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There was almost no coherent thought left in Cassie’s mind as she stared at the wall in front of her. She’s here in Los Angeles, well, East Highland specifically, with the information that Maddy was just an hour or two away from boarding her flight to New York.
New York where she’s going to live her new life, New York where she’s going to run off to while Cassie stays in old and dingy East Highland because she refuses to swallow her pride and come with her.
But fuck that. Really, seriously, fuck it.
It didn’t faze her that Lexi was suddenly looking at her like she’s gone insane when she started shoving half of her closet inside one bag before taking another suitcase to shove the other half in it. It didn’t faze her that Rue started asking her what the hell is happening and that her mom completely ditched watching Drag Race downstairs along with her glass of wine.
“Cassandra Howard what the hell are you doing?!” Suze shrieks, trying to keep her voice stern and soft at the same time. I mean, okay, Cassie does have these weird meltdowns sometimes and this could be one of them but she looked far too serious and far too determined for this to be one of those.
The blonde merely grunts as she zips up the second suitcase, grabbing another backpack to shove other stuff in it. Like her laptop and her jar of weird notes or her skates. It doesn’t click in the other women’s heads what she was doing until she started printing something from her phone.
It was Lexi who found it, her mouth gaping as she stared at her sister. I mean she saw this coming and she truly was rooting for her sister to do this but she didn’t think she’d do it impulsively.
“She’s going to New York.” Her younger sister breathes out and instead of freaking out and telling her daughter that she’s losing her mind, Suze gasps, staring at her eldest as she continued to search for her passport and her chargers, wordlessly going around the room.
Rue, well, being Rue, starts cursing and pacing around the room with her to help, even going as far as opening another bag and helping her put other stuff such as photos and cameras and—it was almost comical that none of them reacted violently to this.
Cassie, for once, was doing something right in her life. And that was chasing after Maddy. Maddy that she was in love with since they were in fifth grade, Maddy that she had beaten Nate Jacobs for, Maddy that she still hasn’t come clean to despite being head over heels for her for twelve fucking years.
The very same Maddy that invited her to New York. The very same Maddy she had let down because she was too afraid that if she came with her all her feelings would come crashing down on her and she’ll be left heartbroken and alone with no one around her.
None of those mattered right now, though, because she’d rather know she took a shot than to let her leave without her knowing if she would’ve stood a chance or not.
“Start the car, Lex.” For the first time, Cassie had no regard for her car, tossing her younger sister her keys. Lexi almost immediately beams with Rue hot on her heels, already dragging two of Cassie’s bags, “On it!”
While they leave, however, Cassie turns to her mother, taking in a deep breath before she begins to speak, “Mom, I know this is impulsive and I know you might be mad and—” Suze could only give her daughter a fond smile, “Cassie.” She tells her, but the girl doesn’t stop rambling, “I know I was never a good daughter but can—”
“Cassie.” This time, the blonde stops, “What?” She asks nervously, tilting her head to the side until her mother engulfs her in a tight and warm hug. The very same one she gave before their family was shattered to pieces. The very same one she gave when Cassie would come home with five stars stamped up across her arm. “It’s okay.” She whispers, rubbing her back in circles as the girl basked in her touch, “Go get your girl.”
She’s never run faster in her entire life.
Rue had the task of driving them to the airport while Lexi called Jules, hooking her phone up to the speaker of the car, screeching as the taller blonde picked up.
“What?” They could hear the bustling crowd behind her and the nerves were fucking Cassie up, tapping her foot impatiently against the floorboards of the vehicle, Rue weaving through traffic with ease while Lexi keeps the phone’s microphone near her lips, “Where are you?”
“I’m at the airport?” Okay, good, so she did drop Maddy off. That seemed to make the blonde more nervous though, peering in between Lexi and Rue’s seats to talk to the younger girl, “Shit—has Maddy boarded yet?”
Confused, Jules pulls her phone away from her ear, checking to see if it was Lexi or Cassie who had called her. Why were they so adamant about knowing Maddy’s schedule anyway? That’s weird. Sighing, she looks at the board of scheduled flights, shaking her head, “No. She doesn’t board for an hour.”
“Okay, good, fuck, okay. Is she with you?” She doesn’t even ask anymore, turning around to find her friends at the queue in the cafe while she keeps an eye on Maddy’s bags, “She’s buying coffee with Kat. Why are you asking?”
“We’re on our way.” Was Rue’s—was that Rue?— response and Jules just grows more confused as ever, “What?”
“Just—stall her for us, please?” It was Lexi who spoke again and the girl just scratches her head, wondering if she should do it or not, “What the fuck is happening?”
“Trust me!” And then they hang up. Nobody spoke in the car for the next twenty minutes, all too nervous as Rue, who was surprisingly not a horrible driver, entered the gate to the airport, “Look, I’m gonna drop you and Lexi off, okay?” She instructs and Cassie doesn’t even have to be told twice, already rushing to the trunk to get her bags out while Lexi attempts to keep herself together.
The first hitch the experience was through checking in, and then security, and then the hardest part—searching for Maddy.
Maddy, who was just about to enter her gate, giving one last hug to both Kat and a frantic Jules that couldn’t help but look around the airport for a familiar blonde accompanied by a raven haired girl and a lanky brunette.
“I’ll see you guys in a year? You’ll visit, right?” Maddy’s soft voice lingers through the air as she sniffled and wiped the tears off her face, looking up at the two girls she had considered as her sisters for almost the past decade.
