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You practically shoved your way off the jetway, mentally apologizing to the family you nearly bowled over in your attempts to make your connecting. Outside the wind howled and snow swirled against the windowed walls of the terminal but you paid no mind to the icy scene outside that all but guaranteed your flight probably wouldn’t be leaving the tarmac anytime soon.
You had a plane to catch.
And so you sprinted down the concourse, through the main spine of the airport and past the running trams which definitely would have taken you to your destination faster if you had thought to look. Your heart thudded against your rib cage and the backpack you wore, while not particularly heavy, was just heavy enough to impede your breathing as it slapped against your back.
A bemused TSA agent by the security checkpoint watched you as you sped by, crossing his arms and surreptitiously looking up at the flight information screen and watching as one by one the flights went red. He shook his head and went back to work.
Why the fuck did the flight have to be across the entire gods damned airport?
Your chest burned with the effort of trying to keep your blood oxygenated enough to keep up the grueling pace that you had set for yourself. You hadn’t had to run this fast since you joined that intramural soccer team in undergrad. And that was way too many years ago.
Your legs were giving out and your vision was beginning to gray at the edges when you finally made it to your gate. It was at that moment your legs finally decided they had enough of their abuse and with a few wobbly steps you fell to your knees on the floor while holding the wall for support.
“Shit!” you heard someone exclaim and a form rushed to your side. You were too busy gulping down as much air as you could to really register the person who was helping you sit down against the wall, “Hej. Hej. Breathe for me. Breathe. ”
You managed to catch your breath before looking up at your savior. For the second time that day you couldn’t breathe.
‘ Oh gods she is hot.’
Piercing blue-grey eyes, a face that looked as if it were etched of stone, and dark hair that was tied up in a half bun. Her brow was creased with worry as she looked at you. She put her hand on your shoulder, over your backpack strap.
“Do you want me to help you take that off?” she was asking.
For a moment your mind went completely blank and your cheeks heated up as your brain struggled to process the implications of that statement, “Huh?”
“The backpack, it’ll help you breathe better if you take it off,” she elaborated.
You nodded and she helped you shrug off the pack. The back of your shirt was damp with sweat and the moment the air hit it you felt a shiver run down your spine, “Thanks,” you said gratefully - noting her hand was back on your shoulder and massaging it slightly as if to help calm you down. It certainly wasn’t calming you down but you appreciated the gesture anyway. You leaned against the wall and closed your eyes, trying to recover after your desperate sprint.
“Are they okay?“ another concerned traveler asked from somewhere above you.
“Fine, I just need to catch my breath,” you said, “Need to make my connecting.”
“Which gate?” the woman asked.
“F12.”
The woman made a noise and you opened your eyes to see her apologetic look, “They just canceled it.”
You finally saw the white out outside and the flight status on the screen by the door. Well shit. Your phone finally buzzed and you pulled it out of your pocket to see the new notification:
“Flight 4320 to GBI has been canceled. We are attempting to rebook you.”
Your gaze flitted from the phone to the winter hellscape outside and you just knew in your heart: you were going to be stuck there for a while.
“Well shit .”
“I know,” she smiled sympathetically, “I was on that flight too. What’s your name?”
You gave her your name and she extended a hand for you to shake, you noted her other hand still hadn’t left your shoulder, “Nice to meet you. I’m Soma,” she said. You finally felt okay enough to stand and with her help you got to your feet. Unfortunately that also meant that she finally removed her hand from your shoulder and you couldn’t lie: you were rather disappointed.
“Well I guess I should go try to see if they can rebook me,” you said as you picked up your backpack, “Though in this weather I think I’m going to be stuck here for a while.”
You let out a chuckle but it was less out of humor and more out of the mounting stress you began to feel. Talking to customer service reps was up there in the list of activities that gave you anxiety. Coupled with an already long and delayed filled day of travel: you weren’t entirely sure you could mentally handle much more of this.
“I’ll go with you,” Soma said and at your look she said, “We’re both in a similar situation. It’d be better to stick together, yeah?”
You couldn’t (and really didn’t want to) argue with that logic. Aside from the fact that she was very attractive and very caring, you couldn’t deny that you also could certainly use the companionship and camaraderie that develops when everyone is thrown into the same, shitty situation.
As you stepped into the very long line at the help desk, you struck up a conversation with Soma. She was easy to talk to, a woman who certainly seemed to know her way around any social situation. Something you both admired and envied.
“Why are you flying to Grantebridge?” you asked.
