Gentle turbulence nudged Ashlin slowly back to bleary awareness. She lifted her hand to rub the back of her neck as her head left the hardness of the plane wall; it had grown stiff from falling asleep so awkwardly. She shook the crimson tresses from her face and glanced out the window, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She saw nothing but the gray of the clouds and streaks of rain racing along the glass surface. She glanced down at the delicate silver watch her mother had given her before she left this morning.

It’s 6:30, we must be close, she thought. Brushing a stray lock behind her ear, Ashlin leaned back into her seat to wait out the rest of the flight. She was exhausted; having not stopped to take a breath since eight-thirty that morning. She jumped as the man next to her gave a great grunting snore. Ashlin shook her head; she didn’t know how she stayed asleep while sitting next to that. She shifted her legs, wincing at the stiffness in them, to get the blood flowing once more.

The seat belt sign popped on above along with the flight attendant’s voice over the intercom urging passengers back to their seats. She looked back out the window to see they had descended below the cloud bank to reveal the Coastal city of Seattle. The city looked dreary and depressing with all the rain, but the weather was supposed to clear up for a few days. She was rather hopeful about that, she didn’t want to spend the weekend damp and cold. She watched the city as the plane circled to gradually lower their altitude.

Ashlin braced herself as the plane touched down onto the runway, jerking in her seat as it made contact. She never liked the landing of a plane, it was too violent, too abrupt. She loved the takeoff however, that feeling of gravity pressing down on her body was oddly exhilarating.

The plane lost velocity slowly, than rolled to a stop at last. The pilot came over the intercom, welcomed them to Seattle and wished them a good day as if he actually cared. Activity swept the plane as the passengers gathered their belongings and woke family and friends. A baby erupted into shrill screams as its mother stood in the aisle, trying to get her bag with one arm. The big man next to her gave a great, grunting snore and started. The man yawned long and wide, and then squeezed his girth into the aisle to retrieve his bag from the overhead.

Ashlin waited patiently for the aisle to clear before she stood and grabbed her small carry on from the overhead bin. She slung it over her shoulder and joined the queue behind the large man. She buttoned her coat up as she let the mother and her two kids go before her. The little girl shot a sweet smile at her and took her mother’s hand.

Ashlin smiled in return and fell in after the small family down the aisle. She switched her bag to the other shoulder and flipped her long hair over her shoulder as she stepped out of the plane. She never liked the tunnel connecting the plane to the building either. She always felt slightly claustrophobic as she trudged through it. And there was always a person who bumped into her as she shuffled forward.

Maybe it’s just traveling that I have a problem with…or people, Ashlin thought with an inward smile.

As she emerged from the tunnel into the bustling terminal, Ashlin paused by the bathroom to take her phone off airplane mode. She walked slowly towards the baggage claim with her head bowed; she ran her finger up her screen. She brought the phone to her ear as she stepped out a security carts path. It rang once and then she heard her best friend’s voice greet her.

“Hello my lovely, where are you?” Rebecca’s tiny, bubbly voice said in her ear.

“Hey, I’m heading towards the baggage claim. You and your brother going to meet me?” Ashlin asked in a cheery, slightly sing-song voice.

“Already here, so hurry up!” Becca playfully commanded.

Ashlin chuckled and hung up the phone and hurried to the baggage claim, dodging harried travelers along the way. She hadn’t seen her best friend since their senior year, Becca’s graduation party to be exact, and she was excited to see her. Rebecca lived with her older brother Richard, a Marine, in the heart of downtown Seattle. Ashlin had never met Richard before; he had already graduated and shipped out before she even got to her freshman year of high school. She readjusted the bag and rounded a corner, the baggage claim stretching out before her. Ashlin had only begun searching for her friend for a few moments before a squeal of delight made her turn.

Rebecca was over by her baggage claim, waving frantically with both arms to get Ashlin’s attention. Ashlin smiled and walked towards them. Richard was standing a few behind her; the first thing he noticed was that he was really tall. Her head would barely reach his chin. His light brown eyes were slightly alarming given the darkness of his hair. His hair was slightly longer then she expected, strands of it nearly touched his left eyebrow.

She smiled at him in greeting, noting with some surprise that he was out of uniform. It was normal for members of the military to be in uniform, to even be armed. But there were no fatigues or gun at his side, just blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a light leather jacket. Though the civilian getup did little to hide that fact that he was a soldier, just his physique alone indicated that he was combat trained.

The polite smile she received was rather familiar in a disconcerting way. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that Richard and Rebecca were twins. They had the same thin mouth and identical light brown eyes.

Rebecca slammed into her and hugged her fiercely. Ashlin returned the hug with equal, if not greater, ferocity. Richard walked followed behind her slowly with an easy smiled on his handsome face, a face that looked so like his sisters. His walk was very precise, almost as if he was marching to them.

Rebecca released her death grip on Ashlin, and stepped to her side. She gestured to her brother, “Ashlin, this is my brother Richard. Richard, this is the lovely Ashlin McGuiness.” She pointed to each of them in turn.

