“Here we are, miss,”

“Thank you,”

Ava got out the cab and closed the door behind her. She dragged her suitcase along with her until she stood at the main entrance of the airport. She turned around and gave her beloved Utah one last look. She was leaving Murray for good. Her boyfriend, or rather, her ex-boyfriend, David, had broken up with her. The memories this place held of them were unbearable for her. She had enrolled in Berkeley, NYC, and had gotten a place in. She was moving to New York.

With her last glance, her eyes searched for David. Nothing. He wasn’t going to come… that’s what she kept telling herself. She took a deep breath, and stepped forward. The doors slid open as she came through, and the rush of cool air hit her face with a pang.

She scanned the place for the Check-In Counter for her flight. There were people at every turn, and Ava had to skim her way carefully through the crowd to avoid bumping into anyone. She found the counter, and waited in the line. She looked around her, and there were couples saying goodbye to each other. That would have been her and David, if they were still together. If he hadn’t broken up with her, maybe she wouldn’t be in the airport waiting for her 7 hour long flight.

“Next,”

Ava stepped forward.

“Hi, do I check-in for flight 885 here?’

“Yes. Just put your bags here and show me your plane ticket,”

Ava hauled her bags onto the conveyer belt and search her backpack for her ticket.

“Here,”

“Ok… just wait around here, until they call your flight number, then go to the Terminal 3,”

“Thanks,”

Ava absentmindedly took her ticket back and stumbled through the crowd to find a seat to wait. She kept walking until she reached the terminal; she didn’t feel like waiting too far away. She found a row of empty chairs right in front, and slung her backpack into the chair beside her.

“David!”

Ava’s head snapped up immediately and she looked to the direction of the voice. False alarm. It wasn’t her David. Before she knew it, a flashback reeled slowly into her head.

~~~

“Av… I’m so sorry… I can’t do this anymore.”

“David, do you mean…? Why?”

“The media attention; I can’t handle this anymore Av! I can’t!”

David’s head was bowed down in shame. Ava looked at him, her heart starting to break.

“David…”

“Ava, don’t. It’s hard enough for me as it is. Don’t make it any harder for me. Please.”

“But…”

“I’m sorry Av… you know I’ll always love you.”

David walked away from her, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Ava felt her heart slowly break, the pieces falling to the ground as she stood there, watching him leave her.

When he went around the corner, vanishing into the distance, Ava broke down and fell to her knees, begging the now gone David to come back to her. She pleaded to the ground, though she knew it was useless.

Her palms face down on the hard, cold pavement, and her knees scratching against it, Ava cried her heart out, wondering where she’d gone wrong. Just the previous day, they had been so good together… they’d kissed under the moonlight, the gentle shine cascading a shadow across them under the streetlamp.

~~~

Ava was stunned with the precision of her flashback; every emotion, every detail was there. She fought back her urge to bury her head into her hands and break down once more. She swallowed hard, and blinked back the tears, her grip on her backpack tightening.

She forced herself to look up. She found herself probing the crowd for something; someone; David. She tried to tell herself that he wasn’t going to come for her, but the little ember of hope inside of her just couldn’t be put out.

“Ava…?”

She felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. She spun around, her heart speeding. The voice was David’s, but was she hallicunating, or was he really there? Had he come for her? Her thought ran wild in the second it took for her to look up and turn her head.

“Ava, I’m so sorry. I should have never done that to you. I love you.”