Courtney hid herself in the luggage compartment. The air felt thin and it was hard to breather, but she knew they couldn't be that high up, the budget would not allow for a plane that reached high altitudes. The plane just glided below the clouds. Her tears had slowed and finally stopped and now all she felt was numb. Every few minutes she felt a pain in her chest.

"That's heartbreak" she told herself

A pang of longing struck her. Come and find me, she chanted in her head, Duncan, come and find me. But she knew he never would. She was alone. She stared at the small gap between the doors, where the wind whipped in and out of the compartment. It would be so easy to slide the doors open and let her body fall to the earth below. It would be like floating she thought I would float like an angel. She let her eyelids flutter closed, feeling another droplet slide down her cheek. When they flitted open again, she looked down to the world below. She had opened the doors and now she stood on the line between life and death. She could almost feel her heart dying inside of her, like a flame that was flickering, suffocating, about to go out. Should I do it? She asked herself. No, she reasoned, that would only mean that Duncan is worth dying for, and that's not how I feel anymore. The pain may have been unbearable, but she was sure and strong, and she would struggle through it. She heard a voice behind her.

"Court," Duncan spoke

She turned to face him. His eyes were wide, his body frozen in fear. There is no way this could be happening he thought she doesn't care that much. Courtney closed the door and retreated to her former place of seclusion, leaning against a wall of suitcases, likely all of them belonging to Chris. She turned her head away from him as he stepped toward her. Each footstep pounded in her ears, in time with the beat of her heart. Her blood was on fire, her mind was on fire, and her heart was no longer dying.

"I only came for a smoke" he informed her

She did not reply. He could do what he wanted, he didn't have to justify or explain anything to her. She wasn't sure why he'd bothered to. She sneaked a peek in his direction. Her eyes bore into his back as he kneeled by his duffel bag, removing cigarette packet. Despite her internal wishes for him to leave, he sat beside her, however making sure to keep his distance. She managed to brave a look at him, and in turn, he looked at her.

"Want one?" he asked her, pointing a cigarette in her direction

She thought for a moment before answering him, "yes"

She took the cigarette from his grip and held out her hand for his lighter, which he handed over. She placed the smoke between her lips and flicked the lighter on. The flame burned bright on the edge of the cigarette. Smoke drifted upward lazily. Courtney took a long drag and exhaled. She watched Duncan light his own smoke before blowing a few rings.

"Have you done this before?" he asked suspiciously, as she copied his actions, smoke rings of her own floating away from her lips

"I got pretty good at it during exams last year," she told him, "needed something to relieve the stress. But I quite pretty easily, before I got too far gone"

"So now you've taken it up again?"

"I guess so," she laughed a little uneasily

"Why do need it?" he asked her quietly, although he likely already knew the answer

"Stress," she whispered back