↔IMPULSE↔

↔Airport↔

Blake's flight out of California was the very next day.

Not a word was spoken on the drive to the airport. When they arrived, his parents dropped him off and left without saying goodbye.

Blake sat down, waiting for his flight that wasn't for another two hours. People bustling all around him and he felt like his head was submerged in water.

He sighed and got up, going through security was annoying and crowded and he wanted to turn and run away. Blake stared out the window where the planes were being prepped for boarding.

There was still a good forty-five minutes before boarding and he sat by the boarding ramp. Blake clenched his jaws, his eyes burned with tears he refused to cry.

He stood up to get in line for boarding a little early. Blake shouldered his bag and sighed, he heard a girl's voice call his name. He turned and saw his older sister running towards him, grasping his shirt in her hands as she gasped for air.

"R-Reese," gasp, "is— is here..." Blake stared at her incredulously and skimmed the crowd behind her and saw Reese tugging on his shoes by security almost eating shit as he stumbled into a run.

Blake pried his sister's hands off his shirt and started running towards Reese in a sprint his eyes tearing up.

They collided together and Blake cried shamelessly on Reese's shoulder. He clung to him as his life depended on it as Reese ran his hands frantically over his hair and back.

He pulled back, cupping Blake's wet cheeks as he stared him, catching his breath. "Nikki told me what happened then Mia called me and said you were leaving..."

"I'll be gone six months. Once I graduate I'll be on the first flight out."

Blake blinked and more tears fell. Reese pulled him into another rib-crushing hug and whispered in his ear, "can I kiss you?"

The brunet pulled back and nodded about to say yes when Reese had already claimed his lips in a passionate kiss. Blake wanted that moment to last forever, he never wanted to leave Reese's side but over the P.A. it was his turn to board.

Blake kissed him for just a moment longer, trying to memorise how he smelled and the taste of his lips, the feeling of his breath caressing Blake's face as his heart pounded in his chest. They touched foreheads and Blake whispered desperately, "I love you. I love you, I love you—"

Silenced with another brief kiss, "I love you too, call me when you land, I don't care what time it'll be."

Blake had to let go of Reese, his body feeling cold but his lips still burned with the fresh kiss. He stopped at the ramp and glanced back and saw Reese mouth, 'I love you'. Blake blew him a kiss and waved, mouthing, 'wait for me' and Reese nodded vigorously.

On the plane, Blake sat by the window staring at the building he had just come from. He brushed away a stray tear and the old lady next to him offered him a tissue which he accepted with thanks.

When the plane began to move, Blake gripped the armrest, looking out the window yearningly. He clenched his jaw and felt as the plane lifted off, the ground getting further and further away as they rose to the sky on the way to New York.

The plane touched down in New York and it was already dark. Blake was exhausted from crying so much and dehydrated as if he'd been walking through the Sahara. He bought a bottle of water and stood at baggage claim waiting for his bags to come around on the belt.

His grandma was waiting for him outside the gate she saw him and gave him a pitied look, but she didn't look disgusted like his father or ashamed like his mother. Instead, she sighed and opened her arms and he rushed towards her hugging her.

Grandma patted his back soothingly, "it's okay, Blake. You didn't do anything wrong."

He was crying again and was walking with Gran back to the car. Blake hiccuped, trying to calm down. "Just breathe, Blake."

Sucking in a deep breath, he slowly calmed down. Gran reached over and patted his cheek. "Your parents will come around."

Wiping his eyes, "I don't care if they come around, I want to go back to go back to Reese."

"Three years, huh?" She asked with a small smile. "Next time I see him I should officially welcome him to the family."

Blake bubbled with watery laughter, "he'd like that."

"Have you applied to any colleges yet?"

"Yeah, Stanford. Reese and I applied."

She smiled, "I'm sure you'll get in, you're both very smart."

At his new home for six months, Blake would be staying in his uncle's childhood room. He sighed as he began unpacking his clothes when he found an envelope full of pictures in his carry on.

Sitting down and smiling, Amelia must've slipped them in while he was saying goodbye to Reese. He looked through the pictures with a sad smile, pictures from birthday parties, playing at the beach, lounging around with Blake.

He put them on his nightstand and laid on the bed with a heavy sigh. Blake stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep, he was dead tired.

Time to start the countdown until graduation.