Disclaimer: I have an overactive imagination, the result of which is this story. I do not know Clay Aiken or any other celebrities mentioned in this story, and I do not intend to imply anything about their true sexualities. Simply file this in the "Wouldn't it be nice...?" portion of your mind. Also, if you are under legal age to be reading this sort of stuff (18 in most areas), then leave now. All the rest of you who ARE of age, please enjoy my little mind trip away from the land of reality.
CHAPTER 13
It was difficult leaving Clay again after our fantastic night in Cleveland, especially knowing that the tour was scheduled to last for more than another month. Luckily, Clay was able to wrangle enough free time the next day to see Ryan, Lee, and I to the airport. Once we got there, we had to say our goodbyes in the car. Turns out that even in a larger city such as Cleveland, word traveled fast that Clay and Ryan were in the vicinity. Hordes of fans were waiting for them at the gates, we were told when we called the airport. Rather than deal with all of that, Ryan splurged and chartered a small private plane to get us back home. Lee and Ryan quickly said goodbye to Clay and left for the gate. It was then just me and Clay left in the car. We held each other's hands, neither of us knowing quite what to say.
"I wish you could come with me," Clay said sadly.
"I know, babe," I told him, putting my hand on his cheek and rubbing my thumb underneath his eye. I felt a bit of moisture when I did that, which made my own eyes water up. "I do, too."
We kissed for a couple of minutes. It was a very tender and loving moment that neither of us wanted to end. We both knew, however, that it did have to end, so we very slowly and reluctantly pulled apart.
"OK, I need to go," I said, patting his knees with my hands.
"OK," said Clay. "Call me when you land?"
"Try and stop me," I said, smiling.
I held Clay's right hand with my left as I opened the door and climbed out of the car. Kissing it quickly, I began to walk away, only to be pulled back to the car by Clay. Half exasperated, I leaned down to look inside the car.
"Honey, I really do have to go! The plane is waiting on me!" I told him with tears in my eyes.
"Just a sec," he said. He reached up, grabbed me by my neck, and pulled my head into the car, giving me a passionate, frenzied kiss.
"There," he said. "That's so you know what's coming for you in a few weeks.
I don't want you even thinking about being with anyone else," he said, smirking.
I chuckled. "So you get me all horned up and send me on a private plane with my ex-boyfriend and his hot new boyfriend?! Some plan you got there, baby," I said.
Clay's face turned white as a sheet. "No! I...uh...oh, man..."
I laughed harder. "Relax, Clay," I told him. "You have nothing to worry about. I am completely in love with you. Besides," I said with a smirk, "Lee isn't NEARLY as good a kisser as you are!"
Clay blushed. "Thanks."
"Now, if you will excuse me, I have a flight to catch." I gave Clay one last quick peck on the lips. "I love you," I told him.
"I love you, too."
I ran to find the plane. That in itself took some doing, as I had never flown on a private plane before. After an airport employee graciously helped me find my way, I boarded the plane, where I found Lee and Ryan curled up together on a couch, making out. Yes, that's right. There was a couch on this plane. In fact, on the inside, the plane looked nothing like a commercial airliner. It more closely resembled an office or a living room.
"How are you?" Ryan asked immediately.
"I'm doing ok," I said, and sank down in a chair next to the window. As I stared out the window, I realized that I had told Ryan the truth. I really was ok. Before this trip to Cleveland, I had been worried that Clay would somehow meet another guy, or decide that he just didn't love me anymore. But the previous night had changed all of that. Clay and I hadn't just had sex. As corny as it sounds, what we had done was physically shown each other everything we felt emotionally. I knew deep in my heart that Clay would not leave me for any reason.
Either I had been really deep in thought, or I had dozed off, because I was suddenly startled by the captain announcing we were going to be landing soon, and would we please buckle our safety belts? I shook my head to clear the fog, and looked around to find an empty cabin. Before I had time to call out for Lee and Ryan, the door to the bathroom opened, and all my questions were answered. It seems the two of them had finally succeeded at what they had failed to do on the trip to Cleveland - they joined the Mile High Club.