Kat nods, scrunching her nose as she fought the tears off her face, pulling Maddy in for another hug while Jules completely throws the thought of Rue, Cassie and Lexi out of her mind, deciding to focus on Maddy and how this would be their last hug for a year. Or at least until they visit her in New York.
“I’m going to miss you.” She whispers in the brunette’s ear during her hug, squeezing her once while Maddy presses a kiss on her cheek, “I’ll miss you two too. Tell Lexi and Rue I’ll miss them as well.”
“And Cassie?” Thank god Kat was the bold one, her question being received by a frown from the shorter girl, “I don’t want to talk about her.” She waves off and they can both hear the hurt from her voice. They knew the situation, they just didn’t know why Cassie said no. And both Lexi and Rue refused to give them answers.
Pulling away, she sighs, a bittersweet smile on her lips when she looks at her clock—ten minutes until boarding. “I should go.” She nods, turning her back and dragging her remaining bag to the gate.
When Cassie had found Jules and Kat, Maddy was already in, and her heart almost fell thinking that she had already left.
“What—Cassie?” There was a huge grin on Jules’ face when she saw the three, meanwhile, Kat was confused as the blonde heaved her backpack, catching her breath while she approached, “Is… Is Maddy… did she leave?”
“What are you doing?” Despite being out of breath, Cassie ignores Kat’s question, “Did she leave?!”
“No! She just got in her gate!” Okay, good, okay. The blonde nods, suddenly pulling the two in a hug, “Shit, okay, fuck, give me a hug.”
They didn’t question it any further, allowing the older girl to hug them until it finally clicked in their heads. Until they finally realized why she was here. “Oh my god.” Jules begins and Kat looks at her with wide eyes, “You ran after her.”
Pulling away, Cassie could only give them a grin, “I can’t let the love of my life go without trying my luck.”
Inside the gate, Maddy taps her foot on the carpeted floor, her gaze set on her lockscreen. Cassie’s face was staring back at her and she knew she could prevent this heart wrenching feeling from engulfing her right before a five hour flight but… she just couldn’t help herself.
Why did she say no? Was Maddy that bad of a person she didn’t want to start a new life with her outside this wretched town? Was she not worth it?
Her eyes kept their gaze on the photo so that she didn't even notice the chair beside her dip, or the airy laugh that came from the person’s lips as she peeked above her shoulder.
“You could’ve chosen any photo of me and you chose that.”
A beat. Then it registers in her mind that the person was talking to her.
Her head turns, ready to chew the person off for peeking and invading her privacy when she is met with those familiar blue eyes she had grown to love. Those blue eyes she usually dreamt of, those blue eyes she’d find in a crowd.
Cassie was grinning back at her, wrapping her arm at the back of the brunette’s seat, “Hi, Mads.”
“What are you doing here?” It was a miracle that words were even able to come out of her, reaching over to touch the blonde’s face, just making sure she’s real and not a figment of her very sorrowful imagination. Cassie chuckles, taking her wrist and rubbing circles against it, “I’m… going to New York.”
“But you didn’t want to go with me.” She was confused, staring at the blonde who was now acting like their argument the other week didn’t even exist. Cassie shrugs, “Then why did I have a ticket on hand?”
It was true, she did buy that ticket just in case, you know? She never actually thought she’d use it.
“What—Why did you even say no in the first place?” Confusion bloomed across her face and the blonde sighs, knowing that this was the moment she came clear, “Because I was scared.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the brunette had heard her loud and clear, “Scared of what? New places?”
“No, god, if I could I’d get out of East Highland immediately.” She chuckles nervously and Maddy uneasily shifts in her seat, unaware of the answer she’s about to be met with, “Then what were you scared of?”
“I was scared that when we got there, you'd find out that I…”
Okay, Cassie, you can do it. You got this far. Say it.
Maddy gives her an expectant stare, and then she says it, the words she’s been dying to tell her for years were finally out in the open, lingering above the air, “That I’m in love with you.”
She doesn’t even give a look at Maddy, not seeing the shock and the hint of a smile on her face as she rambled on, “And I know it’s so stupid saying this before we even go there, but I just have to come out and tell you that I’m in love with you. I always have been. I love your eyes, your laugh, your little dimple when you smile. I love that you’re so unapologetically you. And that you have this one side of yourself that only a few people would get to know.”
The brunette was frozen in her spot, her heart doing somersaults with every word that left her friend—admirer’s lips, unable to help herself but grin as she continued. Not that Cassie could see, though, for she was far too busy staring at the floor as she spoke.
“You’re just so amazing and perfect and smart and it would be so stupid not to fall in love with you. I’m not asking you to feel the same way, I’m not even asking you to say anything, but I just wanted to tell you before it was too late for me.” A deep breath, and then her eyes finally flick upwards, finding Maddy staring back at her, “I’m truly, madly, deeply in love with you, Madeleine Perez.”
Without any hesitation, Maddy lunges forward, cupping her face and crashing her lips into hers, kissing her with no abandon. Kissing her like the old couple sitting across from them didn’t just shake their heads in disapproval, kissing her like there weren’t confused kids halting their antics just to look.
Cassie was breathless when she pulls away, leaning her forehead against Maddy’s as the announcement of them boarding echoes throughout their gate. But she couldn’t hear it, at least, not properly, because at that moment, all she knew was Maddy.
“I’m so in love with you too, Cassie Howard.”
Yeah, she can’t wait to start a life in New York with her.