I am back!!  WOOHOO!!  Betcha thought I’d vanished into slash land never to return.  Well I didn’t!  ^_^  Now for, drumroll, shouties!!

Angel Eyes of Fire: Woot!  Elsebells!  Ise sorry for keeping ya in suspense.  ^_^  But I have to keep you reading some how!  ^_^  Dude, I’d do the same thing too if I were Josh.  I tried to update as fast as I can but I gotta share this dumb thing and I don’t have enough time to write.  Mum is always taking it from me.  ::pout:: Thank you for the wonderful review!

iydbzkitty2004: Hyperactive is fun!  That’s why I couldn’t sit down to write, my muses were just everywhere.  ^_^  I’m sorry I left you hanging for so long.  As soon as summer is over I’ll be able to have a better schedule.  That;s kind of ironic…in an odd sort of way.  ^_^  I love your pen name!  Thankies kit-kit for the review!

Ang: Golden touch.  Pft…I think not.  You don’t like my maded up tenses.  ::pout::  ^_^  Lovely review me modest chica.  ^_^

Zephry Blossom: 0.o Kill of Jeremy!  Bite thy tongue!  No prob, I love yas CeCe!  ^_^  Even if you are a cradle robber.  ::snicker:: Prolly shouldna said that.  Oh well.  ^_^  I know you’ll enjoy this chapter.  ^_^  Thanks for the review!!

NotEnough:  ::breaks down into tears:: I am so sorry!  I really tried to get this out!  Please spare my life!  ::sniff:: Forgive me?  Me, evil?  Naw…Ise ain’t got an evil bone in me body.  ::kicks a puppy::  Thankies for the review!!

i-nv-u50: ::blinks:: How did the demons get out?  Damn it Ang I told you to lock the cage tightly.  It’s so hard to find competent friends these days.  Doom pens…::gulp:: you wouldn’t pull one of those on me, would you?  I’m sorry for being so slow.  ::sniff:: Truly I am!  Love me anyways?  ::sniff:: Thank-a-youse for the review!

cordy:  ::whistles:: Me cruel?  Must mean someone else…^_^  ::cowers under cordy’s glare:: Let me make it up to you!  I swear I will!!  I will!  ::screams as cordy slowly moves toward her::  I’ll make him happy!  I promise!  But I thank you for the review.  It moved me along quite nicely.  ^_^

Ayakaishi Fei: Again with the damning…you guys really know how to hurt a writer. ^_^  I just playing.  ::hands Aya a bunch of tissues:: Truly, I is sorry.  ::sniff:: Don’t cry, you’ll make me cry!  If I told you what Daniel said to Josh then it wouldn’t be a surprise and then I’d be sad.  ::strangely Hulk-esque:: And you won’t like me when I’m sad.  I’ve drowned towns, you know.  ^_^  I am an odd ball, just gotta know how to handle me.  Thank ya for the review!!  Cool name, btw!

Rue-Rue: Woot!  ::spins with Rue-Rue::  No more depression!  We shall fight off the depression!! ::gets violently ill from all the spinning:: ^_^  Dreams do suck.  I hate those dreams I have where when I wake-up I’m not sure I actually woke up.  Those frighten me. ::shiver::  Will it be like the dream?  Tune for this chapter and find out!  ^_^  Woot! Thankies for the review cutie!  ^_^

A/N: Wowzers guys!  It’s been a long time!!  Gah, again I apologize for taking so long.  I shall be back on track as soon as the vacation stuff is over, promise!  ^_^  My shouties came a little, well a lot, manic.  Must be prozac induced brain after finishing that damn HP book.  Yow, I could not believe how depressing it was!  I even contemplated boycotting Jo for all of two second before realizing I could not live without my Snape or Draco or my Slytherins (Damn it, NotEnough, I am not evil!!).  Well, I hope you enjoy this little ditty as much as I enjoyed writing it…well up until Ang made fun of my ellipses and tense problems.  I hate tenses, I so suck at writing them!  ::sneer::  If Ang wasn’t my slashophile in crime…::grumble::  I went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean and must say that Johnny Depp looked particularly yummy in eye make-up.  ^_^  Woot!  ::basks in the prettiness of Johnny Depp::  But it twas a fantastic movie and I enjoyed muchly.  ^_^

