Take Off

I bit the inside of my cheek as I felt the urge to scream in pain.

"Babe, I told you to let me carry that one." Scott grabbed the big duffel bag from my left hand. "Are you okay?"

I rubbed my left hip once my hand was free. As I quickly grabbed the bag from my trunk, something hard hit into the side of my body. "I think it was my straightener," I said to Scott as I pouted.

Scott smiled and leaned down. He lifted up my tank top just enough so my hip was exposed before he lightly kissed it.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," I responded with an exaggerated smile.

Scott laughed. "What are you going to do when you bump into stuff in California? I'm not going to be able to kiss it and make it better."

I frowned. "Don't remind me!" I squealed with a smile. I was glad Scott and I were able to keep things so light when it was such a sad moment.

We made our way into the airport and continued walking until we got to security. I pushed my sleeve back to examine my watch. "Wanna grab a bite?" I asked even though I knew it'd be cutting it close.

Scott sighed and looked around. "Um, you know, I'm not really that hungry." His eyes landed on an area with couches that wasn't near any restaurants. "Want to just sit?"

I nodded and we shuffled ourselves over to an empty love seat.

"So," I began as I met Scott's eyes.

"So," he repeated, his eyes softening as they looked into mine.

"Are we doing this?" I asked, still kind of confused. "I mean, I don't want to break up." After our discussion in the car, I felt like we didn't need to converse much more. It seemed like he wanted to make things work, but we didn't really get into the specifics. I had never done long distance, though. Were we supposed to figure it all out now?

Scott leaned back and placed his arm behind me. "Yeah, I don't want to either." He smiled and looked away from me. "I honestly just thought you were going to dump me as soon as we got here."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied as he smoothed the back of his hair a bit. He really needed to get it cut. "You're a planner. I would've thought you would've had like, a spread sheet of how you wanted this to all go down."

I playfully swatted him. Then I rolled my neck as I tried to let go of some nerves. "Long distance is just so, bleh. I figured there was no way in hell you'd want to try it." I paused for a moment. "But I never really thought I'd want to try it. Yet, here I am." I placed my hand on his and smiled. "It's all I can imagine doing."

Scott let out a sigh and he looked more relieved than I've seen him in weeks. "I have been going nuts trying to figure out where you stood on this for weeks," Scott said. "You know, you're not too easy to read." He raised an eyebrow at me and the corner of his mouth went up.

"Look who's talking!" I loudly exclaimed and Scott's eyes got big at my enthusiasm. I began laughing and turning red as I realized people were alarmed by my volume. "You're not exactly an open book either."

Scott shrugged. "I can be. I mean, I will be."

I picked up my legs and put them over his lap. (PDA is totally more acceptable at airports; It's a thing.)

"So," I began as I pointed my finger at me, then him, and then back again. "We're definitely doing this."

Scott leaned over and gave me a long, lingering kiss. "We're doing this," he said as he pulled his lips off of mine, but left his face close.

As we pulled apart and I began to gather my things, I could feel tears welling up. Before I got a chance to wipe them away, I felt Scott's hands doing it for me.

"I'm sorry," I began. "I'm being a baby."

"No, you're not. Besides, you can't even imagine what I'm about to look like as I drive home."

I laughed. "You're not going to cry," I said. I never saw Scott cry. The closest I got was on the drive here when he looked like he could have possibly had something in his eye.

"I might," he said with raised eyebrows. "I have my T Swift playlist all ready."

I laughed. Ugh, I was going to miss this guy.

As we began walking to the security line, I asked him how this was going to work. "I mean, are you going to fly out sometimes and I'll fly to you other times? How much are we going to communicate? There is a time difference. It's not huge but it'll be something we have to be conscious about."

"I think we'll work all that out," Scott replied. "I love you, Caroline, and if anybody can make long distance, it'll be us."

I was about to challenge him on that statement. If anybody could make a long distance relationship work, it would be a couple with award winning communication skills. As much as we loved each other in the eight months or so that we've been together, we were not the greatest at always being on the same page.

However, I understood that the premise of what he was saying was sweet. "Yup," I replied before giving him a quick peck on the lips. "I'll call you when I land?"

Scott nodded and pulled me in for a suffocating hug.

Scott watched me go through security and once I was done, I turned to look at him before walking to my terminal. It was far, but I swear I saw a tear in his eye as he waved.