golden hour

part one - butterflies

Lee awakens to see that the sun has started to come up and the light is starting to shine through the car window. Confused as to why he is still in his car and not at the base he feels someone snuggle closer to him and looks down to see Layla.

Checking his cell phone and seeing that it is just before 6 am, Lee realizes he needs to be back at base for training shortly and starts to wake up Layla. "Hey, Layla.." she groans and snuggles closer so Lee starts to gently shake her. "Hey Layla, we fell asleep. I have to get to base. I'm sorry to wake you."

Stirring awake and rubbing her face, Layla sits up and looks around also realizing that she and Lee had just spent the night cuddling in his truck. "hey good morning. what time is it?"

Lee tells her that it is just before 6 and he needs to get to work. "I'm sorry I had to wake you but I'm going to be late for work. Let me walk you up to the house."

"Oh Lee, I'm sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep. Did you get enough sleep to fly today?" Layla is instantly filled with guilt, fearing that he didn't get enough sleep to be spending the day flying fighter jets and doing insane stunts in them. "I fell asleep when you did, trust me I've worked in way worse conditions, I'll be good."

On their walk up to Layla's house Lee carries her guitar case and the clothes she had been wearing, her now wearing his navy sweatshirt after changing to get more comfortable sometime last night. "I had fun last night Lee. We should hang out again, but next time make sure you get some actual sleep. I can't have you failing school!"

"Yeah I had fun too and I slept pretty good next to you" he laughs and nudges her shoulder, letting her know he was only teasing. The two had been innocently flirting with each other all night, leaving Layla with butterflies in her stomach. "Let's get some dinner tonight. Put your number in my phone and I'll text you when I get done."

Layla finishes putting her number into his phone as they reach her doorstep and takes her clothes from him. Both of them smiling, they look at each other and lean in for a hug and then Lee, imitating her from earlier whispers in her ear "you look better in that sweatshirt than I do" and kisses her on the cheek.

Layla laughs at him and pulls out her keys, "Very funny. Now get to work before you're late!" She unlocks the door and heads in to the house, turning and waving goodbye to Lee before shutting the door. She walks down the front hall and is caught by her mom and younger, half-sister Amelia, who both eye her choice of clothing.

Looking down at herself and realizing how the situation looks, Layla tells them "it's not what it looks like. I swear."

"Your outfit and the walk of shame say otherwise" Penny says to Layla, laughing at her. Amelia chimes in "yeah why aren't you wearing any pants?" Layla sighs and looks her mom in the eye in an attempt to make her believe her and says "Mom, I swear nothing happened. He was a complete gentleman. We were catching up and it got cold so I borrowed a shirt and got more comfortable. To be fair, i'm more covered in this hoodie than the outfit I was wearing yesterday!" Referencing her current outfit, which the large hood goes much further down her thighs than her shorts did, and her mid drift is fully covered.

"Okay honey, I believe you. So what happened? How did it go?" Grabbing some of Amelia's breakfast (much to her dismay) and a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter, she hops up onto the breakfast bar stool in the kitchen, and settles in to tell her mom everything.

Layla and Penny have gotten much closer over the last few weeks, having a rocky few years during her first few on the road they are now closer than ever. The two had become distant when Layla's dad supported her decision to get her high school diploma through online courses rather than in school and start getting out on the road to pursue her music. Her mom had thought she was too young for that kind of freedom and this led to a rift in their relationship.