Three years together. She'd always been so good to me. She knew my stomach was sensitive, so even though she'd never cooked a day in her life before, she taught herself. Every single day, without fail, she made me three meals. Over a thousand days and nights, and she'd never once picked a fight with me.
That was why, in my previous life, her disappearance had sent me into a frenzy. I'd fought tooth and nail to find her.
I still didn't know what had really happened last time. But this time, I refused to make the same mistakes.
I looked at Amy, dread clawing at my chest.
"What if we skip this flight? We could rebook, or take the train instead."
Amy blinked, then gave me an indulgent smile.
"Don't be silly."
"It's peak travel season. There aren't any tickets left."
"We spent three days refreshing just to grab these seats. If we give them up, we're not getting home at all."
She was right. Rebooking or switching wasn't realistic.
But the moment I thought about what had happened last time, how boarding this exact flight had ended with one of us dead and the other gone, panic clawed its way back up my throat.
What was I supposed to do?
Was there really no other way?
Wait.
The reason I'd been thrown into that psychiatric facility last time was that no one besides me could prove Amy had ever been on the plane.
So this time, all I had to do was make sure there was evidence she'd boarded with me.
The second the thought hit, I pulled out my phone. I linked my arm through Amy's as we walked toward the gate, and I started taking photos of the two of us like a man possessed.
From the ticket check to boarding, to settling into my seat, to the cabin doors closing, I documented every single step.
Then I posted a nine-photo grid of us together on Instagram.
Caption: "Boarded! Taking the girlfriend home to meet the family."
The likes and well-wishes poured in almost instantly:
"So sweet! Wishing you both the best!"
"Wow, finally meeting the parents! Congrats!!"
"Safe travels—I'm already looking forward to the wedding reception."
To be extra safe, I had Amy and me pose together holding up our boarding passes, and sent that photo to the family group chat.
"Mom, Dad—Amy and I are on the plane. We land in three hours."
My mom replied within seconds: "Finally getting to meet our future daughter-in-law! Your dad and I already went grocery shopping. We're just waiting for you two to get home!"