Easing Heimweh (Heim, #1) ✓

1: Captain

I would regret doing this a few years from now.

"You didn't have to fetch me."

Elton spared me a glance from the rearview mirror and smiled. "I'll be assured you're safe this way if I'm the one to see you off."

I looked away. "I'll be fine."

"Then at least pretend we're doing this for me," he said. "How about that?"

"Okay."

"Du bist wütend." You're mad.

"I'm not mad at you," I retorted.

"Didn't say that." Elton stepped on the gas pedal as he chuckled. We sped past the other vehicles before I felt ours slow down. I saw the airport from a distance and unconsciously held my breath. "You're mad at the situation."

I scoffed. "Of course I am."

"Eva..."

"It's unfair," I said. "They're being unfair again."

This wouldn't be happening if it weren't for Dad disowning my brother. After that heated argument last night that ruined our dinner—likely the last one we had together—and led to Elton being discarded like cheap trash outside that damned manor, I knew I should leave, too.

It felt wrong; I'd done nothing but watch as the guards dragged Elton outside, with nothing but his phone, car keys, cold cash, and Dad's last words to him, full of disdain and piercing like shattered glass.

I'm ashamed of you.

I knew he still carried those words. It stuck to him like a stubborn leech, tormenting him until now.

He insisted on opening the door for me when we reached the airport—his last act of chivalry, as he liked to call it. My eyes never left Elton who did nothing but offer a smile and a tight hug. "Take care, Ate."

"You take care of yourself, too." I pulled away to look at him again. "Understood?"

"Yes. That's a promise."

I grew up with him. I knew how his mind worked, his mannerisms when he'd lie to me about playing games on a school night or ruining my most expensive suit. Elton rarely made promises; he got that from me. Him saying that right now was enough to make me muster enough courage to let go and leave.

I waited for his car to exit my line of vision before I went inside the airport, one hand dragging my suitcase and dialing a number I memorized on the other. Then I began running like a madman finally being released from bondage when the call was answered.

"Where are you?" I whisper-shouted on my phone as I bolted through the escalator. "I can't see your plane from here."

"Not telling until I know that you're sure about this."

No. "Yes." I bit my lower lip until it threatened to bleed. "Of course I am."

"Gosh."

I stopped in my tracks when I got near the windows. From here, I could easily see planes preparing for takeoff, leaving behind a few that were also infested with passengers eager to reach their dream vacations on a random July. "Are you gonna help me or not?" I asked Calista as I dragged my suitcase with zero finesse. This was the first time I broke the rule: travel light.

"I will!" she replied. "But this is too ridiculous!"

Of course it was. Who would've thought the meticulous, follow-the-plan, and annoyingly strict Evadne could think of doing something stupid as this? "Yes, it is."

"You understand that I'm freaking out reasonably, right?"

I winced. "Yes. And I hope you also understand why I'm doing this."

"I—I do. I'm just worried—"

"Oh, your plane's here," I interrupted. "See you." After a moment of hesitation, I ended the call, though the guilt drifted away when I caught my best friend running towards me, and it hadn't been a minute yet.

"My gosh!" She shouted as she passed by the guards situated by the rectangular box leading to the plane. "You're stressing me out!"

I stared at her unkempt hair. On normal, better days, She wore it in a neat bun with no strand left out of place. Her make up was a little patchy, and she wore no eyeliner. "I can tell."

"Well, as you should! I ran all the way here because I was late after buying a phone for you!" As she spoke, Cali took out said device from her back pocket and handed it to me. "My number's already in there, and Elton's as per your request. You better not disappear on me too, Captain. I crossed mountains for that thing!"

"You have a car. Don't be dramatic." I unlocked the phone and checked the contact list. Only two numbers were displayed. I almost sighed loudly in relief. This meant no more texts and calls from random numbers that had somehow gotten my personal number. No more calls from Dad demanding that I should go home to discuss business with him. I slipped the phone inside my pocket and gave Cali my old one. "Besides, don't worry too much. I know what I'm doing."

She sighed. "Do you?"

No.

"I'm afraid I'll be losing my mind if I don't leave this hellhole," I confessed. I waited for an answer, but there was none. Cali simply took the suitcase's handle from my hand and helped me get inside the plane, avoiding the guards whose faces lit up in familiarity and confusion as they saw me without my uniform on.

"I forgot to put on a mask," I whispered to Cali. "The guards recognized me."

"Then I'll pay them to keep their mouths shut," she said. "You know I got you, right? Don't worry too much. I'm staying here, and I'll help you with the Dad Situation."

"I...thank you. I don't know how I'm gonna repay this. You won't even gain anything from helping me."

Cali paused to think, or at least pretended to, as she wore that sweet, mischievous grin that I got used to seeing since our college days, when she thought of bad ideas.

"Find me a boyfriend when you return."

"Campbell."

"I'm joking. Gosh." Still, her grin never faded until seconds later. "Just return here safely when the time is right. That's the payment I want."

"I will."

"Good." She started walking away, and before disappearing into the cockpit, her head peeked out from the partition, her worried eyes fixated on me. "Your destination is freedom, Captain. Prepare for takeoff."