Empty Handed

The Travellers (Chapter Nineteen)

SOTC:
○ Secret Love Song by Little Mix
○ West Coast by Imagine Dragons
○ Dancing with a Stranger by Sam Smith & Normani

MATT
Scott and I were curled up together in my bed. His flight for Anaheim, California was set two hours from now. We had showered together earlier.

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence. Scott was on edge and it was very palpable. Since the accident, he's never been in competition. That's about to change in a few days. I've been trying what little I could to comfort him but I really don't know what to do.

"You okay?" He kissed the top of my head.

"Mm-hmm. Yeah."

"Let's go for some breakfast." I nodded in response.

We walked to the breakfast bar and took separate seats, of course. There was an eerie feeling about the morning.

Lea came in wearing an adidas track suit. Obviously back from her morning jog.

"Hey guys." She said, trying to catch her breath.

"Good morning." Scott and I chorused. A little grumpy on Scott's end though.

"Scott, everything's packed and ready to go?"

"Yeah, I-"

"God help me, if you forget anything Scott, don't call me. The next few days are pretty huge for you. Everyone is on edge and the last thing we need is you forgetting anything."

"I know that!" Scott ran his hands through his hair.

"Just get everything set. Make sure you don't forget anything."

We had breakfast in silence. Scott got up when he was done and made his way to his room. I risked a glance at Lea to find her looking out the window solemnly. Whatever is going on with her is clearly eating her up but she won't open up about it. I wonder if Scott knows.

"So have you gotten in touch with the pilot?" I tried for some small talk.

"What is your goal here Sherlock?" She smirked with her right eyebrow raised.

"Uh, nothing" I feigned innocence.

"On a more serious note, don't think too much about what you saw the other night.
I'm just... d-dealing with some things." She sighed deeply.

"You can talk to me, you know right? I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

"You talk too mature for a boy your age." She smiled sadly.

"Well, I've been through what I'd like to call 'the worst', so..." I had a brief flashback and cringed hard.

"Just push that away, Matt. Don't think about it anymore. You're okay now." She stroked my cheek with her thumb.

"Now, go get ready. We'll leave before Scott for security reasons."

I went upstairs to Scott's room and found him curled up in a corner, crying. I rushed to him and hugged him the best way I could. I didn't say anything, I just hugged him.

"I'm so scared, Matt." He whispered.

"I know... I know. It's gonna be alright."

"W-what if. W-what if when I'm working on my horizontal bar, I fall again? A-and I-I-" He sobbed.

"Shhh... Scott, that won't happen. I'll be there for you every step of the way. Nothing will happen to you. It'll be alright."

"I love you, Matt." I-whoa-umm-wow. Awestruck would be the word to use here.

"You don't have to say it back right now. But I just wanted you to know." I hugged him tighter and kissed him. I felt a single tear run down my face as we kissed. It dawned on me how strong my feelings for this man was.

"I love you too, Scott."

●●●

I helped Scott pack the rest of his things, which turned out to be a lot. We took our suitcases to the garage.

I hugged Scott before he got in his SUV. Lea did the same. Lea and I got in the car. The driver sped off into the day. As expected, reporters flooded the big gate. A lot of them followed our SUV once we got past them.

After five minutes on the road, some cars started going back. Scott's driver must have started making his way to the airport. Thankfully, we'll be driving straight to the hangers.

Lea spent most of the trip looking out the window. She got a couple of phone calls. None of which she answered.

When we got to the hangers, we walked briskly to the private plane and took our seats, waiting for Scott. We were greeted by the plane's staff who seemed very nice.

Scott ran in looking very flustered and out of breath.

"Two of those reporters had passes and were waiting for me to come down from the car. It was crazy. Then, security took them out."

"Well, you have some time to calm down before the real craziness starts." Lea said.

"Hey Scott! Did you really think you were leaving without me?" Someone outside shouted. Scott was startled at first but he clearly recognized who it was so he just laughed.

Kevin Porter came in, with his bubbliness and swagger.

"Morning, Mrs. Foley."

"You and Matt are hellbent on making me old."

"Maaaatt!! Buddy! It's been so long. Where have you been? And Scott, I haven't forgotten how you iced your own best friend out. We haven't hung out in so long." Kevin forced a hug on me and sat right behind Scott and I.

We fastened our seatbelts and put some earbuds in. Scott and Lea fell asleep immediately the plane took off, leaving Kevin and I awake.

"I'm hella bored, Matt. Help me out. You got anything fun on your phone?" He yawned.

"I've got some new movies. Aquaman? And Venom? You into that?"

"Yes! Although I'd pretty much take anything right now."

I unbuckled my seat belt and went over to him. I took the seat next to him and we started watching Aquaman.

Scott woke up when we were thirty minutes into the movie. His head made quick jerks, obviously searching for me. He looked back, right into my eyes. I stared back and smiled.

"You guys are nasty. I can't handle this violence." Kevin broke the spell.

"Matt, can we just finish the movie?"

Scott went back to sleep while Kevin and I finished the movie.

●●●

Just as the end credits were rolling in, the speakers cracked to life

"Lady and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We will be arriving at Anaheim, California shortly. Thank you."

Lea woke up looking sleepy as hell. She fastened her seatbelt, then she got some make-up products out of her bag. She opened the concealer but gave up on using make up. She put everything back and wore huge and very dark sunglasses.

I went to my original position and buckled my seatbelt. I reached over and woke Scott up. I buckled his seatbelt for him, while he just watched me.

We arrived Anaheim, California to a plethora of paparazzi. Thankfully, we had cars waiting for us by the plane. Scott and Kevin got in the same SUV while Lea and I took the same car.

Lea got a favour from a friend so, the hotel we were to stay in was closed down and free from press. Security was pretty high too.

We settled in and got ready for the next day - Qualifications.