Phil made it to the airport only a few minutes later then he had hoped, but still within reasonable time to get things in order and go through security. He was lucky he had prior experience with the airport and it's layout, already knowing where the gate was that he was expected to meet his friends at.
The phone in his pocket buzzed and he pulled the plain device from the folds of material as he angled his way through the human traffic surrounding him. The electronic felt smooth and thin in his palm as he opened the message, the texture still feeling strange after the familiarity of his own lost case. He grinned as he saw the line of worried emoji's that Dan had sent him. They had announced the plane would begin boarding shortly and Dan was still paranoid he would miss their zone being called. Turning the corner he could make out Dan's form chewing on his nails in the distance. He grinned and tried to speed up his step, his luggage thunking behind him on faulty wheels.
By the time he made it through the ticket counters and had his luggage checked in he could see the line of passengers still stumbling through the security. He tugged at his shoes and slid what carry on possessions he had into the plastic bin to be scanned. Through a glass wall a short distance away Dan was bickering with Chris while PJ stood rubbing at his eyes, looking especially drained. Stuffing his feat back into his trainers he stumbled a bit and tried not to trip over a small elder woman walking slowly in front of him. Trying not to be rude he edged past her and through the doorway to the waiting area on the other side of the glass, looking to find where he had seen his group.
A man's voice cuts through the speakers loudly and Phil realizes that they were calling for the boarding of their seats. Pushing his bangs to the side Phil grimaced, trying to keep an eye on the trail of people through the gate and in the crowd around him. He was about to give up and board the flight before he lost his assigned seat by his friends when he heard his name being called at a pitch below a yell. It wasn't Dan, he could tell by the octave and the way his name had sounded as a smooth single syllable rather than the way Dan liked to draw out the name with a double pronunciation of the I.
Turning a quarter to the left he spotted PJ's curly fringe and round eyes pushing ahead in the line, the other two men following like ducklings. Phil breathed a sigh of relief and slipped his phone back into his pants. He could easily read relief and excitement in Dan's grin and somehow that helped him relax, the tension in his shoulders loosening. Once Phil had found his spot in the gap behind him, PJ had turned around with a stern look.
"While you were taking your time getting here, I've been waiting for almost two hours-" Phil notices in amusement how PJ's hands come up to stress the importance of his words.
"Listening to Chris bitch at Dan for not shutting up about how you were going to be late and miss the flight, or how your seat would be given away to some obese man who would snore for hours and pick at his bunions."
"Pick at his bunions?" Phil mumbles, following his friend into the metal body of the plane. PJ twists his upper body as he shuffles in line, bringing his hands up to accentuate the confusion expressed within his upturned eyebrows and twisted frown.
"You never know!" Dan whines lowly from behind him and Phil finds himself trying to ignore the press of Dan's torso rubbing against his back and instead lets out a smal huff of amusement.
"Don't you start again, or I swear!" Chris announced, his voice floating past Dan and Phil, to reach PJ who despite rolling his eyes as he turned to shuffle into his seats, let out a chuckle.
Phil glances at his ticket to confirm his seat number, stepping forward a bit, trying not to crowd a tired looking man who looked to be struggling with the overhead compartments. Reaching out he pulls Dan towards him, hearing him muttering under his breath about what Phil assumes is bad luck with airlines. Chris takes the given room and situates himself past Dan and into his seat beside PJ, letting his hand whack the brunette over the head on his way.
