ailee was awoken by her front door opening, still cuddled up to steak who was completely unfazed by the sudden loud noise. her head shot up and looked towards the entrance of her home, her eyes settling on her boyfriend dragging a suitcase through the door. she instantly relaxed and lay back down, sighing before sitting up. "how did you get in?"
she asked groggily, the morning rasp of her voice taking nick by surprise as he stops suddenly, also being frightened as he didn't notice she was there.
"you need a more creative place to keep your spare key" he jokes, making the girl laugh and stand up, walking towards sapnap and melting into his arms as he engulfs her in a hug, kissing the top of her head. "good morning" he mumbles, the sound muffled by the girls hair. "i missed you" she mumbles back, sapnap chuckling. "its been a day, not even" he says and ailee realises how short of a time it had actually been. he had been over at lunch time yesterday to help her pack. "thats still too long. its lonely without you" she pouts, breaking the hug and grabbing his hand to drag him to the bathroom to accompany her as she got ready.
nick sat on the edge of the bathtub, watching and talking to the girl as she washed her fave, packing each product into a small bag once she had finished using it. she brushed her hair and teeth, sapnap making fun of her the whole time. once finished, she took the now full toiletries bag and put it into her small suitcase, zipping it up and patting it with a sense of pride. "what are we gonna do in texas for a week?" she asked nick, who had followed her between rooms like a lost puppy. nick had booked the return flight for around 10 days after their arrival date, giving the couple time to enjoy their visit to sapnap's home town.
"im gonna show you around where i grew up" he says, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder as she searched through her closet for something to wear that was appropriate for a plane and not already packed in her bag. she pulls out a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie she had borrowed from sapnap a while ago without him realising. "hey! i was looking for that the other day" nick said as he recognised the item of clothing, pouting as the girl sent him out of her room as she changed. after a minute or so, ailee walks out of her room to see nick on the couch with steak curled up on his lap. "we should head out now if we want to get there on time" she says, smiling at the sight and discreetly taking a photo.
"well i can't move now, he's asleep" nick pouts once more. ailee walks over and lifts the cat off his lap gently, nicks face falling in shock of the girls actions. "you can't move a sleeping cat! you monster" he feigns offence in his tone but laughs slightly, ruining his act. ailee laughs along with him, moving the cat around in her arms to put him in a position where she was cradling him like a baby. "can you grab the bag over there? its got his stuff and we need to take him over to clay's before we go" she explains, pointing to a small bag sitting on the kitchen bench.
~~~
the couple were now sitting in the airport, waiting for their flight to he called as they ate at a random restaurant they had found in hopes of getting something to eat. nick had been noticed by two different people, ailee giggling lightly to herself as she took the photos for both fans. "wow you're popular! please, sir, can i have your autograph? sign my tits!" she quietly cries out sarcastically once the strangers walk away, sapnap chuckling and slinging his arm over her shoulder.
the restaurant they were currently at was quaint, not many people around that was surprising to the pair, thinking it would be packed due to its location. the two were sitting in a secluded booth in the back, laughing quietly at their own jokes, the workers occasionally looking annoyed at the noise they had been making. one of the waiters made his way over to their table to see if they had any issues, his eyes not leaving ailee's as she awkwardly looked between the waiter and he boyfriend, trying not to laugh as he grew increasingly cocky.
"can i help the pretty lady at all?" the waiter had asked, ailee's attempt to conceal her laughter failing as she let out a chuckle before immediately covering her mouth with her hand, looking up at nick who was also laughing. "my girlfriend is fine thank you" nick says, his cocky tone interjected by escaped laughs. the waiter sighs outwardly and trudges away, not even trying to hide his motives. the couple burst out laughing, both their lack of sleep getting to their heads when they heard their plane get called, quickly payed for the food and left to go to their gate.
they boarded the plane and sat in their designated seats, waiting for takeoff as the rest of the passengers filtered in. "i think now is a good time to mention that im not too fond of planes" sapnap whispers to his girlfriend. "why did you get plane tickets if you were scared of them? we could have just driven and had a fun little road trip! dream could sing us lullabies!" she says, trying to lighten sapnap's mood. "i didn't say i was scared of them, i said i wasn't fond of them. just-" he starts the sentence but cuts himself off, moving his hand over to reach for ailee's, placing his hand into her grip. "just hold my hand" he finishes his sentence quietly. ailee smiles and brings his hand up to place a light kiss on it, intertwining their fingers and placing it back down on the shared arm rest.
"always"