Chapter Text
Azriel dreaded the weekend he was about to endure. A weekend where he will be surrounded by his best friends from college and their significant others for Mor and Emerie’s wedding. He would rather be at home working on his laptop like he did every other weekend. Working in IT didn’t give him much weekend time, but he liked to take any excuse he could get to not interact with anyone. He preferred it that way; he enjoyed his isolation. It’s not that he hated his friends, but he loathes their happiness within their relationships. Rhysand recently married Feyre, and Cassian is now engaged with her sister. Last summer, he had been rejected by Feyre’s other sister Elain, who is now engaged to Lucien. They will all be coming to this wedding; he was the only one left in the group without a partner.
He had always assumed Mor would stay single forever; she never really showed interest in having a serious relationship. He felt a sense of comfort in that, but the next thing he knew, he is lining up to board a flight for her wedding to Emerie.
The line was long, and he cursed himself he didn’t arrive earlier; he always likes to be the first one on the flight so he could look at every person entering. It was a weird suspicion he always did whenever he needed to fly.
He sipped on his coffee and handed the air hostess his boarding pass. She passed it back, making direct eye contact with him; she smiled and gave him a wink. He shrugged, grabbing the pass back only to find that the woman had written her what he suspected was her phone number. Az considered calling her once he arrived back home but already knew that he wouldn’t want to date a flight attendant who would be away all the time. He slid the boarding pass into his back pocket after memorising his seat number, 34A.
A window seat, he rejoiced.
He took his seat and prayed to the heavens that no one would sit next to him. The last thing he wanted was to sit elbow to elbow with a creepy old man that would snore and lean on his shoulder when he slept. It had happened to him once.
He already strapped his seatbelt on; he glanced up and saw the most beautiful girl look down at her boarding pass.
Her copper hair made her stand out; her beauty was enough to rival Elain, whom he once thought was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She inched closer and closer; he didn’t realise that his breathing hitched and stopped altogether. She stood in front of his row and glanced down at her boarding passed. He realised he was staring at her and stopped altogether, opting to look out the window at the tarmac.
He heard her struggle to put her bag; he glanced up to see a male flight attendant approach her. He sprung up, unlatching his seatbelt; he grabbed the bag from her pushing it into the compartment. He stared into her big teal eyes; her face beamed when their eyes met each other. He found himself lost for words.
‘Thank you,’ Her voice was like a sweet melody like she sings through her words. He let out that breath he was holding. He felt like it was the first breath he had ever taken.
Yet, all he could give her was a smile. They both sat back in their seats and waited for taking off.
He wanted to speak to her. He wanted to know her name. He had to know her name. If Cassian were here, he would already be nudging Azriel forward to speak to her. But just by looking at her, Azriel could already tell he wasn’t good enough. He wasn’t good enough for Elain, so why would he be good enough for this woman.
The plane was revving up to take off when Azriel noticed the heavy breathing next to him when the safety announcements started. Her teal eyes had widened at the flight attendant’s instructions.
She clicked her seat belt in quickly.
Is she scared? He wondered.
Perhaps if she was, he could offer her some comfort. He rolled his eyes at the thought, as she would seek out comfort from someone like him, wearing all black, covered in scars and tattoos. He looked away from her.
Talk to her, Rhysand would say. He shook his head and stared out the tiny plane window.
He leaned forward when the plane started rolling; he noticed the copper-haired woman shove earbuds into ears. He also noticed her legs were shaking. She must be scared.
He decided to ignore her and think about what he would say to his friends when he will eventually see them. He just knows they will ask him about his love life, and once he says he was single, the matchmaking would begin.
He was pushed back in his chair from the impact of the takeoff; he didn’t mind, though. He loved takeoff; it gave him the same adrenaline as going on the rollercoaster where he could feel the wind in his hair. He always thought that he has these enormous wings in another life and used them to soar over ancient cities and mountains. Just a dream, he supposed.
He was too busy looking out the window, staring in awe of the puffy grey clouds in the sunless sky. That was when he felt something soft latch onto his hand that rested on the armrest beside him. He whirled around to face her; her hand was squeezing his. Her teal eyes locked shut, and her other hand was biting her nails. He let her hold his hand until the plane was no longer going up but flying horizontally again.
He tapped her on the shoulder. It wasn’t until then he could get a good look at her face; his eyes immediately drawn to hers, his hazel met her teal. Freckles flecked over her face. Her eyes trailed down, spotting her hand on top of his; she pulled her hand away,
‘I’m so sorry,’ she practically yelled. He wanted to laugh, but the sadness in him took over, the doubt sunk in.
‘I’m so scared of flying, my fear takes over, and I have no control over it; I’m sorry,’ She repeated, ‘I don’t normally hold hands with strangers. but I’m not opposed to, especially if their handsome, I’m not flirting with you, crap why did I see that ----,’
Azriel couldn’t believe that the girl hadn’t taken a breath yet.
‘I’m also not saying you are not handsome; you definitely are. In fact, you’re the most beautiful man I have ever seen.’ She continued to ramble, and Azriel was trying to think of a polite way to interrupt, to say that it was okay. But, he realised that he liked to hear her talk.
‘It’s okay, I don’t mind,’ He cringed. Was that all he could think of? If it were Rhys, he would have already thought of a witty response to her rambling that would be able to charm her.
‘I’m sorry again; you probably don’t wanna sit here, listening to me talk for three hours,’ She said.
He definitely would like to hear her talk for three hours.
‘I don’t mind,’ He repeated, ‘You do not have to apologise; it was an accident,’
She smiled; the colour started to show on her cheeks again. He shot her a smirk, silently hoping it would make her blush. It did.
‘I’m Gwyn,’ She sang, holding out her hand.
‘Azriel,’ He said, shaking her extended hand. Her face scrunched, and she looked off to the side as if she was deep in thought.
‘This might sound crazy, but I promise I’m not.’ She told him there seemed to be a nervous hitch in her voice. He couldn’t get over the sound of her voice, and he nodded to keep her talking.
‘But, are you going to a wedding this Saturday?’ She asked. His jaw dropped, and he nodded.
She let out a nervous laugh, palming her hand on her forehead.
‘Did Rhysand by any chance book your flights?’
He glanced at her and tipped his head back to curse his friend who was not there.
‘Yes, he did,’ He said slowly.
‘I’m part of Nesta’s book club, I think her and Rhys may have done this on purpose,’
‘No shit,’ He exclaimed, causing Gwyn to giggle.
‘Last time I visited Velaris, Nesta would not shut up about you, either did Rhys for that matter. When I told Rhys what city I lived in, he told me that you lived here too and we should come together. I didn’t think he would actually do it.’
It seemed like Rhys and Nesta were set in their matchmaking way. Azriel wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn’t want Gwyn to think he was annoyed at her.
‘I guess it makes sense, I’m without a date, and it seems you are too….’ He said to no one in particular.
‘Perhaps we should just go together,’ Gwyn said.
‘Perhaps, we should.’