Chapter 8

                                    

                                          
Still Jo's pov: 
We find our seats fairly quickly, Hero gesturing for me to take mine first, allowing me the bowed-upon 'window seat'. As I step between the two aisles, I notice a slightly older male passenger looking me up and down, clearly oblivious to the fact my boyfriend is with me. He notices the man's jaw practically on the floor and reaches down, squeezing my ass gently to mark his territory. 'Hero!' I squeal as we take our seats together and finally are able to relax. We sit through the usual show and tell of how the safety equipment works, Hero pretending to yawn and I cover my mouth to prevent myself from laughing out loud. I rest my head on his shoulder and try to drift off to sleep before the plane takes off- the worst part of the entire flight besides landing. And turbulence. God, I think I just hate every part of flying. At least we're only on a short flight over to France, not the horrendously long trip to Australia which makes me wish I lived closer to London to prevent having to fly that far ever again. 
                          
Hero's Pov:
As we start to move down the runway, one of the flight attendants trots down the middle of the aircraft reminding us to put our seatbelts on as she passes me and Jo. Looking down at the real-life sleeping beauty resting on my chest, I gently weave her seatbelt around her and fasten it, being careful not to wake her. Then I tend to my own belt and await the much dreaded take off. I enjoy it more than the average person, I love the feeling of leaning back and feeling the ground disappear beneath me as the plane takes to the air. Once the plane's wheels lift off the gravel turf below, I sneak a hand into my backpack below my seat and retrieve my AirPods which I purposely placed at the top of my bag to make them easy to find. Once I've fitted them in my ears I remove my phone from my left pocket and tap on the first playlist I see before quickly stashing it on the area of seat under my legs. A cabin crew member shakes her head at me as she navigates her way past where Jo and I are sitting but doesn't give me any instruction to remove the AirPods. They say we shouldn't use devices until the seatbelt sign is off but they don't really mean that. What's the harm anyway? I stroke Josephine's hair as my heartbeat matches the music's rhythm, and I find myself falling into a much needed sleep. 
                          
...
                          
still Hero:
When I wake I glance at my phone screen and realise I've only been asleep for about 20 minutes. I guess I wasn't so tired after all. The seatbelt sign is now off so I remove mine first then Jo's, needing to free my body from the restriction. As I look down at Jo, she's shifting in her seat despite still being fast asleep. Confused, I scan her face more carefully, noticing a look of discomfort and a few beads of sweat collecting on her forehead and above her lip. 'Fuck!' She suddenly squeaks, waking a few passengers in the seats across from where we are. 'Sorry'  I mouth to them, not exactly meaning what I said. Jo is struggling to take in the air around her, gripping my arms and panic rushing through her system. 'Jo, breathe' I say, taking deep breaths myself in hopes she'll copy what I'm doing. 'Another nightmare?' I ask, already knowing the answer as my heart hurts when she clutches at my t shirt as if she's afraid I'm going to up and leave her. Only just managing to steady her breathing, she wraps her arms around my neck and intertwines her fingers, locking her hands tightly around me. I hold her waist and breathe slowly with her, hoping she will talk to me about this. 
'Baby I've had enough of this. You waking up in the middle of the night and then telling me everything's fine. What the fuck is going on?' I interrogate her. It's been going on long enough now. I need some answers already. This is the love of my life beside me on this plane. Why won't she just be honest with me. I really care about her. And I'm really damn worried about her. 'Hero I..' she begins.
'Jo, please. Not another excuse. Tell me what's going on.' I inhale a deep breath of air and exhale slowly, bracing myself for what I'm about to hear. 
                          
Josephine's pov;
'Hero I'm so sorry I didn't tell you all this before.' I start by saying. He deserves an apology. Sucking in a deep breath similarly to him, and forcing my tears to stay put and not roll down my fiery cheeks, I tell him everything..
                          
'It started when we were back in that hotel after the shoot with ELLE. The night we had that.. argument.' I stutter over my words as Hero rubs my waist sympathetically. 
'I went to bed thinking about the fight we had, and the next thing I know I'm having this crazy nightmare. You were sinking and drowning, and I couldn't help you and—'
'Baby' he interrupts me calmly. 'Slow down, take a breath, and carry on.' 
I follow his instructions and collect myself before continuing. 'I just stood there helpless on the edge of the river bank, screaming for help but none came. It felt as though I was letting you down' I admit at the end, tensions rising in my stomach. I feel as though I'm going to throw up coming clean to Hero in this way. 
'Babe, it's just a nightmare. It's not real' he tries to soothe me but it does nothing. 
                          
(Quick swap to Hero's POV)
'It would be just a nightmare except it keeps on happening, getting worse each time. Not to mention—' she stops, cursing at herself under her breath as if she's just revealed something she didn't want me to know. 'Not to mention what Josephine?' I ask, using her full name for once and trying to hold my emotions inside for her benefit. 'The fact that in the dreams you were calling me.. Tessa' she tells me, looking down at her feet as if she has something to be ashamed about. 'Oh' I respond, not able to form a proper sentence to come back with. 
'And on top of that, you said your name was Hardin' she adds, and I instantly know this is what she's been freaking out about. This is what's been silently bothering her for over a month now. 
                          
Josephine's pov:
'Oh come on baby, I'm nowhere near as obnoxious as Hardin' he playfully states with a laugh. For once, I don't giggle at his friendly joke. I can't even force a smile. What's happening to me? 'Look. It's probably common to dream about us as our onscreen characters' He says, as if he knows all about it. I bite my lip to avoid retaliation as he continues.
'Maybe we've just been spending so much of our time together either on set, or in interviews about the movie, that it's sort of become a big part of our personal lives?' 
What he's saying does actually make sense to me. It seems like a reasonable explanation. 
'Like your mind is tricking you into believing a part of Tessa has remained with you since we finished filming.' He says, almost shocked at his own words as they fall from his lips. 
'I don't know, I'm not an expert' Hero remarks, scratching the back of his head and mustering an awkward chuckle. 
'That does sorta make sense' I say, feeling some pressure crumble away in my chest as I begin to feel a bit more relaxed talking to Hero about this. 'You feel better now you've talked about it?' 
'Weirdly, yeah I do' I say, managing a genuine smile this time. 
'Good. Now come here you.' He opens his arms and I throw myself into the warmth of his chest as we hug tightly, almost forgetting we're on an aeroplane with lots of people surrounding us.
As he releases me from the embrace we hear a 'ding' noise indicating for us to put our seat belts back on. Thank goodness it's time for us to descend into France. This talk with Hero distracted me from most of the flight, which I gladly acknowledge with a smile to myself. And I finally told him about the nightmares and I don't suspect they'll be back anytime soon. I've faced the minor problem I have, and now I have nothing to worry about. All I care about is Hero.
                          
A/N: slightly longer chapter here, but hope you liked it. Are Jo's nightmares really gone for good? Keep reading to find out! 
Love, 
E x