Dani felt horrible going to the airport on Wednesday morning. Not only because she was going to Perth, but also because Finn and Oliver kept pushing her to drink every single night different kinds of alcoholic drinks that they tried to make and it got to her, finally. Now she had to spend a whole three hours flight with those same boys.
'Why can't Imogen and Connor live in Perth, instead of you two,' Dani groaned while walking behind the two boys through the airport. Oliver looked behind him and grinned at his friend.
'Dani, don't be such a Sheila,' Oliver said, making Dani roll her eyes by his use of Australian slang. Sheila meant woman and if there was one Australian word she hated, then it was that word.
'I am a Sheila,' Dani bit back. Finn suddenly stopped walking and waited for Dani to walk next to him. He pulled his arm around his shoulder.
'It's gonna be a fun ride, trust me,' he said before the three of them arrived at their gate. The boys let Dani sit in between them, knowing that she felt most comfortable sitting next to familiar people instead of strangers. They had to wait for a little longer, so Dani decided to text her brother back, who was picking the three of them up from the airport.
From Will:
You arrive at 1:25 right?
From Dani:
Yes, for the tenth time, 1:25 in Perth.
'I'll find us some breakfast and some snacks before we board,' Oliver said and stood up. Dani put her phone away and looked at how Oliver walked away from them. When he was out of sight and Dani had nowhere to look at she put her head on Finn's shoulder. She closed her eyes and she used Finn's shoulder as a pillow. She felt his hand go through her hair. It made Dani fall asleep almost immediately. She liked it when someone went with his hand through her hair. There used to be only one person to be allowed to do that, but since he wasn't in her life anymore, she accepted her other close friends to do it and not immediately get remembered by her old best friend.
Dani wasn't sure how long she fell asleep for because when she woke up Oliver was already back again. He saw she was awake so he gave her the sandwich he bought for her. She smiled at him and took the sandwich from him. Dani sat up straight again, letting Finn move his body again. She started eating the sandwich as Oliver started to explain what he had bought for the group.
'I know it's only a three-hour flight, but I got everyone their favourite snacks!' Finn and Dani looked at each other and started to laugh at the excited Oliver. He pulled the bag from the ground to his lap and got the snacks out. 'Maltesers for our Sheila,'
'Stop saying Sheila, it's not cute.' Dani said annoyed but looked at him thankful for grabbing her favourite snack. He winked at her as a reply and went further with explaining. 'And I've got Twix bites for our lovely Finn. For myself obviously M&M's, the peanut version, sorry Dani. And I got us some Doritos. Couldn't find some dip, so sorry Finn,'
'You're the best Oliver,' Finn said while taking the Twix bites from him. Finn had a big grin on his face as he put his snack in his bag. Not long after Oliver handed out the snacks to his friends it got announced that they could board their flight.
'Actually, Dani? Can you sit in the middle, you're the smallest.' Oliver had asked when they got into the plane and found their seats. Finn had already claimed the window seat so there wasn't much to choose from anyway. Dani didn't mind where she had to sit and so sat down in the middle without arguing.
'Gotta capture this moment,' Oliver suddenly said while getting his phone out and putting it on selfie mode.
'Do we really have to?' Finn sighed as Dani agreed with Finn. It wasn't like she had put any effort into how she looked on the plane ride.
'Ah, come on guys! It's not every time we see our Dani fly with us back to Perth! Gotta celebrate it on Facey,'
'Not on Facebook!' Dani said immediately, but it didn't matter what she said. He would put it on Facebook anyway. The three of them smiled for the few pictures that Oliver made and when they finally were done with that Dani put her head back on Finn's shoulder.
'Again?' he laughed.
'You guys wanted me in the middle, so this is what you have to deal with for the next three hours,' Dani mumbled, already wanting to sleep before the plane even moved.
'What do you guys think of this caption?' Oliver asked, ignoring Dani's sleepy sounds that came out of her mouth. Dani who was ready to go sleep for the next three hours opened one eye, but couldn't read the small words on Oliver's Facebook page. But to be honest, she didn't really care. They watched the safety control that the crew of the flight showed in case of emergency and when they were done with that, Dani placed her head back again on Finn's shoulder and made herself comfortable.
The next time that Dani woke up, she had her arms around Finn's right arm, hugging it. Dani let go of him while he showed her an amused smile. Oliver had planted his head on Dani's shoulder and by all the movements she had made him also wake up.
'Sorry,' she whispered to Finn, but couldn't help but laugh at the situation. What could Dani say? She was a hugger awake but also asleep.
'I'm ready for some snack attack,' Oliver said while stretching out. He took his M&M's out of his bag and opened it. He took a hand full and put it all in his mouth. With a disgusted face, Dani looked at him.
'What?' he asked with his mouthful. Dani just shook her head.
'Nothing,' she said back to her friend, but still judged him a little bit. He just woke up from a nap. How are you immediately in the mood to snack?
'Give me some,' Finn said, already putting his hand out to Oliver.
