Disclaimer: Don't own it, unfortunately…..
Thanks Mak for being such an awesome beta
I really do appreciate all the reviews you guys send me! Soooooooooooo…..review, you know you want to.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Eighteen
The Beginning of the Hols
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Severus and Alex landed on a gravel road with trees on each side. It was very chilly and Alex dug into his pockets for his gloves. They walked a few yards before the road opened up. To their right was a large garage that was two stories high. In front of them was a wooden cabin, painted in a tan color. They could see the lake on either side of the cabin.
Alex walked up the steps on the left side of the cabin and unlocked the door with the key that was hanging around his neck. The house was chilly and Alex immediately turned on the heat. Walking into the cabin, Severus found it to be very open, he was already standing in the kitchen, with a round table in front of him. On the wall to his right was a sink and counter. The refrigerator was on the adjacent wall along with the stove. Beside the refrigerator were two doors, which he assumed led to the bedrooms. On the wall opposite the door was a counter with cabinets in the middle of two doors on either side.
"This is the kitchen, obviously. Those two doors over there," he said pointing to the doors on the wall to their right, "are bedrooms. Over there is the bathroom," he said pointing to the door on the right side of the cabinets. "The door on the left goes to the basement."
Alex walked to the living room and set his coat on the small couch beside the indoor/outdoor fireplace on the wall facing the kitchen. Two sliding glass doors gave an excellent view of the lake and led to the porch. To the right of the sliding doors was a television surrounded by an L-shaped couch and a lounge chair. Stairs leading up to a small loft faced the television.
Alex took Severus down to the basement. There were two sets of sliding class doors, showing another wonderful view of the lake. There were two couches, both perfect for reading and relaxing. They walked past the sliding glass doors and turned left. In from of them was a door leading to a bedroom. Alex opened the door and let his professor enter.
"This is your room professor. You have your own bathroom as well," he said pointing to the door on the left side of the room.
"Thank you, Mr. Barneo," Severus said as he pulled his trunk out of his pocket and enlarged it once it was on the ground.
"I'll let you unpack sir." Alex shut the door and walked back up the stairs.
Severus meanwhile was looking over the simple room. There was a night stand beside the queen sized sleigh bed. An arm chair was on the other side of the bed, kiddy-cornered between the two walls. On the same side of the door there was a large closet. It had shelves and hanging rods for all of his clothing.
After completely unpacking Severus went upstairs and settled himself into one of the recliners. He flipped open his book and began to read.
Ten minutes later Alex emerged from his room and began to make a grocery list. With the list in hand, he stood in front of his professor. "Professor?"
Severus looked up from his book and gazed at Alex. "Yes?"
"I need to go to the grocery store to pick up some things. Do you want to go?"
"Not particularly," was his quiet answer.
"Would you like me to get you anything?"
Severus thought for a moment. "Some Chai would be good."
"Yes, sir, I'll be back later." Alex walked out the door, pulled out his dirt bike and road down the driveway.
XXX
While Alex was gone, Severus explored the place a bit more. Upstairs was a loft with five beds. It was a low ceiling so he didn't walk around; it wasn't his cup of tea to walk around hunched over. He then walked outside onto the porch. Standing a few minutes just looking at the view relaxed him immensely. He looked down and saw a grassy area, perfect for lounging on during the summer. There was about a twenty foot long stretch of land that looked like a beach front. To his right was a boat dock, with no boat.
The lake looked like it was about to freeze over. Perhaps he wouldn't have such a bad time here, especially with a view this good. Severus was standing at the edge of the water when he heard Alex's bike humming down the road. He walked up the side of the house, meeting Alex back near the garage.
Alex hoped off the bike after propping it up. "Was your trip successful?" Severus asked.
"Yes, I got everything," Alex answered. They walked inside and Alex pulled out the twelve bags of shrunken groceries. Severus and Alex spent twenty minutes putting away the groceries.
"Would you like some tea?" Alex asked.
"That would be fine," Severus answered.
Alex pulled out the pan and filled it with some bottled water. Once the tea was made, Alex handed his professor a cup of tea. He turned on the indoor/outdoor fireplace, walked outside and sat down on a cushioned chair. Severus joined him and they sat in a comfortable silence listening to the sounds of nature.
XXX
Monday morning Severus woke up early. He looked at the clock on the bedside table and sighed; it was only 5:45. Damn time zones. He rolled over and tried to fall asleep but he just couldn't. After he showered and dressed for the day, he emerged from his room.
Severus took a few minutes to just look outside. He would always remember the view. Across the lake he saw an enormous amount of trees and a few houses hidden amongst them. Behind the trees a massive mountain range loomed over everything. It was breathtaking when the sun rose showing the snow on top of it and the clouds hanging around its apex.
