---Gray

I'd basically forgotten that I'd tucked Daniel's note into my pocket, so when I found it after waking up from the flight's landing, it was a beyond pleasant surprise. His handwriting had become more familiar as Eli's faded from memory. The more I thought about it, the more Eli had started to fade into a memory. He was always busy with his classes, and I with mine. The only time we really had to talk was during drives on our way to our after-school jobs.

The flight attendant came over the speakers and her saccharine voice cut right through my stopped music, as the playlist had run itself dry. I tried desperately to ignore her as I threw what had been taken out of my carry-on back into the rosy colored tote. I yawned and covered my mouth out of habit, hoping I could breathe out all the tiredness that I'd avoided during the last week of finals.

I picked up my tote and slung it over my shoulder, keeping one hand in my pocket to fidget with the edge of the folded note. I prayed against paper cuts as I ran my fingertip along the fine edge. My prayer was answered. I sauntered off toward the bustling room full of businessmen and travelers waiting for luggage, my eyes grazing across countless signs and attendants in pencil skirts and ironed pants attempting to help people resolve their issues.

I found the large sign labeled with my terminal number as I waited for my suitcase to appear on the rolling conveyor belt. I pulled out the note and smiled as I read the words written in a deep blue ink pen:

Gray,

I know we're gonna be apart for a little while, but I just need you to know that I hope you have the best Christmas ever. Tell your brothers hi for me, and call me when you finally get home safely. I need to know that you're safe and ok. Don't miss me too much, it's only two weeks. We can do it.

Until Next Year,

Daniel

Short and sweet, that always was how Daniel was. The boy never said too much, but everything he said he meant wholeheartedly. I found myself giggling out loud from his cockiness-- how dare he assume that I'd be spending my break missing him. I had bigger things to worry about, like cooking for fifteen people and catching up with my boyfriend. He did bring up a good point, though: I needed to call him and Becca and let them know I made it okay.

I glanced up at a perfect timing to see my black suitcase tumble through the cloth strips that sectioned off the bags. It looked like all the others, with the exception of a giant IU patch that Becca had insisted I allow her to sew on so no one would mistake my bag as theirs. It appeared to be a better and better idea the more times I used my suitcase.

I looked at my phone and realized I had been off the plane for almost an hour, but after considering the security lines, it didn't seem all to terrible. With luck like mine, as soon as my phone had been safely slipped into my back pocket, it buzzed with a text from AJ that he was at the airport. I clicked off my screen and returned my phone, ignoring the beeps that followed. I was only taking my phone out and checking it so many times. After a few hours of airplane mode, the notifications were flooding in at an alarming rate. I pondered why everyone decided to text me during a flight.

Exiting the airport's sliding glass doors, I was met with much warmer air. It was a breath of relief after spending the first part of winter in snow and ice. I realized after three winters, that I absolutely hated midwestern winters. They were an icy nightmare. I had adapted to blazing summers and mild winters, and Indiana sported a completely different climate.

I heard bass boosted speakers and spotted a red convertible rolling toward me which could only mean AJ had found me. I wondered in the back of my mind-- how much had our mom had paid him to coerce him into picking me up from the airport? I also wondered why Eli hadn't been quicker to my side, as he had delivered me home from the airport almost every other time. I assumed he was cleaning up his apartment, hoping I wouldn't reorganize his cabinets for the fifth time this year.

"Gray!" AJ shouted, as if I couldn't see nor hear him coming, as he parked and popped his trunk for my luggage. He came up and gave me a huge bear hug, resting his head on top of mine. I felt like it was just yesterday that I teased him for being shorter than me.

"Hi kiddo," I laughed and wrapped my arms around his broad torso, squeezing him as I always did. "Did you miss me?"

"No, Eli missed you. I'm so done with his countdown. He had notifications sent to everyone's phone, and today I think my phone seized with vibrations," he rolled his eyes as he picked up the bag by its handle and hoisted it into the trunk. Knowing how I am about my tote, he didn't even bother asking if I wanted it in the back. That bag was by my side since my sophomore year of high school, through sickness and health.

"That's so like him," I smiled as my cheeks reddened and I shook my head. Almost seven years later, Elijah Reynolds still brought a blush to my cheeks and made me feel like a lovesick little girl. "But update me, how is everything?" I asked, forcing myself to be serious. I had about an hour worth of car ride to get caught up on everything that I'd missed since I couldn't be home for Thanksgiving.

"It's scary normal. Nolan is going through his first girlfriend crap, because he took a girl to homecoming and they just kept flirting. He's also been preparing for his driver's test," AJ began as he weaved through other cars and made his way toward the main road. I looked over and nodded, shaking my head at the fact that I was missing something so big for the baby of our family.

"Luke is doing college apps and he's been stress eating which is barely keeping up with mom's stress baking," he laughed and I joined him. Ever since we were kids, when pressure got to our mother, she always found herself baking sugary treats that just seemed to energize us and stress her out even more. The vicious cycle apparently still hadn't ended.

"Eli is still a star football player and is having girls fall at his feet," he rolled his eyes, knowing damn well, he wished he was in the situation Eli was in. AJ had always been at Eli's feet worshipping him like the gods he was sculpted after. That being said, it unsettled me that my boyfriend was having girls at his feet. I wondered if he wore his ring when he went to parties.

"Is he still wearing our promise ring?" I asked in a sense of jealous urge. I needed to know if there was some sign that he was a claimed man. I didn't need competition this late in the game. We were practically planning our wedding in high school.

"Mmhmm," AJ replied, checking his mirrors as he held back a road rage from some preppy woman in sunglasses that was too close for comfort behind us. He kept looking at her and finally reached his breaking point as he flipped her off and rolled his eyes in annoyance. He knew I couldn't stand his road rage, and that I'd hound him about seeing a counselor for his anger issues.

"Good," I smiled smugly and dug through my tote for chapstick. The winter was rough on my immune system, but it was even more brutal to my lips as I fought back the dry skin trying to form.

We talked for the next hour about every little detail of life. We discussed Dad's business trips and how his first semester of his sophomore year went. We chatted about the town and about our annoying new neighbors who moved in after our family friends moved out of the house next door. We conversed about the status of our mental states and he updated me on his relationship with Valerie. The hour seemed to pass in a simple heartbeat, and before I knew it, we approached the house which I'd called home for the first eighteen years of my life.