It felt pretty unusual to Shawn to be returning to the airport for the second time in 24 hours, especially for the reason that he was here this time. The first trip there was mainly exciting, but this time, it was both exciting and nerve-wracking. As Shawn sat near the terminal where the love of his life was supposed to exit, his knee quickly bouncing up and down, he realized he had never felt so afraid to see Angela.
At the moment, she was probably gazing through a window at the foggy scenery of tightly packed skyscrapers below her. And Shawn was hoping that as she sat there, descending towards American soil once more, she wasn't feeling the same dread he was battling with.
Sitting there, struggling through every tick of the slowly passing time, Shawn thought about how his two visits to the airport were similar to his two visits to the hospital. He often did that when left alone with his thoughts—make up creative metaphors or compare and contrast different situations he had lived through or noticed around him.
The first visit to the hospital had turned out fine; Mr. Turner—while very gravely injured—eventually woke up about a day or two after the accident, grinning at Shawn and saying, "I'm not done yelling at you yet, Hunter."
The second hospital visit, however, did not turn out fine; Shawn had lost his dad to a heart attack, and something inside him had never been a perfect whole again. He supposed it was most likely a regret of never having the chance to spend much time at all with his dad.
So, in Shawn's mind, the first hospital visit ended happily, just like yesterday's airport visit ended the same way in the return of Jack, the only true family member that he was left with. On the other hand, the second hospital visit resulted in a loss that Shawn would never be able to completely recover from—just like he had a terrible feeling that this airport visit would turn out in the same way: a loss that he would never be able to fully move on from.
Overwhelmed at the thought of losing two close people in two turbulent years, Shawn sighed, closing his eyes and bending his head towards the floor as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"How you holdin' up, Shawny?" Cory said, sitting next to him and putting his arm around his distressed friend.
"I'm barely holding up." Shawn said as he lifted his head and grinned with a chuckle. "If she doesn't get here soon, though—"
"Nerves are nippin' at you, huh?" Cory said in an understanding tone.
"Yeah." Shawn sounded more grave this time, looking over his shoulder to see if the terminal was opened yet. "I just feel so stupid for believing that a long distance relationship like this would actually survive an entire year."
"Hey, you haven't even seen her yet." Cory said, trying to ground his friend in as much truth as he could find. "Maybe you've just misinterpreted these past few months, because trust me, Shawn: I know how much Angela loves you almost more than you know. I was around her when you guys weren't together anymore in college, and I saw how much she still loved you."
Shawn looked up, listening to Cory as he went on.
"You two were almost apart for a year then, and she never lost her feelings towards you. I'm sure nothing's changed since then."
Shawn smiled, a spark of encouragement lighting the previous darkness in his eyes. "Thanks, Cor."
Just then, the a voice over the intercom announced the arrival of the flight Angela was on. Shawn perked up, his heart stopping, then rapidly restarting as he realized he was about to see Angela's beautiful brown eyes look back at his for the first time in over a year.
They all quickly leaped up from their seats and made their way near the terminal, watching a flight attendant unlatch the heavy door. Multiple people began to escape from the exit afterwards, some bouncing towards friends and family with squeals and outstretched arms while others separated from the group and headed outside the airport.
Glancing through the crowds, they suddenly located the brown-haired girl, wearing a tank top and khaki pants as she grasped onto her baggage, struggling to spot her friends.
"Angela!" Topanga yelled with a huge smile, waving her arms to help her find them, causing the rest of the group to do the same.
Immediately turning her head, Angela showed her gorgeous wide smile, making Shawn's insides feel even more jumbled as he nervously shifted from foot to foot, suddenly looking at the floor.
Everyone around him reached for Angela, pulling her luggage from her hands and into long hugs. Topanga and Angela swayed back and forth, laughing and almost crying as they were each finally reunited with their best friend.
"I missed you so much!" Topanga said in a joyful, yet unstable tone, her voice muffled as her faced was pressed into Angela's shoulder.
"I did, too, girl—I did, too!" Angela said, smiling as she squeezed her tighter and closed her eyes.
Finally stepping out of embrace, both of them continued to laugh and reached for their eyes, wiping away stray tears with their fingers.
"Ahhh, you look beautiful!" Angela said, directing her eyes towards Topanga's baby bump. "Can I touch it?"
"Yes, thank you!" Topanga said, then adding in reference to the previous scare of last year, "This time, it's real!"
Rachel stepped in, taking her turn in squealing and hugging Angela, followed by greetings from everyone else.
Finally, Angela found herself facing Shawn, smiling at the bashful face of her man as he chuckled and struggled to keep eye contact.
"Hey, Angela." he said, smiling at her.
"Hey, Shawn." she said, still smiling at him.
Continuing to stand there for a moment, silence passing among the group as they watched, Shawn dared to make the first move as he held out his hand. Angela glanced at it, then reached out and clasped onto it. Shawn pulled her into a gentle and loving semi-embrace, smiling down at her face before leaning down and softly kissing her cheek.
Once he kissed her, Shawn felt his fearful anticipations become reality. He didn't feel that secure, light-hearted, cloud-nine confidence and joy he felt when he usually kissed Angela. Instead, he felt an undefined barrier between them, something that felt cold and unfamiliar.
Because even though Angela was smiling as Shawn wrapped her in his arms, kissing her for the first time in forever, she didn't look up, and didn't even once return the favor.