High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 34 - 8/3/15

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sarammlover
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 22 - 2/22/14

Post by sarammlover »

Hasn't Michael learned that lying gets you NO WHERE! I don't understand why people can't just be honest! Tell the truth! Stop hiding! AHH! I guess it went as well as expected it would. And I thought it was sweet that even though tess was a bitch to kyle in the past, he still took the time to cover her back up. sweet. great update.
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 22 - 2/22/14

Post by LuckyMiss »

Wow. Well, THAT conversation certainly didn't go as planned. Not that I expected it to go smoothly or anything, but man.

... Whatever happened to Michael in Seattle must be awful for him to want Maria to think he cheated on her instead of telling her whatever the truth actually is. I love how loyal Tess is to Michael in this regard... but I really wish she could say something to imply that what Michael told Maria isn't the truth. (But I guess time will tell, huh?)

I can forsee many bumpy interactions between M&M and others if Michael somehow gets stuck on the island and isn't able to leave like we're led to believe he will. I know Maria will put on a brave face and will want to enjoy the vacation she's on, but I can see this conversation haunting her because I don't know if she's really moved on... and I don't know if her thinking that Michael cheated on her is a good way to encourage her to move on, either. That's painful stuff, and I can see it bringing up a lot of old memories she'd rather remain buried.

Wonderful writing, as always, and I cannot wait for the next part!
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 22 - 2/22/14

Post by nitpick23 »

Really wondering what the reason could be for Michael to abandon Maria and stay in Seattle?? How bad could it be that he still won't discuss it with Maria?
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Chapter 23

Post by HIS-&-HERS »

Natalie36: Lol, things hardly go as planned, don’t they? :)

CandyliciousLovah: Enventually. ;)

keepsmiling7: You’re not the only one!

xmag: Yep, it started okay, but there is this thing with the Candy couple… they are just too explosive at times. ;)

Hm, what’s Michael hiding? Interesting suggestion, we will see if you are on the right track.

HypnotiqBlueEyes: That’s the question and will be answered, just not yet. ;)

begonia9508: She THINKS she knows once and for all, but there is more to it, that has yet to be discovered.

They are arriving in paradise soon, let’s see how things go after landing.

Roswelllostcause: He’s not helping and it’s just messing with the whole group. He will see reason sooner or later.

sarammlover: He wouldn’t be Michael if he just spilled out his heart, would he? ;)

LuckyMiss: Time will tell, indeed! ;) Truth tends to come out eventually, it just takes awful long this time.

Yeah, just because she thinks he cheated now, doesn’t mean she will question the WHY. It won’t be an helpful answer for her and as we all know… it’s not the truth anyway.

nitpick23: That’s the question and it will be answered in this fic, just not now. ;)



Chapter 23

Isabel snapped out of her slumber when someone bumped her rather hard as they passed by in the aisle. “What the hell,” she muttered and used her feet to shove herself into a more upright position while she tried to get over the foggy phase after sleeping. With her one halfway awake eye she watched as Tess yanked the divider curtain aside and stormed into another section of the plane.

“I’m not sure what happened,” Alex leaned on the armrest of his seat to get closer to her, “but that Maria lady went in there...” Isabel watched as Alex motioned toward the part of the plane they all knew Michael was hiding in, “... then there was a lot of yelling in the back and she came storming out and then Tess went in there… and then there was some even more yelling in the back… and then she came storming out... I’m starting to see a bit of a pattern here.”

“Yeah,” Isabel raised her arms over her head and tried to stretch the sleepiness out of her. “Even when we were kids dealing with Michael there was a lot of that even at the best of times.”

“Yelling?”

“Uh-huh... and usually some stuff being thrown at him and even some back of the head slapping.” Isabel smirked. “But the back of the head slapping was all Maria.” Noticing the puzzled look Alex was shooting her, she tried to clear it up for him. “She was the only one he’d let lay hands on him without retaliating. Honestly. I think it was a bit of a turn on for him when she got violent with him.”

“So what you’re saying is that they had a rather... feisty relationship?” Alex asked, amused.

“Please,” she snorted, “feisty doesn’t even describe those two. Back in the day any talk between them was an even bet on whether someone would either draw blood first or have their clothes ripped off!”

