From The Ground Up

Twenty Seven

As they pulled up to the airfield on Thursday night, Kamdyn was still very weary of Ryan driving after the wreck at Nashville. He knew she was on edge and did whatever he could to help her calm down but also knew nothing would help until everything went as planned.

"It's gonna be fine. Stop worrying," Ryan assured her as they sat in their seats on the plane.

"You know I can't help it," she chuckled, looking up at him.

"I know," he nodded, kissing the side of her head before they both got settled in their seats and prepared for the flight.

"Did you sleep last night? You were moving an awful lot,"

"Did I wake you up?" She asked, not looking up at him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"No. I was just up each time," he shrugged a little, moving her head with his arms.

"Shut up," she smiled a little bit, "you are a comfy pillow,"

"Then go to sleep for a little bit, not like I'm going anywhere," he chuckled, starting to play with her hair as he knew that was the foolproof way to get her to relax and fall asleep.

It wasn't long before she was dozing off against him and easily falling asleep.

"I knew you were gonna be out quick," he chuckled, playing on his phone for most of the flight.

The flight wasn't very long and was fairly easy from take off to landing. At only an hour and a half, it was the perfect nap for Kamdyn since she'd been up most of the night.

Once they got to the bus, Kamdyn again, passed out on the couch for another hour. She'd been up longer than she let on.

She knew Chase was planning on coming to their lot but Ryan didn't expect her to sleep this long. He also cancelled because of a late meeting.

"Kam?" He asked, gently shaking her shoulder to wake her up.

"Hmm?" She groaned, covering her eyes.

"Want some dinner?" He asked, kneeling by the couch as Kamdyn woke up a little bit more.

"I could eat," she nodded slightly.

"Well then you have to get up," he chuckled, pulling her up gently by her arms.

"What do we have?"

"Some Mac and cheese?" He asked, looking in the cabinet as soon as Kamdyn let go.

"That sounds pretty good actually," she nodded, standing up and stretching as Ryan got it all out.

Ryan made it all, setting a bowl of it in front of her before he got his own and sat with her in the small dinette.

"You sure you're okay?" She asked, still slightly worried.

"Yes Kam, I promise," he nodded, taking a bite while she just messed with her food, "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, taking a bite before she could say anything else.

"What's going on with you?" He asked, knowing something was going on in her head that she needed to talk out.

"I'm scared," she sighed, letting it out finally. "That. Nashville was scary Ryan,"

"I know,"

"No you don't," she insisted, "You don't understand what it was like to be in love with you and watch the car tumble like that,"

"I'm sorry Kam,"

"It's your job and I know it's part of it but it's still scary," she sighed, hating to dump all of this on him but she needed to get it out of her system.

"You know I'm as careful as I can be,"

"I know but you can't control everything,"

"I know," he nodded. "But I do my best,"

"I know you do," she sighed, "But I can't control what they do, and like I said, neither can you,"

He just nodded and they both stayed quiet, eating their meals as they both got lost in their thoughts.

They stayed pretty close to each other for the night, cuddling on the couch to watch a movie until it was time for bed.

They both easily fell asleep, but it only lasted an hour or 2 before Kamdyn shot up.

"No!" She screamed, catching her breath as Ryan woke up.

"Kam?" Ryan asked as he sat up too, "what happened?"

"I'm okay," she sighed as she shook her head before looking over at him. "It's okay,"

"You sure? You're shaking. What happened?"

"I'm fine. I promise. I just um. I just need a second," she told him again, taking a second to catch her breath and get it back to normal.

"It's okay to be scared Kam," he promised, letting her have the second she needed to regain her composure.

"I know," she nodded as she laid back down and snuggled up against him.

"It's all gonna be fine," he promised, and she just hoped he was right.

With that, they both fell back to sleep for the rest of the night.