Storm Warning

Lyla had tried to rein in her jealousy over the lingering ex girlfriend but it proved more difficult than she thought. Mia had stuck around for another day after the team barbecue and she'd asked Jeff to meet her and have lunch, which he'd agreed to because he didn't see it as anything more than friends catching up. Lyla wondered how he could be so cool with it after Mia had stomped on his heart (according to Jordan), but then she started wondering why she cared so much. She and Jeff weren't exclusive and he could have lunch with whomever he wanted, ex girlfriend or not. He did however show up at her apartment as soon as he left the restaurant and he didn't say anything about how it'd gone but he led her over to the sofa and pulled her into his arms, just holding her tightly to his body for awhile.

They don't do much of anything over the next few days. Mostly, they just hang out at either his place or hers if they're not going on dates around the city. Today, they're at his apartment and Elias is there but he's not lounging in the chair watching television with them like he usually does. He's constantly moving all over the apartment, picking up random objects and taking them back to his room and eventually Lyla starts watching him instead of the movie on the screen. "What're you doing?" she finally asks him when he comes back into the living room to pick up a tee shirt from the back of the chair and a baseball cap perched on top of the television.

"Packing," he replies, pulling the cap down over his shaggy blond hair. "Too much stuff."

Elias disappears back down the hall to his bedroom and Lyla looks up at Jeff, who's still very focused on the movie considering it's in French so he has to actually read the subtitles. "He's leaving already?"

"Hmm?" Jeff says, tearing his eyes away from the screen to look at her. "Oh yeah, everyone pretty much goes home as soon as the season's over usually."

"When are you going back home?"

He smiles sheepishly and bites his lip. "I was kinda supposed to leave yesterday."

"What?" she laughs. "Then what are you still doing here?"

"I wanted to spend more time with you."

Lyla can't keep the stupid smile off her face now. "But what about your family? Aren't they expecting you? And all your friends at home?"

"I'll go back eventually," he shrugs, and then he pulls her back into his side, keeping his arm wrapped around her body for the duration of the movie.

They take Elias to the airport a few hours later when he finishes packing everything to take back to Sweden and there's a long, drawn out goodbye where he tells her that if she wants to come back for a visit over the summer, she should call him up and he'd give her a place to stay. Jeff rolls his eyes at that and gives his roommate a playful shove toward the gate but Lyla hugs him one more time before letting him go and saying goodbye for the next few months.

She and Jeff spend the next week and a half together, just the two of them most of the time, cuddling on the couch and going out on dates and sleeping at his apartment most nights now that it's empty. They're not at the point in whatever this is yet and Jeff's still way too shy anyway so it's just sleeping, but it's still nice to just be close to each other. The fact that he's about to leave town is at the forefront of both of their minds so really they're just trying to enjoy their last few days together before he has to go.

Finally, the day arrives, and even though they spent most of the day before packing up everything he needed to take with him, they're up early the next morning to get the last minute stuff together and packed into his BMW. They go for one last breakfast together before he drops her off back at her place, but he seems hesitant to go, climbing out of the driver's seat at the same time she gets out. She stands in front of him silently, waiting for him to make the first move, and after a moment, he grabs her and picks her up in a tight squeeze. She throws her arms around his neck and hugs him back for a good few minutes until he eventually loosens his hold and gently places her back on her feet.

"I'm gonna miss you," he mumbles into her hair before finally pulling back to look down at her.

She smiles as she reaches out to grab his hand. "I'll miss you too. But at least there's still FaceTime."

"Not the same," he pouts, looking down at their entwined fingers. "Maybe, ya know, if you want-.....maybe you could come up for a visit."

"You want me to come to Toronto?"

"Of course, ya know, if you want to."

She laughs softly. "I'd like that."

"Yeah?"

"Mhmm."

He grins down at her, dimples on full display, and picks her up in one more hug before finally letting her go to get back in the driver's seat. She leans down into the window to press a kiss to his cheek but he stops fiddling with his seat belt to grab the back of her neck and kiss her properly, seeming to just realize that he hadn't actually kissed her goodbye yet. She's the one to break it after a few moments, glancing at the clock on his dashboard before she looks back at him with an apologetic smile.

"Text me when you get there."

"I'm about to spend thirteen hours in the car by myself. You'll probably hear from me before then."

"Fine by me," she chuckles. "Drive safe."

"Hopefully see you in a few weeks?"

"Absolutely."

It's hard to watch him leave. She's only known him for three short months but she's already become attached. After spending so much time with him since she arrived in Raleigh, she isn't quite sure what she's going to do with all the free time she's going to have on her hands now that he's gone.

Kyle and Cash and their girlfriends do a pretty good job of keeping her busy for the first few weeks. They take trips, sometimes just the girls and sometimes all of them; they discover new things to do every week, from movies in the park to countless museums to local breweries and even a chocolate factory. But of course they all still have jobs that they actually have to do so during the day, Lyla is mostly on her own. She spends some days off doing things by herself like visiting antique stores or taking art classes or or doing yoga but some days she just goes downstairs to the bar and helps the boys out there.

Jeff is pretty good about texting her when he's not training and he seems to have told his sisters that she's going to come up and visit at some point because they're constantly texting to ask when that's going to happen. She'd originally planned on going some time in mid-July but the persistence of his sisters coupled with the fact that she misses him more than she thought she would prompts her to book a flight for June first. The only person she tells of her plans is Erica so that she can surprise Jeff since he's not expecting her to come for another month and a half. Then she has to spend the next few days pretending she's not going to see him soon, even when he calls her on FaceTime and she has to actually do it to his face.