“But now you add the fact of Michael’s vanishing trick, not to mention Tess’s tricking them to meet here in a confined space? Well, things were probably ready to explode,” Isabel explained further.

“I’m pretty sure that sums up what just happened,” he agreed and his eyes sparkled with humor as he looked at her.

“You think that’s funny, huh?” Isabel looked at him with a small smile. It kind of was, although she doubted the others would agree.

“A bit,” he admitted, although it wasn’t the reason he was amused.

“Isabel totally overdid it, but they had explosive material for sure.”

They both glanced up, surprised that their conversation had been overheard and they detected the amused eyes of Kyle.

“You weren’t even around, Valenti. You didn’t belong to the cool kids in high school,” she countered with a wink.

He snorted. “Maybe I didn’t, but Guerin had pretty much the same classes I did, including gym an’ he was a pissed off jerk most of the time, which changed when the two of them started to hang out seriously. Plus, she made him sit through every damn class instead of skipping ‘em.”

“True,” now Liz interjected as well. “And I witnessed with my own eyes that they had their sweet moments as well.”

“That’s Parker, always the romantic,” Kyle grinned at her and hugged one arm around her shoulders.

“It’s the truth,” the brunette rolled her eyes. “Anyway guys, we’ll be landing soon.”

Alex glanced at his watch. “Yes, the crew are already preparing for it, pretty sure someone will be around to tell us to raise our seats and get the belts fastened pretty soon.”

“Time passed by quickly,” Isabel mumbled around a yawn and then sat up, frowning when Alex’ expression was one of amusement. “Something wrong?”

“Wrong?” He lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll soon be landing in paradise and a beautiful woman’s accompanying me, what could be wrong about that?”

Isabel snorted. “Alright, Mr. Whitman, I think you had too little sleep. I am going to use the bathroom before it’s too late.”

“Do that,” he leaned back against his seat and she didn’t see his smirk.

“Hey Iz,” Liz called, biting her inner cheek, so she wouldn’t laugh at her friend – the always perfect Isabel Evans. “Uh, nothing. Forget it!”

“Okaaayyy,” the tall blonde replied, trying to make sense of the other girl’s expression.

“Slept well, Evans?” Kyle threw in his two cents as well. His tone was smug and the truth finally dawned on her. Something had to be out of place!

Without answering she rushed past him and ripped the toilet door open to hide inside. Please, doesn’t let it be boogers, she prayed silently while she made the short distance to the mirror.

Holy shit, it wasn’t boogers. She made a face at the reflection that was looking back at her in the mirror. Sometime while she had been dozing her sleeping hairstyle as she liked to call it – a tight ponytail that sat on the back of her head – had gotten loose and apparently decided to run wild all over the back of her head.

I look like a freaking peacock!!

But that wasn’t embarrassing enough – no – there was also a large smear of chocolate on the right side of her cheek and the responsible chocolate chip piece was stuck in her hair as well.

Talk about making a fool of myself, she thought in annoyance and turned the faucet on to clean her face first. When that was done she started looking around for ANYTHING she could use to tame her hair with. Not finding anything and just about desperate enough to stick her whole head in the sink to wet her hair down Isabel jumped when there was a knock at the bathroom door.

Opening the door slightly, she found Liz on the other side smirking at her.”Here, I figured you could use this.” The brunette held up a hairbrush.

“You are a life saver, my friend,” Isabel snatched the brush out of her hand.

“No problem.” Liz’s smirk grew even more. “I mean, we can’t have our own Isabel Evans looking bad in front of her new boyfriend now, can we?”

Isabel’s eyes narrowed at her old friend. “He’s not my new boyfriend!”

“Uh-huh,” Liz nodded. “You just invited a total stranger to go with you on a tropical vacation and there are no feelings there whatsoever? Why do I find that hard to believe?”

“I don’t know, but it’s the truth. Look, my life isn’t my own anymore. I have a little kid at home and I need to think for both our sakes. Now go away and leave me alone so I can fix this mess!” Isabel made a waving gesture with her hand as she she shut the bathroom door on Liz and tried to ignore her old friend’s knowing laughter as she started brushing her head.

****

Unable to go back to sleep and even more unable to sit still because he wasn’t used to so many hours without moving properly or working out, Kyle had started making rounds from one end of the plane to the other... and back. If this had been a normal passenger plane he knew it would’ve rated high on the flight attendants’ ‘terrorist’ suspicions list, but due to them being on a privately funded plane, he was given some leeway.

