Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

003. new beginnings

› CHAPTER THREE ‹

Raleigh slid his finger over the cancel call button once again that morning as another UNKNOWN call lit up his phone. Throughout the late evening and all this morning, while he double-checked his suitcase, his phone had been blowing up with calls. Eventually, it resulted in him having to turn his phone on silent since he couldn't block unknown callers and he wanted his phone on in case Peter, Ned, or Happy needed him suddenly. He was certain Trystan was getting suspicious of who was draining his phone's batters, but he didn't ask about it as he drove them to the airport. 

They both had other things on their mind then the unknown caller. Like, how was Raleigh going to fare during the trip? More importantly, how was he going to handle being in an enclosed plane 35,000 feet in the air? Both feared his powers slipping out if he fell asleep, but Raleigh tried to pretend that it wasn't a problem. After all, as far as Trystan knew, he hadn't had a nightmare or night terror in a few weeks; and he had gotten better at managing his powers. 

Raleigh's passport sat on his lap, where he nervously ran his fingernails over the plastic covering. His mind was racing with the what-ifs and even more so about what will happen during this vacation. He's never had a proper vacation before. His second adopted mother and father went to Florida back when he was still a baby, so he doesn't remember anything about it or if it was enjoyable. As far as he knew, neither of his friends had been on vacation either. Ned talked about how he once went to another part in New York with his family, but he was just visiting family for a day or two. They agreed that wasn't a real vacation.

He hoped this vacation would be the break he needed and a time to fix the awkward air that surrounded him and Peter.

Trystan pulled into John F. Kennedy International Airport and Raleigh closed his eyes while letting out a dramatic silent sigh. The man maneuvered through the heavy traffic in the parking lot and pulled up to a parking lot a few meters from the front entrance. People, young and old, were rushing in and out of the building, dragging their large luggage behind them and calling for their friends and family to keep up. It was a hectic mess and they both knew the inside would be worse.

Raleigh stayed planted in his seat as Trystan got to work hauling his luggage out of the car's trunk. His eyes lingered on the side-view mirror, watching his adopted guardian, and the people behind him, head to the many entrance doors of the airport. Though he wasn't really focused on them since his mind was exhausted from last night. Due to the nerves for this day and the near flashback yesterday evening, his subconscious thoughts had been active and kept him awake for most of the night. The few hours of sleep he got had been hell, all of them lingering with bad dreams, that would then strike him awake.

The trunk slammed shut and Raleigh flinched. He rolled his eyes back to Trystan, who was patiently waiting between his car and the van beside him with Raleigh's luggage sitting beside him and his backpack in his hand. With one last calming breath, Raleigh finally shuffled out of the car and took his backpack while Trystan carried his luggage. They headed towards the front entrance.