𝓣𝐎 𝓣𝐇𝐄 𝓜𝐎𝐎𝐍 | 𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙

xxii. airport security

it was about 5:05am by the time i arrived at the airport and stood at nick's terminal. i walked back and forth against the white tile of the american flight gate since i knew nick would land any minute now. as i continued scanning the not so busy airport, i watched strangers walk out of the gate with various amounts of luggage. i froze as i stood there with my phone in hand, observing every individual that left the houston flight whilst waiting for a specific texan that i have never met in person. since i didn't locate nick, i sighed heavily before grabbing my phone from george's hoodie pocket in front of me. as i began to unlock my phone in my hand, i opened nick and i's text messages to ensure that i didn't miss a text from him.

text messages (23)
annoying texan (nick/sapnap)

annoying texan
just arrived at the coastal airport in the islands, my last layover! i should be in brighton in 2 hours!

angel
alright :) text me when you land!
read at 2:18am

i sighed as i closed my phone out of defeat, no updates from nick for the past 3 hours. as i slouched my shoulders and put my phone back into the hoodie pocket, i felt my hands accumulate sweat from nervousness. i soon came to the realization that i was nervous to meet nick, since i have never been in a situation where i'm greeting someone i randomly met online. as i rubbed my clammy palms against my black leggings, i felt something lightly tap my right shoulder. i turned my head swiftly to the foreign touch to see a light, fluffy brown haired boy in front of me. as i analyzed his thick eyebrows and slight stubble on this chin, i threw my arms up to embrace him.

"nick! you're here!" i exclaimed as i wrapped my arms around his neck.

i heard him let out a light chuckle before he hugged me and patted by back in response, "hi angel! holy, your accent is thicker in person," nick commented as he pulled away from our friendly embrace.

i knit my eyebrows together and rolled my eyes playfully before remarking, "well, your american accent sucks... and at least i'm not a cowboy!"

nick let out a hearty laugh in response. i smiled at up him before i watched his eyes divert downward. "george's girlfriend repping his own merch? pog," nick quipped with a warm smile. it was heartwarming to see nick flash his teeth. i knew that he never smiled that much online when he's on camera, but nick tends to be a smiley individual in person which was nice.

"pog?" i quizzed as i raised an eyebrow. i stood beside nick for less than five minutes and this american was already using foreign slang that i didn't know.

nick began to chuckle once again before he pat me on the top of my head, almost as if i was a child. "yes, pog. it's like a term that expresses excitement, or like 'that's cool,'" the texan elaborated as he pulled his roller luggage closer to him.

"uh, huh. whatever gamer boy," i scoffed as i rolled my eyes playfully.

"hey! you're dating a gamer boy! that makes you entitled to not make fun of me," nick chanted as he pat my head once again.

as we both filled the airport terminal with laughter, i thoroughly enjoyed having nick's presence on this early morning. even though i have been up for the past 20 hours and yearning for sleep, i felt lively when i was around the american. between stifled laughs, i chimed, "okay, okay. clay doesn't land for another two hours. are you hungry?"

"i'm absolutely starving. i've been traveling for like 46 hours. nothing but crappy airport food has filled my stomach," nick bellowed with a frown as he tapped his palm against his stomach.