Spring Break Cruise (6)
--THURSDAY: DAY SIX--
I was in kind of a bad mood when I got up on Thursday, I don't know why exactly. I guess I was feeling a little clausterphobic or something. I was tired of sleeping on a pull-out couch, tired of sharing a room with my my family, tired of being surrounded by people all the time. Plus, it seemed like it was so much work for Travis and me just to find time together alone and that pissed me off. Now that we'd be spending the whole day on the ship, it felt even more like there wasn't going to be any privacy. I tried to remind myself that we were going to see each other more today than we would next week, but that just made me grumpier.
Even though nobody had said anything, I just assumed that we'd all meet up at the pool after breakfast. Susan and Travis were waiting for me when I arrived.
Not long after I got there, Kristin and Ryan showed up. They both looked really great. I mean, I tried not to stare or anything, but Ryan was standing right in front of me with his shirt unbuttoned and he was totally ripped.
Kristin and Ryan got settled. Pretty soon, Kristin took off her top.
"Ryan," she said handing him the sunscreen bottle. "Would you mind?"
Travis and I looked at one another and smirked. Well, at least Kristin had finally found the right someone to help her out.
Ryan was the first one to head over to the pool.
"I'm goin' to the pool," he said taking off his shirt. "Anyone else interested?"
Travis immediately got up.
"I'll join you Ryan," said Travis, taking off his own shirt. I looked at the two of them standing there with their perfect, tan bodies and felt completely inadequate.
"Girls?" said Ryan hopefully.
"Andy?" said Travis.
Susan and Kristin and I looked at one another and then shrugged. The two models would have to head off by themselves.
As soon as the guys left, Susan started interrogating Kristin. I closed my eyes and pretended to doze off as I listened to them gossip.
"So?" said Susan excitedly. "What did you guys do last night?"
"I'm not one to kiss and tell," said Kristin slowly. "Buuuut I will tell you he's a very good kisser."
They both started giggling and I couldn't help by laugh at what Kristin had said.
"Do you like him?" asked Susan.
"Well," said Kristin. "He's really sweet. And he is awfully good looking. But he lives in Atlanta. So ya know . . . ."
"What are you going to do, then?" I said suddenly take an interest in their conversation.
"What do you mean, Andy?" asked Kristin. "He lives in Atlanta. I live in Boston. It's not like I'm gonna move or something."
"Yeah, but if you like him," I said. "How are you gonna . . . like keep your relationship going or whatever?"
"Andy," she said looking at me like I had fallen of the turnip truck. "I'm sure we'll exchange a few emails. But come on. It's just a little vacation fling. No big deal. It's not like we did anything. He's just fun to be around." She turned to Susan. "And, fun to kiss."
Once again they both started giggling.
Ryan and Travis came back and they were both dripping wet and grinning from ear to ear. They looked like they had been posing for an Abercrombie ad or something, with their leg hairs all plastered down against their perfectly tan skin and their smiles gleaming in the sun. I smiled up at Travis and he didn't even notice. He was totally staring at Ryan.
"So Ryan," Travis said. "Have you been to any concerts lately?"
"Well," he said. "I just saw Ben Folds in January and he was totally awesome. And this last summer I saw Dave Matthews on tour which was really cool."
"Oh my God!" said Travis. "I love Ben Folds. You're so lucky to have gotten see him. He was in California this year but none of the shows were all ages so I couldn't get in."
I had no idea who they were talking about. Travis had never asked me about music.
"Have you heard of The Strokes?" said Ryan.
"Oh yeah," said Travis. "They're great. I just got 'Is This It.' It's awesome.
"Yeah," said Ryan. "That's a great disc. Hey! Cool anklet, man."
"Thanks," said Travis "I got it yesterday."
Yeah, you got it yesterday WITH ME! Remember?! I wanted to scream, looking down at my own anklet which nobody had noticed. What the hell was Travis doing? Why was he spending all this time fawning over Ryan. Why didn't he get this excited about stuff with me?
"Well you boys seem to be having a good time," said Kristin.
"Yeah," said Ryan. "Well, like I said yesterday I was totally blown away by Travis' singing so we started talking music, and stuff. He knows, like everything."
Yeah, dude, well I was 'blown away' by him, too.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration," said Ryan sounding like an ass (well, to me anyway). "We just happen to have a lot of similar tastes. You should give me your email address, man. If you like The Strokes, I'll send you some mp3's and stuff you might like."
