Anna mildly drunk was hilarious and endearing. Brooke couldn’t help but fall a little more for the woman as they settled in for their ten hour flight. Brooke, buzzed in her own right, watched with amusement as Anna pushed up the window shade and stared out at the runway.
Brooke's right leg bounced nervously, as it always did when she was anxious. She had never noticed it until Anna had pointed it out while standing in her dining room, but now that Brooke knew about it, she was aware of every jiggle. Her mind swooped to her mother, ordering her to stop fidgeting when she was a child. Her jaw clenched and released and her leg stilled.
Brooke could feel Anna watching her. She swallowed uncomfortably and dared a glance. Sure enough, Anna was studying her, her dark eyes intense and focused, her eyebrows pulled together in almost a frown.“What?” Brooke whispered. She was so busy staring into Anna’s eyes that she missed the motion of Anna’s left hand, reaching over the armrest and settling on her right thigh.
“Your leg stopped bouncing,” Anna said back, softly.“Are you okay?” God, there was so much depth to that question.
Brooke’s jaw flexed again, but she nodded. Anna looked at her like she didn’t believe her for one second. Brooke just didn’t know how to say that the closer she got to actually seeing her family again for the first time in thirteen years, the more she felt like she might throw up, have a panic attack, or the secret third option, both.
“Here,” Anna smiled softly.“Take a pic with me? We can send it to Vivienne and Christine and let them know we made it to the plane.”
Brooke nodded, glad to have something else to focus on. She smiled, knowing that there was a tightness to her eyes that she couldn’t shake. Anna squeezed her thigh, in what was surely meant to be a reassuring way, but definitely hit the soft spot of Brooke's knee that had always been ticklish. Brooke jumped and let out an undignified squeak.
Anna, still a little beyond tipsy, brightened exponentially at the sound.“I’m sorry, what was that?”
The tips of Brooke's ears felt immediately hot. Brooke looked around them to see if they had disturbed any of the other passengers as they settled in.“Nothing, Anna. Just take the photograph.” The last thing Brooke wanted to admit was that her knees were incredibly ticklish. And sure she had four black belts and could, in theory, kill a man with her pinky, but if Anna were to squeeze that soft spot over her knee again, she’d be reduced to childish squeals.
Anna’s hand dove for Brooke’s knee again. Though Brooke expected it and caught Anna’s hand and tugged it away from her offending weakness. Anna did her best to squirm, twist, and tug her hand free, but Brooke had a grip like a vice. Brooke watched as Anna’s face went from playful to determined to something entirely else that Brooke couldn’t read.
Anna’s eyes finally flashed from their hands to Brooke's face. It was then that Brooke caught it. Anna’s eyes had darkened, they were almost pitch black to begin with, but this was something else. Something deeper. Desire. The pink ghost of a blush had spread across her face. Without breaking eye contact, Anna tugged again, testing.
Brooke's eyes flickered to Anna’s lips. They were on a rapidly filling airplane and both under the influence of alcohol. But Anna tugged again, and a small breath of air slipped from her mouth. Brooke heard it escape as Anna’s lips parted under her gaze.
A loud thunk of a bag dropping into the seat next to Brooke made them both jump. The moment was broken. Brooke released Anna’s hand immediately. Brooke wondered if she should apologize. Anna instead just licked her lips and smiled kindly at their new seat mate. Anna let her hand rest back on Brooke's thigh, but it was higher this time, deliberately too high to be able to grip Brooke's knee.
It wasn’t until the flight attendants got up to do their spiel that they remembered they were going to take a photo together. Anna moved quickly, leaning well over the armrest and Brooke let her, leaning in as well. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the look in Anna’s eyes, but Brooke felt like she might vibrate out of her seat. Their faces pressed together as Anna took the photo. Brooke missed her the second she retreated back to her own seat, never moving her left hand.
Brooke couldn’t help but stare at Anna’s hand curiously. There were a few scars, knife nicks, likely. There was what appeared to be an old, long since healed burn on the back of one of Anna’s fingers that Brooke longed to trace. Her attention was only diverted when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She grinned at Anna, knowing that it was the photo they had just taken, but her smile quickly turned into a look of confusion as her phone kept buzzing. She slipped it out of her pocket. Anna had started a new group chat with Brooke, Vivienne, and Christine. The opening text had been their photo.
Her heart slammed against her chest as she saw the picture for the first time. It was undeniable, they looked cute together. Christine had said as much in her texted response. She had also added a thousand hearts. Even Vivienne had already liked the image. Brooke took a deep breath, doing her best to steady her heart.
