She didn’t answer right away. Just nodded once. Barely.
He stayed there in his crouch, letting the noise of the airport move around them while they stayed in this bubble of quiet. He didn’t want to pressure her. Goodness knew what kind of trouble she might’ve had getting here. Her passport sticking out from her bag said she wasn’t from the US. She had to be exhausted.
He glanced at the bunny.
Well loved. Worn to the thread.
She had to be a Little.
“My name’s Levi,” he said gently. “I don’t work here. Just picking someone up. But if you need a hand, I’m happy to help. You lost, little miss?”
Still nothing verbal, just a whisper and a trembling lip. She looked ready to fall apart all over again. But eventually, a whisper made it out.
“I... I’m okay.”
She wasn’t. But he let that slide for now.
She looked young, but nottooyoung. Maybe early twenties. It was hard to tell with that wide-eyed, raw look on her face. He just wanted to wrap her up in his jacket and tell her she didn’t have to be so brave.
After a little more coaxing, she finally confessed, barely. A garbled story about trying to surprise her boyfriend by arriving early, and now being stranded and overwhelmed in a strange new country. All said in the most adorable accent that only made the blow of her having a boyfriend harder.
The mention of the boyfriend shouldn’t have hit him so hard, yet still, his chest tightened in disappointment.
It was stupid though. He wasn’tlookingfor anything. Certainly not in the middle of the international arrivals lounge while he waited for his own man to come back home.
His partner. His rock. The person he’d built a whole life with.
Still, something about the Little girl clutching her bunny made the protector in him ache to do more.
He told her she didn’t have to share where she was going. He’d help her get to the travel desk and make sure she was safe. That was enough. It had to be.
The pretty girl nodded again, and after a pause, took his hand.
It was like touching the softest silk.
Her tentative trust lit something deep in his belly. Not lust. Not even attraction, really. It was something older. Bigger. Something that told him that even if he never saw her again, he’d think about her.
Levi got her suitcase, led her gently through the crowd, shielding her from elbows and stomping boots. The entire time, she clung to that bunny like it was the only thing tethering her to the earth. He talked slow, easy, never asking her name, though he wished he had. She never offered it, and that was okay, too.
It had to be.
They reached the desk and he passed over the suitcase with lead in his heart.
“You’re almost there now,” he said, tipping his hat and smiling. “Just breathe. One step at a time, alright, little miss?”
Her ‘thank you’ was so quiet he almost missed it.
But he didn’t.
And then he had to make himself walk away.
His phone buzzed just as he was taking his third step.
Hey, I’m near the front. You here?
A smile tugged at Levi’s mouth. He typed back.
Just a minute. Helping someone at the entrance. Meet you halfway?
