Painkiller

5

    The plane ride to Los Angeles was the hardest one Luke had ever had to sit through. Not only was he struggling with his phobia of flying, but he was constantly checking up on his younger sister through the entire fifteen hour flight.

    She didn't speak once, and when she fell asleep the occasional whimper would escape from her slightly parted lips. Her head rested against the window, and her knees were pulled up and pressed tightly to her chest. At some point, she had started to shiver, and Luke had wrapped his jacket around her bare shoulders. Once in a while, Elena would move around in her chair, groaning as her broken ribs were adjusted.

"Sir?" Luke was snapped out of his tired daze by an air hostess. "We're going to be landing soon."

Luke smiled in response, muttering a quick 'thank you' as she went to wake other passengers on the metal death trap. Luke never would feel comfortable flying.

He lent over and shook his sisters arm, whispering as he did so. "Lena, the plane's landing. You gotta wake up."

Elena groaned in response, and seeing that he was getting nowhere, Luke buckled the belt around her waist and proceeded to buckle up his own. Seeing Elena was still half asleep, Luke shook her once more.

"Come on, Lena. We're gonna be getting off soon."

Elena slowly opened her eyes, stretching as she did so before whining at the pain in her side. Instantly, her hand when to clutch at her side, but Luke grabbed ahold of it before she could do so.

"Gently. They're still healing." He cautioned.

The plane began to descend, and Luke's hands immediately found themselves gripping the arm rests. His eyes were wide and his heart racing. Elena, however, remained unscathed and unbothered by the planes movements.

Looking towards her brother, she instantly took pity upon him. Whenever she'd bring up his fear of flying, he'd deny it, using the excuse I fly all the time - why would it bother me? but she and the rest of the band knew better. She placed her hand on top of Luke's and smiled at him, the small, yet sweet, gesture reassuring and comforting Luke.

When the plane landed, Luke was ready to go. He was getting off the machine as soon as possible.

    Luckily, the chair beside where he and Elena had been sat was uninhabited, so Luke was able to grab their bags from their shelves overhead in a matter of seconds and grab Elena's arm, practically dragging her off the plane. Elena protested as he did so, telling him to wait. It was only once they got into the airport building itself that Luke let go of Elena, apologising as he did so.

    "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? God, I did, didn't I? I'm so so sorry-"

    Elena cut her brother off. "It's fine. I know planes scare you."

    Luke glared at her. "They do not!"

Elena giggled at her brothers stubbornness, the action immediately a small smile to her brothers lips. The girl had barely smiled the entire time he had been with her, and even if the giggle was short-lived, it was still progress.

Luke held his hand out for his sister to hold again and she willingly took it. Luke didn't want to lose her in the middle of the airport as the girl had never been on a plane before today and had no clue as to what to do if she lost him. The man could only pray that there wouldn't be paparazzi.

Luke's prayers weren't answered.

The minute the pair passed border control and collected their items, the siblings were flocked with not only cameras, but fans. A gathering of mostly teenaged girls surrounded them, and behind them, adults with flashing cameras and bright lights. They'd do anything to get the perfect photo.

Even if it did involve scaring the living daylights out of a mourning girl.

But Luke couldn't blame them even if he wanted to. How were they to know that he had lost his parents in the last week? How were they to know that he was still mourning?

    He felt guilty that he was pushing through the crowd - normally he would've stopped and spoken to the fans, but he had Elena with him this time and she was his number one priority

Elena's grip tightened on his hand and Luke almost growled in annoyance. Elena had never been seen out in public with him before - it was something he and his parents had decided on in the beginning. Pulling the grey baseball cap off his own head, he placed it upon Elena's before pulling her closer towards his body and putting an arm around her shoulders.

Hopefully, that would stop the cameras from seeing her face.

******
I think I prefer short chapters in this book.