Kevin flicked over a page of the in-flight magazine, and sighed wearily at what he saw printed there. As he abandoned the uninteresting reading material, Oscar came and plonked himself down in the next seat, looking very green around the gills.

'Jesus – there can't be any more!' said Oscar, exhaling heavily.

'At least you'll have plenty of room for your lunch when we get there,' said Kevin.

'Don't talk to me about lunch,' Oscar winced.

'Maybe you'll feel like finishing off your banana bread before we land,' Kevin said hopefully.

Oscar burped and held his hand to his mouth. Kevin shrank back against the window in alarm.

'It's okay – there's nothing else coming,' said Oscar. 'Man, now I remember why I hate flying so much! Plus it's boring.'

'Even with me here?' said Kevin. 'We were having a nice conversation about Mexico before you started projectile vomiting all over the place.'

'Shut up,' Oscar laughed, giving Kevin a shove. 'Most of it went in the barf-bag – I just got a little spatter on the back of the seat, that's all. But you're right – we were having a nice conversation, and of course flying is better with you here... but then there's nothing I used to do by myself that I don't enjoy doing more now that I do it with you, so...'

'I feel the same way,' Kevin beamed at him. 'So, do you want to resume our nice conversation?'

'I'll tell you one more thing I want to know about Mexico,' said Oscar. 'We're not flying there, are we? To our start point in Tijuana, I mean. We're taking the bus from New York, right?'

'We are taking the bus from New York, with a couple of changes. And there's no air travel of any description on our backpacking tour either – it's all buses, boats, mountain biking and walking.'

'Thank God for that! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the whole thing. We're gonna have the time of our lives, aren't we?'

'We sure are,' Kevin grinned. 'In so many ways, and in so many different places!'

'Ooh, promises, promises,' Oscar grinned back. 'Of course, this little vacation is gonna be pretty cool too. It'll be good to see Lucy and Jandro again. You must've been missing them a whole lot.'

'Yeah, I have,' Kevin sighed, 'and I know I'm gonna have even longer to miss them after this visit! But I guess it's okay, really. Wherever we go in the world – be it Mexico or Hong Kong or Nottingham – I know we'll always come back to each other when we're done, and I know we'll always be friends.'

'Of course you will,' said Oscar. 'Friendship like that doesn't just peter out.'

'I was including you in that "we".'

'Yeah, well... I was including me in that "you", I guess. Are you sure you know where we're supposed to go when we leave Nottingham Rail Station?'

'Are you sure you know where we're supposed to go when we leave Nottingham Rail Station?' Oscar asked.

Kevin pulled several folded sheets of A4 paper out of his pocket and studied the Google Maps that were printed there.

'No problem,' he said. 'There's the station... there's the café where we're supposed to meet your dad... there's the canal, and that's the way down to the tow-path... and we come off here, by the Castle Marina, as soon as we see Sainsbury's.'

'I'm putting my life entirely in your hands, dude,' said Oscar.

'Are you looking forward to seeing Andre?' asked Kevin.

'Not particularly,' Oscar shrugged. 'I guess it'll be interesting to catch up. I bet he'll like you.'

'Are you sure?' said Kevin. 'I was wondering if he might be a little... well, weird about us. I mean, it's not beyond the realms of possibility, is it?'

'I guess not,' said Oscar.

'Do you really think he'll like me?'

'Of course – people do. Besides...'

'Besides what?' Kevin prompted him.

'He'll probably be super jealous of me,' said Oscar, 'when I come waltzing into the café with a steaming hot Latino hunk on my arm!'

'Oh yeah?' Kevin laughed. 'Do you think he's secretly yearning for one?'

'Oh, I don't know,' Oscar said with a shrug. 'He could be, for all I really know about him!'

'I didn't realise I was a Latino hunk,' said Kevin.

'Of course you are,' said Oscar.

'Were you secretly yearning for one when we got together?'

'I was yearning for you, gorgeous.'

Oscar leaned over and gave Kevin a very deep kiss.

'I have to admit,' said Kevin, 'that tasted a little of barf.'

'Oh my God!' said Oscar, sounding utterly horrified. 'I'm so sorry – I just didn't think!'

'That's okay,' Kevin smiled at him, 'it's the thought that counts.'


