Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 13:48:59 -0500
From: music teacher <musicteacher2002@hotmail.com>
Subject: "This is the Night" chapter 13

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!