Chapter Text
"I can’t breathe. I’m going to die before he even gets off the plane. This is my life. He’s here and I’m dead."
"If you can talk, you can breathe."
"I hate you," Michael muttered between loud, heavy breaths, his heart racing way too fast to be healthy.
He stopped pacing long enough to glance at Lindsay, who was sitting in a row of chairs, face half hidden behind the phone she was pointing towards him.
"Are you fucking filming me?! What the fuck, dude!" Michael tried to duck away, but she followed him.
"Come on. Everyone needs to see how you react. Ray told me he’d pay me twenty dollars." She replied, jumping out of the way when he grabbed for it.
"I fucking hate you. Why am I even friends with you guys?" Michael resumed pacing, trying to waste some of the nervous energy that had kept him awake all night, with Lindsay watching him through her screen.
"I don’t know. Probably because we listened while you whined about a boy and then helped you successfully start a relationship with said boy and I’m sitting in the airport with you waiting for that boy." Lindsay offered, and Michael turned to her with a strange sort of jolt. His eyes were wide with surprise, like he had just remembered what they were doing, even though it’s all he’d been talking about for almost two months.
"Fuck, Lindsay. He’s going to be here any minute."
"Yes, Michael. That’s kind of the point."
"What if he doesn’t like me?" Michael started walking again, faster this time, nearly jogging back and forth in front of Lindsay’s seat. "What if everything’s weird because we have nothing to talk about? What if he gets bored? He’s stuck here for two weeks. This was a terrible idea. What if he thinks I’m ugly? What if he can’t even look at me?"
"Okay, first of all you need to calm down because I’m pretty sure you’re going to pass out if you keep hyperventilating. Second of all, you two have been dating for months and neither of you have stopped gushing about each other or finally meeting the entire time. And you’re hot shit, Michael. Besides, he knows what you look like. Stop trying to find something wrong when he’s not even here yet."
As Lindsay finished speaking, a woman’s voice announced the arrival of Gavin’s flight.
"HE’S HERE." Michael shouted at her, as if she wasn’t two feet away and hearing the exact same thing. "He’s only seen pictures and skype’s video is so low quality, he’s going to see me and he’s going to turn right back around. And what if I’m a bad kisser? Oh god, Lindsay, he’s going to hate me for making him come here."
"Holy shit, dude, you need some self confidence. You didn’t make him come here. He bought the ticket. He planned it out. He wants to see you." She shoved at Michael’s shoulders, turning him back in the direction of baggage claim, where they were waiting for Gavin come out. If he were allowed, Michael would’ve waited on the damn runway, but this was as close as they could get without a plane ticket. "You’re totally attractive, I’m sure your kissing skills are up to par, and Gavin would never hate you, so stop shaking and smile or something. If you keep frowning like that, he’s going to think you don’t want him here."
With Michael distracted, Lindsay had the perfect opportunity to catch video of her face. Even with the low quality of her phone’s camera, she could tell the exact moment that Gavin came into view. Michael’s small, nervous, bordering on uncomfortable smile broke in the widest grin she’d ever witnessed and it was like the sun had come out. She swung around to focus the camera on Gavin.
"Fuck," Michael’s voice was soft, and somehow, he made that one curse sound like the sweetest ‘I love you’.
Gavin was walking towards them, his smile just a big and excited as Michael’s. He got about five feet from them before it hit Michael that he was really there, Gavin, real and in person. Michael surged forward, unable to hold himself still any longer, and Gavin was laughing, or maybe crying, and his bags were on the ground at their feet and his arms were around Michael’s neck and Michael was clutching his midsection like a goddamn life line.
"Oh my fucking god, you’re here. You’re fucking here. I can’t believe you’re actually here. I’m fucking hugging you. Jesus fuck. This is amazing. You’re amazing. You’re in America." Michael was babbling against Gavin’s shoulder, "Your hair looks so fucking dumb in person, dude, but you’re so goddamn cute. I can’t believe you’re here." Michael just kept going, repeating how much he couldn’t believe that Gavin was actually there between a stream of maybe compliments maybe insults and Gavin was just straight up giggling, excited little laughter as he held onto his boyfriend with all his strength.
"Please tell me I’m not dreaming," Gavin mumbled when Michael had finally stopped rambling.
"You’re not dreaming. Dreams aren’t this good."
"You cheesy little shit," Gavin grinned at him, and with Michael looking back at him, in person, without a computer screen and a couple thousand miles between them, he couldn’t help himself. Gripping Michael’s shoulders, he leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend for the first time. The kiss might’ve lasted forever, if Gavin had his way, but it was cut much too short by Lindsay calling from a few feet away.
"Ray’s waiting by the front door. He’s been arguing with an employee for three minutes about whether or not he’s allowed to stay there. We should probably go before they make him leave or arrest him or something."
They reluctantly released each other, but didn’t stay apart for long. Once Gavin shouldered his backpack and Michael had his second bag, they were holding hands, walking towards the exit a foot and half behind Lindsay.
"I’m really fucking glad you’re here," Michael mumbled as he watched their hands swing between them, running the pad of his thumb over Gavin’s knuckles.
"I’m really glad I came."
"I wish you could stay longer. I already know I’m going to miss you."
"Hey," Gavin, in some strangely graceful movement that would normally have ended in him tripping himself and Michael, but worked out because it was a perfect day, and embarrassing teenage clumsiness didn’t fit in with perfect days, managed to pull Michael even closer and kiss his cheek without slowing their pace, "we’ve got two whole weeks. I’m all yours for fourteen days."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Alright," Michael agreed, "Two whole weeks. Just me and you."
They grinned at each other as they stepped out, facing a line of taxis and a couple of random cars. Instantly, they spotted Ray, as he shouted, “LOOK, THEY’RE RIGHT THERE. THOSE THREE,” at a security guard while waving wildly out the rolled down car window. They couldn’t hear the reply, but it made Ray shut up. She left before they arrived, but Michael didn’t ask. He didn’t really care.
"You two are the gayest thing I’ve ever seen," Ray said in greeting as they slid into the back seat, Lindsay already babbling about the adorable videos she got, but neither of them took offense.
Nothing could offend them.
It was a perfect day, the would turn into two perfect days, and then three, and then fourteen.