Dedicated to: Rue-Rue, Ayakaishi Fei, cordy, i-nv-u50, NotEnough, CeCe, Ang (::snort::),  iydbzkitty2004, and Elsebells .  To all my slashophile buddies!  ^_^

Disclaimer: I own everything…muahahahaha...I will after me, Ang, and a legion of slashophiles storm the gates of Disney and all their associates!  Uhm…::cough:: just kidding?

*****

Josh is at Ohio State University.  Fucking Ohio.  Jesus Christ, how the hell am I going to afford to get to Ohio?  Scratch that; I will get to Ohio even if I have to sell a body part…or maybe I can sell Angie.  Hmm, that’ll be my back-up plan.

            “Hey Jere-bear, what’s up?”  Speak of the devil, Angie home from work.  “Here.”  She sets her purse down on the table and shows me a pint of pralines ‘n’ cream.  “I thought this’d cheer ya up.”   She prepares to toss it to me.

            “I know where Josh is.”  The pralines ‘n’ cream lands a few inches in front of me.

            “What?”  I can practically see the excitement rushing through Angie’s body.  “You found him!  Where is he?”

            “Ohio.”

            “We’ll go…what?”  She stops mid-ramble and stares at me.  “Ohio.  Why is Josh in Ohio?”

            “Ohio State University.”

            Angie brushes a piece of hair behind her ears.  “How do you know he’s in Ohio?”

            “I called Daniel and he slipped that Josh was sleeping on the couch.”  Truthfully, I don’t even remember the reason I called Daniel. 

            “Oh, dude, go get him!”  Angie’s excitement seems to have overloaded her brain because she starts pushing me towards the front door.

            ”Wait, Angie!”   I pull away and turn around to grab her shoulders.  “Think for a sec, how am I going to get to Ohio?”

            “Fly, silly.”

            “I can’t afford to.”

            “Then walk, damn it! You have to get your ass to Ohio.  It’s fucking Josh for Christ’s sake.”  That’s the most I’ve heard her cuss in a long while.

            “I love Josh, but I’m not walking to Ohio.”

            “Take the car.”

            “Angie, you dumb ass, what’s the family going to do with just your car?”

            “We can all use it,” she pouts.  “I’ll share.”

            “Dad will not drive to work in a bright green VW bug.”  I can practically see the ideas churning in her head.  Too bad her ideas suck.

            “We’ll have to figure a way to get you money for a plane ticket.”

            “No shit, Sherlock.”

            “Ouch, I’m so hurt.”  Sarcasm is Angie’s forte.

           “Hey, I’m trying to help.”  Angie picks up the pralines ‘n’ cream and heads for the kitchen.  I think I hurt her feelings.  “I had an idea but I’m not going to tell you now.”

            I roll my eyes.  “Don’t be a baby.  Just tell me.”

            “Well…” She stops and chews on her bottom lip.  Now I know she’s going to say something I’m not going to agree with.  “Use my credit card.”

            “No.”  I shake my head and hold out my hands.  “I am not going to use…no!”

            “Aw, come on, I don’t mind.”  Angie searches for her purse and remembers the table.  Unfortunately for her I remember the table too and I manage to get to the purse before her.  “Jeremy, give me my purse.”  The growl really should have tipped me off but it didn’t.  The next thing I know I’m on the ground and her knees are pressing into my forearms. And that hurts, damn it.  She grabs her purse and starts rummaging around for her wallet.  “I know it’s here damn it…damn thing’s so big…ow!”  In one hand she clutches her wallet, but the other hand didn’t fair so well; it’s bleeding.  “…the hell?”

           
            “That’s what you get for using both hands.”  Lame, I know, but come on…no Josh, no witty comebacks.  I’m out of practice.

