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Straight to the Heart

Chapter 2

The turbulence was terrible—to the point that Rey was beginning to lose feeling in the hand gripping Matt's forearm. Her other hand was clenched in tight fist, and she sat with closed eyes and her head leaning forward. The crying baby behind them did not help her anxiety at all. For the first couple of minutes, Matt had tried to tell her that they were fine, and he seemed perfectly at ease. Rey, however, couldn't shake the feeling that the plane was shaking apart. At that moment, the plane shook especially hard. She tried to focus on the texture of the overalls beneath her hand as she attempted to regulate her breathing.

"That's it. From now on, I'm sticking to rollercoasters. At least I'm closer to the ground, then. I might stand a chance if something were to happen." Her words came out rushed. I really shouldn't have watched all those air crash shows.

"Rey," Matt said, his deep voice finding its way through her panicked thoughts. Turning to him, she opened her eyes and he looked pointedly at his hand before meeting her gaze again. He had turned his hand over, palm up and hand open—a silent invitation to take it.

"Thank you," she replied, letting go of his arm. Her fingers felt stiff from being in the same position too long, and she flexed them a few times.

A curious thing happened, then. Rey watched as her fingers slid over his palm and through his fingers, their palms meeting, and it felt intimate somehow. There, surrounded by people and without even knowing his surname, it felt like a moment she would never forget. He was letting her hold on to him, which was significant considering the incident with the wipe earlier. With her eyes on their hands, watching as they wrapped around each other, there was something there. She looked up into his eyes. "Thank you," she repeated.

He only nodded in response, turning his gaze forward again, causing her to wonder if he felt what she was feeling. Rey leaned her head back and kept her eyes on the wing through the window. Maybe, at first, that wasn't the best idea, but as the turbulence lessened more and more, she found herself relaxing—the wing was still firmly attached to the plane. When they experienced a rough patch, her hand unconsciously tightened around Matt's and his firm hold reassured her.

Eventually the worst of the turbulence past, but their hands remained intertwined until the dinner service. Thankfully, the distraction of food also made the baby stop crying.

"Chicken or beef?" the flight attendant asked, stopping the cart next to them.

There was no mistaking the look on Matt's face—he was not looking forward to the meal. "Beef," he replied grudgingly.

"Me, too," Rey responded. Her hand felt strangely cold as she let go of his.

They were handed their meals—lasagna with a small container of salad on the side, as well as salad dressing in a plastic container and water in a sealed plastic cup. After opening the container and unwrapping the utensils, Matt eyed the lasagna on his fork as though it could harm him before slowly taking a bite. He chewed even slower with an expression that clearly showed his displeasure.

"What?" Rey asked, glancing at him. The food wasn't excellent, but it wasn't bad either.

"It tastes the way it looks—unauthentic." He grimaced but took another bite anyway.

"Oh, and what does real lasagna taste like, Monsieur Food Critic?" She couldn't help but smile.

"Not like this." He put down his fork and turned to her. "Where are you heading? Coruscant or is it just a layover?"

"Layover. I'm …" She hesitated for a moment. "I'm flying to Naboo."

He nodded and appeared thoughtful. "There's a small restaurant near the lake in Theed, Jar-Jar's. The old owner can be … trying, but the food is worth it."

Rey smiled excitedly. "You've been there?"

He played with his fork in the lasagna's container. "I spent some time there as a child. My grandmother was from there."

"That's amazing." Rey couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Is it really as beautiful as in the pictures?"

"It's even better in person." He cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses. Picking up his cup of water, he tried to peel off the lid.

"Wow, that's—" She was interrupted when Matt pulled the lid off with a little too much force, sending water over his hand and legs. "Oh!" she exclaimed and quickly grabbed her napkin.

He muttered something angrily, and she glanced at him as he dried his hand with his own napkin. She absentmindedly began to pat the napkin on his leg. Suddenly, she froze as realized what she was doing. That was when she noticed he was also motionless, and she couldn't look him in the eye even if she wanted to.

"I'm so sorry!" She pushed her napkin into his other hand. "I keep overstepping personal boundaries with you. I don't mean to, I promise."

She turned back to her tray and took a large bite to keep her mouth full. I'm so embarrassed …

He continued to dry himself as best as he could under the circumstance, and she leaned her elbow on the armrest, blocking her peripheral vision with her hand. Relieved when the beverage cart came by, Rey ordered tea for her nerves and kept her gaze on the tray in front of her. He chose coffee. She poured sugar into her tea, putting effort in to make sure that her shoulder didn't brush against his arm.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean anything by it," he said, keeping his voice low.

Finally, she dared to look up and was surprised to see a small smile on his face. She returned it, feeling relief flow through her. "Thanks. And thank you for not making a big deal about … everything." She nodded in the direction of the college-aged guys. "They would probably be giving me a hard time about … everything."

He nodded and began to get his tray ready for the cleanup cart.

Rey looked at his half-eaten lasagna and salad, trying not to say anything. In the end, she failed. "Are you finished with that?" He nodded in response. "Give it to me, then."

He stared at her, speechless.

Taking the lasagna container from him, she removed the lid. "I have this thing about wasting food," she said. When he continued to stare without a word, she self-consciously tucked stray hair behind her ear. "What?"

He shook his head slightly before looking straight ahead. She almost missed it, but she noticed his fists clench tightly before he relaxed his hands. Unsure what that was about, Rey shrugged and continued to eat.

