new year's —
19. on the way to charleston

a few days later, tuesday, 12:00pm - san francisco time

      "Have a safe flight, Kira ! Have fun !"

Kira waved goodbye to Caitlyn, the manager of the coffee shop she worked at and left the establishment, going in the direction of her parked bike. She only lived a couple of minutes from her work place, so she could ride her bike instead of her car. She hop on the bike and started riding it to her house.

Today was the day she was going to Charleston with her friends and she couldn't believe that she was doing this, she couldn't believe that she wasn't telling Drew that she was coming. She was actually going to Charleston to be with him again. Kira couldn't contain her excitement, she was so happy that she was going to be with him again and the fact that her friends were coming with her made everything better.

The thing is, Kira was feeling something and she didn't know what it was exactly, but what she did know was that she didn't wanna rush things - yet anyway. Since that kiss with him, she couldn't stop thinking about him, even if she told her friends otherwise, she couldn't stop thinking about the man standing beside her that immediately caught her attention. In a single moment during the countdown for new years, she just decided to be impulsive and straight up kiss the man and for her surprise he actually did kiss her back. 

Since then she went on a spiral of emotions and when Marcus found him, she had thoughts when she found out he was an actor, for obvious reasons. Everybody knew him, he didn't have a private life and she was scared, for the first time that this was going to backfire on her. Don't get her wrong, she was very carefree about things and didn't actually care about these sort of things but this was something else entirely different. Even though she posted a lot on social media and was actually a very open person, she needed her space too and she was scared that he didn't care about her or actually remember. 

Which was funny, because she wasn't supposed to actually care about these things. However, as time went on, Drew was growing on her and day after day, she was expecting a message from him just for him to tell about his day or just simply joke about things and pretend that they were together. She couldn't stop a smile from showing on her face everytime that he sent a message and that was kinda scary for her. Although, she wanted to be with him again and see for herself if something changed or things just stayed the same, she liked Drew, he was a great friend to her or whatever they were.

Back to the present, Kira just arrived home and went straight to her room to pack the last minute stuff to her backpack - her suitcase was already by her door. 

      "Someone's home? Kae?" 

Kira left her room and looked outside the hall to see Marcus with his backpack and his suitcase, the group of friends were all meeting at Kira's house because her dad was driving them to the airport. 

      "In here !" She called back and went to her room again to continue to pack the last of her things.

Marcus soon came in and sat on her window stool, grabbing his phone.

      "It says in here that our flight is at 8pm, what time is your dad picking us up?" Marcus asked.

      Kira stopped for a second and looked at her best friend. "Hm, around 6:30? He's leaving work and coming straight here to pick us up." She proceed to go to her drawer and pick her charger and her book.

      Marcus nodded. "So we land at 3am there? Because of the time zone and stuff?"

      "I guess so." Kira replied and started to close her backpack. 

      "Hm, so..." Kira noticied Marcus's tone and looked at him. 

      "What?"

      Marcus crossed his arms and smirked. "So, when are you telling Drew that you are in Charleston?" 

Kira looked at her best friend and rolled her eyes and continued to close her backpack again. She showed no interest to him, acting like it wasn't a big deal but however she was constantly thinking about how and when she was going to tell Drew she was there. It was a big deal for her to meet Drew again, especially after talking with him for a month and things were going great.

      "Well, considering we're gonna arrive late at night, maybe the next morning?" Kira shrugged and grabbed her backpack and putted by the door.

      "Yeah that could work. How are you feeling?" Marcus asked and looked at Kira, he was sensing that her best friend was nervous even though she didn't want to say.

      "You know me, I'm fine. It's gonna be awesome." Kira half smiled and went to grab a gum that was on her bedside table. Marcus seeing this, looked at Kira straight in her eyes, she couldn't fooled him.

      "Kira." He warned. 

      She rolled her eyes and went up to him. "Okay, I'm scared shitless, okay? I know this is something out of character for me, trust me, I know, but I never did something like this to someone and especially someone I kinda barely know." She sighed. "But I feel so good you know? Because I know he's a great guy and it's gonna be okay and to be honest? I can't wait to be with him again."

