Cheryl and I had been together for almost 12 months and there were very little that we hadn't told each other. However, there was one thing that I had kept from her and that was my fear of flying. She knew I was scared of things that flew such as birds and wasps because every time I was close to one I would curl up into a ball and run behind her for protection but she didn't realise that I was scared of flying. I had only ever flown once before and that was when I was 6 and I have never done it again. I had somehow managed to always travel by car or train when I had gone to see Cheryl but she had a work in New York tonight so we had to travel by plane. I've been trying my best to block it out and forget that I had to fly but the time had now come.
We were sat at our gate and there was only 5 minutes left until we had to board. "Baby, I think I'm going to go to the bathroom again." I said turning to Cheryl and handing her my backpack to hold while I went. "That's the fourth time you've been since we got here, are you alright?" Cheryl asked looking at me concerned and lifting the back of her hand up to place on my forehead. "I'm fine. I think I might have just drank too much water this morning." I said covering up my nerves. "Are you sure? You feel a bit warm."
"I'm sure." I replied kissing her cheek for reassurance before going to the bathroom.
When I arrived back at the gate, Cheryl was already in line. She handed me my backpack and as I took it off her, our hands briefly touched. "Baby your hands are really warm and clammy." she said. "The water was really hot when I washed my hands and I didn't have time to dry them properly." I replied hoping she would believe my not very convincing lie. Cheryl just looked at me suspiciously but dropped the question. "Have you ever flown before?" Cheryl asked as we got closer to boarding the plane. "Yeah, just once. I was 6. It was when we moved from LA to Riverdale." I replied vaguely remembering the traumatic 4 hour flight. It was then our turn to board the plane and I quickly grabbed Cheryl's hand. As we walked onto the plane, the pilot was stood there welcoming the passengers on board. "Hi." I said straining my neck to look up at him as he was at least a foot taller than I was. "Good morning." he replied politely. "How are you feeling today?" I asked him as I had heard that the main cause of plane crashes were due to pilot suicide so I just wanted to make sure he was feeling ok. "I'm fine. How are you?"
"Good." I lied and just stood there staring at him until Cheryl tugged on my hand and I broke eye contact with him. "What was that about?" she asked as we made our way to our seat. "Nothing. I just wanted to make sure he was feeling alright."
Once we had sat down and listened to the safety video, the plane began to taxi to the runway. I messed with the buckle on my seatbelt again to check that it was tight enough. "That must be the hundredth time you've checked that seatbelt." Cheryl commented. "I'm just making sure it's on." I said trying to stop my shaking hands as I lean over and checked Cheryl's seatbelt was fastened correctly. I took slow deep breaths but as we got closer to taking off my breaths became quicker and shallower. My palms began to sweat as did the rest of my body. I began to wiggle around in my seat and my heart rate increased. Cheryl noticed what was happening and took hold off my hand. "Baby calm down, everything's going to be fine." she said rubbing her thumb along the back of my hand. "No it's not! We're going to die! We are about to somehow float in the sky in a metal cylinder with wings which is carrying hundreds of people and their luggage and food and-"
"TT, calm down." Cheryl said turning her body around to face me. As my breathing became more erratic, Cheryl placed my hand on her chest and started taking slow deep breaths. "Focus on my breathing and try and copy It." she said. I looked into her beautiful brown eyes which were trying to reassure me that everything would be fine. I managed to slow my breathing after a few minutes and Cheryl kept ahold of my hand. "We are about to take off." she said squeezing my hand. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine. Just focus on me." Cheryl put her hand on my cheek and connected our lips. I could feel the plane pick up speed and slowly raise from the runway but Cheryl redirected my attention to her and the way that her lips felt on mine. After a solid few minutes of making out, the plane was finally up in the air and settled. We slowly parted and we settled into our seats. After a few minutes of comfortable silence Cheryl asked "How Come you didn't tell me you were scared of flying?"
"I don't know. I guess I was a little embarrassed to be honest and I didn't want to cause any inconvenience for you."
"Don't be silly TT, I just wish you'd told me so we could have got you some medication or something or we could have drove. You don't have to be embarrassed, so many people are scared of flying. Plus we tell each other everything, embarrassing or not." Cheryl said taking my hand again in hers and kissing the back of it. "I'm sorry." I said.
"Don't be, just relax and we will be landing in no time." Cheryl lifted up the arm rest separating us and lifted her arm up so I could cuddle up into her side. I laid my head on her chest and within no time I fell asleep while Cheryl sang quietly in my ear to calm me down.
