Falling Together

Chapter 1 (Lily)

My world is falling apart, nothing is going my way. My grandfather is sick, my older sister has not spoken to me since our argument, and my parents believe that I quit on them. They called me last week to tell me that grandpa Tom was not feeling well and that he wanted to tell his family something important. "So important" that I have to fly all the way from Florida to Cali. I can't hate anything more than I hate flying. But this is something I have to do. I also feel like this is a way out of my recent lifestyle: perfectly groomed people, briefcases, suits and obnoxious competitors.

Maybe being with my grandfather will fix some of my problems. He always knows the right thing to say. Well, he was a psychologist. Him and my grandmother both ran their own practice in California but ever since my grandfather got sick, my grandma has been taking his place. They are both the most incredible people you can ever find in this world. So, I am getting on this death trap for them.

Walking through these hallways on my way to the airplane, I just want to turn around and run for the hills. I choose the window seat because I've heard that's the best seat to sit in if you're afraid. People say that looking out the window relaxes them. So, the first thing I do is look out my window and even though we were still on the ground, I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am totally that person who freaks out during takeoff, so I try to make friends with the person next to me to try and distract me.

When I turn around to see who I have to annoy for the next five hours, I am completely mesmerized by the beautiful human being that is sitting right next to me with a huge grin on his face. His hair was a silky brown and his eyes were a beautiful sky blue. I didn't think anyone can be so perfect. He had to be a model. If not, then where do I sign him up?

Adrian: "Hello."

He snaps me out of my trance.

Lily: "Hi."

He reaches his hand out and I nervously take it.

Adrian: "I'm Adrian, you are?"

He was beautiful, tall, blue eyed and oh yeah, beautiful. I realize he didn't use his last name, so I go with the casual first name basis.

Lily: "Lily."

Adrian: "Well Lily, it's nice to meet you."

I'm too nervous to answer back, so I just nod and look towards the window. Five minutes later, everyone has taken their seats and we are preparing for takeoff. My nerves are so out of control that I don't even notice someone speaking to me.

Adrian: "Hey, are you okay?"

Lily: "Yea, I'm fine. I'm just completely, insanely afraid of flying."

Is it that noticeable? I probably look like I'm on drugs or just plain crazy.

Adrian: "It's not that bad. Have you flown before?"

Lily: "Sadly, yes."

Adrian: "You will be fine, just try not to think about it."

Lily: "Thank you."

When I look outside my window, I'm extremely surprised to see that we were already airborne. I guess I was freaking out for nothing. So I start to fall asleep. It's been a very long day. After around an hour, I'm awakened by my own snoring. I thought the noise was coming from my dream but when I open my eyes, I hope to God that I really was dreaming. My head is completely laid on Adrian's shoulder and his head is lying on my head. I don't want to wake him but I really have to use the restroom.

When I manage to slowly move my head away, I try to stand up when the speaker announces turbulence. I freeze. I can't move. My anxiety kicks in and I feel like I'm about to faint. On the first shake I got so nervous that I grabbed Adrian's hand. He didn't even make a move to take his hand away. But by the look of his small smile and his extremely sleepy face, he didn't want to.

Lily: "I'm sorry!" I whisper, not knowing if he's still asleep, as I pull my hand away.

Adrian: "It's okay!" He chuckles.

Lily: "Are you laughing at me?"

Adrian: "No, I just think it's cute."

I blushed instantly and by now I had completely forgotten that I had to use the restroom.

Adrian: "Heading to Cali huh?"

Lily: "Yea, my grandfather is sick but I don't think that's the reason he asked me to go."

Why did I just admit that to him? I just met him.

Adrian: "What do you mean?"

Lily: "Um, well my family hasn't really been a 'FAMILY' in a long time."

Adrian: "I get it. I'm an only child so, everything I do or say is always judged. My parents were always very strict on me. They were the kind of parents that gave me my freedom and let me make my own mistakes, but also let me know that there was always a punishment that came after. They wanted the best for me but I never understood their parenting skills. Growing up, I believed that they never cared and that all they cared about was showing how much power they had over me. I was always the little rebel when I was younger and my parents never knew what to do with me. Until one day, my parents threatened to ship me off to military school and that's when I decided to get my head out of the clouds and start a life. One my parents would approve of. That's why I studied, aimed high, and went to medical school."

I am shocked on how open he is being with me. In some way, what he's saying is actually helping me realize I am not alone. But I also feel bad for him. I thought he was some regular rich guy, who lived off his parent's money.

Lily: "Parents have a strange way of showing they care. Mine have always wanted me to become the most successful lawyer out there and not go down the same road my mother had."

I've never talked about this with anyone let alone some guy I just met on a plane.

Lily: "Some days I think, maybe this isn't what I want but then I also think that we don't always get what we want."

Adrian: "We don't always get what we want, but we can work for it."

Lily: "My mom was a lawyer. She said she worked hard but never made it to the top. Instead she made it to some shitty ass job which barely paid for our needs. That's kind of why I went forth and studied to be a lawyer. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do but I'm starting to think it's not for me. They wanted me to be the best, make money and be everything my mother wasn't. I was always the well behaved kid who never did anything wrong. I lived to study and work to earn the money for my future.

Adrian: "I'm sorry, I don't understand. To me being a lawyer is a great career choice. What's so bad about it?""

Lily: "Last year, I had a case which I didn't want to be a part of anymore. I tried to get out but I got into some trouble. I got to a point where my life and my job weren't stable but I kept moving forward and by doing that my relationship with my parents started to fall apart."

Adrian: "Don't worry. They just care about you. You guys will work it out eventually."

Lily: "I hope so."

I felt like we had been on the plane by ourselves, with no one surrounding us. We were finally arriving at our destination. This has been the fastest plane ride I have ever been on. I also think the main reason was because of the model looking guy sitting right next to me. Like seriously, is he even real? You know how people always say "pinch me, I must be dreaming," well if someone were to pinch me, I'm damn certain I would be waking up from a dream.

A part of me wanted to throw myself off the plane airborne, but another part of me wanted to keep talking to Adrian. I am usually not the kind of person that just goes around sharing my feelings, but there was something that pulled me towards him. He was smart, and by the way he sat and talked, you could tell he was wealthy.