Somewhere Else

Chapter 1: Arrival (i)

A/N: This story is a sequel to my other story, Something Better. Please read that before this if you'd like to get to know the characters' backgrounds better! Otherwise, I'm finally posting this here on Wattpad, after writing/updating it on FictionPress. I'm up to Chapter 22 now, so I will post those relatively quickly. I'm still working on Chapter 23, so that might take a while. Thanks and hope you enjoy!

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Aksel is waiting for me at the entrance of the Arrival Hall.

I see him from afar, even before I go through the glass doors. He sees me too. Our eyes meet across the distance and I see his face morph into a smile. I quicken my pace, as fast as I could go without breaking into a run.

Patience, Emilie. You have the rest of your life with him now.

The moment I step through the doors, he's right there. Without a word, he takes first my hand, and then my suitcase, and starts heading further away to an emptier area. I follow him, my heart thumping with delight at seeing him again after so many months. The last time he visited Hamburg was in August last year, when he came for my graduation. For the December holidays, he'd had to go back to Oulu, while I wanted to spend more time with my family and friends before I left Hamburg for good, so we spent Christmas and New Year's apart.

But I am here now. I am finally here.

Stopping abruptly in a corner of the hall, Aksel parks my suitcase against the wall before turning around and, in one swift motion, gathers me into his arms. I wrap my own around him, burying my face into his chest, loving the solid feel of him against me. We've been apart for longer before, in the past when we were both still students and had only been able to meet during term breaks. But since his graduation - a year earlier than mine - Aksel has been flying out to Hamburg whenever he can, so our meet-ups have gotten more frequent over time. These past four months have been the longest we've been apart in the last year.

"You're here," he grins, his hand coming up to cup the back of my head, to entangle his fingers in my hair.

"Yeah," I almost squeal, throwing my arms around his neck in a fierce hug. "I can't believe I'm finally here!"

He pulls away a little to look at me, then leans back in and kisses me hard. I kiss him back, my mouth opening under his as his tongue demands entrance. I feel him shift our bodies so that he is pressing me into the corner of the wall, semi-hiding us from sight, but it doesn't change the fact that we are full-on kissing in public.

Don't Finns in particular frown on public displays of affection like that?

The thought flits through my mind briefly, before I decide that I don't care. Who was it who said, 'airports have seen more sincere kisses than wedding halls'? People at airports should be used to the sight of this by now.

When he lets up on me, I look into his smiling eyes and smile back. He stops and stares at me for a while, like he's eating me up with his eyes.

I laugh, a little nervously. It's been so long since we've met in person that I've almost forgotten how much his physical presence affects me. It really is different, having him by my side. "What?

"I'm glad you're here," he says.

"So am I." My hand lifts to touch his face. It's been too long since I've felt the warmth of his skin against mine. He's real. He's really here, standing right in front of me.

I'm really here.

I must be staring up at him in wonderment, because it's his turn to chuckle. "What?" he asks now.

I shake my head. "I just can't believe it. It feels so unreal to be here, like this, with you."

Aksel reaches up and covers my hand with his. When I remove my hand from his cheek, his follows mine down to rest at my side. I flip my hand over, and he entwines his fingers in mine. I stare at our clasped hands, feeling the heat of his grip ricochet up my hand to spread to the rest of my body.