            “How was I to know there are a pair of really sharp tweezers in there,” she mutters and glares at me.  I guess I should have been a little nicer but, oh well, I found Josh, damn it!  And then it really sinks in. My Josh.  I found my Josh.  I can hop on a plane and get him.  Josh.  That’s when I realize I’d said no to a basically free ticket.  What the hell am I on?  “Jeremy, I’m not going to take no for an answer…”  Angie stops as I take the wallet from her.

            “Thanks.”  I kiss her on the cheek and head upstairs intent on getting to Josh.

*****

            After a trial and error with our damn computer, I decide to just pack up and go to the airport.  I figure I’ll just get the next ticket to Columbus.  The damn website won’t let me buy a ticket, it just gave schedules.  Damn piece of shit. 

Unfortunately for me and Angie (it’s her car so she has to drive it back home) the quickest way to get to Columbus is to leave from Wichita and then have a thirty-minute layover to Atlanta and then the goddamn plane lands in Columbus.   That’s going to take fucking forever.  And I haven’t even factored in my parents or Kansas State.

“We have to drive to Wichita.”  Angie gives me a look.  She’s thinking. 

            “Guess we’re going to Wichita.”  Angie backs out of the driveway and heads south.  Oddly enough I’ve never been to Wichita.  We’ve lived in Hutchinson our whole lives.  The first time I left Hutchinson was when I was accepted to Kansas State University.  I just never wanted to leave.  I had been content with Josh and my family and I stupidly thought that would last forever.  As you know, that didn’t quite work out.  My parents…oh shit!  My parents!

            “What about Mom and Dad?”

            “Aw, shit…”  Angie chews on her bottom lip as she pulls up to a gas station.  “Go in and get me a map.”

            “What about…”

            “Fuck the mom and dad situation, just get me a god damn map!”  Angie growls, obviously pissed because I questioned her obvious authority.  Yep, that was definite sarcasm.  Angie tends to get a bit pissy under stress but overall she’s one of the best people you can have in charge.  Actually, I don’t have anything else to back that up but it seems appropriate.

            I slam the passenger side door as I step out.  Angie barely looks in my direction, as she flips me off, not that I really expect her too of course.  I grab pretty much the first map I see and head for the cashier.  Unfortunately it’s a girl.  A flirty girl.  She ‘teasingly’ keeps leaning over and exposing what little she has.  Dumb bitch better hurry up, Josh is waiting.  I snatch the map from her and leave what little change I was supposed to get back.  

“Here.”  I throw the map in Angie’s lap.  Angie makes little muttering noises as she studies the creation of hell.  Maps and me do not get along.  I’ve gotten lost so many times with those damn things.  If they weren’t so hard to read…

“It’ll take us a little over an hour to get there.”  She tries to fold the map and ends up stuffing the uneven lump into the glove compartment.  “All right, here we go.”

*****

            “Did you get a ticket?”  She’s talking to me…that’s a start.  You see, we’d been barely driving for twenty minutes before the first fight started.  Stupidly enough it was over radio stations.  I wanted an angst filled song and she was in a happy mood.  After breaking the radio we chose to ride in silence.  Boy, that was fun.  The next fight was over time.  She wanted to stop and get dinner and I told her to drive her ass to Wichita or die.  To put it mildly she didn’t take kindly to that suggestion and I ended up ‘enjoying’ a suck ass salad at Perkins.  There were other fights in the car, which became dumber as they wore on.  They ranged from Angie humming to me drumming my fingers on the dashboard.  Now I know why Mom and Dad dread family vacations. 

            “Yeah.  Leaves in twenty minutes.”  I don’t know if you can tell but I’m willing myself not to jump up and down and click my heels in pure joy.  I figure it’ll be in bad taste for me to actually be happy I’m leaving…she’ll fucking get over it.  Right now she’s struggling with my duffle bag, something about its strap and the seat belt.  She gets it loose and tosses it to me.  I let it land at my feet, it’s just clothes no point in bringing anything breakable.  Stepping over it, I pull her into a hug and we just stand there for a full two minutes.