He was totally staring at Ryan when he said this. I was pissed.
"Great!" said Ryan. "I'm always up for finding new music and bands."
I tried to stop listening to their conversation. I tried to ignore all the attention that Travis was spending on Ryan. I knew I was in a bad mood and probably wasn't being fair, but still. Is it too much to ask to be acknowledged? To be included? Why wasn't Travis asking me any questions? Why didn't my opinion matter?
And then I panicked. If this is how Travis was acting around a good looking guy when I was sitting right next to him, what was gonna happen in a week when we were halfway across the country?
The girls decided that they were going to go swimming. I thought I'd join them. It wasn't so much that I wanted to get into the pool, I just wanted to see if Travis would want me to stay with he and Ryan.
"I think I'll head in as well," I said looking at Travis as I started taking off my shirt.
He smiled at me.
"Have fun," he said and turned back to Ryan.
Thanks a lot, I thought. I swam around a bit. (Well, swim is a generous term when you're in a pool crowded with 6-12 year olds.) I felt completely let down. I mean, I knew Ryan was good looking, that was obvious. And I guess it didn't bother me too much that Travis would notice him, after all I didn't mind staring at Ryan's chest either. But still, I'd never flirt with him the way that Travis was.
I got out the pool and headed back to our chairs. As I approached I noticed Travis was applying sunscreen to Ryan's back.
Shit. That was it as far as I was concerned. I was so angry at Travis.
I started gathering my things once I got to my chair.
"Hey," said Travis. "What's up? You goin' somewhere?"
"Yeah," I said curtly. "I'm tired of this. I'm going downstairs for a while. I'll see you guys later."
"Wait," said Travis confused. "Andy, what's up? Where are you going?"
I heard him but kept walking down the deck toward the elevators. I went straight back to our cabin. Thankfully no one was there. I felt like shit. I was wet and cold and I didn't know what was going on. I decided to take a shower and try to clear my head.
I couldn't believe that Travis would do this to me. Maybe he was treating this whole thing the way Kristin had described, as some sort of one week fling. A little vacation hanky panky, nothing more. I hadn't even thought about that possibility before. It just seemed obvious to me that whatever we were doing was somehow serious.
I mean, sure, I hadn't exactly figured out what was going to happen in a week or a month. I couldn't really start packing my bags to move to Denver. But in my mind the thing that was going to remain constant was that Travis and I were going to be together. Somehow. And I thought Travis felt the same way.
I got out of the shower and dried off. I put on some clean clothes and curled up on the couch for a while feeling completely exhausted. After an hour or two of sleeping and feeling sorry for myself, I was still in a bad mood. I was a little lonely and hungry and decided to see if I could find my parents for lunch.
Up at the Topsider, my Dad and Ruthie were just finishing up when I got there.
"Hey champ," said Dad. "You want to join us?"
"Yeah," I said glumly.
"What's wrong?" asked Ruthie.
"Nothing Ruthie," I said. "I'm just not feeling very well. Maybe a little seasick."
"Well don't puke on me," she said.
I chuckled.
"Ruthie!" said my Dad. "That's not how we speak at the table. Andy, if you need some pills I know your Mom packed some stuff."
"I'll be fine Dad," I mumbled.
We talked a bit more about Ruthie's activities and what everyone was planning for the afternoon. Dad told me that Mom was disappointed I hadn't spent more time with the family this week. He was hinting that I should plan on spending the evening with them. I didn't say much.
"Hey Mr. Mitchell," I heard Travis' voice from behind me.
Shit.
"Hi Travis!" said Dad beaming. "How are you today?"
"I'm great," Travis said. "I just thought I'd check on Andy here."
"Oh," said Dad. "He looks a little green in the gills, but I think he'll live. Have a seat. I was just about to take Ruthie back to the lab for her afternoon activities. You guys have fun."
"Thanks," said Travis sitting down next to me.
Dad and Ruthie got up and started heading out. Travis stared at me.
"So?" he said.
"So. What?" I answered.
"So are you gonna tell me what's goin' on?" he asked. "You took off from the pool this morning like the ship was sinking. Are you mad at me or something?"
"What do you think?" I snapped at him.
"Ouch!" Travis said. "Well, could you help me understand why?"
