All Again For You

I awoke the next day at the crack of dawn, my head still buzzing from the night before. I sat up quickly, only to fall back from the mass amounts of light suddenly flooding into my room. I rubbed my eyes with one hand, and brought the plush covers over my head

I knew in just a few hours, I would be on a plane to LAX, John waiting for me at the airport. He and I devised a plan that he was going to visit family in a small suburb, but really come to pick me up.

"Up, Savannah." Sofía demanded, opening up the door to my room fully. She bustled over to the curtains, then swung them open forcefully. "It is almost noon. You need to get to airport by two." She reminded me, shaking me gently by the shoulders.

"Fine, fine, Sofía." I grumbled, rolling over so my face was buried in my pillow.

"Up, now." She demanded, flipping the covers off of my body. I tried to curl up into a fetal position, but Sofía was quick to grab me by my feet and start to drag me from the bed by my ankles.

"Alright, alright! I'm up!" I muttered.

"Be quick, Savannah!" Sofía called through the door, knocking twice to make sure she knew I heard her.

I took possibly the longest shower of my life, letting the hot water run down my back. I shut off the water and stepped out, drying myself off and then headed back into the room to see that Sofía had laid out an outfit so I wasn't rushing.

"Ten minutes until we leave, Savannah!" Sofía called into my room just as I was slipping on my shoes. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Sofía!" I called, pulling my hair back into a loose bun and slicking on some black eyeliner. I fumbled with zipping up my make up bag before tossing it into my carry-on bag.

By the time I was already in the kitchen, Sofía was hustling me out the front door to the driveway where the black Mercedes was parked. I stepped in, slinging my carry-on bag on to the floor and buckling my seat belt.

Sofía drove more recklessly than last time to the airport. By the time we had hit the freeway, my heart was pounding. She was almost as bad as Garrett with her driving skills.

Garrett, I sighed. His name hadn't entered my mind since last night when he called.

"Don't worry, Savannah. You will be in California with your novio soon. Your boyfriend." She said, a soft smile gracing her normally stone-like features.

But what confused me most was how Sofía knew I had a boyfriend- let alone that I was going back to California.

"So, you must have heard me talking the other night then, right?" I shifted in my seat, instantly becoming more fidgety as the airport came into view.

"Your room and mine have a connecting bathroom. It was hard not to hear you laughing and sounding happy," She chuckled to herself, making the right turn into the airport's lot. She maneuvered through the traffic and stopped in front of two sets of wide, sliding glass doors.

"Wait," She said quickly, grasping my wrist. She pulled me into a tight embrace and whispered in my ear. "Good luck with California."

I didn't know what to say, so instead I just smiled foolishly and nodded my head, then freed myself from her grasp. I picked my carry-on bag off the floor and opened the passenger door to step out. Sofía popped the trunk of the Mercedes, glancing at me from the rearview mirror. She sent me a subtle wink as I grabbed my suitcase, and waved as I made my way through the crowd gathered on the side walk.

"Excuse me," I grunted as I pushed past a rather portly business man chattering away on his Bluetooth. I rushed to check my ticket and got through security as quickly as possible.

I sat myself down on one of the benches closest to the window, watching the planes land and take off. An old woman came and sat down next to me, sending me a warm, somewhat toothless smile. I smiled back, returning the favor.

"You seem really anxious," She said after a few moments of smiling at me.

"I'm going to California," I sighed, uncrossing and recrossing my legs.

"Big audition?"

"No, I'm going for… for a vacation. With my friends and rem, boyfriend." I stated.

"Good luck with them, I'm sure you'll have a great time." With that, the woman got up and left me as her flight was called, leaving me to sit and wait for Flight 6598 to be announced.

Once physically on the plane, I immediately buckled my seatbelt and plugged my headphones into my ear. As if on cue, You Me At Six's Always Attract began to pour into my ears, causing tears to prick my eyes.

Two hours after having the song on repeat, I pulled out my earbuds to hear the pilot saying we had arrived at the airport. I fidgeted in my seat, anxiously waiting the days ahead of me.

I made it to the front of the plane, through security and to the luggage carousel before I even thought about calling John to pick me up. I pulled out my iPhone, my fingers tapping away at the screen as I dialed John's number. It went straight to his voicemail, something highly unusual for him.

"God dammit, John." I muttered, looking up to see the smiling face of none other than John O'Callaghan.

"What was that?" He smirked, taking my suitcases.

"Nothing, now let's get going," I followed him through the parking lot to where his silver car was sitting in the shade. He popped the trunk and placed my suitcase in, and unlocked the doors. I slid into the passenger seat, buckled my seatbelt and waited as John took a call.

"Who was that from?" I asked, turning down the volume of the music playing.

"Your boyfriend, girl," John said in his best attempt to be 'hood.' I laughed, looking out the window to the quickly passing highway. "He wanted to know where I was and why you weren't picking up your phone when he called this morning."

