A New Beginning

Chapter 27- Together Again

Noelle took a deep breath as she got on her flight to London. It was about a seven hour flight from New York City, and then Bern would pick her up at the airport and drive her back to her apartment.

I'll be seeing her in less than a day, she thought nervously.

Noelle hadn't even realized how anxious the thought of seeing her cousin again made her. There were so many emotions swirling around in her mind when she thought about the last time she had seen Bern as opposed to now. What did she look like? How different was she from the last time they had said goodbye?

Also the last time Noelle had reunited with family on Earth hadn't gone as smoothly as she had hoped. Not that she had exactly expected it to go well.

You're being ridiculous, she told herself. Bern knows about all of it. She was there. She understands.

Although to be fair, Noelle had to catch Bern up on a lot, and she was sure Bern had to catch her up too.

Noelle decided it wasn't going to gain her anything by worrying, so she turned on a movie through the rest of her flight to take her mind off the matter. Eventually she fell into a much-needed sleep and was woken up by the sound of the voice on the speaker announcing they were arriving shortly.

Groggily, she grabbed her duffle-bag and followed the others out of the plane. Now all she had to do was pick up her luggage and wait for Bern.

Another wave of nervousness washed over her.

After about ten minutes of waiting at the pickup, she finally spotted the silver Toyota that Bern had described to her over the phone pulling up. Shakily, she grabbed her luggage and hurried over. Her legs felt like jelly.

I can fight Loki but I can't face my cousin.

Noelle could see Bern through the window of the front seat. She was waving furiously and had a huge grin on her face. She was about to get in the passenger's seat, when Bern got out of the car first.

Before she knew what was happening, Bern was holding her tightly, half laughing, and half crying. Finally, she pulled away, and Noelle could see what her cousin looked like for the first time in the eight years since they had last seen each other.

"Bern?" her voice was barely a whisper.

Bern swallowed. She was smiling, but Noelle saw tears in her eyes. "Yeah, it's me," she said.

"You look uh... older," Noelle got out.

Bern laughed. "I am older."

Noelle laughed too this time, and hugged her back with tears blurring her eyes.

"I missed you, Bern."

"I missed you too."

~~~~~~~

Bern's apartment was in the more rural side of London. She was only renting it out temporarily while on Christmas break.

"I'm literally only here for a month and a half, but they're making me pay for two months," Bern grumbled. "Part of the contract."

"Well, I hope it's not too expensive?" Noelle asked. "Either way, it can't be worse than New York."

Bern gave her an amused look. "You don't have to worry about that since you live with a billionaire."

For now I don't have to worry. Noelle thought. The way things were going with Tony, she wondered if she'd have a job much longer, but she didn't voice her concerns to Bern. This was their day, to finally catch up after long years of separation.