HEAD IN THE CLOUDS.

6. "i love you as high as airplanes fly"

                      →  "Connor! Wh-"

"Please fasten your seatbelt's, as we'll be starting our dissent into cloudy Edmonton. Temperatures are a little cooler today, so be sure to wear a jacket. I hope you enjoyed your flight, thank you for flying West Jet. For the people visiting, have fun and for the others, welcome home."

AJ glanced out the window, her eyes widened as she stared down at the ground. Swivelling her head around, she met Connor's gaze, which showed he was just as shocked as she was. "Wow," they both said in unison before bursting out into laughter.

"I've never had a six hour flight go by so fast," AJ told the boy, still astonished. She still thought they had at least another three hours to go.

"Same. We should travel together more often," Connor laughed, chewing his lip slightly knowing the flight was almost over, meaning he'd have to go back to reality.

AJ nodded, completely serious. "We really should."

Connor and AJ fell into a silence as they stared at each other. They told the other almost everything. They talked about the things that they won't dare talk about to some of their best friends. The conversations shifted from serious to lighthearted, and the other way around. It felt so good and so natural between the two. By the end, they both felt enlightened, almost.

AJ breathed, not daring to break the eye contact between the two. "I love this," she mumbled, the corners of her mouth turning upwards into a smile.

Connor smiled slightly looking at the girl, but furrowed his eyebrows. "What exactly is, this?" He questioned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. But I love it. I love how we feel comfortable around each other even though we met six hours ago. I love the sense of familiarity between us. Like we've known each other before we can even remember. I can't describe in words what this is, mostly because I still don't exactly know myself, but I love it."

Connor grinned hugely at the girl. He didn't know what she said to make him feel like he needed to thank her, but he felt like that was a compliment. "Same. Whatever this is, I love it. I love it, as high as airplanes fly." Both of them smiled, the same sense of longing and familiarity in both of them.

Before AJ could say anything, the plane suddenly dipped, letting everyone know they were dissenting. Connor tensed up in surprise, his arms clinging to armrests. His face went pale, his blue eyes terrified. AJ stifled her laughter at the sight, detaching Connor's hand from the armrest, and placing her small one, inside his larger one.

Connor didn't think twice about this. He clung to the girl's hand, taking it one step further and intertwining their fingers. AJ's hand was warm and smooth, like she had just put lotion on. Connor couldn't help but gently rub his thumb against her hand, soaking up the feeling of them intertwined.

Ten minutes later, the plane was safely on the ground, and Connor was able to let out a wary breath. As everyone around the two gathered their belongings and waited to get off the plane, Connor and AJ stayed put. They watched, hand's now detached as everyone around them rushed off the plane in a hurry.

"Well," Connor started once they were the only one's left. Standing up and immediately stretching his back and legs, he smiled. "This has been fun," he finished.

AJ grabbed her backpack that was stowed under the seat in front of her. "It really was, I-"

Connor's phone rang, it buzzing multiple times as texts flooded in. Connor's eyebrows furrowed, reaching out to grab his phone. As his eyes scanned the screen, they widened hugely. "Shit, I- I gotta go." He looked up frantically at the girl, desperation clear in his face. "I- I'm so sorry, it's uh hockey stuff. I- I gotta run, literally."

AJ smiled sadly, "it's okay, Connor. Go. I- thank you, for everything. You are by far, my favourite seat buddy."

Connor chuckled, a lopsided grin on his face. "I had a great time, thank you, AJ. Goodbye," he let out a deep breath as he grabbed his suitcase and all his things before starting to jog off the plane.

Just as he was about to turn the corner to walk off the jet, AJ made a last ditch effort to bite her lip, trying to hold back the words that were sitting on her tongue. "Connor!" He immediately froze, looking back at the girl expectedly. "I- I want to see you again. Do you think maybe, I co-"

A huge grin formed on his face, "I'm way ahead of you, AJ. Check your contacts, I think you might have a new one."

"But-"

Connor cut her off, "I'm not just going to let you walk out of my life. I told you. I loved this. As high as airplanes fly."

He smiled as he continued to rush off the plane, AJ staying put, sighing as she watched the boy leave. As she gathered her things and started to step off the plane, she grinned,

"as high as airplanes fly, baby. As high as they fly."

[authors note]
anddd thats the end!
i hope you all enjoyed this short story!
if you havent, you should go check out my new book called "life in pieces" its about all the maple leafs :) i love youu!