monday morning ; 4:34 am
"flight 54 now boarding." a lady spoke over the airports intercom.
it was unbearably early, and the four us could hardly keep our eyes open. the airport was silent, all you heard was the noisy intercom lady and the sound of bags being dragged across the floor.
calum and lukes flight was due for take off at around 5, but luke insisted of getting there at least 2 hours early, because that's just how he is. so we had been waiting for quite a long time.
claudia and calum sat across from me and luke in these uncomfortable airport chairs. the two of them were both passed out on top of each other, calum snoring a little bit, but claudia didn't even flinch at this.
while I pressed my cheek against lukes shoulder, my head resting in the crook of his neck. I draped one arm around his stomach, hugging onto him, not wanting to ever let go in this moment.
luke had his black hood up, his eyes slowly drifting shut, but each time they closed he scrunched his nose to keep himself up. I laid on him looking upwards at this adorable sight, smiling slightly to myself.
we sat side by side, waiting patiently by their gate entrance. the entrance was located by a large window, so that it allowed us to gaze at their plane that they would be taking.
stormy gray clouds hung low in the sky, looking as if it was going to begin to rain at any given moment. there was not a ray of sunshine in the sky.
luke had his earphones in, the red ones from when I first met him, listening to his music like always. he had a pout on his face, drooping into the leather airport chair.
my chin rested against his shoulder, peering up at my boy, "hey." I poked at his cheek to get his attention.
his sad face gazed down at me, giving me a weak smile. he instantly tore out one earphone so that he could listen to me.
"what's up babe?" his voice was so deep and sleepy.
"what are you listening to?" I blinked up at him.
and then he grasped onto the earphone he tore out and reached out so that I could take it. I grabbed the earphone and placed it into my ear, leaning my head back down onto his shoulder.
the soft and slow lyrics played,
'I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door
I've had you so many times but somehow I want more'
a gentle smiled creased on my face as I looked at him once again, "old maroon 5 again, luke?" I teased.
lukes guilty pleasure was in fact blasting maroon 5 and singing on the top of his lungs. one time the two of us couldn't sleep at his place and he ended up putting the whole 'songs about Jane' album on repeat.
luke sleepily began to sing along with the chorus of the song, "I don't mind spending every dayyy out on your corner in the pouring rainnnnn."
his voice was so low and his accent really hit in, making it almost impossible to understand what he was saying.
I watched him sing some more until he pointed at me while whispering under his breath, "take it away Jade."
I rolled my eyes slightly and did as I was told, "and she willlllll be loveeeddd."
luke joined in, "and she willll be loooveddd!!"
a few people who sat at the same gate as us gave us a few glances, confused as to why we were singing so early in the morning.
I couldn't help but giggle into his chest, shutting my eyes as I did so. not long after luke brought his lips towards me and kissed the top of my head, rubbing my forearm.
I pulled away and looked at his sleepy face. i just gazed at him, as he continued to hum along softly to the song.
when luke was sleepy he got this dark bags under his eyes, but somehow I found them to be the cutest thing ever. and he would bring his hand in a fist and use the back of his hand to rub his sleepy eyes. his blonde hair was flat and peaked out his hoodie, falling into his eyes a little bit.
he brought his attention down on me, "wanna play a game?" he almost yawned through his sentence.
I smirked up at his blue eyes, "what's the game?"
I swear this boy was six years old.
he reached his hands out so that his palms were facing upstairs. he then gazed up at me, "put your hands on top of mine."
I gave him a funny look and then placed both hands on top of his. his hands were huge in comparison to my tiny ones.
his pouty face creased into a soft smile, "okay now you have to move them so that I don't slap the back of your hands."
I nodded, intensely staring down at our connected hands, waiting for him to move any second.
and then suddenly he flipped his hands around, but I quickly brought my hands close to my chest so that he didn't hit them.
I began to chuckle at him, "better luck next time slow poke." I teased him, poking at his dimples.
he shook me off him, putting his hands back like they were originally, wanting me to place mine over top of his again.
I did so, waiting for him to make another move. and then he quickly turned his hands over, slapping the back of mine quickly with a giggle.
"oooh got you! look who's slow now!" he covered his mouth as his giggled, he always did this because he knew how girly his laugh could sound.
I smirked at him, shaking my head, "you got lucky."
he tore his hand away from his mouth, "now I get a prize for winning."
I raised an eyebrow, "and what is that?"
he smiled at me, his dimples indenting his bubbly cheeks, "kiss meeee." he said in a sing-song voice.
I let out a soft sigh and leaned forward, pressing my lips against his, closing my eyes softly. when I pulled away he was still smiling at me like an idiot.
I chuckled at him, "you're such a dork."
and then I placed my hands so that they were facing upwards and now luke had to put his hands over top of mine.
he placed them over mine, waiting for me to move them. I teased him a little bit into thinking I was gonna move, causing him to flinch.
"heeey," he whined, "no cheating jade."
and then when he wasn't paying attention I flipped my hands over and tapped the top of his hands.
the both of us giggled and Luke shook his head in defeat.
"im just too good, baby." I jokingly flipped my hair over my shoulder.
he rolled his pretty blue eyes, "no you're just a cheater."
I let out a gasp, "but don't I get a prize?"
and then luke leaned in, just so that our foreheads leaned up against each other. I looked into his eyes, feeling him breath against me. he leaned in a gently pressed his lips against mine, pulling away slowly.
