Fall Out Girl

As soon as we landed and unfastened our seatbelts, Nick grabbed my hand and dragged me to the cock pit where his father was. They shared a brief conversation and made arrangements to meet up at Baggage Claim. So then Nick dragged me off the plane, through the terminals and to baggage claim. He wrapped his arm around my waist as we waited for our bags. Occasionally, he would press his lips to my temple and smile down at me. It was the small, simple things like this that made me happy. I turned my body so that our fronts were pressed against each other. We shared an affectionate, closed-mouth kiss with each before I rested my head on his shoulder. His arms tightened around me.

“Tired?”

“M-hm.” I replied into his chest. He chuckled and rubbed my back, making me sleepier.
“Nooo, you’re mean.” I grumbled, pushing him away slightly, but not enough to get out of his arms. He was pretty much the only thing keeping me standing.

He pouted. “Aweh, I’m sorry. Kiss?”

I rolled my eyes and refused. “How much longer?”

“Not long, should happen any-” He was cut off by the belt moving. “That would be now.” He smirked, tightening his grip once more. “And I still didn’t get my kiss.”

I rolled my eyes again at him, but pecked his lips nonetheless.

“Oh, Henry! Don’t they remind you of us when we were young?” and old woman asked loudly to her husband. “They’re so young and so in love! Tell me dears, how long have you been seeing each other? It can’t be less than a year.” She asked us.

I bit my lip to stop from laughing so hard and buried my head into Nick’s shoulder. I felt him give a heartfelt chuckle as he shifted me over to the side. “Actually, ma’am, we’ve only been dating for a little less than three months.”

“Oh, my, I feel embarrassed.” The woman said, putting a hand over her mouth. Her husband was having a hard time with his bag. Nick let go of me and pulled the luggage bag from the pile on the conveyer belt.

“Here you go, sir. Do you have any more?”

“No, young man, and thank you. I’m not what I used to be anymore. These bones of mine….” I tuned him out and returned to looking at the small woman in front of me.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you in any way.” She began.

“No, no…it’s fine. We get that all the time.”

She nodded in acknowledgment. “I don’t know if you heard, but I was just telling my Henry that you two reminded me so much of us when we were younger. The laughing and teasing…but most of all, the looks in both your eyes. Pure love is hard to come across these days.”

I nodded my head, knowing full well what she meant. “How long have you two been together?”

“Sixty-three years. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I don’t regret a minute of my time with him.” She said, looking at her husband in admiration as he talked animatedly with Nick.

I looked over at my boyfriend and a small smile broke out on my face. He was stealthily getting closer to the belt so he could grab our bags instantly. Once he got them, never missing a beat, he rejoined the elder in discussion, chipping in whenever he could, but letting the old man give his wisdom.

“Honey, it’s the little things that give you away.”

I blushed and hid my face. “Yea, he’s great…”

“Do you love him? Because if you do, you better hold on tight and never let go. That boy is a fine young man, I can tell that just by these past few minutes. It will be hard to find another.”

“I know…but, my first love died a little over a year ago and I don’t know what to feel…”

“Oh, Honey, trust me. I’ve been there before. My first was shipped off for the First World War and died in the first week he was over there. It broke my heart, but I eventually got over it, went steady with a few guys…and then I met Henry. It was the best day of my life.”

We stayed silent until the guys came back over. Nick smiled at me and pecked my cheek. We said goodbye to the elderly couple before we ventured over to where Mr. Tanner, Nick’s father, was waiting. I stayed quiet the entire way to the house. I was thinking about what that woman had said.

I spent the night in Nick’s room, since all four of the guest rooms were being prepared for his extended family. It wasn’t anything new, on the weekends I would often fall asleep in his bed from all the late-night movies we watch.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked as we lay in bed. He was twirling a lock of my hair around his finger.

“Stuff. Mainly the old couple that we spoke to.”

“Yea, the husband was really cool. He was telling me how he snagged Mary Jane, his wife. And when I told him that I was pre-law, he launched into his views of politics and even told me some of his war stories. What about you?”

"Oh, we just talked about girl stuff.”

"Gossip?”

I shuffled around in his grip and repositioned myself so that my head was tucked under his chin. “Not to that extent…we just talked. Did you know that they were married for sixty-three years and they’re still going strong!”

“Really? That’s amazing.”

“Yea.” He ran his fingers through my hair some more, making me sleepier. I wouldn’t let him go that easily, though. I had to tell him. It’s now or never. I had to tell him now. “Hey, Nick?” I asked, moving my head so that I could look into his eyes.

“What is it, sugar?”

“I- I love you.”

A large grin enveloped his face as he cupped my cheeks with his hands. “I love you, too.” Our lips connected in a passionate kiss. My senses were flooded with a million different emotions, all of which were good. “I’m so proud of you, Emmy.” He said breathlessly as we broke apart.

“I know.” I connected our lips once more and begged for entrance, which he granted. Our tongues danced and fought with each other until we both became quite tired. I snuggled into his chest, breathing in his aroma of coffee and books. He wrapped his arms tighter around me and we fell into a deep sleep.