Finally, June first rolls around and Lyla wakes up early to make sure she has everything she needs packed away in her bag before she takes a shower and gets herself presentable. She dresses in an outfit that's comfortable but doesn't make her look like a bum because after all, she's not only going to be seeing Jeff again, but she's also going to be meeting his family for the first time and she doesn't want to make a bad impression. Kyle is sitting at the kitchen island eating a bowl of cereal when she comes out of her bedroom and he doesn't pay her any attention, too busy chasing the last few fruit loops around in the bowl trying to get them onto his spoon.

"Could you take me to the airport?"

He pauses with the spoon midway to his mouth and looks over at her with raised brows, noting the green duffel bag hanging off her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"Toronto," she says casually as she walks to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

He grins knowingly and tips back his bowl to drink the remaining milk inside it before getting up to put it in the sink. "Give me five minutes," he tells her on the way back to his bedroom. He returns shortly, having changed from his plaid pajama pants into some basketball shorts and a tee shirt and he grabs his keys from the bowl on his desk on their way out the door. They stop in at the bar so that she can say goodbye to Cash and let him know why he won't see her helping out in there for a few days at least and then they head across the street to Kyle's truck.

It's a Monday morning so the airport isn't busy. Kyle's not allowed past security so they say their goodbyes there and he waits to leave until she gets through, waving to him from the other side before she disappears around the corner. Her flight isn't until 8:55 but she get to her designated terminal by 8:15 and takes a seat, pulling out her phone to text Erica and remind her just in case she forgot that today's the day. Erica is offended that Lyla would think she could possibly forget and she promises that she'll be there waiting at the Toronto airport when the plane lands 10:45. She's allowed to board after another thirty minutes and she gets settled into her seat, which she made sure to get by a window so that she can see out. That's always been her favorite part of flying and it's also kind of a superstition. She replies to texts from Erica and Kyle before turning her phone off and opens her book to the marked page where she left off yesterday.

The flight is almost two hours and completely uneventful and, true to Erica's word, she's waiting when Lyla comes out of her terminal and down the escalator to the main area of the airport. She's got Jillian with her though and the younger girl is bouncing on her heels as Lyla approaches, at least waiting until she reaches them to jump on her. Lyla just chuckles and hugs her back, doing the same to Erica once Jillian releases her from her death grip.

"Welcome to Canada!" Jillian cheers, grabbing Lyla's duffel to toss over her own shoulder as the three girls head toward the exit.

"Welcome back to Canada, you mean."

"You've been here before?" Erica asks.

"Not here, as in Toronto, but Canada, yes. I lived in Quebec City for four years."

Both sisters look surprised. "You didn't tell us that!"

"I've lived all over the place, you knew that."

"Ah well," Jillian shrugs, lacing her arm through Lyla's. "You haven't been here so we get to show you around!"

Erica laughs on her other side. "Pretty sure she couldn't care less about the area, Jill. I say we call Jeffy, tell him to meet us for lunch and then let him show her around. Unless of course you want us to come," she adds, looking over at Lyla.

"That's perfectly fine with me," Lyla chuckles.

"Oh, I'll call him!" Jillian cheers excitedly, pulling her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.

Erica takes it from her and shakes her head. "You'll blow the whole thing. Better let me do it."

Jillian grumbles and pouts but lets her older sister make the call and when Erica hangs up and gives the phone back, she announces that they're going to meet him at their favorite restaurant close to home. The two sisters lead the way out of the main doors and all the way to where Erica's car is parked on the opposite end of the parking lot. Jillian lets Lyla have the front seat, climbing right into the back after dropping her bag in the trunk. The drive to the restaurant takes almost thirty minutes and as they're parking, Erica looks around the lot at the other cars and says that Jeff must not be there yet.

The three girls go inside and get a table ahead of the lunch rush, Jillian and Erica on one side of the booth and Lyla sliding into the other side. The middle aged waitress comes to take their drink orders while they wait and the sisters take turns telling Lyla more about their family, their hometown, and their friends. The bell over the door jingles as someone enters the restaurant but Lyla doesn't even register it until the girls across from her stop talking and stare directly behind her with big grins on their faces. Lyla waits until she can feel him standing next to the table before she turns her gaze up and when she finally does, the look on his face pulls on her heartstrings. He looks fucking elated, like someone just gave him the best gift on earth, and he just stands there staring at her with a huge grin on his face for a few moments before sliding into the booth and pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

Lyla just laughs as she hugs him back and it takes another moment or two of him holding her against him before he finally loosens his hold enough to look down at her. "Hi," he mutters quietly.

She grins wider, softly running her hand up and down his arm. "Hi."

A loud "Ahem" comes from across the table and they both snap their heads over to the source of the noise, finding the two sisters that for a moment they'd forgotten were sitting there. They both have knowing smirks on their faces as they exchange looks with each other and now Jeff is blushing while Lyla laughs and presses a kiss to his cheek. The waitress returns now that their fourth person has arrived and takes their orders before disappearing to the kitchen and once she's gone, Jeff turns back to her.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would've picked you up from the airport."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Best. Surprise. Ever," he says, punctuating each word with a peck to her lips. Any other time, he'd probably be embarrassed to act that way right in front of his sisters, but at the moment he's so excited that Lyla's there with him in his hometown that he couldn't care less who sees.