The Pilot And The Dreamer

Chapter 11

"Emily, my youngest sister, was walking home with Elizabeth when they began hearing catcalls. They held hands and took a different route home, but realized the men were following them. We have this situation where if they were in trouble, they would use it. They used the situation and was able to get to them before the men could grab them. Of course, I came bearing a bat and they were intimidated and took off running." I look up at him.

"They're your siblings though, and you don't know me well enough." I reply, but he shakes his head.

"I made a promise to my parents that no matter what, if I ran into another woman, I would do what I can to protect them and make sure that their home safe." He says, looking down at me, "The reason why I walked you home that night after the bar."

"I still have your jacket." I exclaim, remembering that it's hanging up on the coat rack by the door.

"Honestly, I have another one, so you can keep it if you want." My heart flutters in my chest.

"T-thank you." I reply, shyly and he chuckles.

"No problem." He stands up and gently pulls me up so that I'm standing next to him. "Come on, remember that promise I made you if you made it through the night?" I nod in remembrance, "Let's go get Natalie and Peter and we'll go together." I nod and walk down back towards my house and I see my mom, shaking her head at me before opening the sliding door into the backyard and stepping outside, shutting it behind her. I stop walking and Noah stops as well, not sure if to stand in front of me or off to the side so he just stands next to me.

"You don't know anything about this man, Hazel. How do you know that he is not an ax murderer?"

Here we go again.

"We met before this weekend." I cross my arms.

"Oh, then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you're hitting me up to Nathan." I sneer. The door opens and Derek is standing there and I can see Nat and Peter as well. She has her arms wrapped around Peter while he's comforting her.

"Beverly, give Hazel a break and come inside to cool down." I make eye contact with him and nod my thanks. He returns it before walking inside with my mom. I take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down when Noah wraps his arm around my shoulders.

"Come on, let's head inside and get ready to go." I nod and we walk inside and I walk straight to my room with Natalie on my heels. She wraps her arms around me after shutting the door and I sob into her shirt.

"Hey, we'll figure this out, okay H." Nat whispers and I nod when there's a knock on the door.

"Hazel, it's me." I sniffle as Nat tells Noah to come in. "You girls ready?" We nod and I grab my things before following Nat towards the car and the guys follow. Noah ends up driving and I realize I have no idea where we're going, but Noah bets me to the punch. "I'm not telling you anything, Hazel. It's a surprise." He says. We continue driving when we pull up to an airfield and Noah shows his ID to the guard, who opens the gate for us.

"Noah, what are we doing here?" I ask, unsure. I look behind me to see Nat also curious. We continue driving until we see a jet coming towards us, but it slows down and comes to a stop. We park and get out and I grab Nat's elbow while she holds Peter's hand. The jet door opens and I tighten my hold, noticing Noah's hand on my shoulder.

"I would never let anyone hurt you." He whispers, looking me straight in the eyes. I nod and the four of us walk towards the plane to see a man walk out in a nice suit and I automatically think of Nathan. I stop in fear and the three of them turn back to me. "Hazel?" Noah asks and I start shaking. He swears under his breath before coming to my side. "It's not Nathan. Remember what I said."

"That you wouldn't let anyone hurt me?" I whisper. He nods and holds out his elbow for me to take and leads me towards the plane.

"Hey there Noah!" The man says and I just keep thinking about Noah's promise to me. I tighten my hold on Noah and in return, he keeps his hand over my hand.

"Hi Dean." Noah replies, looking at me to give Dean a hug. I nod and he lets go to bro-hug Dean. "How have you been?" Noah resumes the previous gesture.

"Ever since graduating from flight school, I managed to land a job at the FAA as a safety inspector." Dean says before turning his gaze on me and is speechless. "Hi ma'am, I'm Dean." He says, charmingly. He looks to be around mid 20s, handsome, but still has the personality of a pilot.

"I'm Hazel." I reply before introducing Natalie and Peter, who both were very skeptical of Dean.

"Damn Noah, how did you find such a beautiful woman." I blush at his comment and hide my face in Noah's arm.

"Just a typical night at a local bar. Thanks for flying down. How much do I owe you?"

"My boss has heard a lot about you, so your safe. Just don't go crashing her." Dean jokes before adding, "He's one hell of a pilot, Hazel." I smile at that.

"He was our pilot from the flight down here." I say.

"I'm gonna go chill around town for a while, no rush with the plane."

"Thanks man, I owe you big time."

"Just don't lose her." Dean whispers before patting Noah on the back before walking away. I look at the plane and I'm itching to get aborad the plane. Noah lets me go and I dart onto the plane, taking in my surroundings. It's definitely something that someone with class and money would fly in, nice seats and tables. I take a left into the cockpit and see a similar setup as the commercial airplane, except this one is smaller. Two headsets sit above each of the seats and I sit down in the seat, looking around.

"Man, I have never seen Hazel so intrigued in her life." Natalie says, laughing. I turn back to face them with the biggest smile on my face.

"I have never been this happy in my life." I reply, still giddy inside. Noah chuckles and moves into the cockpit, sitting in the pilots' seat and I stand up, but he gently grabs my arm.

"Stay."