Chapter 236: Visible
The plane touched down hard. The wheels hit the runway and bounced once before settling. Arianne gripped the armrest. The pilot had warned them about crosswinds. The storm system that hit Rohan was still sending weather down the coast.
She’d been traveling for eighteen hours. The hurricane pinned them down for two days. The airport in Rohan shut down completely. No flights in or out. She and Gio stayed in a hotel near the terminal with no power the first night. The second night the power came back, but the airport stayed closed. They found a private plane willing to fly out on the third day.
She was tired. Her back hurt. Her neck hurt. She hadn’t slept on the plane. She couldn’t.
The plane taxied toward the private terminal. The windows were dark. Almost 4 AM.
Arianne turned her phone on.
The screen exploded.
Notifications stacked on top of each other. News alerts. Social media tags. Text messages from people she hadn’t spoken to in years. Her email inbox had hundreds of unread messages.
She blinked at the screen. Scrolled.
Noah Hart Spotted at Private Terminal - 4AM.
Mystery Woman Arriving?
Fans Capture Actor Waiting Alone.
She tapped the first headline. Photos loaded.
Franz standing against a wall. Black jacket. Black mask. Black cap. Hands in his pockets. Body angled toward the gate like he’d been there for hours.
The photos were grainy. Zoomed in from far away. But she knew it was him. The way he stood. The line of his jaw under the mask.
She scrolled down. More photos. Someone filmed him from the side. Someone else got a shot of him checking his phone. The timestamp on the photos said 3:58 AM. He’d been waiting at the gate before she even landed.
She opened their text thread.
Her message from the plane: Got a private plane. Gio and I land at 4AM. Can you send a car?
His reply: I’ll be there.
Sent at 2:04 AM. He answered within seconds.
Her next message: You don’t have to. Send someone.
His reply: I’ll be there.
She stared at the screen.
Gio leaned over from the seat next to her. Looked at her phone.
"He’s there?" Gio asked.
Arianne didn’t answer. She was already standing.
The cabin door opened. The air that rushed in was cold and smelled like rain. Arianne stepped out onto the jet bridge. Her shoes were quiet on the metal floor. Gio followed behind her with the bags.
She walked through the jet bridge and into the terminal.
The private arrival area was small. White walls. Fluorescent lights. A few chairs against the wall. A desk with no one behind it.
She saw him immediately.
Franz standing near the entrance to the main terminal. Black jacket. Black cap. He’d pulled his mask down to his chin. His face was tired. Dark circles under his eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping.
But his eyes were not tired. They were watching the gate. Watching for her.
She stopped walking.
Her hand was on the strap of her bag. Her feet stopped moving. The shorter hair she’d gotten in Rohan brushed against her jaw. She’d cut it on the second day of the hurricane, in a salon running on a generator. The stylist spoke almost no English, but Arianne spoke the Rohan language fluently.
Franz saw her.
He walked toward her. Didn’t run. Just walked. Steady. His shoes were quiet on the tile floor.
He stopped in front of her. Close enough to touch.
Neither of them spoke.
He reached up. Pulled the cap off his own head. Placed it on hers.
The brim came down low over her eyes. The inside of the cap was warm from his head. It smelled like him. Coffee and something else. Something clean.
Then he took her hand. His fingers closed around hers. His palm was warm.
"Come on," he said.
They walked toward the main terminal. Gio followed behind with the bags.
The hallway was long. White walls. Fluorescent lights. The ceiling was high. Their footsteps echoed.
They turned the corner.
The terminal was no longer empty.
Someone had called their friends. The photos worked. Word spread.
There were maybe thirty people now. Not a huge crowd, but enough to block the hallway. They were pressed against the rope dividers. Phones up. Flashlights on. Voices echoing off the tile walls.
A woman screamed: "NOAH!"
The sound bounced off the walls. Other voices joined in. Shouting his name. Shouting questions. Shouting things Arianne couldn’t understand.
