Chapter Status: Edited.
I slept through most of the flight; after endless nights of anxiety had me tossing and turning, the weirdly relaxing sensation of flight had me snoring lightly as I leaned against the closed blind beside me. A hand lightly shook my shoulder and I blinked hard and sat up quickly, the blind was open and the seatbelt light above me was now on, we must be landing soon. I turn to June and rub my eyes, ignoring the extreme need to pee.
"The plane's going to land in five minutes," June says softly.
"What a nice sleep," I mumble in response.
"I tried to sleep but someone kept pushing me away from him," she turns her head to look at Caleb.
Caleb was leaning back in his seat, AirPods plucked into his ear, as he watches a video he had downloaded the night before. His hazelnut hair, which was in desperate need of a hair cut, swoops across his forehead and stops just before his blue eyes. He keeps his eyes away from us, and I look at him with a frown.
"I hope he settles in quickly, I hate to see him like this," my eyes flicker to June who sits with her arms folded, furiously facing the back of the seat in front of her.
"I hate to see him at all," she replies.
I decide to drop the conversation and lean back, the sound of the captain speaking over the intercom becoming nothing more than a blur. June wordlessly passes me two sticks of chewing gum to chew on whilst the plane descends to avoid an earache and I take them with silent gratitude.
The plan jolts suddenly and my eyes widen slightly with panic, hands gripping my armrests fiercely. No one else reacts to the quick movement, a regular bump in the flight I suppose, and my shoulders relax as I let out a quiet sigh. Without looking at me, June squeezes my hand in reassurance, and I silently pray that she comes with me on all future flights.
After no more than 20 minutes, my father jumps to his feet and throws us all our carry on bags that were prompted in the overhead compartments. He stands next to the seat in front of us to prevent others from getting ahead and jostles us out of our seats in single file and exit from the back end of the plane. We walk together closely, even Caleb stood closely behind us to avoid getting separated in the vastly crowded Boston airport.
Although it was clear he had no idea what he was doing, dad walks with determination, following every sign that directs us out of the international terminal and towards the baggage belts that would carry out our luggage. Apparently, we were on a tight schedule due to our delayed landing, and so we watch with amusement as dad runs around and finds all of our suitcases for us.
Most of ours were easy to spot, mine is a bright green, my favourite colour; dad's and mum's are oversized, blue and red respectively; June's is pink with a dancer embroidered on the front. Caleb's, however, is plain black and the same size as all of the businessmen's surrounding us. Dad checks all of the tags as they travel past until Caleb's name, scribbled on lazily seconds before we checked in, flashed and dad drags it off of the belt.
Dad returns with a smile on his face as he hands the handle to Caleb who takes it without a look and turns on his heels, walking towards the taxi bays outside the exit. June and I exchange a worried glance as dad's face drops and mum squeezes his arm supportively.
"He'll be alright, honey," she says quietly, "he'll come around."
We follow after him and for the first time, we notice how dark it is outside. The bright lights surrounding the airport covered most of the stars that flickered above us, and the air smelt of smoke and fuel. I cough in disgust; Sydney is polluted, but nothing like this.
"We're staying at a hotel tonight and heading to Storybrooke tomorrow," dad explains as we pile our luggage into the boot of the taxi.
We get seated into the warm taxi-van, dad sitting in the front beside the driver and speaking quietly to know. My father enjoys surprises; when we travel he always books the most lavish hotels he can afford, as travelling was such a rarity growing up. The drive is silent apart from dad speaking brightly to the driver, who seemed to not care about the strange man that sat beside my parents on the flight. The traffic is light in the city, but weirdly busy for such a late night.
The travel took near an hour, and by the time we pull up I near asleep, leaning against the window. The hotel in front of us is gorgeous, to say the least, with tall white walls and golden lights stood beside clear glass doors. Inside the doors, which were locked for safety, stood a security guard, who opened a small compartment in the door to speak to my father before swinging them open to allow us in.
The marbled floors are so clean I begin to feel guilty, as though I am going to dirty them. A marble fountain spouts water in the middle of the entrance, and paintings, which I did not recognise but were beautiful nevertheless, hung on the walls. This is the closest I will ever be to royalty, I think to myself.
June and I sit on the bench beside the fountain, the running water reminding me of how desperately I need to pee. Caleb stands beside our mother, looking around the hotel curiously. Dad speaks to a middle-aged man as he signs in, and suddenly a girl, perhaps a year or so younger than myself, sits beside him at the next computer.
Caleb smirks and strides over, leaning casually against the desk as the blonde girl blushes and twirls her hair around her finger.
"He's back," June grumbles, I laugh.
Caleb slides over a piece of paper before we follow our parents into the elevator, a look of triumph on his face. June and I make faces at each other through the mirror of the elevator until we reach floor 18. June and I shoot out and fight to find our room first, a competition the three of us always had, and June groans and stomps her foot as I shout victoriously in as quiet a voice as I could muster.
Dad tosses the key to me from down the hall, him dragging my suitcase as well as his own, and mum doing the same with June's. I hurriedly scan the key card, June bouncing by my side and we run to find the bedrooms. The white-tiled kitchen sits beside the entryway, the living room and dining area in front of it, brightened by the moon which shines through the glass window on the other side of the room.
It's known that the master bedroom would be the only bedroom to the left of the room, so June and I charge right. Caleb, now seeming to burst with energy, catches up quickly. I grab the door handle to the far left, Caleb on the far right, and June in the middle. In sync, we swing the doors open and examine our rooms.
For the most part, they are identical, one large closet against the wall, a small desk, a large chair and a tv mounted to the wall. The difference? Caleb and I both have queen-sized beds, whilst June has two singles.