It also didn’t hurt that the flight attendant was a fan of his either. Been a long time since someone asked me to autograph that particular part of their body.

He smirked at the reminder of Isabel Evans’ messed up chocolate hair. Now he wasn’t going to lie, back in his horny hormonally filled high school days he’d probably had some fantasies of that woman covered in chocolate! But sadly as an adult, he found out that reality didn’t quite match up to his sex starved teenager fantasies!

He had just entered another part of the plane when someone quietly tried to cut back their sniffling. Turning towards the sound, he caught sight of Tess sitting in a nearby seat, rubbing her face and quickly trying too hide the fact she’d been crying.

Just like earlier when dealing with her blanket, Kyle’s mind screamed at him to just ignore her and keep on walking. You’re over her! Who cares if she’s upset and in pain!

But that deep down – very deep down – part of him, that still harbored some VERY small pro-Tess Harding feelings suddenly decided to chime in.

Great, now I’m going to play Dr. Phil!

Sighing, Kyle grabbed a few nearby napkins from the plane’s kitchen area and went over to Tess. Sitting down next too her, he passed her the napkins and waited quietly as she used them on her face. After a few minutes she lowered her hands to her lap and looked at him. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

He just nodded back, but when he went to get up to leave, Tess interupted his actions. “Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong, but did it anyway for what you thought was the right reasons?” she blurted out.

“You’ve obviously never seen the TMZ reports on some of my European vacations.” He smirked as he sat back down next to her.

Tess let out a loud round of giggles and then used another napkin to wipe her face. “It’s just... I knew both of them were hurting. And I also knew both of them would rather cut out their own tongues than admit it and try to work things out. But I just thought that...”

Kyle picked up when she suddenly stopped, “That if you threw the two of them into a small area with no excape, they might work things out? “

Nodding, Tess let out a sigh. “Kind of dumb, huh?”

“Not dumb,” Kyle shook his head. “A bit misguided and not thought all the way through, but not dumb.”

She snorted, not buying that he really believed it. “I know Michael, it should’ve been obvious to me that he wouldn’t just change his mind.” With fury, she smacked the seat in front of her. “Fuck, he made everything even worse now, that stupid prick.” Her anger left her as soon as she remembered her stepbrother’s devastated face though. A face she had been responsible for and she hated herself for it.

“What’s the deal with him anyway?” What could be so bad that you didn’t want to talk about it even after years? he wondered.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” he asked with a snort. “You sure as hell know more than everyone else, don’t you?”

“I don’t know why it’s such a big deal for him to tell the truth. That’s what I meant.”

“And if you told Maria the reason...”

“Hell no,” she looked at him furiously. “I can’t betray him like that. I promised and I won’t.”

He held his hands up in deafeat. “Just saying... ya know, you already did kinda betray him by bringing him here.” No matter what the reason, it was the truth.

“But not to hurt him,” she snapped, irritated. First, he told her the idea hadn’t been dumb and then he accused her of betraying him. Asshole!

“I – “

“You wouldn’t understand,” she said stubbornly and got out of her seat.

His mouth opened and closed several times. “Well, how could anyone possibly understand, when they don’t know the details?”

“It should be obvious – without details – that I just wanted the best.”

“For who? Him or you?” he asked, agitated when he was fed up with her sudden hostlie attitude. What had he sad to change her mood from sad to angry at him?

“ME?” Her eyes grew wide and she faced him. “What would I get outta this? I’m not trying to get anything outta my brother’s misery!” Tess poked her finger into his chest and glared at him when rage filled every fiber of her being, causing her mouth to run without her brain thinking. “You don’t know me, Valenti. There’s a reason we didn’t hang out in high school. No matter how much weight you lose, no matter how famous you think you are, you’ll still always be that loser kid from high school with no friends!”

As soon as the words were out, Tess put her hands over her mouth, wishing she could take them back! She hadn’t meant any of that at all! She had just been so upset after her fight with Michael, and Kyle had come over to be nice, but he’d pushed her buttons making her even more upset. No, that’s no excuse! What you said was horrible and you need to apologize immediately!

“Look, Kyle, I’m so sor-” But that was all she got out before he furiously leapt to his feet.

