THIS LOVE | shayne topp

1.14

   SPENDING THE NIGHT AT Aaliyah's place the night before traveling was both a blessing and a curse. The two of them and Angela were all going to the airport together, but it also meant the three of them were up late having a little too much fun.

   They did karaoke, had a dance party, ordered takeout way too late, and drank just a little too much. It wasn't so bad to the point where Eleanore felt sick when her alarm went off at 4:30 in the morning, but her head hated how loud the alarm was.

   The guest bed was extremely comfortable, and Eleanore was dreading get out of it. Her phone brightness was all the way down, which she was grateful for. The first thing she saw when her alarm got turned off was a text from Shayne.

   Shayne: Hey, let me know when you're up. Heading over to Aaliyah's soon.

    That's the thing Eleanore forgot. The four of them were riding together, not three. The airport was about an hour away due to traffic, and their flight left at 7:30. Eleanore convinced herself she could get ready in thirty minutes, since she was already fully packed except for her toiletries.

   She groaned, before literally rolling out of bed and walking to the connected bathroom. She ignored the mirror, just getting done what she needed to, before finally looking in it to apply some light makeup, just concealer and mascara.

   Eleanore picked up her phone off the charger, quickly texting Shayne back before throwing the charger into her suitcase along with her toiletries. She changed into a pair of blue sweatshorts with a black tank top and one of her podcast sweatshirts. She put on a new pair of socks and her Ugg's, then closed her luggage and headed downstairs.

   It was 4:50, and both Aaliyah and Angela were downstairs already, waiting for her. They both gave tired waves, obviously not wanting to be up this early. The second her foot hit the last step, Shayne opened the front door, leaving his luggage outside.

   "Who booked the flight this early?" Shayne groaned, before grabbing Eleanore's suitcase for her. "I'll take this stuff out to the car."

   Eleanore silently thanked him with a smile, setting her backpack on the couch. "Laurie's brother, Milo. He wanted us to get to the AirBNB before he starts work and obviously the flight is six hours. And I hate long flights."

   Aaliyah nodded along, handing Shayne her keys as he walked towards the front door to load up the luggage. "Thanks, Shayne. But we should probably all head out."

   Eleanore quickly took out her phone from her pocket, texting Damien to let him know they were leaving for the airport, even though he was definitely still sleeping. He was going to get with them, but he was busy with work all weekend.

   They all started loading into Aaliyah's car, and Eleanore was surprised that all four of their things fit in the trunk, but they did. Eleanore was sitting behind the passenger seat which was occupied by Angela, and Shayne was behind the driver's seat.

   Eleanore did end up falling back asleep in the car ride, her head resting against the window majority of the time. She did wake up almost right as they pulled into the parking space.

   Music was playing softly in the car, obviously people were still tired. It was nearing six in the morning, the sun still hiding. It was dark outside, but luckily the parking garage was lit up by many lights.

   As they walked up to the front of the airport which was connected to the parking garage by a bridge, the rest of their group was together awkwardly. Laurie and Hunter were sitting on a bench while her head was resting on his shoulder. Courtney and Chanse were huddled together looking at Courtney's phone, laughing together.

   Chanse was the first to notice the four walking up to them, just giving a brief and small wave. They were all still waking up too, you could tell.

   Aaliyah was the first to speak up to the group, "Oh come on, I know it's early but we get an all paid trip to a theme park this weekend. Act alive!"

   Unenthusiastic groans were heard from across the group, making Eleanore chuckle to herself. She did just wake up from an hour nap, but even she was more awake than some of the others.

   "We should probably head inside and get through security." Shayne said, everyone nodding along.

   The airport wasn't too busy so it only took about thirty minutes for all of them to make it through the line for security. Now, Shayne and Eleanore were in line at Dunkin getting coffee for everyone while they wait since they did get to the airport early.

   The time was now nearing 6:30, boarding starting in about thirty minutes. Shayne and Eleanore were almost shoulder to shoulder since the line for Dunkin was very thin, and packed from all the other people.

   Their luggage was left with everyone else, just Eleanore keeping her small purse with her passport, wallet, some lip products, and her phone was in it, but it was now in her hand.

   "I'm so tired." Eleanore said, resting her head onto Shayne's shoulder. She briefly closed her eyes, but knew that it was probably a bad idea since she'll get too comfortable and probably end up falling asleep.

   The line ended up moving, and finally they made it to the front to order. Shayne ordered everyones except for Eleanore's, which she ordered herself. She went to grab her debit card out of her purse, but Shayne was already tapping his against the reader.

   Eleanore sighed out, not even bothering to argue with him. He glanced at her with a small smile resting on his lips, before grabbing the receipt and leading the two over to a surprisingly empty table.

   Shayne set his phone down on the table. "If you wanna sleep on the plane, you can lay on my shoulder. I'll probably just read the whole time." Eleanore nodded, easily taking the offer.

   "That'd be great."

   A few minutes after the two sat in comfortable silence just on their phones, Shayne's name got called and they collected the two drink carriers, going back to their friends. Everyone gratefully grabbed what was theres, and it was pretty much their boarding time.

   Eleanore was dreading this flight. She tried to ignore the anxious feeling in her chest, just reminding herself of the amazing and fun weekend that's awaiting her and her friends.

   The seating arrangements were made by Milo and Laurie, made pretty much perfect. The plane was pretty big, having three rows, each having three seats across. It was Laurie and Hunter, Angela and Aaliyah, Courtney and Chanse, and of course, Eleanore and Shayne.

   They were seated in economy on the way there, which Eleanore wasn't going to complain about. On the plane ride back, they get first class, thanks to Milo, of course.

   Everyone was attempting to get comfortable when they first boarded, and the second her head hit Shayne's shoulder, she was asleep for the next six hours.