"What are you staring at?" The young teenage boy asked defensively.
"The Nazi Flight Attendant told me to sit over here. Do you mind?" I asked, trying not to sound like his words had bothered me.
"Whatever. I don't own the airport." The boy said, then looked away.
"You don't? Then it's a good thing I didn't tell you what a nice place you have here." I said sarcastically.
He glanced over at me just long enough to roll his eyes.
"I'm Collin." I said more quietly.
"Christian." He said under his breath, as he watched another group of passengers hurrying out of their gate.
"I guess you're waiting for a connecting flight too." I said uncertainly, just wanting to keep the conversation going.
"Holiday handoff." He said absently as he continued to look away.
I puzzled over the reply, and finally decided to ask, "What does that mean?"
"It means my parents got divorced and the judge, in his 'infinite wisdom', decided that I'm supposed to be shipped back and forth across the country every time there's some stupid holiday." He said sourly.
"Oh. Me too." I said quietly.
He finally turned to look at me and said, "From the sound of it, you're new to the 'shared custody' routine."
"Yeah. My parents just finished their divorce about a month ago. I'm on my way to spend Christmas with my dad." I said with dread in my voice.
"Get used to it. I've been doing this for years. I used to think it was kinda kewl to get to travel so much, but now it just plain sucks." Christian muttered under his breath.
"So is it nice wherever you're going?" I asked uncertainly.
"Nice? There's a lot of words I can think of to describe what I'm about to have to deal with, but 'nice' isn't one of them." Christian said frankly.
"Really? What's wrong?" I asked with concern.
"My dad's new girlfriend is a real bitch. She acts like I'm trying to take my dad away from her, so she's going to work the entire holiday to hog all his attention and make me feel like I don't belong there." Christian said frankly.
"Ouch. That really sucks." I said with a wince at the bitter words.
"Me and my dad don't really get along that well. But competing with the 'she dog' for his attention gives me something to do to kill the time until I get shipped back to Mom." Christian said in a tired voice.
"I hope nothing like that happens to me..." I said, as I trailed off into thoughts of my dad.
"Any idea of what you'll be doing?" Christian asked with, what seemed to be, mild interest.
"Not really. I've only talked to my dad once since he moved out, and he just said that he had everything planned out for when I got there. He's going to show me around the city and stuff." I said quietly.
Christian nodded, then muttered, "That sounds kinda nice."
"Yeah." I responded, then continued, "I just don't know how it's going to be with his new boyfriend being there. It might end up being like it is with you and 'she dog'."
"Boyfriend?" Christian asked with surprise.
I froze in place, just realizing what I'd revealed.
"It's okay man. Actually, I think it's kinda kewl." Christian assured.
"Really?" I asked with surprise.
"Yeah. Really." He said with a smile.
Okay, Christian isn't really that cute or anything. He has this shaggy mop of brown hair that looks like a dust bunny gone wild and his body is kind of skinny and... just nothing really to talk about. But when I saw his smile...
...nice smile.
"Have you met your dad's boyfriend yet?" Christian asked, seemingly oblivious to my staring at him.
I fought to find the words to answer him and finally stammered, "Um, yeah. Just once. His name is Marc and he seems kinda nice."
"Maybe it won't be so bad then." Christian said quietly.
I nodded that I heard, and secretly wished for him to give me another one of those smiles.
"Your flight's about to board. Come on." A flight attendant said as he approached.
I looked up to see that it wasn't mine.
"Well, good luck Collin. I hope everything works out for you." Christian said as he picked up his carry-on bag and stood.
"Yeah. I hope things work out for you too. Maybe the 'she dog' will choke to death on her Christmas turkey or something." I said weakly.
Christian chuckled and said, "I can dream."
"Come on." The flight attendant said and led Christian away.
* * * * *
"There you are." My flight attendant said in an aggravated voice.
"I'm right where you told me to be." I said slowly.
"Come on kid, we're running late. They're almost done boarding." The skinny little geek flight attendant said as he tried to act tough.
I slowly picked up my carry-on bag and dutifully followed him toward our departure gate.
"Hurry up. They won't hold the flight for you." He said forcefully.
"Then I'll catch the next one." I said without concern.
Some of Christian's attitude must have rubbed off on me.
