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A year and five months have passed ever since all hell broke loose, and other things that happened in between them. They have lost count at this point, but it didn’t matter. Right now, this is what mattered. Their work. The movie. That’s it.
The Descendants cast is currently on their way to Vancouver to start filming the sixth movie. They wouldn’t usually fly together, but since the recurring cast’s schedules magically aligned, they figured why not? Nothing wrong with being efficient.
Both Kylie and Malia signed onto this project without expectations regarding their friendship, or whatever it is they have- No, had. As far as they’re concerned, their time together is simply bounded by contract and nothing else outside of that. The two of them are confident in each other, that their professionalism will rise above their emotional issues. Everyone else believed so too or else they wouldn’t have let them get on the plane without forcing them to ‘fix’ it or, at the very least, talk about it. Right?
The plane took off no more than ten minutes ago. It was a silent few hours waiting at the airport, none of them had the energy for anything yet other than small talks and walking.
Kylie was sat next to Liamani, which the former asked for specifically. It was the safest bet. At least that’s what the singer thought when she made the request. So far, that decision is proving to be a good one.
All Liamani had done so far was take out her script and read it, whispering a few lines. Kylie didn’t know why she did this on the plane, but she didn’t bother asking. Everybody has their own reasons. It was none of her business.
Instead, she pursed her lips, pleased with herself, then put on her headphones, closing her eyes slowly while the music cleared her thoughts away. Although she had gotten the right amount of sleep earlier, the tense atmosphere with the rest of the cast was draining her quickly. There was no use in unpacking why that is, so she decided to just rest instead. Again, the safest choice.
Malia, on the other hand, sat next to Kiara. They exchanged a few words when they sat down, but it was mostly about the weather and the coffee they bought at the airport.
The distance between Kylie and Malia’s seats was wide, to say the least. Both had window seats but from different rows – with the younger girl being one booth away from the bathroom while the other was closer to the front.
Kylie took note of that fact because it helped her relax. Although she’s still not sure why Malia was flying with them in the first place, knowing that the younger girl lives in Vancouver. So stepping into the airport and seeing her former best friend definitely felt like a fever dream, but she forced herself to not think much of it. There was no point.
They both wanted peace of mind and they were more than happy to give each other that. That is until Liamani stood up from her seat with the movie script still in her hand. Kylie couldn’t help but take a peak, curious as to where her co-star was going.
She turned her head to look at where Liamani walked to only to accidentally lock eyes with Malia.
Kylie snapped her head back to the front immediately.
Probably an even worse idea because there was no logical reason for her to do that. Now, she just looked suspicious or weird. Or both.
She sighed. ‘She probably didn’t even see me.’ Kylie thought to herself as she put her focus back on the music blasting through her headphones instead. As she was about to close her eyes again, Liamani and Kiara came up to her, with bashful looks on their faces.
Removing her headphones, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and worry. Her thought immediately jumped to Malia. She turned around to check, but the actress was just resting there peacefully - now with her own headphones and eye mask on.
Facing her two co-stars again, “Is something wrong?”
Kiara nudged Liamani to go. They looked almost scared and Kylie couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at them. “You’re the one who wants to switch!” Liamani whispered.
“Fine.” Kiara cleared her throat and politely smiled at Kylie. “Is it okay if we switch seats? It’s just- the script had revisions and Liamani and I wanted to practice our lines together.”
“Can’t you just wait until the plane lands? It’s not a long trip, guys.” The two girls exchanged a look, as if they’ve been caught in a lie. At that, Kylie looked at them suspiciously again. “Seriously, what are you guys up to?”
As soon as she said that, a flight attendant appeared from the aisle. “Excuse me. I’m gonna have to ask the both of you to sit down,” she sounded calm but stern. Definitely someone you should listen to.
Before Kylie could get a word out, Kiara beat her to it, “I just feel extremely dizzy at the back and was asking my friend here,” she gestured to Kylie, “to switch seats.”
Kiara started palming her head and holding onto the seats as if she was about to pass out, but Kylie knew it was an act. That’s quite literally her job. As if that wasn’t enough, her co-star started covering her mouth and made an exaggerated puking sound.
Kylie rolled her eyes, unamused.
The flight attendant faced her. “Ma’am, would you mind switching seats?”
