Sweet Dandelion

“You better hurry. TSA will be a pain in the ass.” He kisses my cheek and takes a step back. “Seriously, be safe.”

“I will.” I take my suitcase, heading toward the doors. Looking back, I see him slip in the car.

He lifts his hand in a wave and I wave back before he pulls away. I watch his car join the fray of others leaving the airport.

I look at the building and smile.

This is it.

Heading into the building, I make it through security faster than I expect and head to the terminal to wait for my plane to board in an hour.

I grab a coffee before I take a seat.

“Wow, I thought you were never going to show up.”

My head shoots up and my eyes connect with Ansel’s light blue ones as he heads my way, wheeling a suitcase.

“What are you doing?” I jump up, coffee sloshing out of the lid of my cup and burning my finger, but I pay it no mind.

“Well, I knew you were leaving, and frankly I’m not ready for college either, and I thought to myself why would I let my best friend fly across the world without me. When I told Sage I wanted to go with you he was a little wary, but I think the fact he didn’t want you to go alone won out and he told me where he got your first ticket for.” He holds his own plane ticket up. “So, you’re stuck with me, Meadows. My parents are cool with it, so they’re funding my end. Wherever you go, I go.”

“Sage knew about this?” I’m stunned, he seemed so upset that I was going to be by myself.

“Yep.” Ansel plops in the empty seat beside the one I had been sitting in. He pats that seat. “Get comfy, Meadows.”

“I…” I keep blinking at him, no words coming to mind.

“You’re not mad are you? I mean, even if you are I’m still going.”

“No, I’m glad you’re here.”

And now that he is I can’t imagine doing this without him. I finally sit down in the chair beside him.

“I’ve got your back, Meadows. An adventure is what we both need.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

He nods, picking at a hangnail. “You can’t grow without exploration. Seeing the world is what I need to become a better artist. Maybe … maybe I can make something of my art, of myself. I’m scared to dream big.”

“If you dream small you’ll never even touch the ceiling.” I give him a soft smile. “But if you dream big you might be lucky enough to touch the sky.”

He takes my hand, crossing our fingers together. “Let’s take over the world then.”

“World domination isn’t really my thing.” I fight a growing smile.

I still can’t believe he’s here. Going on this trip with Ansel will make it more fun. I’ll have someone to not only travel with, but that will make me smile and laugh, remind me that I’m not alone in this world. It might sound dramatic, but so often since the shooting I’ve felt invisible. Unseen, unheard, unimportant. Lachlan brightened my world, and with him I felt seen, heard, and like the most important person to him. But he left me, tossed me away like I was nothing.

But I am something.

I’m me and it’s time I saw myself, heard myself, and realized how important I am. My purpose matters.

“So, Meadows, where are we going after London?”

I grin at my best friend. “It doesn’t matter.”

And it really doesn’t, because it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.

We arrive at the flat dead ass tired. It’s ten in the morning London time, but I don’t even know what time that’d be back in Utah because my brain can’t function to calculate it.