Page 41 of Forced to Share

Once I was at my gate, I sat and pulled out my phone. There was a message waiting for me from Austin.

Austin: Keep me updated today. I can’t wait to see you.

Little butterflies exploded in my gut as I read it again before responding.

Me: I’m sitting at the gate now. Leaving Leah behind was a little harder than I thought.

I looked around at all the people sitting, waiting to board their flights. There were couples, families, and even a few small groups. It wasn’t that unusual to fly alone, but I seemed to be the odd man out with no one to talk to for the seven-hour flight across the country.

Austin and Leah had insisted that I take a non-stop flight, but I almost wished there was a layover so I could getup and stretch my legs a bit. It was part of the curse of being on the taller side. At least I had an aisle seat, I wouldn’t have to bother anyone about getting up so I could at least make a trip or two to that tiny as hell bathroom.

My phone went off again, and I picked it up to look at the incoming message.

Austin: She’s going to miss you, and because I know how amazing you are, you’ll miss her too. You even said it, even if things didn’t work out romantically, you two are best friends.

A smile stretched across my face as they started calling the boarding order for my flight. My heart began to race in anticipation. It was only a matter of hours now until I got to see Austin again, until I got to hold him again. My lips ached to kiss him again.

The next seven hours would betorture.

My hands clutched the armrests in a death grip as the plane touched down. By far, it had been one of the worst flights I had ever been on. At first I thoughtI’d try to sleep through most of it, but had ended up with the person in front of me in my lap for a good majority, then I couldn’t get my own seat to recline. This also made it hard for me to get up and walk around like I’d wanted to.

Then there was the turbulence. Even if I hadn’t had the issue of the person keeping their seat back out of my lap, I wouldn’t have been able to get up anyway. There was a portion of the flight where I felt like I was on a roller coaster instead of an airplane. The aircraft made so many dips and dives that I was sure I would die at one point.

The second we started taxiing to the gate, my hand dove into my pocket to retrieve my phone. Despite all the drama in the air, we’d somehow landed a whole forty-five minutes early. Which was great. Except, I had no idea if Austin was even here to pick me up yet.

I pressed the phone to my ear as soon as it was powered on, calling his number, my eyes slamming closed tightly, craving only the sound of his voice.

“Hey,” he said as soon as the call connected, and it was like magic that any anxiety I was feeling instantly washed away. I was there. I had made it to San Francisco, and we were now minutes away from each other. It was no longer months, weeks, days, or hours.

“Hey,” God, my voice shook as I struggled to hold back my emotions. I wanted off the damn plane. I wanted off of it now.

His laughter was a beautiful melody that filled my ears, and like a damn idiot, I wanted to cry.

“I saw that your flight was going to be early. I’m already sitting and waiting for them to assign your baggage claim number.”

My throat constricted. This was all so stupid how choked up I was getting.

Austin Bennett was at the airport. There wouldn’t be any waiting for him once I got off this plane. I could run to him, jump into his arms and kiss his too-handsome face.

The people ahead of me couldn’t move fast enough, and I couldn’t bring myself to disconnect the call. It didn’t matter that Austin and I weren’t saying anything anymore. Just the sound of his breathing was enough to keep my feet moving.

Sweat gathered on my back as soon as I entered the jet bridge because I was that much closer. A chuckle filled my ear, I knew that Austin was just as excited as I was. When we first started this, neither of us thought that it would take this long to be together again. It turns out that not everything is magic when love is involved. As much as we wanted to snap our fingers and have everything work out,it didn’t work like that. I’s had to be dotted and T’s had to be crossed.

The walk through the airport felt like hours, the people in front of me moved like snails. No one could move fast enough, and I’m sure I pissed off more than one person when I jumped in front of them. Every step took me that much closer to my forever. To Austin. I needed him like I needed air to breathe, this was our moment. The time we got what we should have had from the beginning.

Before I fucked it all up.

Everything happened for a reason. The time apart was needed for us to grow and mature. I needed to meet Leah. There was a point to all of it. She was just as important as her brother because it answered a lot of questions about my sexuality. Not that she should have been used for that. We all figure things out in our own ways, I suppose.

That was when it happened. The crowds parted, and right there in front of me, standing in the middle of the exit, stood the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. His dark brown hair was a little longer than the last time I’d seen it in person a few months ago. I couldn’t wait to run my fingers through it. He still had his phone pressed to his ear as he paced back and forth, having no clue that I could see him. My throat constricted, and as much as I wanted to will my feet to move, I was glued to the spot.

I wanted to soak up this moment. To savor it. To commit it to the deepest depths of my memory because this was it.

And that was it. The second those stormy eyes met mine, Austin lowered the phone, I rushed to disconnect the call. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me, ignoring the loud protests of the people around me.

The second my arms wrapped around Austin, I felt complete. A part of my soul sealed into place because we didn’t need to leave each other again.

“You’re really here?” His voice was slightly broken, when I pulled back, I wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m finally here.”

And fuck all the people that were around us. I spent too much of my life hiding who I was. My family would never come around, but I’d been welcomed with open arms by the Bennetts. My lips sealed over Austin’s and everything around me vanished. This was here and now. This was everything.

Austin and me. We’d have each other forever.