heart of glass • joe burrow

027

August 29th, 2022

today was the day. kenzie was moving from kansas city to cincinnati. she was nervous. she felt bad for leaving the place she has called home her entire life.

but she kept telling herself, you don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up. she got ready, her flight left at 3. she left her house around 12 so she could put the letters in their mailboxes.

she started with layla's, then izzy's and travis's, then she dropped patrick's letter off last. she drove back home and called an uber.

she didn't sell her house just in case something ever happened. but she wasn't going to keep her car parked at the airport for that long.

the moving company took her stuff this morning so all she had was her personal item and a carry on.

once she got into the uber, she put her headphones on. she wouldn't be back here for a while and that made her feel sad.

she got dropped off at the airport and took a deep breath before she walked in. this was the first step to her new life.

she had her boarding pass on her phone, so she went towards tsa. it went by pretty fast since she had pre-check.

she sat at her gate, after getting starbucks and boarded the plane. luckily, she had a row all by herself.

"welcome aboard as we travel from kansas city to cincinnati, ohio. wheels up to wheels down is about 4 hours, so sit back and relax." the flight attendant said as the plane lifted off the ground.

she shuffled her playlist and yellow by coldplay started playing. of course that was the first song she would listen to.

she closed her eyes and took a nap the rest of the flight. she had to or else this entire flight would see her ball her eyes out.

once she arrived in cincinnati, she knew there was no going back now. she got her stuff and went down to baggage claim.

she didn't have a checked bag but that's how she had to leave. she was on the escalator, getting ready to call her uber.

she saw 5 guys holding a very big sign and tons of balloons waiting for her to arrive. all the other people waiting for someone to arrive were looking at them, like they were psychotic.

"kenzie." tee yelled waving his arms above his head to let her know they were there.

she was definitely embarrassed, but she was also trying to not laugh. that poster had to be bigger than her since all five of them were holding it.

"what are you guys doing here?" she asked them as she hugged each of them.

"to welcome you to the grand city of cincinnati, what else?" mike said hugging her.

"hi." kenzie said hugging joe as he placed a kiss on her temple.

they took two cars. joe, jamar, and kenzie were in one. while mike, tee, and evan were behind them.

"do you have any tattoos?" kenzie asked. she's never seen any of his, so that made her curious.

"a couple, why?" joe asked. "you can't really see them right now though."

"i've never seen them, so i was just curious." kenzie said shrugging her shoulders as they drove out for he airport.

"i can show you later." joe said. he reached over the center console and interlocked his hand with hers.

"ew." jamar said like a four year old. "coupley stuff grosses me out."

"you wouldn't be saying that if you had a girlfriend." joe said. he was rubbing kenzie's hand with his thumb like he always does.

"yeah probably." jamar said shrugging his shoulders.

"you can't really see much right now, but that's the stadium." joe said pointing to the left.

"and over there is the city hall." jamar said, looking to the right.

"i can give you a proper tour tomorrow." joe said.

once they arrived at joe's house, the moving people weren't there yet. which was expected, the probably wouldn't be here until tomorrow.

"i'll get your bag." joe said turning off the ignition and getting out of the car, kenzie as well.

kenzie got out of the car and took a deep breath. she would be starting her job in two weeks. she thought she was ready, but now she wasn't so sure.

joe unlocked his door and turned the lights now. his house was very nice. "here." joe said handing her a key, presumably to the house.

he walked through the house, showing her each room. the house mainly had the theme of whites and grays.

the basement was probably kenzie's favorite part. all of the trophies and game balls in there were amazing.

"and," joe said opening the door. "this is our room." he said our. not his. maybe he did it by mistake, but kenzie noticed.

he had a walk in closet, half of it was empty. either he didn't use that space or he cleared it out for kenzie.

kenzie showered, and got ready for bed. she walked out of the bathroom, to joe, who was already laying down.

kenzie laid down next to him, her head was on his chest. she always had the perfect spot there. like they were 2 pieces of a puzzle piece and fit perfectly together.

"i feel sick." kenzie said sitting up.

"i think you're just homesick." joe said rubbing her back.

"no," kenzie said getting out of joe's bed, their bed. "i'm gonna throw up."

kenzie walked, rather quickly, to the bathroom and hunched over the toilet bowl. she hates throwing up.

joe walked in, he grabbed a rag and ran it under cold water. he rung it out and placed it on the back of kenzie's neck.

he started rubbing her back. he grabbed a hair tie and pulled her hair out of her face. "i think your physically home sick." joe said.

"okay," kenzie said backing away from the toilet and flushing it. "i think i'm done."

"i need to brush my teeth." kenzie said standing up from the toilet, walking over to the sink.

joe stood in the doorway of the bathroom and waited for her. once she finished, he followed her and they both laid back down.

"goodnight, my love." joe said rubbing circles on her back.

"goodnight, joey." kenzie said.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

what's your favorite tv show?