maddie sturniolo: the triplets younger sister♡

65 - airport

(35 minutes later - maddie's pov)
we had FINALLY gotten through check in and security. it took FOREVER. there were so many queues.. who would've thought so many people would be travelling at this time on a random wednesday? it's not even summer yet..
anyways, this whole waiting in line thing had gotten me even more exhausted. i could feel my eyes getting heavy as we made our way out of security. we were headed down to get breakfast now because there was a starbucks.
"after starbucks, we better head to our gate because i think it's quite far away." nick suggested, zipping up his rucksack as we walked.
"yeah. don't we have to take a train or some shit?" chris asked.
"mm. i think so."
i couldn't even think about a train right now. i just wanted to sleep.
we got to starbucks, and i immediately knew i was gonna get a coffee. i ordered a cafe latte, even though i hate drinking that much coffee, but i needed to wake tf up.
after i ordered, matt looked at me with a concerned expression.
"you sure you're gonna wanna drink that much coffee? don't you hate coffee?"
"i'm so tired, matt. i will genuinely drink anything that will wake me up." i weakly smiled. he chuckled, rubbing my shoulder gently.
"it's ok. we'll be on the plane soon, then you can rest."

my drink was ready. i grabbed it, taking a small sip, but it was BOILING, so i didn't really get a proper taste, just a burnt tongue. matt laughed, watching my dramatic facial expressions.
"how does it taste?" he laughed.
"hot. i'll give it a few minutes." i replied, cracking a smile. i took glances at my brothers drinks.
nick got an iced caramel macchiato, matt got a lemon iced tea, and chris got a chocolate frap (obviously.)
"do you want a sip of mine to cool you back down, maddie?" chris asked, holding out his drink for me. i gratefully accepted, taking a few small sips of his drink. it was much nicer than mine, and i was beginning to wish i just ordered that to be honest.
"oh, shit. that's good."
"have it. i'll take the coffee, i need to wake up a bit as well." he offered, placing his drink in my hands.
"oh, thanks chris" i smiled, giving him the coffee.
"of course"
i watched as he lifted the drink up to his mouth, knowing he's gonna forget how hot it is and freak out. and of course, he tried taking a massive sip but ended up burning his tongue too.
"oh shit, matt- hot- give me some of your drink" he stuttered, giving the hot coffee cup to nick, as he snatched matts drink and basically drank the entire thing.
"chris!!!" matt exclaimed, clearly annoyed that his lemon iced tea had been devoured. chris wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"ah. that's just what i needed." he exhaled, making me and nick laugh.
"okay, chris. come on, lets go to the gate" nick concluded, as we made our way down to the trains.

"what gate are we again, nick?" matt asked nick, trying to find any leftover iced tea from what was left in his cup.
"we are B46. so that's a 3 minute train. not too bad."
i think i was gonna be able to make it to the plane without being too tired. all that starbucks chaos right now had woke me up, and i think this chocolate frappuccino was doing a better job in energising me than the coffee was, because this tasted way better. but at least chris was enjoying the coffee.

our train had arrived at the B gate, and now we were headed down to 46. it was around 9:30am now, and our flight was boarding at 9:45.
"okay, we've made it on time. for once." nick sighed, as we found a row of seats and settled on them.
matt chuckled, "yeah. maddie, every time we've gone to the airport when flying to LA or boston, there's always been one problem or another."
"oh my god. remember last time when we were flying to boston the last time we were in LA when nick forgot his headphones at madis house? and we had to wait like half an hour for laura to get here and give it to him??" chris interrupted, bursting into laughter, making all of us laugh too.
"yes, chris. i remember. i'm still traumatised." nick smirked, dryly.
"how did you even get them back? wouldn't laura have to go through security to give them to you?" i asked, suddenly curious.
matt shook his head, "no, nick was the one who had to rush all the way back. he had to take an even longer 7 minute train, had to run to security which was another 5 minutes and then get the headphones, then do the same thing but he-"
"but i had to WAIT for another fucking 5 MINUTES to get on the train back to the gate. and our flight was supposed to be taking off at 3:20 and it was like... i don't know.. 3:11??"
i doubled over in laughter, the sounds of my brothers cackling away filling my ears. knowing i was gonna get plenty more moments like this with them over the next few weeks filled my heart with joy and excitement.
"attention, please. passengers travelling to los angeles, at gate B46, this flight is now boarding." the loudspeaker announced, interrupting our storytelling session.
"okay, that's us, we better go" nick said, his voice filled with a tone of urgency.
"airport nick mode activated" i joked, making matt and chris laugh, as nick turned around and playfully hit my arm.
"you're lucky i'm even here with you right now, because if you were stuck with these two, you'd be at the other fucking end of the airport right now!" nick exclaimed, making me laugh even harder.
"i'm sorry, nick. i was only joking." i giggled, wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes.
"yeah, yeah. sure."
i was definitely now woken up from all the laughter.

we got onto the plane, as the crew greeted us.
"welcome onboard!" one of the woman said. she was pretty, she had neatly tied up blonde hair, on point makeup and looked friendly.
well i guess that's her job to be honest.
i smiled at her, following matt and nick, who were infront of me, to our seats. on the left and right sides, there were two seaters, but in the middle there were four seaters, so i assumed we'd be on a four seater somewhere.
"what row are we?" i asked them.
"row 16." chris responded, from behind me.
"here we are, row 16" nick said, as we got to our seats. this wasn't too bad, we were like directly in the middle of the plane, not too near the front, but not too near the back. i didn't like being too far at the back because it felt kinda isolated, and forgotten.
"where do you wanna sit, maddie?" matt asked, as all three of my brothers looked at me, waiting for a response. "take your pick."
i stared at the seats, taking a few moments, before slowly sliding into the one next to the far left aisle seat. i smiled at my brothers.
"alright, fine." nick responded, as him and chris made their way to the other side of the row so they could get in.
"i'll sit here." matt murmured, sitting on the right of me on the aisle. nick got into the other seat on the left of me, whilst chris sat next to him, on the other aisle.
i felt relaxed, and comfortable. the plane was just the perfect temperature, and i felt calm with my brothers next to me.
"you excited?" matt asked me, giving me a warm smile. i nodded, smiling from ear to ear, as i looked at him.
"so excited."
"chris- no. you're not fucking using my headphones!!"
i looked to my left. chris and nick were already arguing over some stupid shit.
"nick, my headphones are fucking dead. i need to listen to music-"
"NO, chris." nick whined, snatching back his headphones and placing them on his head. i stared at them, feeling entertained by all this. then chris pulled the headphones back off of nicks head, sending nick rogue. me and matt laughed, watching the commotion, before matt offered his airpods to chris.
"chris, just take these. they're spare." he said, passing the airpods over my head to chris. he gladly accepted.
"thank you, matt. my FAVOURITE brother." chris said, directly in nicks face. nick didn't respond, he had turned his music up all the way to block out chris' voice. i know that because i could hear the slight beat of doja cat leaking out of his headphones.
i decided i was gonna turn on some music whilst we waited for everyone to board, seeing as the plane was not due to take off for a bit longer. i connected my airpods to my phone, and shuffled my playlist i made specifically for LA, filled with all my favourite songs. you already know i had to start off with my queen sza.
i leaned back into my seat, taking a deep breath, taking in the atmosphere.
i am SO excited.