“You know what, Harding? Just those last sentences proved to me that you’re still the same bitch from high school.” He glared down at her, his head held high because her words couldn’t affect him anymore the same way they had five years ago. “No wonder you’re on your brother’s shitlist! And now guess what?! You can add me to that list too! Congrautlations! Might as well add some more in the upcoming week, huh? It’ll be fun to watch you go down!”

Tess watched as Kyle spun on his heel and stormed away.

Damn it, she thought to herself as she leaned back against the seat, the tears once again flowing down her cheeks freely and the only one she could blame was herself.
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keepsmiling7
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 23 - 3/30/14

Post by keepsmiling7 »

This plane ride is getting tense......hope they're all still alive by the time they land.
Thanks for the new part,
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 23 - 3/30/14

Post by CandyliciousLovah »

Oh wow. I'm glad that they're almost about to land, because, woo, the plane ride is getting pretty tense. I hope we see more of the interaction between Max & Liz later :)
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 23 - 3/30/14

Post by LovelyPOM83 »

Excellent part, but I'm. Starting to think that they are never going to get off the plane. Lol! :D
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 23 - 3/30/14

Post by begonia9508 »

Hey, nice to have a new part!... and what for one! :lol:

I can't believe Tess! She should have thought about this saying. "Thinking before talking!" and I can't believe she is still so petty...


Thanks - waiting impatiently for more! EVE :mrgreen:
Last edited by begonia9508 on Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Les jouissances de l'esprit sont faites pour calmer les orages du coeur!
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Re: High and Dry - AU/Adult/CC - Ch 23 - 3/30/14

Post by Roswelllostcause »

This is really good. Hurry back!
Check out my Author page for a list of my fics!


http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 1&t=155639
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Chapter 24

Post by HIS-&-HERS »

keepsmiling7: They will be still alive, promised!

CandyliciousLovah: Yeah, we bet they are pretty relieved about the landing as well. ;)

LovelyPOM83: Just when you think that… they will. ;)

begonia9508: Lol, ya know how it is with this Tess… she’s not always thinking before talking. But maybe a certain man can forgive her eventually.

Roswelllostcause: Thanks!



Chapter 24


“Hey,” Max bumped his elbow against Maria’s side gently, “you okay?” She had been quiet for over twenty minutes now, which was so unlike her under normal circumstances. Hell, under ANY circumstances – just about the longest he had ever seen her go without talking was when she was sleeping... and even then she still talked sometimes.

She tore her gaze away from the movement area outside to look at him. “Yeah, I will be,” she said with a forced smile. “I just need some time to get over it.”

“I know,” he hugged his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. Learning that the ex, who she had been crazy in love with, had cheated on her couldn’t be easy. “At least you have a reason now.”

“True,” Maria nodded her head against his chest, though she couldn’t feel the slightest bit of relief. Finally after a second or two she straightened herself up. “Okay, enough of this sad depressing shit!! This is supposed to be a happy vacation! So we’re gonna get us some righteous tans, frolic in the sand, drink way too many tropical cocktails with umbrellas in them and enjoy ourselves till we’re bursting at the seams!”

“Damn right we are!” He chuckled at her determined voice before a puzzled look crossed his face. “Except for the frolicking part. I don’t think I know how to do that.”

Laughing, Maria slightly punched her best friend’s arm. “I’ll teach you... just like I taught you how to dance back when we first met.”

A shadow fell over them and he looked up to meet the deep brown eyes of Liz.

“Welcome to the Maldives,” she smiled gently and her gaze dropped to Maria wordlessly.

The other girl forced a smile. “We’re finally here, huh?”

“Yeah. Get your stuff and we’ll meet outside, okay? Our boat will already be waiting at the small harbor outside the airport, so we should be able to kick back in no time.”

“Sounds good,” Max agreed and started to get up.

Liz made her way down to the gangway and stopped at each of her friends briefly to tell them the same as she had just told the other couple. Last in the row was Kyle, who didn’t look as pleased as he should considering they had finally reached their destination. “What’s up?”

“Nothin’,” he muttered gruffly and glared at Tess when she passed them with a bag in one hand and dragging a rather large one behind her.

“Think you could bury the hatchet for a week and try to enjoy yourself?” She hadn’t overheard what the two of them had fought about earlier, but whatever it was, it was still there.

