Discl.: I own nothing
Thanks to my beta team
Rainygal and katwoman76. Thanks go also to Ansy Pansy aka Panz,
Sharkie2008, Cynthia, kandyfanz123, Izzy, acl, JenJenxx, SVOC Luva,
Leentje, SophiaDaniela for all the lovely reviews.
The arrival
"Welcome to Switzerland" Seth muttered under his breath when he followed Sandy and Kirsten through the passport control. Ryan was walking close to him, holding his brother's arm with a tight grasp, his face changing from green to white.
"Ouch" Seth exclaimed when Ryan's grip became stronger and he stumbled to keep on his feet.
"Sorry…" Ryan mumbled, fumbling for his passport.
"Grüezi" the woman behind the bullet proof window greeted the two boys, waiting for them to show their passes.
"Uhm… hi" Seth grinned in response, still supporting Ryan who looked as if he were about to be sick.
"What's wrong with him?" the customs official asked Seth concerned.
"Oh, first transatlantic flight ever, guess letting him spend 12 straight hours on a plane was not the best way to introduce him to the joys of long distance air traveling."
"Ok" she nodded, giving Ryan a sympathetic smile while returning his passport, before waving them through.
"How are you keeping up buddy?" Seth asked when they stopped at the belt conveyer, waiting for their bags to pass by. Ryan let himself plop into a chair, breathing heavily, fighting to keep the nausea under control.
"Been better"
Seth chuckled and walked over to his parents, ready to pick up his and Ryan's bags as soon as they'd come through.
"How is he?" Kirsten asked Seth with a quick glance to Ryan.
"He'll be fine, don't worry Mum, the fresh and pure air of the alps will have him recovered in no time, just please don't be all hovering and mothering, ok, I'll take care of him" he warned her, without once shifting his eyes away from the conveyer.
When they had gathered all their stuff and placed it on a trolley, Seth helped Ryan up and let him grab his arm again for support, before they made their way out of the airport, heading to the car rental.
"Sorry boys, but you won't be able to have your own car, you must be 21 to rent a car here" Sandy explained, while filling out the papers for their SUV.
"This country sucks!" Seth whined, looking around the airport building, only stopping when a huge poster sprung to his eyes:
'Welcome to the Big Apple' was written over a giant apple, on the bottom large letters stated 'Visit Thurgau'.
Shaking his head at the strange first impressions he gained from this country, he turned to look at Ryan, whose head was hanging low, oblivious to what was going on in his surrounding.
Finally the guy from the car rental showed them the way to the garage and they happily stashed their bags into the trunk before climbing into the large SUV.
Sandy drove them past the taxis out of the airport area, taking the highway to Chur. Kirsten meanwhile handed Ryan a large bottle of mineral water and a pill against travel sickness, before advising him to take a nap, as they'd have to drive another 2 hours. When Ryan shivered, Seth grabbed for a blanket in the trunk and gently covered him up. Despite his need to communicate his every thought about what he saw outside the window and all the new impressions his mind collected, Seth stayed quiet and watched the beautiful scenery as they came closer to their destination. He knew that he needed a healthy Ryan to survive the next 10 days and so he was determined to do anything that would help his brother feeling better soon.
When Sandy left the highway and took the pass to Klosters Ryan started to feel even worse, being thrown around in the back of the SUV with every curve.
Sleeping had become useless and he therefore kept himself busy with watching the countryside and ignoring Seth's ranting about his parent's decision to not invite the girls to the trip.
Ryan wondered as to why the Swiss countryside was highly praised by travelers, as all he saw at the moment were dark valleys, forests and very small streets. Everything here appeared small and tiny compared to America and he asked himself, as to whether the Swiss people never felt claustrophobic.
Suddenly the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the tiny village laying ahead of them. Sandy and Kirsten let out an astonished "Wow!" in unison which got the boys attention and they glanced through the front window, following their parent's looks.
"Wow!" Seth also exclaimed at the sight of the beautiful landscape opening up ahead of them. Ryan just watched in awe at the cozy chalets buried under what must be tons of snow, the huge mountains surrounding the valley, the sunshine reflecting on the snowy meadows, threatening to turn him blind.
Sandy drove his family slowly through the village, looking for the Hotel Vereina in which they had booked their rooms. The world was quiet around them, all noise or faintest sound was absorbed by the enormous snow masses. Finally Kirsten spotted the direction sign and they took the driveway to the Hotel, stopping in front of the impressive building, climbing out of the car with open mouths.
"This must be a freaking dream! Aspen is highly overrated!" Seth exclaimed stunned, desperately searching for his sunglasses, placing them on his nose once he found them, before taking a closer look around.
Trees, little chalets and farmhouses surrounded the hotel, small paths were stomped into the snow, everything looked like covered in sugar.
"Willkomma in Kloschters"
The family turned around and was greeted by the sight of the hotel's concierge, friendly smiling at them.
"I'm sorry, what?" Sandy asked all confused.
"Welcome to Klosters" the concierge repeated in English, adding "may I help you with your luggage?"
Together with the baggage porter, the men carried their bags into the hotel, where Kirsten checked them in, before they were guided to their apartments.
Ryan and Seth had their own room with two separate beds, as in comparison Kirsten and Sandy shared a room with a double bed.
It was already 5.30 pm and the parents decided to unpack their bags and then get settled into their room, which resulted in a wrinkled nose and a disgusted glance from Seth.
