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Kevin, Howie, AJ and Nick all sat silently in the VIP room at Orlando's airport, all of them lost in their own thoughts as the waited for the minutes to tick on. Their plane was scheduled to depart in a little more than 1 hour, all of them having arrived early as per the instructions for flying international. The lounge was empty as requested by Kevin, nothing aside from Nick's gentle snores and the quiet TV in the corner making any noise. The youth sat stretched across 4 or 5 seats, his head resting in Kevin's lap as he slept, a thin blanket draped over his frame. Howie and Aj sat opposite the pair, the older of the two busying himself with a book while AJ simply sat, watching Nick sleep and letting his mind wander. Kevin's eyes were focused idly on the TV, not really paying attention to what was on it. Brian hadn't bothered to contact any of them in the last two days and the eldest now felt a small sense of guilt over what he had said to his younger cousin. Several times he had picked up the phone to apologize, but every time he had convinced himself otherwise, figuring that if anyone should make the first move, it should be Brian, not him. Letting out a long sigh, he looked down at the sleeping blonde in his lap, gently running his fingers down the younger man’s face. Nick had already asked him twice where Brian was. Kevin was unsure of what to tell him, simply stating that Brian was probably on his way. He knew Nick probably figured Brian wasn’t coming, since after the second response he had stopped asking but Kevin could see the disappointment in his younger friend’s eyes. As much as Nick had brushed them all off about coming, he knew perfectly well how much support the youth needed.

“Where the fuck are you Brian?” He breathed, his green eyes glancing at the door and then his watch.
“You really think he’s not gonna show?” AJ asked softly, hearing Kevin’s question as he looked at his eldest friend.
“I don’t know.”
“You told him not to come.” Howie sighed, glancing up from his book. “What did you expect?”
“For him to come!” The older man muttered with exasperation. “He should know how much this means to Nicky.”
“You’re impossible Kev.” The Latino grumbled, returning his eyes to his book. “You can’t chew someone out, tell them not to come then expect them to show up anyways.”
“Sure you can.” AJ smiled. “Life is retarded like that.”
“Oh yeah, now that’s a fortune cookie saying to live by.” Howie rolled his eyes, quickly shutting his book and setting it down. “Why don’t you just call him?”
“Because he was the one that fucked up?”
“I didn’t ask you AJ.”
“Because he’s the one that fucked up.” Kevin repeated with a small smile. “I think it should be up to him to try and redeem himself. Not the other way around.”
“I’m sure he knows he made a mistake Kev.”
“Then he should be the one to call and say so Howie.” The eldest shrugged. “Its simple.”
“It’s a matter of pride, is what it is.”
“So what? And besides, we still have time for him to show up.”

“Attention ladies and gentlemen, flight 6841 will now be departing at 12:30 instead of 1:15. Once again, flight 6841 will now depart at 12:30.”
Nick awoke with a start at the announcement, his eyes shooting open as he sat up quickly. “Whas goin on?” He mumbled, blinking quickly.
“Apparently we’re leaving earlier now.” AJ sighed, glancing at his ticket before shooting Kevin a look. The older man let out a long sigh, glaring at his younger friend.
“What time?”
“In like 30 minutes. We board in like 10.”
“Is Brian here?” All three men fell silent at the question as Nick looked around, his expression showing disappointment almost at once. “Oh.”
“I’m sure he’s coming Nicky.”
“I doubt it D.” The youth mumbled with a shake of his head. “S’okay. He has his family to think about.”
“That’s such bullshit.” AJ hissed, rolling his eyes as Howie smacked him from behind. “Shut up about it Jay.” The older man shot, “Just drop it.”
Kevin was watching the conversation silently, finally letting out a large breath and getting to his feet. “We should head to the gate.” He suggested, picking up his bag and hoisting it onto his shoulder. “You good to go baby?”
“Fine.” The blonde nodded, getting to his feet slowly. Howie and AJ all rose as well, grabbing their items before following Kevin out of the room. The area of the airport they were in was practically deserted, only private flights allowed to depart from the particular terminal. Reaching the gate, Kevin walked up to the ticket counter, greeting the woman and handing over all of the tickets.
“You all can go ahead and board.” She smiled, pointing to the entryway. “The captain just has a few things to modify before he’s ready to take off.”
“Thank you.” Kevin beckoned the others to follow, entering the plane quickly and getting situated. The aircraft was relatively small, 6 seats and a table scattered throughout the cabin. Each seat had a small TV situated in front of it and the table had a bench seat behind it, easily allowing four more people to sit down. Kevin took the seat closest to the captain’s entryway, Howie across from him. AJ plopped down behind Kevin and Nick behind Howie, all of them tossing their bags on the floor.

“Nice.” AJ nodded. “Not as nice as the 100 hour tour plane but nice.”
“I don’t think we’ll ever have another plane an nice as that one.” Nick chuckled, adjusting his hat. “But this one is cool.”
“It’s nice, yeah.” Kevin opened his mouth to comment, immediately distracted by the arguing he had started to hear.
“Sir! Sir I can’t have you board this plane! It’s a private flight! SIR!” They could hear the flight attendants yelling. Kevin was out of his seat in an instant, ready to do whatever he needed to do to make sure his friends stayed safe. “Call security!”
“There’s no need for security!” Came the response, “I already told you why I was here!” A man quickly entered the cabin, his face slightly hidden in the shadows as he set his bags down. “I’m sorry I’m late…” Recognition dawned on all four men and this time AJ jumped out of his seat, his eyes narrowed.“It’s about fuckin time Brian.”