“Why’re you asking me? I’m not the problem! Little Miss I-Still-Think-I’m-All-That is the problem!”

Uh-huh, Liz thought, amused at his stubborn face. She knew Tess could be stubborn as hell, but Kyle had developed a good load of self-esteem over the last few years too. He wouldn’t back off in a confrontation the way he had in high school. “Just do your best to ignore her for a bit and I’ll talk to her later when we get settled in,” she said anyway and glanced at the closed curtain that led into the back.

“You won’t convince him to stay. Just leave him alone.”

“Well, he has to get out if nothing else. The pilot is forced to take a ten hour break before he’s allowed to go back, so they won’t leave until tomorrow morning.”

Kyle whistled under his breath. “He won’t like that.”

“No doubt,” she agreed. “But maybe he’ll come with us for the night. A boat can bring him back tomorrow morning for the flight. Otherwise he’d be forced to sleep at the airport, which doesn’t offer much more than a few hard plastic chairs in an unconditioned area.”

“Want me to talk to him?” he offered.

Liz looked at him, surprised. “You would?”

He gave her a one-shouldered-shrug. “I doubt he wants to listen to any of you girls right now. He an’ I were always in some kinda neutral position.”

“Who am I to argue with that?” She lifted both hands, relieved she didn’t have to go in the back. “Just offer him the opportunity to stay at the resort for one night. He gets a little cabin all to himself and tomorrow morning they’ll pick him up again for his flight back.”

“Yeah, sure,” he got out of his seat.

“An’ hurry. They need to move the plane from the movement field soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, Parker.” He waved her off and walked towards the back of the plane, pushing the curtain aside and finding Michael sitting in one of the booths with his feet resting on the seat across from him. “Yo Guerin, time to get out.”

“Just give it up, Valenti,” he growled back. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

Kyle stopped at the row of seats in front of him and rested one knee on the cushion while looking over the backrest to face him. “To be quite honest, I don’t care if you stay or go. Ain’t really none of my business.”

“Good.”

“But… I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. Pilot’s forced to take a ten hour break before his return to the US.”

Michael’s gaze snapped up and his eyes narrowed. “You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

“Not my fault,” he reminded him. “I’m just telling you what Parker told me. You got two choices. Either you come with us to the island and spend a night in a nice furnished cabin at the resort or ya gonna have to camp out at the airport.”

The other man snorted. “Not goin’ to any stupid island.”

He had already expected that answer. “Ya sure? We’re not in the US anymore, man. I doubt this airport has much more to offer than a few uncomfortable chairs in the heat. Think about it, man. Bet your ass already hurts as much as mine and ya got the whole ride back tomorrow, which means a lot more sitting on it. Why spend the night here instead of having a luxurious cabin to yourself an’ enjoying room service that will supply you with food and a few beers?”

A comfortable bed and food were music to his ears, but it would also mean spending more time with this bunch and his ex. He was also desperately in need of a shower. “Fine, it’s not like I have a fuckin’ chance to get away earlier anyway.” Michael got out of his seat and grabbed his bag. He would just hide out in his room until tomorrow morning and see what the mini bar had to offer. He’d make sure Parker and her hoity-toity rich boyfriend got stuck with the mini bar tab seeing how she had a part in him getting suckered into this trip!

“Move your ass, Valenti,” he grumbled at the other man when he just stared at him “There’re cold beers calling my name!”

“Sure,” the other man nodded, surprised that it hadn’t take as much effort as he had thought to get the other guy off the plane, and he turned to make his way towards the exit.

The whole gang was waiting outside and their expressions were stunned when the two men walked down the small staircase to the movement area.

“Told ya I can handle him,” Kyle winked at Liz.

“I see,” she mumbled and tried to smile at Michael, but it failed when he just stared at her with a pissed off expression.

The heat was creeping into him, making the sweat break out on his back. Normally he would enjoy sunny weather like this, but right now he hated it. He hated the smiling faces of everyone around, he hated the blue sky, he hated the smell of the nearby ocean and he especially hated the guy standing next to his ex with his filthy hands all over her. “Are we planting roots here or what?”

Liz remembered that they needed to walk the few yards towards the airport quickly before anyone got pissed off. If airport security was anything like home then she’d rather not have to deal with any problems. “Let’s move,” she called and followed an awaiting native along a required path.

