In for the win

Chapter 21

AMARA

If he's late, I will literally kill him. It's 10:02am, and he's still not here. Ethan had talked me out of going so early to the airport and I met him in the middle going for 10 instead of 9am. And right now, he was currently two minutes late, no wait three now. I tapped impatiently my foot on the pavement, holding tight to my scarf that was menacing to fly away at the slightest gust of wind. I suddenly heard his car pulling over in the street, and walked actively towards it. I opened the passenger door and stepped inside. "You're late Crawford." I hissed, throwing my bag on the back seat. "Good morning to you too." I don't even let him finish his sentence and snap at him. "We can't miss the flight." "Geez relax. The only reason I was -what- four minutes late is because I stopped at that bakery you love. Remember ? You told me about it like a month ago, you used to go there every morning before your exams because it made you calm down. Turns out it was more popular than I thought it was because I waited ten minutes in line." He said handing me a paper bag. "I bought you a chocolate croissant." Oh. He remembered. I had talked to him about this bakery like an eternity ago and he had remembered? I actually felt bad for reacting the way I did. "That's actually pretty sweet. Thanks." "I'm not some kind of monster Amara. I actually listen when you talk, you know that?" He chuckled, taking a huge bite of his croissant. I glared at him whilst he took another one. "What are you waiting for? Let's go. Buckle up. We don't want to miss our flight, don't we?" He teased, his eyes pointing in the direction of my seatbelt that I hadn't strapped on yet. "Oh, yeah." I mumbled, hiding the fact that I had started to blush with the napkin he had given me. He drove off the street to my apartment and I opened the bakery bag. As I was expecting, a soft, warm scent tingled my nostrils, giving me a sensation of absolute fulfilment. I took a bite, and all of the stress from the weekend, just flew away. I finished it in one go and rested my head on the headrest. I turned to look at Ethan, that was focused on the busy highway. I watched as his eyes stayed straight in front of him, focusing completely on the road in front of him, as him strong arms grabbed the steering wheel and the grey T-shirt he was wearing hugged his body perfectly. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he spoke. "You can stop drooling now Amara." He said in an amused tone. I quickly turned my head away from him and looked awkwardly outside the window. "You have a crumb on your cheek by the way." He spoke in the same amused tone. "Ur- thanks." I awkwardly muttered, wiping the crumb away with the back of my jumper sleeve. "Want to stop for coffee? There's a Starbucks thirty meters away?" "Yeah, sure." As if coffee was going to cure the terribly embarrassing atmosphere that reigned in the car. But one could always wish.

—

"Hey, Pres, we're here." I heard someone whisper in my ear. "Candace, back off." I said, pushing the face away from me, my eyes still closed, and my head still in my dream. "Uhm, this isn't Candace." I instantly opened my eyes. "Where are we?" I exclaimed, looking around me. "At the airport. Are you alright Amara?" Ethan giggled, touching my elbow slightly. My elbow twitched under his touch as if it had been struck by lightning. What was going on with me? First the drooling incident, and now this? "Oh yeah, the airport of course. Because we're going to my parents. Together. As a make belief couple." I uttered, my voice shaky. "Wait what?" Whoops. I might have forgotten to tell something rather important to Ethan concerning our trip. "Erm, well. How do I say this. When I told my mom you were coming, she asked if we were together, and I freaked out so I said yes. I'm so sorry I know I shouldn't have, or I should've least told you. And if you don't want to come i would totally understand. It's just that-" Ethan grabbed my hand gently and smiled. "It's alright. I'll come with you, whatever happens I'm not going to let you down. Plus, I could totally play the part of the picture perfect boyfriend." He chucked, releasing my hand of his grasp. "Okay. But if we want to do this, I'm going to have to prep you about my family, and everything that goes with it. Ready to play Preston-Family Trivia?" "I'm always ready to play Amara, you know that."

—

"Okay gate B34 her we are!" I say to Ethan, as he's walking behind me. He's been looking a bit stressed since we passed security, but I couldn't blame him. He was going to embark in the worst weekend of his life. I sat down on a chair at the gate and checked my phone. "Okay, we've got time. Boarding's in 45 minutes." I say mostly to myself, proud that we made it in time. At least something was going to go well with this fucking weekend. "I propose we go over the questions one more time Ethan. You know, check the story and stuff." I could hear his eyes rolling. "Amara, seriously? We've been over them god knows how many times. I think we'll be just fine." "Please." "Amara, I-" "Pretty please?" "Ugh fine." Ha. I win. "So how did we meet?" I ask him. "We met at a match. You were accompanying Monica and as she was talking to her boyfriend, I came, and we talked. Next I invited you over for a drink, and we spent the night talking." He responded in an emotionless tone, as if he had been repeating the same lie over and over. "Good. Now important things you need to know about me." "You're 21, you're a libra, you love coffee but with milk, you hate people that don't walk fast, you have no siblings, but loads of cousin, you claim your dream is to be a professional volleyball player, but in fact, your dream is to visit the world. You broke your right arm twice back to back when you were twelve and it was the worst time of your life. Your claim your favourite colour is blue, when in fact it's yellow. Your say that your favourite movie is Mission Impossible because you're too embarrassed to admit that you're a huge grease fan. Do you want me to go on?" "How did you even?" I let out surprised. "I did my own little research Preston. I told you, I'm not going to let you down. I promise." He says, giving me a subtle wink. Those last two words passed through me like a zap. I promise. I smiled as he turned his head down to his phone, and put on his earphones.

—

"Seat 24A and 24B." I say, pointing with my elbow to the seats next to us. Ethan helps me to carry my suitcase and places it on the top cabin. I try not to stare as his biceps contracting under the effect of his movement as he pushes my bag on top of him. I make my way through the little alley and sit down next to the window. I've always loved having the window seat. Seeing the clouds and everything else soothed me. Ethan sat down next to me looking quite alarmed. "Everything alright?" I ask him, slightly nudging his arm. He nods and quietly crosses his arm. What was up with him? He had been acting weird and I didn't like it. "Ethan seriously? What's up with you?" I didn't have time to finish my sentence when the aircraft started moving. I could now see fear inside Ethan's eyes. "Ethan?" I asked again. "Uhm, I don't know if this is the best time to tell you this, but I'm absolutely terrified of taking the plane." He muttered, holding on to dear life to his seatbelt. Oh. I wasn't expecting that. "You're afraid of taking the plane?" I whispered gently. "Yes. Flying creeps me out. Especially takeoff and landing. It's a me thing." "Are you going to be fine?" "Yeah. I'll be alright." He responded in a confident voice that still betrayed his visible fear. "Do you want to hold my hand?" I asked sweetly. "I wouldn't mind it." He replied, still in the same tone. "Okay. You know, you don't have to act tough all the time around me. I understand that you're afraid, just let me help you." I grab his hand and clasp it in mine, squeezing it tightly. "You'll be just fine, I promise." I then whispered in his ear, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Okay then." He sighed, relaxing his shoulder the best he could as the plane accelerated.