Brooke watched as Anna dutifully flicked her phone into airplane mode, all with her right hand. Brooke did the same and relaxed back against her seat. She was glad Anna had talked her into the drinks. Brooke was not a fan of take-offs or landings. Though the pleasant buzz of the alcohol and the warmth of Anna’s hand on her thigh were more than easing her anxiety as the plane backed out of the gate.
Anna offered Brooke a headphone as they waited at the top of the runway.“I downloaded ten hours of music.” She lifted her eyebrows playfully.“Want to hear every song I could think of?” She let out a little laugh.
Brooke nodded and took the offered headphone, marveling at the fact that Anna still used headphones with strings. Just then the plane’s engines revved and Brooke tensed. She death gripped the armrest between her and Anna, took long, deep breaths, and closed her eyes tight. It was the closing of her eyes and tensing her body that made her miss it as Anna removed her hand from Brooke's thigh and slowly worked to peel her fingers off the armrest. That caught Brooke's attention. She opened one eye to glance down at their hands in time to see Anna thread their fingers together with ease.
Holding hands with Anna Fourchette while a Taylor Swift song that Brooke could not remember the name of played through their shared headphones, was far more important and serious, and doing far greater a number on her heart, than any plane take off could ever hope to be. And just like that, the take off was over. Brooke exhaled a sigh of relief and watched, just waiting for Anna to unlock their hands, but the moment never came. Anna just stared happily out the window and hummed along to the song.
Less than thirty minutes into the flight, Anna lifted up the armrest in-between them, and weaved their arms around it so their hands never came apart. Brooke just watched her curiously, unsure of where this was going. She let out a soft laugh as Anna wiggled around in her seat until she was comfortably leaned entirely up against Brooke with her head leaned back on Brooke's shoulder. It was the alcohol, Brooke reminded herself. Anna was a touchy person on a normal day, and now her touchiness was being heightened by alcohol. That’s all this was.
“Good night, Honey,” Anna whispered, a small, deeply happy smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
She was asleep ridiculously quickly, but Brooke knew that Anna was actually out. Her breathing had slowed and deepened, and her body had relaxed entirely against Brooke's side. Brooke pressed a featherlight kiss to the top of Anna’s head and managed to reach her book without disturbing her. Brooke couldn’t sleep on planes, but hopefully between the book, Anna’s rather random and obscure playlist, the fact that they were still holding hands, and the weight of Anna’s body—which was keeping her rather focused on the present—Brooke would manage to not spend the entire flight spiraling about the fact that she would see her younger brother in under ten hours.
Brooke’s eyes snapped open at the sound of the fasten seatbelt sign dinging over the plane intercom. Her brain was just together enough to hear the captain come in over the speakers.“Okay, folks. Please take your seats. The stewards will now make their last trip through the cabin before we begin our final descent into Heathrow. The local time is 6:45 am, and the weather is a cool 17 degrees celsius. On behalf of our crew, I just want to give a big thank you for flying with British Airways.”
Everything was foggy and disoriented. If it was 6:45 am, that meant that Brooke had managed to get a whopping hour and a half of sleep. The effects were that of a dull headache creeping upwards from the base of her neck and extending in a straight line to the crease between her eyebrows. Better than no sleep, she presumed.
It was then that she realized that her fingers were still entwined with Anna’s. In fact, they were still incredibly snuggled up. Anna was practically curled up in a ball on Brooke's lap, not entirely unlike a dog that was way too big to be considered a lap dog, but who was damn well determined to be one anyways.
She wasn’t entirely sure how Anna had managed the position or how she had maintained their hand hold. She wiped the sleep from her eyes with her free hand and smiled down at Anna, who was breathtaking even while asleep. Brooke brushed a few loose strands of Anna’s hair back from the woman’s face, tucking the tendrils behind her ear. The gentle movement caused Anna to stir.
Her dark brown eyes fluttered open and she hummed a little, adorably licking her lips as she sleepily sat up. She had slept for almost all ten hours of the flight. Brooke let out a chuckle. Jet lag? Anna wouldn’t know her.
Brooke smiled somewhat shyly at Anna, fully aware that her heart was suddenly pounding again. She wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe slowly waking up with someone was intimate despite the fact that their seat mate, who snored loudly for most of the flight, was also waking up. The moment still felt heavy, like this tiptoed dance they were doing around each other was slowly starting to come together.
“Hi,” Anna whispered. A soft blush swept across her cheeks, moving faster than her smile.