Kevin replaced the menu on the tabletop by the condiments and glanced towards the door to the restroom, then he took another sip of his orange juice and glanced at his watch. His attention was diverted as the door to the street outside was thrown open and Andre entered the café. Kevin quickly snatched the menu back up and hid behind it. He saw that Andre was heading for the restroom, where he almost crashed into Oscar in the doorway.

'Oh, hi,' said Oscar. 'You finally made it, then.'

'My train was late,' said Andre, finding that he had to tilt his head upwards to meet Oscar's gaze. 'You've certainly grown, haven't you?'

'That'll happen in five years,' said Oscar. 'Going to the bathroom?'

'Yes. I'll come over and join you in a couple of minutes.'

'Fine.'

Andre disappeared into the restroom, and Oscar went to join Kevin.

'Were you hiding behind the menu?' Oscar giggled.

'I didn't want to meet him without you here,' said Kevin.

'Fair enough,' said Oscar. 'Jeez, I'd forgotten how awkward I used to feel around him. Just talking to him for a couple of seconds, I could feel the surliness flooding back!'

'Oh no,' said Kevin, 'I don't want you to get surly again!'

'That's okay,' said Oscar. 'I could never be surly when you were around... and you're around now, so...'

'Do you want to bail right now, while he's in the bathroom?' said Kevin. 'We could hide in Sainsbury's all afternoon – he'd never find us!'

'No, let's stay,' said Oscar, laughing as he gave Kevin a shove. 'I don't want him demanding his contribution to my fare back from my mom.'

'He's had his money's worth now,' said Kevin. 'He's seen you and he's spoken to you – what more does he want?'

'At least one round of sandwiches and a cup of tea in my presence, I expect,' said Oscar. 'Oh look, here he comes.'

Andre sat down opposite Kevin and Oscar and fixed them with an awkward smile. Kevin smiled back, while Oscar folded his arms and adopted an impassive expression.

'Well, Oscar,' said Andre, 'aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?'

'Andre, this is Kevin,' said Oscar. 'He's my boyfriend – we are a gay couple!'

'Oh, is that right?' Andre said.

'Yeah, that's right!' said Oscar. 'You got a problem with it?'

'No,' said Andre, 'not at all.'

He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a nasal spray, which he immediately began jamming up each nostril in turn, inhaling its vapours heavily. Kevin burst out laughing, and snorted some of his orange juice onto the table through his nose.

'Oh my goodness,' said Andre, 'are you okay?'

'Yeah, it just went down the wrong way,' said Kevin, fighting to regain control of his breathing. 'I'm fine now.'

'Well, why don't we all decide what we want to eat and then have a proper catch-up?' said Andre. 'I'll go up to the counter with our order. Lunch is on me, by the way – it's the least I can do.'

'Oh, thank you very much,' said Kevin. 'I'll have the ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread, a chocolate milk and a Twix.'

'I'll have what he's having,' said Oscar, 'except I want a Kit-Kat instead of a Twix.'

'Okay,' said Andre. 'I'll be back in a sec.'

As Andre went up to the counter, Kevin and Oscar collapsed into giggles.

'He does have a nasal spray!' Kevin whispered. 'He carries one with him at all times!'

'If I'd known what it'd take for him to get it out,' Oscar whispered back, 'I'd have told him I'd fallen in love with a boy the last time I saw him!'

'Had you?'

'Yes – you, you dink!'

'Even way back then, huh?' said Kevin.

'Yes,' said Oscar, 'even way back then.'

They exchanged a smile.

'I wonder how many of those things he's actually got in there,' said Kevin. 'Do you think he has, like, a backup?'

'Shh,' Oscar giggled, 'he's coming back!'


'Yes, I suppose it brings in a bit of pocket-money for you, and that's fine as far as it goes,' said Andre, as he took a sip of tea, 'but of course you'll have to get some kind of formal qualification before you can make any real money from your music.'

'Hey, Mood Slime's doing just fine, okay?' said Oscar. 'We're on the brink of a major breakthrough!'

'I don't see how you can be, if you're about to take six months away from the band to go traipsing around Mexico,' said Andre. 'You really should get your hair cut before you do that, you know – you'll catch fleas.'

Oscar scowled, and took a vicious bite from his Kit-Kat.

'You think fleas are a major problem in Mexico, Andre?' said Kevin.

'Bound to be,' said Andre. 'It's not the cleanest of countries, is it? Oh, no offence to you, Kevin – I can tell you have a good chunk of Mexican in you.'

