All your life you've been deathly afraid of flying in an airplane. It's sadly been was has been holding you back so much from traveling the world, which has always been such a huge dream of yours.
Traveling for you was always in a car or train, no matter how far the distance was.
But now that your girlfriend was beginning her world tour and invited you to come. You were going to have to face your fear.
Today, you were going to fly out of Los Angeles, California across the country to Albany, New York.
Driving to the airport, your heart rate was already accelerating. You weren't talking, just trying everything to calm your nerves.
"Right, Y/n?" Courtney asked, snapping you out of your trance.
"Sorry, what?" You had not been listening to any of the conversation at all.
"Did you not hear any of that conversation?" She asked you, genuinely surprised.
"Yeah, I heard some. I was just zoning out, didn't get much sleep last night." You laughed, awkwardly trying as best you could to play it off casual. Courtney didn't know you had such a big fear of flying.
You felt dumb for being scared over such a "little" thing to them and didn't want her to make fun of you. Which you knew she wouldn't.
Courtney fell for your excuse and continued the conversation with Ariana and Alfredo. Ariana would keep glancing at you once in a while, you knew she knew something was up and didn't fall for your excuse.
Arriving to the airfield, you could see the private jet waiting there for you to board.
Courtney hopped out of the car along with Fredo and Joan to go board the jet. But Ariana noticed that you still hadn't moved.
"Hey baby, you okay?" She asked you gently. She could see your hands physically shaking.
"Um-" You paused, looking towards the jet and back at your girlfriend.
"Are you scared of flying?" She looked at you with curiosity and concern.
"Um, yeah a little. Uh, actually a lot." You nervously laughed, not making eye contact.
"Baby. Why didn't you tell me? We could've made other arrangements." Ariana sat down next to you, intertwining her hand with yours.
"I didn't want to burden you with my silly fear. You're so used to flying. I thought it would be fine once I got here but my chest feels really heavy and my hands won't stop shaking and-" You rambled on.
"Okay baby, first I need you to just take a deep breath." She placed her hand on your shoulder, helping you breath in and out to calm down. "Second, you never are or ever will be a burden to me. I want to know stuff like this so I can make you feel most comfortable." You nodded, with a small smile.
"Ariana, we gotta head out in 5 minutes." Joan said, through the car window.
"One second, mom. Thank you." Ariana answered sweetly before turning her attention back to you.
"I can call up a bus and we can go that way if you're more comfortable?" She asked you, trying to come up with a solution so you wouldn't have to fly.
"No. I need to do this. I want to be with you as much as I can this tour and that requires flying. I need to face my fear. Just please don't leave my side?" Ariana nodded her head quickly, smiling big.
"Promise. Do you think you're ready to go? No rush, if you aren't." She made sure you knew that whatever you needed to make this experience as best as it could be, she would do.
"I think so." You opened the car door and stepped out, Ariana following behind you. "Wow, that's a really small plane." You said nervously stepping back, bumping into your girlfriend in the process.
"Hey, I'm right here. You're safe." She grabbed ahold of your hand and slowly began walking towards the aircraft.
You could see Myron and Toulouse looking out the door waiting for you both which brought you comfort.
Walking into the jet, you were surprised to see how cozy it actually was. It looked like a miniature living room.
You had sat in the window seat across from where Courtney was currently sitting, scrolling through her phone. Ariana sat right next to you, still holding your hand.
Not long after the jet began moving.
"Take off is always a little rough, so don't be alarmed." Ariana informed you, interlocking her arm with yours to bring you comfort.
Looking out the window, you could see the jet now reaching the runway and accelerating its speed.
You quickly gripped your hands on the seat armrests and squeezed your eyes shut.
"Hey hey hey, I'm right here. You're safe, I promise." Ariana placed her hand on your arm and began tracing her fingers on your skin to comfort you.
"Shit. It's going really fast!" You yelled out over the loud engine, watching the pavement fly past.
"I know. Just relax, once we get in the air it will be a lot better." She reassured you.
Then the jet finally pulled up from the runway and was now airborne. Everything slowly got much calmer as your heart rate began going back to normal.
You let out a large breath as you turned to your girlfriend.
"I'm so proud of you for facing your fear." She told you, wrapping her arms around you. "Was it as bad as you thought?"
"I hate how fast it goes but no, it wasn't as bad as I imagined. I'm still not fully settled on the idea that we are thousands of feet in the air right now, though."
"Yeah but try not to think about that too much or you'll stress yourself out even more. We have board games and cards if you want to play to keep your mind off of it?" She offered as Joan began setting up one.
"I actually think I might take a nap, I'm exhausted." You confessed, just as a yawn came out.
"Aw baby, I can tell." She stroked your cheek, lovingly. "Here, lay down right here. I'll wake you up when we get there if your still sleeping." Pulling up the seat divider/arm rest, Ariana motioned for you to lay down.
As you laid your head on Ariana's lap, your eyes already began getting heavy.
Before you fell asleep, you thought about how thankful you were to have such a thoughtful, loving, and caring girlfriend. That she would have easily called a coach bus out for you and her to travel on if you weren't comfortable with flying. And that she helped you face your fear, not leaving your side once. How lucky.
You looked up at her and smiled, admiring her. She had one hand laying on your chest and the other playing the board game which you could hear was Monopoly.
You fell asleep to the quiet chatter and rumbles of the jet engine.
