I stared at my reflection in the mirror, slowly twisting my, now a pastel pink, hair around my index finger.I had already re-dyed my hair twice before in the three months I had been away from Maryland, each time aiming for a lighter color.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Luke whispered through the phone, whether it be the late time of night or because of the news I just broke, I'm not sure.
"I mean what I said," I sighed. "We still have no idea how long we'll be here, and it's already been 3 months. I just- I don't know what to do anymore."
"Me neither," He admitted, I could tell he was getting frustrated by the tone of his voice.
"I'm sorry, I had everything planned out for your birthday and, well, I'm not there."
"Hey, it's okay-"
"No, it's not!" I cut him off, wishing he would stop being so understanding. "I just want to come home, alright? I just want to be with you."
"Me too, babe, but that's something I need to talk to you about." He paused, seeming to debate internally. "I need to tell you something."
"What is it?" I ask, leaning against my door frame as I continued to press the phone up to my ear.
"I- um, I think..."
"What do you think, Luke?"
"I think we should take a break." He mumbled, my heart seeming to stop at his words.
"W-Why?" I stutter after a moment of silence.
"I just, as much as I want to be with you, I also know that you being away isn't helping the situation. My birthday is tomorrow and I don't want to make things any worse than they already are. Unless you can get here, I don't know how much longer I can be with you without being with you. I'm so sorry, Andy, I really am." He sniffled, choking back a sob.
"I-I understand. Um, I guess I'll go ahead and say happy birthday, since you obviously won't want me to call. And Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." I whisper, ending the call as he confirmed one of my worst fears.
I didn't know how long I had sat in my room, but by the time I finally broke out of my haze my previously bright room had one source of light, that being a small lamp on my bedside table. I finally found what had broken me out of my reverie as my mom knocked on the door once again, slowly peering around the door before rushing into the room at the sight of my bloodshot eyes.
"What happened?" She wondered aloud, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she brought my head to rest in the crevice of her neck.
"Luke wants to take a break, he said he couldn't be with me if he wasn't with me." I sobbed, though no tears escaped from my dry eyes.
"Well, I guess is as good a time as any." She sighed, but I could sense the smile appearing on her face. "Remember the ticket you asked me to get?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice at this time.
"And remember how I couldn't get it for next week?"
I nodded again, wondering where she was going with it.
"I got you one that leaves tomorrow morning, you'll make it to the party you spent so much time on." She smiled, grabbing my arms and pulling me up to jump around the room.
"I don't know if he wants me there." I frown, sitting back on my bed.
"Oh honey, he does. Amanda called me today, Luke was telling her how much of a mistake he made. So we came up with a plan, and bada bing, bada boom, the young lovers will be together once again." She smiled, doing her signature 'jazz hands' dance move.
"Are you serious?" I finally grinned up at her.
"Dead serious, now we better get you packing." She ran to my closet, pulling out my biggest suitcase.
"Why am I taking that one?" I ask, thinking I had a round ticket back here after a few days.
"You thought you weren't staying? Oh, Trouble, you're 17. Plus, I'll be there soon. Your Gram's been cleared of chemo so I'm just staying to get her accommodated. It'll be three days at the most, you can put up with that. So help me pack, I'll bring the rest home with me." She smiled, placing the suitcase in the spot I was previously sat on.
"I love you, mom." I smiled, looking up at her as she continued to pile clothing into my bag.
"I love you, too, sweetheart. Now help me, will you?"
I smiled as I walked into my closet, pulling things off of hangers left and right, not even looking before giving them to my mom.
~~~
"Okay, can we go over the plan one more time?" I ask, trying to get comfortable in the airport chairs as I waited on my flight.
"Of course," My mom began. "So, when you get off the plane Kathleen and Amanda will be waiting for you. From there you're going to our house to get ready, they'll help with that since you're one such a tight schedule. After you're all ready for the night you guys are going to go to Luke's party, where you'll hide in a present box and jump out. Afer you jump out you'll have to say something cute, or you could even do that 'surprise, bitch' thing you keep talking about. And the rest is history, well technically a mystery."
