Homecoming (Saving Elliot One-Shot)

The 45 minute car ride to the Manchester Airport had never felt longer than it did that September. And, as surprising as it is, it wasn’t because Mac and Arthur were sitting on either side of me, blatantly trying to annoy me as much as humanly possible.

Then again, with there being two of them, that was a boundary they had crossed long ago.

“Hey El, are you PMSing? Or are you just moody cause you miss your other half?” That comment was the one that began my silent treatment, considering they had crossed two boundaries that they knew (or should have known) not to cross. One: Never make period jokes with a girl. Two: Don’t say anything that would relate me and Elliot Fintry in a romantic way. Sufficient to say, they had moved on to attempting to get me to talk to them. By pestering me more.

Don’t try to understand the logic here, the twins' brains worked in a way not even the many renowned psychologists they had been taken to could figure out..

Of course, the silent treatment gave me time to think, and that wasn’t the most ideal thing right now. The closer we got to our destination, the more I thought about Elliot Fintry, the more nervous I got.

As hard as it is to say it, I missed the idiot. He irritated me to end, but I missed him, and I was incredibly anxious to see him again. We had talked in the time he’s been gone, but in-person interaction hadn’t occurred the entire summer. Honestly, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to talk to him either. We had agreed on starting as friends, but then again we didn’t exactly feel that way toward each other. I needed him, he needed me.

We needed to be more than friends.

In the process of tuning out the twins’ bullshit, I had missed that we had arrived. We stepped out of the car, my steps falling slower than those of my mother, Mac, and Arthur. I looked around at the many people greeting their loved ones with hugs, my eyes unintentionally being drawn to the couples, making me stop from a second until the jolt of pain at the look in their eyes brought me back to reality.

Maybe it was a little masochistic of me.

Still, when my family stopped in front of a sign to try and figure out where we were supposed to be going, I couldn’t stop myself from watching (as creepy as it sounds) a couple, maybe a few years older then us. The boy was looking around, glancing down at his phone occasionally, and happened to be facing the opposite direction when a girl shorter than him walked up behind him with a small suitcase. Instead of hugging him from behind like I had seen earlier, she timidly tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn around and automatically smile at the sight of her. He immediately wrapped her up in his arms, even lifting her up a couple inches due to their height difference. As the girl was set down, we started walking again. We ended up walking right past the (I assumed) couple, making me glance at them one last time.The boy had grabbed the suitcase handle, but they hadn’t begun to leave. They stood there, looking into each other’s eyes. He glanced down at the girl’s lips, but instead of kissing her, he pressed his lips to her forehead, but she seemed content. They both smiled again, and the boy reached out for her hand, and they both walked away.

For some reason, this interaction made me feel something. I couldn’t put a finger on it.

Again, I had tuned the world out and by the time we reached wherever the hell we were, my mother was looking back at me with pity. “What did they say?” I asked immediately, assuming that the twins had claimed some bull about my "girl problems."

“Oh, they didn’t do anything honey. For once. But sweetie, You look a little...you know. Are you alright?”

“Oh yeah. Fine. Life is great. I’m all good.”

“You’re nervous.”

“What? No, never. Where’d Mac and Arthur go? I’m starting to get a bit hungry, I think-”

My mother cut me off with a glance. “I’ve watched you grow up Elliot, I know you’re nervous. But you shouldn’t be. It’s still the same Elliot who’s coming back, you guys should be able to pick up right where you left off.” Before she could continue, the twins graced us with their presence once more, and I was left thinking about what she said. Pick up where we left off...where had we left  off? Friends? More? As I pondered this, my family walked off, not seeming to notice that I was not following. I stood, slightly leaning on a pillar that was very conveniently placed directly behind me. Studying the patterns on the carpets kept me distracted until someone walked up on my left.

“Hey, Jensen, having fun there? I was hoping for a more energetic welcome back, honestly.” I looked back up into the eyes of Elliot Fintry, not missing the mischievous glint in his eyes accompanying the easy smile. I began to smile too, finally rid of all the nerves. I wrapped my arms around his torso, pulling him in as he reciprocated. Fintry leaned his head next to mine, inconspicuously pressing a slight kiss to my temple and mumbling in my ear.

“I missed you Jensen.”

A/N Okay so this is really really bad but I may or may not have had to finish in a rush because I forgot how soon the deadline was? Yeah, so this is a late entry for the One-shot competition for Saving Elliot by northbynorth (great book btw, you should all read it if you haven't) Also, I apologize if I got any facts wrong, I don't live in the UK and I finished the book a while ago so it's likely I fucked up somewhere. Anyway, I hope you liked it!