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Jefferson tried not to wince at the tightness of Andie's hand squeezing his. Staring at their interlocking fingers he could see that her knuckles were white. Their airplane to California was experiencing a bit of normal turbulence, but since she was her, Andie was freaking out.
He was sure his knuckles would be bloody at the hand of her nails by the end of the flight, but he just bore it, whispering soothing words in her ear. "You used to fly with your family all the time, it's no different."
"Jefferson, I haven't left the country, let alone London, in a very very long time." She said, letting up on her grip as the turbulence ceased. "You of all people should know this."
"Remind me why I took off work again?" Jeff had taken a week off of his job to help her get settled into California. He was the owner, and head chef, of a fairly popular restaurant in London. That's where the two had met.
She had joined her sister Laura there for lunch, and of course Jefferson had taken an immediate liking to the younger of the two. He slipped his number onto the receipt, hoping the girl who looked like she traveled from a different decade would call him.
It took a sizable amount of convincing from her sister, but Andie eventually called him. The two had been together ever since.
"Because you're an idiot," Andie scolded him, "you don't need to halt your life because of mine." Another bout of turbulence cause her hand to squeeze his again.
"If I didn't come," he lifted his hand and hers came with it, "who would be doing this?" He stumped her with that one. Feeling triumphant, he brought the back of her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "My workers understand."
"Why do you have to be so bloody cute all the time," Andie groaned, "your going to make my heart palpitate if you keep it up."
"Born with it, more of a curse than a blessing, really. For instance, giving my future wife a heart attack wouldn't exactly be a perk, now would it?" He winked, and Andie leaned back into her chair.
Squeezing her eyes closed, she sighed, "Is the flight almost over."
"Darling, we've got five more hours, at least." Jefferson said and his fiancé groaned in response.
"Here," he said, digging for something in his pocket. He pulled out a pair of tangled earbuds, and smiled, "maybe a little music will calm you down, yeah?"
"Thank you," she grabbed earbuds and quickly untangled them, plugged the jack into her phone, and placed them into her ears.
She went to her music app and knew just the song to play, You're My Best Friend. If she ever had trouble sleeping, or a nightmare had awoken her in the middle of the night, her father would escort her back into her room before tucking her into bed and singing to her. The song was his go to, and Andrea would fall asleep every time.
One night in particular stood out to her, she was four or five, and she had a horrid nightmare about being abandoned by her family on the tube. She'd burst into her parents room in tears. John, in a sleep filled state, carefully picked her up and took her back to her room.
"What was it about this time, sweetheart?" He asked in a sort of mumble as he walked down the corridor to Andrea's room.
"You left me on the tube," she said in between sniffles, "I couldn't find you." She remembered the feeling of his hand rubbing her back comfortingly as she explained it to him.
"That will never happen," he soothed, "because I'll always be right here with you, even when I'm not." Andrea pulled away from his neck, extending her pinky out to him. Her cheeks were red and puffy from her crying.
"Do you promise?" She had asked him, and with no hesitation at all their pinky's met.
"I promise," he said, entering her room and laying her down on her bed.
"Now," he began, sitting down in the twin bed next to her, "That rubbish in your dreams has to be replaced with something," he thought for a moment, lied down beside his daughter, and began to sing to her softly.
Next thing Andrea knew, she was awoken by the snapping of a Polaroid camera. Her mother was standing in the doorway, looking at her husband and her daughter curled up and cramped on her tiny twin bed.
She swore her mother had that photo somewhere.
She leaned on Jefferson's shoulder, snuggling into a spot where she felt comfortable. With their hands still connected, Andie yawned while letting Freddie's voice lull her to sleep. Just like nights from her childhood, many moons ago.
-
With Roger Taylor's voice in one ear, and Jefferson's voice in the other, Andrea woke with a start. The chorus to I'm In Love With My Car stirred her from her sleep, along with the pokes and prods of her fiancée.
"Finally, sleepyhead. We're landing, you have to put your seatbelt on." Jefferson smiled softly at Andie's confused face.
"Did I sleep through the flight?" She asked, and Jeff nodded.
"You were playing bass riffs in your sleep," Jefferson chuckled while she put on her seatbelt. "It was the cutest thing."
Andie smiled softly to herself as the plane began its decent into Los Angeles.