"Travis," I said. "I don't want to do this here, in front of all these people."
"Well," he said. "I really want to figure out what's going on right now so we better go somewhere to talk. Would you come to my cabin?"
"I guess," I said sighing.
We walked all the way to his cabin in total silence. I didn't even look at him as we went. When we arrived, I sat down with my arms folded on the couch. Travis sat down at the other end.
"So what's goin' on?" Travis asked looking at me concerned. "What did I do to make you so upset?"
"I thought it was pretty obvious," I said.
"Not to me I'm afraid," said Travis. "Please. Tell me what's bothering you so we can fix it. I hate seeing you mad at me."
"Come on Travis," I snapped. "I'm not an idiot. You spent the entire morning fawning over Ryan while I was sitting right next to you. That's what you did."
"What?" said Travis with a confused look on his face. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how you spent all morning paying more attention to Ryan's pecs than you did to anything else including me," I said loudly. "I'm talking about you rubbing your hands up and down his back, or maybe you thought I didn't see that."
Travis looked at me and cracked a smile. Then he giggled a bit.
"You're laughing?" I said, furious. "What are you laughing at?"
"Oh my God," said Travis. "You're jealous. I can't believe this. You're jealous of me spending time with Ryan this morning. Oh Andy. I'm sorry. You totally mis-read things there. I swear. Even if I were interested in Ryan, which I'm not, he's straight as an arrow. Straighter, if that's possible."
"Than why were your hands all over him?" I asked.
"Because his girlfriend was in the pool and he was getting sun burned," Travis said. "Andy, please. It's no big deal. I wasn't flirting with Ryan. He's not my type."
"Not your type?" I said. "He's a guy. Who's gorgeous. And nice. What's not your type about him?"
Travis reached out and put his hand on my bare knee.
"He's not my type because he's not you," Travis said softly. "He's not as funny as you. He's not as smart, as kind, as wonderful as you. Andy, we were just talking. I'm sorry if I offended you but you have nothing to worry about. There's only one guy on this whole ship who makes me feel special. And that's you."
"But Travis," I said a little more calmly. "What if . . . I mean, what happens when you meet someone like Ryan back home? How can I compete with someone who looks like that?"
Travis smiled at me. His hand started rubbing my thigh.
"Andy," he said. "There is no competition. That's what I'm trying to say. You won, man. It's all you. I mean, sure, Ryan's a nice piece of eye candy. But I already get to be with the sexiest guy on the planet."
"But," I said whining. "But that's just it. You won't be with me. What happens when I'm in Chicago and you're home?"
"Hey," Travis said gently. "Remember, it's my job to freak out about that, not yours. Besides, we weren't going to worry about that for a while, right? Someone way smarter than me told me we'd figure that out eventually and I believed him."
"I just . . ." I was starting to tear up. "Oh God, Travis I've just been in such a shitty mood all morning and when I saw you guys together I got really scared. I thought maybe, that you just wanted this to be like some sort of vacation fling. That maybe you wouldn't want to hear from me again after this week."
"Andy," Travis said taking my hands. "How can you say that? I think I've been pretty clear about how important this is to me.
"Yeah but . . . " I interrupted.
"Listen to me," Travis said firmly. "I don't have a word for what we're doing. I can't tell you if we're dating if we're going steady or . . . or, what. But I can sure tell you a lot of words that DON'T describe what we're doing. At least as far as I'm concerned. This isn't a fling. It's isn't casual. We aren't just screwing around or experimenting. It isn't just about sex and it isn't just about this week. It's about finding each other. For me it's about finding the nicest, most handsome guy I've ever met in life. The guy who makes me excited to wake up every day, who can make me happy just by standing next to me. It's about finding you."
I looked at Travis and smiled.
"Really?" I said.
"Of course Andy," said Travis. "Why else do you think I freaked out the other night? Why else do we have matching anklets? Why else did I tell you I loved you last night? I'm serious about us. You never have to worry about that, honest."
"I'm sorry Travis," I said softly "I shouldn't have doubted you. I'm sorry I got so mad."
"It's OK," he replied. "Actually, you're kind of cute when you get angry. Your face gets all red and stuff."
"Shut up," I said laughing a bit, wiping my eyes. "Do you forgive me for being jealous?"
"Of course," he said sliding over and putting his hands on my shoulders.