"I think I have it all." I smiled, thinking about what would happen is Amanda, Mrs. Cartway, was telling the truth.
"You ready for this, sweetheart?" My mom asked, her dimples accentuated.
"More than ready." I sighed, checking my watch for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"We're extremely sorry to inform you that flight 2213 to Baltimore, Maryland has been delayed." A voice spoke over the intercom, making both my mother's and my jaws drop.
"Well shit." She mumbled, digging into her purse to find her cellphone.
She fumbled, dropping it before finally dialing a number I couldn't see. My suspicions were soon confirmed when she began speaking again.
"Hello, Amanda? We have a problem, Tee's flight was delayed. No, we're not sure how long, they never said. I'll go find out, one sec." She quickly exited her seat, talking to the attendant by the boarding door before coming back.
"What did she say?" I ask, though I'm ignored for the moment.
"Yeah, probably an hour. She'll miss the party, I know. Could we change the surprise? Have her wait at your house or something?" She paused, perking up when Mrs. Cartway most likely answered with something good. They said their goodbyes before she leaning back in her chair, sighing heavily.
"You okay?" I chuckle. "Have you been hacking my tumblr again?"
"How did you know?" She pouted, appearing more like a teenage friend than a 30 year old mother.
"You're having one of your shipping fits you throw after looking at a whole lot of OTPs." I laugh, knowing most moms probably aren't like this.
"Oh, well... Oops?" She chuckled, shooting up when the intercom interrupted the busy airport.
"All passengers of flight 2213 to Baltimore, Maryland, we are sorry to inform you that this flight has been cancelled because of a mechanical emergency. Thank you for your time, and have a good day." It suddenly cut off, my mother jumping to get to the attendant before the rest of the people in our designated area.
Surprisingly she did make it to the front, even though she had to practically tackle a large man to do it. An amused look slid over my face as her arms flailed wildly, obviously not listening to the attendant. After a few moments she came back with a smug smile covering her face, a sheet of paper in her hand.
"Remember the little airport near our house?" She asks, to which I nod.
"Well," She paused. "We can get you there, but we have to go to a small airport half an hour away," She paused once again, checking the watch on her wrist. "Within 45 minutes. You ready to run?"
"Of course." I smirked, following her as we ran past customs, all the way out to the filled parking lot.
"Do you remember where we parked?" She quietly asked.
"Mom, I wasn't supposed to come back!" I laugh at the situation once again.
She bit her lip before replying, "That is true."
"Come on, lets find our car."
~~~
"We made it!" My mom exclaims as we arrive to our, extremely cramped, designated area.
"Good job, mom." I smiled, pulling her into a hug as I laughed once again.
We stood like that for a while, which was strange for us. Even though we have an extremely close relationship for a mother and daughter we were never really people to show affection, especially in public. A short hug, maybe, but a hug that lasted for over a minute? That was unheard of between us unless one was going into surgery or something severe.
"I love you, sweetheart." She pulled away, kissing my forehead as the new intercom announced the boarding of my plane.
"I love you, too, mom. Thank you so much for doing this."
"Not a problem, it's what keeps me young." She laughed. "Now go get your boy, I'll see you in a few days."
"See you in a few days." I repeated, walking up to the line and handing the attendant my ticket.
I looked back to the windows after I had left through the departure door and sent my mom a small wave, turning my back after a moment and climbing up the airplane's steps.
I was sat towards the front of the small, cramped plane when I smiled. Apparently I looked strange, as the woman next to me asked if I was okay. I replied quickly before taking out a piece of gum and popping it into my mouth. The entire time I couldn't stop grinning due to the one thought roaming around my mind.
I'm coming home.
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Hey guys, this story is officially over, except for the epilogue. But after everything is done, don't remove it from your library yet as I'll be posting a note about the sequel, and whether or not I'll make one. Thank you all so much for reading, voting, commenting, etc. because it honestly means the world to me. I love you all so much.
Much Love,
Emily {IrwinArmy}