“I just moved there,” Soma said, “What about you?”
“Not in Grantebridge proper but I’m from the area,” you replied, “Ravensburg, it’s a small town southeast of Grantebridge but I’ve lived there for a while now.”
“Perhaps you can show me around when we get there,” she said.
You grinned, feeling somewhat happy for the first time that day, “I’d love to.”
She revealed she had been in the military to help her get through college, just having returned to civilian life after her term of service ended. She was moving to Grantebridge for a job in business, she was a dealmaker of sorts.
By the time you had gotten to the front of the line, you were feeling a lot more relaxed with Soma. She had a grounding presence, a quiet assuredness that seemed to emanate from her and affect those around her. You groaned slightly when the agent waved you over, your previous stress and anxiety returning like a tidal wave. When you walked up to the kiosk, the agent looked at you and then at Soma who had now stepped up beside you, “Are you two together?”
“We were on the same flight,” Soma answered before you could, “It’s been a very long day for the both of us, we’d both like to get booked on the next flight out of here.”
The agent frowned, “That’s going to be difficult, we’re already booked through Tuesday…”
That was when you learned Soma could be an incredibly shrewd negotiator.
You could only watch in wonderment as she politely but assertively talked to the ticketing agent, managing to snag you at least standby tickets on the next flights and booked for a flight that he had initially said was already full. However when it came to hotels, even if she could get you two vouchers for a room, you were shit out of luck unless Soma could manage to talk down the atmosphere itself.
Snow had already clogged up the freeways outside of the airport and despite the small army of plows the city operated - they weren’t able to keep up with the drifting and still falling snow outside. You were well and truly stuck at the airport until the weather cleared. With how bad the storm was outside, you were wondering if you’d ever get out of this mess.
“Ugh,” Soma said once you two had left the desk, “I thought I could get us a better deal, I’m sorry.”
“Are you kidding me?” you said, “If it were only me up there talking to that guy … I’d have been stuck here for the next week.”
“It’s all about knowing their policies and being a bit firm with them also helps,” Soma said with a wink and a smile.
Your mind went straight into the gutter with that last statement, imagining her being firm with you. In bed. Gods you were hopeless but any distraction from your current predicament was welcome.
It was getting dark and you and Soma agreed to stick together for safety and scope out a quiet corner of the terminal to get some rest in. The airport, bless them, had started putting out mats for stranded passengers to sleep on and you both managed to snag one each. A cozy little alcove between two charging counters in one of the less crowded terminals provided a relatively private spot for you two to get some rest. As you two were getting set up you espied another stranded passenger looking around at the carts that the airport staff had set the mats on. There were none left and she was looking increasingly desperate.
While you weren’t keen on sleeping on the hard, thinly carpeted floor of the terminal, you also couldn’t bear to see someone else in the same predicament. Before Soma could react, you had picked up your own mat and approached the woman, “Here,” you said as you handed her the mat.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
You shrugged with a smile, “I’ll be fine.”
She thanked you profusely before going on her way, deciding to find her own quiet corner to bed down for the night. You walked back to Soma now minus your sleeping mat and she said, “That was nice of you.”
“She looked like she needed it,” you said, placing your coat on the ground and fluffing it up a little. It would be painful but you’d be fine for the night.
And you seriously hoped this storm would only last for the night.
You looked up at Soma and she was watching you, frowning. She didn’t appear to be frowning at you specifically but even so you stopped what you were doing and looked up questioningly at her.
“You can take my mat,” she said, “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“No, I can’t let you sleep on the floor,” you said, not wanting her to be uncomfortable for your sake.
“I can’t let you sleep on the floor either,” Soma replied just as firmly, “I’ll be fine. This is a five-star hotel compared to what I’ve slept in.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better about this,” you said, “It’s your mat. I’ll manage.”
“Technically it’s the airport’s mat.”
“ Soma. ”
She crossed her arms and her face made it obvious that she wasn’t welcoming any more arguments. You sighed in defeat, “I guess I can’t offer the compromise that we both share the mat?”
“That’s a very small mat,” Soma pointed out.
“It could fit us both,” you said. You weren’t entirely wrong, the mat was about the size of a twin mattress. You could both feasibly fit on it if you weren’t afraid of essentially cuddling for the entire night. While you had meant the statement in a purely utilitarian aspect: you both would be more comfortable on the mat, you could see the slight discomfort on Soma’s face at the suggestion and mentally kicked yourself, “I’m sorry I overstepped-”
“You’re fine,” she said, “Take the mat tonight.”
