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“Hey,” Michael greets as he sees Calum standing outside the plane. “Feeling nervous?”
Calum chuckles, nervously rubbing his arm lightly. “How can you tell?”
“You’re my soulmate, Cal. I know you better than anyone. I know when you get nervous,” Michael says, and steps closer to him. “Is it the weather?” He bites his lip slightly.
“They’re letting us fly now, but I can’t help… there’s a huge snowstorm supposed to be coming tonight, and I’m just scared that mother nature will screw me over and I won’t-”
“Shh,” Michael warns, and gently cradles Calum’s cheek with his hands. “Don’t think like that.”
“How can I not?” Calum asks, looking up at Michael. “I’m a damn good pilot, but I’m not that good.”
“Shut up, Cal. You’re one of the best pilots that I’ve ever known. You’ve been doing this for ten years, since you were fifteen bloody years old. You need to have more confidence in yourself.”
“What? Come on now Michael. I have plenty of confidence, thank you very much. But even the best pilots still get nervous,” Calum argues. “God, this is why I hate the winter season. The weather sucks.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be nervous. I know you’re going to be fine, and you’re going to get those passengers to their next destination without any troubles,” Michael says, and leans forward to gently kiss Calum.
“Ew, get a room,”
Michael pulls away from the kiss and sees his fellow flight attendants walking through the plane entrance, Ashton and Luke. “Hey. Shut up Ash, Calum needs a little reassurance so I’m going to kiss him as much as I please,” he retorts, sticking his tongue out at the two.
“Reassurance about what? Don’t tell me you’re nervous about the storm,” Luke says.
Calum throws his arms in the air. “Sue me!”
Ashton rolls his eyes. “Cal, it’s going to be fine. They’re saying it’s not even going to be that bad,”
“Really? Have we been watching the same news or?” Calum asks, frowning at Ashton.
Ashton shrugs his shoulders. “Either way, it’s going to be fine. You’re the best pilot we know-”
Calum huffs. “Why do people keep saying that?”
“Because it’s true ,” Michael argues, gently poking Calum in the chest. “You are the best damn pilot, Calum Hood.”
“Literally ask anyone who works at this airport. They’re going to say the same thing,” Ashton adds.
“That’s right,” Michael says, nodding in agreement, which earns an eye roll from Calum.
“You guys are really annoying. But I appreciate the confidence booster,” Calum says, and looks up at Michael before looking at the others. “We should get the plane ready. They’re going to start letting passengers onto the plane soon. I need to make sure everything’s working correctly.”
Michael nods. “Let’s make sure everything is in order,” he says to the other two.
Luckily, Calum is able to distract himself about the weather while he double checks everything that he needs to check on before they’re letting on passengers.
Michael is the one greeting the passengers while Luke, Ashton and their other flight attendant are scattered throughout the plane, being on standby in case passengers need help.
Once all the passengers are settled in their seats and they go through their usual announcements, Calum knows he has to warn the passengers about the weather outside before they take off.
“Good evening, everybody. This is your captain speaking. We have been cleared to take off. I would just like to inform everyone that the weather has been a bit rocky today so I’d like to apologize if the ride to your destination isn’t as smooth as expected but rest assured I am going to do my best to make sure your flight is as smooth as possible. If you have any questions or concerns you can ask any of our wonderful flight attendants on board. Thank you. Enjoy your flight.”
Luke walks over to Michael, looking concerned. “He’s really nervous about this weather, huh?”
Michael looks over at him, slowly nodding. “I know he’s trying to remain calm, because we never want to make the passengers panic, but I can tell that he’s really worried. I know Calum,” he whispers.
“No matter what, Calum’s going to make sure we get to the next airport safely ,” Luke says.
“I know he will,” Michael says, before letting out a breath.
About a half an hour passes before things start getting a little bumpy. Michael walks up to the cockpit, unable to stop himself from checking on Calum, knowing how worried Calum was earlier.
“Cal?”
“I’m a little busy right now,” Calum replies.
“I- I know. I just… is everything okay? It’s getting a little bumpy and passenger’s are starting to panic, and I don’t exactly know what to tell them,” Michael says, trying to hide the worry in his voice.
“I’m going to have to make an announcement in a few minutes. There’s no way we’re getting to their destination in this weather. The weather’s getting worse. The storm is hitting earlier than predicted,”
“What do we do?”
