Summer

Jump

The air hostess did her strange little dance at the front of the aircraft as Summer wiped her sweaty palms nervously off of her jeans. Kyle was sprawled in the seat next to her, the epitome of relaxation. Or just laziness, she amended. His sandy brown hair was dishevelled and his golden brown arms were crossed loosely across his muscular chest as he hummed along to Ed Sheeran who was currently blasting out of his ipod ear phones. Summer tried to make her breathing more even, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, controlled. It didn't help. She could still feel the beginnings of a minor panic attack pulling at the frayed edges of her frazzled nerves. She was going to meet her parents in a matter of hours. Breathe, breathe. The people she had run away from, weeks ago. Just breathe. The people she had left completely in the lurch, irresponsibly deserting them and causing them who know's how much worry in the space of time she'd been gone. In, out, in, out. Steady. She felt herself tense even more at the thought of their reactions. Not pretty. Her shoulders were practically crushing her ears by now. Her foot twitched. The last time she had messed up they had taken so long to... No. She had locked that memory up deep inside the unexplored caverns of her mind. She had to let it stay there. Make it stay there. Otherwise it would eat her up from the inside, consume her entirely. The aircraft began to take off. Kyle began to snore. Her foot began to twitch. Breathe, sum, just breathe...

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Summer spent the next twenty minutes alternating between deep breathing, twitching and hyperventilating. She hoped the aircraft was well ventilated, or else she would have used up the entire oxygen supply by now. She tried to distract herself from the rush of thoughts flooding her mind. She thought back to the last time she had been on an airplane, and in spite of her current situation and mood she grinned softly. She had been doubting her sanity the entire journey to Haiti, peeking out of the corner of her eye at Kyle, the stranger who had met her briefly, whisked her away to a country halfway across the world and fallen asleep the minute they had boarded the aircraft. She chuckled. He seemed to have a thing for sleeping on planes, now that she thought about it. He certainly wasn't providing any distractingly fascinating conversation right then. She shifted in her seat slightly and studied his sleeping form. He looked so...innocent, just lying there, his eyes shut, his soft pink lips slightly parted, his chest rising and falling rhythmically with every deep breath he took. He was, Summer observed, quite a beautiful man. He looked like he belonged in a Renaissance era painting, with his tousled golden hair and inquisitive blue eyes. She smiled at how far their relationship had come since their last journey together on another airplane. He was her closest friend, her confidante. Not just through convenience (she didn't know anyone else going to Haiti, after all) but because of a warmth she felt deep inside her when they became lost in an intense heart to heart, or when he wrapped his large warm arms around her, shielding her from the world as she inhaled his musky scent. Their relationship was completely, undoubtedly platonic though; they honestly behaved like siblings most of the time, misbehaving ones at that. Although, Summer did sometimes feel he was hiding something from her, something big, as his eyes clouded over and grew guarded and distant sometimes during one of their lengthy discussions. She always let it slide without questioning him though; it wasn't as if she was a stranger to hiding things from people herself. In fact, she had point blank refused to explain her history that had lead to her sudden flight from her home to him. He had returned the favour and simply let it go without discussion though, and she was fervently grateful to him for that. She smiled at him, as the plane began to shake.

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Summer felt her bright eyes widen as she gazed around at the alarmed faces of the passengers in seats near to hers. The sheen of sweat coated her palms once more, and she gripped the armrests tightly. Turbulence, she reassured herself, just a bit of a rough patch in a passing cloud or something. The plane shuddered, then lurched. She felt her stomach drop, and she clamped a hand to her mouth queasily. Summer touched Kyle's arm and shook it slightly. How was he sleeping through this? His eyelids fluttered open and he gazed at her sleepily, a lopsided smile on his face. "Morning," he yawned, stretching and grinning at her. The plane shook more violently than ever, and the way his facial expression dropped so immediately would have been absolutely comical under different circumstances. Luggage began spilling out of the overhead racks which were cracking under the pressure of the bags slamming around in them. Summer saw a woman clutch her bloody nose after being hit in the face by her fold out table on the seat in front of her. Another man was unconscious a few seats away, after being struck by a miniature suitcase that had been stored overhead. Summer whimpered and grabbed Kyle's arm in a death grip. He wrapped an arm firmly around her shoulders, clicking both of their seat belts tightly shut with the other. His thumb rubbed comforting circles across her shoulder, and she shrank into him as the lights flickered and died over head, leaving gaps of light seeping in through the airplane's tiny windows. The oxygen masks came flying down in front of their faces and Summer grabbed onto hers and resumed her earlier deep breathing. Oh, the irony of her cynical thoughts about the plane running out of oxygen earlier. If she had known...

    The plane was now in complete an utter chaos, random objects flying everywhere, people screaming, fainting, bleeding, praying, hyperventilating, crying. There was a strange heat on the back of Summer's neck, and with the mask still clamped firmly to her lips she craned her head around, twisting in her rattling seat to locate the source. She stomach flipped. The back of the plane was on fire, people still in it. And the flames were slowly licking their way up the aircraft, drawing ever closer. Kyle grabbed her chin in his large warm hands and turned her head to look at him. Her horrified eyes met his steely determined ones. He pointed to an emergency escape door slightly ahead of them to the right. He raised his eyebrows and she nodded. She understood. He lent over and brushed her forehead ever so gently with those soft pink lips. She closed her eyes and prayed this was not a goodbye... They clenched their hands tightly together and staggered their way towards the door, being battered around painfully as they did so. It took them a number of minutes to get to the door, and when they did Kyle gritted his teeth and began to try and wrench the door open. It opened with ease, Summer observed through her haze of despair and panic. Must have been faulty, or maybe just a safety function of the plane. She could see water rushing towards them, and she squeezed Kyle's hand even tighter cutting off all circulation. He looked into her eyes and mouthed "Three, two..."

She breathed. He looked sideways at her. She nodded.  She counted. He shouted.  They jumped.

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A/N: I love writing this and I love anyone who reads it just as much. Thank you guys, you're the greatest. <3