When Paths Cross

When-paths-cross8

When Paths Cross, Part 8 by Everybodycrys (everybodycrys@yahoo.com)

Well I hope everyone's enjoying the story. I’ve decided that I don’t want to drag this story out forever so there will be exactly 12 chapters to it. The story will end on chapter 12. After all, one of the best parts of a story is a wonderful ending and I want to try my hand at that. This is not to say it might not spin off, who knows? We’ll see when we get there. I want to thank the people who take the time to email me with their kind comments. Its a real morale booster. If you have anything you want to say about the story at all, please feel free to contact me at everybodycrys@yahoo.com

Disclaimer : Okay, if you are under 18 or are offended by material of a homosexual nature please turn around and walk away. This is not the place for you. Also this is a work of fiction and doesn’t mean to imply the actual sexual orientation of any of its characters, real or imagined. and don’t forget...Drink Milk.

and here we go...

Matt woke up to someone knocking on the door. He looked over and saw that Nick was still asleep next to him. He got up as quietly as possible so he wouldn’t wake him. He walked over and opened the door to find Marian and Brian standing outside.

“Well look who’s up” Marian said with a smile.

Matt looked back at the bed, “Well one of us is.”

Brian smiled and walked over to the bed, “Yeah sometimes this one takes some convincing.” He jumped on the bed and started bouncing. Nick shot up and then fell off the side of the bed onto the floor. They all started laughing at the confused look on his face.

“What the fu....” He started.

Brian interrupted, “What it kid, lady in the room.” Nick looked up and saw Marian over by the door. He also saw Matt standing next to her and a smile crept across his face.

“Your still here.”

“You bet, I think we covered that last night.” Matt said as he offered Nick a hand to pulled off the floor.

“Come on guys, we have breakfast in Kevin’s room and there’s some stuff we need to talk about.” Brain said motioning to the door. Nick and Matt looked at each, suddenly fearing the worst. Nick walked to the bathroom, “Let me get ready, brush my teeth and stuff.”

Brian nodded and motioned for the rest of them to join him in the other room. Matt looked unhappy as he was ushered into Kevin’s room.

He took a seat on the couch as Marian got a couple of plates for them. There was a uneasy silence as everyone stared at each other. Kevin broke the silence.

“So, Matt how are you feeling?”

“I’m doing much better today, thanks” He said uneasily.

A.J. coughed, “So Matt, What exactly are your intentions towards our little Nicky?”

Matt froze, and everyone started laughing.

“God, A.J. you are evil.” Howie laughed as he toss a pillow at his head. Matt relaxed a bit. He didn’t feel judged anymore. Kevin asked him about himself and Matt proceeded to tell him everything. He told them about majoring in music and how he either wanted to teach or get involved in the music industry. They talked for about fifteen minutes until Nick quietly entered. He nodded to everyone and then took a seat next to Matt on the couch. Matt smiled at him as he sat down. Trying to be as discreet as possible they grabbed the others hand. This didn’t go unnoticed and everyone smiled .

“Well, now that your here we have to talk about some stuff.” Kevin started, “ As you know we have to leave this evening...”

“I’m not leaving.” Nick suddenly blurted out. Kevin sighed, he knew this was not going to easy.

Brian continued, “ We have to go Nick, They’ve already postponed two of the concerts that we’re going to have to make up.” Nick shook his head. Matt squeezed his hand letting him know he was still there.

Marian took it from there, “Last night we discussed some things, Look, Matt you only have one last paper to turn in. Kevin spent a long time on the phone with their management to arrange it so you can go with them for the remainder of the tour. That is, as soon as the paper is done.” Matt was overwhelmed, both by the fact that he would be able to stay with Nick and also that their friends had cared so much to arrange this for them. Nick was ecstatic, jumping up and down on the couch.

“This is wonderful.” He practically screamed. Brian smiled, it was good to see Nick happy.

“Well, management wasn’t happy about it and we had to make some promises.” Kevin continued.

“What kind of promises?” Matt asked suspicious of something that sounded to good to be true.

“First off, they’ll give you a title that associates you with the tour somehow so people don’t start asking questions, or at least if they do we have a answer for them. Then we had to promise that you guys would be careful, real careful about your public image. This isn’t a surprise, we knew that going in.”