Travis leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips. I wrapped my arms around his back. Slowly he pulled his head back and looked at me, smiling.
"Do you wanna, um, go over to the bed?" he asked.
"What about your parents?" I said.
"I don't care," said Travis. "They can walk in on us when my mouth is full of Mr. Happy Pants as far as I'm concerned."
"Well," I laughed. "I guess that would be one way to tell them what we've been up to."
"Yeah," he said. "Come on."
I got up and we headed over to the bed. Travis came up from behind me and started taking my t-shirt off. I raised my arms and he pulled it over my head. I turned around and unbuttoned his crazy Hawaiian shirt. I sat down on the bed, my face directly in front of Travis' swim trunks. I looked up at him and smiled as I pulled them down.
His cock was still soft, resting within his gorgeous thatch of hair. I put my hands on his hairy thighs and rubbed up and down as my mouth started kissing his fuzzy stomach. I bathed his treasure trail with my own spit as his hands were rubbing my shoulders. Slowly I slid my right hand up into his crotch and cupped his balls. Gently I moved them around between my fingers, feeling their smooth warmth. I took my left hand and lifted his cock which was beginning to get hard. I slid down the center of his stomach and for the first time took his dick in my mouth.
My nose brushed against his pubes and I smelled a combination of chlorine and his masculine scent. It was awesome. His entire cock was in my mouth, becoming harder and harder, longer and wider. He moved his hands off my shoulders and put them on the back of my head. I started moving back and forth, trying to use my tongue as Travis had the night before.
His cock was wide and filled my entire mouth. I was surprised how much I had to work to keep my teeth of the way. But I loved feeling him inside me. I loved the taste of his dick and the smell of his pubes. I pulled back and started kissing the head of his dick, licking and swallowing just that first inch.
Travis groaned. He pushed my head all the way back and his cock gently popped out of my mouth. I looked up at him as I felt his hands reach into my underarms and pull me up. I stood at the side of the bed as we both smiled at one another. Travis pulled me close and started kissing me intensely. I could feel his cock poking near my own dick which was hard as a rock.
Travis raised my right arm over my head and then dove into my armpit. He started kissing and licking the hairs under my arm. His tongue was so soft, so gentle. It felt amazing to feel him devouring me.
He slid his mouth across my chest, letting my arm down. He kissed my nipple as he kept moving lower and lower down my chest. He got on his knees and looked up at me with a huge smile on his face.
"I think we're getting pretty good at his," he giggled.
"Well, you sure are," I said smiling.
"So are you," he said while he unbuckled my belt and pulled down my shorts. My cock jutted out the side, once again pushing my boxer briefs to their limit. Travis immediately pulled my underwear off and started devouring my naked dick.
He was more confident, more aggressive than he had been last night. My cock slid into his mouth as if it were the most natural thing in the world and immediately his head was bobbing up and down my shaft, his tongue ferociously attacking the underside. I put my hands on his shoulders and closed my eyes as he continued to move up and down my cock.
He pulled off and started licking the hairs at the base of my dick. He buried his nose in my crotch and maneuvered his mouth all the way around to my balls. He started licking my scrotum which sent a shiver through my entire body. Soon he took each ball, one at a time, into his mouth. It was incredible. My dick was resting against his cheek as he so very gently tugged and sucked on my balls.
I could feel that I was getting close, but I wasn't ready to be done. I pulled Travis up and we got on to the bed. I laid back and Travis got on top of me, our chests rubbing against one another, our naked bodies becoming one solid mass.
"Let's come together," said Travis.
"OK," I said panting, not exactly sure what he meant.
Travis moved his hand down to our dicks. He put them together and started moving back and forth so that my stomach was sliding against the underside of his cock as the soft hairs on his stomach rubbed against my cock. We started rocking together. Slowly Travis pushed us faster and harder into one another.
"I'm close," he said in my ear.
"Me too," I grunted, as we rocked back and forth together.
I felt Travis' come hit my skin almost as soon as I said that. He continued sliding back and forth over me, smearing the warm sticky mess into my stomach. I immediately lost it. I could feel myself once again release a huge load all over the two of us. Wave after wave seemed to shoot out and I felt my own hot semen smearing against our bodies.
Travis kissed me as his rhythm started slowing down. After a minute or so he rolled off of me and curled up next to him. We lay together, just the sounds of our breathing filling the room.
