WHEN LOVE ARRIVES [KEANU REEVES]

twenty ⋆ scars & immunity

we were a fresh page on the desk
filling in the blanks as we go
as if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead
leading us home
─ cornelia street by taylor swift

"Hi."

"Hey, you."

"You just woke up?"

"Yeah. The flight wasn't that great and I got hounded by paps when I arrived at LAX."

"Oh, to be you."

Keanu's chuckle echoed through her apartment. The sound brought a sense of comfort in Skeeter's chest even though she was only hearing it through a Skype call.

Skeeter was loitering around the kitchen ─ a novelty ─ looking for plates and utensils that she and her father could use for the evening. He was coming over before her flight to Switzerland tomorrow to either wish her luck or to make sure she wouldn't combust due to nerves or both.

"Are you excited for the awards?"

Skeeter wrinkled her nose and clicked her tongue.

"Excited? Maybe. Nervous? Hell, yes. But there's no backing out anymore, right? I already packed and I have a freaking plane ticket to Switzerland. . ."

She trailed off. Her head seemed to always get light at the thought of the Sushrata Awards coming up. The fear of failing was very much still in her system.

"Hey, Skeeter?"

"Hm?"

Skeeter met his eyes through her phone that was perched on the kitchen counter-top. Keanu was sitting on his couch with the city of Angels as his background. He looked the same when they had said goodbye the night before; he looked like a ruggedly handsome angel as he stared back at her with a soft smile on his face. His beard has grown just a bit and she remembered how he complained that it was always patchy and never the "perfect" beard.

"I know this is easier said than done but just remember to breathe, alright?"

"Breathe?"

"Yeah. . .take one huge deep breath and remember how you got there in the first place."

"After my five failed submissions?"

"I meant after your perseverance and hard-work but we could work with that too."

"Awe, Chuck. You flatter me every time."

The knock on the door signaled the end of their call. Skeeter wiped her hands with the wash cloth and apologetically smiled at the mobile device. She placed her hands on the counter and sighed.