She offered to watch your stuff while you went to find yourself dinner. There wasn’t much luck finding any place still open but you managed to snag a sandwich, chips, and a soda from a shop and made your way back to your “camp”. Soma had set up her sleeping spot next to your mat, laying out her jacket so it lay between her and the floor and her pillow was a rolled up t-shirt from her bag. You winced at the arrangement.
You had friends who were ex-military, you knew they could sleep on a bed of rocks if they needed to, but it still didn’t make it okay . You also knew that most people were uncomfortable with the aspect of cuddling with someone they just met in an airport. Your stupid mouth moved before your brain had time to shut it down, “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to sound like a creep, I just didn’t feel okay with you sleeping on the floor.”
She said your name as she put her hand on your shoulder, “You’re fine , I know you didn’t mean anything untoward by it. We’ll talk about this later when we’ve both got a chance to eat.”
At that she gave you a slight smile and left to find food. You stared after her, putting your hand on where her hand had rested on your shoulder and for the third time that day you couldn’t breathe.
You were hungry but you waited for Soma to return before you started eating. You pretended you were busy with building your own little nest in the alcove. The mat wasn’t exactly comfortable (it really did feel like a slightly softer version of a gym mat) but it certainly had more give to it than the floor. Soma returned a while later with a coffee and a hot sandwich. You raised an eyebrow at her choice of beverage, hoping it was decaf.
She must have noticed your expression because she shrugged, “Caffeine doesn’t really affect me anymore and I needed something hot.”
“More of a tea drinker myself,” you said with a chuckle.
She noted your still uneaten sandwich and coke, “Are you not hungry?”
“No,” you said, “I just got distracted with setting up for the night.”
“Hmm.”
Yeah she definitely didn’t believe you.
You both sat and ate in companionable silence for a while, sitting close together with your backs resting against the wall and watching the people go by. Your quiet section of the terminal had gotten a little more active as stranded travelers began to search for a place to sleep. You yourself were beginning to feel tired from the day's events and you laid down on the mat. You scooted over to the edge and looked pointedly at Soma, patting the empty half next to you.
“You’re very insistent, you know that?” Soma asked with a hint of amusement.
You snorted, “And you’re very stubborn.”
To your satisfaction she took up a spot on the mat next to you, careful not to invade your personal space any more than she already was. You turned onto your side, back to her and facing the wall. You gathered your coat under your head as a pillow and closed your eyes.
No one ever rests well in an airport and you were no exception. The sounds of people walking around and the quiet chatter kept you in a light slumber for the next hour or so. In the back of your mind, you were worried someone would come over and steal your stuff. Every 15 minutes you heard the chime and the monotonous female voice over the PA system reminding everyone to never leave bags unattended.
That was never conducive to sleep.
You pulled the free end of your jacket over your head in an attempt to muffle the noise.
The airport had gotten chillier in the night, the temperatures outside dropping to below zero in the storm and the heating system could barely keep up. You shivered slightly as you dozed and Soma must have heard or felt you because she asked in a voice thick with sleep, “Cold?”
“Little bit,” you answered just as groggily, not quite sure if you were in a dream or awake. You heard her shift around and a moment later a warm weight settled over you and you realized it was her jacket. The smell of warm leather and coffee enveloped you and you slowly felt yourself drift off into a deeper sleep. The next time you woke up, you noticed there was a new weight on you and it took you a moment to realize Soma had scooted much closer to you overnight, her arm draped almost protectively over your midriff and her front pressing softly against your back. You weren’t entirely sure if the move was conscious on her part or if she had moved in her sleep but you didn’t particularly mind too much. In moments you were asleep again.
You were awoken again many hours later by someone gently shaking your shoulder. You sat up, disoriented and looked up to see Soma crouched on the ground next to you. She had two styrofoam cups in hand, one with a tea tag sticking out from under the lid, “Morning,” she said as she handed you the cup with the tea tag.
You took the warm beverage gratefully, rubbing your eyes with your free hand, “What time is it?”
“A little after 7 am,” she said, “Sorry to wake you but I thought you’d like some breakfast.”
You rolled your neck to stretch it out, thankful you hadn’t gotten a crick in your neck from how you slept. She sat down next to you as she took some breakfast sandwiches out of the bag. The usual greasy fast food fare of some form of sausage or bacon, a fried egg, and cheese sandwiched between two halves of a bun. As you ate you checked your phone, looking over the headlines about the mega bomb cyclone blizzard-pocalypse or whatever the news had decided to call it. You frowned at the news: the blizzard had practically stalled out over your section of the country. The meteorologists weren’t expecting things to improve any time soon with travel being snarled for the foreseeable future.
