It's Me, Again

Ch. 34 (Dylan)

"Got your passport?" Josh asked as he rattled off a list of items.

"Yes." I pat the breast of my zip up jacket, the passport securely tucked in the inner pocket.

"Malaria pills?"

"Check."

"Clean underwear?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, dad," I said sarcastically to my best friend.

"Hey, I don't want you calling me saying your romantic adventure with Kate got ruined because you were stuck in the bathroom with diarrhea."

"Alright alright, I get it. I've got all the meds." I shake my carry-on backpack where you can vaguely hear the pills shaking around.

"Okay then, let's go!"

Josh offered to drive us to the airport and when we pulled in front of Kate's apartment building she was already out front with her luggage and Sarah standing beside her.

I hopped out to help her put her luggage in the trunk while she said bye to Sarah.

"Are you ready?!" I clapped my hands together in excitement.

"Yes! A little uneasy about the long flights, but so excited."

"You'll be fine. Have a great time guys. Take lots of photos and not just for your photography projects, Kate, take vacation pictures like a normal person," Sarah teased.

Kate chuckled, "I will." They hugged and Sarah waved to me and told us to have a safe trip.

After Josh dropped us off at the airport, we stood inside the doors looking to see which direction to go for our check-in counter. Exhilaration coursed through my veins mixed with nervousness that always comes when you travel.

Kate pointed to the left, "There, the United counter is over there for economy passengers."

We wheeled our suitcases and juggled our carry-ons and sweatshirts for the flight. I felt relief once we checked in and checked our bags. One thing done. One step closer to officially being on vacation.

After killing time grabbing some food by the gate, charging up our electronics, and going to the bathroom multiple times out of nerves of being on the plane for 13 hours, we finally boarded the plane. I let Kate walk in front of me and when she reached our row, she handed me her carry-on so I could put it in the overhead bin for her. I settled in next to her, tested how far I could stretch my legs under the seat in front of me, and didn't know whether this long flight would feel cozy or claustrophobic.

Kate played with the window shade and then took out her headphones and book to put on her lap before stowing her large tote bag under the seat in front of her and buckling her seatbelt. I had been hoping to take advantage of the long flight time to have some good conversations with Kate, but her book and headphones seemed to signal that she didn't really want to talk. Then again, the flight is 13 hours long. I wouldn't want to have to talk to someone the entire time either.

"I brought playing cards if you want to play later," I said to her as she looked out the window and watched the crew loading the luggage into the airplane hold on the tarmac.

"Oh cool, maybe later." She smiled and then yawned. Taking that as my cue that she wanted to try to get some sleep, I didn't say anything else. She put her headphones on and closed her eyes. I looked around the plane, watching passengers continue to shuffle in and try to stuff their belongings in the overhead compartments. I decided to do the same as Kate and put my headphones on and try to sleep until we were in the air.

I must have been more tired than I thought because when I woke up two hours had passed. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times to wake up and get my eyes to focus. Kate was awake and watching a movie on the screen in front of her. Headphones on and snacking on some popcorn that she bought at the airport. I stretched my arms overhead and decided I needed to stand up and stretch my legs. Being tall on a long flight in an economy seat was not the best or most comfortable combination.

Kate saw me stretching and took her headphones off. "Hey, good nap?"

"Not bad," I said as I shook out my legs in the aisle. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. Do you need anything while I'm up there?"

"No, I'm good. But since you're up, I should probably use the bathroom too so I don't need to ask you to get up." She paused her movie, put everything that was on her lap in her hands, and placed them on her seat as she got up.

I started to walk towards the nearest bathroom and Kate followed closely behind. The two bathrooms were occupied so I turned to face her as we waited. Just as I turned the plane hit a patch of turbulence causing Kate to lose her balance and sending her straight into me. Thank god I've got good reflexes because I opened my arms and caught her just in time.

"Whoa, sorry!" Kate regained her balance and tried to right herself back up.

"No worries, you good?" I held her forearms carefully as she started to stand straight. She brushed the hair out of her face, "Yeah, I think so." She said this cautiously, no doubt waiting to see if more turbulence would hit.

When we were both back at our seats, I remembered Kate had been watching a movie when I caught a glimpse of her screen.

"What are you watching?"

"'A Quiet Place'. Have you seen it? It's so good."

I shook my head, "I wanted to when it first came out, but didn't get a chance to."

"Oh my god, you have to see it and you know I don't like scary movies."

I chuckled, "It must be good then."

"Here, I only just started it a little before you woke up. I'll start it over. Let's try to press play at the same time so we can watch sort of together."

It took a few tries to get it just right. It's really hard to get two different screens to play at the same time. It was usually off by a second which was weird and annoying, but on the fifth try we got it. We spread the airline blanket across our two seats and watched the movie. At one of the jumpy parts, Kate gasped and instinctively grabbed my hand which had only been a few inches away from hers. I tried not to react. I didn't want her to pull it away. I waited a few moments to see if she'd let go, but she didn't. I gave her hand a soft squeeze and looked over. She turned and we both gave little smiles to each other. We turned back to our respective screens to continue watching the movie, while holding hands.

****

The movie ended just in time for us to get our meals, which weren't too horrible for airplane food. When the flight attendant took our trays away, I sighed thinking about how we were only halfway through the flight.

"Halfway there," I sighed and looked at the map on the screen.

"I know we said we'd see the main attractions in Dubai in our quick 48 hour jaunt there, but I'm going to need a good... oh I don't know...10 hours of sleep or so in a comfy hotel bed."

I nodded in agreement. We had both napped here and there on the flight, but real restful sleep is rare on a plane.

We spent the rest of the flight catching little cat naps, playing War with the cards I brought, and watching a few comedies. The 13 hours didn't seem so bad with Kate in the seat next to me. 

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Thanks for reading! This is a short chapter, because I stopped writing one night and when I continued the next day I accidentally wrote from Kate's point of view! The next chapter will pick up when their flight lands and they arrive in Dubai from Kate's perspective.