Shattered Dream (Raura)

Shard 3: The Long Trip

Title: Shattered Dream
Shard 3: The Long Trip
Original Post Date: 03/05/2014

March 6th, 2014 -- Glasgow, GB/UK

His body slumped in the hard plastic chair. He could never get used to these uncomfortable excuses for seats. But at the moment he really didn't care. Nothing mattered. His smile was gone, his laugh was quieted, his heart was torn. It had to be a dream . . . no not a dream, a nightmare. They lied to him. He hadn't heard them right. It was a mistake. It was someone else not her. Reason after reason churned in his mind. But nothing took away the fact that here he sat with his back painfully curved while waiting to travel thousands of miles to be by her side.

He shut out the rest of society. The passengers that walked by didn't even draw a glance from him. The giggling Scottish girls could not make him smile as his mom did her best to keep them at bay. The voices on the loud speakers were muted to his ears. Only one sound penetrated this protective bubble he had created.

Buzzzzz
Buzzzzz
Buzzzzz

He tried to ignore the intrusion but its incessant cry would not let up. Ross pulled out his phone and opened his messages. Hundreds of texts and emails cluttered his screen. There was no avoiding it now. The news had leaked and was now spreading like wild fire.  Everyone felt it was necessary to inform him of her fate. Sad notes of acknowledgement rang loud and clear.

{Ross did you hear about Laura?}
{Ross check the news. It's bad.}
{Ross, are you okay? What will you do without her?}
{What are you going to do, Ross?}
{You should be there with her.}

Reminders of the distance that separated him from her angered him even more. His phone continued to buzz in his hand as calls began to pour in.

"No!" Ross yelled before powering off the hateful device and shoving it in his back pocket.

Stormie didn't know what to say or do that would take away his pain. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay. However, she couldn't take that chance of making matters worse. It would be bad enough to have Laura's accident strewn across every magazine and social media outlet but add in a grieving co-star and everyone would just have a field day at his expense. So she did the only thing she could at the moment: stay by his side and let him be.

"Honey, it's time to go." Stormie placed a reassuring hand atop his as their flight was announced.

Ross stared out the tiny pane of glass. Hours had passed by. He wasn't sure how many to be exact. One hour bled into another as time became irrelevant. The more they flew the more time seemed to stand still. If only he could reverse time and erase all the hurt he was feeling. If only he was Superman and she was Lois Lane. If only time wasn't a cruel partner to evil then none of this would be happening. He would give anything to stop the world and reverse its spin just this once. But the joke of reality laughed in his face.

Ross watched the wing just outside the window slice through the puffy white wisps of clouds, clearing the way much like a guide sweeping through the woods to bring his charges to safety. Could he gather up all the clouds and lay them around her? Would she float through the sky as they carried her away from him? Or would they hide her from all that is bad, protecting her when he wasn't there?

The darkened night blanketed the earth, telling its inhabitants that it was time to rest. The peace it represented was a stark contrast to the turmoil growing inside him. The only commonality it shared was the blackness he felt as the hold it had on his heart restricted the rhythm of life.