Connecting the Dots (Shane Madej x OC)

40

We spend our last day in London making sure we all got to do and see what we wanted, finishing off a couple tourist stops and just enjoying the end of our trip. That evening we go out to a fancy restaurant before the Jack the Ripper shoot, to celebrate the end of filming for paranormal and just to finish off our trip on a good note.

Once we've eaten it's time to start the Jack the Ripper shoot, we basically just explore the streets of London where the famous murderer was known to frequent. It's an interesting episode and I'm glad we got the chance to visit a location for one of the true-crime episodes because that can be a rare occurrence.

After the shoot we head back to the hotel exhausted. We pack our bags and get ready for an early morning tomorrow, we're catching a plane back to L.A at almost 6 am London time, which means we need to be at the airport by at least 5. The flight is 11 hours but when we get back it will only be 9am in L.A. The jet lag is gonna be awful.

The next morning we're up bright and early and on our plane by 6am. I'm sitting between Shane and Ryan for the flight, but Shane falls asleep almost immediately leaving Ryan and I to our own devices. We watch a movie on the in-flight entertainment system together and then we just talk for a while before I start to feel tired and Ryan and I each put in some headphones and fall asleep.

A few hours later I wake up to Shane's legs completely overtaking my personal space, I stretch, cracking my neck and yawning. I don't really mind that Shane is taking up so much space, I know his legs are too long for these seats and he probably did it unconsciously in his sleep, but it's still pretty uncomfortable. I glance over at Ryan and he's still asleep too. I try my hardest but can't seem to fall back asleep thanks to Shane's legs practically crushing me. I figure I can gently push them without waking him up, right?... wrong. As soon as I move my own legs to push his away he wakes up with a start.

"Sorry," I whisper, not wanting to wake Ryan, he blinks away the confusion and sleep.

"s'okay," He mumbles, rubbing his face to try and wake himself up.

"How long was I asleep?" He asks,

"I think we're about 7 hours in," I say. He looks shocked,

"Probably shouldn't have taken so much melatonin," he laughs and I nod,

"Yeah you were out cold," I agree.

"You sleep at all?" He asks, I nod,

"Yeah, I just woke up," I say, not bothering to tell him that it was him that woke me up, it's not his fault he has the legs of a giant. "I'm bored," I say and Shane laughs.

"Go back to sleep," He yawns, and I roll my eyes,

"I guess," I groan, he smiles and reaches into his bag, pulling out a bottle of melatonin pills and raising his eyebrows in a way that asks if I want some. I laugh and open my palm,

"As long as you keep your spider legs to yourself these should work," I wink, he laughs,

"Is that what woke you up?" he asks, I nod, popping a few of the pills and drinking from my water bottle. "Sorry... I've already slept enough, I'll try and stay conscious for the rest of the flight and keep my spider legs in check!" He jokes.

"You don't have to do that!" I say, already feeling bad for even mentioning it.

"No it's ok! I don't' mind. Get some sleep," he says and I smile, he winks at me and pats his own shoulder and I laugh, taking the hint and leaning against him,

"Thanks," I say, closing my eyes and letting the melatonin kick in.

When we land and deplane it's all mostly a blur, I'm pretty tired not only from the long flight but from the jet lag, we all basically make our way through the airport to the car waiting for us in an exhausted trance. One by one we get dropped off at our apartments, sleepily saying our goodbyes. I'm the third to get dropped off after Devon and Ryan, I grab my bags and wave to TJ and Shane before making my way into my apartment building. When I finally unlock my front door it almost feels strange to be home, strange but relieving. Even though it's only 9am L.A time its evening in London and after spending almost a week there I'm still on that schedule, I decide I'll let myself sleep today, and tomorrow I'll focus on getting back on track. We don't have to go back into the office until Monday so I have all weekend to acclimate back to L.A.