𝘴𝘵☆𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 （𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳）

☆𝘰𝘯𝘦☆

𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 3AM when my flight landed. Security was yet again a pain. The pack was of course packed, so getting my singular suitcase back took 10 minutes. I almost thought it got lost.

Eventually, I made it past. I texted Jake about his location, only to hear my name being yelled.

"Callie! Over here!" I heard the familiar voice call. Scanning the huge room, I saw Jake waving his arms. I ran as fast as I could towards him. I set down my
suitcase to hug him, too happy in the moment.

Jake and I have been friends for a while. 5 years give or take. This was my first time seeing him face to face. It felt odd to hear his voice as well as see his voice, but I figured I would quickly get used to it.

"Jake, I owe you big time. Thank you for letting me crash at your house," I smiled softly, attempted to show my sincerity.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm glad to see you too. Let's get to my car and go to my house." He tried to grab my suitcase, but I held a firm grip on it. He chuckled while shrugging his shoulders and walked in front of me to lead the way.

This was one of my first times in an airport, and it still surprised me each time how packed it could be, even later in the night. Or really, early in the morning.

We were able to get to the parking lot and I saw him pull his keys out of his pocket. He had a simple, black car. I wasn't sure about the company of it, however. I thought to myself of the options, and eventually answering my own question with a Volkswagen.

He started the engine and looked over at me. "It's a relatively short car ride, so you'll be able to sleep soon. I know for fucking sure I'm tired," he gently joked.

I felt guilt consume me in an instant. I immediately spat out a quick "sorry," and looked away. I didn't want him to see how flustered I was.

Without looking at him, I could tell he was confused. "Sorry about what? I offered to drive you here." He started to laugh a lot more than I felt like he should have.

"Is it that funny?" I breathed out, trying to contain my laugh.

"Yes, it really is"

"Maybe you should explain it to me then?"

"Then it's not funny anymore," he grinned slyly.

I sighed, finally giving in and laughing. It was a joyful, and comfortable car ride. Before I knew it, we were at his house. I was surprised by the size of it. Surely at least a whole family could live here, right?

I opened and shut the car door, earning a bark from a dog next door. I raised my eyebrow at Jake, but he shook his head, indicating it was nothing.

"It's just Albert's dog," he sighed. I could tell that the dog easily annoyed him.

"Who's Albert?" I questioned. I felt like I heard Jake mention his name once or twice before.

"Albert, like, my best friend," he smiled. Talking about him made him quite obviously happy.

"And I'm not?" I faked being offended. I rolled my eyes and held up hand towards him, showing him I didn't want to talk. I ruined the act by laughing mid way through. He started to laugh too as we both made our way towards the front door.

He entered a passcode which I hoped I would learn sooner or later. Opening the door, both him and I were greeted by a dog. It appeared to be a small German Shepherd. I smiled immediately as it went up to me to sniff my odor. I pet it gently and it backed away, not sure whether to trust me now or not.

Jake started to lead me towards a spacious room. The walls were a tan color and the floor was hardwood. The bed looked like it was queen sized, and it was neatly made. There were some photographs hung on the walls for display.

"Make yourself at home," he opened his arms to show off the room. I walked further into the room and set my suitcase on the bed. I walked up to Jake again and grasped him into a hug.

"You really have no idea how much this means" I smiled and gripped him tighter. I could tell he was smiling too as he rubbed my back.

"I'm going to bed because of course.. it's really late. Wake me up if you need anything," he simply said before quickly fleeing the room.

I knew that I wouldn't have the guts to wake him up if I needed anything, so I decided to go to sleep too.

I went towards my bed again and set my suitcase on the floor. I sat on the mattress to find it was much more comfier than it looked. I laid back in the bed beforeI realized the light was still on. I laughed slightly at my stupidity and got up yet again.

While I was up, I decided to close my door as well. There was a lock on it, but I knew I wouldn't need it. The lock made me think of Jonathan for whatever reason. I thought about how different things would be if I just locked my door, if it would be different at all.

I shook my head to clear all the thoughts about him away and I paced around the room. I know that I already decided in my head to sleep, but the jet lag from the plane ride didn't let me go through with that decision.

Pacing, however, made many things worse for me. It made me get lost in my thoughts, even more so than usual. It's hard to get out of these thoughts too, and I don't really stop until I can't bare the thought of thinking anymore.

It was when I got a sudden headache I got concerned. The intensity of the pain increased as the minutes went on, and I couldn't deal with it. I wanted badly to ask Jake if he had any medicine, but I figured I would just sleep it off.

Finally, I crawled into bed. I got under the comforter and buried myself in the pillows. It was pitch black in the room, setting a bit of a more relaxing tone.

I tried and tried not to think anymore for the night at the least. Just one night. I turned on my phone to see the time "04:42 AM". I cringed at the fact I had been up all night and was only slightly tired.

There was a wave of sadness that washed over me for reasons I didn't know. Jonathan popped into my head again. His voice haunted me now. I wondered if he knew where I was now. If he knew I fled to Florida where my friends are. I wondered if he was going to chase me down to get me back. I shivered and grimaced at the thought of what he would do once I was in his arms.

I laid my face flat into the pillow in an attempted to induce the tiredness into me. To my surprise, it actually worked. I finally felt better once I let mt eyes close once and for all, and I started to drift into my slumber.