Lost Dad: Dan Smith

Nine: Flight

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December 14, 2016. Indianapolis, Indiana

Dan POV:

Tonight is the third to last show of our tour before we fly back to the UK for Christmas. Tomorrow is Minneapolis. The next show is in St. Louis, which is the final show. Tonight is also the night Laura gets one of her Christmas gifts. Ethan and Michael have agreed to send Laura on a flight to St. Louis in two days for the final show. Tonight, we will chat via Skype, just like usual. Laura won't think anything of it until she opens the envelope. Right now, I'm logged on to Skype in the tour bus. Everyone else is in the venue. I wait anxiously for the notification that they are online. 

Laura POV:

It's about 10:00 AM, so that's around 4:00 PM UK time. I remind myself that Dan is actually in the states, in the same time zone. I don't know why we picked 10:00 AM, but I personally think it's too early. Michael prances into the living room like a ballet dancer with the laptop open in his hands. 

"THE HUMAN IS ONLINE!" He screeches, seemingly more exited than I am.

 "...Okay." I reply, giving him a look. I twist the end of my black/dark grey shirt around my finger. The "Incoming Call" alert pops up on the screen. We obviously, click 'Accept'. Dan's face pops up on the screen. He's not wearing his glasses and has a denim jacket over a To Kill a King shirt. 

"Hey Laura!" He says, looking anxious. 

"Hey." I reply, imitating his energetic tone. 

"How've you been?" He asks, his been sounding like bean. 

"Good, and you?" I ask, looking at Michael, with a look that says "What are you still doing here?" 

Dan smiles and replies with an: "I'm great, how are you? Wait- I just asked that." He closes his eyes as if he's mentally face palming. "So, Christmas is coming up." He says. "I already bought you a present." He grins, running his fingers through his hair. 

"Omigod, Really? Thanks!" I reply, happy that he was thinking to buy me something. "In fact," He says, adjusting his sitting position, "Ethan or Michael has it right now." He says, smiling anxious for me to see it. Michael does his ballet prance again and hands me an envelope. The envelope is orange, like orange soda without any markings on it. Instead of the typical more squarish shape, it's longer and more narrow. He hands it to me. 

"Go ahead, open it up!" Dan says excitedly. I use my chewed down, barley existing nails to rip open the top. Inside is a slightly smaller envelope, but it's white. It's also unmarked. 

"Yay! I love envelopes! How did you know?" I say sarcastically, pulling the white envelope out. "I swear, if there's another envelope in here, I'm gonna throw myself down a flight of stairs." I say, opening the envelope the same way I had opened the last. Dan watches me anxiously. I pull out a ticket.

 "What is this?" I ask, surprised. It's a plane ticket to St. Louis, MO, dated for December 16. "Wait- You're playing St. Louis on the 16th!" I exclaim. 

"Yeah." He says, smiling a really awkward "I'm really happy and could probably do a standing backflip right now" smile. 

"Are you for real?!?!" I exclaim, not knowing how to feel. I notice there is only one ticket, and I've only flown twice, which was round trip to Atlanta and back to Chicago. I'm a bit nervous to go alone. 

"For real." Dan replies. 

"I... OH MY GOD!' I have a mini freakout. "Thank you!" I shout. Michael is standing behind the laptop, grinning.