—Cassies pov—
After the awkward confrontation of mine and Declan's kiss, it was time to head back to the hotel one last time. The metro was surprisingly quiet so we could actually sit down on seats. I kept glancing up on the journey back to find his deep maroon eyes staring straight back at me with hints of a grin on his face. I'd look away as soon as our eyes met but would struggle to hide my smile knowing he was probably thinking about me.
Packing my suitcase up was the worst, all sorts of questions from Molly and Katie. I felt like i was playing 21 questions but it did help me feel as if I knew where I stood with him and what I wanted to happen next. Molly was basically a relationship expert so came in handy. She made me realise that I was really attracted to him and it was great that he was attracted to me. I would enjoy being his 'girlfriend' (which sounds INCREDIBLY cringe for me to say) and I just genuinely think we could work out. I just needed him to give me a sign that he felt the same.
The whole group met in the hotel lobby at 23:30 and we began the journey home. We climbed into the car without speaking and endured the two hour rural drive with little to no talking. I think we were all incredibly sad that the trip was over and no one knew what would be happening next. That and we were all exhausted from none stop walking and activities for the last week.
—
We checked into the desolate airport and boarded the plane a mere hour later. Charlie offered to swap seats with me on the plane home from Paris to Euston so I could sit next to Dec. Maybe he mentioned something? I'm not sure but I wasn't not going to treasure these last moments with him. It could be our last ever if we didn't stay in touch.
It was freezing cold on the plane, even with my biggest grandad jumper on. And after a while, all of the lights on the plane were turned off but a small amount of people's phones dimly lit the surroundings, Declan's included. I felt the air pressure release slightly as we got higher into the sky and felt myself drifting off. My head swayed side to side and my elbows searched for something to lean on. "You may as well get comfy. We've got a little while." Declan's voice was soft and relaxing, he opened his arm for me to cuddle into. That was the sign, he wouldn't just tell a friend they can cuddle up with you.I budged up to him as best as I could before cuddling into his chest ever so slightly.
It felt weird being this close with Declan, especially with how long we've known each other and how quickly things changed. But no one could see, they were all asleep. And if they ever did see, we could play it off pretty easily. We could just say it's the way my our bodies both fell into each other. But it did feel right when I was with him, I really did hope that when we got home we'd still see each other.
I must have fallen into a deep slumber because I was awaken by Declan an hour and a half later to him shaking my shoulder. I was still slightly cuddled into his direction but he had moved to shake me. The lights on the plane were on and we were grounded. There were people getting off of the plane and I looked over to see Molly, katie and joe all stood up ready. I rubbed my eyes and stood up, grabbing my bag and hoping that no one saw me and Declan cuddled up together. I made eye contact with Katie who was grinning almost evilly at me. I smiled back awkwardly but looked away quickly, she definitely saw.
Next on our journey home was waiting for the coach to arrive to take us back to school. We were left waiting in the airport terminal for a long half hour. There was a Starbucks outlet almost identical to the one we drank at when we all first met as a group. We all walked over to the table and sat down at the exact same time. In the exact arrangements we did last time. It was eerily sad. "So kids, when we all meeting up again?" Joe asked. He adjusted his beanie for the ten hundredth time since we got here and darted his eyes around waiting for an answer. We all shrugged and remained silent. "Alright calm down guys don't all rush at once, Well was nice knowing you all anyways if we decide not to meet again. Tag me in the Instagram photos and all that but only the ones I look good in. Alright? Safe." We all laughed as best as we could through the exhaustion.
