Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

I Don't Want To Be Alone

Hunter's POV

Jill sat besides me on the plane. Not a word had been said since we boarded, as every minute passed I felt everything good slip away further and further. Though I didn't try and save it all, I just watched as it left. Maybe that had been the first mistake but I didn't have the energy to try anymore; after all, I'd tried for years and I was now left unloved and injured.

Suddenly I felt the plane jolt from side to side, up and down. At first, it really didn't bother me, nose diving into the ocean and drowning didn't seem like such a bad idea at the time. Though my stomach dropped slightly when I saw Jill next to me, fists tightly shut and anxiously muttering to herself.

I gulped, not wanting to talk but more of me, didn't want Jill to feel alone. Afterall, if we did die, it would be nicer to die together, "You can hold my hand, if you want," I quietly offered.

Jill didn't reply, she didn't even look in my direction, which puzzled me slightly but then I felt her grab my hand. A gesture which I'd technically began but it would always catch me slightly off guard, somehow Jill still seeped through the bandage I'd tried to hide my pain under. 

After the turbulence had come to and end, Jill's grip on my hand softened slightly, though she didn't let go. If anything, she just intertwined our fingers further. My breath caught in my throat slightly.

"Thanks," Jill nervously laughed, "Something I need to get over."

'Something I need to get over'. I almost chuckled, it was a phrase I'd heard so many times before yet saying it never helped. I hadn't found anything which helped actually.

I shrugged, "Everyone has their things."

Jill seemed intrigued by my response, not the reaction which I'd hoped for, "And what's yours?" She asked, her words trailing off like the start of some epic story. Like I was supposed to talk about this heroic backstory which raised me up onto a podium after slaying dragons and saving cities.
But it was a very different story which came to mind. One that I'd never fully explained, one that I never would. 

"Right now it's this stupid injury," I scoffed.

"No," Jill playfully challenged me, "There must be something more."

I shook my head, "Perhaps there is, perhaps there isn't. Maybe you'll never know Roord."

"Ouch," Jill remarked teasingly, "What happened to Jilly?"

I huffed, "Things have changed," I responded sarcastically though Jill didn't quite understand this and looked rather beat up about it, "I'm just kidding, you know that right?"

"Ohh," Jill nodded, now smiling, "I get it now. It's that weird thing you do, when you say something and mean the opposite."

Even if Jill had just been explaining the concept of sarcasm to me, I think she'd also summed up quite a lot of my responses in life. 

"It's not weird," I fought back rather tiredly.

"No?" Jill questioned. 

"It's funny," I explained, "In England, everyone loves sarcasm."

"You'll need to teach me then," Jill seemed to move slightly closer to me, though perhaps that was just my mind only realizing the closeness of our faces. 

I nodded, "maybe," I whispered, not pulling my eyes from hers.

It was already dark when we landed back in London, though Joe seemed pretty insistent on doing the tests straight away. So we were picked up and driven to the hospital, some people from Arsenal meeting us there.