'I'm very proud to have a good chunk of Mexican in me,' said Kevin.

'So you should be,' said Oscar. 'Nothing makes me happier than when I have a good chunk of Mexican in me!'

Andre snorted into his tea and scrabbled for a napkin.

'It's, er... it's a shame you haven't been able to get out here to see us for so long, Oscar,' he said, when he had regathered his composure. 'We've missed you.'

'I imagine you would've done,' said Oscar.

'It's a shame you haven't been able to get out to America to see Oscar,' said Kevin.

'Hey, yeah!' said Oscar. 'You could've done that, couldn't you?'

'I would've liked to, but I've had such constraints on my time,' said Andre. 'As a matter of fact I was in Jersey City for a few days last year, but I just didn't have time to do anything but work.'

'You were in Jersey City?' said Oscar, adopting a dark expression. 'You were in Jersey City and you didn't think to suggest you could come and see me, or I could come and see you, or we could meet in the middle and take a tour of Liberty Island or something?'

'I didn't have time for that,' said Andre. 'I was busy – I had a lot of meetings to go to.'

'A lot of meetings,' Oscar muttered, scrunching his Kit-Kat wrapper into a tight ball as he spoke.

'Well, we probably should get going now,' said Kevin. 'Thanks very much for lunch, Andre.'

'Not at all,' said Andre. 'Oscar, I was wondering if you'd like to come back to London with me and stay the night with the family? I'm sure Kate and the kids would like to see you. You can come back up to Nottingham tomorrow – I'll pay your fare both ways.'

'No,' said Oscar. 'I've come to stay with my friends, not with you. Tell Kate and the kids I'm sorry not to've seen them for so long and I really do remember them all very fondly, but... well, there it is.'

With that, Oscar jumped to his feet, snatched up his backpack and flounced out of the café. Kevin quickly followed his example.

'It was, er... nice to meet you,' Kevin called over his shoulder to Andre. 'Thanks again for lunch. Bye.'

Andre remained speechless as he watched the café door swing shut.


Kevin and Oscar were walking side by side along the canal tow-path, Oscar with his hands in his pockets and his gaze directed at the ground.

'Are you okay?' said Kevin.

'I'm never coming to England again!' said Oscar. 'The journey made me more nauseous than I've been for years, and then that man... I'm definitely never coming to England again! Well, not to visit him, anyway!'

'I hope you're not wishing you hadn't come.'

'No, I'm not wishing that – I'm looking forward to seeing Lucy and Jandro, and I've really enjoyed having an adventure with you, but... but... he was in Jersey City, for Christ's sake!'

'Yeah, he was,' said Kevin. 'Look, isn't it interesting how all the old warehouses have been turned into really expensive canal-side apartments? You can still see the old wharfs, where they would've loaded all the textiles and stuff onto the boats. Nottingham City Council must've made a fortune selling those things off!'

'Yes, that is interesting,' Oscar sighed, 'and now I'm cursing Andre even more for being on my mind when I should be devoting my entire attention to this fascinating canal-side walk!'

'Then let's sit down for a few minutes, until you feel better,' said Kevin. 'There's a bench coming up.'

'Okay,' said Oscar, 'good plan.'

They came to the bench and sat down on the part that had the smallest amount of duck excrement on it. Kevin put an arm around Oscar's shoulders, and Oscar snuggled up to him.

'You'd think it'd be worth the effort, wouldn't you?' Oscar mumbled into Kevin's chest. 'You'd think as he was just across the harbour, it wouldn't be too much trouble to suggest a quick meet-up with his son. But no – I guess I'm just not worth the effort!'

'Don't talk like that – it's his loss, not yours,' said Kevin. 'You are worth the effort – to me, you're worth all the effort I have. I love you, and I'm not the only one – just think of your mom and Jessica and your... your dad. They think you're worth it – you know they do!'

'Yeah, I do know that,' said Oscar. 'I know I'm lucky to have them... and I'm especially lucky to have you. Look at me, blubbering and whining like this! I don't know why you put up with me.'

'I just told you – because I love you!'

'I love you too. Do you want to get engaged?'

'Do what?' said Kevin.

'Get engaged,' said Oscar. 'You and me, right now!'

'Is that even legal?' said Kevin.