* * * * *
As we stepped onto the plane, the geek caught a female flight attendant just inside the door and said, "He's all yours."
She accepted my ticket from him, then glanced at me and nodded.
The little geek then turned and hurried back off the plane.
"I'm Janice. This flight is open seating so just find a seat wherever you want. If you need anything just press the call button and someone will get it for you." She said quickly.
"Okay." I said, feeling a little less hostile.
Janice at least 'pretended' to be nice.
* * * * *
I walked back through the plane and decided that I wanted to sit as far in the back as possible.
I'm not, like, totally afraid of flying or anything, but it does make me a little nervous.
I figure that sitting in the back is probably best because I've never heard of a plane 'backing' into anything.
When I finally cleared the last cluster of overweight, sweaty passengers trying to stuff 20 gallons of luggage into a 10 gallon overhead compartment, I found an open seat in the second to the last row on the plane.
"So you're going to Orlando too?" A familiar voice asked.
I looked at the seat next to mine and was surprised to see Christian sitting there smiling at me.
Smiling.
At.
Me.
It's a good thing the seat was empty because I felt my knees get weak at the sight.
Once I was finally seated I glanced at him to find him looking back at me expectantly.
I realized what he was waiting for and stammered, "Yeah. Orlando."
Christian chuckled at my flustered response, then said, "I'm glad. If I've got someone to talk to on the way there, I won't have time to think about how bad it's going to be."
I looked into Christian's eyes and realized just how much he was dreading the coming holiday.
My mouth took off talking before I even had a chance to think about what I was going to say, "If your dad and 'she dog' don't care if you're there or not, maybe you could come over and spend some time with me and my dad."
"Really?" Christian asked with surprise.
"Why not? I'm not sure of all we're going to do, but I bet it'll be a lot more fun than what you're going to do." I said frankly.
"It's kinda gotta be." Christian said weakly.
"I know my dad won't mind. He's really easy going most of the time." I said hopefully.
"Well, I don't think my dad will care one way or the other. I'm pretty sure the only reason he wanted to get shared custody of me was for another way to piss off my mom." Christian said frankly.
"It sounds like it's really bad for you." I said quietly.
Christian considered for a moment, then said, "Sometimes it is. Mom has to work her ass off to keep us going. She's usually alright, but she's so busy all the time that I get kind of overlooked. Then... well, I told you about Dad."
"Yeah." I whispered.
"So what about you?" Christian asked, and it seemed like he was trying to change the subject.
I shrugged and said, "Mom doesn't have to worry too much about money. My grandparents are kinda loaded so they're helping her out. She's got a pretty good job doing... well, I'm not really sure what she does. I know she told me but it ended up sounding like 'blah, blah, blah'."
Christian giggled and said, "I know how that is. When my mom talks about her work I kind of tune her out too. I know she feels like she needs to share it with me but I really don't care about who's sleeping with who in her office."
I nodded my agreement.
"What about your dad?" Christian asked with interest.
Before I could answer, I was interrupted by a female voice on the intercom telling us to put our seatbelts on.
"Like seatbelts are going to do a whole lot of good if this thing takes a header into the side of a mountain." Christian said sourly.
I chuckled as I put on my seatbelt, then said, "It might keep us from taking an unexpected flight if there's turbulence."
Christian considered for a moment, then said, "Actually, I think I might enjoy that."
"Are you boys all belted in?" A young female flight attendant asked, then reached down to be sure that both our seatbelts were tight.
Christian looked at me and I could tell that he was fighting to contain a really nasty, sarcastic remark.
I smiled, but said nothing until the flight attendant worked her way up the aisle to the next row of seats.
"Last year I got felt up when they checked my seatbelt." Christian said frankly.
"Really?" I asked with surprise.
"Yeah. The guy who did it was kinda cute." Christian said hesitantly.
I could tell by his expression that he was watching very carefully for my reaction to his thinly veiled admission.
"Too bad he wasn't on this flight." I answered, hoping it was the right thing to say.
Christian smiled and said, "Yeah. But I guess since he's not, we'll just have to figure something else out."
"Like what?" I asked cautiously, not entirely sure what I had opened myself up to.
"Ever heard of the 'mile high club'?" Christian asked with a smirk.
My eyes went wide at the question.
Yes, I had heard of it. But I never, ever considered that I'd have the chance to do something like that.
