Last Kiss Goodbye • Teenage Juice Ortiz

58 - Away From Home

Not edited yet

THE PAST

"You want to sit next to the window?" Juan laid a hand against the small of her back, rubbing it up and down.

June felt so nervous she was wigging out. Quickly she shook her head. "No, you can sit there." She wouldn't dare to look down anyway and the enthusiasm in his voice told her that he did want to see how the city would become smaller and smaller underneath them. 

He lifted up her rolling bag and put it in the overhead compartment; then he wriggled his way to the window seat. June followed, sitting down on the middle seat and shoving her back pack underneath the seat in front of her. 

Juan flipped through the magazines in the pocket of the airplane seat until he had found what movie would be shown. June couldn't even hear what movie it was; she felt so uptight that her hearing seemed to fail. She thought of all the news reports about crashed airplanes. Motorcycle and car accidents were much more common, but an airplane crash was so... definitive; so many people died... A shiver crept down her spine. In a flash she thought about her father, she hadn't spoken to him in a year. Would she regret not having talked to him when –

A warm hand against her cheek turned her face to the side, soft lips greeting hers. Her anxiety slipped away. She leaned into him, allowed his tongue inside her mouth. Jitters spread through her body, tinglings raced across her skin. Her hand glided to his neck as she deepened the kiss. She wanted him closer, she wanted...

Something touched her elbow. Immediately June sat up straight and cocked her head to the right. A portly man had taken the seat next to her. Her cheeks flushed when he muttered an apology. For a moment she had forgotten where they were. Ashamed, her eyes shot to Juan, but he quickly turned his head the other way to hide his smirk. He couldn't care less; kissing in public however was something June still didn't feel comfortable with.

When he managed to keep a straight face again, he pulled his backpack closer and took a card game out of it. "April pushed a pile of games in my hands. You wanna play this one?"

June knew his was only suggesting this to distract her from her nervousness, and she thought it was incredibly sweet. With a nod she agreed, where after she watched how he took the lid of the box and started to shuffle the cards. As her glance wandered across his fingers, she thought back to the day before; when they had glided underneath her shirt, kneading her breasts. Her mouth felt dry and her stomach squinted in a pleasant way. Would he do that again tonight? It had been a while since they had slept in the same bed.

"What is it?" he asked as he caught her glance. 

Again her cheeks turned red. "Nothing. I just think you're sweet."

The words tumbled out of her mouth and a little ashamed she looked away. She sounded like a twelve year old. 

Chuckling softly, he kissed her temple. "I think you're the sweet one."

. . .

June was more than relieved when they were past the airport security. Juan had done his best to distract her, and even though he had succeeded to some extent, there had been a knot in her stomach the whole time.

However, as soon as they neared Arrivals, a new fear arose inside her. The family members she had met up to now had been quite... extreme. What if the same went for his sister? If she was some female version of Mateo? Or a copy of their mother? No – that last option was ruled out. Juan liked her; otherwise they wouldn't have been here. 

On the other hand, he liked Emilio and Mateo too. 

Hand in hand they walked to the waiting crowd. What did Luna think of her coming with Juan? Had she actually looked forward to be reunited with both of her brothers, making a small comfort of June? Her eyes wandered across the different people; some of them raising names written on paper. She hadn't seen any pictures at Juan's place, so she had no idea what Luna looked like. It however didn't take long before a petite girl ran towards them, wrapping her arms around Juan. June wanted to step away from them to give them some space, but Juan didn't let go of her hand and embraced his sister with one arm.