Journey (3)

Chapter 50

run (taylor's version)- taylor swift

"Tessa," a voice says from somewhere behind me.

I turn around, and as soon as I see him, it's like time stops.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him. "Your flight..." I gesture up towards the board. "Your flight left five minutes ago."

I'm speechless. I don't know what to say. I have to make sure that he isn't actually a hallucination. How is he here? Why is he here?

"I know," Connor says, nodding calmly. He sighs. "I didn't get on it, clearly."

"What about Kyla?" I ask him, carefully. Whatever he says next will determine whether this was a wasted journey or not.

"She left," Connor says. "She's probably on that flight right now sitting next to an empty seat," he explains, sighing. "We're over."

"You are?" I ask him, confused. "How...why? I thought that you were going away for a month with her?"

I'm still in complete disbelief. I'm even struggling to find words, and I don't quite understand how Connor is standing in front of me right now.

"I was," Connor explains, nodding. "But I couldn't. When I got here, I just knew that I wouldn't be able to get on that flight and be apart from you for a whole month, not after the way that we left things."

"You mean...the kiss?" I ask him. "So, what does this mean? You and Kyla are really over? What does that mean for us?"

"I don't know yet," Connor tells me, truthfully. "This only just happened, and my mind is racing." He pauses. "I wasn't expecting you to be here. I didn't think that you would come all the way here, to the airport? Why did you come here?"

"In the hope that I could convince you not to get on that flight," I tell him. "But I guess you didn't need convincing." I shrug. "I couldn't deal with you being away for a whole month."

"Me too," Connor agrees. "I had to talk to you. There was still so much that I had to say." He exhales, looking me straight in the eye. "There is still so much that I have to say to you, but let me start with an apology. I should never have kissed you, and tried to cover it up."

"You don't need to apologise," I tell him, shaking my head. "It's fine, I get it. You were with Kyla. It would have only complicated things, I know. I get it."

"You didn't deserve that," Connor tells me, shaking his head. "And I realised that, about five minutes before we were set to board the plane. I very nearly made a huge mistake, and I don't want to let you down like that again."

"You didn't," I tell him. "It's okay, it's fine. And I can't believe that you changed your mind, for me. I never thought that you would."

"I always should have," Connor tells me. "I think I've known it for a while now, how I feel about you. And if I'm right, I think that you feel the same way about me too. That kiss definitely said something, right?"

"Yes," I confirm, nodding. There's nothing else that I need to say. I feel the same way. I always have. "Of course, I feel the same way." I laugh. "Do you really think that I would chase just any random stranger all the way to the airport?"

"No, I guess not," Connor laughs. He smiles at me. "I'm glad that you did. I was hoping that you'd give me some sort of sign not to leave. I wanted you to feel the way that I did."

"Where do we go from here?" I ask him. "I think it's obvious that we both feel...something, so what do we do?"

"I just got out of a relationship with Kyla," Connor reminds me. "I'm not exactly looking to jump straight back in to what we had yet."