𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝐒𝐊𝐘 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇

THE blonde woman paced her apartment, anxiously making sure she had everything she needed and doing a mental checklist. She had her laptop and its charger, her Kindle, her phone charger, makeup, hair products, but she couldn't find her damn glasses!

A knock on the door snapped her out of her panic, quickly rushing over to the door and swinging it open, revealing Drew in a hoodie, sweats, sneakers and a baseball hat. He smiled down at her, admiring her Harvard hoodie and fuzzy pants, before he frowned at her state of disarray, "Hey, you okay?"

She shook her head and stepped backwards as he closed the door behind him, "No, I can't find my glasses and I hate wearing contacts on planes and–"

"Hey, hey," He attempted to calm her down with a smile, but she shook her head, "No, Seriously. It's the one thing I don't want to leave behind–"

"Baby—" He smiled and grabbed her cheeks, tilting her head up to look at him with nervous eyes. He didn't speak for a moment, then he was moving his hands up and pulling her glasses off where they rested on top of her head, "You're wearing them."

She paused, looking down at the frames in his hand before a loud huff escaped her. She leaned forward, pressing the top of her head against his chest and groaning, "I'm losing it."

"Are you okay? I have never seen you like this."

She leaned back and grabbed her glasses from him, pushing them up her nose with a shrug, "Honestly? Drew, I'm nervous as hell. I'm just a few hours away from meeting your family and—I don't know."

Drew frowned but covered it with a small smile quickly, "Do you wanna stay? I can return your ticket, It's no worry-"

"No, I want to go. I'm just...traumatized." She joked, smiling up at him, "I do want to go, swear." She reached up to place a hand on the side of his neck, "I'm just dramatic."

He grinned, leaning down to press his lips against hers, "Where's your stuff? I've got airport anxiety and hate being late." She hummed at his joke, pointing at the light pink suitcase by the front door, "I gotta grab my backpack, and then I'm ready."

She rushed into her room, throwing her black JanSport backpack over her shoulder, head perking up at Drew's grunt, "What the hell did you put in this?"

She chuckled, grabbing her keys from her nightstand and rushing out of the room. Yesterday, she had given Lyla to Sadie for the week, and the apartment had felt so empty since. She smiled at the man as he dragged the suitcase out of the apartment, Juliette making sure to turn off all the lights and lock the balcony window before rushing out, sliding her feet into her Uggs and locking the front door behind her.

Down in the parking lot, under the rising 6am sun, sat a sleek black BMW, and Juliette raised an eyebrow. Drew sensed it, smiling down at her, "My sister, Brooke, is flying out with us. It's her car."

Juliette paused a little, pep in her step disappearing, "Oh, okay."

Drew stopped and looked back at her, "Everything okay?" She hummed and nodded, "Just prepping myself to meet your sister." Drew laughed, "She's so excited to meet you, she's a fan, so give her goofy ass some slack."

Juliette smiled, relived that his sister knew of her and enjoyed her music, picking her pace back up and watching as he opened the trunk to place her suitcase in with a black one and a brown LV one.

"Hi!"

Juliette looked up as a brunette emerged from the car, grinning ear to ear with her arms out as she rounded the car and approached Juliette. "Hi, I'm Brooke!" Juliette smiled at Brooke, hugging the girl for a moment and stepping back as Drew closed the trunk.

"Drew, in the back."

Juliette smiled back at Drew, who rolled his eyes at his sister as she got back in the drivers seat. "She's excited." Juliette nodded as Drew opened the passenger door for the blonde, who nodded, "I see that."

Once the trio had dropped off the car at the parking garage and paid for the 6 day parking fee, they rushed into the airport dropped off their suitcases and began making their way to security.

Juliette tugged her hoodie over her head, keeping her gaze on the ground as she trailed behind the siblings.

It's not that she didn't like being noticed, or that she didn't like meeting fans, but God, she wanted to avoid the shit storm of her being here with Drew and his sister.

She got out of the security line first, slipping her feet back into her Uggs and throwing her backpack over one of her shoulders. Drew was behind Brooke, the siblings joking with each other as they went through the scanners.

"Hi."

Juliette turned to a group of 4 girls, all appearing to be sisters, seeing as they all had matching sets of bright ginger hair. The youngest one smiled up at her, "Are you Juliette Carter?"

