You're Not Just A Teenage Dream | C.H.

"What can we do for you, Mr. Hood?"

After five more weeks of nightmares, crying, and packing, it was finally time for Dakota to board her plane to Sydney. There was more crying and sniffling as she made her way through Denver International Airport, but not from her, oddly enough.

Three months is a really long time...and I'm going to be on the other side of the world...God, I hope I made the right decision...

—-

Dakota found a seat near the gate, and when the realization hit her that it was too late to turn back now, all of the tears she had been trying to hold in burst forth. These last five weeks had been some of the hardest of her life, and she had been bottling up her strongest feelings so that her family and friends wouldn't worry about her too much. But sitting there, at the gate, surrounded by strangers, she just couldn't stay strong anymore. Many gave her sympathetic looks, some just ignored her, and others gave her looks that could have skinned her alive. Luckily for her, some kind person came and sat beside her, waiting for her to be ready to talk. He handed her a tissue when she finally choked out the last of the sobs.

"Th-th-thank you s-s-so much. I m-m-must l-look like an id-idiot right now," she told him, trying to hide her face so that he wouldn't see the mascara running down her cheeks and the blotches she knew would be covering her face.

"Don't worry about it. Once upon a time, I was the one crying in the airport and no one helped me." She still hadn't looked at him, but his voice was a lovely low baritone, spoken so that only she could hear it.

After feeling no more certain that her face was presentable, she looked up at him from under her eyelashes. At that moment, she nearly lost it again. She found herself looking into the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes she had ever seen and her mouth fell open in shock.

"Ahh, you must recognize me. I wouldn't have taken you for the kind of girl who would listen to us, with your leather jacket and raccoon eyes."

HOLY SHIT. I'M LOSING MY MIND. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE. WHY ISN'T HE IN AUSTRALIA WITH THE REST OF THEM. CALUM FUCKING HOOD JUST SAW ME CRYING THE AIRPORT. OH MY GOD I HAVE RACCOON EYES. WHY CAN'T THE EARTH JUST SWALLOW ME UP RIGHT NOW.

"Umm...uhh...I...sorry...I just..." Get yourself together RIGHT NOW. Make a sentence! "Normally, I'm way more articulate, I swear. I just...I cannot believe how shitty my luck is." Way to go. Now you're going to lose your chance to talk to him.

"I take it I'm not your favorite then?" He said, just barely containing his laughter. My eyes went wide.

"No, no, no, you're awesome! I just wish I hadn't met you while I was full-on gross sobbing!" Her hands had taken on a life of their own while she was talking; she almost smacked him in the chest, which caused her to hide her face again.

"Come on now, don't do that, you look fine. You're even cuter when you're embarrassed!" He grabbed her hands, and it took every fiber of her being not to pass out right there. This time, she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. "But can I ask why you're crying?"

"Well, I'm moving to Sydney for a study abroad program." Her chin and lower lip began wobbling again. Calum couldn't hide the little twinkle in his eye.

"Really? Maybe I'll get to see you around then? Wait, where is your seat on the plane?" He grabbed Dakota's boarding pass from where it sat on top of her purse. "Well, this just won't work. Come with me."

What the hell is he doing? Does he even know my name? Wait, now he does, he has my boarding pass. WHAT IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW?

"What can we do for you, Mr. Hood?" The flight attendant asked in a sugary sweet voice.

"Yes, I would like to upgrade Ms. Zamora here to first class. With me." Dakota's eyes widened again. She knew that first class on an international flight cost an arm and leg, and she had just met the guy, and he wanted to upgrade her.

"Right away sir. I'll need to see your passport and ID one more time Ms. Zamora." She was so in shock that she just handed them over while the flight attendant tapped away on her keyboard. "And...that should do it. Have a wonderful flight Mr. Hood, Ms. Zamora." All Dakota could do was smile and nod. Calum winked at her as they walked back to where they had been sitting.

"Well Dakota, now we have a full 19 hours for you to explain how awesome I am and where you'll be at for uni."

How bad could 19 hours with Calum Hood be?