"Yeah, I love you too." Cailen said with a small smile before hanging up his phone and slipping it into his pocket.
He went to turn around but paused as a man in a suit rushed by him, obviously in a hurry.
They were at the airport saying goodbye to Noah before he got on a flight to Scotland and apparently, he was not the only one planning a trip that weekend.
You could barely move without bumping into someone and Cailen had to step away into a corner in order to answer his phone because it was so loud.
Once the man had passed, Cailen continued back towards the small group that was gathering outside the gate Noah was to go through to get to his flight.
They were all there, Matthew, Hazel, and of course Aariyah, William, Asher and Ezekiel, all hugging Noah goodbye before his departure.
He had been in the middle of saying goodbye when his phone rang and he excused himself to answer it.
It had been Stella looking to arrange a time when she could come visit and meet Ezekiel, as well as apologize that it's taken so long to do so, but she's just been busy.
Cailen assured her it was fine, that he’s been quite busy as well with Asher's accident but it turned out she didn't even know about that so that opened a whole new conversation and the phone call took longer than originally planned.
"Stella says hello to all, and a safe flight to Noah." Cailen announced when he joined the group again.
Noah smiled and nodded at him in a sort of thank you he knew Cailen wouldn't be passing on, it was too much work and he was certain Stella knew she would be thanked, so there was no point.
The blonde also let out a long breath, his cheeks puffing out as Cailen actually felt his breath hit his face.
"You'll be fine, yeah?" Cailen said, sending him a quick smile.
When Noah nodded again, his smile tight, Cailen pulled him into a hug. He wrapped Noah up tight, tucking his chin over the man's shoulder and patting his back.
"You'll be fine." Cailen repeated, making sure to make it sound like a statement and not a question.
"Going to miss you guys," Noah mumbled into Cailen's head. "It's going to be pretty boring without you, I imagine." He added.
Cailen smiled at this, small and sad, as he squeezed his eyes shut with one final pat to the back before pulling away.
"And I imagine it's going to be pretty hectic without my number one babysitter." Cailen teased, rubbing his hand up and down Noah's arm as a laugh bubbled out of the blonde's mouth.
Cailen lowered his arm, stepping back out of everyone's way.
"That all I'm good for?" Noah asked teasingly.
Cailen sent him a smirk, absentmindedly reaching for Asher's arm.
"Among other things." He said, cuddling into Asher.
"Flight three-oh-seven to Edinburgh, Scotland, now boarding." Came a voice overhead, barely audible over the hum of everyone saying goodbye to a loved one or talking into their phone.
Noah nodded at nothing in particular, scuffing a foot on the shiny floor of the airport.
"I guess that's me." Noah mumbled, leaning down to pick up his carry-on bag and throwing the strap over his shoulder.
"Bye, Noah." Came a small voice from the other side of Asher.
Everyone turned to see Ezekiel there, looking up at Noah with a sad expression.
"Bye, little man." Noah said, smiling softly before kneeling down. "Come here, one more hug." Noah instructed, holding out his arms as Ezekiel stepped into them, wrapping his arms around the blonde's neck.
"Stay out of trouble," Noah told him before standing. "And you, stay out of fires." Noah added, turning on Asher who ducked his head, a sheepish smile on his face. "Don't need another scare like that."
"Will do." Asher mumbled.
"Make sure you give us a call once in a while." William said, kicking at Noah's leg gently. "Don't forget about us."
"Couldn't even if I wanted to." Noah assured, returning his playful kick before stepping towards Matthew to place a gentle kiss on the forehead of the baby in his arms, Aariyah having no clue as to what was going on and only making grabby hands for Noah's hair.
"We'll miss you, man." Matthew smiled.
Noah returned it, reaching out to ruffle Matthew's hair, probably because with him holding Aariyah, there was nothing he could do about it but glare, which he did.
"Bye, Noah." Hazel added, stepping forward to kiss his cheek.
"Bye." Noah mumbled, stepping back.
They were all looking at him with a sad look on their face that was mirrored on Noah's before a grin broke out across his face.
"Okay, jeez, it's not like I'm going off to war. I'll see you guys in a bit." Noah grinned, turning around and walking away before any of them could comment.
They watched him go, small smiles on their faces now that he had lightened the mood.
Noah spared them a look over his shoulder, accompanied by a smile that was just so Noah that they all smiled back.
They waited until they could no longer see the lad before turning to each other.
"Now what?" Matthew asked, quirking an eyebrow at Cailen.
"I don't know," Cailen answered, instinctively placing a hand on Ezekiel's back when he came over to him and cuddled into his side, one hand clinging onto the bottom of Cailen's shirt, bunching up the fabric.
He could tell the boy was upset and honestly, so was he. He was going to miss Noah's presence, his laugh that he had for everything, even when the joke wasn't that funny.
He was going to miss his easy going nature and always-got-to-look-on-the-bright-side attitude, but if Noah needed to do this, Cailen would suck it up for a while.
"How about we grab lunch? You guys busy?" Cailen suggested, hoping a meal out would cheer Ezekiel up a bit.
He knew it did when he was a kid.
"I'm free," William shrugged, though Cailen knew if he came, they would be buying his lunch.
Cailen didn't mind.
"Yeah, we'll come." Hazel smiled, taking Aariyah from Matthew's arms.
"Can we get ice cream too?" Ezekiel asked excitedly, his mood already brightening.
Asher sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth as he glanced at Cailen for an answer, obviously remembering being scolded about this before.
Cailen gave him a slight nod of his head, a small laugh escaping him.
"Yeah, buddy, we can." Asher smiled down at the boy who cheered and took off at a run down the hall, weaving his way in and out of people.
"Zeke!" Cailen called after him in a panic, a little stunned.
There were so many people he could easily get lost, but before he could even move, William was chasing after him, easily catching up and running with him so he wouldn't get lost.
Cailen heard a small snicker coming from his left and turned to see Matthew smirking at them, obviously stifling a laugh.
"Yeah? You think that's funny?" Cailen asked, Matthew's smirk turning into a grin. "Just you wait, soon she'll be sixteen and you'll be having a panic attack every time she mention a boy's name." Cailen pointed out, nodding towards Aariyah.
"And I'll be there to laugh at you." Cailen concluded, successfully wiping the grin off Matthew's face.
Hazel laughed at this, leaning forward to peck Matthew's cheek before ushering him along so they could catch up to Ezekiel and William.
"I love you." Asher said beside him, leaning down to rest his chin on Cailen's shoulder, obviously amused by Cailen's statement.
Cailen turned with a smile, leaning in and tip toeing to give him a quick kiss, then grinning at him.
"Ditto." Cailen replied, grinning more when Asher rolled his eyes fondly and held his hand, tugging, and following the others.