Sometimes It's Better to Give In

“Come on Alex, boarding is starting.” I said shaking Alex’s shoulder.
Alex groaned and tried the wave my hand off his shoulder. He’d fallen asleep with his head in my lap after he’d stretched out on the less then comfortable airport seats.
“No.” He mumbled like a child. “Just got to sleep.”
“Alex, I’m getting up and leaving you here if you don’t come.”
“Emmy…” He groaned.
“Come on!” I said standing.
He let his head fall to the seat I had just been sitting on and rolled to try and find comfort in the plastic and thin layer of foam. I looked at Rian and Jack. Jack was not paying attention to anything. He was staring off into space and waiting for his phone to do something. I signaled Rian and come over with my fingers.
Rian knew what I wanted and walked up to Alex. He got behind the row of seats and pushed Alex’s body to the floor. Kara laughed from her seat next to Jack. Alex rolled onto his back and looked up at me with a confused expression. At least he was awake now.
“I take it we have to go?”
“You can sleep on me when you get on the plane.” I said.
“Okay.” Alex held his hand up and Rian pulled him off the floor.
Alex stood up and looked about him. He must have been searching for his luggage and forgot that everything had been checked at baggage and was going in the cargo hold. I took his hand and followed Jack onto the plane. I had to grab Jack’s shoulder and direct him away from a wall while he was in the middle of staring at his phone. Maybe I should have let him hit the wall just for a laugh.
We all took out seats on the plane. Alex plopped into his as if her were the most tired boy in the world. I smiled at his behavior and sat in my seat next to him. He curled up as best he could and put his head on my shoulder. I ran my fingers though his hair until he was asleep.

The plane touched down and I had to wake Alex again. He was a little better this time and sat up. He looked around to see that he was in a plane and then was comforted by the fact that he’d been sleeping on me for the five-hour plane ride.
We got off the plane and went to baggage claim. I looked at the clock to see what time it was. I was laughing when it said five am. We’d left Maryland at three am and the plane ride was five hours so in Maryland time it should be eight but it was five here. I was too tired to think about the time differences and just laughed at how absurd clocks were. Rian looked at me like I was crazy when I pointed out the time to him. I guess he was awake enough to understand the time.
By the time I had calmed down Alex had his and my luggage. We followed Kara and Rian to the outside air. I got closer to Alex when I discovered it was cold outside. Jack flagged down a cab that was a van and we all piled in. Rian gave the driver the address of the hotel we were staying at and that was all I remembered of the cab ride.
When I opened my eyes again there was a golden light coming though the widow and I was in an unfamiliar room. The only thing that made me feel okay was the pair f arms wrapped around my waist.
My brain started to work again and I figured out that I was in California and Alex and I were in a hotel room. I looked across the room to see Jack spread eagle on his bed sleeping with his mouth open. How come Rian and Kara got to have a room to themselves? Oh yea, because Alex and I usually do and it’s their turn to be alone.
Alex made a noise behind me that told me he was still asleep. I turned my head to see if I could look behind me enough to see him. All I could see of him was his shoulder and some of his neck. He moved and I let my head fall back to its original position. Alex’s arms tightened around me and he made another small noise. He was dreaming.
It was ten minutes later when I felt a kiss on the back of my neck. I smiled and rubbed one of Alex’s hands that were securely over my abdomen. He knew I was awake and gave me a few more kisses.
Jack woke up and lifted his head off the pillow. His phone had buzzed. He picked it up and texted back a message that most likely made no sense and then fell back asleep.
“Morning.” Alex said.
“Good Morning.”
“How long have you been up?”
“Couple minutes. What were you dreaming about?” I asked.
“How do you know I was dreaming?”
“You were making noise and moving around.”
“Oh. I was dreaming about being on stage. It’s been a while.”
“Was it fun?”
“Mmhm.”
“Tomorrow you can be on stage.” I said.
“Video shoots don’t count.” Alex said.
“But you’re going to be on a stage. You never said what you were doing on stage.”
“Okay, I guess you’re right about that.” He said kissing my shoulder a few times.
“Shut up! I’m sleeping.” Jack grumbled.