Juliette's stomach dropped at being spotted, but threw on a smile and nodded, "I am." She whispered, and the little girl grinned, "I like your music. Sarah plays it really loud from her room all the time,"

Juliette glanced over at the tallest girl, whose cheeks burned pink, "I'm a big fan." Juliette hadn't noticed one of the other girls taking photos of their interaction, the blonde could only focus on ending it as soon as possible. She loved her fans, but her anxiety was through the roof and she needed to sit down and chill out.

Juliette glanced back at Drew and Brooke, who were sliding their shoes back on in sync, "I gotta go catch my flight, but it was so nice meeting you girls. Be safe." She smiled brightly at the four, giving each of them a small hug, before spinning on her heel, speeding through the crowd to find Drew and Brooke.

When she finally spotted Drew, his face was covered by his hat, head tilted down towards his phone while he stood next to the women's bathroom.

"Hey." She breathed, stepping in front of him, "Oh, thank god." He huffed, reaching out and bringing the blonde into a hug. "I was looking for you but Brooke had to pee bad. I'd figured you'd rushed off to the bathroom too, I was just texting you. What happened?"

She pulled away from him and shrugged, "Got spotted like an animal in the wild." She grumbled, yanking her hood tighter over her head and tucking her long blonde hair inside the hoodie.

Drew chuckled, glancing back as Brooke emerged from the bathroom, "I'm good." She grinned, Juliette chuckling as the three of them ventured off towards their gate.

Once they were there, they were collectively surprised to see the area wasn't too crowded, and Brooke happily walked over to an empty section of seats and flopped down with a groan. Drew smiled down at Juliette as the blonde sat down beside Brooke and leaned back with a sigh, "I'm gonna head over to the Starbucks. Are we wanting anything?"

Brooke nodded, "Duh, get me my usual, please." Drew playfully rolled his eyes, glancing down at Juliette, who slowly opened her eyes and tiredly smiled at him. He tilted his head, "Your usual as well, Sleepy?" She nodded, "Mhm, and a sausage egg and cheese, please." He nodded with a smile, the two girls watching as he walked off.

"Okay, now that the gremlin is gone, we can have girl time. It's so nice to meet you, Drew has said so much about you, all good things, swear." Brooke smiled over at Juliette, the blonde chuckled and shuffling in her seat, "He has said a lot about you as well, but I had no idea you lived out in LA, I thought you lived in New York!"

Brooke nodded and cleared her tired throat, "Oh, I do. I came out here for a friends baby shower and figured I'd stay an extra week so I could fly out with Drew. I was so excited when he told me you were coming with us! Not as excited as him, though-"

"Talking about me?"

Juliette looked up at Drew, who was holding a tray of coffees with a bag resting on the empty spot.

Brooke nodded, "Yeah, I'm telling her about that time when you were 15 when you fell down the stairs and-"

"Okay." Drew interred his sister by shoving her iced coffee in her face, making the girls giggle. Drew took a seat beside Juliette, handing the girl her grande cup. She smiled at him, mouthing a 'Thank you' and warming her hands on the outside of the hot cup.

He passed her a small bag, which she gratefully accepted and placed in her lap, watching in her peripheral as he placed the tray to his right and sipped his hot coffee, other hand holding his own bag of food.

Juliette placed her coffee in her chairs cup holder, peeling open her bag and taking a big bite of the steaming sandwich. She almost moaned at the feeling of finally eating, glancing over at Drew as he took a bite of his own sandwhich while scrolling on his phone.

"What'd you get?" She inquired, looking down at the sandwich in his hand.

Drew swallowed and looked over at her, "Bacon Gouda. Bite?" She grinned and nodded, passing him her own sandwich and grabbing his, taking a smaller bite and nodding in satisfaction, "That's good."

Drew smiled, taking a bite of the sausage and egg before switching their sandwich's back. "Mm." He hummed through his bite. reaching his hand up and using the pad of his thumb to brush a crumb off her lip.

"You two are insufferably cute." Juliette glanced over at Brooke, who was grinning at them with a cake pop in one hand and her coffee in the other, the brunette slowly sipping it.

Juliette yawned as the trio walked down the ramp of the plane, glancing down at the ticket in her hand that Drew had handed her in the car. "I couldn't get a seat next to ours, but hopefully you're not stuck next to a creepy guy." He had joked.

Juliette was going for that, too. Hopefully she got sat next to a nice old lady, or a quiet young woman her age. Hell, she'd take a rude middle aged woman too, anything but a creepy guy.

Once they got into business class, Juliette looked up from the ticket as Drew started hauling Brooke's carry-on into the overhead compartment above a two seat spot. He turned to his girlfriend with a small smile as Brooke slide into the window seat. Juliette glanced back down at her ticket, taking note of the seat number directly behind Drew's seat.

