Jurassic World: 8 Hours Until Daylight

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The drive to the airport was shorter than I had anticipated and I could feel my anxiety creeping into my body. My brother and I had been raised with the idea that it was better to be early than late, but even I could agree the arriving three hours early for a flight was a little much. 

     "You do remember that my flight is at 11:00 right?"

     I could hear my brother grumble out a sarcastic reply as I watched him pull my bags out of the trunk. He closed the trunk and walked around to where I was sitting, dropping my bags at my feet. 

     "There's nothing wrong with being early." he said as I stood and shrugged off my jacket.

The parking garage that we were in, although in shade, did nothing to stop the heat and humidity from attacking everyone that was outside of an air conditioned building.

     "I still don't understand why you're wearing jeans and a leather jacket when it's like 85 ° outside." my brother said as he watched me drape my jacket over my carry on bag.

     "Leo, the amount of judgement that I hear in your voice is appalling." I said placing a hand on my chest in faux offense.

     We started towards the main building to check my bags and I could tell from the bright smile on my brother's face that he wasn't as bothered by the heat. South Florida wasn't the best place to be if you wanted cool weather or hair that stayed flat, but it's a perfect place for tans and old people.

     Stepping inside of the airport I sighed in relief at the temperature change, the air conditioning cooling my skin. As we neared the security check worst case scenarios started running though my head. Maybe it wasn't that good of an idea to go and leave my brother behind. What if the something happened to the plane or what if something happened to Leo?

A comforting hand landed on my shoulder snapping me out of my head and I turned to see Leo. He was standing quietly with an understanding smile on his face. He had seen me over analyze before and could understand that I just needed to get my thoughts out. The feeling of his hand calmed me down enough to the point where I could breathe a bit easier.

     "Well...I should go, you know security is always a bitch." I chuckled as I shifted my carry on bag from my right hand to my left.

     I stepped forward and leaned in to hug my brother, squeezing him as tight as I could with one arm. As we hugged I could feel his body vibrate from his laughter, the noise making a wave of nostalgia crash over me and send my mind back to happier times. We parted and a comfortable silence fell over the both of us, the quiet murmur of other people filling the space around us.

I went to leave but stopped and turned back to face Leo.

     "Hey! Do me a favor, don't get hurt while I'm gone please."

     I could see him chuckle to himself before he replied. 

     "Me? You're the one going to the island full of dinosaurs."

     I smiled as I moved to give him one last hug, putting my bag down so that I could use both of my arms.

     "Yeah well, you're the only family I've got so let's just both stay safe okay?"

     My throat started to tighten and I could hear my voice quiver at the end of the sentence. The full brunt of what was happening hit me like a truck and I would be lying if I said that it was easy for me to let him go.

     "I love you goober" I said as I squeezed him again.

     He squeezed me tightly in return and answered with a soft melancholy tone.