Garden | j. green

035

"Ion know. You look pretty good." Jalen said, sitting up and leaning forward for a kiss.

Noelani smiled and leaned forward to press her lips against his for a minute.

Turbulence caused the plane to shake as it continued to descend.

"Oh, shit." Noelani whispered.

"We're almost there. Just breathe." Jalen kissed her forehead as the plane dropped a couple more feet.

Noelani's stomach flipped and she closed her eyes as the plane got closer to the ground.

"Look, you can see Oahu." Jalen nudged her.

Noelani looked out the window to where he had gestured and grinned at the sight of a lush green and rocky island surrounded by sparkling cobalt blue water.

As the plane got closer, Noelani could start to make out certain geographical points.

The Ko'olau Mountain Range was sticking out on the eastern side of the island, a couple of miles away from the Honolulu International Airport.

The plane made its final drop onto the jet runway and Noelani let out a deep sigh of relief.

Passengers sitting in the rows placed in front of the couple began to gradually stand up and collect their bags from the overhead bin.

Noelani nodded at her boyfriend, "You should probably take off that hoodie. It's gonna be hella hot while we're here."

Jalen tossed off his hoodie for Noelani to hold then continued to pull out both of their medium sized suitcases.

Noelani followed Jalen off of the plane into the airport, with platinum tiles and bright fluorescent lights.

Noelani let Jalen lace their hands together as they continued through the crowded airport, then got into an escalator that led from their gate to the ground transportation.

Noelani's grin spread from ear to ear and she bobbed eagerly on the balls of her feet, "This doesn't feel real."

Somewhere, only a few feet away, was her mother, uncles and cousins and it was taking all of her self restraint not to launch herself off the side of the escalator in an attempt to get closer to them as fast as possible.

"I'm so excited for you to meet everyone. They're gonna love you. As long as you get their names right and don't act cocky." Noelani pointed at Jalen.

Jalen opened his mouth to respond but his eyes drifted to a point behind her, "You were right. You look just like your mom."

Noelani turned around to spot her family waiting on the ground floor, they were all wearing a grin as big as Noelani's with leis around their neck.

Anela was in the middle of the group with a giant sign that read 'Welcome Back, Noel!' in orange and yellow letters.

"Oh my God," Noelani shoved her suitcase handle into Jalen's hands without a second thought then started to stampede down the escalator, pushing past people with no remorse.

Noelani sprinted to her family, barely leaving Anela enough time to fling the sign aside in order to receive her daughter's embrace.

Noelani wrapped her arms around her mother's neck tightly then after a few seconds, she could feel her family force her into a group hug.

"So dramatic," Keoni, Noelani's nine year old cousin, groaned as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Wow, yeah. I missed you too." Noelani responded in a sarcastic tone.

"Let me look at you." Anela cooed, moving her hands to Noelani's jaw, "I'm never letting you move so far ever again."

"So, where is this little friend of yours?" Kai, her uncle, asked, his eyes scanning the distance.

"You mean my boyfriend?" Noelani looked over to see Jalen just now coming off the escalator, one suitcase handle in each hand.

"Yeah, whatever." Kai waved off her comment.

"That's him." Noelani smiled.

Jalen stopped in his tracks at the sight of Noelani's family sizing him up.

"He's cute." Nalani, her eleven year old cousin, shrugged.

"He's a little scrawny. He kinda looks like a green bean." Hanale chimed in.

Noelani gestured for Jalen to continue to walk over a little sheepishly.

"Everyone," Noelani hooked her arm around Jalen's, "This is Jalen and Jalen this is my mother Anela, my uncle Kai, My uncle Makani, and this is Keoni, Hanale, Kelani, Nalani, Leilani and Maui." She pointed everyone out accordingly.

Jalen passed them a friendly grin as everyone continued to stare him down.

"Let's talk Jake." Her uncle Makani, a man almost as tall as Jalen, wrapped his arm around Jalen's shoulders in a gesture that was supposed to be friendly.

"It's Jalen." He muttered.

Anela and Noelani traveled in the back of the group.

"So," Anela nudged Noelani, "Must be pretty serious if you're bringing him home to meet us."

"Yeah," Noelani continued in a low tone, "I love him. He might be the one."

Anela gave her daughter a surprised look, "Not miss oh, I wanna fly and be free talking like this."

"I know, I know. But he makes me feel like I'm already flying." Noelani grinned.

"Hmm. I like him already." Anela wrapped her elbow around Noelani's as the group continued to stroll to the vans parked outside waiting for them.

NOTE FROM KY
shit is gonna start hitting the fan soon, don't get comfortable
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