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Yaz isn’t an expert on love.
You’d think with the amount of years she’d been in a relationship she should have known by now. But considering how that crashed and burned well… clueless is what she tended to feel on the topic. But perhaps she was a bit off on her assessment. Maybe it was just matters of love involving herself that she was bad at. Because sitting here, watching two of her closest friends look at each other after so much time apart, a whole romance story unfolded that she could easily follow.
See, after a harrowing adventure in Malta that led to the arrest of the broker, four of the camp fam were now flying across the seas to an unknown facility. Clouds passed by a window as miles were crossed in the sky. The last vestiges of sunset filtered into the cabin, illuminating its passengers in a soft glow. It was in this small, peaceful space that Yaz finally had a moment to breathe. And when she turned to her right to look at her friends she saw it.
The look of love.
It was there, plain as day, on Darius’ face. He and Brooklynn were sitting across from each other, heads turned to gaze outside into the horizon. Yet every so often Darius would sneak glances at Brooklynn. The way the corner of his lips turned up, and the crinkling of his eyes spoke volumes without him even being vocal.
Darius was capable of a great many things, but hiding his emotions wasn’t one. Yaz had picked out his troubles all the way back when they were just coming to terms with surviving an island of dinos all by themselves years ago. Try as he might, he wore his feelings on his sleeves and nothing he did could truly cover them up.
But it wasn’t Darius’s lovestruck face that surprised Yaz. It was the fact that when Darius wasn’t looking, the girl would softly gaze back at him. It was the fact that the apple of his eye, Brooklynn, was returning his affection.
Brooklynn. In love with Darius.
The actual possibility of this had never even crossed Yaz’s mind. Call her crazy, but of all the things on this dinosaur world trip they’ve had, Brooklynn actually somehow tops the list of surprises. As long as Yaz had known, the girl was head over heels for Kenji, often to a degree that was wayyyy too mushy for Yaz’s own liking. Seriously, the amount of PDA and pet names those two had accumulated over the years was so disgustingly sweet Yaz was sure the rest of the camp fam had caught diabetes in their wake.
Yeah they had broken up, but she had never pried for details as to why. All she knew is that Kenji initiated it. So yeah, when it came to the image of Brooklynn in her head before today, all she could envision was a young, teenage girl enjoying her first love.
But the sight before her now…
Never one to keep the quiet too long, Ben yawned before beginning to talk. “Well, hopefully it’s smooth sailing, er flying, until we hit Biogen’s place.”
Darius nodded. “You said it. I’ve already had my fill on dangerous flights. Seriously, one plane crash is too many.”
“Hold up, plane crash? Excuse me?!” Brooklynn startled.
“Oh right, guess we kinda left out the whole, “let a dinosaur out its cage and cause havoc while flying across Europe” part of our story.”
“To be fair, we’ve kinda left out the WHOLE story seeing as we just got back together, Ben.” Darius added.
Yaz shrugged. “Meh, all the danger kinda blends together after a while.”
Brooklynn perked up. “Okay, I’ve been radio silent with you all for way too long. I need the full story. Spill.”
“Well, it all started with Darius foolishly using his phone.”
Darius facepalmed. “Oh god, not the phone thing again.”
“Look Darius, if you’d just done the sensible thing and ditched all your wifi accessible mobile devices instead of using your phone to-”
“Annnnnyways, it’s a long story. I’d doubt Brook would want to hear every litt-”
“I don’t mind. Not like I got any place to be. I want to hear from you.”
Brooklynn shyly smiled, lightly nudging Darius’ foot with her own causing him to freeze. He quickly cleared his throat before speaking up again. “Well, given Ben’s tendency to go on tangents-”
“You have no factual proof of that, Darius!”
“I believe I will be the captain taking you through our tale for the remainder of your flight.”
Brooklynn giggled into her hand. “Well by all means, captain, go ahead.”
‘Oh my god’, Yaz thought. ‘They have it BAD.’
She couldn’t be the only one seeing this. Was Ben seeing this? Where did this even come from?
Suddenly, a wave of memories flooded Yaz’s brain. Times of Brooklynn and Darius hanging out where, had she been a stranger, she could have mistaken the two for a couple. Times where Darius looked at her like she was the world and when he looked away, Brooklynn stared at him a little bit too long for just a friendly gaze. It was like coming back to an unfinished puzzle and finding pieces you didn’t even believe existed anymore. The simple concept of Brooklynn ever falling for someone else had evaded Yaz’s brain for years.
“Wait, what do you mean he chucked your phone out the window? No warning?” Brooklynn asked incredulously.
Darius enthusiastically nodded. “You see how crazy that is, right?!”
Ben grunted in frustration. “Trackers, people! They can TRACK you. Hell it’s possible even when your phone is off. I thought I proved that point very well in Malta.”
“Oh this reminds me: you owe me a new phone too when this is all over.” Yaz pointed out.
“We were in danger, people! Think of the DANGER.”
Brooklynn stuck her nose up. “Well just know that, no matter the threat level, you're not getting your hands anywhere near my phone. Don't need you to go and lose mine too.”
“Yeah it might be too late for that…” Ben confessed under his breath.
“What?” Brooklynn glared suspiciously.