Matt thought about it, “Well, I’m okay with it, as long as I’m okay to return to school next fall. I can’t give that up. What time do you guys leave tonight?”

“Well the original flight was at five but we’ve arrange for some of us to leave a bit later on a private plane. I think that will be around eight or nine. Is that enough time to get things together?”

“I hope so, The papers about done, I could run back to my place and get it put in the profs mailbox today, then its just a matter of grabbing my clothes and stuff. If I hurry I could be ready.” Matt said

Marian nodded, “Then lets get a move on, the days not getting any longer.” She stood up and grabbed her coat. Matt blinked, he wasn’t ready to go. He gripped Nicks hand and felt him squeeze back.

“Do we have to go now.” He asked.

“ Yes, if you want to be ready to go tonight. Lets go!” She said and grabbed his hand. Reluctantly he let go of Nicks hand.

They walked towards the door. Nick jumped up, “Well can I go with you? I’ll help.” He pleaded. Kevin got up , “No, Nick it won’t be that long and you got some getting ready to do your self. I’ve seen your room.” He smiled. Nick nodded and sat back down. He watched Matt leave as Brian and Kevin talking business about the tour. He was gonna be counting the minutes until that evening.

Matt sat back in the passenger seat day dreaming. He couldn’t believe how much had happened over the last 24 hours.

He looked over at Marian who was driving him to his apartment, “Is this for real?”

“You better hope so or your gonna be spending the night waiting for no one at the airport tonight.” She joked.

“Shut up. you know what I mean. Last night was great. and you know what?” He sounded like a little kid who was about to tell a secret he knew get him in trouble, “I was actually a little turned on by him.” he whispered with a small smile.

“Hey Matt, news flash, your gay, your suppose to be turned on by him” She said, “are you still high on that medicine?”

He smiled, “I never been this high before and it has nothing to do with drugs.”

“Good, enjoy it cause sooner or later you know your going to have to deal with that small problem up north.”

He frowned, “No, right now I don’t want to think about that. I’m just going to push it behind me and ignore them.”

“You can’t do that forever.”

“Watch me.”

They spent the afternoon getting everything ready. Matt spent a hour getting his paper finished, then he had run it over to the school to get it put in his prof’s box. Marian pulled out his bags and packed up the clothes he would need. When he got back from the school he was just about ready. The rest of the day was spent making arrangements to store the rest of his stuff until he returned and talking to the landlord about a good date to move back in after the summer renters had gone. Around six they had dinner at Mission Valley center to spend the last few moments together before they had to go to the airport.

“Well, it looks like your summer is going to be quite a experience.”

“Yeah I’m a little scared, this is so big. but for the first time I’m actually taking a chance and doing something good for me.”

“ You have a good summer, and keep in touch. Let me know everything that happens.”

“Your too good to me Marian, why do you put up with me?”

“I don’t know. Someday I’ll probably wake up and move on.” She smiled, “Lets go, we have to get to the airport.”

They left and headed for the airport. They arrived about a hour before the plane was scheduled to leave. Marian parked the car and they started looking for the gate. It wasn’t easy to find since the plane was private. With a little help they were shown to the VIP lounge where the rest of the group was waiting. Nick saw them and A.J. had to put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from vaulting up and running to them.

“Hi guys, I’m all ready.” Matt said, he noticed that they were two people short. “Where’s Kevin and Howie?”

Brian answered, “we couldn’t all take the later flight, they headed out at five to make management happy and to get things set up for us before we arrive. It also turns out that its a private plane, but we’re gonna have a couple of other passengers on board.” He indicated to the other side of the lounge where there were four people sitting. A man and woman who looked in their late thirties and were probably married, a teenager looking about about seventeen, and older man that could be his grandfather. Matt wasn’t happy, this meant that Nick and him would have to be careful on the flight. They talked for a little while until they were called and told the plane was ready to be boarded. He gave Marian a huge hug, he didn’t want to let go, for the longest time she had been his constant and gave him the strength to tackle life.

“I am so going to miss you.”

“I am to, don’t worry I'm going to talk to your family and check things out there.”

He gave her a look, “Don’t do that, I don’t want to deal with them.”

She nodded, but he knew she was going to ignore him anyway, “Bye bye, please remember to keep in touch.” She turned to Nick, “you guys behave yourself and make sure he gets back alright.”

