Muffled words

1

I got inspiration for this from @Zero_the_loser22

Their book 'muted' is amazing, please go and read it!!!

George's POV

My heart dropped to my stomach when the crappy speakers blared with the announcement that the plane was landing.
Perhaps weird, seeing as the entire flight had been awful— the airess couldn't and didn't try to understand why I wasn't talking, despite my hunger I couldn't bring myself to try asking for something and when I found my seat it was between a mother with a crying baby and some guy with what seemed like infinite bags of hard candy. It took a lot of self control to sit silently as he chewed
By the end of the 9 hours he had formed a clearly opinion of me and my manners, and to be fair I couldn't really disagree with it. As far as he knew he'd just been ignored the whole time.
But no matter how awful an experience it was the moment my ears popped as a sudden warning of our all too fast descent, I could only help but wish we had just left London.

I'm not ready. There's no way I'm ready.

Loud and repetitive thoughts richocheted around my skull as the plane wheels bounced against the tarmac runway, making me jump and dart my eyes to the window.

I can't do this. It's too early. I can't meet them already.

People had quickly started filing out of open side doors, loudly pulling their bags down from all around me and talking to each other. I lifted my hand to tug slightly on my hair, fists clenching. Everything was way too busy, and way too loud.

It was our row next.

Oh my God.

I can't do this.

Anxiety was building my stomach like a shockwave and I inhaled sharply, trying to slow down my mind and figure out what to do next. Tell someone.

I send a message to Clay to tell him I'd landed and then stand to pull my bag down from above me, doing so ridiculously ungracefully and almost giving myself a concussion. I pause for a quiet moment, staring at my shoes. I breathe. And I start walking.
My throat felt like it was closing up more every step, my chest tightening knowing that me and my best friend were in the same building. Me and the person I spoke to pretty much every day of my life for YEARS. Here, with me, right now. It was surreal to say the least, my eyes travelling around the room when I gave my passport in and clutched the handle to my bag. The entire thing felt strangely like a daydream, my mind clouded over by anxiety and excitement. To say the least, it was overwhelming.

I felt my phone buzz in the back pocket of my jeans as I got a message and I shoved my passport in the hand with my bag, reaching to see what it said.

'come to gate B, I'm here. shouldn't be too far.'

'okay.'

Oh god. Oh, god. I looked around, trying to get any sense of direction through the many, many crowds of people. Nothing showed where to go. Nothing was telling me where I even was. And I couldn't ask for help, because it would be weird, and they'd think I was doing some sort of joke, and—
My phone buzzed again.

'George I see you. Stay there, I see you omg omg omg'

I didn't even reply, heartbeat immediately picking up as I started turning my head around in every direction, searching the massive room for one boy. Oh my god. Holy shit.
Jogging towards me, bag thrown against his back, smiling and reaching out as he sped up by the second. My eyes widened as he got closer and closer; I couldn't move. It didn't even feel real when he stopped in front of me, as magnificent as ever in person.

But it was. I could see every freckle on his face, every long eyelash, all the hints of amber speckled gently in his green eyes (george isnt colourblind btw.) I could see the soft dimple in his left cheek, the way his nose curved adorably, the stray pieces of hair curling against his forehead and the sides of his face. Every little detail that wasn't properly visible on a screen was clear as day here, and they were all so incredibly perfect.

Excited and overwhelming thoughts were abruptly interrupted when two gentle arms wrapped around me, pulling me close with an unfamiliar warmth. One hand was in my hair, the other wrapped round my waist- his chest pressed against mine, my face buried into his shoulder, my feet raising to my tiptoes so I could stand on his level. I gasped and even squealed slightly at the sudden intense touch but quickly matched it by wrapping my arms around his neck, holding him as tight as I could.

"I'm so happy you're finally here." he mumbled, pulling away with a hand on each of my shoulders to stare at me as I had at him. I grinned and nodded- the happiness he felt was very much reflected in me, and I wanted to communicate that as well as I could. After a moment I threw my bag over my shoulder, making sure he was looking when I used my hands to sign out 'Where's Nick?' 

(Lets say they all learned British sign language for George in the past, or at least Dream, Sapnap and Karl did.)

"Oh, he arrived this morning. He's asleep right now, or he was when I left." I just nodded at this, happy to  follow him toward collections. I unashamedly glued my eyes to the side of his face that I could see, admiring how different everything looked in real life compared to on camera.

The man in front of me was gorgeous. Overgrown blonde hair, shining green eyes, perfectly tan skin, softly freckled nose— and, of course, a head and a half taller than me.

'You're too tall. Giraffe-ey weirdo.' I signed, making him laugh as we stopped to wait for my suitcases to come round on the conveyor.

"Aren't you just short though?"

'YOU KNOW I'M AVERAGE HEIGHT'

"Sure, gremlin."

'I actually hate you so much.'

It didn't take long for my bags to come round, and about 5 minutes later we reached the car. After an angry glare at him for opening the door and saying 'mlady' under his breath I climbed in rather nervously, unsure of what to do. When driving Clay obviously wouldn't look at my signing or read any text messages, so I wasn't really sure how it could be anything but painfully awkward.

But all the same we settled ourselves in, before he turned to me and I did that back. A smile teased his lips, the dimple on his left cheek ghosting just for a second. My heartbeat calmed down slightly at this, the comfort of finally being with Clay starting to make a real difference.

"You ready George?"

He finally grinned fully. The dimple appeared, and his eyes sparkled. My eyes crinkled as I smiled back.

I nodded.

(1250 words)

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