“Dude, spoilers!” Darius spoke accusingly.
“Oh right, sorry. Please continue.”
Then again, who was Yaz to talk about love? She had been so short sighted she failed to notice the cracks forming in her own relationship. Years of issues neglected between the two of them slowly building to one damning argument in Italy. For someone who had helped others deal with their own trauma, the joke was not lost on her that she wasn’t there for her own girlfriend.
It seemed like not knowing what was going on had become a recurring thing when it came to Yaz and her loved ones. She saw Kenji throwing himself into danger constantly and not once did she push to get to the bottom of that suicidal behavior. Hell, it took Kenji to force Darius to spill his guts about his guilt over Brooklynn’s death a whole year after it happened. Not to mention Ben and Gia being an actual thing. She thought he had made the whole thing up!
The whole time her campfam was grieving not once did she drive over to his place and really talk to him, or anyone for that matter. She kept herself in the dark, willfully ignorant of what everyone was going through. And when it came time for the truth to spill, no matter who it was from, she was completely blindsided by it.
If she couldn’t believe in a love as obvious as there’s how the hell can she trust her judgment on anything? All signs in her life were telling Yaz to hang up her coat and sit this one out. The more she pondered it the more it felt like her heart was being hollowed out. Should she just give up? She already lost Sammy, so what’s the point of it all any-
“So you took a flare and just RAN?” Brooklynn shouted.
“I had to improvise!” Darius countered.
“With a possibly killer dinosaur?!”
Darius threw his hands up. “Hey, I didn’t have a lot of material to work with!”
“To be fair, it did work.” Ben spoke up. “And you did look pretty badass while doing it.”
“See? Helpful and cool looking. My gamble was worth it.”
Brooklynn pinched her brow. “Darius, I swear…”
“Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.”
“I-”
Darius raised an eyebrow.
“-would have done the same.” Brooklynn begrudgingly admitted.
Darius cockily smirked. “Mhmm.”
The two burst into giggles, unable to hold it together during their ‘fight’ anymore. Ben smiled at their antics while Yaz couldn’t only process their interaction in quiet shock. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought these two had been hanging out everyday with how in sync they were. No stranger seeing this would believe these two had been separated for a year, with one presuming the other was dead for the majority of it at that.
It was funny but, looking at Darius and Brooklynn, Yaz didn’t feel quite as hopeless and empty as before. Between the two of them, she finds a flurry of emotions that stirs something in her own soul. She sees resolution in Darius’ bright smile, maybe the most earnest one she’s seen on his face in this adventure. Years of bottled love inside of him have now taken action and are seemingly ready to finally be acted on.
Within Brooklynn’s sparkling eyes, Yaz sees a candidness she honestly can’t remember Brooklynn ever having with anyone. Because this wasn’t some starry eyed teenager looking at her boyfriend with goo-goo eyes. This was a young woman who had fought through hell and back staring at a young man she had shared so much with. The good times, the bad days. The sunshine and the rain. They had helped each other through some of their most dire circumstances. Yet they’d also hurt each other in ways that hurt deep. Yaz knew Brooklynn was feeling that. The pain and the guilt. Yet Brooklynn faces Darius regardless. Because she isn’t running from what she feels. She isn’t hiding alone again. She’s boldly confronting her feelings and the person causing them.
For Yaz, the two of them were doing one of the bravest things she’d ever seen in her life. Braver than running from a T-Rex, or outswimming a Mosasaurus. It’s the kind of courage pulled straight from the heart when facing an outcome that was unknown. Going down this road… it could all end in disaster. The pressure and hurdles they’d have to face would have an Olympian trackstar calling it quits. Yet, determination is set within them, and Yaz finally gets why.
It’s not that they trust their own judgment, it’s that they trust the other’s.
Yaz finally knows what to do.
Faking a stretch and a yawn, Yaz spoke up. “Well, I don't know about you three but there's only so many life threatening scenarios I can take in a day before I need some shut-eye. Wake me when we get there, would you Pincus?”
Ben faked a bow, before putting on a bad posh accent. “It would be my pleasure, Miss Fadoula.”
“Finally, some in-flight service I’m happy with.” Yaz quipped before settling comfortably into her seat.
“In the meantime, we’ll make sure to keep the volume down.” Brooklynn winked.
“I’LL make sure to. I can’t promise these two will do the same.” Darius added.
“Dinonerd…” Brooklynn squinted
“Are you saying I don’t have an indoor voice, Bowman?!” Ben shouted.
So as the four fly, to god knows where, and the faux argument between Darius, Brooklynn, and Ben devolves into Ben monologuing about spy satellites and drones, Yaz closes her eyes and begins to meditate. All noise gets filtered out in favor of relistening to the last words Sammy said to her before she left. In the heat of the argument, Yaz was only focused on getting her argument through. She didn’t really hear her out. But this time? She’s absorbing every word her love said. She may not have all the answers now, but she’s willing to try and find them.
Sammy was the one who traveled to make things right first. But Yaz didn’t even meet her halfway.
This time? Yaz will come to her.
‘And maybe in the meantime’, Yaz thought. ‘I’ll help two lovebirds take flight. In whatever way I can.’