Nick smiled and agreed. Together Brian, A.J., Nick, and Matt grabbed their bags and headed out to the plane. On the plane they took the seats as far away from the rest of the passengers as they could get, but it was a small plane and try as they could there wasn’t a way to be out of sight. Brain took the seat next to Nick and Matt so he could keep a eye on things.

“Remember guys, we have to be real careful, so keep your voices down and nothing visual.”

Nick rolled his eyes, “I know!” He had been hearing it all day from Kevin and after he had left Brian had taken over. A.J. had decided to travel with them to act as some kind of mediator so Nick could get some alone time.

Matt and Nick looked and each other and spent the time talking. After about a hour, almost everybody on board was asleep. Feeling it was safe, they curled up next to each other in their seats, held hands and talked until they fell asleep.

About three hours into the flight, Brian woke up. He saw the two guys and grunted. They were going to have to have another talk, they just looked a little to cozy. He got up and checked on A.J. He was asleep a couple of rows up. Because they had requested to be left alone there were no flight attendants, so Brian found a couple of blankets. One he put over A.J. and the other he put over Nick and Matt. He did his best to hide anything that might make someone suspicious if they walked down the aisle. As he was about to go back to sleep he felt the plane lurch. Having spent so much time on planes, he instantly knew this wasn’t something normal like turbulence. He quickly put his belt on and started to reach over to wake up the others so they could do likewise. Just as he was about to the plane bounced again, this time much more violently. This was enough to knock anyone who didn’t have their belt on right onto the floor. There was instant commotion.

“What was that?”

“What's happening?”

“Stewardess”

“Oh my!?”

“Ouch, shit!”

They all got up and quickly put on their belts. Soon the captain’s voice came over the intercom. “Ladies and Gentleman, sorry about that, but the weather’s gotten a bit rough and we’re experiencing some technical problems. Please stay in your seats with your belts fastened. We will probably be landing at a alternative airport to undergo repairs.”

Matt was scared, he knew how fragile airplanes could become if the right system went out. The plane continued to bounce and every now and then there would be a sudden drop in altitude.

“Oh man, I’m going to be sick.” He heard A.J. say from his seat.

“Brian, Matt , is this bad?” Nick asked glancing back and forth from his best friend to his new found love. Brian closed his eyes and leaned back. He started praying, this didn’t look good at all.Suddenly he felt someone standing above him. He looked up and saw A.J. fighting to maintain his balance in the aisle.

“What are you doing? sit down before you get hurt.” He said, surprised that he would try something so stupid. “I’m sorry, I’m getting a bit scared and I needed to be with you guys.” He replied as he tighten up his belt real tight. Suddenly the cabin lights went out and the plane started dropping. The oxygen masked dropped from above. A scream echoed around the plane as the plane’s engine went out and they started plummeting towards the ground.

“Nick!!!” Matt screamed. He felt a hand firmly grasp his. Some emergency lights came on and they could see around them. Nick was holding his hand with one hand and grasping for the mask with the other. They got their mask’s on as quickly as possible. Nick grabbed Brian’s hand and Brian grabbed A.J.’s. The fear was overwhelming, Matt started praying and thinking about his family. A little while ago, he was ready to write them off and now he was afraid of dying without seeing them ever again.

The plane continued to fall. The pilot did his best to keep it under control as he searched for the best place to bring it down. As they approached the ground he was able to get a bit of power to bring the nose up. But it wasn’t enough the plane crashed through the trees and started to roll. The crew shut all power and hoped nothing would explode. Back in the cabin they all screamed as the g forces from the spinning started and the plane started to tumble. There were sparks every where and the plane was quickly starting to come apart. Everyone went flying every where and then they were welcomed into the darkness.

Kevin had been waiting at the airport for a while. Their plane was due a hour ago. He went up to the counter and asked for info on the flight. Soon a manager came and pulled Kevin over to the side.

Howie came back from the bathroom hoping the plane had arrived. He saw Kevin talking to someone. He was about to walk over when he heard Kevin scream.

“Oh God Nooooo!!!!!!”

Kevin collapsed to the ground crying.