"Damn," said Travis laughing.
He was looking down at his belly. It was covered in our come. All the hair around his belly button was plastered to his skin with our combined loads. I looked over and smiled at him. I took my finger and gently started making lazy circles in the mess.
"Not bad," I said. "I mean, for first timers."
He grabbed my hand and stuck my come covered finger into his mouth.
"Not bad at all," he said licking his lips.
"I think what they say is true," Travis continued.
"What's that?" I asked.
"That make-up sex is the best," he said laughing. "If we get to do that every time we get into an argument, than we're going to have to start fighting a lot more often."
I laughed.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm sorry about that. I was just in a bad mood this morning."
"I know," he said. "I think we're both a little nervous about what happens next. But like you said yesterday, for now, we just have to enjoy our time together. Right?"
"Right," I said.
Travis rolled over and faced me. We pulled one another close, our slimey bellies meeting and warming other. Our cheeks lay side by side and I could feel a tiny swath of stubble near Travis' sideburns. This, to me, was every bit as wonderful as the sex we had just experienced. The opportunity to hold Travis near me, my arms wrapped around his back, our chests pressed into one another. All I could hear was his breathing; all I could feel was his heart beat. It felt so right.
We lay together for quite awhile, occasionally moving our intertwined legs or gently kissing one another's face. Eventually we decided we should probably get dressed and cleaned up. It was already close to four o'clock. We weren't really sure what to do next, but we headed up to the Topsider to get something to drink. As luck would have it, Ryan, Kristin and Susan were all sitting at a table there.
"Well look who's here," said Kristin.
"Where have you guys been?" asked Susan.
I looked at Travis. A quick look of panic spread across his face as he tried to come up with a reasonable lie.
"Well," I said, trying to recover. "I was feeling kind of seasick this morning, so, ya know I've been sort of out of commission for the day."
"Yeah," said Travis. "And I just thought I'd head down and see how he was doin'."
None of them looked entirely convinced, but they didn't seem to care very much either.
"We were looking for you guys," said Kristin. "We were hoping to all get our picture taken together this afternoon with Mickey."
"What?" Travis said laughing.
"Yeah," said Susan. "It'll be fun. You know, we'll have a group shot with Mickey Mouse. It's a great memento. Please you guys? It starts in like thirty minutes. It won't take that long, I promise."
"Of course we'll do it," said Travis still laughing. "I just hadn't envisioned you guys as the Mickey Mouse Fan club. But it's a great idea. It'll be fun to have a picture of all of us together to remember the trip. Where do we go?"
Kristin got out her Navigator.
"Lobby Atrium," she said. "Deck three."
"Well, can I meet you guys there?" asked Travis. "I want to grab something from my cabin."
"Of course," said Susan. "This is going to be fun!"
Travis got up and headed downstairs while the rest of us chatted for a while longer. At 4:30 we headed down to the lobby and discovered that the line to have your picture taken with Mickey was pretty long. It really didn't bother me too much, since I really had no where else to go.
Eventually Travis showed up again. He had changed clothes and was now wearing the shirt I had left at his cabin two days ago. I smiled at him and he winked at me. It was just like him. Now whenever either one of us would look at this picture there'd be a little hidden reminder of OUR time on the ship as well.
Eventually we got up to see Mickey and I couldn't believe how excited I felt about this silly picture. And Mickey! It was like I was a little kid again. We all posed laughing and it seemed like they got a great shot of the five of us. Travis then asked if they'd take one of just him and me. We both put our arm around Mickey and smiled as the flash went off.
The five of us chatted for a while longer specifically about Castaway Cay, tomorrow's destination. Kristin, of course, had researched all the options and she suggested that we do the all-morning excursion for teens. It sounded pretty cool involving some hiking, biking and kayaking. We figured we could do that and still enjoy all afternoon at the beach. We trooped up to the excursion desk to sign up. By then, it was time for us to head our separate ways and get ready for dinner with our families. The evening plan was pretty much left in limbo since it seemed that Kristin and Ryan didn't want to really commit to anything (surprise surprise) and Travis and I were always happy to be on our own. We started heading downstairs.
"Travis," I said. "Umm, I think my folks kind of expect me to go to the show tonight. Dad was pretty clear with me today that they thought I hadn't spent much time with the family so far. So, well, I don't know when I'll see you tonight."
