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Maia hated flying.
The crowded spaces, children crying, and just simply the idea of being suspended thousands of feet in the air was a living nightmare for her. If there was ever any way to avoid stepping onto an aircraft, Maia would take up the opportunity in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, driving for two days across the country just wasn't practical.
"It wasn't that bad Maia." Jordan said as they stepped out of the boarding door. "You do realize the risk of dying in an airplane crash is like 1 in 11 million, right?"
"Yeah, but never zero!" Maia exclaimed, rolling her suitcase towards the familiar escalator that leads down to the baggage claim.
In her time playing with the Mystics, Maia had been through this exact airport numerous times. Especially after spending overnight in the building when her team's flight got delayed, Maia knew the halls better than most. Memories like those, when she spent hours sliding down the airport tile floors in nothing but socks with her teammates made her miss them even more.
They were her second family. A home away from home.
Before Maia could get too consumed in her thoughts, Aiden's phone rang, making him stop to dig for it in his bag.
"Yo Austin, what's up?" Aiden said with a smile, before worry flashed over his face. "Oh shit, that sucks."
"What the fuck happened dude?" Maia asked, worried about their longtime friend.
"His flight got delayed."
About a month ago, when they first broke the news to Austin about the move, he heavily insisted on flying to LA to help them get settled. Much to Maia's protest, Austin paid for the full thing by himself, even planning to arrive a couple hours before them so he could rent a car to pick them up.
"Apparently he tried to call us a couple hours ago, but we were already in the air." Aiden explained. "But he said he's trying to coordinate someone else to pick us up."
"What?" Maia said in disbelief. "No, just tell him we'll take an Uber!"
"Too late." Her friend said with a shrug. "Apparently Hasan's on his way to pick us up."
Not this fucking guy again.
"Alright dude, see you tomorrow then." Aiden said, ending the call with Austin.
"Why does it have to be that guy?!" Maia said, now speed walking towards the baggage claim.
Looking over her shoulder, Maia could see Aiden struggling to conceal his smile. Ever since the interaction she had with Hasan earlier that morning, Aiden had been testing her nonstop about it.
"Oh shut up dude." she said. "I know there are more of your streamer friends in this city. Like what about that Lud-worg dude?"
"You mean Ludwig??"
"Yeah, yeah whatever."
——
"Is that his car?"
Before Aiden could respond, a guy with long, wavy black hair wearing sunglasses stepped out of a blue Porsche. If the luxury car wasn't enough to draw attention to the man, he was also wearing a bright yellow Hawaiian shirt.
"Wow, you are really fucking tall." Aiden said, embracing Hasan in a hug.
"It's the Turkish genes, man." Hasan responded with a smile.
It was true. Maia was considered pretty tall for a woman, standing at a comfortable 5'10, but even she found herself looking up to greet him.
"And you must be Maia." Hasan stated, to which she smiled politely, extending an arm to shake his hand. Though Hasan used the polite gesture as a way to embrace her in a hug as well.
"Sorry." He mumbled. "I'm a hugger."
Not that Maia minded, however. A friend of Aidens is always a friend of hers.
——
"So you're Turkish?" Maia asked Hasan from the passenger seat as Aiden typed in the address of their new house into the GPS.
"Yeah." He said, taking his phone back from Aiden in the back seat. "I moved here when I was a teenager."
"Smart." Maia said. "Avoiding the American education system, I like it."
Hasan laughed at her comment, making Maia grin from ear to ear like a high schooler. "I guess you could say that." He said.
The rest of the car ride was spent making jokes and telling stories of their childhood experiences, often resulting in Maia blushing profusely as she yelled at Aiden for telling an embarrassing story from middle school.