Brian slowly opened his eyes. His body hurt all over. He spent a few minutes trying to clear his head and remember what had happened. Groaning he focused on the world around him. He was lying on his back and staring up at trees above him. He remembered being on the plane and then the crash.

“Nick!, A.J.” he cried out. He didn’t receive any response. He started testing his limbs. He moved his arms and sore as they were he didn’t feel much pain. Then he started moving his legs. Same story there, feeling a little relieved he tried to sit up. There he was greeted with a intense headache. He felt a little dizzy and was about to lie back down when he felt a arm slip around him for support. He looked up to see A.J. crouched next to him helping him.

“Hey Bri, you okay?” He asked. Brian nodded.

“Yeah, I think so. How about you?” He asked. A.J. nodded okay, Brain looked him over. His clothes were darkened from smoke and dirt and he had removed his shirt to use a piece of it to wrap a cut on his upper left arm. He still had on his white tank top but it was torn in numerous places.

He helped Brian stand up and after a few minutes the dizziness passed and he was feeling a bit better. He looked around.

“Where are we?” He asked.

A.J. shrugged, “I don’t know, I woke up over there,” pointing to a clearing about thirty yards away, “ I was awake for about five minutes when I heard you call out.”

“We have to find Nick.” Brian said, and they started looking around but there didn’t seem to be anyone else there. Brian was starting to get discouraged when A.J. pointed out a light trail of smoke rising. Together they started running towards it. They were in the midst of a huge forest and they had to fight their way through a bunch of brush. They hit a clearing and froze at the sight before them.

The forest gave way to a huge cliff that went down almost two hundred feet. Right on the edge of the cliff was what was left of the plane. Almost the entire roof of the cabin was gone and the wings were lying at awkward angles. The cockpit was a complete loss, smashed to almost a unrecognizable state. A.J. and Brian stared at the mess before them, horrified and surprised that they had survived. Brian started walking towards the plane.

“What are you doing Brian? There's no one left inside.” A.J. called.

Brian called back over his shoulder, “We don’t know that and we have to make sure their not here.” He climbed up on one of the wings noting that the plane was not as secure on the edge as he had hoped. He crawled up until he could get a glimpse of the cabin. He looked around and gasped, there was Nick and Matt.

“A.J. come on, I found them.” A.J. didn’t hesitate a second, instantly he was climbing up behind Brian. Brian carefully made his way through the wreckage and ran over to Nick. As his weight moved across the cabin he heard a screech and felt the cabin shift. He froze about five feet away. He motioned back to A.J. to be careful and move slowly. He took the last few steps and crouched down next to Nick.

“Come on Nick wake up.” He said, shaking him a little. Getting no response he check his vital as best he could. He didn’t have any formal training but knew a little. Nick’s pulse was solid and he was breathing. He leaned over and checked Matt, same there. He was relieved, both of them were alive. A.J. came up next to him.

“Is he...?”

“Their alive.” He responded. A.J. smiled, they started looking them over. Nick seemed okay, minus a cut across his forehead, it was pretty shallow and didn’t seem to big a deal. Matt had a deeper cut on his shoulder were a piece of the plane had punctured. Brian started undoing their seat belts.

“Wait, shouldn’t we wait for someone with medical training to move them?” A.J. asked. Brian shook his head.

“No, this plane is not stable, we have to get them out of here.”

A.J. agreed and helped Brian. Brian lifted Nick in his arms and slowly headed for the wing. A.J. pulled Matt up and lifted him over his shoulder. Together they made their way through the wreckage until they reached the relative safety of the trees. They laid them down carefully, Leaning against a large tree. A.J. started doing his best to take care of the cuts using parts of shirt that he had saved. He tore a large strip and tied it around Nicks head to protect the cut on his forehead. He use the rest of it as a bandage for Matt’s shoulder. Brian headed back to the plane. A.J. looked up to see him going.

“What are you doing? That planes not safe.” He called out.

Brian looked back over his shoulder as he climbed back up on the wing, “I have to check to see if there’s anyone else.”

A.J. swore to himself, checked one last time on the two next to him and headed after Brian. When he got to the wing he stopped when he saw Brian froze at the base of the cabin.

He yelled up, “Brian, what's up?”

“Don’t come up, I just felt the plane slip.”

“Then lets go, get your butt off of it.”