At that moment the lake looked like a mirror, reflecting everything clearly. Severus noticed a ripple in the water and looked to his right. There, standing on the dock, was Alex. He was fishing. Severus never understood fishing, he thought it was boring. He stood on the other side of the glass watching Alex as he cast his fishing line. Looking at the boy, Severus could tell he was deep in thought. Deciding to leave the boy to his thoughts he went upstairs to make some tea.
Alex couldn't sleep at all that night. He couldn't stop thinking about his mother. At one point in the middle of the night he went into his mother's room and grabbed one of her pillows. He clutched her pillow to his chest and breathed in her scent. Alex got a few hours of sleep after that, but not much more. Jumping out of bed he threw on some sweatpants, a sweatshirt, a ski cap, some finger-tip less gloves and walked outside.
In the garage he grabbed his fishing rod and tackle box. Five minutes later he was standing on the dock fishing. Fishing always cleared his mind and this morning he wasn't disappointed. He caught one fish and released it. Figuring that was all he was going to catch he put his things back in the garage and went inside to warm up. Alex found his professor sipping tea and reading a book. Alex shook his head in amusement, is this all he is going to do?
"I'm going to fix some eggs and bacon. Do you want any?"
Severus was snapped out of his reading when Alex spoke to him. He was slightly perturbed, but his hunger overrode his annoyance. "That will be fine. Over easy and don't burn the bacon."
"Yes, sir," Alex replied chuckling.
They enjoyed a small breakfast. Severus was surprised at how well Alex could cook. Granted it was only eggs and bacon, but the eggs were perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper, and the bacon was cooked to perfection.
Once they were both finished, Alex took their plates and cleaned up. They were both sitting down reading when the phone rang. Alex answered quickly, hoping it was someone wanting to do something. "Hello? Hey Michael, what's up?" There was a pause before Alex answered, "Sure, I'll meet you at your place in thirty minutes." He hung up the phone and sprung from the chair happily.
"Where are you going, Mr. Barneo?" Severus questioned.
"I'm going over to Michael's; we're going to go snowboarding."
"I don't remember giving you permission," Severus said not looking up from his book
"What?" Alex asked in disbelief.
"You heard me Mr. Barneo."
Stunned into silence Alex didn't know how to respond. "Uh, well can I go?"
"I suppose, be back at an acceptable time."
"Yes, sir!" Alex ran into his room and quickly changed into his ski ware. "See ya later," he yelled as he ran out the front door.
XXX
At ten-thirty Severus was sitting in the recliner staring at the wall. He had put his book down an hour ago; he simply couldn't read. He was having an inner battle inside about whether or not he was going to kill the boy.
Severus had heard himself say be back at a reasonable time and Alex had been gone for over twelve hours. Surely that was enough time to snowboard. It was at that time that Severus realized he was worried about Alex. Damnit, was all he could think. He didn't want to care and yet he was sitting here wondering where the hell the kid was. Caring or not, he was going to have a long talk with Alex.
The door opened and Severus remained in his chair, tapping his fingers on the arm rest. He heard Alex rustling his jacket off and then walk to the refrigerator and open it up. Popping the top of his Coca-Cola he walked to the couch in front of the television and plopped down on the sofa. It was then he realized his professor was sitting on the recliner. When he looked at his professor he didn't see a happy man.
"Have a good day?" Alex asked innocently.
Crossing his right leg over his left knee and placing his hands atop his knee he gave Alex a pointed look. "When I said reasonable what did you think I meant?"
"Uh—"
"How eloquent Mr. Barneo. Do you think that ten forty-eight is reasonable?"
"Yes sir, considering that the mountain doesn't close until ten. Then we have to drive down the mountain with the closing traffic plus the fact that its twenty-five minutes away, with no traffic." Alex didn't think it was that big of a deal but from the look on his professor's face it was.
"Be that as it may, did it cross your mind to let me know that it would take you this long to return?"
"No, not really," was his honest reply.
"So you usually snowboard for over twelve hours?"
"Yes." When his professor just kept staring at him he decided to elaborate more. "Look I always snowboard until the mountain closes. It's not unusual for me to be back this late."
"Perhaps you could have mentioned it before you left." It wasn't a question it was a statement.
"Yeah, I suppose so. I'm sorry I didn't think you'd mind."
Severus then went into a big lecture on why Alex should have let him know he would be gone for such a long time, how it was common courtesy, and more. Alex fell asleep about two minutes into the talk and Severus didn't notice until five minutes after that. Sighing he stood up and looked at the sleeping boy. He was still in his snowboarding pants and boots. He had taken off all of his top layers of clothing and was left in a white t-shirt.
Severus looked at the boots and thought they were rather bulky and probably heavy. He took Alex's boots off and set them beside the couch. Taking a blanket he draped it over the sleeping boy and left to go back to the basement for a long sleep.