"Well, that's OK," he said trying not to sound disappointed. "I mean, we did get some quality time together today." He smiled at me.
"Hey, I just thought of something," I said. "If you want, I mean I know it's not that much fun, but I'm sure you could join us. My folks would love to have you and you know Eliza and Ruthie adore you."
"Ya think so?" his face brightened. "I mean, I don't want to impose or anything."
"Yeah," I said getting excited. "It wouldn't be any imposition at all. I like it when you're with us. It's . . . like you're part of the family or something. Why don't you meet at our cabin after dinner."
"Cool," he said smiling.
I was smiling as I headed into our cabin where Mom, Dad and Ruthie were already starting to get dressed. Dad wanted to know how much seasickness was coming along and I mumbled something about feeling better. I asked them if Travis could join us at the show and, of course, they didn't have any problem with that. It occurred to me that my parents really are pretty cool.
Travis met up with us after dinner and all three families went into the theater together. The show was called "Disney Dreams" and it was pretty much a sample of songs from all the big Disney movies like Little Mermaid, Lion King and Aladdin. When the girl on stage started singing the Mermaid song that Travis had shared on Monday night I pushed my leg against his and slowly slid my hand next to his thigh. When she finished, Travis looked over at me and for a moment it once again felt like we were the only two people on the whole ship. I gave his leg a little squeeze.
After the production (which, all right, I'll admit, was pretty cool) the adults were all kind of milling around trying to figure out what to do next. Nobody was really excited about taking the little kids with them and for whatever reason it didn't sound like they were going to be checked back into the lab. I guess Ruthie and Eliza in particular were beginning to become a little bored with the activities up there. Out of nowhere, Travis started talking to my Dad.
"Mr. Mitchell?" he said. "I don't mean to eavesdrop or anything, but if you'd like, Andy and I can take the kids if you all are headed upstairs or something."
Both Dad and I looked at Travis with startled expressions.
"Are you sure," said Dad, looking at me.
"Um, yeah, sure," I said looking at Travis. "We'll babysit for a couple of hours if you want."
Immediately my aunts and uncles started thanking Travis and saying how nice it was to have two mature young men to help them out on their vacation. I thought they were going overboard a bit, but they did seem genuinely happy that all of them could enjoy the evening together without the kids. We agreed to meet up back at the cabins at midnight.
Dad pulled me aside before we left.
"If you need to bribe anyone with ice cream or something," he said smiling. "Just charge it to the room. Thanks a lot for doing this Andy. Your Mom and I both appreciate it."
"No problem" I said smiling back.
As soon as the adults left, Travis took control. Of course both Ruthie and Eliza were totally smitten with him. And even Matt and Mark seemed to think it was pretty neat that they got to hang out with the teenagers. Travis said we were going to start with a scavenger hunt. He would name some random object and then all the kids would start getting excited about where they had seen that on a ship. They totally ate it up.
"Why'd you volunteer us for this?" I said quietly. The kids were headed toward one of the stewards to ask for a bar of soap.
"I dunno," he said. "I just figured it would be a fun way to kill a couple of hours. And besides, I like your family."
"But what how are we gonna keep them busy?" I asked a little concerned.
"Travis," he said slightly annoyed. "It's not that hard. I mean, this scavenger hung alone could take til midnight. We just spent the last twenty minutes finding a ticket stub for cryin' out loud! Besides, I was a camp counselor this last summer. I learned plenty of silly things to do in case it rained something."
"If you say so," I said chuckling. "So long as you have plenty of activities I'll gladly help out. By the way, Dad said we can stop for ice cream at some point if you run out of creative options."
"Excellent," said Travis as Matt proudly presented a bar of soap to Travis.
"Great job, gang!" Travis announced enthusiastically.
And so it went. The two hours of babysitting flew by and by the time we dropped off Matt and Mark, it became pretty clear that all four of the kids were wiped out. My Aunts and Uncles were totally impressed.
Finally we were ready to drop Ruthie off with my parents.
"Mom," I said. "Um, Travis and I are gonna head up to The Stack if that's OK."
"That's fine dear," she said. "Thank you both so much for spending the evening with us. I know that it probably wasn't the highlight of your trip, but we really appreciate it."
"No problem," said Travis. "We had a good time. Thanks for letting my join your family this evening, Mrs. Mitchell."
