Heathrow Again
October 2024
Leah got to Heathrow ninety minutes early.
Which, according to Beth Mead, was "psychotic behaviour for someone picking up a girl they've already kissed."
Leah ignored her.
Mostly because Beth was unfortunately correct.
"You've checked the arrivals board seven times," Beth said through the phone.
"Flights change."
"She's flying from New York, not the moon."
Leah rolled her eyes while standing near arrivals with a baseball cap pulled low over her face and a tea she'd forgotten to drink twenty minutes earlier.
Nervous energy.
Embarrassing honestly.
Because technically this wasn't a big deal.
Elle was coming for work.
Professional.
Normal.
Except Leah had spent the entire week thinking about waking up beside her again and now suddenly functioning like a regular human being felt impossible.
Her phone buzzed.
Leah's stomach flipped instantly.
Pathetic.
Absolutely pathetic.
Twenty minutes later the doors finally opened and there she was.
Black coat. Travel bag over one shoulder. Hair tied back from a seven-hour flight.
Beautiful.
Leah smiled before she could stop herself.
And suddenly the entire airport disappeared slightly around the edges again.
Elle spotted her immediately too.
Always did.
The smile spreading across her face the second she saw Leah nearly ruined her emotionally on the spot.
"There she is," Elle murmured softly once she reached her.
Leah didn't even pretend to play it cool.
She pulled Elle into her arms immediately, kissing her properly in the middle of Heathrow while people walked around them dragging suitcases.
"You missed me," Elle teased softly against her mouth.
Leah looked deeply offended.
"Obviously."
God.
Home.
That was the terrifying part now.
Not London.
Not St. Albans.
Her.
—
The drive back felt dangerously domestic.
Elle's suitcase in Leah's boot.
Tea cups in the holders.
One of Leah's hands permanently resting on Elle's knee at every traffic light like she physically needed reassurance this was real.
Rain streaked softly against the windows while London blurred gold around them.
"You know what's concerning?" Elle murmured eventually.
"What?"
"You seem emotionally stable lately."
Leah gasped dramatically.
"That's horrible."
"Beth says you're easier to deal with."
"Beth's a liar."
Elle laughed quietly and leaned her head briefly against the window.
Then softer—
"This feels nice."
The words settled warmly between them.
Because maybe that was the thing both of them noticed immediately.
Nothing felt difficult anymore.
No airports breaking their hearts.
No missed calls.
No fear sitting underneath every goodbye.
Just ease.
Leah glanced sideways at her briefly while stopped at a red light.
"You know what I realised?"
"What?"
"I really like you in my car."
Elle blinked once. "That's your romance?"
"I'm trying to communicate affection."
"You sound like a Labrador."
Fair.
Very fair.
By the time they reached St. Albans the rain had stopped completely.
Leah carried Elle's suitcase upstairs while Belle lost her mind downstairs barking excitedly the second she recognised her.
"Excellent," Leah muttered tiredly. "The dog loves you more than me."
"Correct."
Inside the apartment everything immediately shifted into familiar comfort.
Elle's skincare already half-spread across Leah's bathroom from previous visits.
One of Leah's hoodies abandoned over the sofa.
Tiny traces of each other existing naturally now.
Not visiting anymore.
Blending.
Leah watched quietly while Elle unpacked a few things into drawers like she belonged there.
And God.
That did something dangerous to her chest.
"What?" Elle asked without turning around.
"You're unpacking."
"Yes?"
Leah leaned against the bedroom doorway smiling faintly.
"That feels very girlfriend."
Elle finally looked up then.
Soft expression immediately appearing on her face.
"Well," she said quietly, "I am your girlfriend."
The simplicity of it still hit Leah every single time.
Not because the label felt new anymore.
Because it felt right.
Completely.
Leah crossed the room slowly then until she stood directly in front of her.
Hands finding her waist automatically.
"You know," Leah murmured softly, "there's something deeply unfair about you being in London for two weeks."
Elle smiled slightly. "Why?"
"I'm supposed to be focusing on football."
"And instead?"
Leah looked at her like the answer was obvious.
"You're here."
God.
That expression again.
The one that looked terrifyingly close to forever.
And somewhere in a quiet flat in St. Albans while autumn rain dried against the windows and Belle barked downstairs demanding attention, both of them realised the same thing quietly at the exact same moment:
they'd stopped building toward something hypothetical.
This was already becoming a life.