Page 115 of Ship Happens

“Yeah, I’m starving,” Jacob says, rubbing his stomach.

“We have money?” Owen asks, wrapping a hand around Jacob’s bicep without a second thought as they walk through the concourse.

“Thank Dani, she wouldn’t let us starve.”

“We need to send her a fruit basket when we’re back,” Owen murmurs, letting Jacob take the lead with the choice of restaurant.

“I remember she likes cantaloupe,” Jacob remarks. “And other melons.”

When their food is eaten and their bill is paid, they both walk around until they find an empty gate, picking a spot on the floor tucked away in the corner where they’ll spend the rest of their time before their flight home.

“Do you want to get some rest?” Owen asks Jacob, leaning against the wall at the best angle he can find.

“I don’t mind staying up,” Jacob replies. But as he says the words, he loses his battle against the yawn Owen’s been watching him try and hold back for the last fifteen minutes.

“Jacob . . .” Owen eyes him. “Just lay your head down.”

He does as he’s told, stretching his long legs out, settling his head in Owen’s lap.

“Wake me up in an hour, don’t let me oversleep,” he says, pointing at Owen, like he knows he isn’t going to wake him up.

He’s correct.

Owen opens up the Chetek Archives book he snagged, letting his free hand find Jacob’s hair, playing with the soft curls. It takes all of two seconds for Jacob to start snoring once his eyes are closed, requiring every single bit of willpower Owen has to stay as still as he possibly can. He ignores the itch in his back, how thirsty he gets, how badly he wants to clear his throat or reach for the bag of chips in their snack pile.

It’s all worth it, to sit there suffering while he watches Jacob sleep, hands tucked up next to his cheek, smacking his lips before he goes back to snoring. To think that he almost didn’t come on this trip. In some alternate universe, Owen stayed in San Francisco, stayed home alone and missed this chance.

Almost.

But he took a chance. On Jacob, on himself, on their futures. He took a shot in the dark and look at what it brought him.

Jacob wakes up several hours later, angry at Owen, but feeling relatively well rested. He gets up to stretch and comes back with water for both of them. Then they switch places, Owen lying down on the crumb-dusted floor, resting his head in Jacob’s lap. When he opens his eyes again, the sun is up, and Jacob’s informing Owen that they finally have a gate for their flight.

They still have to wait a few hours before they board, but their group is finally called, and the two men navigate to the very back of the plane. At least they were lucky enough to get seats next to each other.

“Here.” Jacob offers Owen a small white bottle. “I got these in case you wanted to knock yourself out.”

The flight might only last two hours, but the less Owen has to suffer through it awake, the better. Owen gladly swallows the pills before the flight attendants are going through their demonstration for how to put their oxygen masks on over their heads. He feels his heavy eyelids close, and they don’t open up again until the plane rattles as the wheels connect with the runway.

“Ah!” Owen yelps as he’s rocked forward, hand on Jacob’s thigh as the woman in the window seat eyes them both like she’s annoyed.

“It’s okay,” Jacob says, reaching to soothe Owen. “We’re just landing.”

“I’m good,” Owen tells him, still coming to. “Just surprised.”

It takes them a good while to deplane, even without a single piece of luggage.

There isn’t really a plan for how they’re going to meet up with Kaitlyn and Abigail. But as if fate has decided that Owen and Jacob have both suffered enough and wants to throw them a bone, the women are somehow both waiting for them at baggage claim, jumping up and down excitedly when they spot Owen and Jacob coming down the escalator. Owen can almost swear he’s dreaming, still sleeping off the Tylenol PM back on the plane and he’ll wake up with two hours left stuck in a flying metal tube that he doesn’t have any control over.

But no, they’re here.

Kaitlyn sprints toward them, Abigail not far behind her. Owen’s more than a bit surprised when Kaitlyn hugs him first, colliding with him hard enough that he almost falls to the floor.

“Oh, God . . .” Kaitlyn grips him tight, pressing her nose into the skin of Owen’s neck. “You stink, dude.”

“You’re telling me.” Owen furthers her suffering by holding her tighter. “Consider it my revenge.”

“Fuck, dude . . .” Kaitlyn says, pulling away. “I’m so fucking sorry, Owen. I’m so, so sorry. Holy shit, I don’t even know what to say to you, I—”