A Flight's Desire

Chapter 47: The Argument

Ben let her go when she took a few steps back. "You cannot be serious, Robin. You cannot...."

"I am, Ben." She turned around while hugging herself. Her heart ached more than it ever had. "Maybe this was all a mistake. Maybe this wasn't....that we just weren't meant to be."

"Don't say that. You don't mean that."

Silence filled between the two of them, and sometimes silence was enough to say it all. Robin had nothing to say to that. Maybe she meant it, maybe she didn't. But she had to think about everyone that her decisions would affect. The decision is only as important as the change that it would bring. Was she ready for such a change in her life? She was standing in front of Ben, a person that she had deep feelings for. He was her favourite actor who then became one of her best friends. She had told him about her friends, which she would only have done if she trusted him.

Would their lives have really come to this if they had just stayed friends?

Ben thought about what his mother had told him and how his family had looked like when Robin had left after dinner. They wanted him to follow his heart but every decision seemed to lead to her. They knew that he liked Robin even before he had realised it himself. But how was he supposed to tell her that? How was he going to fight for her when the whole world was ready to be against them?

Robin was going to answer his question when a phone rang, breaking the tension between their eye contact. Ben searched for his phone and found it resting on the sofa. He didn't even see the caller ID before picking it up. "Hello?"

"Hey! The cab is here at the hotel." It was Bella, who had called right on time. "We've sent one to the address that you sent me. Are you ready to go back home and attend all the get-togethers because I'm not letting anyone go?"

Ben looked at Robin. He didn't want to leave her but it was time for him to leave Budapest....and maybe even her life, if that's what she wanted. "I'll be there in ten."

Robin was looking at him, unsure of how to reply now. "You have to leave." She guessed from his tone.

He nodded, every movement hurting him. "It's time for my flight."

The two of them knew that it was time to face reality. They had spent many moments together but this was their moment of awakening. The few days that they spent together with each other had been absolutely marvelous! They could finally be who they were without having to owe anyone anything, but it was time to accept the truth. His life would affect hers and he did not want that. He loved her enough to let her go.

Ben got ready for the flight quickly and came out of the room with his suitcases to find Robin sitting on the sofa with her head in her hands. "Well," he cleared his throat. "Thank you for letting me stay here. It was really kind of you."

She nodded at him. "You're welcome. And it was absolutely no trouble, so don't worry."

They wanted to tell each other so many things and also wanted to talk about what they should have. But life was filled with uncertainties. "We'll talk in L.A.?" He asked, hopeful that this wouldn't be how they say goodbye to each other. He would not say goodbye to her in a certain way. He simply wouldn't.

She nodded once again. "I'll call you."

He pursed his lips together. "Bye, Robin." He pulled out a key from the pocket of his pants and placed it in the key stand by the entrance. He opened the front door and placed his suitcases outside. He wanted to close the door and leave, but looked back just once. He wanted to see her again because who knew if she would call.

Robin was looking at him with red eyes. The two of them were broken in their own ways but they had found a new way of looking at life when they were with each other. But that time had been taken away from them as quickly as they got it.

The door closed and Robin was left alone in the house.

She slid to the floor and pulled her legs closer to her chest and hugged them. She held her head and rested her forehead on her knees. "Breathe, Uncle Rob. Breathe."

Ben had walked out of the door, and they had left their discussion halfway. In fact, they hadn't even talked about it entirely. Had they just had their first fight? Their first argument? And Ben had walked out of the door.

Robin stifled a gasp. The memory of the car accident came rushing back to her. She had been blocking out these feelings for so wrong and all it took was one article for old wounds to open up. She could smell the due in the woods and the sound of raindrops pitter-pattering against the windows of the car. Lincoln was sitting beside her and the two of them were having an argument. Her parents' voices were zoned out as she looked mesmerized by the stars. And finally, the sound of the truck and the bright yellow light shattered her vision.

She looked at her phone and considered calling Lincoln. She would definitely need his help in this like she always needed his support in everything else. He was the only one she could talk with because only he could understand what she was going through.

But wasn't he the one who had told Robin to go with what her heart told her? She remembered his words clearly. He had told her to follow her heart despite what her mind told her. That's how she had gotten into completing her book with the incomplete idea that she had had in school. That's why she had written Out of the Blue. There were so many instances in the book that she had written from her own personal experience that she took Lincoln's consideration on. They had gone through them together and the book belonged to them the most.

Robin lifted her head up. That was it. She had found her answer.

Ben had inspired her as well. He was the key to unravelling her writing career. He had been with her more than she had been with him, and he didn't even know it then. He had supported her all along and he had been the one to change the way she felt about life.

"Oh no." Robin realised just how paranoid she had become after seeing the articles. She had been so insensitive that she didn't even consider Ben's feelings! He was going through these all his life and no matter what she had said, she wanted to be there for him. She wanted to help him get through moments like this.

That was it.

"I love him." She laughed. "I love Ben Summers!" She stood up in earnest. "I have to go catch him. I have to...." She looked around and searched for her trench coat. "He needs to know."

Though chasing him to the airport sounded very cliche, she was ready to do it, because it was Ben Summers and she was Robin Hale, and they were each other's wholes.

And she was not going to let him go.