It was already December 29th. The time passed faster than it ever had before. JC was right…his family did love Lexi, and Lexi loved them just as much. Their flight left at 5 PM, and although JC and Lexi protested, his family insisted on following them to the airport to make sure they got off safely.
Good evening, we are going to begin boarding flight 1389, non-stop service to Orlando, at gate B12 at this time. All first class passengers, those traveling with small children, or children traveling by themselves are welcome to start boarding at this time. Again we are now boarding flight 1389 with non-stop service to Orlando at gate B12.
“Well,” JC said standing up and adjusting his baseball cap, “That’s us.”
“I want you to call when you get home. Ok, Josh?”
“Ok, Mom.”
As JC gave his mom a hug, Lexi was hugging Roy.
“Now anytime you’re in the DC area, don’t hesitate to call us!”
Lexi laughed. “I won’t. It was nice meeting you. I hope to see you again soon.”
“Oh, I have a feeling you will,” Roy smiled.
When JC and Lexi finished hugging everyone goodbye, they headed towards the gate. They gave the Chasez family one last wave goodbye and headed down the corridor that lead to the plane.
The flight back was quiet. They were just so tired. Not only physically tired, but emotionally tired from keeping such strong feelings inside. Lexi wanted to tell him how she felt so badly, but she was still feeling the blow from the whole Matt situation. She knew she would be ready for another relationship, but she wasn’t sure if she could handle the rejection if JC didn’t feel the same way.
As Lexi thought about this, JC was coming to an important decision, but he was having trouble thinking around all of these people.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Lexi as he unbuckled his seat belt.
He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He needed to be away from talking and be by himself for a few minutes so that he could sort out his thoughts. He leaned put against the door, closed his eyes, and started whispering to himself.
“Ok, I already almost told her once, so that means I can do it again. But when?”
JC wished he could pace, but the tiny bathroom kept him in one place. He sighed deeply, closed the lid on the toilet, sat down, and put his face in his hands. After five minutes of sorting his thoughts he came to a conclusion.
“That’s it!” he said aloud. “I’ll tell her exactly how I feel at Justin’s New Year’s Eve party. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way I think we’re close enough for it not to affect us.” He breathed a sigh of relief and left the bathroom.
“Are you ok?” Lexi asked when he returned to his seat.
“Yeah, I’m great. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you were gone for a pretty long time. I thought I lost ya.”
“No no. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Damn! And I was hoping…”
At about 10 o’clock the limo was pulling up to Lexi’s condo. JC got out to help her with her luggage and to walk her to her door.
“I just wanted to thank you for inviting me along to spend Christmas with your family. I know I’ve thanked you like a million times, but one more wouldn’t hurt.”
“Lex, it was no problem. I told you they would love you.”
“Yeah, well I love them too.”
They embraced in yet another hug, and Lexi unlocked her door.
“I’ll see you on New Year's Eve for the party?” she asked.
“Absolutely. Good night.”
“Good night.”
Chapter Fourteen
Home is where the heart is