THE AIRPORT WAS a place that Sam didn't want to be. It was cramped with people, their bodies moving around Sam far too quickly for her to even see the colors they'd been wearing. They'd been bumping into her all morning and she used all of her money to buy peanuts. So, she didn't have anything to drink and her mouth was dry.
The bright side was because of her soccer ball rolling around beneath her foot, she could extend her legs, lean back and fall asleep. She'd woken up far too early and Mike hadn't been here waiting there when they arrived— that's not how it always worked, Jonathan told her—so, she decided to take a brief nap.
Briefly, as she fell in between consciousness and unconsciousness, she saw Will searching for Mike in glee and El smiling so hard she could've broken her teeth. Sam wiped the corners of her mouth, and stared at the people leaving the plane.
She squinted her eyes and seen what she thought was a dad on vacation; was actually Mike. He stood taller over most people, curly dark hair to his shoulders, a weird hat on along with sunglasses. He wore a yellow button up, short sleeved shirt that was opened to reveal the dark colored top beneath and green shorts that fell to his knees.
"Mike." El stood, grabbing his attention. He smiled and the two sprinted towards each other and collided in a much awaited kiss. They hugged afterwards, just as Johnathan, Argyle, Will and Sam stood to join the two.
They talked for a few moments, where Mike gave El some flowers. Sam was still trying to wake up from her nap, running her hands through her hair tiredly. She blew her breath, and stood next to Will, who was holding a rolled up painting. He was just as happy as El, if not more, as he waited for Mike to greet him.
Sam had noticed that Will had been painting a lot more lately. More so on the thing in his hands currently. She presumed that it'd been for Mike now that she'd seen it, but she remembered El telling her that maybe it was for someone he liked. Maybe, El was wrong?
El eventually stood next to Mike, allowing him to finally acknowledge the four standing there. He looked at Will first, and his voice shifted. "Oh. Oh. Hey. How you doing?" Mike and Will shared an somewhat awkward hug that made Sam glance between them.
Jonathan nodded at Mike with a small smile. "Hey, Mike."
Mike had done the same with Jonathan as he'd done with Will, minus the hug. Sam half expected Will to give Mike the tube in his hand but as she watched him, she noticed that his mood was dimming and he smile was getting smaller and smaller. She frowned and shifted her body onto her soccer ball.
"Hey, Sam." Mike said. He glanced at her hair for a moment. "I like your hair."
Sam smiled up at him. "Thanks. I like your..." she quickly glanced at his hair once more. "Hat." She shared a chuckle with Mike as he thanked her.
"Great. Uh, what's that?" Mike looked towards the tube in Will's hands, curiously.
Will met gazes with Sam for a moment before stammering out a response. "Um, it's nothing. Just this painting I've been working on."
"Cool." Mike stared blankly at Will a moment longer. Sam huffed and scratched her head out of utter awkwardness. What is happening right now?
