he's gonna miss the flight." Sydney chastised him as Jordan struggled to get the crutches out of the trunk.

The three were parked at the San Francisco International Airport in front of terminal A and in front and behind them were other cars parked in front of different terminals.

Jalen bounced his injury free leg in nervousness as Sydney looked back at her boyfriend from the driver's seat.

"I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming." Jordan huffed as he closed the trunk and rushed to open the back right door.

"What time is the flight?" Jordan asked as Jalen hobbled out of the car and slid the crutches underneath his armpits.

"I got at least forty minutes. I hope she doesn't judo flip me again." Jalen said as he readjusted the oversized backpack on his spine.

"She's judo flipped you?" Jordan asked in an amused tone.

"Not the time." Sydney advised, "You gonna need help?"

Jalen shook his head, "I'll be good."

Sydney nodded as Jordan got into the passenger seat and with a final goodbye, the couple drove away.

Jalen hobbled through the airport, praying silently that he wouldn't miss the flight back to Hawaii.

He finally reached the correct gate and he could spot Noelani in the front of the line that was boarding, her hair covered by a yellow bandana again.

Then just like that, she was gone and Jalen could feel his heart start to beat a bit faster at what could go wrong.

"Excuse me. Excuse me." Jalen said as he walked with crutches towards the boarding line.

He flashed the ticket at the flight attendant then shuffled towards the entrance of the plane.

The aisle was thin and Jalen struggled in reaching the row that he could see the top of Noelani's bandana near the window.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry. Can I sit there?" Jalen asked the elderly Asian man sitting on the aisle seat next to Noelani.

"No." The man responded.

Her head immediately snapped up from her phone, "Jalen? What are you doing here?"

"Please sir. I need to talk to her. It's important. You can have my seat." Jalen pleaded.

A flight attendant with dark red dyed hair came towards them, "Sir, I'm afraid I'm gonna need you to sit down."

Jalen shot the man another desperate look and he sighed before glancing at Noelani and standing up.

Jalen quickly replaced him in the seat while the flight attendant stuffed his crutches in the overhead.

"What are you doing here?" Noelani asked again.

"I'm flying back with you." Jalen gave her a sheepish smile.

"Jalen... You are insane, kid." Noelani laughed.

"You're right, I'm crazy about you." Jalen said, "I missed you and I came to make things right."

The plane started to move towards the airstrip and Noelani visibly gripped the arm on her right.

"Planes still freak you out huh?"

Noelani nodded, "Look, I'm blunt. I don't feel the need to dance around what I wanna say. I'm confused Jalen. I'm really confused about the fact that you're here right now."

"What do you mean? I just said why I'm here." Jalen furrowed his brows.

She threw her hands up a little, "I mean we were working towards getting back together and then you get into an argument with me over someone who's just a friend and then you have another girl alone with you in your hospital room like twice.... I just..."

Noelani sighed, "I just... I don't know. I don't know, Jalen."

The plane started to ascend and the pressure increased slightly in Jalen's ears.

He noticed that Noelani's grip grew tighter on the arms and he took her hands in his.

"Please don't be worried about Camila. She's just a friend. You have been the only one I've wanted since September, even when I was too stupid to do it properly and made a dumb ass bet about it." Jalen said.

Noelani snickered a bit, "Yeah, that was a dumb ass decision."

"And then comparing you to your dad was even dumber. You're not like him and I'm so sorry that I even said anything like that." Jalen said.

"Yeah... That stung. But I've realized that being like him isn't the worst thing in the world." Noelani shrugged, "I don't think I hate him anymore. I don't hate you anymore either."

"You don't?" Jalen asked.

"Camila isn't your new girlfriend?" She asked.

"Definitely not. No." Jalen confirmed.

"Then no I don't. I missed you too."

"Well I-I'm really glad that you said that. I'm really tired of being apart from you. And I didn't realize how much you changed my life until you were gone and I promise I won't do any more dumb ass shit if you give me a second-." Jalen stammered.

"Can you just like... Shut up and kiss me?" Noelani inquired.

Before Jalen could lose his nerve, he slid one hand on her cheek and leaned in.

She deepened the kiss first and Jalen lifted the arm chair to pull Noelani a little into his lap.

The kiss grew more and more heated as the seconds ticked on until her foot accidentally swung into his ankle causing him to groan.

"I'm sorry. Ugh, I'm so sorry." Noelani covered her mouth with both hands.

"It's fine. I got you something." Jalen winced, "It's in the front pocket."

He nodded towards the backpack on the ground in front of his seat.

Jalen knew she had found it when her eyes widened.

With an agape mouth, Noelani slowly retrieved a navy blue velvet ring box.

"Jalen..."

"Open it. Don't say anything until you open it."

Noelani puts the bag back on the floor and Jalen watched as she flicked open the ring box with her thumb to reveal a gold promise ring with three diamonds set in the band.

"Oh my god." She gasped lowly.

"Look inside." Jalen prompted.

Noelani lifted the ring to her face, "'JG & NM. King and queen.' You even got a little crown engraved."

"Kid..." Noelani trailed off, "How much did this cost? Take it back. I don't want you to spend serious money on me."

"I uh... I used the bet money." Jalen confessed.

Noelani glanced at him, "You did? You should've used it for something more worthwhile."

"This is worthwhile. You're worthwhile." Jalen took the ring out of the box and slid it onto the ring finger of her right hand, "You can't walk away from me again."

"Don't make me want to." Noelani held up her hand in the light for a moment then gave Jalen a grin, "My mom is gonna think we eloped or something."

Jalen grew a playful smile, "I mean I got you the ring, right?"

Noelani had a serene smile on her face, "I love you."

Jalen pecked her lips, "I love you too."

Turbulence hit the plane causing Noelani to squint her eyes closed, "Ugh. So question. If we didn't get back together on this flight what would you have done?"

"Uh... Sat here really awkwardly and then bought a ticket home." Jalen shrugged sheepishly.

Noelani shook her head, leaned her head onto his shoulder and started to giggle, "That would've been really horrible. Like six hours of silence."

Jalen licked his bottom lip then said, mainly just to hear her say it back, "I love you."

"I love you too."

okay so I wrote two epilogues bc I'm mad indecisive so I'll let y'all decide what y'all want to see

Noelani meeting the baby or Noelani teaching Jalen how to surf

vote & comment, porfa!