Eighteen!

Title: Going Home

Prompt: Eyelids
Medium:fic
Rating: PG? I dunno
Warnings: Nadie.
Summary: AJ's deep in thought. Joe notices. AJ Styles/Samoa Joe

Joe's eyes snapped open, the sound of the in-flight movie becoming clearer. He blinked for a moment, knowing he wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon. He looked up at the monitor, noting that he had a good hour ahead of him before the plane landed home in California. And he immediately wished that he were still asleep. He hated flights like these, far too long and uncomfortable, but it was a necessary evil.

He turned his head to the side, taking a look at the man next to him. He couldn't see AJ's face; his hood was up around his head, something he inevitably did when he sought some privacy in public. Here he was, hoping for some company for that last hour, but he had a feeling that AJ was fast asleep.

He put his hand on AJ's shoulder, a small touch just to see if he were really asleep. Surprisingly enough, AJ turned around, opening his eyes. His hands moved up to pull headphones out of his ears as he gave Joe an inquisitive look. "Yeah?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to bug you."

"Well, you did." AJ's face told him, however, that he didn't mind at all. "Come on, what's up?"

"I just wanted to see if you were awake." Half of him did want to engage AJ in conversation, make the hour pass quicker, but he didn't want to do that if AJ didn't want to. And he had a good feeling that AJ would prefer some solitude.

AJ gave him a small smile, and Joe decided it was a prompt that it was okay to speak a little. "Hey, what're you listening to?"

"Some Manic. Helps me think."

"Oh, think? About what?"

"Life." AJ didn't expound on it, and Joe didn't ask him to. "Thanks for invitin' me, man."

"Anytime." He brought his hand back to AJ's arm, giving it an affectionate squeeze, saying everything that he could possibly think to mention without actually voicing it. I'm glad you're next to me. You and I are going to have a great time. There's nothing more that I want then for you to be with me, at my home.

AJ's smile grew, sharing a look with Joe before putting his headphones back in his ears, getting lost in the music. Sometimes, Joe really wondered what went through AJ's head, but he never asked unless it was really bugging him. He was so frequently deep in thought that Joe was certain that AJ must know some fantastic secret that he didn't share with the world. He had to have come up with something special.

AJ's eyes were closed again, his head gently bobbing to whatever song was playing. He didn't even know Joe was still looking at him until he could feel Joe's lips press right below his brow bone. He opened his eyes, smiling up at him. "Yes?"

"Nothing," Joe said, a little loudly so that he could hear him through the music. "Just… don't think so hard, okay?"