"I don't want to reschedule because you morons can't keep your airport together!" the man in front of Kelsey snarled, slamming his fist violently on the counter top. The lady behind the desk looked flustered and tired. A pileup of bags was clearly seen behind her. It was about 9:30pm, and from what Kelsey was making out of the conversation, her flight was canceled.
"Sir, I'm sorry, but this is the best we can do right now. Conflicting schedules as well as inclement weather is a minor occurrence and---"
"WELL IT'S CLEARLY NOT MINOR NOW!" the guy raged, red in the face. The guy looked like his head was going to explode in an angry, bloody mess and the lady looked like she was ready to cry.
Kelsey sighed and wandered away from the irate man. Great. She was stuck in California for God knows how long, and her luggage was already somewhere far far away from her. She had her phone and Ipod with her thank God, so she walked over to one of the many rows of lounge chairs and sat down. She slid down in the seat, putting her Ipod headphones in her ears and sighed.
"This is great..."
She heard angry stomping and saw the annoying guy from before storm by, muttering death threats under his breath. Something about his clients having to be in New Jersey for a connecting flight tomorrow...How dare they cancel this flight...Crucial, have to reschedule the show... He sat across from Kelsey, 3 seats over and flipping out his cell phone. Violently pressing a button, he tapped his foot impatiently while it rang.
"Hello? Yeah it's Mark." He listened for a second, checking his watch.
"What? No, you're gonna have to tell them that they won't be there by tomorrow! This place is incompetent!" More listening, and Kelsey was losing interest.
"Yeah okay," he looked up and over Kelsey's shoulder. "Oh, hold on, I see them now. Mhm. Bye." This Mark guy hung up the phone and shoved it deep in his pocket. He stood up and shouted, motioning for the people to come over. Despite herself, Kelsey turned to see who these people were. Nothing else to do anyway.
Damn she was happy she turned.
Very happy.
Quest Crew. Was right there. In their purple shirts and hoodies, scarfs and everything else associated with them. Hok and D-trix and Victor and Fengand Steve and Ryan...Oh my Jesus, there was Ryan. Kelsey let out a little noise of happiness and an undertone of fangirlness. He was wearing a black and white stripped t-shirt that doubled as a hoodie, showing some of his toned arms, grey skinny jeans and pretty damn awesome Converses. He was dragging a rolling back pack behind him, and he looked a bit disgruntled. Not that he looked any less cute. His hair was it's normal black spiky mess of perfection, with blond highlights streaming through.
Mark walked over to meet them halfway, so they were standing maybe 10 feet away from where Kelsey was frozen. She felt as if she was going to scream and attack them all any minute now (especially Ryan) but she stayed still, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Yeah Jerry is at the place you guys would be performing, but our plane is canceled. Soooo, that means we're grounded, or we try and get a connecting flight---"
A soft click. Darkness
A few seconds passed, then suddenly, the unmistakable voice of Dominic enunciated quite clearly,
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"
XXXXX
So after another half hour of a mix of annoyed, confused, tired, and angry voices, it was all made clear. Due to the inclement weather, the main power generator was knocked out. In other words, no power. No lights, no heat, not air conditioning. Nothing. There was a back up generator, but it was an estimated two hours until it would be up and running. The amazing dance crew had taken seats near Kelsey, and she was trying to find a way to talk to them. WHEN WOULD SHE EVER GET THIS CHANCE AGAIN?!
Apparently, there was a loving God who was in a really good mood. That was the only explanation for what happened next.
Ryan and Victor were sitting next to each other, goofing off and taking pictures of every one and everything, including the chairs, floor, lights, and Mark's shoe. Ryan stole the camera and held it up, pointing it in the general direction of Kelsey. He brought the camera down and looked at Kelsey for a second, then smiled.
"Hey....I think I've seen you before..." he crunched his face up in concentration, quite an adorable site. Kelsey froze as he studied her face closely. She could smell what ever cologne he was wearing. Something that smelled...cold. Maybe mint? Only he could pull it off.
"Oh yeah I remember!" Steve shouted. Ryan looked over his shoulder.
"She's the one who gave me poky...With love!" Steve finished, remembering back to when Quest got to meet their fans at the Ritz theatre, the show in New Jersey. Kelsey was stunned and pleased that Steve remembered that small encounter with him and some broken Pocky.
