Best For Last || Jacob Elordi AU

airport

       You despised everything about this morning: waking up alone in the same place you'd woken up tangled in Jacob the previous morning, how wickedly early you'd had to get up to be to the airport on time, and these god-awful plane seats you'd been sitting in for just over two hours now. The captain had recently announced you'd begun the initial descent, so you braced yourself for possible turbulence through the clouds. As uncomfortable as landing made you, take off was still far worse. And you still had another plane to catch once you landed here in PA; this was only your layover.

Your fingers found the locket that laid over your collarbones, and with the thought of the picture inside and who it had come from, some tension left your shoulders. You wondered if Jacob's flight had been smoother than yours, and how early he'd had to be at the airport. You wondered where he'd stayed last night, and why he had refused to even see you once more before the two of you separated again for, as far as you both knew, ever.

Once the wheels of the plane hit the ground, everyone was unbuckling themselves immediately despite the seat belt signs still glowing orange. You stretched to see behind you, where Sabrina and Lea both sat, but separated. Lea noticed you and waved, but Sabrina, under her sunglasses, was clearly asleep, with her head leaned against the plane window and mouth ajar. You took your phone off of airplane mode, and tried not to let yourself hope that you'd have some sort of something from Jacob-- but you failed, and was disappointed when the only message was a check-in from Drew.

\\

It was almost 10AM, and your flight back to Michigan had another 3 and a half hours before boarding would even begin. You and Drew had agreed that she'd pick you up so you guys could eat somewhere close by and say your own goodbyes, then she'd drop you back off just before your next flight. You saw her car before she saw you, and you flagged her down, walking over the curb with your enormous suitcase wheeling along behind you.

She was beaming as you got in the car, then gave you a once over and chuckled, "You look... tired."

"That means I look like shit," you replied in monotone.

She lifted her hands in innocence then put the car in drive, "Hey, I avoided saying it."

"Well I feel like shit, so at least I look the part," you leaned your head against the glass and put a hand on your stomach. "Eating will probably help. Any place in mind?"

"You like street tacos?"

//

Forty-five minutes and 4 street tacos each later, you and Drew leaned back in your chairs with uncomfortably full bellies. You'd told her of the beautiful wedding details, how happy of a couple Dante and Arya were, and Sid and Sab's odd little love story. The only part you'd skimped out on the details of was...

"And what about Jacob? I'm dying to know," she leaned forward and rested her chin on the backs of her interlaced fingers, framing her excited face. Your lips parted to speak, but you couldn't find the right words. You scratched at a spot on your temple and looked over the floor.
"That bad huh?" she continued. She'd been asking for updates here and there, but you'd been very vague with any questions that pertained to your ex, only telling her it wasn't as bad as anticipated and that you two had even had a few good times.

"N-No, I mean yes, but no, and then yes again," you finally put together. You realized yourself how crazy that sounded, so she must've been thoroughly befuddled.

"Did you guys fight?"

"Oh yes, a couple times."

She chuckled, "Did he apologize?"

"A lot."

"Wow," she raised her brows, and took a sip of her lemonade after asking, "Did he like... flirt with you?"

"We had sex," you blurted purely for dramatic affect. She choked on her drink and some of it spilled down her chin, her eyes frantic as she scrambled for a napkin. You burst into laughter for the first time in a while.

"What in the holy fuck, Y/N," she said first, dabbing at her lemonade sprinkled shirt. "That's not very I'll just pretend he doesn't exist of you." She mocked your voice on the quote from outside of Dante and Arya's house just before the trip.

"It wasn't my intention going in, trust me," you defended yourself. "But... seeing him brought everything back." You recalled when he'd told you that exact thing on the playground carousel that first night you two saw each other again. She looked over your face, surveying for any hint that you were joking-- you weren't.

"You mean it?" her voice was bit more serious, more sympathetic. You nodded, and she went on, "Tell me everything."

And so you did. You told her about the first day, when your eyes met his and the room spun. The tension throughout the day, how you'd told a story that anonymously involved him in the RV and he told everyone that was both of your story, and his vulnerable admission that night, just you, him, and the stars. You laughed through the story of what happened at the waterfall, his body betraying him right there in front of everyone, because you'd touched him.

You mentioned of course how Sabrina had been shamelessly flirting with him, but he shut her down right away. And right after that, when you'd quit your job on a whim, he was there. You still didn't know how he knew you were upset, but he did, and came to your side immediately. He held you with no ulterior motive. He remembered the gum that encapsulated the flavor and scent of your last kiss, and gifted it to you without your knowing that night. Whispered in your ear the next day how it tasted like you.

You told her about the concept of 'passes' you'd made up, and how Jacob constantly abused them, but the idea was comical to you now. You relived the two of you sneakily exploring the giant house together, and him finally crossing that line by pressing a tease of a kiss to the corner of your mouth. You laughed at the memory of Sid and Sabrina asking you guys to switch rooms, the heavy silence that had fallen over the room when they did... and what that led to. You kept that part short and sweet.

You tried the best you could to use exact quotes of his from when you two talked alone at that coffee shop in Georgia, clearing up everything, forgiving and forgetting, falling in love all over again. And finally, you were back to the day of the wedding. Sorrow and regret washed over you heavily as you told her each detail of your slow dance, every word he'd worshiped you and said goodbye with. Both you and Drew were wiping tears by the time you finished.

"Y/N..." Drew said quietly, shaking her head. "What are you gonna do?"

You pressed your lips into a line and shrugged, "Go home and get over him all over again. It's all I can do."

"Why? You hate your roommate, and you don't even have a job," she said without thinking. "No offense."

"I'm working on building a life out there, I'm not just going to give up because I had a nice few days reminiscing. It's... childish. If I gave up now just because things are tough over there, I'd just be running away all over again."

"It wouldn't--"

"Please," you held a hand up to stop her, but still spoke politely. "This is a hard enough decision as it is. I feel like I'm really being mature and doing the right thing. Let me."

A melancholy look crossed her face, but she nodded in support of you and placed her hand atop yours. You were simultaneously grateful and internally weeping.