“You can’t possibly believe her,” she replied with an offended look on her face. Kylie gave Kiara then Liamani a look, but they weren’t backing down. The flight attendant just looked at her without saying another word, as if she was being judged.
Finally, she sighed and grabbed her bag. The thought of arguing and making the issue bigger than it actually is just seemed exhausting. But before leaving, she faced the two girls–now both sitting down–and whispered, “this isn’t over.”
There was no real bite to it, but they knew better than to actually piss Kylie off. Liamani mouthed a ‘sorry’ before her on-screen sister walked to the back.
Holding her breath, she sat down next to her without looking. Her eyes remained straight, ignoring the funny feeling in her stomach when she felt the girl beside her breathe. She’s probably asleep. That’s good. They only have an hour and a half left so this shouldn’t be so bad.
Breathing deeply, she put on her headphones again and pressed play then closed her eyes. Her jaw clenched when she heard the song play. It’s been a while since she listened to it - mostly because it used to make her curl up into a little ball and cry.
The song was ‘nothing’ by Steve Lacy. This was the album she’d listen to from front to back when everything was going down. Fitting, she thought bitterly.
As if that wasn’t enough, she felt Malia start to move closer to her - head resting on her shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat, maybe even two. This is making her dizzy. She wasn’t the kind of person who threw up in planes, but there’s a first time for everything.
Then Malia whispered something. It was incoherent at first so she hummed, careful not to give away that it was her and not Kiara. Kylie’s not completely sure why she didn’t want her to know. Maybe it’s just less messy this way.
Maybe she just liked the way Malia snuggled closer to her like a cat.
“You smell good,” Malia finally said in an audible voice.
Kylie didn’t say anything, but the smile came out without her noticing. She would deny it if somebody asked her but this actually felt nice. Safe. Not in the way she’s been using it today. Safe in a sense that she felt comfortable - like she could breathe again.
But the moment didn’t last, much to the singer’s dismay.
The same flight attendant she was about to argue with earlier approached her with a service trolley full of food.
“Chicken or beef?”
Without thinking, Kylie answered, “Just water, please.”
The woman grabbed a cup. As she was pouring water in it, Kylie felt the girl on her shoulder move. Her shoulders dropped as well as her heart. She already missed Malia’s warmth.
The younger girl pushed her eye mask up to look, checking if she heard the right voice and that she wasn’t imagining her again. Her eyes widened at the sight of the fading red highlights before fully looking up at the girl sitting next to her.
As soon as she did, she sat up. Avoiding eye contact. Headphones falling to her shoulder due to her sleeping position just a few moments ago. She closed her eyes, the information processing in her mind.
She was sleeping. On Kylie’s shoulder.
While she was having an internal battle with herself, Kylie was just staring at her - something must have stopped the singer from looking away. There was an amused, and a hint of endeared expression on the older girl’s face and, before she could fight it, a small smile formed on her lips.
Noticing Kylie hadn’t taken the cup from the woman in the corner of her eye, Malia looked at her ex best friend, realizing she had been staring at her the whole time.
Malia’s eyes furrowed as she started checking her face, “What? Was I drooling?”
Snapping out of her trance, Kylie blinked then looked away. She grabbed the cup and thanked the flight attendant - leaving the both of them alone again.
They both refused to look at each other, their bodies stiffened, and the metaphorical walls were back up.
Malia sighed, but before she could wear her headphones again-
“You were blushing,” Kylie said as if to answer her question from earlier.
“Oh.” Malia’s cheeks reddened again at the girl’s observation. Even when they weren’t directly looking at each other, their seat proximity made it difficult for Kylie not to see it. She bit her inner cheek to fight back another smile. ‘This is stupid.’ Kylie thought while shaking her head to cover up her amusement.
“Do you want to switch seats?” Malia broke her out of her thoughts while still avoiding eye contact.
Kylie furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”
The actress shrugged, “You prefer the window seat, right?”
That’s right, she did. So they changed seats without saying another word.
The rest of the flight was quiet. Peaceful even. They didn’t have another conversation the rest of the flight, maybe just necessary words when one of them needed to go to the bathroom or something.
Having said that, the usual heaviness did disappear. There was a form of familiar comfort within their silence which both of them quietly agreed was better than nothing at all.
Meanwhile, on the front side of the plane, Kiara and Liamani were giggling while looking at a picture they took of the two girls at the back without their knowledge.