A few days ago Luke called me to see if I have any plans the next week. He wanted to take Grace and me to New York for a week. After the week, I'm going back to Florida with them for a while and Mason is going to fly out to see everyone. Their request.

I packed my bags and Mason is driving me to the airport. I'll be landing the same time they're supposed to, and we have a meeting place.

"I'm going to miss you" I frown over at Mason.

"I'll see you soon enough, babe. You're going to have a blast. New York is so beautiful" He glances over at me, smiling.

I know he's upset at the timing of it all, but he's extremely happy for me.

"How many times have you been to New York?" I ask, trying to make conversation.

"I'm not sure. More than three times. My dad travels there for business a lot. We used to tag along more than we do now" He smiles, taking my hand in his.

We pull up to the airport and I grab my bag out of the back seat and hug Mason.

"I love you Mas" I smile, pulling away.

"Call me when you land, please. I love you" He kisses me.

"Of course" I smile, hugging him.

He lets go and I walk away, glancing behind me.

Security goes smoothly and without a problem. I quickly get some snacks for the plane and get a breakfast sandwich. The airport is empty because it's four in the morning. My flight boards at 4:30 and takes off at 5:00. I'll have a clear view of the sunrise.

I sigh, sitting down on a chair in my terminal, sipping my coffee.

Once I board the plane I get situated. I place a headphone in my ear and play my music low so I can hear any announcements. I turn my attention to outside and watching all the planes take off.

"Can we switch?" I hear someone ask, followed by shuffling. "Hello, beautiful" A voice says. I can practically hear the smirk behind it.

When I turn my attention to the male I'm surprised by how attractive he is. Nothing compared to Mason but attractive non the least.

"I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend" I politely smile.

"I'm not surprised. I can settle for friends. Tucker" He holds out his hand, smiling.

"Um, Leah" I shake it, sending him a small smile.

"You live in New York?" He questions.

"No, I live here. I'm meeting my cousins for a trip" I explain.

"That's cool. I'm on a trip as well. Live a few minutes from here. Where are your cousins from? Can you hook me up with one?" He asks.

"They're from here. They moved to Florida a few years ago. My one cousin is in the military and the other goes to college in Arizona" I explain. "And that depends. Are you an äss?" I laugh.

"Oh really? That's awesome. Make sure you thank your cousin for their service. Do I seem like an äss?" He laughs.

"I will. You seem pretty nice. It could just be an act though. Which way do you swing?" I ask.

"No act, I swear. I'm straight" He smiles.

"Well, I have a beautiful cousin named Grace who you might hit it off with" I smile, looking down at my phone to see a text from Mason.

I quickly text him back before we take off.

"I'm meeting them at Starbucks in the airport. If you can sneak away from your family for a bit without them leaving you, I can work my magic" I smile.

The plane takes off and I plug my headphones back in, drowning my thoughts out with music.

The flight isn't bad, I felt a little cramped but nothing bad. Tucker seemed a little anxious most of the time. Maybe he has a fear of flying.

The plane lands on the earlier side and I get super excited to be in New York.

"First time here?" Tucker laughs at the smile on my face. I quickly text Mason while answering him.

"Yeah. My first time out of my hometown was last month" I laugh.

"Wow, you're a homebody it seems. Where did you go?" He gets his stuff together.

"No, I love to travel. Never really got the opportunity though. My boyfriend and his family took me with them to Italy. They have a house over there" I explain.

"A house in Italy? Wow. That's amazing. We have family here so we visit once a year" Tucker nods.

"Yeah, it was beautiful. That's cool. I only have family in Florida. I'm going back with them to their house after this trip" I explain, grabbing my bag from above my seats.

"Nice. Busy summer for you" He laughs, exiting the plane. He tells his parents he's going to the bathroom and he follows me to the Starbucks.

"Gracie" I smile, running towards her, no Luke insight.

"Leah, I missed you" She hugs me back. "Who's your friend?" She whispers.

"Tucker, I want you to meet my cousin Grace. Grace, Tucker. I met him on the plane" I laugh as Luke walks into view.

"Luke" I throw my hands around his neck, a laugh erupting from his mouth as he hugs me back, spinning me around.

"It's great to see you, Le. Are you excited?" He laughs, adjusting his baseball hat.

"I'm so excited. This is amazing" I smile, barely containing my excitement.

"Good" He ruffles my hair, smiling. "Grace, are you ready?" Luke calls to his baby sister, a smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah," She nods at Luke before quickly whispering to Tucker and say goodbye.

We quickly check into our hotel and head out into the city, eager to explore the Big Apple.

The first place we check out is Times Square. It's a lot hotter in the city than I had expected. We head into a few stores, glancing around at everything. We decide not to travel too far from the hotel, not having a lot of money in case of a cab.

After a few hours of walking around and admiring the busy city, we stop at the Hard Rock Cafe to eat. I order a burger, Luke a steak, and Grace a burger too. The food is great and we talk the whole time, catching up on everything.

"So Le, you don't have too much time until you're off to college. Any plans before that?" Luke asks as we walk the streets.

"Not really, no. I'm not going shopping until I actually get to North Carolina. So I don't need to get an extra truck or anything. My mom gave me access to my savings account. Surprisingly she never let me father access it so there's still a good amount of money in it" I explain, my nerves picking up.

"That makes sense. It's really not that scary, I promise. You'll be great, and make so many friends" Grace gives me a supportive smile.

"I sure hope so" I laugh as we walk into a candy shop.

We bought a little too much candy. I just couldn't help it. Back home, there are no candy stores like Dylans Candy Bar.

"I'm going to be up all night" Grace laughs, looking at her bag. She got more than Luke and I combined.

My phone rings and I look down to see it's Mason. We're walking into the hotel so I let Luke and Grace know I'll meet them at the room and take the call outside.

"Hey babe. How's New York?" Mason asks as soon as I answer the call.

"Incredible. It's amazing how everything is so different here. We were just walking around looking in stores and such. Got lunch not too long ago" I explain.

"It's definitely something. Nice, get anything good?" I hear his bed creak.

"I got close to a pound of candy" I laugh, flipping my hair and leaning against the wall.

"Good. We need to get some meat on those bones" I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh shut up Mas" I smile, sighing.

"Whats wrong, my love?" He asks.

"I miss you" I smile to myself.

"It's only the first day" He laughs. "But I miss you too"

"This sucks. I don't know how I'm going to last college without you" I blink back the tears.

"Remember what I said? We don't talk about that stuff right now. It's not time for that yet. Okay?" A door closes on his end.

"I know. I'm sorry" I shake my head.

"I love you babes. I'll let you go now. Text me later, okay?" He says lovingly.

"Okay. I love you too" I smile and the call ends.

I head into the hotel and up to our room. This week is going to be amazing and suck at the same time.

For the rest of the day we hang out in Central Park with some milkshakes and snacks.

Question: How are you guys doing?

Answer: I'm doing okay. It's been pretty crazy recently but I'm getting there.

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Word count: 1608

~Leah