You thought you did an amazing job avoiding your ex-boyfriend Landon these past few months. You’ve perfected the art of leaving whenever he shows up, carefully avoiding eye contact, and making sure his name never slips into conversation. It’s been a delicate dance, especially with your mutual friends always hanging out, but you’ve managed. Mostly.

Now, you're all about to embark on the trip to Italy that you’ve been planning since freshman year. Everyone saved and scrimped for years to make this dream a reality. The idea of backing out crossed your mind when you learned Landon would be attending too, but after everything, you just couldn’t bring yourself to stay home. Not after all that money and anticipation. Besides, he’s probably feeling the same dread you are right now.

As you lift your bag into the overhead bin on the plane, your thoughts whirl with anxiety. Just get through this flight, you tell yourself. But then you catch sight of Landon weaving through the aisle, his eyes scanning the seat numbers. Your stomach drops as he heads straight toward you.

God, is he planning on sitting next to you? You can’t believe your luck—or lack thereof. His eyes lock with yours for a brief moment, and you can see the realization hit him.

“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, glancing down at his ticket before looking back up at you with a mixture of annoyance and resignation.

Your heart pounds in your chest as the tension thickens between you, the narrow space of the airplane suddenly feeling even more claustrophobic. How are you supposed to survive this flight sitting beside him?