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He nods, looking up at me. The seriousness in his expression clears, and his mouth tugs up just a bit. “Of course. Never been better.”
___
I never want to leave Paris, but when I wake up again and the sun is streaming through the window, I know it’s about that time.
Killian and I shower together and get dressed, then we head out for a quick bite at a street café before we have to check out.
Dare and Aubrey are having lunch inside the Eiffel Tower before we leave, but we can’t go with them. Check-out at our hotel is at noon, and we’ll have Toast with us when we leave.
We know they won’t be hungry for a while, though, so Killian grabs takeout from a nearby restaurant and we eat on a bench with a view of the Eiffel Tower instead. Thankfully, it’s warmer and sunnier today than it was yesterday, so it’s still a good time.
After we eat, we take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower. I even get a few with Toast to commemorate what I’m sure will be her only trip to Paris.
When we finish eating, we enjoy a last stroll, roaming the romantic Parisian streets hand-in-hand.
Finally, we load into a car and head for the airport.
We beat Dare and Aubrey this time, so we’re the first to board.
We know our internal clock will be a bit fucked today, but since there’s no way we can sleep on the plane ride this time, Killian says we should download a movie. Then, smirking, he types in Phantom of the Opera and downloads it, but I’m not complaining.
Our travel companions arrive a short time later, and finally, it’s time to head home.
Knowing we’re going back to reality reminds me of all my adult responsibilities. I haven’t touched my schoolbooks since our last plane ride, so I dig them out and log some study time.
Since I do want to watch the movie with Killian, I take a break a few hours later. Nobody’s hungry enough for dinner, but we’re feeling snacky, so the flight attendant makes us a fruit tray and another with vegetables. Aubrey opens some Skinny Pop, and the flight attendant brings around drinks, then we’re ready to watch the movie.
It’s not some small back of the chair screen on this plane, either. Nope. It’s a whole-ass TV, and since we even have couches to spread out on, it feels just like watching a movie at home.
When we land, I expect Killian’s car to be waiting for us at the airport, but apparently he had one of his friends come pick it up and take it home. An Escalade that looks eerily like the one I was put in when I was kidnapped pulls up, and we all climb in.
We drop Dare and Aubrey off at their townhouse first, then we head for Killian’s place.
It feels like we were gone much longer than we were, but maybe it’s the traveling between time differences playing tricks on me.
Or maybe it’s just because everything has changed.
We get back early enough that I could technically work my second job if I had a ride. I think about calling to make sure they got my shift covered, but then I think about all the boxes I have at Killian’s apartment and how nice it would be to have the evening to just relax after the trip, maybe unpack a few essentials, and go to bed early…
Relaxing wins.
When the car lets us out at Killian’s apartment building, I feel a pinch of remembered anxiety. When I’m standing in the hallway waiting for him to open the door, I remember mere nights ago when I saw Hex and the other guys out in the hall.
Toast is ready to be out of her travel bag, so I unzip her and set her free. Killian takes her bed back over and puts it down where it usually is in his living room, and then we unpack from the trip.
He brought more clothes than I ended up needing since he bought me new stuff in Paris, so I take it to the little section in his closet he cleared for my things.
When I’m in there hanging my clothes up, I notice something I didn’t before I left.
My clutch. The one I took to Kyle’s party.
I bend down and pick it up, frowning as I open it up. The crinkled twenty-dollar bill I tucked away in case I needed to call an emergency cab is there, along with my favorite lip gloss.
My keys aren’t in it, though.
I feel Killian behind me, so I turn and find him standing in the doorway. His gaze drops to the bag, then meets mine.
“I didn’t know you brought this back.”
