Spectrum

66

Natalia's POV

"Maybe I can drive for Uber." I sigh, waiting for our plane to board.

"Or you can just talk to Shane." Grayson shrugs.

"I'm not talking to him. Even if I was a bitch, the way he spoke to me was completely unprofessional." I reply.

"Yeah, and the way you spoke to him wasn't any better. Just talk to him." He says.

"I don't want to do that." I mutter.

"Well I dont want my girlfriend and my best friend and my sister all hating each other. So can you please just swallow your pride and realize that although you were hurt, you said things that were completely out of line?" He snaps in reply.

"No, Grayson. I can't. Because for the last few weeks, I have looked like a complete fucking idiot. And yes, it's my fault. That doesn't mean that i'm ready to face this yet. So no. I'm not just going to swallow my pride. Not yet." I spit back.

"Forget it." He mutters, shaking his head in frustration.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing." He replies.

"You clearly want to say something so just say it." I reply.

"I'm not about to fight with you over this." He replies simply. "I just want to get back to California. That's all I want right now. Once we're back, we can talk about everything. I'm about to get on a plane-which I hate, by the way- and all I want is to relax until then. So unless you're going to say something that completely relaxes me, then I mentally can not handle this conversation." He replies, sounding completely exhausted.

I guess I haven't really considered what all of this is doing to him. He hadn't ever been on a place until now. I'm the entire reason he got on one in the first place, and now I'm stressing him out.

Again.

"You're right." I sigh, rubbing his arm gently. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply once we hear the woman on the intercom call for our boarding number.

"Ready?" I ask.

"No." He replies. "Maybe I can just walk home." 

"No can do, Sir." I reply with a laugh. "Come on, we'll get seated and I'll get our drinks out of the bag." 

"Okay." He replies, getting up from his seat. 

As we board, I can tell how uncomfortable he is. I don't exactly know how he handled the flight over to Mexico, but I can only pray that he doesn't throw up on the way back. 

"You have the laptop, right?" Grayson asks.

"Yup." I reply with a nod. "Don't worry, I have everything. We've checked like three times in the last ten minutes." 

"I just don't want to forget anything." He mutters.

"I know. It's fine. It's a fairly short flight." I remind him, following him over to our seats. 

First class isn't as nice as I always thought that it might be. It's probably just this plane, but I expected much more when I was a child. Despite this, I'm still glad for the extra space in our seat and more leg room. I'm sure he's thankful that we don't have to sit next to anyone else, either.

"Okay." He says, buckling himself into the seat and leaning his head back against the headrest. "Will you hand me my bag?" He asks, gesturing down to his briefcase.

I reach down and grab the bad underneath the seat and hand it to him. I wait as he unzips the case and pulls out a pill bottle.

"What's that?" I ask curiously.