The boy with the black curls opted to not let his first day be ruined by his kinky parents and his sick brother, so he turned on the TV to see, what kind of programs were broadcasted in the land of the cheese.
Ignoring Seth, Ryan just dropped his bag to the floor and let himself fall onto bed, enjoying the soft touch of the sheets beneath him, welcoming the comfort of the mattress, the horizontal position putting his stomach at easy. He wrapped the blanket around himself to get warm and instantly drifted off to sleep.
Seeing as he was left all by himself, Seth sighed deeply and fell into reminiscent mood, pondering about the time he had not had Ryan around to cheer him up at all possible and impossible times of the day. Forcing himself to get up and do something to change his quickly worsening humor, Seth decided to take a look around.
Making his way downstairs, the Jewish boy inspected the breakfast room, chatted at the lobby with the receptionist which informed him, that there was a bar hidden in the basement. After thanking her he made his way to the stairs and carefully walked down the small steps, wondering as to why some decent architect would actually decide to place the most interesting place of a hotel in the darkest corner possible. The pub-like room was surrounded by a vault, letting it look old, mysterious and a little bit dangerous. Seth fished for his fake ID card and threw a quick glance to the picture that didn't look like him at all, but he guessed in such a dark environment nobody would notice anyway.
Placing himself on the counter he waited to be recognized by the girl pouring out beers, while silently practicing what he wanted to say, totally missing when she appeared in front of him, expectantly looking at the 18 year old boy.
"Was dörfs sie?"
Startled, Seth lifted his head and looked into the two most amazing brown eyes, sparkling of the soft lights dancing in the background. His wit disappeared as fast as his heart started beating, a picture of Summer flashing up before his view.
'She just wants your order, idiot! You're a man now Seth, you have a girlfriend for god's sake! You don't turn red and all shy when a girl in your age talks to you' he scolded himself.
The girl glanced around the bar and decided that all guests were served, as the bar was mostly empty anyway. So she walked around the counter and sat down next to Seth, amused about his shyness and the shock obvious on his face, extending her hand.
"Ich ha der ganz abu ziit. Ich bi d'Stephanie "
Seth seemed to wake up, pulling himself out of the trance, reaching for the girl's hand, answering:
"I have no idea what you just said, but I'm Seth"
"Stephanie, you're American, right?"
"Yeah" he grinned, feeling himself calm down.
"So Seth, what can I serve you?"
"Uhm… I'd like to have a… beer please…"
"Sure, no problem"
Stephanie got up and walked back to the spigot, drawing off a glass of beer.
"Could you please charge it on the room, it's 211. You don't need to see my ID card, do you?" Seth asked, wincing instantly as the stupid question left his lips, feeling the urge to slap himself – hard.
"Why? Are you under 16?" Stephanie laughed, while placing the beer and the bill to sign in front of him, offering him a light-hearted smile.
After taking a huge gulp, tasting the bitter liquid, Seth placed the glass down on the counter and threw the barmaid a surprised glance, asking:
"The drinking limit in Switzerland is 16?"
"For beer and cider, yes, for everything else it's 18" Stephanie explained, returning to the seat next to Seth.
"So, what are you doing in Klosters?" the brown haired girl asked.
"Family holiday"
"Ouch… in your age? Ah…. you must be an only child then!" she teased him sarcastically.
Sadness flashed up in Seth's eyes, sorrow and pain visible for a second, but his face didn't give anything away, his well practised poker face still up. Swallowing quickly he grinned and answered.
"Well… that's a tough one to answer, actually"
Stephanie gave him a questioningly glance, wondering what he was talking about.
"I was born as an only child, but got blessed with a brother 2 years ago..."
"I don't see your point, this isn't complicated! Unless you don't know how this works…"
Seth pouted at her remark and pressed his hands together as if he was Spock, chief officer on the enterprise, before he continued.
"Don't interrupt the master of story telling and you will understand" he mocked, raising his eyebrow at the barmaid.
Stephanie just gave him a cheerful laugh before motioned to lock her lips and crossing her hands over her chest, fully concentrating at the boy in front of her.
"See, Ryan - my brother - is not exactly of my father's gene, but was also not born by my mother" he told her mysteriously.
Seeing as Stephanie did not react as surprised as he had hoped, he bluntly told her:
"Ok, we adopted Ryan two years ago when he had some problems with his family. And this is actually our first ever family holiday all together."
"And where is this brother of yours now?"
"Although my Dad and myself have the Jewish stomach, Ryan was the one who got travel-sick, so he's upstairs, sleeping. I really hope he'll be up and kicking again tomorrow, 'cos I sure won't snowboard all by myself! It's so much more fun to watch Ryan pretending he likes it here!"
Stephanie smirked at Seth's remark, before clapping her hands together and forcefully getting up.
"So, I gotta go back to work, but I will be serving breakfast tomorrow, so in case you won't be around when he gets up, how will I be able to recognise him?"
"Well, my bro is 18 years old, has sandy blond hair, rarely talks, is not blessed with the Cohen charm but is quite the lady's man. But why would you want to recognise him?"
"Maybe I want to pass him a note for you?" Stephanie grinned flirtingly and waved slightly to Seth before returning to her work place.
Seth's face turned red as a tomato in peak season, silently thanking Jehovah for the dim lights in the bar. He wordlessly got up from his chair and wandered back to his room, hoping for Ryan to be up, 'cos he was about to tell this story no matter what!
