Such a Typical Thing

Please don't forget me, I'm going away;

"Matt, I have everything," I assured him for the umpteenth time.

"And by 'everything' do you mean all of your clothes, all of your hair shit, and all of whatever else you need?" my older brother questioned, looking at me skeptically.

"Matty, you never believe me about anything," I pouted sarcastically, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because you always give me a reason not to trust you," he informed me, ruffling my hair. I scowled, trying to undo the damage he'd done to my hair. "This is your last chance. Do you have everything?"

"Matt, just shut the fucking trunk." I sighed, walking around to the front of the car.

"You got it, sis," I heard him murmur before he slammed the trunk.

"Wake me up when we get there," I said, buckling my seat belt before settling into the seat.

"Rems, it's a twenty minute drive."

"Matt, it is four in the morning. I haven't had my coffee. If I had my way, I'd be riding with Rian who'd let me curl up in the back seat. But no, I'm riding with you. And you're a meanie. Who wouldn't let me make my coffee. Or let me curl up in the backseat."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he cried as he started up the car. "Remy, just go to sleep. Please."

Being Matt Flyzik's little sister for nineteen years had it's definite benefits. For instance, I knew how to push his buttons. And, oh yeah, there was the fact that I was embarking on Warped Tour for the summer.

"Matty," I said in a whiney voice as we pulled out of the driveway. "Are we there yet?"

"Go to sleep and shut the hell up," Matt barked. "Tour hasn't even started yet and you're already driving me insane. Remind me again why you're coming with me?"

"Because you love me?" I tried enthusiastically.

"Not exactly," Matt said flatly.

"What?" I squeaked, frowning in shock. "You don't love me? How can you say that, Matt?!"

"Good lord, Remy," he sighed loudly.

"You said you don't love me!" I shouted dramatically.

"I love you, Rems. Is that better?" he asked quickly, trying to shut me up.

"Much!" I said happily, smiling widely. He rolled his eyes. Are we there yet?" I asked again as we merged onto the highway. He chose to ignore my question.

Twenty five minutes later, we were checking our bags while Matt was printing out tickets.

"Remy, did you bring enough shit?" Alex scoffed, piling my bags on the platform for me.

"Leave me alone," I said, yawning loudly, pushing my hair back.

"Okay, tickets!" Matt announced, handing them out.

"Rian, are our seats together?" I asked, scanning my ticket for my seat number.

"Don't think so, Remy. I'm in 27B."

"What the eff? I'm in 34F." I frowned. "Am I even near any of you?"

"You're sitting with Danny," Matt informed me.

"Well, where is he?"

"Him and Vinny stayed with Jack last night. It doesn't surprise me at all that they're not here," Grieco commented, rubbing his eyes.

"Who's sitting with Rian?" I asked, biting my lip.

"I am," Matt said. "And no, I won't switch seats with you."

"Why not?" I whined. I wrapped my arm around his and put my head on his shoulder, hoping to loosen him up.

"Because if the plane crashes and we all burn up, I do not want Mom and Dad to think that my body is yours and vice versa."

He had a good point, but I scowled at him anyway.

"Fine," I spat, turning away from him.

At that moment, Jack, Danny, and Vinny arrived, bags in tow.

"What the fuck took you so long?!" Matt yelled at them. "What part of five am sharp don't you understand?"

"The sharp part. Never really understood that expression," Jack stated, throwing his bags onto the counter to check them.

"Idiot," Matt scoffed, rolling his eyes. As they checked their bags, Matt handed them their tickets.

We made our way through the security check points to the terminal where I dropped my messenger back and sighed. We still had an hour and a half to kill before we could even board the plane. I dug my wallet out of my bag.

"I'm heading to Starbucks," I said to nobody in particular, mainly so Matt wouldn't freak out when he realized I was gone. I was halfway to the coffee shop when Danny fell into step beside me. I glanced over at him. He was smiling, as usual, and wearing a Glamour Kills shirt and a zip sweatshirt.

"So, we're sitting together on the plane," he said as we stood in line, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Yup," I said with a sigh, rolling my neck. "Venti cafe mocha with a shot of caramel and a blueberry scone," I said to the migrant worker working the cashier.

Once I got my coffee and pastry, I plopped down at a table as Danny placed his order. i was blowing through the little hole on the lid, trying to cool off the molten liquid in the cup. I propped my legs up on the seat beside mine, sitting slightly sideways.

"That'd probably work better if you took off the lid," Danny advised, sitting across from me. I silently raised my middle finger to him and continued to blow on the hot coffee through the small hole. He smiled. "How'd you get roped into touring with us?"

"It was either this or spend the summer with my parents in Europe. Don't get me wrong, I love Europe, but didn't want to be there all summer with my parents. Thus, why I'm here. At five in the morning. With my ass of a brother. All summer." I dared to take a sip of my coffee and it scorched the roof of my mouth. I scowled at the cup.

"Warped isn't so bad. It could be a winter tour where it's below zero everyday." I shrugged, ripping off a piece of scone.

I'd spent days at a time on tour before, but never stayed for the entire thing. I have a feeling that by the end of the tour, I'll have developed a penis or something. I mean, I'll be spending my entire summer on a bus with nine guys. That can't be good at all. Honestly, I was worried about my sanity.

As we sipped our coffee, Danny and I slipped into a comfortable silence. I stared at the slightly off-center "employees only" sign on the door absentmindedly, as I often did when eating.