            “Go get him, Jeremy!”  Angie grins and waves before settling into the car for a quiet hour-and-a-half ride back to Hutchinson.  Aw shit, I have about ten minutes to catch the plane.  Damn it!  I run/sprint to the security check and pray I’m not picked out of the line. 

*****

In all the excitement I forgot one major thing.  The major thing hit me when I sat down and buckled my seat belt.  I hate flying.  I have been scared of flying since I was two and I saw a plane crash on TV.  It was a traumatic moment I think.  As long as a panic attack doesn’t start I’ll be fine. 

            The stewardesses, oh excuse me, flight attendants are giving those dumb ass signals for exits and “in case of an emergency…” speeches  I wanna know one thing, how the hell is an inflatable seat going to save my life in case of a crash?  The flight attendants sit down and the engines start.  Oh god, I feel like I’m going to puke.  I struggle to focus on something other than the plane taking off but I can’t.  Not even Josh is distracting my slow rising panic.  I hope that jerking motion is supposed to happen…

            Okay, breathe, we’re in the air.  Correction, we’re slowly climbing in altitude.  We’re getting closer to my emotional breakdown.  I swear to God I’ll keep my temper with Josh if the plane lands safely.  I’ll try extremely hard…

            “Hi, I’m Susan!”  Oh God, not a flight attendant, I don’t need this right now.  I want to freak out in peace…damn it.  “Do you need anything sugah?” 

            “No, ma’am.”  I revel in Susan’s slight eye twitch at the ‘M’ word. 

            “Tell me if you need me.”  Susan smiles and walks away.  I, on the other hand, groan softly, that’s what I need: a flirty stewardess with a southern accent. 

            “She’s a hottie.”  I jump slightly and grab at my chest.    Jesus, don’t these people know not to sneak up on panicking people?  Christ.  “I think she likes you.  Hi, I’m Benny.”  An incredibly good-looking guy, who has nothing on my Josh, smiles at me. 

            “I’m Jeremy…and I’m in a panic.” 

            “I can tell.”  Benny laughs and he has beautiful teeth.  Phew, he has a crest smile.  “I have some air sickness pills…”

            “No.”  Last time I took air sickness pills, I couldn’t wake up for hours.  I swore (I gulp as we hit an air pocket) that I wouldn’t take them ever again.  I’m starting to wish I hadn’t promised myself.  “Thanks though.”

            “No problem. Dude, she’s hot.”  He laughs, loudly, and slaps me on the back.  The ‘hottie’ in question turns and rolls her eyes.  I distinctly saw her mouth the word ‘pigs’.  “Look at that one, phew, number ten baby.”  He starts laughing (well I guess you could call it braying) and I fall into the seat in front of me, seriously pissing off the big guy sitting in it, as his hand connects with my back again.

            This is going to be a long ride.

*****

You know, when you have a thirty minute stop in Atlanta it’s not a whole lot of time.  This airport is so damn big!  I’m lucky to be able to get to my gate with ten minutes to spare.  I should call Daniel; let him know I’m coming.  Thank god for pay phones.  I fight an old lady for it but I finally get it.  Let’s just say it’s the Josh high that causes me to act like this. 

I dial the number I memorized (yes, I’m that sad), and the phone rings twice before it’s picked up.  “Hey Daniel, I – “

“Jeremy!”  Josh’s voice.  Holy shit.

“Josh!”

“Oh fu…Jeremy…damn, the hell…”

“Josh…”  I can’t think of anything to say.  I’m overwhelmed, damn it! So sue me!

“Where are you?”  Josh sounds extremely excited, which is a fantastic thing because that means he wants to see me!  No, I’m not jumping to conclusions.

“I’m at the airport; I’m on my way to Columbus.”

“Columbus!  I live in Columbus!”

“No shit.”  It’s a mean answer but I’m having a slight problem; his breathless voice is making me very horny.  Phew.  An overhead P.A. System calls out my boarding gate and I curse the P.A. gods.  Damn them, I’m talking to my boy.  “I gotta go.  I’ll be at Daniel’s around ten tonight.”   And then I hang up.  Don’t look at me like that, if I don’t get on the plane then I obviously can’t see him.