“Inform the others what’s going on for me. I’ve already gotten the okay to land in the nearest airport, which is twenty minutes away. We’ll be fine, but it’s going to be bumpy from here on out,”
Michael sighs in relief, and nods. “Will do. You’ve got this Cal,” he says, before turning back and heading down towards the aisles. He’s stopped by one of the passengers. “Yes?”
“Is everything okay?” She asks with concern. “I mean, the weather…”
Michael nods as he listens to her. The passengers have every right to be concerned with how bumpy things are starting to get. “Yes ma’am. You’ll be hearing from the captain shortly. But I can assure you that everything is going to be just fine. Just hang in there with us, okay?” He gives her a reassuring smile before heading towards the back of the plane.
“What’s going on?” Ashton whispers when he sees Michael.
“We’re going to have to clean up early. Calum says that the storm is getting worse and that we’re not going to make it to our airport, but he’s gotten the okay to land in the closest airport,” Michael explains.
Luke nods. “At least they’re letting us land,”
“We’re going to have a lot of angry passengers on our hands though,” Ashton nods.
“I’d like to think these people will be more grateful to be alive in a different airport,” Michael says.
A few minutes later, Calum’s voice finally comes over the speaker. “Good evening passengers, this is your captain speaking. I’m sure you all have noticed that things have gotten a little bumpy. Unfortunately the weather has gotten a bit rough during this flight, we’re not going to make it to your destined airport. We will be landing in about fifteen minutes. Please be with us while we make this landing as things will continue to be bumpy. Our flight attendants will be around to clean up early, and if you have any concerns you may voice your concerns to them. Please remain in your seats for the remainder of the flight.”
“Let’s go, and be careful as you walk,” Michael says, and leads the way down the aisle, Ashton following behind him while the other two stay in the back to help cleanup.
Luckily, most of the passengers remain in their seats and don’t complain much. Some do complain, but there’s nothing much the flight attendants can do other than comfort them the best they can.
Michael is relieved when they finally land in the airport. He can finally relax as passenger’s start making their way out of the plane. Michael wants nothing more than to run to Calum, knowing how stressed Calum must be. He can practically feel how stressed he is, thanks to their soulmate bond.
“Well, that was a trip,” Ashton comments, leaning against one of the seats.
Michael scoffs lightly. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call it. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like that in my four years of being a flight attendant. But we had the best pilot, so it’s all okay,”
“Duh, we all know Calum would land us safely, even if it’s not the destined airport,” Luke says, walking over to stand beside Ashton. He looks over at Michael. “How badly do you want to be with Calum now?”
“So fucking bad. You don’t understand,” Michael complains.
“Michael,” Ashton hisses, glaring at the blonde boy. “You can’t swear. We’re still on the clock.”
Michael rolls his eyes, because of course Ashton would scold him for swearing. “Okay dad,” he says.
Finally, the last passenger leaves the plan and Calum walks out of the cockpit, looking exhausted. Michael hurries over to him and greets him with a kiss. “I’m proud of you,” he says.
Calum looks up at Michael. “I knew we shouldn’t have left the bloody airport,”
“That’s not your fault. The weather screwed us. All that matters is that you got us down safely, right? Yeah, we’ll have a couple of angry passengers, but they’re alive and safe. We’re all safe, thanks to you. What did I tell you? You’re one of the best pilots I know,” Michael whispers.
“Mm, and how many pilots do you know exactly?” Calum asks, looking up at Michael.
Michael scowls. “Enough, thank you very much,” he lightly punches Calum on the shoulder. “Now what are we going to do? We’re stuck in California, away from home, and we can’t go anywhere.”
“If we all chip in, maybe we can find a hotel near the airport, hole up there until the weather passes,” Ashton suggests, looking at the three. “I doubt there’s going to be any rooms in the hotel.”
“Yeah. I’m fine with that,” Michael says, and looks at Calum.
“That’s fine. I need to talk to this airport and make sure they know to contact me when it’s safe to fly again so we can get home in peace,” Calum says. “So you guys find a hotel while I do that.”
Michael smiles, and kisses Calum once more. “Thank you,”
Calum chuckles. “You don’t have to thank me, Mike. I’m just doing my job,”
“People don’t thank you enough. Of course I have to thank you,” Michael argues. “Now go.”
Calum huffs. “Bossy,” he mumbles, before walking off the plane.
Michael lets out a sigh, before looking at the other two. “Come on, I have a feeling it’s going to be tough trying to find a hotel at such a last minute,” he says, before also walking off the plane.