Danny said something, but I didn't actually hear what it was. I looked at him, eyebrows raised and he repeated himself. "Think we should head back now?"

"Uhm, sure," I said, standing up, keeping a tight grip n my half-drunk coffee. As we made our way back to the terminal, I ducked into a news shop.

Scanning the headlines, I picked up a Sudoku book and two paper back novels and checked out quickly. I was surprised to find Danny standing outside the shop, waiting for me.

"You know that if I'd left you, your brother would have torn apart the entire airport searching for you," he said as we continued our walk. He was right, but I didn't say anything.

When we got back to the terminal, Matt was sitting with his laptop out, staring at the screen intently. I sat down beside him, all of a sudden feeling spent. I rested my head on his shoulder and leaned into him.

"Feel better now that you've had your coffee?" he asked, looking down at me.

"Eh, a little. It's still way to early for me to function properly."

"You'll be fine. It's a long flight, you can sleep more then," he promised, putting his arm around me. "I'm sure Danny will let you cuddle with him." I smiled.

"How long until we board?"

"Another hour, probably. The plane isn't even here yet."

I groaned, not sure if I could endure another hour of just sitting there.

"Just go to sleep, I'll be your pillow," Matt told me.

"I'll be fine. I'm just gonna...I don't know." I shrugged, sitting up. I stood up, stretching to the point that my back cracked.

Jack was sitting across the terminal, fiddling with his iPhone. Alex, Grieco, Rian, and Evan seemed to be having a heated discussion about God knows what. I didn't know where Vinny was, but Danny was listening to his iPod, eyes closed, drumming his fingers on his knee. I smiled at the sight.

The next hour passed dreadfully slow, to the point that I was looking at the clock on my phone every ten seconds. But, finally, we lined up to file onto the phone. Danny and I found our seats, which we pretty much away from the rest of the group. I shoved my messenger bag under my seat, wishing I'd brought a blanket. The seats were the exact opposite of the word comfortable, but I plopped down anyway.

The flight attendants gave their little speeches about safety and emergency exits and asked that all tray tables be up and all electronics be turned off for take off. The plane started to move towards the runway and I leaned my head back and let out a slow breath.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked from beside me.

I let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, I just hate take-off."

He shrugged. "I've gotten used to it." He began to peel my finders from the armrest, which I hadn't even noticed I was gripping, and laced his fingers through mine. I blushed slightly and looked out the window to hide it.

I closed my eyes, leaning my head back, and tried to concentrate on something other than the fact that the plane was gaining speed.

I found myself thinking about Danny's hand in mine. It was warm and surprisingly soft. He squeezed my hand lightly as I felt the plane leave the ground.

When the plane leveled off in the air, I opened my eyes and let out a long breath.

"Alright?" Danny asked, smiling at me. I nodded slowly, releasing his hand.

"Thanks," I said quietly as I leaned my seat back the two inches that it would go. I sighed again and pulled my bag into my lap. I pulled out the Sudoku book and a pen.

"You do them in pen?" he questioned.

"Yep. I don't make mistakes in Sudoku," I replied, trying to sound confident. I folded the spine of the book back and began the first puzzle.

Ten minutes later as I was about to write down a number, Danny coughed, obviously faking it. I looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"It's a seven, not a four," he said, pointing to the box I was about to write in.

"How do you figure?" I asked, scanning the puzzle.

Danny explained his reasoning and I skeptically checked the back of the book for the answer. Dammit, he'd been right.

I sighed, closing the book and shoving it back in my bag. I looked out the window to find that the sun was starting to rise. I shut the window screen and leaned against the wall of the plane, closing my eyes.

When I woke up, I was leaning on Danny, my head on his shoulder. i looked up to find that he too was asleep. I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of his cologne. I smiled to myself. I raised, my had off of his shoulder, trying not to wake him.

I leaned back in my seat, running a hand through my hair.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts as we are about to begin our descent into LAX," a flight attendant said over the intercom.

Not bad, I'd slept for most of the flight.

I stretched in the small confines of my seat, yawning quietly. I jumped slightly as Danny woke up with a start.

"Morning," I told him with a smile.

"What time is it?" he asked with a yawn.

"Not sure, but we're about to land."

"Lovely," he said, running a hand through his hair.

Soon, we were on the ground, and I was itching to get off the plane. I had my messenger bag hanging from my shoulder, and I was ready get into the terminal, away from the awful, recycled air.

When we walked into the terminal, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Food!" Jack and Alex said together, seeing the food court and starting to walk toward it.

"Not quite yet," Matt said, grabbing them by the back of their shirt collars.

"But Matt," Jack whined, trying to copy my whiney voice.

"That only works for Remy." Matt shook his head, walking onward, still holding onto them. "Baggage claim," he ordered.

When Jack was released, he waited for me to catch up to him.

"You guys are so cute," he exclaimed, holding his iPhone out for me to look at the screen. He'd snapped a picture of Danny and I on the plane, both of us sleeping, my head on his shoulder.

"Delete it," I growled at him.

"But Remy, then I won't have any black mail material!" Jack pouted.

"Fuck off," I told him, pushing him away.

After getting our bags, we headed for the doors.

When we stepped outside, a wave of heat and humidity swept over me.

Hello, L.A., my name is Remy Flyzik. Nice to meet you.