'It can't be illegal to get engaged,' said Oscar. 'I don't know exactly when or how we'd be able to take the next step... but it's definitely coming, someday soon!'

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' said Kevin. 'I've never really thought about it, to be honest with you.'

'But you have thought about the two of us having babies out of Ella and Lucy?'

'Well... yeah. I guess I was basing my vision of our future on Eduardo and Kylie, kinda.'

'Don't you think they'll ever get married?'

'I really don't know. If they both want to, I'm sure they will... but if they're happy to carry on like they are, I'm sure that wouldn't be a big deal to either of them.'

'Do you have a problem with marriage?' said Oscar. 'As a concept, I mean.'

'No,' said Kevin. 'I just think it's not for everyone. It shouldn't be the benchmark for a successful life, or the only valid way to have a loving, committed, long-term relationship.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' said Oscar. 'So, you don't ever want to do it?'

'I'm not saying that,' said Kevin. 'I'm just saying I think we should do whatever we're gonna do when the time feels right, without making any plans or goals that we feel we have to stick to – in fact I think if everyone did that, the world would be a much happier place!'

'I can't disagree with you there,' said Oscar, sounding a little subdued.

'Hey – I'll tell you what I wouldn't have a problem doing, right here and now,' said Kevin. 'I'll get down on my knees and pledge my absolutely undying, lifelong commitment to you if you want.'

'I'd kinda like to see that,' Oscar grinned. 'Okay, go ahead.'

Kevin slipped his backpack off, slid onto the ground and knelt in front of Oscar, taking his hand in a gentle grip.

'I hereby pledge my absolutely undying, lifelong commitment to you!' Kevin declared, rather more loudly than Oscar had been expecting. 'We can't know exactly what the future holds, but I do know that we'll always be together and we'll always love each other, and that's the only benchmark for success I want in my life!'

'Okay, okay – I believe you,' Oscar giggled. 'And I feel the same way. Get off your knees now – people are staring at us.'

'Do you feel better?' asked Kevin, as he got back on the bench.

'Completely,' Oscar beamed at him. 'Let's get on and meet up with Lucy and Jandro – I'm sure we're gonna have a ton of fun together!'

'You know it,' Kevin grinned. 'Okay, let's go – it can't be too much further to Sainsbury's.'


Kevin and Oscar came off the tow-path when they saw the back wall of Sainsbury's. As they approached the entrance door, they saw two familiar figures emerging from the supermarket. Jandro was dragging a large shopping bag on a wheeled frame, while Lucy was carrying a full plastic bag.

'Hey, guys!' Kevin called to them. 'Perfect timing.'

Lucy and Jandro turned and saw Kevin and Oscar. Lucy squealed in delight, dumped her carrier bag on the floor, ran to Kevin and threw her arms around him. Laughing, he hugged her in return. Beaming all over her face, Lucy kissed Kevin on both cheeks and ruffled his hair.

'Kev, I can't believe you're really here!' she screeched in delight. 'Oh my God, this is so cool!'

After a few more seconds of affectionate manhandling, Lucy made way for Jandro to take his turn embracing Kevin. After they had clapped each other on the back several times, Jandro surprised everyone by kissing Kevin on both cheeks as well.

'It's really good to see you, dude,' said Jandro. 'We've missed you like you wouldn't believe!'

'Oh, I believe it,' Kevin assured him. 'I've been feeling the same way about you. I'm really glad I've been able to visit... but I'm not here alone, you know.'

Lucy and Jandro looked to where Oscar had stationed himself to guard their abandoned shopping.

'Of course not!' said Lucy. 'Oscar, it's so wonderful that you could come. I can't tell you how happy we are to have you both here!'

Lucy gave Oscar a hug, then Jandro came to shake his hand and clap him on the shoulder.

'This is just gonna be da bomb!' Lucy enthused. 'We'll show you our hall of residence and we'll go for a walk around the lake and we'll take you to Wollaton Park!'

'But the very first thing we're gonna do is treat you to a meal at the Beefeater over the road there,' said Jandro. 'It really is delicious.'

'We're regular customers,' said Lucy, 'and we've been dying to take you on a double date.'

'Well, it's less than two hours since we had lunch,' said Kevin, 'but what the hell? I think I can squeeze in a couple of sausages.'

'Me too,' said Oscar.

'Excellent,' Jandro grinned. 'That's settled, then.'