I hadn't been able to talk to him after my talk with dad. Yesterday the three of us were all preparing to leave, gathering Friday's schoolwork and packing all of our stuff up. I'd barely gotten a chance to talk to Em or Amy let alone Co.

And now we were getting ready to leave for the airport.

"You got your brush?" My mom questions, popping her head in my room

"Yep!" I grab it off my dresser

"What about jacket?" Cheri continues

"Already packed in in my suitcase," It was late March. Late March here and late March there were two different things. Two VERY different things.

Here in late March, the lowest it'll typically get is 60, and even that's unusual. It usually stays in the mid to high sixties.

It Chicago, they're lucky if it gets to 45. usually averaging in the high twenties, low thirties.

"I'm wearing this to the airport" I look down at my outfit of leggings and a Northwestern Univeristy sweatshirt paired with my nikes. "I got everything packed for the weekend, I finished most of my homework, my makeup is in my bag, I got a nice outfit for the workshop on Saturday" I start rattling off necessities in my head. I think I'd gotten everything I needed for this weekend

"Belle! Got your wallet?" Cheri yelled up to me, she was ready to go, I of course was still scrambling to grab last minute things.

"That's what I was forgetting!" I say to myself before turning around and grabbing it off my dresser. Now I had everything. It was still early and I'm still a scatter brain.

I drag my suitcase down the stairs to see Jordan, Co and Cheri all waiting for me.

"Y'all ready?" Cheri grins

I glance at both of them and see that they're wearing t-shirts and joggers for the airport and I almost laugh.

"You guys realize it's gonna be high twenties when we get there right?" I question it's a three hour plane ride there meaning we'll begetting there around nine ish

"We'll be fine" Co shrugs, dismissing my previous statement. I just roll my eyes at his stubbornness.

"Yeah, we'll be good Belles" Jordan grins. I just nod before walking back up to my room and throwing two of Co's sweatshirts that I still had in my carry-on. They say they're gonna be fine now, but they haven't been out of the south, minus their one trip to California for football. This was their first time going to the Midwest.

I go back down with a grin on my face. Regardless of what was going on in my life right now. I didn't care. I was going back to Chicago, meeting up with Sage and Ash again for the first time in forever and I was going to have fun. Even a pissed off Caleb wouldn't ruin my mood.

"Now I'm ready" I grin

"I am so jealous" Colton pouts, entering the front room alongside Arrex, Ace and Beck.

"Bitch you've gotten to go to Kentucky and Florida without us" Beck rolls his eyes at our little brother "Let them have their fun"

"Fine" Colton continues to pout though. He really was a typical little brother.

"Okay we have to go guys," Cheri says walking out the door, my dad follows her out to help load all of our bags

"Let's go!" I grin after I finish hugging all my brothers. I walk out the door leaving Jordan and Co behind me to say goodbye to my dad.

"Have fun Belles" My dad grins, giving me a hug and a kiss on the head "And please be careful"

"I will dad, I'll be fine" I roll my eyes with a smile on my face. This was my time to let go and forget the shit that's happened the passed two weeks. I get to leave, and have fun for a weekend, even if my problem was coming with me.

"And you two" He says to the two boys coming out behind me "Don't be stupid, and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid"

"I think it might be the other way around Adam" Jordan laughs, hugging my dad "But of course, we'll watch over her, she'll watch over us"

Co just nods after my dad had mumbles something to him. A look of semi-surprise taking over his face.

"Yes sir" I hear him say to my dad from the front seat of Cheri's SUV. Cheri was just as excited about this trip as I was, she called it her 'work free shopping weekend'. She'd already planned going to all the biggest shopping malls, including the outlet mall in Rosemont. She's excited.

"Alright kids lets go" Cheri calls out to them and they both comply. I had already gotten in the backseat behind shotgun, knowing Co needed the front, he was too tall.

We wave as we all pull away from my house, these starting the weekend I've been looking foreword to since Christmas.

--------

"Okay you three sit together, I'll sit right behind you guys" Cheri tells us

"I call window" Jordan just grins as he scoots into the window seat. Caleb hadn't said much, it was because he was nervous though. He'd always been afraid of flying. An understatement actually, he was terrified of flying.

"I'll sit in the middle" I say quietly, sitting down beside my best friend. Co sits down next to me after putting his carry-on beside mine and Jordan's in the overhead bin.

His leg was bouncing, an anxious tic of his.

Within minutes everyone had boarded, and the flight attendant had already demonstrated all the safety procedures, we were pulling down the runway. I get excited as I watch the airport speed by, Jordan was too, both of us mesmerized as we look out the window.

I feel my own heart speed up in excitement, very few things would make me more happy than I am right now. I don't think I've ever been this energized at five a.m. on a Friday morning.

I notice Calebs breath quicken as we began to speed up. Whereas I loved flying, I just sat back with my earbuds in either listening to music or watching a movie, Co overthought every possibility, he hated flying.

Without even thinking I offer him one of my earbuds. He needed something to distract him, I guess Mean Girls will have to be it.

He just looks at me as he takes the earbud, slipping it into his ear, it was a mutual truce between the two of us.

As the plane states to speed up, just about to take off, Co grabs my hand and holds it, and I let him.

I missed how my hand felt in his.

I just look up at him and nod.

"It's okay" I say quietly "You're okay"

He just nods, closing his eyes and resting his head against the headrest. This was the only thing I'd even seen that genuinely terrified him to a point of panic attacks.

In wake of that, I rest my head against his shoulder, an attempt to comfort him. It wasn't comfortable for me at first but he shifts, leaning towards me to rest his head on the top of mine. He still doesn't let go of my hand.

For a minute a feels like how we used to be, before we'd even gotten together. I missed just being by him. Even before we started everything, we'd always been 'touchy' I guess. Always messing with each other, poking at one another, one climbing or hanging all over the other; it was our normal. To go from that to nothing was weird, and I'd hated it.

I hear Jordan snicker beside me, so I just smack his arm, not taking my eyes off the movie. This only makes him laugh harder, now loud enough for both Co and I to hear.

"Shut up Jordan" Caleb and I say the same time, neither of us moving. I almost laugh at it, he and I were too alike. But at the same time so different.

"Didn't say anything" My best friend states smugly, before returning to his own movie.

Within minutes though, I feel myself falling asleep to the sound of Karen Smith asking her ever famous question and Gretchen Weiners responding with her equally iconic response.