"I think she was my best friend that night...I was starving after the show!" Steve said greatfully, and D-trix and Victor laughed. Ryan also laughed and suddenly threw an arm over Kelsey's shoulders, tugging her into his chest. Even if it was a little strange for him to suddenly hug this new arrival, the feeling of her against him was rather nice, so nice in fact that this alone made the plane delay worth it.
"Well I think that makes her my new best friend." Ryan said, not letting her go. Kelsey was pretty sure when the power went out, she must have been knocked out. Or died, and this was heaven. A broken down airport and angels who looked like Quest Crew and hugged her.
"Haha, I'm totally cool with you being my best friend Ryan," she said jokingly from his chest. He smiled down at me.
"Well good, because if you said no, I might have just gone and cried." he said, pulling a sad face. Kelsey smiled back and stuck her tongue out at him. Interacting with him and talking seemed so easy. Within moments, the two of them were talking like old friends, both just talking about things they liked and disliked, random trivia; anything that seemed to enter their heads they talked about. Ryan told Kelsey some stories from traveling and just how he even got into dancing, ("after all, my family hated the idea of me dancing...So I never took lessons, but I made it up!") and Kelsey shared some things about her family and stuff she did ("Well, I'm learning how to dance, and I play the piano too, I mean not as good as you, but I'm learning...") They were so engrossed in their, (what seemed like a very short) conversation, that neither of them notice D-trix run over until he had rubbed his hand into Ryan's hair, making him yelp indignantly.
"Enough of the mushy gushy friendship bonding over here, the rest of us are bored out of our minds..." He looked down at Kelsey and smirked.
"Well hello there, we were NOT properly introduced." He tugged on his shirt a little, pulling it up to reveal his toned tummy. "I'm D-trix, and since I know you're dying to know, yes, I can do trix with my---"
"KEEP IT PG!" Everyone from behind him yelled, and he winced, but smirked appreciatively. He really was an attention whore, but it was okay with Kelsey. He was cute. Not nearly as much as Ryan, but still...
"Fine, since it's gotta stay 'PG'", he said with an exaggerated voice, "How about we think of something to do for now?"
"Like what?" Hok asked from his seat, his British accent sounding confused. "What is there that we could possibly do here at an airport? Besides practice our routine, mind you, after been stuck on a plane for eight hours and then landing here. I know I'm exhausted, and I'm not feeling up for the Average Game."
The guys all shut up for a minute and looked around at what was at their disposal. Not much to work with. The rows of plastic chairs, the guys bags, a few luggage carts...
Kelsey grinned and raised her hand excitedly. Ryan look at her, waving her hand around and snickered.
"Yes Kelsey?"
"I gots an idea! AH GAWTS AN IDEAH!"
XXXXX
So it was decided. After picking partners, Kelsey and Quest were going to have cart races. Steve was with Feng, D-trix was with Hok, Kelsey was with Ryan and Victor was sitting this one out, serving as the announcer. He was at the far end of the room, hands cupped around his mouth to shout down at them. One person was to sit and attempt to balance on the cart, while the other would push the cart and steer. Or try to at least, since these carts (once they got them set up) weren't the most oiled of machines. Not that any of the guys minded, or Kelsey. It added an element of awesome-ness to the whole thing.
"Hold up!" Ryan shouted, putting a hand up to call time out. Ryan hopped up on the cart and leaned foward, hands grabbing the upper bar so he could lean foward.
"We need a team name of some sort, something that shows we got something they don't. Something so awesome, they wish they were us...Have anything in that range?" Kelsey was trying not to get distracted by his brown eyes, which incidentally were maybe 7 inches away from her.
"Erm, okay, something that shows our epic-ness...Something they aren't..."
They look at each other at the same time and grinned
"Team. Filipino."
It was that simple. Plus, none of the others had that going for them. Hell, they should win just for that.
"OKAY! GET SET UP AT THE STARTING LINE!" Victor shouted, holding his hand up with three fingers. The three teams got ready; D-trix started making noises like a car revving up. Ryan and Feng quickly tried to do it louder than him.
