn't realize we would be so close to it, let alone pass it while we're here in the state.

Kither University sits like a beacon of glass and beauty on the hill in the distance, gleaming in the sunlight and milling with students walking across the grounds of the campus, preparing for the second semester to begin.

That could have been you... but it's not.

I discover that I want to be in this car, passing the school with no strings attached, leaving it behind as exactly what it is- a building.

I feel a rush of closure fall over me as the sight disappears. I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding, and while I do that, I let go of Kither forever.

I turn back so I'm facing forward in my seat.

Looking to my right, I see that all of the boys are still partying in their own little world, oblivious to the site we just left behind. All expect Daniel, who must have noticed because he is watching my expression for possible traces of hurt or regret.

I smile and grab his hand, giving him a small, assuring nod.

My gaze returns to outside the window.

Two of the homes I've always dreamed of being mine are here in New York, one being my mom, and the other being Kither, both disappointing and unreliable and simply not mine.

My home does not lie in New York with my mom or a school.

My home lies within the heart of the boy I met in Portland and fell in love with in L.A.