They saw me immediately, and sheepishly took their seats, faces burning. I just laughed and shook my head. We made our landing, and deplaned. Since we had arrived at the airport the day before in a limo, there was (of course) another one waiting to pick us up. Once inside, I decided I had better make good on my promise to call Clay. As I did this, Ryan and Lee apparently made good on some sort of unspoken promise to never keep their hands off each other. Ignoring them, I dialed Clay's number.
"Hey!" he said excitedly when he answered.
"Hey, sweetie," I said. "We're back."
"Good, I'm glad. Was the flight ok?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so!" I said, realizing I really hadn't noticed much of the flight.
"You think?" asked Clay suspiciously.
"Yeah - I kinda drifted off for a while," I told him.
"Well, then ask Lee and Ryan," he said, trying to be helpful.
I laughed out loud. "I don't think they noticed much, either!" I explained about the flight, and Clay had a good laugh, too. We talked for most of the ride home. When we pulled up to my apartment, we hung up. I gathered my suitcase and said goodbye to Ryan and Lee, thanking them profusely for the best birthday present I could have imagined.
I walked into my apartment, and thought about all of the things I should do.
Top on my list of priorities was checking email. This is sad, I know, but that's how addicted I am to email. I sat down at my computer and turned it on. Halfway through reading my messages, I let out a HUGE yawn. I realized that I hadn't really gotten much sleep the night before - or the past couple of weeks, what with worrying about being so far away from Clay. I looked at the clock. 4:30 PM. Perfect, I thought, I'll finish checking email, take a quick nap, and find some dinner.
Apparently, I was more tired than I thought, because I ended up sleeping until after 8:00! I probably could have slept even longer, but my stomach was growling fiercely. I got out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen, where I put a frozen dinner in the microwave. When that was ready, I ate it, and then flipped through some mindless summer reruns on TV. Eventually, my cell phone rang. The caller ID told me it was Clay, and I immediately smiled. We talked for a couple of hours, until both of us were about ready to fall asleep. When that happened, we said goodnight, and hung up. I slept with a smile on my face.
The next couple of weeks went by without incident. I was MUCH more productive than I had been in the first part of Clay's absence. It was like a weight had been lifted. I was more confident than ever that Clay loved me as much as I loved him. In fact, I was so productive, that by the second week in August, I was completely read for school to start up again - a full two weeks early! I told Clay, and he seemed happy for me.
"So what are you going to do with all of your free time?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," I told him. "I mean, I can only bug Ryan or Lee so much before I get annoying, you know?"
"Yeah..." he said, as if he was thinking about something. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find something to fill your time..."
I got suspicious at that. "What do you have planned, you little stinker?" I asked him.
"Nothing..." he said innocently. "Hey, listen, I need to go take care of a couple of things real quick. I'll talk to you tomorrow, k?"
"OK," I said hesitantly. The "talk until we're both on the verge of sleep" thing had become somewhat of a nightly thing for Clay and I. For him to suddenly end our conversation was quite strange.
"I love you! Bye!" He hung up before I got a chance to return the platitudes. Something was definitely up.
Turns out I didn't have to wait long to find out what that something was. Clay called me the next afternoon.
"I can't talk long because we're in the middle of rehearsals," he told me. "But I just HAD to tell you!"
"Tell me what?" I asked.
"Tell you to PACK YOUR BAGS! You're coming on tour with us!" I could hear the excitement in Clay's voice, but it took me a minute to process what he had just said.
"I'm what?!"
"I've talked it over with the people in charge, and it's cool with them! I booked you on a flight tomorrow night. We'll pick you up after our concert - you shouldn't be waiting long, if at all."
I began to get excited. I was going to see my Clay the next night! "OK! Wow, I have to get packing, huh?"
"Yep! I can't wait!"
"Me either!" I told him excitedly.
"Oh, man, I have to go. But I will call you later tonight, and I will SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!"