"Three!...Two!...GO!" Victor screamed, and the carts took off. The three riding on the carts were screaming over the sounds of rickety wheels. Feng and Steve pulled ahead, but Hok decided to grab onto their cart as it pulled ahead of them. Ryan started banging his cart into Feng's, and the combo of Hok dragging them back and the bashing from team Filipino resulted in a cart tipping over.
One team down, one to go.
However, as everyone there knew, D-trix was NOT someone who embraced being a loser. In any contest. And this sure as hell wasn't going to be the first time. So, with a fierce battle cry that sounded something like, 'mrrraflagabaaaaa!', he leaped from his cart and hopped on top of Kelsey and Ryan's. He knelt down and started shaking the whole cart from the top violently, screaming all the while.
"I-I-I c-c-c-an-n-'t h-h-old-d-d-d o-n-n-n-n!" Ryan stuttered from the back of the shaking cart. Kelsey couldn't even answer her teeth were chattering so fast. D-trix was loving it of course, but something clanged too hard...And then a wheel went flying.
"ABANDON SHIP!" Ryan screamed, laughing. Kelsey moved to jump, but then a warm pair of arms quickly wrapped themselves around her. Kelsey hardly had time to process what was going on before Ryan bent his legs and propelled the two of them up and off the cart. They were airborne. Kelsey shut her eyes tightly and inhaled deeply. The last thing she took in of her surroundings was Ryan's distinctive and pleasant masculine scent. It was fleeting though.
'We're gonna die, of sweet hay zeus we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna----'
She heard Ryan grunt and found his body curling over, his head tucked in near Kelsey's shoulder. A hard thud signaled the landing back on Earth, but they weren't quite at a standstill yet. The force of the exit from the moving cart and the sped from landing had given them quite the momentum and the laws of physics weren't going to stop working for their sake. Their two bodies, held closely together were moving fast, rolling and tumbling over each other in a loose ball of limbs. Ryan started laughing like a small kid, and Kelsey couldn't help but laugh as well. His laughter was...not like a drug, but more like...cotton candy. Addictingly sweet and innocent.
They rolled a good ten or eleven times, but they were abruptly stopped when Ryan's back hit a wall, and Kelsey crashed into his chest. She fell on her back on the floor and Ryan's body fell on top. Neither of them noticed at first how their hips were aligned in a way that would be ideal for other, more pleasurable activities. She thought at first that she was imagining his body pressed gently against hers, and she thought how nice it was. When her head stopped ringing and all she could hear was their breathing, Kelsey's heart started to thump rapidly within her chest at their proximity.
A dim glow was coming from Kelsey's open cell phone a few inches away, but she made no move to retrieve it. It was close enough to light up Ryan's face. He looked down lazily but quickly scrambled off Kelsey, looking embarrassed for not noticing sooner. Kelsey lamented the loss of his body heat. Propping himself up on his arms, he gave his head a small, experimental shake.
"Well, that was quite an experience," he said, a small smile on his face. Kelsey smiled back and sat up, leaning back on her hands.
"I think airports should definitely make that an option instead of the moving sidewalks." she said thoughtfully, and Ryan laughed softly. He suddenly turned his look to Kelsey. She couldn't be sure in the poor lighting, but she thought she saw his eyes quickly drifted over her form. She blinked and his eyes were looking into her own. His face was unreadable.
"Ryan, is something wrong? Did you hurt yourself?" Kelsey asked, half jokingly and half seriously. Ryan blinking and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine...I'm fine Kelsey," he said softly, his rich voice sending a quick shock up her spine. She nodded and smiled, moving to get up. A hand on her wrist stopped her. He wasn't gripping her tightly or anything, but it was enough to stop her movements. Time seemed to freeze. Kelsey turned and faced him, looking at his face again. He gently brought her back down, and she was kneeling in front of him. Although they were no longer in the somewhat provocative position they were in before, Kelsey couldn't help but notice how warmtheir bodies were and how easy it would be to crawl into his lap. It made her want to push him away and get the hell out of there but at the same time, she was a tiny bit curious to feel his body around hers like that.
He ever so slightly leaned in, his mouth no more than an inch away from her ear.
"Is this awkward for you Kelsey?" he breathed out softly, his lips brushing teasingly over the shell of her ear, whether by accident or mistake.