Alex sighed and moved his arms to tell me to roll and face him. When I was face to face with him he pushed his lips to mine. If we couldn’t talk we could make out.
“I can hear that.” Jack whined.
“Deal with it. It’s this or talking.” Alex said to Jack.
Jack groaned, mumbled something about liking Rian and Kara better, and then pulled a pillow over his head. I laughed at him quietly. Alex watched me and got that adoring expression on his face. He kissed the tip of my nose and then put his nose against mine. That soft adoring expression was still in his eyes.
“What?” I whispered.
“Your giggle is cute.” He whispered back.
I giggled again. He tilted his head and kissed me softly. My fingers curled loosely into his hair as we kissed softly. It was that kind of kiss that meant the word to me and had to end on its know naturally. When he pulled back you could have compared me to a puddle of mush.
“I love you.” Alex said.
“Love you more.” I smiled.
“Not true.”
This time when we were trying to top the other in who loved who more it wasn’t designed to make someone else jealous, this was us genuinely us trying to say we loved the other more. Alex won out when he brought up how hard he had to fight for me and I curled into his chest to kiss it. He kept his arms tight around me.
Jack had notified Zack and Courtney that we were in California now. They came to our hotel and I heard them in Rian and Kara’s room. Our rooms were connected by a door so they came though to see us. Alex and I were still in bed curled up with one another but Jack was up watching cartoons on the large TV.
Courtney jumped into bed with Alex and I. She put her arms around me and hugged me.
“I miss seeing you every day.” She said.
“I miss you too Court.”
She laid down next to me and I rolled to be on my back rather than on my side facing Alex. Alex put his head on my shoulder and slung his arm across my stomach. His hand landed on my hip and he traced the edge of it with one finger with his eyes closed.
Courtney and I slipped into talk about anything and everything. Zack came over and joined our conversation before pulling Alex out of his almost trance like state and started discussing the video shoot that was happening tomorrow.
It wasn’t long before Zack mentioned that he wanted to go to the beach. Alex got up from the bed we were in and went through his suit case to find his swim trunks. He pulled them out and went into the bathroom to change. I got up and pulled my bathing suit out with ease and slipped into the bathroom with Alex.
He was surprised at first and pulled a towel from the counter to cover himself up and then saw it was me and tossed the towel to the floor. I made a show of checking him out before standing to the side and taking my pajamas off like it was a show. When I glanced back at him he was biting his lip and I hadn’t even taken everything off.
When I was down to my panties he grabbed me around the waist and pushed me against the wall before forcing his lips against mine. I sighed and let my body fall into his. He let his index finger trail down my sides and then catch in the sides of my panties. He looped his fingers in them and started to slide them down, dragging kissed all the way down my neck, chest, and stomach as he went lower. He kissed his way back up and connected our lips again.
We knew that with a room of three, possibly five, people waiting for us it would be rude to indulge in each other’s bodies. Then again they would hear what was going on and leave the room, wouldn’t they? It was a hard decision. Alex pulled back and picked up his swim trunks off the floor. I made a face but he kissed me again.
“I promise later. The shower we take after the beach should be a good time. The water will cover up the sounds.”
“I like the way you think.” I said going for my bathing suit.
I had Alex tie the back of my top before we went back out.
“Took you long enough.” Rian muttered.
Everyone was ready so we followed Zack and Courtney out of the hotel. The seven of us were able to fit into Zack’s car-I had to sit on Alex’s lap-and drive to the beach.
While we were there it was all insanity and chasing each other around. We played in the sand and the water. There was nothing that we left undone. It was good for the seven of us to all be together again. I missed Zack all the time since he had moved out here and now I had to miss Courtney.
The day started to wind down. The sun was going down on the wrong side of the coast for me. I was used to it setting over the land, not the water. It was a little trippy to see that. It came up over the water for me.
I had to sit in the sand and watch it go down. It was so weird to see this. I knew that it was supposed to set in the west, like it was doing, but usually it was over land so I was a bit amazed at this.
“Watching the sun go down?” Alex asked sitting behind me.
He scooted closer and put his legs on either side of me. I leaned back into his chest.