In the seat beside hers, behind Brooke? A man, probably in his 60's, smiling up at her. She paused, preparing herself to sit beside him, but Drew turned to her, the blonde glancing up at him as she peeled her backpack off.

"Sit next to Brooke, baby." He bent down, pressing his lips against hers before sliding into her original seat with an uncomfortable smile at the older man, who now seemed disappointed.

Juliette smiled down at him, squeezing his knee before sitting down beside Brooke and placing her backpack under the seat in front of her. "I get you all to myself for 5 hours." Brooke teased, nudging the chuckling Blonde beside her.

Brooke fell asleep 2 hours in, after the two girls whispered back and forth and got to know each other.

Juliette had turned to her book, you shouldn't have come here ,to pass the time. And it did, for about 30 minutes, and then Drew was peeking his head around the side of her chair with a smile, "Hey gorgeous. What are you reading?"

Juliette smiled down at her book, before turning her head towards his. Their face was mere inches apart. so close she could feel his soft breaths on her upper lip. "You Shouldn't Have Come Here." She whispered back, showing him the cover. He frowned playfully, "Rude." She giggled quietly, Drew taking the moment to admire the cute way her face crinkled. "This guy snores."

Juliette shrugged and glanced over at Brooke, who was sleeping silently, before looking back at him, "That sucks for you."

He playfully glared at her, pressing a quick kiss against her lips before sitting back in his seat.

Juliette had been to North Carolina before, obviously, but she'd never flown into Raleigh-Durham. The place was fucking massive. She had a hard time peeling her eyes away from the intricate ceilings as they marched their way towards baggage claim.

"This way." Drew mumbled, reaching down to grab her hand and guide her in the opposite direction she was heading, moving her through the crowds. She attempted to keep up with his long legs, the blonde looking over at Brooke, who was also much taller than Juliette, keeping up with her brother perfectly. She cursed her height, lightly jogging to stay in sync as they approached the baggage claim.

Juliette heaved as they came to a stop, playfully shoving Drew's arm, "I can't keep up with you, you fucking beanpole." Drew laughed at that, placing his large hand on the top of her head and gently pushing her as the planes baggage started rolling out.

It only took them about 20ish minutes to find all of their luggage, and Juliette took the time to admire how Drew pulled her suitcase up almost effortlessly and pulled the handle out, leaning on it until his own suitcase came around the bend. Brooke grabbed her own, slapping her brothers hand away from the designer luggage with a scowl.

Juliette giggled, Drew turning to her with raised eyebrows, "Ready? My soon to be brother in law should be picking us up any moment." She nodded, reaching for her suitcase, when Drew scoffed and grabbed the handle before she could, "Tsk tsk."

She rolled her eyes, hiding her blushing cheeks as she followed behind him and Brooke towards a set of glass double doors. They slid open, revealing the cool, nippy North Carolina air, and Juliette closed her eyes, inhaling the faint scent of salt, something sweet, and wet grass. She opened her eyes once more, glancing around the area and taking note of the many people, cars, and red maple tree leaves littering the entire ground. It smelled nice, and was a pleasant contrast to the smog and stuffy air in LA.

Juliette smiled at the clear sky, looking over at Drew while the man furiously typed on his phone.

"I'm so glad you're here, and I know you're nervous but don't be. Everyone will like you just as much as we do." Brooke smiled beside the blonde, making her smile anxiously, "I hope so. I just know we haven't been dating too long and I don't want to give anyone a bad impression or–"

"You won't." Brooke smiled reassuringly, "Just flash that gorgeous smile and tell those stupid jokes and everyone will love you."

Before Juliette could respond, a honking snapped her attention towards a silver Honda SUV. A man hopped out of the drivers seat, rushing towards the trio. "Hey, there he is!" The man exclaimed, pulling a smiling Drew in for a big hug, when they pulled away, he turned to Broooe with a smile, "Hey, Brookey." They hugged, and the Drew was appearing at Juliette's side with a comforting hand on her back, "Hey, Garrett, this is my girlfriend, Juliette."

The label made her stomach swirl and knees go gummy, she hadn't heard him actually say it until now, let alone introduce her to someone as his girlfriend. She tried to act natural, pretend as if the man didn't have a glittering effect on her insides, covering it was a nervous smile, "Hi, nice to meet you."

She stuck her hand out for a handshake, and the man happily shook it with a smile, "Juliette! I'm Garrett, and we've heard a lot about you, we're happy you could make it."