Jack

We were finally on our way to England. I was seated in the plane, already bored, with a magazine open on my lap. May was sitting next to me, tapping her fingernails on the armrest and trying not to stare at any of the other passengers. Alex, in the meanwhile, was staring out the window of the plane like an excited little kid, a huge smile on his face. I looked over at him worriedly as the plane started up and began to ready for takeoff. I offered him a hard lolly to suck on so his ears wouldn't pop, and he accepted it, looking confusedly at me. I shook my head at him disappointingly, and he grinned at me, popping the red confectionery in his mouth and sucking on it.

Once we were in the air, Alex decided flying wasn't as fun as he remembered it was and clutched my hand. I could feel his heartbeat through his skin and chuckled at the fast pace.

'Not funny, Jackie,' he murmured, turning green as he saw the small dots that was now Baltimore, 'how long until we're off this thing?'

I shrugged, 'Several hours. You'll be fine; it's not like we're going to go down in a crash or anything.'

'Touch wood.' Alex muttered, tapping a pencil that he had been given.

I rolled my eyes and took his hands, flipping my magazine with one hand. I heard Alex start performing yoga breaths to try and calm himself down. May looked past me to look at Alex.

'Hey, calm down. It's going to be fine.' She smiled, offering him a sherbet straw. He accepted it, smiling timidly back at her and slowly tipping it into his mouth, grimacing as the sour taste registered with his tastebuds. I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb and sighed internally as I waited for the long flight to finally come to an end.

- - -

'Hey, Alex, how long does it take you to do your hair?' May asked Alex a few hours later. We had swapped seats and to preoccupy themselves and distract Alex's mind from thinking about the potential doom of flying, they were taking quizzes from magazines May had bought. 'A few minutes, forever or half an hour?'

'For this? Forever,' Alex teased, checking the option with his pencil. He had already picked at it more than once so that he was able to access more of the lead. They must have been through three magazine's worth of quizzes and still hadn't bored.

'Favourite thing about spring? Flowers, colours or wearing sandals?'

'Um, colours?' May laughed at the answer, watching him once again select the option.

'Favourite thing to do at a sleepover? Prank call, truth or dare or a hair circle?' Alex looked sideways at May, silently choosing "burning my ear on a flat iron - ouch!" for the next question, what's your definition of bad hair day? May stuck her tongue out at him and scribbled a random answer with her own pencil. She started tallying up all the answers, declaring,

'You should try... Selena Gomez's hairstyle!' She started chortling as Alex looked over at me, deciding now was the time to cut the quizzes.

'Save me,' he mouthed. I shook my head, smirking, returning to my magazine. At least there weren't any quizzes in mine. My phone buzzed from where it was resting on my lap and I saw the text from Alex.

Alex: Fuck you.

Jack: Maybe later ;)

I heard Alex sigh as he received my text and I smiled behind my magazine, becoming engrossed in an article on nihilism. A few hours later and we were ready to land. Alex was once again sucking on red lollies, and this time breaking May's fingers as his stomach plummeted with the plane.

'Are we on the ground?' He asked, his eyes scrunched up.

'Look out the window.' I suggested, packing up all my stuff.

'Jack!' May said, hitting me with a rolled up magazine. 'Yes, we are, Alex.'

'Oh, good,' Alex said, visibly relaxing. He looked out the window as we rolled smoothly.

'Do you like the rain, Lex?' I asked.

'I love the rain, I've missed it.' He said fondly, his demeanour changing from two seconds ago. He shot me his adorable half-smile, reaching across May and taking my hand.

'I have a good feeling about this.'

Notes

Title cred: Circles - ATL
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