"Doesn't he know it's illegal to have your cellphone on while you're on a plane?"

"He still doesn't know you're coming, Sav." John pulled off the highway and onto the correct exit, and it was only another hour from there.

&&

We pulled up to the house around twelve, John telling me to wait in the car so he could check and see if Garrett was there.

"Stay, good dog," He said, patting my head as I rolled my eyes and slunk down in my seat. I had always been an impatient person, even when it came to waiting two or three minutes to wait and see if my own boyfriend was around.

"Nah, I just forgot something in my car, I'll be right back," John called behind him as he came over towards the door. I unbuckled myself, and grabbed my bag off the floor of the compact car. John opened up the trunk and grabbed my suitcase as he motioned for me to go into the house and find Garrett.

Timidly, I made my way across the perfectly cut, green grass and to the stucco house in front of me. I reached the door just as it opened, revealing Pat, who was talking on the phone with his brother. He smiled at me, his eyes going wide as he jumped up and down. I hugged him quickly before mouthing that I was going to find Garrett. He held the phone away from his mouth and said "In the kitchen."

I followed his instructions and made my way to the kitchen, taking in the feel of the house. Garrett's back was turned to me, allowing me to sneak up on him. I put my arms around his waist and felt him instantly tense up.

"Relax, Garrett," I said softly, breaking the silence. He wriggled out of my loose grasp and spun around quickly. Before I could react, my feet weren't on the floor, and Garrett's head was buried in the crook of my neck.

"What happened to Colorado?" He asked quietly, his voice cracking.

"I didn't feel like I was… wanted there," I smiled, kissing his lips softly. He placed me back on the ground, but kept hugging me. We stayed like that until we heard someone cough, and we looked up to see Kennedy and Charlotte standing there, Kennedy's arm loosely around Charlotte's waist.

"Bitch, where's my hug?" Charlotte asked, peeling away from Kennedy and crossing the kitchen, pulling me away from Garrett and into one of the tightest hugs imaginable.

"Welcome back, Sav," Kennedy smiled, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, uh, Char, didn't we have to go to that… thing with the… guy and, uh, yeah."

Charlotte instantly caught on to whatever Kennedy was doing. "Oh! Yeah, we better get going. We'll be back… later." The pair joined hands and left the kitchen, then the house.

"I'm pretty sure they're hinting something," Garrett laughed, pulling me close into his side.

"I'd assume so," I sighed, smiling up at Garrett as he pressed his lips to mine again. He grasped my wrist lightly and pulled me along out of the kitchen. I followed him down the hall to a bedroom, which I had already guessed was his. He attached his lips to mine again, pushing me back gently onto the bed. His hands found their way from my hips to the hem of my dress, playing with the edges.

"Gar, not today," I said quickly after he pulled away, taking a moment to breathe.

"I'm sorry, I let myself get carried away," He mumbled, rolling from being on top of my onto his back.

"It's fine, really," I smiled at him, lacing my hands with his.

"C'mon, I wanna show you the beach," He smiled, pulling me up and helping me to my feet. Garrett all but dragged me out of the house and to the beach, which wasn't packed with people as I had assumed it would have been. I left my sandals by the back stairs so they wouldn't get ruined by the sand, making Garrett impatiently jump around and whine like a little kid.

"Come on, Savannah! Let's get the seagulls!" He pouted, falling to his knees in front of me.

"You're such a little kid, Gar," I laughed, pulling him up off the sandy dunes. He ran ahead of me as soon as we started walking, all the way down to where the waves started slapping the shore.

"Garrett, I swear if you throw me into the ocean I will never trust you with anything again," I warned him as he came towards me with a mischievous grin on his face. "Garrett!" Before I could run, Garrett had me over his shoulders and was running into the crashing waves, tossing me into the waves.

"Garrett Daniel Nickelsen!" I shrieked, pushing my now-soaking wet hair out of my face. I spat out salt water and waded towards him.

"No, don't come near me!" He mock cried as I grabbed him and did my best to push him into the on coming wave. To anyone else, we must have looked as though we were on hardcore drugs, thrashing about in the ocean and screaming at the top of our lungs.

We finally gave up on wrestling each other, and waded ashore. I collapsed back onto the sand. Garrett sat next to me, grinning widely. I sat up, smiling back at him before the thought of the night before I left popped into my head.

"What's wrong?" He asked, tracing the outline of my hand in the sand. He looked up, his eyes meeting mine, and locked with them.

"Gar," I breathed. "The night before I left…" I could tell by the look on his face that he knew what I was talking about.

"Did… did you mean it?" I asked, biting my lip out of nervous habit.

"Would I have said it if I didn't?" He looked at me as if it were obvious. I shook my head as he pulled me into a tight hug. "I love you, Savannah."

"I- I love you too, Garrett."