Our Journey

Five

Standing in the airport after my dad dropped me off was nerve wracking enough. I had sat there, wondering to myself if I was really ready to do this. I mean, it was only for a week, and then I would be home again. Flying wasn't going to be that bad.

By the time I landed at the first stop, I was having such a horrible anxiety attack, I called my mom about to cry as I let her know I safely landed.

By the time I made it to the final destination, my entire body was shaking and I felt like I was going to puke. I clutched the handle of my suitcase as I went to the appropriate area and lit a cigarette, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans.

It was finally time. I had waited so long for this day, and the nerves were really setting in now. I was shaking horribly, and I could feel my leg bouncing as anxiety took over. I messaged her and we agreed to meet by the area where I grabbed my suitcase from. So once I was finished inhaling the cancer stick, I went back inside and went back down to where I was.

I sat on a bench, going through TikTok and watching random videos and liking things. I anxiously kept looking up and at the door, my leg bouncing and that sick feeling in my stomach.

I heard her voice first.

It echoed in the area around them, and I picked up on her footfalls as well. I looked toward the hallway and there she was. When she looked over at me, all the anxieties just melted away as I put my phone down on my stuff.

We didn't run to each other or anything, but when we hugged, it was like the world came together. She hugged me tight, her nose against my hair as she wrapped her arms around me, anchoring me to her.

"Welcome home," she whispered against my hair.

It was the most wondrous feeling in the world.

After we separated, I made my way over to my stuff and snagged it, following her out to her car.

We talked, and I let her know how the flights were. I smiled at her as she lugged my stuff into the trunk and closed it.

"Sorry about the hair," she called over the roof of the car. "I just picked the dogs up and they shed everywhere."

I laughed. "Please. Ashe and Trooper do the same thing. I'm sure I'm covered in their hair, too."

Once in the car, Lux pulled out her phone and tapped it a few times. "Alright, make sure you're not in view. Let's give 'em a scare."

We'd had a plan set in motion, and only a few of the members knew about the trip. But that was because of certain events leading up to that point. There had been a rocky road from when I had planned the trip to now.

I ducked behind the seat and pulled out my phone to put it on silent as the picture for the group popped up on my phone. Lux put on her best angry face, set in stone as one after the other began to pop into the chat. After a few minutes, when she was sure everyone who was coming was in, she spoke.

"You guys are in fucking trouble," she snapped, her eyes flashing false fire. Everyone else seemed to cringe back.

"What did we do?" Cinna asked, his thick accent laced with worry.

With a huge grin, I popped out from the side, a shit eating grin on my face as I stared at everyone through the camera. "Not a damn thing, actually."

There were choruses of whoops and "what the fuck"'s all around. Everyone seemed to be grinning ear to ear as she held the side of my head to her, her laugh flowing easily out of her. As if it was the only real laugh she'd had in a long time.

The sound made my heart soar.

After letting everyone know we were gonna go and have breakfast before I settled in for the week, she hung up and let them continue their conversations on how they were happy I was with her. It had been such a hard few months for me, and I had needed the escape.

On the way to breakfast, we all talked about things we could do or go see. But personally? I was just happy to be here and see her. She was everything I had dreamed of and more, when it came to her smile. Her laughing eyes.

During breakfast we talked about how her trip went, even though we talked here and there while she was on it. Though it was mostly just us counting down the days.

By the time we got to her house, I was ready to collapse, and I could feel the adrenaline beginning to wear off. I finally got to meet her dog sons, and they were...definitely bigger than they looked on camera. For the love of the gods, they came up to my knees!

After everything was settled, Lux dragged me up the stairs, where I sat on her bed and we talked and laughed and played with the dogs. My face hurt from how much I was grinning and my throat hurt from the constant laughing.

Vince, another member of the group called us, and he had ended up taking pictures of us and sending them to the group chat for the others to see. They were so pure, so full of love that I could feel my heart melt.

At some point, I'm unsure when, I could feel myself begin to slowly doze off to sleep on the bed as she joined the call once more with the others. 

When she woke me up, she was on call again with the members of our group, talking lowly. I smiled and snuggled back under the covers, my eyes closing again as I began to doze off once more.

I don't remember if I had truly fallen asleep, or if it was just a dream I had woken up to begin with. She was shaking me awake, her voice soft as she spoke my name.

"Lyrica..." Shake. "Baby girl, wake up..."

I groaned in my sleep, slowly coming to terms with waking up as, all of a sudden, one of the dogs seemed to remember that I was sleeping on the bed and decided to reintroduce himself

With a loud "oof!", I managed to wake up, sitting up and rubbing my eyes as I looked around. I was in her state, in her home, with her her four legged children. I was with Lux, and I could feel my heart rate slow.

What had I been dreaming about?

I slowly moved from there I was, throwing my hoodie on from pure habit and getting up from my perch on the floor and beginning to fold things up. I placed them beside the couch cushions and grabbed my cigarettes before heading out to go smoke one. Trying to fight off those huge ass dogs was a work out.

It was nice outside. I checked the weather from home, and it was at least forty to fifty degrees there right now. It was about sixty here. And it felt so nice. I sighed, moving out to see if I could see the moon from here. Which I definitely could.

It was only eight thirty. I took my phone out to call my mom to let her know I was safe. Frankly, should have done that prior, but I didn't even think about it. I ended up being too tired because, well, was up all night and then anxiety.

When I finally got off the phone with my mom, I went back inside and saw that she was still on call with the others. She waved me over, letting me know dinner was done and we ate, talking and trying to beat the dogs off while we tried to guard our food. She was an amazing cook. Ten out of ten, would recommend.

When we were done, Lux turned to me, grinning ear to ear. "So. You ready to meet Kurt? He's working right now, but we can go see him!"

I didn't even have to think about it.

"Let's go!"

XXX

A/N: I love you, always and forever. <3

Thank you for being my shining light in the dark times that have come around these last few months. I wouldn't have made it this far without you, beautiful. <3