Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

Anything Meant Everything

Jill's POV

As I walked through London City airport, I was sad to have left my family behind but mostly, I was just looking forward to having Hunter back in my arms again. It felt like an eternity since we'd lived our normal lives; seeing one another every day and finding fun in the most simple things, I'd missed it. I'd missed our life. 

So when I walked through the doors to the arrival lounge, I searched for those warm hazel eyes desperately, I searched for that loving smile and the excited expression I'd expected to see.

Finally. I found her. 

But saw none of those things. 

Hunter's eyes were almost grey, like not a single thought lay behind them. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line, I couldn't even imagine the smile I remembered being printed onto her face. And her expression was blank as she stared ahead, at the wall to the side of me. 

I held my breath, perhaps she was just tired, maybe she'd had a busy morning or a late night. Perhaps my plane had been more delayed than I realized and she'd begun to worry. There were a lot of explanations for this, explanations that weren't concerning and made perfect sense.
But they didn't. 

Gulping, I began walking towards Hunter, pulling a smile onto my face, "Liefje!" I called.

That snapped Hunter from the depth of her seemingly shallow mind, her eyes taking a moment before they settled onto me, though the grey didn't brighten into hazel, the blankness didn't become alive. "Jill," she breathed, pulling me into a hug before I'd even reached her, it was slightly clumsy but I hadn't wanted to wait another second either. 

Hunter's arms tightened around me, I could feel her fingertips clinging onto the fabric of my hoodie, I could feel her holding her breath until she finally let out a long and shaky sigh. I felt myself frown, readjusting my arms slightly so that she was closer to me, so that nothing could hurt her. 

"I missed you," I told her. 

"I missed you too," she whispered, her head nuzzled into the crook of my neck, "I really missed you."

"Lets go home then," I softly suggested after seeing one person pull out their phone, taking a photo of the interaction. I wasn't a massive name, definitely not famous, but Hunter would probably be considered to be; the Putellas sisters were infamous. 

"Okay," She gently nodded, pulling away, though I sensed her staying close, almost stuck to my side with every step I took towards the doors. 

"Where's the car?" I asked, looking for Hunter's car as we stood on the side of the road. 

"I took a cab," Her voice was ever so slightly hoarse, "It's waiting over here."

The airport was only twenty minutes away from her house, I wondered why she hadn't just driven, "Did you not want to drive?" I didn't want to push, I could sense that she would crack if I did, but something wasn't right. Something was off.

Hunter's head quickly turned back to me, "I've driven a lot lately, I was just tired."

"Have you been anywhere fun on these drives?" I asked, a smile on my face as I tried to brighten this quiet mood. 

"Not really, no," Hunter seemed tired.

We climbed into the cab, Hunter sat in the middle seat so we'd be right besides each other, that gesture both warmed my heart and left a lump in the back of my throat. She was quiet, too quiet. Usually she'd have a thousand stories to tell me, and that was when we only spent a day apart, but we'd been separated for months yet Hunter had nothing to say, perhaps for the first time since I'd known her.