The sound of pots and pans rattling wakes me up much earlier than I intended to. I'm a lot of things, a morning person is not one of them. The bright light from my window immediately burns my eyes, making them tear up before I could barely open them. The hotel room blinds are not very useful. I'll make a note to myself to buy better ones soon. I lie awake in my new, unfamiliar bed, and stretch out my body while yawning. The scent of pancakes, bacon, and coffee almost makes me want to get out of bed. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now.
Getting out of bed, I glance at myself in the mirror and fix my hair to make it look somewhat put together. I make my bed, which I do almost religiously just in case my day was horrible. At least when I come back to my room, my already made bed that makes everything look tidy, makes me feel at peace.
Thinking back to the smell of freshly made breakfast, I walk outside my room to the kitchen, to see that Anna had obviously made breakfast for both of us. "Good morning," Anna says as she places two cups of coffee in front of our plates, remembering that I like mine iced. She passes me a plate as I mumble out a response before I quickly dig in. I notice she's wearing the same blue jeans she always does only this time she paired it with a white tank top and a blazer. As I munch on the fluffy pancakes on my plate, I notice she isn't really eating. "You okay?" I question with little worry in my voice since I'm too busy focusing on getting some food in my system.
Clearing her throat, I watch her intently as she looks at me, almost as if she is nervous. "Hero should be arriving soon," she says in a whisper and I almost don't catch her. I push everything I feel to the back of my head just by hearing the sound of his name and give a nonchalant shrug. "Oh that's good, do you know when?" I say so that I have an idea of when to get ready to look presentable for him. Not that I need to, I mean I shouldn't be thinking of this. But, it's him. Presentable, charming, handsome, Hero.
She turns on her phone, probably to check the time. I watch her purse her lips as she turns her phone to me. I read a message saying "I'm almost there", from none other than Hero. "Um, ten minutes from now," a laugh in her voice apparent, as if it's not a huge deal that I'm about to see him after months of only speaking over the phone, barely. I stiffen up, and it's clear, I didn't hide it well, because from the corner of my eye I see a smirk grow on her face. She knows just what to say to make me feel jittery. This sneaky bitch.
"You should probably start getting ready now. You don't want to leave him waiting for too long." She says while dragging out the last word with a high pitched squeal. Get ready? Now? "I can't get ready now, I take too long, you know this."
Even though I look like a mess and can't go downstairs like this, I choose not to stay and be any later than I probably already am. "Well, Walker went to get him from the airport and he should be reaching any minute now," she shrugs. "Anna, I can't-," She abruptly cuts me off.
Groaning, she slightly shoves me, "Go and say hi, he got tested on the flight already and he's fine and I am right behind you, alright?" I nod because I really do want to see him. It's been too long. I go towards my room to slip on my Nike's and pull my hair into a high ponytail. My fingers play with the sleeves of my cardigan that I had put on to ease the chill I suddenly felt.
Seeing him again is inevitable, but I can't help but feel unprepared to see him. Swallowing the anxiety that's creeping up on me, I quit fiddling with my sleeves and shove my hands in my pockets.
My feet take me to the hotel lobby, and I can't see him. I turn around to ask Anna if she can, and that's when I notice that she isn't "right behind me", like she said she would be. Like I thought before, this sneaky bitch. I try not to let her little lie ruin my mood, and instead, I focus on trying to find Hero. I still can't see him anywhere. I mean, how hard should it be to find a six-foot-two giant? Where the hell is this guy? I begin to pull out my phone so that I can call Anna and tell her that he isn't here, and so that I can get mad at her for pushing me to get ready so quickly. I could have had more time. She isn't answering, and just as I am about to end the call and complain to myself a little more today, I hear him.
"Jo?" It's him. It's Hero. He's really here. He sounds like he doesn't even know if it's me, like he's questioning his memory of me. It hasn't been that long, has it? It must be my hair. "Jo, hey! You look great!" His words give me butterflies.
"Hero, hi! And don't you look dashing yourself," I say as normally as I can because God, he looks fucking incredible. "Come here!" He says while pulling me into a hug I didn't even know I needed.
He smells the same. That same musky dark scent, that I have grown to love. He towers over me, and his big arms around me give me goosebumps. This feels so good I could almost cry. The feeling of his warmth against my body makes me feel safe, like nothing could ever hurt me ever again. He feels like home. He makes me feel like we are the only people here and the world around us ceases to exist.
"I missed you so much, Jo," he says into my neck. I love the way he says my name, so different from everyone else. Like my name is something so special, so rare.
"I missed you more," I say as we finally pull away from the hug I have been craving for months.
"You look... even better than you did since I last saw you." I can see how nervous he was to say that to me as a slight blush coats his cheeks. And it almost makes me laugh to now know that I'm not the only nervous one here. I try to calm him down with a joke.
"Don't flatter me too much. I might never let it go." I say winking as he chuckles, shaking his head. That laugh, man. So delicate and innocent.
"So, wanna lead me to our room?" His question hangs in the air and I don't know what to say. Our room?
"Excuse- uh, our room?" I must've heard him wrong.
"Yeah, didn't Anna let you know that we were supposed to quarantine together? 'Cause you know...You know the kissing and everything....," He blushes again. Yes, I know, trust me. I don't need to be reminded. Actually, I wouldn't mind one kiss or a dozen. Okay, that's not the point though. I can't believe she didn't tell me. She knew exactly what she was doing, playing Stupid Cupid.
"No, she didn't tell me anything," I clear my throat.
"You're okay with that, right?" The worry in his voice that I might not want to stay with him is very evident. "No! Of course, I am. Don't be silly. Come on, I'll show you the room!" I say as cheery as possible and he smiles at me, "Okay."
So, quarantining with Hero. Should be fun, huh. I'm screwed.
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HIIIIIII!!!! This is the first official chapter and I hope you guys love it! I wanted to give a huge shout out to one of my best friends, Rika, for helping me so much with this chapter. Her twitter is //slutherophine// so you should check it out. What do you think will happen next? Let me know all of your thoughts below!
If you haven't already... Check out my twitter -thtbwishucouldb-
Love you guys so so much❤️
- Kae