Josie
"Why is no one else clapping?"
I pulled my eye mask off and looked over at Thomas, smiling. "What?"
"You're supposed to clap when a plane lands," he deadpanned.
I laughed, shaking my head. "I don't know that it works like that for private planes."
"Hey, you're not too good to clap just because you have a private plane," he said.
I lifted an eyebrow. "Fine."
I joined him in clapping, unable to help my smile. He and Charlie were such different kids from the rest of us — but they somehow fit right in.
"Alright, let's go," Hero said, and I could tell he was getting antsy.
I reached out to touch his arm, looking up at him. "Chillax. Amelia's right there. You guys got big plans?"
"Uh, yeah, a doctor's appointment," he said, "can I get off, Dad?"
Uncle Jo looked over at him, an annoyed look on his face. "Who taught you how to be such an involved dad?"
Aunt Lena laughed and looked over at him, rolling her eyes as she looked back down at her book.
"I see Eros's car," Mom said, patting my knee.
I looked out of my window, raising my eyebrows as I forced a smile. "Yeah."
"You don't have to be excited to see him," she said, "no judgement here."
I bit down on my lip, looking over at Fran and Brian. They were, of course, both about to combust from having to keep their hands off of each other for more than five minutes.
"I'm not not excited to see him," I muttered, looking over at Mom.
She smiled, rubbing my leg before standing up. "C'mon. Let's get home."
I stood up after grabbing my purse, slinging it over my shoulder. I took a deep breath before walking to the door, walking down the stairs and onto the pavement.
Eros was leaned against his car, a soft smile on his face. I felt shitty for being scared.
I cautiously walked over to him, chewing on the inside of my cheek. As I got closer to him, he pulled out the bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
"Hey," he said, making me look at the flowers, and back at him.
"Hi," I said, pushing my hair away from my face.
He pushed himself off of his car, looking down at me. I could tell even he was unsure of how to go about this.
He wrapped an arm around my neck, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I missed you."
I didn't melt into his body like I used to — I stood there, unsure of what to do with my hands.
"Can you at least say it back?" He softly asked.
"I missed you," I said, and I did — I did miss him.
"I got you flowers. And some gifts," he said, pulling away from me.
"Y-you didn't have to do that," I said, adjusting my purse as he stepped away from me.
"Your favorites," he said, "I looked all over town for peonies."