Brian was about to turn around and get off as quickly as he could when he saw some movement from further up in the cabin. He quickly scrambled in the cabin.

‘Damn it Brian, what are you up to?” A.J. thought. Brian carefully walked across what was left of the cabin, feeling the plane shudder with each step. He reached the front of the cabin and was horrified by what he saw. It was all he could do to keep from puking. The middle age couple was crushed below some wreckage, there was no way they could have survived. The older gentleman was still in his seat. He looked okay so Brian reached down and felt for a pulse, he didn’t get anything so he checked for breathing and heartbeat...nothing. He was dead. Brian swore to himself and turned around. The last passenger, a teenage boy was lying on the floor. Brian didn’t see much blood minus some scratches and a huge bruise on his head. Brian knelt down. He checked for a pulse and was rewarded with a strong pulse and he seemed to be breathing alright. He didn’t know if he should move him, but he couldn’t stay here, so he rolled the kid over and very carefully picked him up. slowly he started walking back across the cabin. the plane was shaking much worse now.

A.J. knelt at the base of the wing waiting for Brian to appear, suddenly the wing shifted and he jumped off in surprise. He looked and saw the ground at the base of the cliff start to crumble and break. ‘Shit’, he thought ‘this plane is going over’

“Brian, hurry up, the planes going” he called. A few seconds later he saw Brian carrying someone and trying to make his way on to the wing. The wing was at a incline and he was trying to be careful so he wouldn’t slip. Suddenly the plane started to tilt and Brian was thrown off balance. He landed on his butt and seeing that the plane was going, he pulled the kid into his chest and leaned foreword. He slid down the wing as quickly as possible. A.J. moved to meet them and helped catch him as he reached the bottom. Brian handed A.J. the injured teenager and then jumped off the wing. Just then as they ran away from the wreckage, the plane tilted sharply and slipped off the cliff with a large screeching roar. They ran about fifty feet and then turned around to watch. There was very little of the wreckage left. A.J. walked the kid over and laid him next to Matt and Nick. Brian walked carefully over to the edge of the cliff and looked over. Below them was a huge lake. The plane had fallen into it and disappeared into the depth of it. Brian tried to get a better look to see if he could see any of it when he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He jumped..

“You scared the crap out of me when you went into that plane, now your over here playing on the edge.” A.J. said, a little pissed and he pulled Brian back away from the edge and ushered him back over to the others. As soon as they got there A.J. pulled him into a hug, really scared after what had just happened and he wanted to assure himself that Brian was still with him. Brian hugged him back. They pulled apart smiling a little.

“Well, that was a little bit intense” Brian said. A.J. gave him a look as if to say shut up. They checked on Nick and Matt again, no change.

“What do we do now?” A.J. asked.

“Well I guess we just hang on and wait for someone to show up. You can’t just crash in America anymore. they’ll be here anytime.” Brian leaned over as Nick started to stir.

Kevin sat in a chair in the lounge listening as someone from their management team gave him the latest news. He listened carefully as did Howie who was sitting next to him.

“Why haven’t they found them yet? He asked, “don’t these planes have beacons and boxes and crap like that.” He asked.

The management guy sighed, “Yeah, but it is more complicated then that, they think they crashed in the middle of a national forest, somewhere in the mountains in Montana.”

Kevin was even more confused now, “What were they doing over Montana? that's no where near where they should have been.”

“We know, we’re still trying to figure that out. but they got helicopters up and they’ve started the search, it should only be a matter of time.”

Kevin sat back, exhausted, Howie and him hadn’t slept since receiving the news. Kevin had been up all night calling their parents and friends filling them in on the news. Evryone was catching the sooest flight thay could to join them. He didn’t have Marian's number, so he was having a management guy running around trying to find her. He wasn’t looking forward to that call. He would wait for her before calling Matt’s parents, he didn’t want to be the one to tell them that Matt had crashed in a plane while flying off to tour during the summer with his new boyfriend. He just didn’t think that would go over well. he walked over to the couch and sat down. Howie followed him over and sat in the chair next to him.

“Kevin, I think you should get some sleep. Why don’t you lay back and catch a few hours.” he said.

Kevin agreed and laid down on the couch. It wasn’t long before he fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Howie decided to join him and fell asleep in his chair, lying in a awkward position.

