𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, ph.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. step one: failed (successfully).

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. -- step one: failed (successfully).

─ i ─

Pick wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked towards the next crowd of people that spilled from the baggage claim area into the terminal, but it wasn't his crowd, not the one he's been waiting for, he knew. The right plane was just landing and so Pick shifted his weight, trying to focus on anything other than the humidity that was making his hair wave, and the smell of old oil coming from one of the snacks stands nearby. He frowned, reaching for the phone in his back pocket and checking the new messages.

[1:12pm] pete: yooooo i think step one failed and it ain't me this time

[1:25pm] buttercup: need to talk to u, preferably before tomorrow's wedding because i might have to kill someone 💀

Pick frowned as suddenly this uneasy feeling started to take place in the pit of his stomach. He was just about to call Rome when a familiar voice started yelling his name, and a second later he almost fell back when someone crashed into him with full force, wrapping arms around his neck.

"Pick! You're even taller than you were when I left you here, what are they feeding you?" Jane laughed in his ear, squeezing him so tightly that the breath came out of him in wheezes when he tried to regain his balance. She was a whole head shorter than him, she should not have so much strength.

"I should be asking you that, Hulk. Have you been working your arms out just to strangle me the first time we meet?" he asked when she finally released him, letting him take a good look at her. She dyed her hair light blonde and cut it short to her shoulders, but she was still doing her make-up the same way; with a lot of blush on her cheeks and something that seemed to sparkle against her skin. Pick always thought it made her look like a fairy and he was happy to see it back because he knew she stopped dressing up for a long time after everything that happened. Seeing her so confident made him genuinely happy, so he thought that everything else could wait a little bit until they catch up.

Jane sighed. "I don't know if you've noticed but I gained weight. Like, more weight than I'd like, so I'm taking care of that. And if I'll be able to strangle a man after all the training, then so be it," she flipped her hair back, making him chuckle.

"You look fine to me," he shrugged, just then looking up to see their father walking over while pushing two suitcases. Jane must have left everything she had while running to Pick and that made him laugh again, she might have been two years older than him but she still acted like an excited kid. "Come on, mom's waiting at home. She took the day off to see you," he said, nodding slightly to his dad and taking one suitcase from him.

"Oh, please, saying hello to each other won't kill you," Jane snorted, linking her arm with Pick's as he led them through the terminal.

"You've been good, right? Didn't give your mother any trouble?" his dad asked finally when they were putting the luggage in the trunk of Pick's car. Well, technically, his mom's car but he couldn't exactly come get them on his motorcycle. Mostly because they wouldn't all fit on it, but also because Pick wasn't in the mood for listening to how only gang members rode on motorcycles and how he should consider what people would think, like he ever cared about that before.

"I'm not in jail yet, am I? As good as I can be," Pick muttered, walking over to the driver's seat. He promised his mom he wouldn't start off with an argument, so it was better to keep quiet, and on the drive back only Jane was chattering, telling Pick how she missed Thai food because eating it in America doesn't feel the same way.