9 : The Whispering Gallery

                                    

                                          
Heathrow Airport, London
Talia stood at the arrivals gate feeling antsy. She had seen enough airports and planes to last a lifetime in the past two months. 
Noah's plane had been delayed for two hours, and with every second passing she grew more and more impatient. She was overwhelmed and overthinking everything, down to how she should greet him. 
Hey? Hi! Hello? No, nothing sounded right. 
Hug or no hug? 
Kiss on the cheek? Too much - but what if he went in for a kiss on the cheek and she turned away? That would make for another awkward moment, like what had happened in New York. 
She went over to the arrivals board to check again, and saw that his flight had finally landed - she felt her pulse quicken again. She hadn't seen him in a month, and although their daily calls kept them close - seeing someone in person was obviously very different to being with them in real life.  She was nervous that she would forget how to respond to physical cues, or affection - anything like that. 
When she finally spotted him walking towards her with his small case and rucksack, her breath caught. He scanned the area, not seeing her at first, but when he finally did - his breath caught too. 
His dark hair was tousled and his face tired, both from the long flight. He had dark circles around his eyes, and she felt guilty that he had flown all this way to see her amidst his busy schedule, for just three days. 
When their eyes finally met, and smiles spread across their faces, nothing else mattered. Talia forgot everything she had been worrying about merely seconds before, and ran up to him. Before she could second guess herself, she engulfed him in a hug like she did the last time she saw him. 
This time, though, he didn't hesitate to hug her back. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and lifted her off of the ground a bit. 
"Miss me?" He muttered into her hair, his voice low and teasing, though it held a deeper emotion to it that Talia could not yet discern. 
"A bit, yeah," she said quietly, not wanting to let go. She pulled back, just enough to look up at him. Her hair was as wild and beautiful as ever, dyed back to brown as she had finished filming and needed a break from the blonde. He brought up a hand to her cheek, and stroked it with his thumb. 
"Welcome to London," she smiled. His hand which was still around her waist moved up and down along her back in small but soothing strokes, as though it was second nature to him. The two of them reveled in the fact that they could be with one another in real life once more. 
"Let's go, then," he responded. 
"There are photographers outside - I hope you don't mind, I let Holly know what time you were arriving," Talia said as they finally broke away from the hug. He had a weary look on his face, but he did not vocalize any distress about the paparazzi. 
He took her hand and they made their way out of the airport. Immediately, they were surrounded by a few photographers taking their pictures. There was a respectable distance, but they were still closer than they had been in the past. Talia found herself gripping onto Noah's hand even tighter. 
Filming of season 2 had officially wrapped, and it had been recently announced that Talia was cast in an upcoming highly anticipated horror movie, meaning that she was garnering a lot more attention than she had previously, and was still getting used to it. 
Noah felt the anxiety in the firm grip of her hand, so he looked over at her and gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand. They walked for a bit, until they reached the taxi pick up and drop off zone. As they both hopped into the backseat of a black cab, and they let out matching sighs of relief.