Two men in suits appeared. Security guards. Gio must have called them from the plane. They moved ahead of Franz and Arianne, arms out, pushing through the crowd.
"Make a hole," one of the guards said.
The crowd didn’t move fast enough. People pressed in. Phones in faces. Hands reaching. A woman tried to grab Franz’s sleeve. He pulled away.
Franz didn’t let go of Arianne’s hand. He pulled her forward. His body was half in front of hers. His shoulder hit someone’s phone. The phone clattered to the ground. Plastic on tile. He didn’t stop.
Arianne kept her head down. The cap hid her face. The brim shadowed her eyes. She watched the floor. The tiles were white with gray speckles. She watched them pass under her feet.
But her hand was in his. Visible. Photographable.
She heard the cameras clicking. Heard the phones recording. Heard people shouting her name now. Not Arianne. They didn’t know her name. They were shouting "her" and "the woman" and other things she couldn’t make out.
Franz’s hand tightened around hers.
They reached the doors. The security guards pushed them open. Cold air hit Arianne’s face.
The car was waiting at the curb. Engine running. Back door open.
Franz guided her toward it. His hand on her lower back. Not pushing. Just there.
She slid across the back seat. The leather was cold. He followed. The door closed.
The crowd was still filming through the windows. Phones pressed against the glass. Faces distorted by the flash. Someone was crying. Someone else was laughing.
Franz pulled off his mask. Rubbed his face with both hands. His shoulders dropped. He let out a breath she hadn’t realized he was holding.
"I’m sorry," he said.
Arianne looked at him. Her phone was still in her hand. The screen still lit. More notifications had come in while they walked through the terminal.
"You’re trending," she said.
"I know."
"At 4 AM."
"I know."
She looked down at her phone. Scrolled through the headlines again. The photos from the terminal were everywhere. Franz waiting. Franz pulling his mask down. Franz putting his cap on her head. Franz taking her hand.
Her face wasn’t visible in most of them. The cap hid her. But her hand was visible. Her shorter hair was visible under the brim. People in the comments were already speculating. Already arguing about who she was. Already digging.
She put the phone down.
The car pulled away from the curb. The terminal building disappeared behind them. The crowd’s voices faded.
The city was dark. The streets were empty. The sky was still black. No sign of dawn yet.
Franz hadn’t let go of her hand. His fingers still laced through hers.
She looked at their hands. His was larger. Tanned. The back of his hand had a small scar she’d never noticed before.
She didn’t pull away.
The car drove through the empty streets. The only sounds were the engine and the tires on the wet road. It had rained earlier. The asphalt was shiny.
Arianne leaned her head back against the seat. Closed her eyes.
The hurricane. The hotel with no power. The salon with the generator. The eighteen-hour flight. The photos. The crowd. The screaming.
She was too tired to process any of it.
But Franz’s hand was in hers. His cap was on her head. He was sitting next to her in the dark.
She opened her eyes. Looked at him.
He was looking out the window. His profile was sharp against the passing streetlights. His jaw was tight.
She wanted to say something. She didn’t know what.
"Franz," she said.
He turned his head. Looked at her.
She didn’t have words. She just looked at him.
He didn’t ask what she wanted. Didn’t push. Didn’t fill the silence.
He just waited.
The car turned onto their street. The houses were dark. The trees were bare. Winter was still hanging on.
The car stopped in the driveway.
Franz let go of her hand. Got out first. Walked around to her side. Opened her door.
Arianne stepped out. The cap still on her head. The cold air hit her face.
He closed the door behind her. The security guards were gone. Gio was getting the bags from the trunk.
The house was dark. The lights were all off. The twins were asleep inside.
Arianne looked at the front door. Then at Franz.
He didn’t say anything. Didn’t reach for her hand again. Just stood there.
She walked toward the house. Her skirt moved with her. Her shoes were quiet on the walkway.
She heard him follow.