Richard strode forward with his hand extended, the easy smile still on his face though Ashlin caught his eyes sweeping up and down her figure appreciatively as if he could see through her layers of clothing. Ashlin fidgeted uncomfortably, but she held the smile on her face as she shook his hand lightly. His hand was twice as large as hers and it seemed to disappear inside it.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Ashlin.” His smile turned almost shy.

“Nice to meet you too.” She said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes, but returned his smile with a tentative one of her own.

“Oh! That one’s mine.” Ashlin pointed to a red suitcase that was passing them by.

“I’ll get it.” Richard said as he strode after the bag, gently pushing past others waiting for their luggage.

“How was your flight?” Rebecca asked while casting a critical eye at Ashlin’s attire and hair. Ashlin foresaw a few shopping trips to the mall this week in the sweeping gaze. She switched the carry-on to the other shoulder with a long internal sigh. This might turn out to be a long week.

“It was alright, I guess. There was a big guy who snored like a bear sitting next to me, but I still managed to sleep through it.” She shrugged and swept a lock of hair back behind her ear. She watched as Richard finally caught up with her suitcase and hauled it off the conveyor belt. Ashlin smiled in thanks when he turned to meet her eye before heading back their way.

“Well, you can go back to sleep as soon as we get home, you can have my bed and I’ll sleep on the pull out in the living room. Unless you want to share like when we were younger, it doesn’t matter to me. By the way, your mom texted me this morning telling me that not to do anything that she wouldn’t do.” Rebecca said, taking Ashlin’s arm as they met up with Richard, who had shouldered her suitcase.

“Well, that’s a short list.” Ashlin replied with a smirk. Her mother had been a wild child in her younger days and even a little now.

Rebecca laughed, “Yeah, I think she’s good as long you don’t get knocked up.”

“Wouldn’t that be a twist?” Rebecca just laughed. “I can get that…” Ashlin added meekly to Richard, gesturing back to the suitcase resting on the man’s massive bicep.

“Nah, its ok I got it. You’re on vacation; you don’t work at all this week.” Richard said with a warm smile, hefting the luggage higher.

“I can live with that. But at least roll it so you don’t have carry it.” Ashlin said her voice a little warmer. She yielded to Rebecca’s tugging and allowed her to lead her toward the passenger pick up area. The two girls walked through the airport, chatting about happenings over the past couple of years with Richard bringing up the rear, though it was mostly Rebecca talking. Ashlin’s mind drifted away from the conversation, only answering when needed, not giving much about the past two years.

She didn’t like to think about it and she didn’t want Rebecca, one of her last true friends, to see her differently when Ashlin told her just how bad it got. Chicago wasn’t the same for her without her dad there, even though her mother doted on her. She loved both of her parents very much, but she resented them ever so slightly for putting her through this, for not being able to work it, at least for her sake. In that respect, it was good to get away from her life for a little while.

A sudden cold breeze lifted the hair around her face as they stepped out into the damp cold. Richard had the girls wait under the overhang while he went to get the car. Rebecca huddled against Ashlin for warmth as she continued on about some guy she had been dating, Ashlin nodded and smiled to appease her, hoping that Rebecca wouldn’t notice how one-sided the conversation had become. Ashlin’s eyes wandered over the medley of travelers scrambling around in the rain until they rested on a black SUV that was pulling up to the curb about twenty feet way.

I know that car, she realized with amusement. She had only recognized the car because her dad had a white one, that same year and everything.

The driver door opened and a handsome man around her age. dressed all in black, stepped out into the rain. He pushed the door closed behind him and strode over to an old security guard who was leaning against a support pole out of the rain while keeping a careful eye over the beleaguered travelers.

Every step he took was graceful and measured. He was encased in a black coat that swirled behind him like a cape in the cold wind, amplifying the mysterious air about him. He walked over to the security guard and they shook hands. While a wide, bright smile spread across his face, there was a certain hardness to it. They began to chat like that they were the best of friends and as Ashlin watched the two share a joke and laugh, every move he made seemed draw her eyes.

Ashlin realized she was staring too late, the young man’s gaze shifted from the guard’s smiling face to her own, as if he could feel her eyes trained on him. Their eyes locked and time seemed to press on, leaving them behind. Suddenly they were alone, the crowds vanishing until only the wind and rain separated them.

In the time it took her blink, Ashlin knew that this man, this random beautiful stranger, held the power to destroy her completely. Not with his hands but in his eyes, with this gaze that she couldn’t bring herself break away from, dimly acknowledging that she didn’t even want to. But there was something else, something in the way his gaze softened that made her feel safe, safer then she had felt in a long time. The man’s eyes held her for a second more before he turned back to the security guard. It felt as if they had spent an eternity gazing at each other.

“Hey! Ashlin!” Fingers snapped in front of her nose. “C’mon lets go, I’m freezing.” Rebecca insisted as she got into the shining SUV that had pulled up next to them. Ashlin glanced back at the man to see him shake the guards hand again and start back to his fancy car before she ducked into the backseat of their car. She sat next to Rebecca in the back while Richard jumped out to take care of her bag. He slid it into the back and slammed the door, than jogged back to the driver side, hurrying as cars honked behind them. As he shut the door and put the car in gear, the black car rolled smoothly past them. The windows were so dark she could only see the silhouette of the young man behind the wheel. She watched as the vehicle rounded a corner and disappeared from her sight.