“Ugh,” you moaned, “Yule’s going to be long over by the time we get out of here.”
You buried your head in your hands and took a deep breath. The whole situation did feel hopeless - you knew you were going to get out of this eventually, you’d get on a flight home, you’d get out of this stupid airport… That didn’t change how overwhelmed you felt in the moment.
“Hej,” you heard Soma set down her cup and felt her hand resting between your shoulder blades, rubbing comforting circles on your back, “I know, it sucks.”
You appreciated her comforting gesture. She didn’t make you feel bad for feeling overwhelmed, she didn’t tell you to get over it or that things would get better or a number of other things you knew deep down but couldn’t bring yourself to accept at the moment. She was there for you and it helped you calm yourself down after a few moments.
Soma kept up the calming motion and when you looked up, she had gone silent, her lips pursed in thought. Finally, she snapped her fingers as her face lit up, “Pack up … I have an idea.”
She stood up and offered her hand and helped you up, “We’re going to play a little game.”
“What?”
Your stress and anxiety was momentarily replaced by confusion and curiosity as to what she was getting at.
“It’s Yule,” she said, eyes glittering with barely contained excitement, “And what better way to celebrate than with gift giving!”
For a moment you thought she had lost her mind but she continued on, “You and I are going to split up and look for presents for each other. We’ll meet back here in an hour and exchange gifts.”
You knew what she was doing: trying to distract you, to get your current predicament off your mind. Begrudgingly you noted that it was working as your mind went into overdrive while you packed, trying to figure out what in the Hel Soma would like. By the time you two had finished packing and exchanged phone numbers in case anything happened, you still were drawing a blank.
“C’mon,” you called out to her as she walked away, “You could at least give me a hint!”
She turned to you, grinning as she gave an exaggerated shrug, arms half raised in the air, “Surprise me!”
And with that she disappeared into the throngs of travelers and left you alone to your racing thoughts. You closed your eyes and rubbed your forehead, trying to think about what this woman - a total stranger to you 12 hours ago - would even like. While she seemed to have a good read on you, you weren’t sure if you had a good read on her . The airport was massive, a major international hub, and thus was practically a mall that people passing through could peruse while waiting for their connections or panickedly buy a last second expensive present for their friends or loved ones.
There was a wide range of stores from overpriced fashion brands to shops selling marked up candy and essentials and kitschy tourist gear.
Out of that range where would Soma’s preferences lie?
You walked towards the stores, ruminating on that question. She didn’t seem the type to be interested in super expensive or ostentatious jewelry - or at least she wasn’t wearing any. Talking to her, she seemed more of a practical woman, everything she owned having to have a purpose. You doubted she’d want you to spend an exorbitant amount of money on her anyway - so the luxury stores were out.
Behind you you heard a harsh beep and you turned to see an annoyed airline employee sitting behind the wheel of a motorized cart with several equally annoyed looking passengers in the seats behind him. You gave them a sheepish grin as you stepped out of the way. You looked around you, still trying to figure out what she’d want.
A mug or a bag of candy just seemed too little for her, especially after all she had done to help you. A gift card, while always a safe option, seemed like a total cop out. Gods this was proving difficult.
You decided to just window shop and see what caught your eye. Five minutes after walking up and down the main concourse where all the shops were, you were still completely and utterly stumped. You thought back to every interaction you’ve had with her so far - she had a leather jacket and overcoat but like you: she seemed to have foregone wearing anything more than a light flannel and a t-shirt inside the terminal. It did get rather chilly that night, you remembered waking up shivering. For a brief moment, you could almost smell the warm leather and coffee scent of her coat. Sure she seemed like a hardened badass immune to the cold but well …
Everyone likes a warm hoodie.
But what color to get? She had been wearing a lot of blue - a blue t-shirt and a blue plaid flannel. Her rollerboard was a deep navy color. It really brought out her eyes …
Focus .
You were standing in front of one of those overpriced retail shops that sold various travel essentials as well as random touristy crap. What really caught your eye were the hoodies - specifically the blue ones. They were a nice navy color and bore the name of a sports team you never even heard of. In the back of your mind as you stood in line at the register, you hoped that she at least held neutral feelings towards the team on the sweater. Else this was going to be very awkward.
