Into the Light

27

"Go ahead. I'm right here," I replied. I made sure to keep her hand in mine, and hold tightly when the plane started it's trip down the runway for takeoff. Her eyes popped open, and her breathing started to come in little gasps. "Look at me," I said, pulling on her hand. "See? Everything is fine. You won't even know that we're in a plane soon." Sure enough, the plane leveled out, and we started our smooth flight. "Is it over?" she asked, looking away from me, towards the window. "Oh," she said, sucking in a breath. "The sky...it's beautiful. The clouds are so close. Look down there! Everything is so tiny. Wow." She was practically leaning over Brennen's lap, just to see the view from outside. I couldn't stop myself from hitting record on my phone. This was one of those first moments that I loved seeing her enjoy. After about 20 minutes of her leaning over Brennen, he finally looked at me with a desperate expression. I chuckled, and pulled Anna back to her seat. "Do you wanna switch seats with Brennen so that you can look out the window?" I asked. She bit her lip and glanced at Brennen, then back to me. "Do you think he would mind?" she whispered. "I don't mind," he laughed. We kind of shuffled around, until she was by the window, I was in the dreaded middle, and Brennen got the aisle. "Thank youuuu," she squealed, with her eyes glued to the scenery. Brennen laughed. "No problem. Glad I could help," he replied, then met my gaze. He leaned over close to me, so that he could speak without Anna hearing. "So, you've got it pretty bad, huh?" he asked. I sort of just shrugged, but I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my lips. "Yeah, you do," he replied, grinning. "I'm happy for you man. I hope it works out. She seems like a great girl. There's something different about her." "Yeah, she's great," I whispered back. "I think I'm falling for her. Like, really falling for her." "Whoaaa, like you love her?" he asked, with his eyes going wide. I nodded. "Damn bro, that's huge," he replied. "I know," I said. "I knew you had it bad though. Who just randomly flies a girl out to Sacramento, just to take her to a restaurant, if they didn't have it bad?" "You've got a point," I laughed. Brennen and I talked a little more, while Anna continued to stare out the window. I snapped a few photos of her, just so I could get that look of wonder in her eyes and that gorgeous smile. When we started to descend, a little frown formed on her face. "Aw, it's over already? I bet it's really wicked flying at night. Like, the moon is probably all huge and bright. Yeah," she said, with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I'll take you on a night flight," I said, realizing that I was willing to do just about anything for her. Hell, I had already risked my life for her, before I knew that I loved her. "Really?" she asked, looking like she wanted to jump up from her seat and dance with excitement. "Yeah," I laughed. "I promise." She smiled and leaned back in her seat, then intertwined her fingers with mine. We buckled up for the landing. I expected her to be nervous again, with the bumps, but she just glanced from the window to me, and kept the little smile on her face. She looked pleased, and maybe a little smug, though I wasn't sure why. After we landed, I grabbed our carry on, and waited for the others to go ahead, before pulling Anna in front of me, to exit the plane. After we spoke to the rental car company, we all went outside where our cars were waiting. I had only reserved two cars, but that would be enough. 4 people in each car. "Oh, hell yea," Sam whistled, looking at the cars. "I'm driving that one." He pointed at one that looked very similar to his Audi, only it had 4 doors and a back seat. "Go for it," I replied. After I slid behind the wheel of the Mercedes Benz luxury car, I let my fingers run over the steering wheel. It felt as smooth as butter. "This is a mega nice car," Anna said, buckling her seatbelt. "Haha, my boy knows we gotta ride in style," Brennen joked from the backseat. He wasn't wrong. I didn't mind doing whatever I had to do and I wasn't above riding coach, or driving a basic car. Hell, I still drove my own Toyota Corolla...but if I could, I was going to make sure that I enjoyed the nicer things too. Corey climbed in beside Brennen , and whistled too. "Daaaamn, my boy. You trying to show off for your girl, huh?" "Shut up, Corey," I replied, grinning. "I just thought it would be nice to ride around in style while we were here. You can always catch the bus, if you want. There's a bus stop right there." I pointed to the diamond shaped sign that across the street. "Nope, I'll shut up," he blurted out, then pretended to lock his mouth, and toss the key away. We laughed at him, then I pulled out onto the road. I let Brennen and Corey deal with the music, so that my free hand could be holding Anna's. I kept glancing at her, and every time she would be looking at me too. We would just laugh a little, then look away. It turned into a small game, that neither of us could win at. "Where are we going first?" Anna asked, obviously still trying to trick me into telling what the surprise place was. "The hotel. We need to unload. Then we'll head to that place that I'm not telling you about," I replied. She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Eat me, Brock," she said. I raised my eyebrows and glanced at her. "I mean, that can be arranged," I said, trying to keep my voice quiet, so that Brennen and Corey didn't hear. "Oh my God," she gasped and covered her mouth. "That's not what I meant! It's just a saying, like bite me." "I can do that too," I replied, almost laughing at how flustered she was. Her cheeks were flushed, almost like she had a fever, and her eyes were jumping nervously. "Stop iiittt," she hissed under her breath. "I didn't say it!" I exclaimed. "You did! I was just complying." "Not even! I didn't mean it like that!" she replied.