☆ BABY ☆ { Rhea Ripley }

Chapter Five

"You've never gone to another country before?" Dom, who is sat next to me, asks me.

What made him think that?

"Of course I have!" I exclaim defensively.

"So you've never been on a plane before," he says to himself, nodding in understanding.

I stare at him dumbfounded.

Not only did he take the aisle seat, he forced me to sit in the middle and left the empty seat next to me for Finn to sit in.

My brain is pretending to be upset right now but I don't think I am. Yeah, they're a bit loud but I really like being with them.

"I have been on a plane before. What makes you think that I haven't?" I look at Finn who is trying to squeeze into the window seat and pull my knees up to my chest for him to-

"Well-" Dominik starts.

Finn is suddenly pulled back and pushed away, an annoyed Rhea now stands where he was.

Did I do something to her? Why is she annoyed? It's probably not directed at me. Who cares.

...

I do.

Eh-

"Move, dumbass," Rhea kicks Dom's knee, urging him to move it so she can fit through. He does reluctantly and I once again squeeze my knees to my chest to make more space.

Rhea situates herself on the window seat and taps my knees. I let them fall back down and smile at her, giving her a little wave.

She winks at me and I swear I melt a little bit.

"As I was saying, you look a little nervous. And I am no detective but that indicates that you're scared. Unless I make you nervous, " Dom looks at me suggestively, his eyebrows moving up and down.

I giggle at him, trying to ignore the scared part of his speech. It's true, I'm scared.

Usually, when I am in a crowded place and especially a plane, I have my headphones to calm me down but just this morning, Elsa decided it would be a good idea to pee on the couch right next to them and some damage was done, so I left them at home.

"So you are scared?" Dominik keeps pushing when he sees my face.

"I- No! Of course not!" Honestly even I wouldn't believe me.

"Right," Dominik rolls his eyes and spreads his leg. His knee bumping mine.

I put my left leg over my right one to make more space for him.

Just then, the flight attendant starts doing the before take off ritual, showing the nearest exits and how to fasten our seatbelts.

Nobody really talks as the plane starts moving forward. I see my hand is a bit shaky and shove my nails as far into my thigh as they can go, not wanting anyone to notice.

I squeeze my eyes shut and bite my lip to keep any pained sounds from coming out.

My head feels light, my heart feels heavy. I don't even know how to explain that.

I pick my hand up and move it to my mouth so that I can bite my thumb.

I know it sounds childish but it's a method that helps me calm down and it even helps when trying to stop crying. It helps me breathe, as I am forced to keep my mouth open.

My eyes open suddenly when Rhea's hand grabs the one I have on my mouth and interlaces our fingers, rubbing her thumb on the back of my hand soothingly.