“Attention, gate twelve now boarding.” 

The P.A. System here is a real bitch. 

*****

I don’t think I’ve ever been much happier than when this plane’s wheels hit the runway.  I still can’t believe I got to talk to him. I haven’t talked to Josh in a year.  Do you realize it’s been three hundred and sixty-five fucking days?  Fifty-two fucking weeks.  Jesus Christ, it’s been too long.  Too long since everything, and  I mean everything. I really shouldn’t be discussing that.  Umm, anyway. 

            How long does it take that damn stewardess to let us off the plane?  Nothing against stewardesses, but Josh is waiting at Daniel’s for me.  Jesus, woman, get the old lady off the damn stairs and let’s go! Thank you.  Jesus.  I stand and “calmly” wait for the people to pass by.  I hate being polite, damn it.  I grab my duffel bag from the overhead compartment.  Everything I have is in there.  I figure I’ll bring Josh back home and then everything will be okay.  I hope. Finally!  The door! Yeah, whatever, you have a good day too, Susan.  Damn annoying bitch.  She bothered me on both flights, damn it. I’m such a mean person when it comes to Josh.

            The tunnel can be very tedious when you want to see someone.  Just because Josh isn’t waiting for me doesn’t mean I can’t be excited, right?  Bah, doesn’t matter.  Just gotta get to Daniel’s.  Why can’t these people move faster?  I know you want to see your kids, man, but I got a gorgeous boyfriend who would even take your straight ass’s breath away.  Damn, but I’m mean.  I edge around the happy fathers and mothers and head toward the first pay phone I see.  Searching frantically for a moment, I come up with thirty-five cents and put/shove the money into the slot.  I lean against the phone and breathe deeply.  It rings for a few seconds before a pale hand lands on the little hang up thingy. 

            An anger builds inside. I am not a person you want to piss off today.  I turn around.  “What the hell is your problem…Josh?”  We stare at each other for a moment before he jumps on me.  His legs wrap easily around my waist.

            “Jeremy…oh my God…oh my fucking God,” Josh presses his lips against my neck, “you’re real.  Oh God, you’re real.”  His lips press against my cheek.  Now don’t think I’m not doing anything but I don’t want to drop him on his ass.  I just grab the back of his head and kiss whatever piece-of-Josh I can reach. 

            Josh pulls away slightly and drops his feet to the floor.  I sigh and pull him into a closer hug.  His head pulls back, tears in his eyes.  There’s something different about his eyes. I can’t place it though.  I do, however, cup his chin and pull his face towards mine.  He actually kisses me first but I really don’t care.  My lips are pressed against his and that’s all that matters.  I pull away.  “Are you okay?”

            “Yeah.  I just missed you.”  Even when he whispers it’s sexy.

            “You seem,” I stare into his eyes and there’s something there that was never there before.  What is it?  A depth in his eyes…oh fuck.  It’s not something that wasn’t there before; it’s something that disappeared.  The spark.  Oh fuck.  The spark is gone.   It’s serious, the only time I’ve seen him without his spark was after his rape.  What the hell happened?

            Josh steps away from me.  “What?”

            “Uh, never mind.”  I smile and wrap an arm around his waist.  I’m just going to enjoy some alone time with my boy, no worrying right now, just caring for Josh. 

            I’ll ask questions later.

            Promise.

******

Badum!  That’s it for now!  ^_^  Did ya enjoy it?  I hope so, this chapter took me a looooong time to write for no apparent reason.  I is just lazy, I guess.

Review me!  I am a slashophile and I love reviews!  ^_^  Woot!  ::dances around review button:: Push it, right c’here!  You know you wanna!  ^_^ 

If I turned you off in anyway because of my disgusting display of begging for reviews, I apologize.  ::sniff::  I just try so hard.  ::sniff::  ^_^

Tune in next time for when Josh gets rough and takes the lead.  ::raises eyesbrows:: Rowr.  ^_^