You've Got Me Love Drunk

-EMILY'S POV-

Groggily, we stepped off the plane. Unfortunately there were very limited things you could do to someone whilst on a plane full of people and only a hoodie to cover your legs. So the interaction between the two of us had not lasted as long as I had hoped. Not that it hadn’t been fun though.
“That was the longest plane journey I have ever done.” Exhaustion sweeping over me.
“You get used to it, trust me.” Hayley said, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll make you a coffee once we get to my parents’ house.”
“Why aren’t we staying at your apartment?”
“I just like being close to my family. I don’t really get to stay very often so I like to see them as much as possible.”
“Fine by me.” I smiled, taking her hand.

We’d flagged down a taxi (or a cab as Hayley kept telling me to call it) from the airport and were making the twenty minute car journey to her childhood home. The nerves were setting in by now. I wasn’t good with meeting parents. But I knew how much this meant to Hayley, and it meant a lot to me too. It meant we were getting serious.
“Were here daydreamer.” I broke out of my trail of thoughts. Hayley paid the driver while I got out and dragged our luggage out of the boot (or trunk as Hayley kept telling me to call it). “Here we are.” She said, taking hold of my hand and leading us up the pathway.
“Mum they’re here!” we heard a voice shout before we even knocked on the door.
“That would be Erica.” Hayley said, laughing. The door opened and we were greeted by what appeared to be Hayley’s mum and sisters. “Hey guys.” Hayley said, being dragged into the arms of her mum, Christie. “Guys, this is Emily.” She said, turning towards me after giving her sisters a hug each.
“Hi.” I replied sheepishly, giving a small wave before being hugged, like Hayley, by everyone.
“It’s amazing to finally meet you! Hayley doesn’t stop talking about you every time she phones.”
“She doesn’t, does she?” I said, turning to see Hayley’s face turn the deepest shade of red I had ever seen grace her cheeks. I was already looking forward to these next couple of weeks.

The next two weeks were incredible. Her family were adorable, and extremely proud of their ‘baby girl’ as they liked to call Hayley, despite the embarrassment Hayley felt because of it. Her mum was an amazing cook, as she never failed to show. And her sisters were awesome. According to Hayley they liked me, which I couldn’t really deny seeing as they were always dragging me off to show me this or show me that, and especially show me the baby photos of Hayley. They were a traditional family and welcomed me with open arms. And it was fair to say that Christmas day was the best Christmas I had ever had. Hayley’s stepdad had carved the turkey, crackers were pulled. And then Hayley pulled me aside.
“Erm, I’ve got a present for you.” she said, playing with the hem of her dress.
“I’ve got a present for you too.” I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out a neatly wrapped box. Hayley opened it carefully.
“Em, this is amazing.” She said, holding up a silver necklace with a heart pendant on its chain.
“Are you sure? If you don’t like it just say, we can get something else.”
“No, honestly, it’s beautiful. Thank you.” she said, planting a kiss on my lips. “Now it’s time for your present.” She reached into the drawer of her bedside table and drew out a little box. “This isn’t what you think, I promise you that. You see,” she opened the box to reveal a silver ring. “I really love you. I’ve never loved anyone before but I know I love you, and this ring is to kinda symbolise how I don’t want to be with anyone else. It’s not a proposal, it’s a promise ring. It’s my promise to you that I will always stand by you, that I will always be here for you and I will always love you. Erm, yeah.” Her hands had been shaking from nerves. And that was when I realised she meant every word. Slipping the ring onto my finger I stepped forward and kissed her, harder than the kiss before. I wrapped my arms around her neck, hers finding my waist.
“I love you too, just so you know.”
“Yeah, I know poppet.”

I was staring at the ring now, turning it on my finger, a habit that hadn’t taken long to form. I was sat on the plane home, alone. The two weeks had passed way too fast. But the day before we were due to leave, Hayley received a call from Taylor. Josh and Zac had decided to leave the band, and she was needed there. So she headed up to the Farro house where everyone else was while I made my way to the airport with Christie, McKayla and Erica. Saying our goodbyes and promises that we would visit again soon, I checked in alone. And now I was on the plane, finally able to get some of my book read without a distraction. I missed my distraction.
Can I get you anything?” one of the stewardesses asked. ‘Yeah,’ I thought. ‘You can bring me my girlfriend so I’ve got a pillow for the rest of this bloody journey.’
“No thank you.” I replied, not really caring about what she had to offer. All I wanted was Hayley and to make sure she was okay. I couldn’t get the image of her face when she got the call out of my head. She looked so… defeated. Like everything she’d worked for had come crashing around her. She had been on the verge of tears and I knew there was nothing in the world that could make her better. She had history with Josh and Zac, heck, they all did. But Josh and Hayley had a special connection. Anyone could see that and especially their fans. They wrote the songs together, they had gone out for three years.
The tanoy overhead announced that we would be landing soon. Well, I would be landing soon. I buckled up my seatbelt and put my book away. I didn’t want to tell Hayley, mainly because I knew she’d fret about it, but I was petrified of flying. There was no need to tell her on the way because she made me feel safe, just by being near me. But now the nerves were setting in again. I planted my hands firmly on the armrests to stop them from shaking uncontrollably and closed my eyes, knowing it would all be over soon. God I wanted Hayley here.