"I mean, it's okay if you're not into stuff like that..." Christian said cautiously as he continued to watch my expression carefully.
"I am." I said immediately, then added more quietly, "Or, I'd like to be."
Christian gave me one of those beautiful, glorious smiles.
"The toilet is right over there. Let's wait for a little bit until the seatbelt sign goes off and give the people with tiny bladders a chance at the john, then we'll make our move." Christian said with a wicked smile.
"What are we going to... I mean, I've never..." I trailed off as icy tendrils of fear mixed with excitement spread through my body.
Christian gave me a medium intensity smile before saying, "As far as I'm concerned, as long as we do 'something' in there. It counts. We have a little while before we'll be able to do it, so lets figure out what we'd like to do."
I nodded hesitantly, not trusting my voice at that point.
"I'm guessing from the way you're suddenly sweating that you're not ready for 'all the way'." Christian said quietly.
I reluctantly nodded.
"Me either. Well, maybe I am. But I don't think I want to do that for the first time in an airplane toilet." Christian said frankly.
I felt a little relief wash over me at the statement.
The sound of the plane's engines powering up stopped further conversation.
We taxied out onto the runway and within a few minutes we were enjoying the sensation of increased g-forces and lifting into the air.
"Was it good for you?" Christian asked with a chuckle.
I looked at him with question at the unusual statement.
"You just look like you really enjoyed that." Christian said with a fond smile.
"Yeah. I did. This is only the third time I've ever flown." I admitted shyly.
"Well, you'd better get used to it because if your parents have the same kind of custody deal as mine you'll be flying back and forth across the country every time the banks are closed for a holiday."
"I was kind of scared about doing this at first, but now it doesn't seem like it's so bad." I said honestly.
"Sometimes it's really boring. Every now and then it's even a little bit scary. When you're wearing one of these badges, it's telling everyone that you're traveling without your parents. Just a piece of advice. Don't use the bathroom in the airport." Christian said seriously.
"I'll remember that." I said cautiously, then quietly asked, "Did something happen to you?"
"No. But it almost did. Now I just make sure to take care of my business before I go to the airport. If I have to go, I wait until I get on the plane." Christian said frankly.
I nodded quietly.
"Anyway, have you decided how far you'd like to go when we join the club?" Christian asked with a devilish grin.
"I don't know what the choices are." I said shyly.
"Have you ever heard of a hummer?" Christian asked slowly.
"Like the car?" I asked hesitantly, pretty sure that's not what he meant.
"No, not like that. Tell me, what do you think about blowjobs?" Christian asked with an amused smile.
"I'm in favor of them." I said hesitantly.
"Me too." He said with a chuckle, then continued, "As long as you're in favor of them, I think I know what I want to do." He said with a smile.
"Are you going to tell me?" I asked uncertainly.
"Nah. I'd rather it be a surprise. Just make sure to remind me to bring my iPod before we go in there." Christian said with a secretive smile.
"Can I get you gentlemen anything?" The flight attendant asked from beside us.
"Blankets." Christian answered immediately.
I looked at him with question.
"Okay. Here you go. Do you need anything else?" She asked pleasantly as she handed each of us a blanket.
"Nope. We're good." Christian said with a smile.
I looked at Christian with question.
"Put the blanket over your lap and we'll have a little fun before we join the club." Christian said with his devilish smile back in place.
As soon as I realized what he was saying, I rushed to spread the blanket over me.
"Collin. I think this year I'm going to have a very Merry Christmas." Christian said as he looked me in the eyes.
"Hopefully this will only be the first." I said, then slid my hand under the blanket in his lap.
Editor's Notes:
Let me just say that like every other MM story I have ever read, I have fallen head over heels in love with these boys. I can certainly see how annoying it must be to be shuffled back and forth between two parents who are widely separated. I suspect it would be annoying even if they lived pretty close but in different cities. You would feel so much like some kind of property being shared between the two warring factions. I am not at all sure I would be able to keep doing it if it were me. Of course, like our two heroes, I wouldn't have much choice, so there wouldn't be anything to do but obey what the Judge told me to do. Depending on the age, maybe you could petition the Judge to change his ruling.
In this case, however, it seems that maybe things will work out well for the two of them. Let's hope so, and let's hope there will be a sequel and we can find out more about what will happen to them.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher