Chapter Text
Carolina was going to kick her brother's ass the moment she saw him.
Her foot bounced almost nervously, but more restlessly, she guess, as she leaned her head against her propped up hand, staring blankly at the departure times on the screen in front of her. She had been sitting at DFW for nearly the whole day, getting to the airport at noon for a flight leaving at two that afternoon, only for her flight to be delayed several times over the past twelve hours. A rare, and almost unlikely, ice storm had decided to show it's ugly head the exact day she was supposed to fly out to visit Wash in Seattle for the holidays for the first time in years, and honestly, she was starting to get a bit annoyed. The terminal was empty of just about anyone, everyone pretty much giving up to reschedule their flights for a later date, her and a man who was sitting off to the side on some portable gaming console thing. Wash had one of those, she thought. He looked about as dead and tired as she felt, but she turned her attention off of him again to watch the screen a bit longer.
She really needed to get out to Seattle for this. She hadn't officially seen Wash since he left for college four years ago, and she started her new job and got tied up in her own school, and the only thing he kept asking her year after year was if she'd come visit for the holidays. Plans came and went, though, as each year Carolina was roped into working some shift at work, or a friend got sick and had no one to take care of them. But this year, Wash stated in an almost too serious tone on the phone, was way different; he had a new boyfriend and wanted Carolina to meet him.
Maybe she'd take her anger and frustration out on that guy. It wasn't really Wash's fault, per se, but it was definitely that new guy's fault. And Carolina was going to kick his ass.
She groaned sleepily and rubbed at her eyes, moving her stuff off to the side to stretch her legs out, trying to work out the soreness and debated getting another cup of coffee from the McDonald's around the corner, before there was a tap on her shoulder and she turned.
The man that was sitting a ways away from her was standing behind her, holding two cups of coffee with a smile, offering her one. "We're the only two left, and coffee's pretty cheap, and it's like... two in the morning, so here," he said. There were bags under his eyes and he looked about as tired as Carolina felt, but he was smiling genuinely and Carolina took the coffee from him, smiling back at him.
"Thanks," she said, before letting him hand her sugar packages and cream cups, opening the lid to start dumping them in. At least he managed to grab enough sugar. There was no way she was drinking her coffee bitter.
"So, what are you heading to Seattle for?" he asked, sitting in the seat next to her, sipping at his coffee and watching her turn hers into more sugar and cream than anything.
She hummed. "Visiting my brother for Christmas. He lives up there for school, and he got a new boyfriend, so I finally was able to take him up on his offer," she said, before putting the lid back on her cup and taking a sip, sighing happily. "What about you?"
He smiled. "Family, same reason. I'm only down here in Texas for school, so my parents live up in Washington, right outside of Seattle. I'm going back up there to visit them for the holidays."
Carolina smiled and hummed, taking another sip of her coffee. "Sounds nice," she said with a soft, tired sigh. "My name's Carolina," she said, turning to the man. "I figure we might be waiting here a while, so we might as well get to know each other, right?"
He smiled back and chuckled, shrugging. "I can't argue with that logic," he said. "My name's York."
Carolina snorted softly, smiling and sipping at her coffee. "That a nickname?"
"It's my last name. But I usually just go by it instead of my actual name," he said, shrugging and taking a long drink of his coffee. "Is Carolina your real name?"
She laughed. "As real as it gets. On my birth certificate and everything."
York smiled behind his coffee. "Fair enough."
They talked for what felt like hours, about their jobs and schools, their friends and all sorts of random stories they could think of. Carolina bought them both more coffee as the time passed and their cups emptied, and when the screen finally displayed the departure time for their flight and people who had gotten, what should have felt like relief felt more like a sense of sadness. York was fun to talk to, and she almost didn't want it to end here, at an airport terminal in the middle of the night. She scrambled to pull something out of her backpack that she could write with, before grabbing a spare napkin, jotting down her number as York got all his things together. "Here," she said quickly, handing him the napkin and putting her pen away. "Um. Just... Text me or something when you get home later. Let me know that you're okay or whatever."
York blushed a bit, before smiling and nodding. "Yeah," he said. "I will. Promise."
When Carolina got to Wash's hours later just as the sun was coming up, her body sore and aching from all the sleep she had lost, her phone buzzed in her pocket as he was putting her things away in the spare bedroom at his apartment, and she smiled.
'Hey 'Lina. Got to my place safe. PS; wanna get some coffee when you're not busy? I promise it won't be McDonald's this time.'