always // tom holland

one

"Ellie are you sure about this?" My mother asked while helping me zip up my last bag.

"Mom, it's London. Of course I'm sure" I laughed while throwing my carry on bag over my shoulder.

While in high school, I sent my transcript to the University of London as a joke and 5 months later, I'm flying there to attend orientation and get settled in for my freshman year of college which is fucking crazy.

Was I nervous? Extremely. I'm 18 and moving to a different country, alone. I have no idea where I'm going to work, I don't know anyone there. I'm hoping I can just work on campus so I don't have to figure out transportation, I can just walk.

"Ready to go?" My mom asked me with a weak smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I gave her a reassuring smile and yawned.

"Eddie, come say goodbye to your sister!" My mom shouted up our long staircase.

My twin brother walked out of his room with a melancholy look on his face. He walked down the stairs and gave me a hug.

"Be safe little sister" he said while squeezing me tight. I laughed in attempt to stop the tears from falling.

"You're literally 10 seconds older than me" I laughed. My brother helped me carry the last of my bags out to our blue car. Before I knew it we were headed to the LAX airport.

My mom pulled into the drop off parking lot. Together we pulled my suitcase, carry on bag, backpack, and purse out of the trunk. My flight was leaving at 4:00am. Why it's this early in the morning? Well sometimes it's just cheaper when you fly that way. I figured I'd be sleeping on the plane anyway so why did it matter what time I'd be flying?

Together my mom and I walked into the airport. Together we found which area my flight was at in the airport. I noticed there was a small line going into security. When I turned towards my mom her arms were wide open. I moved into them and hugged her tightly. I felt warm tears roll down my cheeks.

"Be safe sweetie. Text me as soon as you can"

"I will don't worry" I heard my mom sniffle. She kissed my forehead before waving and walking away.

After my mom left I stood in line for about 15 minutes, my stomach churning and my head spinning. I wiped my tears before they could fall down my cheeks in attempts to keep my composure, at lease until I was on the plane.

"I need your booking number and for you to scan your passport please" I did as the woman said. "Okay go ahead to TSA"

I was shuffled through TSA and it was very overwhelming, everything was moving fast, everyone was on a time crunch. I barely knew what to do. I got to the end and was frantically trying to gather my belongings.

"First time?" I heard a random voice say. I looked up and a man wearing a black hoodie with dark shades laughed and shook his head before walking away. I felt my cheeks burn as I grabbed the rest of my stuff and headed to my gate.

I still had a half an hour before boarding was meant to start. I decided to get an iced coffee. While waiting in line I watched some girls run towards where my gate was, they were yelling and excited. Kinda early to have that much energy if you ask me. I laughed to myself and got my coffee.

To be completely honest, I'm not a big fan of coffee, I just needed something to stay awake for a little while. I sat down and sipped on some coffee while reading one of the books I downloaded on my phone.

"Flight 205 to London, Heathrow is now boarding" I heard a man say over the loudspeaker.  I grabbed all my luggage and headed to the boarding area.

My mom paid extra for express boarding, so I got on the flight pretty quickly. She even booked me an 'upper class' flight, not first class, but above Economy. She insisted for my long plane ride. I was seated next to the plane window and I watched as workers moved about on the dim runway below. People slowly made their way onto the plane, so far no one had sat by me.
I don't fly very often, only once when I was young, young enough to not really remember what it was like, not to mention I had never flown internationally. I was pretty nervous about who I'd be sat next to. Just as I was starting to think the seat next to me was empty, a guy wearing a black leather jacket, black hoodie, black joggers, and black sunglasses sat next to me. His head was faced forward and he didn't say anything. I shuffled in my seat uncomfortably and managed to bump his arm in the process.

"Sorry" I said softly. He shrugged his shoulders and kept looking forward. I frowned and looked out the window. So much for having someone to talk to on the flight. A few minutes later, we fastened our seat belts and began to take off. I felt my stomach turn and my anxiety kicked in as the plane lifted off. I squeezed the armrests on my chair and closed my eyes. The guy next to me shuffled in his seat and bumped me. I opened my eye closest to him and looked at him while taking another deep breath.

"Hello" he said. He had some sort of accent, probably British. His hair was messy across his forehead and you could barely see his face with his sunglasses.

"Hi" I squeaked out while trying to remain calm.

"Haven't flown in a while?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Is it that obvious?" I laughed while letting out a breath I unintentionally held in.

"Your grip on the armrests gave it away" He laughed. I gave him a small smile and released my grip. The lights in the cabin dimmed and a quiet ding went off, indicating we could move about in the cabin.

"I'm surprised you noticed considering you're wearing sunglasses" I laughed. He laughed with me.

"I left my regular glasses in my other luggage and I can't see very well without them" I nodded my head.

"Well that sucks" He shrugged and smiled at me before pointing to the window.

"Look" I turned and saw the bright lights of LA slowly getting further away. I felt a second of sadness, I was going to miss home. "You okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, just going to miss home" I sighed.

"Are you moving away?" he asked.

"Kinda. I'm attending the University of London and I'm not entirely sure how long I'll be there for. I mean obviously until the end of the semester this year but I'm not sure if I'll stay permanently" I rambled. He smiled.

"That's cool, I actually live in London"

"I already kind of knew that, " I said.

"Y-you do?" he said nervously.

"I mean you have an accent I just assumed I guess" I looked at him confused. Why was he acting weird all of a sudden?

"Ohh right I do"

"Unless it's fake" I half asked him. He laughed.

"No, no, of course not" he stared at me for a second. He was pretty handsome from what I could see. I wish he'd put his hood down and take off his glasses. "I'm going to use the loo" he said. I nodded as he got up and walked away. I noticed he left his passport on his seat. It must've fallen out of his pocket. I stared at it for a while. I could open it and see what he truly looks like and know what his name is...

That'd be a serious invasion of his privacy though, right? I sat and contemplated opening it before deciding to pick it up. Wouldn't want anyone to take it or for it to fall. I stared at it as I held it in my hands. All my questions would be answered if I opened it...

"W-what are you doing with my passport?" he asked snapping me out of my thoughts. I held it out to him.

"It was on your seat. I didn't want it to fall on the ground" I smiled and he took it from my hand.

"Did you um- did you look at it?" he seemed nervous again.

"No of course not" he smiled in relief. I looked at him confused. "Am I not allowed to know what you actually look like or know your name?"

"It's not like I know your name" he replied. I laughed.

"Well you never asked"

"Neither did you" he smirked. I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. "What is it?" I looked over at him confused. "Your name I mean"

"Eleanore, but please call me Ellie or El, I swear I have the most grandmother name ever" he laughed a little.

"Alright El"

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"No" he smirked before putting an ear bud in his ear and laying back in his seat. I narrowed my eyebrows annoyed and turned to look out the window. I will figure out who this guy is.

-
Okay and that's the end of chapter one!

Hope you enjoyed my new fanfic!!
(I know some of it is cheesy sorry)
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