My lips trembled as I looked over at him.
“Beau, you don’t?—”
He leaned over the middle, cupping my face softly. The uncertainty in his eyes made me sad, worried and scared at what he might be going through.
“I want you to come with me, please,” he said. “I’m fucking scared and I don’t know what to do. I’m overwhelmed, bad thoughts are racing through my mind and?—”
“Hey… Hey,” I said, cupping his cheek leaning forward, pushing our foreheads together. “Let’s take one step at a time. Get my wallet out of my purse, pay for my ticket and I’ll park my car.”
He exhaled slowly. “Ok.”
A horn honked making both of us flinch, reflexively I wanted to shout out and tell them to fuck off, but we had been here for too long. Beau kissed my nose before we broke apart and I took off for long-term parking.
The next hour was a blur as we raced to park, get checked in, go through security and figure out where to go. By the time we made it to the gate they were calling passengers. Beau and I went through first bypassing so many people, my cheeks heated in embarrassment. I felt very rugged here in my scuffed-up boots, jeans that had seen better days and my oversized striped shirt was also looking thin. When I noticed we were in first-class, the lingering looks made me feel even more out of place.
“The flight was full, and I paid for it,” Beau said, putting my bag up in the overhead bin, reading my mind.
“I’ve never flown first-class before,” I said, as he ushered me into the window seat. “I just feel even more underdressed and uh… really rugged.”
“Rugged?” he scowled.
“I just look like I don’t belong?—”
“You work harder than most of these people. You deserve to be here just as much as they do,” he said, threading our fingers together as he looked around like he was ready to start a fight with anyone who dared look at me wrong.
“Ok,” I said, not fighting the smile he had lured from me.
Beau laid his hand on my lap as he looked at his phone. He returned to his worried state, biting his lip, typing away on one hand as the passengers boarded the flight. My stomach growled loudly and I realized we hadn’t eaten since early this morning.
“It’s a short flight but we can get a snack,” Beau said, looking concerned. “We should have gotten something before boarding.”
“I’m ok,” I said, getting comfortable. “We can get something when we land.”
Beau looked me over before nodding, going back to his phone. “Whatever you’re craving, we can get it.”
“Ok,” I said, squeezing his hand and leaning back to look out the window.
My phone buzzed in my pocket again and I realized I had never answered Nash. I pulled my phoneout of my pocket to see two missed calls and a bunch of text messages.
Nash: I just had an awkward but good conversation with Brooks. I think we might be ok.
Nash: We talked for a bit, but I’m finally on my way.
Nash: Did you guys get a hotel?
Nash: Are you guys ok?
Iris: Beau has to go to Denver. Something happened and after we fought, he brought me with him. Something isn’t right and I kind of feel dumb for coming with him, but it didn’t feel right letting him leave by himself. I’ll text you when we land.
I felt kind of shitty for leaving without seeing him, but what the hell else was I supposed to do? Nash and Beau felt equally important to me.
Nash: What happened in Denver?
Me: I don’t know. He just said he was scared, but didn’t give me anything else.
Nash: Let me know when you get to Denver and keep me posted.
Me: Ok, Talk soon.
