(Michelle Lui's POV)
By the time we landed, my brain felt like a soft, over-stirred pudding.
Eight hours in the sky.
Too many emotions.
Too many glances.
Too many almost-moments.
And now—
we were back.
Home.
The jet taxied smoothly across the runway, sunlight shimmering over the tarmac. The city skyline stretched in the distance, familiar and foreign all at once.
Kate stretched.
Jeff wiped drool off his chin.
Steven unbuckled calmly, moving with a kind of grace no human should legally have after an eight-hour flight.
I… tried to stand and nearly tripped.
Classic.
Steven's hand steadied my elbow without thinking.
My heart tried to do gymnastics again.
He immediately let go, as if catching himself.
I looked away before I combusted.
--
DISEMBARKING — AND SUDDEN CHAOS
Kate burst out of the cabin like a caffeinated squirrel.
"HOME!! HOME HOME HOME!! I'M GOING TO GET MILK TEA AND SLEEP FOR 12 YEARS!"
Jeff dragged himself behind her.