"OK, bye! Love you!"
"Love you too!" He hung up. I immediately called Lee. He and Ryan were very excited for me, and even offered to help me pack. That suited me just fine (I hate packing), so I invited them over for pizza, drinks, movies, and packing that night. They showed up around 6:00, and by 9:00, I was pretty much set to go, except for anything I'd need the next day. After we watched an old movie that we'd found out was playing on cable, they got up to leave.
"Well, have fun, man!" Ryan said enthusiastically.
"Thanks, I will!" I gave him a big hug.
"I'm going to miss you," Lee said, giving me an even bigger hug.
"Aww," I said. When we released, I gave him a playful shove. "That's not true. You guys will be so busy making wild monkey love, you won't even notice I'm gone!"
They laughed, and exchanged a glance. "Speaking of," Ryan said, "we got you a little present for your trip." Lee went to get something from his jacket pocket.
"A going-away gift?" I asked incredulously. "Guys, I'm coming back in a week. It's not like I'm gone forever."
"We know," said Lee, returning with a bag in hand. "We just hope that these will last for a week."
I opened the bag to find economy sized packages of condoms and lube. I laughed and blushed deeply at the same time.
"Thanks guys, I think this should be enough," I said. "After all, unlike SOME couples, we have some amount of self-control," I teased them.
"Wow," Ryan said, laughing. "That's too bad!" He wrapped his arms around Lee from behind and began to nuzzle his neck.
"OK, OK," I said, nudging them toward the door. "Get outta here before you give me a show I don't really want to see!"
Laughing, they left my apartment, most likely headed back to Lee's place for another fun-filled night. I cleaned up the leftover pizza and glasses, and headed for bed.
I slept in the next morning. Thank God I had packed the night before! I spent some time making the proper arrangements for being gone for a week. Lee and Ryan graciously offered to collect my mail and papers, as well as water my plant. Yes that's right - I have one solitary plant. If you ask me, that thing is lucky to still be alive! I'm horrible at taking care of plants.
After pacing around the apartment in anticipation for a couple of hours, it was FINALLY time to go to the airport. Ryan and Lee dropped me off, and I quickly made my way through the airport to the ticket booth. I picked up my ticket and almost ran to the gate. I couldn't contain my excitement. All throughout the short plane ride, my knee was bouncing up and down - which, given the lack of leg room on those planes, rather annoyed the lady seated in front of me.
"Do you mind?" she hissed at me.
I was smiling on the outside, but on the inside I was fighting back the urge to tell her that no, I didn't really mind a bit. "Sorry," I told her. "I'm just excited to see someone very special."
She softened a bit. "Well, I'm happy for you," she said. "But I don't think my back can take much more of your excitement..."
I laughed. "I'll try to keep it under control," I promised.
A short time later, we landed. I practically shoved my way to the front of the line of passengers waiting to disembark. When I finally got off the plane, I looked all around for Clay, but I didn't see him. He had said I may have to wait a little bit, so I had no choice but to do some more anticipatory pacing. A half hour later, I was getting a little bit nervous.
He hadn't forgotten about me, had he? The plane had only been two minutes early. Surely someone should be here by now.
"Randy!" I glanced up when I heard my name, and saw Carmen running in my direction.
"Hey, Carmen!" I went to give her a hug, but she just grabbed my hand and started running back from whence she came. "We gotta go!"
"What's going on?" I asked. "Where's Clay?"
Carmen stopped and turned around to face me. She wasn't smiling, and I realized she hadn't been smiling since I saw her running toward me.
"He's in the hospital, Randy. He's been hurt."
Dun dun DUNNN! What do you think happened? You'll have to stay tuned to find out! (Cue evil laugh here). In the meantime, Lee (my wonderful editor) is hard at work on the spinoff chapter involving his and Ryan's characters. It will be posted here as soon as possible, so stay tuned for that, too!
As always, I LOVE hearing your comments! Send them to musicteacher2002@hotmail.com Hope you keep reading, and keep enjoying!