Long distance

Barbara could practically feel her stomach lurching as the plane came to a rough and bumpy landing. She wasn't all that used to flying in the first place, having only done it a few times in her life, but this landing seemed rougher than usual. She couldn't tell if it was actually the plane's fault or her own nerves. Honestly, she wasn't all the comfortable flying. Being cramped into a metal tube with so many people, none of whom she knew, and seemingly all of whom were excessively loud, and then launching that tube at hundreds of miles an hour through the air... It was not the most desirable situation to be placed in. But it was a necessity if she wanted to see him, which was only making her stomach churn more now that she was so close.

She had started dating Brandon over two years prior, having met him online through a few mutual friends. It was a bit of a long story how they had managed to become friends with a boy on the other side of the planet. But they had, and so had she, and then she'd taken it a step further, and now she was flying to meet him. As her family was so fond of reminding her, most girls in her situation would be most afraid that they were about to meet an old pervert or something - clearly everyone on the internet was nothing more than a liar and a con artist, after all. She was mostly worried that she would make a fool of herself somehow.

The slow pull-in to the airport seemed to drag on for hours. She fidgeted in her seat, pulling her backpack into her lap and putting it down, just to pick it back up again. She had been fortunate enough to have no one sitting next to her to see her squirming around, trying to push down the burning sensation sitting in the pit of her stomach. She was excited beyond belief, but she was always afraid. What if when they met in person he wouldn't like her anymore? She had always described herself as a klutz, but what if he hadn't believed her? What else might he have not believed?

She had been so busy fidgeting and fearing she had hardly noticed the train of people moving off the plane, or that she herself had gotten into it. She shuffled forward, sandwiched between two other patrons, trying to be quiet as she attempted to catch her breath. It would be ok, she told herself. It would be ok. Everything would be ok. They'd made it two years. He still liked her after that. And he had agreed to meet her. He was waiting in the lobby. Surely nothing could go wrong after this point.

Well. That wasn't entirely true, and she knew it from experience. But now was not a good time to be thinking about that.

It took a long time to get through customs. She thought about texting Brandon that she had landed, but she wasn't entirely sure how long distance texting worked in this situation. They were in the same country now, but her phone was still from a different one. She knew if she tried to text home it would charge her, but him? She really had no idea.

Customs took an extra half an hour. Then the passageways through the terminal were very strange to her, and she managed to take a few wrong turns along the way. She was completely lost. She was fortunate to have a security guard point her in the right direction, though it was because she was going backwards.

And then she saw him. He was checking his phone - probably wondering what was happening - but when he looked up and smiled at her, all of the fear that she had felt the past few days melted away. She almost ditched her bag as she ran up to him and wrapped his arms tight around him, practically tackling him into the ground. He stumbled, but his arms were around her just as fast. He felt warm and safe.

"Hey you," he whispered into her ear.

Barbara smiled. "Hey. I know this is really unromantic and not how we're supposed to meet, but I really need to pee."

Brandon laughed hard, and it was like music to her ears. "Come on," he said, pulling away, but keeping one arm around her waist. "Let's find you a toilet."