'No, you have your own,'
'I ate all of mine already,' Finn said with the biggest grin on his face. He tried to reach over me to get to the M&M's, but Oliver was smarter than that and held it out of reach from him.
'Well, too bad!' Oliver said back. Dani rolled her eyes to show the two boys that they were annoying, but of course, that look got ignored by the two boys as they kept on bickering to each other. Dani took out her headphone and put it on her head. This was going to be a long flight, she said to herself in her mind while trying to find a song that would be loud enough to not hear the two boys next to her.
~o~
When walking into the arrivals hall in the airport from Perth, Dani had found her brother immediately and walked over to him. 'Will!' she yelled at her brother as she gave him a tight hug. They hadn't seen each other in so long. That was worth hugging for. Will had his arms around her waist and lifted her up a little bit until putting her back to the ground.
'Jesus man, you have grown up.' Will said as a joke. He patted his little sisters head, to show her she was still small.
'I actually have, but yet, I'm still no Jesus.' Dani laughed.
'I would see her more as a Satan,' Oliver grinned. Will turned around to Dani's friends and smiled at them.
'You must be Oliver and Finn, right?' Will asked while shaking both of their hands.
'We are, and you must be Will, the nicest brother of Dani?' Oliver asked with still that grin on his face.
'I like you,' Will said and then turned back to Dani. 'I like them,'
As the nice brother that Will actually was, he took Dani's bag, so that her only problem was her suitcase that she had to drag behind her. Will was also nice enough to not park extremely far away, which made them get to the car pretty fast. It took them ten minutes to get to Oliver's home. Where they quickly said goodbye to him, and another fifteen minute to go from Oliver's house to Finn's. Finn's parent's house was only five minutes away from Dani's. She said goodbye to Finn and got back into the car with her brother.
'We're really glad to have you back, Dani,' Will said while driving back on the road. 'We haven't seen you in almost two years,'
'It's like one and a half year, but okay,' Dani tried to joke about it, but Will knew better. She didn't want to talk about the real reason why she rather just never comes back to this city, and Will gets it. He just didn't like seeing his little sister only this much, because that wasn't enough. As Dani looked outside the window, looking at the different buildings that told her she was back in Perth, Will kept giving her short looks.
'Mom missed you, dad missed you. You wouldn't guess it but Kurt and I missed you a lot.'
'I know, I know, and I missed you guys also. It's just-,'
'You hate it here, I get it, I get it. Just try to make the best of it okay?' Will asked, giving her a little bit of a longer look before bringing his attention back to the road.
It didn't take long for them to arrive back home. Dani inspected the house that in two years she hasn't seen, but nothing changed. It was the same old beach house that she was familiar with. Both of the siblings got out of the car.
'Here you go,' Will said, giving Dani her bag while he carried Dani's suitcase inside. She followed him inside and put her bag on the stairs. Running noises from an animal with four legs filled the room and in no matter time, Dani got tackled with a happy Terry, their old golden doodle.
'Hey doggie,' Dani laughed while she got greeted by him with his tongue that licked her face. 'Mmmh,'
'By the way, Kurt is at the beach with some friends, dad is working and mom is helping for the festival,' Will told Dani, smiling at his little sister. Probably glad to see her so happy.
'She still volunteers with the festival?' She asked. He nodded. 'She better not get me involved in it, I'm here to rest,'
'She knows that, but she will try anyway,' Will said, grinning. 'I'll put your suitcase upstairs, and then I have to leave if you don't mind,'
'No, that's fine. Thanks for picking me up, and my friends.'
'You know I don't mind,' he said before picking up her suitcase and disappearing upstairs. Dani walked more into the house and ended up in the kitchen with Terry following her closely. A lot of daylight was coming inside of the house through all of the big windows the house had, but the kitchen had the most light. Through the kitchen windows, you could see the sea. The two glass doors in the kitchen lead you to a small garden, but walking further you got to the bigger garden as the siblings always said; the beach.
'Dani? I'm going again. I'll see tonight again.' Dani heard Will suddenly yell through the house.
'Okay, bye!' she yelled back right before she heard the front door open and close. Terry was looking impatient through the window, letting Dani know he wants to run around on the beach. She grinned as she took some keys with her after she took off her shoes and socks. She opened the door to go outside and Terry immediately runs past me outside. Dani took a frisbee with her when she saw it laying down in their garden and slowly made her way further down on the beach. Terry had already found her way into the water on this hot day. It was nice for Dani to see that some creatures didn't change after two years. Terry might be older, but sometimes she still has the energy of a pup. When Terry got further into the water Dani decided to call her back. The dog reacted immediately to his name and ran back to the person he hadn't seen in two years, but still recognized.
'You silly dog,' Dani grinned while Terry got back and run circles around her. She laughed and walked with him further around the beach. Terry saw something familiar and decided to run away from Dani. 'Terry!' Dani yelled, not knowing where he was going. He didn't listen, instead he attacked someone that was sitting in a small group. Dani's eyes got big and she fastly runs after him
Goddamnit Terry,' she sighed while she came closer to the group. Dani suddenly stopped in her tracks, realising who her dog had just attacked.