Red String of Fate - Thiam

Chapter 29 - The love in airplanes

December 20th - Monday

Liam P.O.V.

I sit next to an elderly woman who is in the window seat in a row in the middle of the plane and Theo sits next to me. His hands are sweaty and his eyes roam nervously throughout the plane. When all the passengers are in their seats, the flight attendants appear and start giving all the instructions and safety rules. Theo listens to every word with extreme attention, which makes me want to laugh. After putting on his seatbelt, he takes the pamphlet with the rules on what to do in case of an emergency and starts reading it carefully.

"No one reads that." I say.

Theo doesn't respond and continues reading, when the pilot says through the microphone that the plane is about to take off, Theo drops the pamphlet and holds on to his seat with his eyes closed. I would never have imagined that Theo would react this way.

I watch his face carefully and my gaze then falls on his hand next to mine. In an act of courage I let my fingers touch his skin. His eyes open in surprise and he looks at me anxiously. I gently grab his hand and intertwine our fingers. We had already held each other's hands a few times, but none of them could compare to this one. Only now do I realize how perfectly our hands fit together and how it feels just right.

"Breathe, it will be fine."

Theo keeps his gaze fixed on me and doesn't even notice when the plane takes off. His heartbeat is calm and he relaxes in his seat. I know I'm his anchor but I never thought I could calm him down as much as he calms me.

"It's not that bad." He mutters.

"I told you."

"Is this your first time going to Rome?" The lady next to me asks, catching our attention, has a welcoming smile on her face and smells of freshly baked cupcakes.

"Yeah, yours too?"

"No, my daughter lives there so I usually go to visit her. What are your names?"

"I'm Liam, this is Theo."

"I'm Dorothy."

Theo and I only let go of each other's hands when I had to go to the bathroom. The first three hours of the flight were calm, occasionally chatting with Dorothy, but after that I started to get tired of sitting around.

"Would you like the meat, fish or vegetarian option?" A lady asks at lunch.

"Meat, please." Theo and I answer at the same time.

I stir the slightly cold food with my fork and take a bite.

"Don't make that disgusted face." Theo laughs next to me. "Could be worse."

We finished eating in less than ten minutes, I'm obviously still hungry. Theo yawns next to me and rubs his face with his hands.

"Are you sleepy?"

"A little."

I look at his tired face, it looks like he hasn't slept in days. Now that I think about it, I haven't heard Theo waking up with nightmares in at least three days, which makes me wonder if he's been sleeping at all.

"Have you been sleeping?"

"I have." He responds but his heartbeat tells me he's lying.

"Theo..."

"I didn't want to worry you. And the last two days you've been sleeping well, I didn't want to wake you up with my screams." Theo lowers his face and I intertwine our fingers again. The touch gives me butterflies in my stomach.