At the last moment, you threw a sharable bag of Skittles into your purchase. The hour was soon up and you returned to your rendezvous point, bag in hand. Soma was already there, leaning casually against the counter as she played on her phone. She looked up as you approached, giving you a small smile and a nod in greeting, “Were you successful?”
“I hope so,” you replied and you handed her the bag, “It is a little hard shopping for someone you’ve just met.”
She chuckled lightly, “I wasn’t expecting you to get me the perfect gift you know. I just wanted to get your mind off of things for at least a little while.”
“I know,” you said, genuinely grateful for her help, “Thank you.”
She opened the bag and took out the hoodie you bought for her. She genuinely smiled and sounded absolutely sincere when she said, “I love it. Thank you.”
“Please tell me you’re at least neutral to that team,” you said.
She frowned as she looked at the logo and name on the sweater and your heart nearly stopped.
“I’ve never heard of this team. Ever.”
Oh thank the gods.
“I mean it though, this is great - it did get rather chilly last night didn’t it?” she said.
“That it did,” you agreed, “I wish I had worn more than just my t-shirt under my coat.”
She gave you a chuckle as she handed you your bag, “Then you’re going to like what I got you.”
Her eyes twinkled as if holding back more laughter than the reserved chuckle. As if she were amused by some joke unknown to you as of yet. The moment you pulled out the exact same blue sweater you had just given Soma you understood her amusement.
“Oh gods .”
“Looks like we were on the same wavelength,” she said with a grin.
“Great minds and all that, huh,” you replied with a grin of your own and you pulled the hoodie on. It fit well, large enough to be comfortable but not feel like you were swimming in it. She pulled on her own hoodie.
You two decided to take a walk through the airport - it was better than sitting around and waiting for news. You felt almost giddy as she offered her arm and you walked down the halls. You two were probably the only ones in the airport that were relatively happy. After a few laps around the airport, stopping every so often to watch the snow still swirling around outside (and to take a selfie in front of anything vaguely rainbow colored once you two had realized you both were incredibly gay), you returned to your original spot to sit down and rest. Soma got up to grab you both food while you watched the bags.
She returned a little while later with food and a couple of sodas. You pulled out your laptop and with the spotty airport wifi and sharing a single pair of earphones, you sat next to each other and watched the sappiest Yule-themed movie you could possibly find. You opened the bag of Skittles and offered her some.
The plot was the typical high powered business woman with a boyfriend goes to a small town and falls in love with a conventionally attractive and down to earth farmer-type; and the movie buffered every two minutes … but it was good fun. And you couldn’t deny that you enjoyed being close to Soma. At some point you rested your head on her shoulder and aside from her shifting slightly to make both you and her more comfortable, she didn’t seem to mind, only giving you a gentle smile before turning her attention back to the screen.
The snow finally tapered off that afternoon with the howling winds slowly decreasing in intensity until the white out conditions were only intermittent. A little after sunset you both had gotten a news bulletin that the roads around the city were reopening as the plows finally were able to clear the major highways. Soma stood up, directing you to stay and watch the bags as she went to talk to one of the customer service agents with the airline.
Half an hour later she came back with good news - she had talked them into getting her a voucher for a hotel room overnight. There weren’t many rooms left with the hotels quickly filling up now that people were able to get to them. She offered to share the room with you and the promise of a hot shower and an actual bed was too good to pass up.
“The only room I could get has a king sized bed,” she said apologetic.
“Soma,” you said, “We literally just slept together on a tiny ass mat.”
“Fair enough.”
As you laid in bed that night, Soma not having any issues now with curling around you protectively in her sleep, you remembered all the cheesy news articles you had read about people finding companionship while stranded at an airport. You hadn’t believed those stories until now.
You both were able to get on the next flight to Grantebridge, unfortunately though you weren’t in adjacent seats. The last time you saw each other was at the baggage claim, you had offered to drive her to her home but she unfortunately had arranged for her own transportation.
“Thank you,” you said, “For everything.”
You opened your arms slightly, giving her a hopeful look and Soma laughed, pulling you into a tight embrace. She kissed you on your forehead as you reluctantly separated, “I’ll see you around,” she said and she disappeared out the door to the waiting town car.
-
You practically collapsed face first into your bed when you got back home, groaning into the pillows in relief as you finally found yourself able to relax for the first time in days. Beneath you you felt your phone buzz and you dug around in the pocket of your hoodie until you found it. You pulled the phone out from under you and looked at the screen - a text from Soma:
“So when can you show me around town? :)”
Grinning and your exhaustion forgotten, you sat up to text her back.