"I don't know," she answered honestly, turning her head to look into his deep brown eyes. Their faces were no more than an inch apart, but hearing her words he moved to sit back away from her. She quickly grabbed the front of his shirt in a bold move. He looked down at her hand, then back at her.
"That doesn't mean no," she murmured softly, leaning into him. She may have sounded collected, but her heart was beating loudly, face deeply flushed. Now only a few centimeters apart, all Ryan had to do was angle his head and he could kiss her.
"It's always easier to do things like this when the lights are off...People can get away with things in the dark," he murmured, eyes half open.
"...So does that make this wrong? I mean, we hardly know each other" Kelsey asked, more to herself than an actual question. Ryan decided to answer.
"No, we're just talking really really...REALLY close. And I want to get to know you," he murmured, not really thinking. Their warm breath mingled in the small space between them, it was getting harder for him to think, there seemed to be one of two choices, and he found his body working on its own. His eyes closed and he slowly brought his head down---
"YO RYAN WHERE YOU AT BOY?" D-trix's voice called out, each word louder as he got closer. Ryan's eyes shot open and shot a glance to the left, where D-trix's voice was coming from. Kelsey winced slightly at the loud, interrupting voice. She had been so close too, so damn close. She felt something soft and warm brush against her lips, and her eyes shot open to see Ryan's triumphant and sunny smile.
"You didn't think you'd get away that easy did you?" he said humorously, pressing his forehead to hers. Before she could answer, he got up quickly and tackled D-trix when he came around the corner. Kelsey was still kneeling on the floor, fingers resting lightly on her tingling lips. Emotions were running through her head and hormones were running through her blood.
It was amazing.
XXXXX
A sudden loud, echoing click brought the lights back on abruptly. There were a few groans of protests as everyone's eyes were faced with the undiluted light that there eyes weren't used to. Things started to move in fast forward though after the power came back on.
An announcement was made that things were up and running again, an apology for the inconvenience, the storm had passed, blah blah blah technical explanations, planes would start boarding in another 20 minutes, blah blah check the board to see the new boarding time for your flight.
When Mark had heard the new times were flashing across the board, he ran over to check, and many of the other memebers of Quest had wandered off to get some food or something before they had to board. Ryan hung back with Kelsey, who was sitting cross legged on the floor looking up at him. He sat down across from her, not nearly as close as they had been no more than ten minutes ago.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"So, um back there, I hope that didn't make things weird between us---"
"Oh no, no not at all Ryan."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"..."
"..."
"I know my flight is before yours since it was originally before yours anyway."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."
"..."
"..."
Kelsey noticed him inch a little closer.
"Soooo..."
She inched closer herself.
"Soooo..."
"Well, I'm flying into New York and then getting a connecting flight, but after our show we don't have anything booked for another 2 weeks."
A smile was playing on Kelsey's lips. "Oh really Mr. Conferido?"
He smiled and moved a little closer. "Yes really. It's very exciting."
Kelsey looked up and away from him, lifting her arm up. "Oh yes, how very, very, very exciting!" she said, giving him a poke on every 'very' and 'exciting'.
"Yes is really is very ex-ci-ting!" he poked her back on each syllable.
"No need to get violent."
"You started it!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Ya-HUH!"
"...Damn, you're right," she mumbled, pouting.
"Hahaha I win," he mumbled, but then he suddenly sat up.
"So as the winner, I make a decree," he said haughtily, trying to pull off a self-important look, but looking more like a confused cat.
"Really now?" Kelsey said smirking at him and his expression.
"Yes really now," he said mockingly but not to be mean. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He then rooted through his carry on bag and pulled out a pen. Taking the cap off with his teeth, he started to write something down. Kelsey watched him, but it was too small for her to make it out. Finally he looked up and handed the paper to her, pen cap still in mouth.
"Ah-right den a-sh da winnrrr ah dehgree daht you muss rea' whuts on dish paper," he said, spitting the pen cap out. Kelsey giggled and looked at the paper.
"That's the address for where we're having our next training session," he explained, pointing at the first line. "and that's my cell phone number, just ya know, if you ever wanna talk or something."