All around the commotion of airline personnel and industry big wigs continued. What they didn’t tell the boys was that they weren’t holding out much hope, and to make the search worse a huge storm was expected in the area later that evening. It just didn’t look good.

Later that evening, Everyone was feeling a bit better. To Brian and A.J.’s joy both Matt and Nick had waken up soon after their experience in the plane. The teenager was still out and they did their best to make him as comfortable as possible. They sat around a fire that had taken them forever to start. A.J. had found a lighter in his pocket and that had helped. They huddled together as the wind started to pick up.

“When are they gonna get here?” Nick asked, him and Matt were sitting real close together covered with one of the blankets they had been able to salvage from the area around where the plane had been.

“I’ve been thinking about it. There are no signs of civilization, not even lights in the distance. We might be on a huge game preserve or forest or something. They might not be able to find us right away.” Matt said. Brian thought about it and it sounded about right.

“Well, do we just sit here or do we try to walk out of here.” A.J. asked.

Nick looked over at the teenager, “If nothing bad happens we should probably stay here, he’s not in any condition to move and the wreckage is here, even if the majority of it is underwater.”

Brain nodded in agreement, “yeah we’ll be easier to spot up here.” they all looked over as the kid started to stir. They all moved over as he woke up.

“What happened? who are you?” He started to sit up. Brian quickly moved to help him. “its okay, the plane crashed and we’re just sitting here waiting to be rescued. What's your name?”

The kid looked around, a little unsure because he was surrounded by strangers. “I’m Kenny. I was going to vacation with my grandfath...” he stopped suddenly and looked around. “Where’s my grandfather?”

Brian looked down as the rest of guys looked away. Brian decided to just get it over with, “There...there weren’t any other survivors.” he said.

Kenny looked confused for just a second as the news sunk in. Then he started crying unable to hold back the tears. Brian pulled him into a tight embrace, holding him as he shook with tears, crying out for his grandfather. Matt and Nick walked a short distance away to give them some privacy. When they were out away from their makeshift camp Matt broke the silence.

“Well, this has been one crappy day.” They held hands as they walked in the forest. Nick leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

“I’m so happy that your alright and here with me.”

“Not exactly the standard beginning to a relationship thou.” Matt said. “As long as we’re together I think its a great start. I just hope they find us soon.”

Nick suddenly stopped and pointed, there off in the distance they could make out a campfire. Quickly they started running back to their camp. Nick shouted out for Brian.

“Brian! we found someone, Brian! A.J.!”

A.J. met them as they got back and they told him all about what they had seen. Brian said he’d stay back with Kenny and A.J., Matt, and Nick headed off to find the other campfire. soon they stumbled their way through the dark and soon came up on the other camp. As they approached the camp they were surprised to find it abandoned. They slowly walked into the clearing. There was two sleeping bags and some supplies lying around. They looked around but there was no sign of anyone. A.J. sat down next to the fire.

“Well, I don’t know, maybe their out looking for us.”

Matt thought about it, “This doesn’t look like a rescue camp, I think we found some hikers.” Just then he felt a sharp object pressing against his back.

“Don’t move. Who are you guys?” A voice said.

Nick looked up in horror as two individuals pushed their way into the camp. one held a sharpened stick against Matt’s back as the other one had a huge spear that he held pointed towards him.

“No, we’re the ones your looking for.” He said.

“We’re not looking for anyone.” the first one said. “What are you doing here?” A.J. told them all about the plane crash as quickly as possible eying the sharpened sticks.

“That was the noise we heard the other night Drew.” The one behind Matt said. Matt stepped aside as they dropped their makeshift weapons. The one behind Matt turned out to be a young women of about 25, “I’m Julie, This is Drew, sorry to say we aren’t here for you. We’re trying to find our way out as it is. We’ve been hiking here for a week.

Nick laughed a little, “you guys always hunt around with spears when you go hiking.”

Drew and Julie gave him a intense look. They frowned and stared out into the darkness. Drew broke the silence, “No, only when we’re being hunted...

That was part eight. I hope everyone enjoyed it. More to come as we find out what Julie and Drew are talking about. When will they be rescued? What's in store for them? Please feel free to contact me if you have any input at all good or bad. I know I’m not real good at responded but I will try. you can reach me at everybodycrys@yahoo.com