"What the fuck?" June groans.
"What do you think?" dad asks, bemused.
"It'd be better if I had one, big bed instead of two small ones," June grumbles.
"You can push them together, it said online it does that," mum pipes up.
"Can we live here instead of Storybrooke?" Caleb asks.
"Just cause you wanna chop in with the receptionist!" June calls, her voice strained as she tries to push the beds together.
"I wish, this place costs $500 for all of us to stay the night," dad laughs.
Mum and dad drop our suitcases, which they dragged over to us, and we all quietly thank them before taking our own and heading to our rooms.
"I'm hungry!" June announces.
"Me too!" I agree.
"No food until the morning, sorry! Now get some rest, we leave at the crack of dawn, gotta be there by 9 am sharp!" dad calls in response.
I shut my door before pulling out some shorts and a light jumper to wear to bed. I pull my hair until two small pigtails, my hair naturally curling to bounce just beside my breasts. I step into the bathroom that sits between June and I's room and quickly brush my teeth, listening to the music that hums from June's room.
I turn on the lamp beside my bed before turning off the light and crawling hurriedly under my covers. It is incredibly hot outside, but the air conditioner in this place was strong, leaving goosebumps up my arms. I close my eyes and tiredly turn off the lamp and, despite my sleep on the plane, fall asleep.
The next morning arrives far too quickly. The sunrise seeps through my slightly opened curtains, light enough that I could sleep but bright enough to allow me to see my surroundings. The sun, however, is not what woke me up, my father banging on our doors is what did.
"Rise and shine! We have t-minus one hour to shower, eat and leave so let's go!"
I roll out of bed, literally, onto the cool floor and smile at the coldness. I then slowly stand, gripping my bed for dear life as I wait for my slightly drunk vision to clear up. I grab a towel from the end of the bed before walking into the bathroom and locking both doors. I strip and climb into the cold shower, waking me up and cooling me down at the same time.
My mind drifts to a young boy, no more than 13, that I had seen at baggage claim. He looked familiar, like a boy a saw once in a dream, I boy so much more important than me. A boy who was in a lost place but wasn't lost. To be perfectly honest, I still feel lost, like something in my life is missing. Why was this boy so important? What gave him the courage to never give up and fight away...
Don't think of him, I remind myself, that's how he's always found you.
"Tahlia! Hurry up, June needs to shower and you know how long she takes!" dad calls.
I quickly wash out the conditioner out of my hair and turn off the water. I wrap the towel around my tightly, quickly rubbing on some deodorant and brushing my hair. I lock my bedroom door, hearing the shower turn on shortly after, and pull on my black jeans and a multi-coloured striped shirt. My hair, now wet and brushed, is slightly uneven, but will even out once it dries and curls again.
I put my phone in my pocket and gently place my laptop and loose bits and pieces into my carry on bag. I tidy up my bed and grab my bags, hauling them into the kitchen where mum sits and dad runs. Mum rolls her eyes, a smile on her face, before looking back down at her phone.
"Dad, we didn't even use the kitchen, why are you cleaning it?" I question.
"Because everything must be perfect," mum replies, knowing dad wasn't going to.
"Okay, let's go!" Caleb groans loudly, entering the kitchen unshowered and still in the clothes from the day before.
"Can you at least change your shirt?" mum sighs, rubbing her forehead.
Caleb shrugs and heads back to his room.
"And put some deodorant on!" mum calls after he shuts his door again.
"So when are we eating? I literally haven't eaten in 24 hours," I ask.
"Drive-thru on the way there probably," mum shrugs.
Caleb and June exit their rooms, suitcases in hand and neither fresh-eyed.
"Let's get out of here," June mumbles, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
We make it to the lobby by 6:50, 10 minutes ahead of schedule, as dad had said to us in pride. Behind the desk was another girl around my age, tan with silk black hair, pulled smoothly behind her ears. Her dark brown eyes flicker to us as we approach, and Caleb stands up straight, acting tall despite being more on the short side.
"We're here to sign out," dad smiles at her.
"Of course, name?" she questions, eyeing Caleb in the process.
"Daniel Kennedy," dad replies with a smile.
The receptionist types a few things before taking the room key.
"Here's the key to your car, a man dropped it off this morning, it's in the parking garage" she smiles, handing dad two keys and some paperwork.
"Thank you, have a good day!"
Dad picks up his suitcase, of which was on the floor beside his feet, before turning around smoothly and guiding us to the car park. Dad notices a white Hilux in the corner of the parking lot and clicks the button to unlock the car. Even Caleb checked out the car with dad, making small talk as the rest of us got into the car. June, being the skinniest, sat in the middle.
I message Anna, having been too tired and rushed to call her last night. We soon head out of the car park and into the busy streets of Boston, where I continuously pushed June away as she stares at my phone. This is going to be a long trip.
A/N:
Yo! I'm going to be completely honest with you, I do not have an updating schedule so I'll update when I'm ready, which won't be any longer than 4 or 5 days between each update unless I have a proper reason, which I will warn you about.
Anyway, last thing, please vote comment and share because the more votes, comments and reads I receive the quicker I'll update and the better the update will be.
Also, if you are here for Peter he won't come in for a while. But I have planned ahead and he's definitely going to be pre hot, I can promise you that ;) (edit: i feel like it'd be cruel of me not to warn you that he doesn't properly arrive until like, chapter 40 or something, but there are flashbacks in hopes that you won't get entirely bored. But then again, it is a Henry fic lol, and he isn't that hot because it would be too out of character for him but honestly if you find him hot in the show then you won't be too disappointed.)
I love y'all, byeeeeeeee xx
Word Count: 2315.