I giggled, "that's what I thought."
and then leaned back inwards and pressed his lips against my cheek quickly, "one more kisssss." and then he pecked quickly against my lips.
I giggled against his lips, messily kissing him back. I could tell the people around us were not enjoying this sight.
luke pulled away with one more kiss against my cheek, smirking down at me. it had felt like we were the only two in the airport, slowly wasting time.
but I wanted to spend as much time as I possibly could with this boy. I wanted this moment to never leave. I wanted him to never leave.
but he would be out of my sight in any moment. and I just couldn't figure out how to properly say goodbye.
suddenly we were interrupted by the sound of calums sleepy voice, "hey romeo and juliet, wanna take a look at the time?" he sarcastically tried to get our attention.
the two of us peered across our way to find claudia and calum now awake. claudia rested against calums chest, while calum rubbed his hand up and down her arm. they both looked exhausted.
luke brought his phone close to his face, he read the time aloud, "4:45."
I felt my heart sink once he read this to us. his flight would begin boarding any moment, leaving me all alone.
and yes, I knew this moment had to come at some point, but I just didn't want to face it now.
I looked up at luke almost in a panic, my eyes were heaving. it felt as if we didn't have enough time.
he gazed down at me and instantly could tell something was wrong. he moved his arm so he brought me into his chest, kissing the top of my head once again.
"it's okay jade, we are going to be okay." he softly whispered into my ear.
I shut my eyes, feeling very tired, but I knew I couldn't go to sleep anytime soon.
and then before you knew it the intercom came on, "flight 55 to Australia now boarding."
that was his flight.
I practically ripped myself out of lukes arms, frantically searching into his eyes as to what the hell were we supposed to do now.
from the corner of my eye I watched as calum stood up with claudia, gathering his bags together.
luke and I remained seated.
I swallowed deeply, "luke." I bit down on my lower lip, trying my hardest to not start crying.
all I saw in his face was pure worry, and sadness. and I wanted to take this all away. I wanted him to be the happiest he could ever be, but now was not that moment.
calum and claudia began saying their goodbyes, indicating to me that this was really happening.
luke pushed himself out of the chair, his body towering over me. he stuck his hand out for me to take, and I grasped on. he pulled me out of my seat, and I instantly fell into his chest, and on came the tears.
I squeezed my eyes shut and felt each tear begin to run down my cheeks. I slightly sniffled against his chest. in this moment I felt safe, and protected, like the first time we had hugged.
luke once again pressed a gentle kiss against the top of my head, tucking my hair behind my ear.
I gazed up at his tall height, placing my hand against his chest.
we both looked at each other, but not a word was spoken.
there were so many things I wanted to say, what I wanted to hear from him, but I couldn't quite put it all together in this moment.
I saw that his eyes begin to fill up, "this isn't goodbye jade."
I bit down on my lower tip and nodded, "I know."
"so let's not say goodbye." he gave my arms a squeeze.
I let out a weak laugh, "so," I swallowed, "see you soon?"
he nodded and chuckled, "see you soon."
and then he leaned inwards, cupping my face with his hands, our lips connected softly. he lingered there for some time before pulling away and just gazing into my eyes.
he then pressed one more quick peck against my lips, "one more for good luck."
I chuckled weakly, feeling a tear stain my cheek once again.
I gave our connected hands one last squeeze as he pulled away and grabbed his bag. he turned away from me, beginning to say goodbye to claudia quickly.
suddenly I was practically tackled by one upset and emotional calum hood. the two of us stumbled against each other, he squeezed onto me, chucking as he did so.
I giggled into his ear, "holy shit i am going to miss you so much."
he didn't let go, "jade what am I going to do without you."
and once he pulled away we looked into each other's eyes, smiling. I began to remember all the times we gave each other advice about each other's best friends.
calum was certainly my best friend.
I brought his hand into mine, "calum, take care of luke for me, alright?"
he nodded quickly, "of course, who else is going to put up with his terrible jokes?"
I couldn't help but laugh at this, more tears falling down.
he let out a soft sigh, "goodbye jade."
I brought my hand up to my eyes and managed to swipe away some tears, "see you later calum."
I quickly walked over to claudia and fell into her arms, watching as our two boys collected their things to board the plane.
the two of them looked over their shoulders one last time, to take a final glance at the both of us.
I couldn't believe this.
and as I watched luke spin around, beginning to walk onto the plane, I felt everything all at once.
I couldn't just let him leave so easily.
I tore myself out of claudias arms, "luke!" I practically shouted across the airport, causing everyone to glance in my direction.
he spun around, calum not stopping for him, he stood alone.,
I began to sprint across the airport, running full speed in his direction. and then once I got close enough I jumped into his strong arms, his bags quickly collapsing onto the floor.
his arms wrapped around me, practically spinning me around, my legs lifting off the ground. and then I kissed him one last time.
and he set me back down, curiously gazing at me.
I began to almost choke on these words I needed to say, "luke." my vision became blurry from the tears.
he sniffled, "yes?"
"I love you." I whispered under my breath, but still gazing into his blue eyes.
he remained silent, processing this, his hand still draped around my waist.
I swallowed, "I love you so much."
he let out a cry of laughter, "I love you too jade, and don't forget this."
and then he let go of me, waving his cute hand at me, picking his bags back up. and then he turned away from me, entering the gate quickly.
and the intercom filled the airport, "last call for flight 55 to Australia."
and that's when i lost him. my boy was gone.
8,128 miles away.