Kelsey looked at the paper, then at Ryan, then the paper again, then at Ryan. Ryan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"If you don't want to I totally understand, I'm just leaving the option open to you---"
For a moment, she was so caught up in her excitement that she lost herself, throwing her arms around Ryan and hugging him fiercely. Unsure of what to do, he tentatively embraced her back, returning her hug with uncharacteristic awkwardness.
"THANK YOU RYAN!" she almost shrieked into his chest, not letting go.
"I'm glad you enjoy that piece of paper oh so very much," he smirked, a hint of mockery in his voice. Kelsey looked up from his chest, eyeing him suspiciously.
"You mocking me senor?"
"Me? Never!" he exclaimed defensively, but his expression was completely contradictory and she pushed him, mock-annoyed. He laughed and tousled her hair, making her whine in annoyance. She pushed him again. He pushed he back. Pretty soon they were slapping each other, eyes closed and looking the other way. This was how Mark and the other guys found them.
"Ah-HEM!" Mark cleared his throat obnoxiously, and Ryan and Kelsey broke it up, biting their lips to keep from laughing.
"Now that I have everyone's attention, here's the thing. We've been moved from gate 3-C to gate 9-A, which is all the way on the opposite side of the airport," he gritted out, scanning the paper he had in his hands. He then stuck the paper under his arm to rip open an envelope he had in his other hand. Pulling out new tickets, he started to distribute them between the guys, keeping one for himself. Kelsey's heart dropped and crashed; Ryan looked equally as despairing and put out, shooting Kelsey a heartbroken look as he wordlessly took his ticket.
"We have to be there in twenty minutes, so let's move out troops!"
All the guys groaned at the phrase, D-trix even shouting a "Laaaame!" but they all grabbed their bags and their other stuff. Kelsey stood up to say bye to all the guys, saying she'd see them at their training thing and thanks for everything etc etc. It was so easy to say bye to them, after all she'd see them later on in the future. It was simple, light hearted to distance herself from them for now. She glanced over at Ryan, standing next to his rolling duffel bag and looking like a lost puppy and her heart throbbed painfully. Why couldn't she say bye to him the same as the others? She opened her mouth to say something meaningful and happy, or anything for that matter, but no words came out. She looked away again, playing around with her iPod cord.
"Bye," she breathed out softly, not looking at him. Her mind had flashed back to when the power was out. Just the two of them...
"Bye," he whispered back, flinching as if to move foward, but restraining himself. There was the fumbling for better grips on bags, and then the sound of the group walking away, Mark shouting at them directions for how to get to their gate. His voice became more and more distant though.
When Kelsey looked up, they were gone.
XXXXX
The next hour was more or less a blur to Kelsey: waiting at the gate to board, handing her ticket in, realizing she never got her new ticket, being herded with another group of ticket-less souls, being barked at by some random security guard, explaining the lack of tickets, receiving new tickets, everyone being ushered onto the plane at the same time, general confusion, haphazard directions to her seat, trying to shove her larger bag into the over head rack, then collapsing into her seat. She knew the plane would take off soon though, since they were starting the safety announcements.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we want nothing more than for you to have a safe and enjoyable flight, so please take this time to listen to a few brief announcements. First, emergency exits are located at the front, rear, and sides of the airplane. There will be a short video explaining what to do in case of an emergency landing, loss of cabin pressure etc. At this time, we ask that your seat is in the upright, locked position. Also, check to make sure your seat belt is securely fastened. Our flight attendants will come down the aisles and assist you if needed. Please take the time now to check that all cell phones, beepers, and other electronic devices are turned off. We will be on the run-way in ten minutes time. Thank you."
Kelsey, having already turned her iPod off to save the battery, reached into her smaller carry on for her cell phone, not sure if she turned it off. The same time she flipped it open it vibrated. She had a new text message from an unlisted number. Eyebrows creasing, she selected 'open'.
'4 now, distance mite keep us apart, but just want u 2 kno ur still in my heart(:
-ryan'
Kelsey stared at the message, her lips turning up into a smile without thinking. She hardly heard the voice of the flight attendant asking her to turn her phone off, or anything else for that matter. She just kept staring at the short, sweet message. Numbly, she turned her phone off, although she did not want to at all. Still, at least now she had a reason to be excited to go back to New York. Another reason to be happy.
And it's name was Ryan Conferido.