richpez for mae

23

Joey had never left a plane that fast in his life. He could feel Darren's eyes burning into the back of his neck as he walked down the aisle, knowing he was only a few feet away and wanted to be as far away from him as possible. He stepped out of the plane and descended the stairs, feeling the cold Michigan air hit his body like a brick wall. A cold chill ran down his spine. California hadn't even dropped into the 60s all winter and getting back to Michigan felt like he had just walked into a freezer, the low 40s sending goosebumps along his skin. He scowled, knowing all his winter clothes were either in his suitcase or back at his dorm. Joey wrapped his arms around his body, trying to conserve heat and not fall down the stairs as he followed the trail of people into the terminal.

He pulled off his backpack to fish for his passport while in the queue for customs. He could still feel Darren's gaze on the back of his head, whether Joey was just paranoid or not being another question. But he shuffled forwards in the queue, not daring to look back to confirm if his thoughts were true or not.

Joey didn't even want to know. Even thinking about Darren made him mad, thinking of him and Lauren together made him feel physically nauseous. Joey really thought Darren was becoming a good friend. He would have gone as far to say best friend. But his betrayal felt like such a stab in the back, especially since it was with the person he cared most about on the planet. And although both Lauren and Darren had tried to eventually get into contact with him, he ignored it.

Joey eventually made it to the front of the line and had his passport checked, heading through the barrier and over to the carousel to look for his luggage. Thankfully he was only waiting for one case. But being stood at the same carousel he had been stood at a month prior returning from thanksgiving break really paralleled his current situation. He had been stood on the phone to Lauren as usual, excited since Lauren had just told him she was at the airport waiting for him as a surprise. He was laughing at her down the phone, telling her that he wouldn't have been that long and she could have just waited at his dorm, but inside he was so touched that she had made the effort to go and see him. He had been so distracted by thinking about their reunion that he almost missed his suitcase, and hurried out into the arrivals lounge to go see her.

But this time, he was alone and unhappy. And he was so caught up in his daydream that he almost missed his suitcase, again, having to speed-walk around the carousel to grab it. He scowled, internally blaming Lauren for his misfortune, and sluggishly left the area into the arrivals lounge. He pulled his suitcase behind him and headed towards the exit, looking out at the dull Michigan sky that was through the big glass windows ahead.

He looked to his right as he was walking and saw a large arrivals sign bolted to the ground with a screen that showed all the latest arrivals. And again his mind snapped into reminiscing about seeing Lauren stood by the sign waiting for him. She stood holding a cute little homemade sign with his name on, and he remembered the feeling of seeing her, even after a couple of days apart, was ecstasy. He thought about seeing her face turn so quickly from neutral to pure elation as they locked eyes, watching her run towards him and jump into his arms as if he had been away for war. And looking back, holding her in his arms as she squealed in his ear from joy was a moment that made his chest feel warm and brought a genuine smile to his face.

Joey hadn't realised that he had stopped walking, or that tears were quickly running down his cheek as he zoned back in, suddenly realising how alone he was in that moment. He exhaled shakily and brought his hand to his eyes and quickly wiped the tears away, grabbing his suitcase again and hurrying outside to hail a taxi back to his dorm room.

He found an available taxi relatively quickly and threw his luggage inside, telling the driver where he wanted to go and sat back as he was driven through Detroit and back to Ann Arbour. He tried not to think about the embarrassment that he felt about being stood in an airport crying because he missed his ex, but they were quickly arriving back at his college dorm. He thanked and paid the driver, pulling out his belongings and hurrying inside to escape the Michigan weather. Joey honestly couldn't be bothered to pull his suitcase up the flight of stairs so opted to take the lift, and as he stepped inside and looked in the mirror, he sighed, staring back into his own empty eyes. Joey didn't even feel the lift move, too entranced by his own gaze and staring at every crevice and dent in his face, the bags under his eyes, the stress spots that were forming on his forehead, his untamed facial hair. He almost felt numb, only snapping out of it when he felt the lift jolt to a stop and the lady over the intercom announcing his floor.