Marcus looked at her best friend and hugged her. He knew Kira better than anyone, they confided everything to each other and sometimes they didn't need to talk to know about what the other person was feeling, that's how well they knew each other. He knew that she was scared because even though Kira showed this carefree person, deep down, especially with relationships she was a scared person, scared to commit to someone - that's why she broke up with Leo last year. 

However, Marcus saw how different this situation was, he knew that Kira somehow, liked Drew, deep down. He looked different from Leo, he looked like Kira's type and that's why she was scared. 

      "Hey, it's okay to feel that way but remember you have us, always." Marcus stepped away from the hug.

      "Yeah, yeah, I know. Stop being such a baby." Kira laughed and stepped away too from the hug, while Marcus rolled his eyes but smiled anways. Kira's carefree personality was back.

They kept talking about Charleston and what things they were doing there, when Flynn and Lucas came in with their suitcases and backpacks too. 

      "Sup, stars. Are we ready to reunite the group again?" Lucas barged into the room.

Flynn, who was right behind him, rolled his eyes with a smile on his face and went to Kira giving her a side hug. 

      "How are you? Feeling excited?" 

      "I'm feeling great." Kira smiled and stepped out of the hug and went to sat on her bed.

      Lucas went too and sat beside her. "Oh yeah?" He said. 

      "What's up with you guys and all this questions? We're just going on a trip." Kira shrugged.

The friends all looked at each other knowingly, Kira was really bad at lying. 

      "What? Stop looking at each other. I'm still here, you know?" Kira looked at her friends but stayed longer at Flynn. "What?"

      "C'mon we're just teasing. We just excited for you." Flynn replied and went to sit on the other side of the bed, not occupied by Lucas or Kira. 

      "Yeah, now c'mon tell us your plan to meet Drew."

Kira rolled her eyes but started to tell her plan.

. . .

      "Bye Dad, love you !" 

Kira waved goodbye to her dad, as well as her friends at the entrance of the airport. 

      "Take care of her." Kira's dad replied and laughed a bit. 

      "Oh yeah, don't worry Mr. Ruiz." Flynn nodded his head and pushed Kira in front of him. 

      Kira rolled her eyes. "I'm not a child."

Marcus went past her and poked her in the head. 

      "You look like one." He replied and continued on his way.

Kira rolled her eyes once more. This is going to be a long trip, she thought. Nonetheless, her Dad left the airport grounds and her group of friends went to get past all the airport security and protocols. The hours were spent waiting for their boarding call while playing some games, chatting or just simply listening to music, but then it was time to board. 

Kira was feeling nervous by the second, she was boarding the plane and she couldn't back down now and that was a strange feeling for her. She never back down on things, she never had these thoughts of defeat and nervousness in her and that made her even more on edge. She knew she was excited to meet Drew, but this was different now, she knew that this time she couldn't run like she did last time, she would have to face things and face him. 

      "Hey, you are never this uneasy, what's up?" Flynn, who was her companion on this flight, nudged her.

      She looked at him. "I guess I'm feeling the consequences of my actions." Kira replied smiling a bit. 

      "You are an impulsive person, but we love you for that, you know?" Flynn grabbed her hand and squeezed a bit. 

Kira looked at Flynn for a while, she would never admit this to him, but when she first met him she had a crush on him. He played the bass, was fun and had a great taste in music, what was not to like about him? When they started to hang out more because of her brother, she soon realized it was nothing, she just liked him because she didnt't knew him and later on the crush soon went away. However, a friendship was formed and he was one of her best friends who she trusted everything on him, he always there for her as well as she was for him. 

      "Yeah, I know. What's not to love?"

author's note.           some things are being revealed, what do you think? is this going to affect something in the future or it was just something to forget?

i know i rushed a bit, but next chapter drew and kira are finally going to meet and i cant wait for you to read what i have prepared!

i love u so muc and thank u for all the support <3