Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
I yawn loudly, pulling out blankets and pillows from the compartment under the seat and start making the bed more…bed-like. It’s time to rest, she needs it.
The three of them stumble out of the bathroom with big, goofy smiles on their faces.
I kind of feel bad for what the guys are about to find out. They look so happy. Relaxed. In love. Melody’s in the middle of them, the ends of her hair dripping, but I can see the way her eyes are simultaneously so happy and so tired.
Kai smiles at Mel, but it doesn’t completely reach his eyes. Reis and Markus both clock the weird tension. Reis looks at me, and I flatten my lips into a line when Melody turns to smile at something Markus whispers to her.
When she looks at me, I give her a genuine smile, and wave her over. Mel happily climbs over the end of the makeshift bed and into my arms. The bench-bed isn’t the comfiest, but I have her curled into me. It’s fucking perfect.
“Hey, Echo. How are you feeling?” I ask, wrapping my arm around her waist, pulling her flush against my body. I tossed Kai the phone already.
Let him deal with it.
“Where’d you go?” Melody hums, her eyes already closing now that I’m there. It’s like our bodies are attuned to each other because my eyes feel heavy the moment she’s safe in my arms. I know before I can rest, that I need to make it so she’s safe.
My heavy eyes find Kai’s, and he shakes his head, telling me to keep what we found out to myself before he pulls Reis and Markus to the side and starts whispering.
The static, white-noise of the airplane covers up their exact words, but I know he’s telling them about the stewardess.
I breathe a sigh of relief because now that the guys know, Mel and I can rest .
She’s safe in my arms, and the guys will handle the rest.
I brush Melody’s wet hair back as I soften my voice. “I just went to ask for some water. Do you want something? Maybe something to eat?”
“No, I just want to sleep. Reis made me drink a water bottle already.”
I chuckle. “Of course he did. Just sleep then, love. I’ve got you.”
“What happens when I wake up though?” She asks so softly I almost don’t catch it.
“What do you mean?”
“When I wake up and you guys leave?” She breathes the answer out like it’s the last thing she can say before she’s forced into sleep. My heart clenches at her words.
Does she think we’re going to leave her? Is she waiting for the other shoe to drop?
I pull her tighter into my body, shoving my face into her dark hair, and breathing in her scent. She’s wrapped in a soft blanket like a cocoon, and I pull one of them up around me as well.
Getting comfortable as close as I can to her, I whisper, “We’re never leaving you again, Echo. I’ll prove it to you.”
And then I fall asleep, hoping to join Melody in her dreams.