***

“Oh, look at that,” Isabel stopped at a small window of a shop in the airport and pointed at a little tee shirt that said: ‘I love the Maldives’ and under it was a picture of a small island with the sun hanging between two coconut palm trees. “It would look so cute on Maya.” Just the thought of her daughter caused tears to spring into her eyes.

Alex stepped next to her and gave her arm a little squeeze. “Wanna go and buy one?” It obviously hurt her to be separated from her child for such a long time and at such a distance, so he’d do anything to help her over the pain.

“Can we?” She glanced over her shoulder to look at Liz.

“Well, if everyone’s okay with waiting,” the brunette answered and glanced at the others, not surprised to see the less than excited faces.

“Isn’t there a later time when you can satisfy your shopping needs, Evans?” Michael asked, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

“Shut up, Guerin,” she snapped back, although she knew it wasn’t fair to make the rest of them wait after a long journey like they’d just had.

“Hey, Liz,” Alex took a step forward to act as a buffer between the tall blonde and her friends. “Is there a possibility of taking a later boat to the resort? We could stay here for a bit an’ join you guys later.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Isabel put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re exhausted and-”

“I had some sleep during the flight,” he interrupted her. “We can always kick back later.”
Besides, getting to hang out alone with a beautiful woman was a whole lot better plan than being cramped up in a small transport with a whole bunch of strangers he still didn’t know that well.

She smiled, touched by his kindness and shifted her gaze towards Liz.

“I don’t know about the private transport from the hotel, but you can always book a transport over to the resorts from here. I’m not sure about the price though.”

“Ahhh,” Alex assured her with a nod and a wave of his hand, “I believe I can cover us on that front.”

“Well, okay then. You guys stay as long as ya want,” she agreed and fumbled around in her purse to pull a flyer out. “This’s our resort. I’ll tell them you’re going to check in later.”

“Thanks,” Isabel beamed, her eyes shifting to the small shop again as she grabbed Alex by the wrist and took off.

“Poor bastard,” Maria snorted as she watched her friend drag the young man into the first store. When she noticed Max’s confused expression she explained: “When it comes to shopping, Isabel is a gold medal Olympic champion. She can shop for HOURS in just one store! The poor guy will probably be insane with boredom by the time Evans is done with him.”

Amused, Liz gestured for the rest of the group to follow her down the open hallway. At the far end, a small street could be seen and right beyond it, the Indian Ocean.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Maria asked and leaned against Max’ side. She was well aware of the glances her ex gave them and she was doing her best to look happy with her new boyfriend.

“It is,” he kissed her head. “We’ll have a good time.”

Tess, who was hampered down by all her luggage, hurried up her pace the best she could in order to catch up with her brother.

“Michael-”

“I’m not talking to you,” he informed her shortly and moved past her.

She huffed, annoyed, and followed him, trying to adjust her carry on bag that was slung around her shoulder, while dragging her main heavier bag on rollers behind her. “I told you I was sorry, I didn’t do any of this-”

“Shut the fuck up, Tess.” He glared at her. “I mean it. I don’t wanna hear one fuckin’ thing from you, understood?”

She went to open her mouth, but closed it when Michael stormed off. One day he had to forgive her, right?

Huffing, Tess tugged on her bag in order to follow the others. There was only one slight problem – she damn near pulled her shoulder out of socket when the bag wouldn’t move.

“What the hell?!” she grumbled as she yanked on the bag’s handle harder. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, the bag still refused to move. It seemed like the wheels on her secondhand garage sale bought luggage had decided to lock up on her. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She wanted to cry in frustration.

She was about to give the bag another pull when a muscular arm suddenly reached down and yanked the bag up into the air. Spinning around she found Kyle standing there, holding his bags and now her biggest one.

“Thank you.” Tess went to put on her best smile, touched he’d help her out after her slipup in the plane

Apologize for what you said to him, her brain was shouting out to her. “Um, Kyle… hey, I just want to say I’m-”

“Save it.” His eyes narrowed a bit. “I’m only doing this so you’ll hurry the hell up and we can get on with this vacation.” With that Kyle took off with her bag leaving Tess standing in the airport hallway all alone.

Watching as yet another angry man stormed away from her, Tess pulled her other bag closer to her like a shield and sighed. This supposedly fun vacation was looking like major suckage.
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