24. The Airport

"Rider, if you don't get done soon, you're going to miss your flight!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I think that I've been stuck with Farrior for way too long now. I'm more than happy to leave."

"Very funny!" Luke hollered at him.

"Thanks, but you don't have to compliment me."

Alex rolled his eyes as Alex Rider appeared with the same backpack that he had arrived with. Of course, he was taking home a pair of Luke's shoes, but everything else was his. Luke and Alex Rider had become less hostile to each other after the whole incident with Lissy. Now, the two just tossed insults at each other without meaning it. Alex truthfully was going to miss their arguments.

"Before you go, Rider, would you like to admit to breaking the eighth commandment?"

"What eighth commandment?" Alex Rider mouthed.

"You know, the ten commandments from the Bible… number eight is 'do not steal.'"

Alex Rider gave him a look. "Let me guess- you told him?"

"Oh, come on- I couldn't resist. Besides, Farrior is dense, but not that dense."

"Right. Sorry, Farrior! By the way, you need to clean up your room!"

"Yes, Mom."

"You're an adult now, Luke dear. Watch out."

"Eh, I don't act my age."

"I noticed."

"Okay, guys, let's go!" Alex bellowed, causing the other two to laugh. Carson appeared just as he was about to open the garage door.

"Rider… thanks."

"Same to you, Carson. You helped me figure out a lot of things."

"Cool. Well, have a good trip."

"I'm sure that I will. I'll be writing you guys."

"Good luck getting Farrior to read," Carson chuckled.

"Who said that I'm going to write to him?"

They all laughed, and Alex yanked the door open and playfully shoved Alex Rider out. "See you later! Farrior, it's your turn to cook!"

"Farrior, don't burn the house down!" Alex Rider chimed in.

"Can I flood it instead?"

"It's your house, remember?"

"It's my time, remember?" Alex interjected, shutting the door and rolling his eyes again. Those two were impossible. No wonder they weren't brothers- they'd be a handful.

"This is Farrior's car?"

"Yeah, it's really new." Alex grinned. "Angela loves it."

"I don't want to think about Angela and Farrior together," Alex Rider groaned. As he had come to appreciate Luke for his hidden maturity, he had also learned to be less hostile to Angela. They didn't talk much, but Alex could tell that he didn't dislike her as much anymore. What a summer.

"Yeah, two extroverted people should not be allowed to be together," Alex agreed, grinning. "Do you have a girl that you're interested in, Rider?" Alex Rider's eyes widened. "I know that it's none of my business, but I was just curious. You don't have to tell me."

"Well, I met this girl on my third mission, and she's kissed me." His cheeks held no trace of blush, but he seemed a little reluctant to admit it. "She moved to New York after my fourth mission, which she was with me on, and she's actually a year older than us. She's really pretty and all, but we haven't been able to exactly spend a lot of time together since I've been moving around so much…"

"Are you going to spend time with her now that you know that you can settle down a little?"

"Well, she knows that I'm a spy, and she's considering moving back to England…"

"Do you actually like her?" Alex pressed, hoping that he wasn't prompting too hard.

"Well, I guess so…"

"Does she like you?"

"I don't know."

"Well, things between Vivie and me used to be really awkward for practically all of junior year, actually. Obviously, it was a little awkward when I was supposed to kill her and she was my only friend. I liked her for most of the second half of the year, especially after Jane screwed things up, but she was still really hurt when I made a really stupid mistake." Alex bristled as he remembered that. "I suggest that you give her time and talk to her. Don't let her get away from you."

"Why are we discussing this?"

"Because I wish that someone would have told me those things," Alex admitted.

"Meyer… what exactly was your stupid mistake?"

"Well… Jane changed her appearance and Vivie got jealous when she forced me to spend a lot of time with her. I still loved Vivie more- always had, always will- but she didn't see it that way, and so that killed our friendship. Jane obviously was found out and tried to kill me, but Lissy managed to stop her. Finally, I came to my senses and basically begged Vivie to take me back. In the end, it kind of made us closer than before- but it did hurt Vivie a lot. I really don't want you to make my mistakes, Rider. That's why I talked to you- that and the fact that you aren't the kind of guy that's going to stay single since you're one of the better guys out there."

"Same to you, Meyer."

They pulled up in the parking lot, and Alex stopped the car. "Did you know that I've never been out of state?"

"Have you even ever been to an airport?"

"To tell you the truth, no, I haven't. In fact, the only cities that I've been to are Littlebrook and Fillmore."

"You poor deprived child." Alex Rider seemed surprised to hear his confession. "Don't you ever dream of adventure?"

"That's what music is for- playing the violin takes me and other people to places that they've never been." Alex grinned. "I know that that's a surprising fact about me."

"Yeah, I guess so- but I can kind of see it…"

"It was the only thing that got me through my past with my sanity. My mom taught me the violin- thank goodness she did, or I'd be a mess."

"I might try sometime. Meanwhile, I think that I have to get home."

"Right." They got out of their respective car doors. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch."

"Cute." Both of them entered, and before they knew it, the time had come. Alex couldn't go beyond a certain point, and he once again broke the silence- for the final time.

"It was nice meeting you, Rider."

"Same to you, Meyer."

They shook hands, and Alex Rider breezed through the gate. He turned, waved once at Alex, who acknowledged it, and then he was gone.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The weather was great- Alex loved it. He sighed in pleasure, having barely made it in time. He made sure to pop a question to the flight attendant before he entered.

"Where is this flight going?"

"New York…" She gave him a strange look when a huge grin came to his face, and he managed to thank her before he got on the plane. He sat back on his seat (first class this time) and was more than glad to get a coke- he didn't like alcohol. After all, a spy- even a part-time spy- had to take care of his body.

As Alex reclined in the airplane seat and the plane took off, he decided that there was nothing better than summer holiday. Well, nothing except being able to do what he wanted to with his life, which included visiting Jack Starbright in Washington D.C.- and Sabina Pleasure, more importantly- whether it involved spy work or not…