A while after the cleanup cart had come by, and the lights had dimmed for those who wanted to sleep, something else reached them. Rey was watching the movie on the screen above the middle row of seats. A tap on her shoulder drew her attention, so she removed her earphones and turned to Matt.

"Do you smell that?" he asked.

"What?" She sniffed lightly and then breathed in deeply through her nose. The smell was faint but getting stronger. "What is that?"

Then, an unmistakable sound reached their ears. Pushing herself up, Rey looked over the back of her seat. The family with the baby was sitting behind them. Lowering back into her seat, Rey wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry about the events of her trip so far. In a way, both happened—silent tears began to roll over her cheeks as her shoulders shook with laughter.

"What is it?" Matt asked a little impatiently. He glanced over his seat before looking at her again. "What?"

"It's the baby."

"What do you mean, 'It's the baby?'" His face, though, said he already suspected what she meant.

"Nappy."

"What?"

"Diaper," she explained, laughing.

"It's not funny."

"Yes, it is. I can't believe how this trip is turning out. My life isn't this exciting." She wiped away the tears, shoulders still shaking with laughter.

It's wasn't long before there was no longer enough "safe" air to be able to laugh. Pinching her nose, Rey tapped Matt on the shoulder. "You should wake them up and tell them their baby needs a change."

"And they can't smell it?" he asked incredulously.

"They must be exhausted. They're asleep."

"Why do I have to wake them?"

"You smelled it first."

He stared at her as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Standing up, with an expression that clearly said he wondered why he was doing this, he entered the aisle and lightly touched the mother's shoulder. She didn't move. Instead, a snore escaped and she turned her head towards her husband.

"Ma'am." He touched her shoulder again. This time she started as she awakened.

"What? What's going on?" She looked around and checked on the baby sleeping against her shoulder.

Matt cleared his throat. "I believe the child needs a change."

"Well, they say change is a good as a holiday." The mother laughed lightly. Then it dawned on her. "Oh, you mean. …"

Rey had heard the saying that someone's face appeared a little green. Never did she expect to see it with her own eyes. The mother pulled away the back of the footed pants to check the nappy, and Matt immediately looked like he was going to be sick. He turned away and placed his hands on his hips, with his lips pressed firmly together.

Poor guy, Rey thought, doing her best to suppress her laughter. He had dealt well with the seat earlier, when he'd needed the wipe, and now this… If he was a germaphobe, it couldn't have been easy.

Unfortunately for Matt, it didn't end there.

"Excuse me. Can you …?" The mother looked at Matt before nodding toward the baby. "The blanket is twisted around the seatbelt."

Matt looked helplessly at Rey. In response, she gave him two thumbs up while smiling reassuringly. Inwardly, however, it took all she had not to laugh.

A little clumsily, while holding his breath, Matt carefully picked up the baby and rested her against his shoulder. His head was turned in the other direction, and he looked like he was going to be sick due to the smell. Still, the image of the tall man with broad shoulders holding the little baby. … Rey swallowed. There was something beautiful about it, even with his strange hair color.

The mother untangled herself, and she thanked him after entering the aisle and taking the baby from him. She quickly picked up the nappy bag and walked towards the back of the plane.

"You okay?" Rey asked when he sat back down.

"I'll live."

She pressed her lips together in order to hold back a smile.

"Rey?"

"Yeah?"

He turned to her with a serious expression on his face. "Do you have another wipe?"

Rey couldn't help it—laughter burst forth. Shaking her head, she touched his arm before standing up to get her backpack from the overhead compartment. She returned the backpack to its place after getting a wipe, and she handed it to him before returning to her seat.

"I have a question." She kept her eyes on him, clearly amused. "If or when you ever have one of your own, are you going to leave all the nappies for the mother to change?"

"I haven't given children much thought … or any thought for that matter." He held the wipe towards her.

Raising an eyebrow, she nodded toward the overhead compartment. "My backpack's side pocket."

He paused for a moment, appearing unsure, before standing and opening the overhead compartment. As he returned to his seat, she continued with the topic. "What if you had to? Would you do it?"

"I'd rather hire a diaper changer, or whatever you'd call someone with that particular job."

Rey laughed. "Ahh, so you're planning to be promoted. Nannies are expensive, you know. Just don't work so hard that your kids don't know you."

"No nannies," he replied quickly and vehemently.

Rey wondered about his reaction, but she had a feeling that now wasn't the time to ask. Instead, she laughed and pretended that she hadn't noticed his strong reaction. "So you literally mean 'nappy changer.' Well, in that case, you're going to have to work hard anyway. With that job description, there will need to be financial incentives."

He looked into her eyes, and she could see that he knew she'd noticed. "Some things … some people should always be a priority," he said quietly and earnestly.

Rey immediately thought, He's saying that with experience. That one sentence told her more about him than she would've thought possible.

"I agree," she replied softly and held out her hand. He took it after hesitating momentarily, and their hands slipped into each other's—palm to palm and fingers interlaced. She turned her head to look into the night through the window, but as his gripped tightened for a moment, she looked back. He didn't say anything, but she could see that he was grateful. Smiling in return, Rey turned back and looked through the window.

For Rey, the moment felt suspended somehow—for those few minutes, she didn't think about the plane racing toward a destination and they would be going their separate ways. However, if it was possible for Rey to hear someone's thoughts, then that was exactly what was going through the mind of the man she knew as Matt.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this second chapter. I'd love to hear from you :) I've decided to continue the story, but most likely it won't be very long. Thank you for the first chapter's review, favorites and follows! I appreciate it!