“Yea, it’s wrong.” I said.
“I know what you mean.” He smiled kissing my cheek.
“It’s supposed to set over the land, not the ocean.”
“This is also the Pacific not the Atlantic.”
“They don’t feel any different.”
Alex laughed. “I wouldn’t think so. They’re both water.”
“Salty water.”
Alex laughed again at me. For some reason he found me funny but said nothing else. We sat together watching the sun go down.
I saw out of the corner of my eye that Zack was talking to some girl that wasn’t Courtney, but he was introducing Courtney to her. I chose not to pay attention to it though. I was more concerned with Alex and the sun set. It wasn’t every day that I got to watch the sun go down over the ocean.
The sky lit up in a vibrant pink. The sun was gone from sight except for a tiny sliver. The horizon was golden where the sun was left with pink reflecting in the clouds. It was so pretty.
Alex tightened his arms around my waist and kissed my shoulder a few times. Then sun was gone but we were among the few still on the beach. I noticed that Courtney didn’t look to happy. I signaled her to come over.
She came and plopped down next to Alex and me.
“What’s the matter love?” I asked.
“This girl Stephie,” Courtney said nodding towards a petite blonde that Zack and Jack were talking to. “I think she likes Zack a little too much.”
“So get over there and claim your man.”
“I’m over her. I mean I know I shouldn’t have to worry about it, but I do. I guess I’m just protective of Zack. I know he wouldn’t cheat on me, but I don’t think Stephie’s got that in her mind. I think she wants to date him. She’s all flirting with Jack too.”
I reached over and pulled Courtney into a hug. She smiled and then pushed back after a moment.
“Want me to talk to Zack?” Alex asked.
“Nah, it’s not like I haven’t said anything. It’s just that I don’t like her. He said she was like a little sister to him so I guess that’s okay. I just don’t know what she’s thinking.”
“She’ll get bored if she hangs around for long and sees that Zack and you are committed until the end.” I said encouragingly.
“He’s known her longer than I’ve been here.”
“Mmm.” I said seeing her problem.
She was more confused than anything. I wished there was something I could do. She obviously didn’t want Alex to get involved with it and talk to Zack and I assumed she didn’t want me to have a chat with Stephie either. All I could do was try to take her mind off the problem.
When Stephie left Courtney got visibly happier. She went back over to Zack and curled herself into his body. He took her face in both his hands and kissed her. She smiled and pushed her face into his neck. I thought I heard them saying they loved each other but they were too far away for me to be sure.
“Are you getting tired?” Alex asked me.
“No, why?”
“You just feel like you are.”
“Oh, I’m fine.” I said twisting to look back at him.
“Ready for that shower later?”
“I am.” I said kissing him.
He fell back on the sand with me in his arms. He started to make the kiss just a little more than appropriate for the beach to emphasize what was coming.
“Enough.” Rian grumbled. “Lately all you guys have been doing is each other.”
“He did have to fight pretty hard for that privilege.” Jack reminded Rian.
“Yea, I know. It would be nice if they separated for a whole day though. They don’t need to be joined at the groin all the time.”
“Don’t be jealous.” I said to Rian. “Just because Alex is getting more than you doesn’t mean you can be grouchy.”
Alex chuckled in my ear.
“Oh, he gets plenty.” Kara smiled putting her arms around Rian from behind.
“We’re just adults about it, not teenagers with raging hormones.” Rian said.
“I am a teenager Rian.” I reminded him. “Nineteen remember?”
“You’re almost twenty.” Rian said back.
We all started to laugh suddenly at how our little squabble had become so intense. Rian said sorry and so did I. I told him I would try to calm down a little bit for his sake starting as soon as we got back home. He said he would try not to make so many comments.
“I guess you guys are glad you’re not living with us.” Courtney said from the trap of Zack’s arms. “We make Alex and Emmy look like amateurs.”
“I bet Jordan loves that.” Jack laughed.
“He’s got his own woman that comes over. Once we had a battle to see who was louder.” Courtney smiled.
“TMI!” I shouted hiding against Alex.
Again we all broke out laughing at where our conversation had gone.