"Travis," my Mother said. "We've very much enjoyed having you with us this week and you're always welcome. Who knows, maybe if you and Andy stay in touch we'll have to have you come up Chicago some time."
"That would be awesome!" said Travis lighting up.
I smiled at them both. It's funny, but seeing them interact like this was the first time that it occurred to me that Travis was my boyfriend. I guess the word hadn't really occurred to me before or something. But for whatever reason, it made me feel great to know that my Mom liked my boyfriend so much. (Even if she didn't yet know that he actually was my boyfriend!)
We headed upstairs and did, in fact, poke our heads into The Stack. It was pretty dead so we decided to go down to the Topsider and sit for a while.
"You know what I was just thinking about?" I asked smiling at Travis.
"What?" he replied.
"When I saw you and Mom talking," I said. "I was thinking how cool it was that my boyfriend and my Mom got along so well. That made me really happy."
"It makes me happy to know I'm your boyfriend," he said gently rubbing his foot against my ankle. "Do you think she was serious?"
"About what?" I said.
"About coming to Chicago?" he said. "Do you think she meant it?"
"Of course she did Travis," I said. "We'll definitely figure out a way to make that happen. I promise."
"Come on," he said standing up. "Let's go upstairs."
"There'll probably be people there," I said knowing exactly where Travis wanted to go.
"So what?" he said. "It's our spot and that's where we're going. Besides, it's not like we were going to strip naked and mess around or anything."
"Aww. We're not?" I whined.
Travis laughed and we made our way to the overlook we had been to so many times before. It was actually pretty deserted, with just a handful of folks apparently out for a walk. We went over to the railing. Travis immediately put his hand on mine and stood next to one another, gazing out into the darkness of the sea. It was a gorgeous, warm evening. Travis started humming in my ear and before I knew it, he was once again singing just to me. I closed my eyes.
Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I will play
So sweetly, I'll make you smile
This is my tune for the taking
Take it, don't turn away
I've been waiting all my life
Thinking it over, I've been sad
Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad
To change my ways for the asking
Ask me and I will play
All the love that I hold inside
I looked over at him and gave him a soft, gentle kiss.
"How do you know all that music?" I asked quietly.
"I dunno," he said. "I guess I remember things I like. Things that are important to me. Like beautiful songs."
"Yeah, but how do you remember all the words?" I said.
"Do you follow sports?" asked Travis. "Like the basketball or football or anything."
"Yeah," I said a bit confused. "My Dad and I watch the Bulls together. And I try to keep up with the Bears. Why?"
"Can you tell me the startling line up for the Bulls?" he continued.
"Sure," I said.
"Can you tell me the last time they won a championship?" he asked.
"Of course, I said. "1998. What does that have to do with anything?"
"And I'll bet you could probably could tell me who played on that team as well," he said. "I'm just pointing out that you remember a lot of stuff too. I don't follow sports, I listen to music. It's just like you remembering a sports score or a great play, only it's music instead of basketball. Plus, I do practice a lot."
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
"Well," I said. "I'm sure glad you can remember all that stuff. Cause it makes me really happy."
"Good," Travis replied. "That's exactly what music is supposed to do."
We stood for a little while longer at the railing and decided to head back to our cabins. I dropped Travis off first this time, giving him a fast good night kiss in the hallway. I went back to my cabin and snuck inside as quietly as I could so as not to wake my parents or Ruthie. I poked around in my duffle bag until I found my pen and the notebook. Then I quietly left and headed upstairs to the tables at the Topsider. I sat down and started writing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPRING BREAK CRUISE January 2004
This is a story in eight parts, which are all complete and will be posted in the next few weeks in accordance with Nifty's schedule. Part eight includes more information about the songs/lyrics used in this story.
This is a work of fiction. I hope you enjoy it! Comments and critiques are welcome at: billynkyle@yahoo.com .
I have one other story posted on Nifty and if you liked this one you might check that one out. There's definitely a lot of similarities between the two stories. Unfortunately, I never posted the end to that one. (Hence, the defined time frame of this.) Anyway, it's at: http://nifty.photozero.com/nifty/gay/highschool/summer-at-the-lake/ I do have a few more chapters of that somewhere (but still no ending!) and perhaps I'll get them posted. Let me know if you'd like to see them.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/ or send a letter to:
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