My alarm sounded at 6am, waking me up from a peaceful night's sleep, the first good night's sleep that I had had in weeks.
I reluctantly pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed before getting dressed into my favourite into my favourite Nike tracksuit. After I had finished packing the last few things into my bag I headed into the kitchen to make a much needed coffee.
Almost as soon as I reached the coffee machine, there was a knock on my apartment door. Quickly checking the time on my watch I realised that it was already 6:30 and Ale was here to pick me up. It had taken me longer than I had planned to get ready, which meant that I no longer had time for a coffee. This was not the start of the day that I had hoped for... I couldn't function without caffeine.
I opened the front door and was immediately greeted by Alexia.
"Good morning" she said cheerfully with a beaming smile on her face.
Ale had always been a morning person, the complete opposite of me. It worked quite well during our relationship, as I would wake up to her snuggling into me and she would fall asleep as I held her.
"Morning" I mumbled as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
"Still not a morning person then?" She joked as she stepped into my apartment.
"Nope" I smiled as I pulled on a pair of trainers.
"Where's your bag?"
"Um- it's in my room" I answered absentmindedly as I tied my laces.
"Is this all your taking!?" Ale called from my bedroom.
When did she go into my bedroom?
"Since when have you been such a light packer?" Alexia joked as she re-entered the hallway with my backpack slung over her shoulder.
"Since I'm on crutches" I joked sarcastically.
Alexia looked at me sympathetically, before quickly changing the subject.
"Come on, let's go! There is a coffee waiting for you in the car"
As soon as I climbed into Alexia's car, I looked down at the cup holders. There were two coffees... one with Alexia written on it and the other with Isy scrawled on the side. Alexia reached down and picked up the smaller of the two cups and handed it to me.
"Double-shot flat white for the passenger princess" she smirked.
"Gracias Ale" I smiled, quickly taking the cup and bringing it to my lips.
"You're welcome, I know that you can't function without your morning coffee"
The journey flew by and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye and head into the airport. I was so excited about seeing Ona again, but there was another emotion that I couldn't quite put my finger on, a feeling in my chest that wouldn't go away.
Once Alexia had helped me with my bag, it was time say goodbye. We had been here before, almost two years ago to the day we were stood in this same car park saying goodbye and even though I knew that this time was different, the emotions were still the same.
"I'll see you in a few days..." Alexia spoke quietly, her words sounding more like a question than a fact.
"I'll see you in a few days Ale" I smiled reassuringly as my eyes met Alexia's hazel orbs.
After a few moments she drew her eyes away from mine and looked towards the airport terminal. Suddenly something was different, the look on her face had changed from a warm one to an absent one.
"You should get going... you don't want to miss your flight" Alexia spoke harshly as she began to play with the rings on her fingers.
She was nervous.
"Ale..." I spoke gently.
"Can I have a hug?"
Alexia looked up and immediately wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me so tightly that my feet began to lift off the ground.
She needed that hug as much as I did.
"It's weird being back here isn't it?" I whispered into her ear.
"Yeah.." Alexia nodded.
"It's not like last time though Ale."
"I know, but it feels exactly the same and it's scaring me..."
I tightened my grip around Alexia, before placing a kiss onto her cheek.
"There is nothing to be scared of Ale, I promise."
After what felt like forever, Alexia loosened her grip around my waist and my feet finally touched the ground.
"It's only two days..." she muttered under her breath, almost reassuring herself, as she took a step back, before returning her eyes to mine.
"Go on, you better get going" she smiled, gesturing towards the terminal.
"Have a great time with Ona and I'll see you soon"
"See you on Sunday Ale" I smiled, before turning away and making my way towards the terminal.
A/N. Sorry that's it's a shorter chapter. I just needed to fill in the gaps before moving onto the more interesting stuff 👀