Soul Mates

Chapter Twenty-One

I stare out the window, my body, head, heart, everything, numb. It's over. My career is over. He and I are over-before we even began.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We will be landing in five minutes, so please put your seatbelts on and thank you for flying International Airlines."

I follow the man's instructions, still amazed at how fast we got here. To get to Sarasota from Miami is a three and a half hour drive with the best traffic conditions, which is never. But on a plane, it's only thirty-five minutes. It's wonderful.

I file in to the line of exiting people, after the ever-terrifying landing. My phone goes off immediately once I turn it on, as I exit the gate. I answer when my best friend's face pops up. "Hi, Crystal."

"Okay, you are more than depressed. My name is never just Crystal. Where are you?"

"Just outside gate twenty-four."

"Hold on." I wait a few moments, and suddenly, arms are around me. I turn, brown eyes meeting cyan. I slip my phone into my pocket as I basically collapse into my best friend. Tears fill my eyes, running onto her bare shoulder. "Oh, hun," she murmurs, rubbing my back and holding me close.

After a few moments, she links our hands comfortingly. She grabs my bags, and leads me towards the exit. We ignore the paparazzi, as they shout questions at me. She unlocks her sedan, opens my door, and loads her trunk. We pull away, driving towards my house.

I furrow my eyebrows as she passes my street. "Love, you were supposed to turn th-"

"Hun, we've been friends since kindergarten. I know where your house is. We're going to my apartment." I just look out the window, feeling saddened by the view of my city. I had been telling Zayn that for our week off, I'd visit home and then fly over to England the last day. Of course, I had been lying. What else could I have done?

Crystal pulls up to her complex, and takes my bags, before leading me up the familiar stairs. We plop onto the sofa, and she throws some pajamas at me. Once changing, she turns on a movie that I am not really paying attention to.

The second I hear "On Wednesdays, we wear pink," memories of watching this with Louis cloud my brain. Tears fill my eyes, and I manage to get out "Please, turn it off." Seconds later, it's off, and she's hugging me to her chest. I let silent sobs escape, as I clutch onto Crystal. She just rubs my back, murmuring comforting words into my ear.

Minutes later, I finally calm down, worn out from crying. I still hold onto her, eyes drooping closed.

-:-

I open my eyes, finding Crystal still asleep. I reach over to my phone, and find the time to be nine-fourty-five. That means it is nearly six over in the UK. I wonder if he got my gift... No, Reagan, you can't keep thinking of him! But I did spend quite a bit of money on it, especially since I quit. It'd be a shame if he didn't get it.

Barely thinking, I type out a text, sending it before I can change my mind. I watch as it loads, before the status says "delivered". I sigh, shoving it into my pocket. As I do that, Cryrstal stirs, her cyan eyes fluttering open.

"Mornin', Ray." I wave at her. "How are you feeling today?" I shrug.

"Josh coming?"

She freezes. "Uh... Well..." I look at her confused. "I mean, he's at the hotel. I was going to have him over, only if you felt up to it."

"Nonsense! I shouldn't be a deciding factor, he's your..." I trail, not wanting to say the words. She nods, looking unsure. "It's fine, really. Besides, he'll be my only contact with the lads for a while. I need Joshua."