Flight To Paradise
Flight To Paradise
Sequel to Special Delivery
©1999-2000
By Sarah
Chapter 6
"Brian?"
Brian looked up from the
ground and at Aaron as he prepared himself for the lay-up.
"What's up, Airboy?"
He asked, shooting. The ball went through the net and Aaron caught
it, bringing it to the designated half-court line.
"When did you meet Sarah?"
Aaron asked.
"About six months ago,"
Brian answered, guarding Aaron.
"When you were in Germany?"
"No, when I left Germany."
"Where did you go?"
"New Jersey."
"Why?"
"Because I needed to get
away from the stress and going to see someone who wouldn't tell anyone
would help me tremendously," Brian answered calmly, watching as Aaron shot
the ball.
"Why did you see Sarah?"
Brian sighed and picked
up the ball from where it was bouncing on the ground. He walked over
to Aaron and sat on the pavement in front of him.
"Let me explain something
to you, Aaron. When I was in Germany, I was so stressed out and I
didn't feel good and I wasn't in the best of moods all the time.
I needed to get away and relax for a while, so I went to New Jersey
and relaxed for a while at Sarah's house,
she was nice enough to let me stay there."
"How did you meet her?"
"Actually, we met on-line.
We'd known each other for about a year and we trusted each other a lot.
That doesn't mean you should trust everyone you meet on-line, Aaron, I
made a mistake when I did that, though the outcome
turned out to be good. But I went to
her place in Jersey, calmed myself down, and relaxed. At the end
of the week, when I had to go back to Germany, I found out how strongly
I felt for Sarah and went along with the feeling, so I asked her out.
She said yes and we've been going together for six months."
Aaron was quiet, looking
down at the ground like he was thinking it over. Brian looked over at Sarah
and saw that she was sitting in a chair, talking to Howie. She was
smiling and laughing and it seemed like she was getting
along well with him. Kevin was occasionally
jumping in the conversation and Nick and AJ were off to the side, talking
together. Brian couldn't help but think that they were talking about
Sarah, but he dismissed the idea when
Aaron looked up at him.
"How old is she, Brian?"
Aaron asked curiously.
Brian bit his lip and
looked down at the ground, this was going to be the hard part. Aaron
was incredibly smart for the average twelve year old, and he knew that
Brian had made that promise to himself to date someone in his
own age range after he went out with Leighanne.
Leighanne had been six years older than Brian, and the age difference ended
up hurting the relationship more than anything. What would Aaron
think when he figured out that Sarah was eight years younger?
"She's sixteen," Brian
said truthfully after a few minutes, looking up at Aaron.
Aaron's large eyes widened
even further and his mouth dropped open. "She's eight years younger
than you?! She's young enough to be your sister?!?" He exclaimed,
rather loud.
"Shh," Brian said, covering
Aaron's mouth with his hand. He glanced over at everyone on the patio,
thankfully, no one had heard. Brian led Aaron out the gate at the
end of the driveway and into the front.
"Yes, she's eight years
younger than me," he said finally, moving his hand from Aaron's mouth.
"But what ever happened
to staying in your own age range? You made a big deal about it after
you and Leighanne finally broke up, you vowed in front of all of us that
you wouldn't ever date someone who wasn't close to your age," Aaron said.
"Well, Sarah is a lot
different from Leighanne, the last six months have proven that. No
one knew that she was my girlfriend, no one except for Nick and my mom.
No one else deserved to know, and over the last six months
everyone thought I was single, but didn't
realize that someone cared about me enough to let me live my life the way
I wanted to and loved me for who I was, not what I was. Aaron, I've
been so happy, I'm sure you've seen it, and just hearing Sarah's voice
everyday made it worth living. It's near impossible to explain love,
but I know I love Sarah and the age factor does not matter here."
"That's total bull, Brian,
and you know it. Sarah's not your girlfriend, she's just your friend.
The Brian I know wouldn't go back on his word, once he says something,
you can trust him one hundred percent. Sarah isn't your
girlfriend, just a friend that happens to
be a girl," Aaron said, shaking his head. He walked away from Brian
before he could say anything else, grabbing the ball from the ground and
setting up a shot.
Brian sighed and shook
his head, walking back into the backyard. He walked over to Sarah
and came up behind her, covering her eyes.
"Guess who?" He
asked, smiling and disguising his voice.
"Hmm, could it be a certain
brown haired, blue eyed guy named Brian? No, wait, maybe its Cave
Man Joe," she said, a smile playing on her lips.
Brian grinned and moved
his hands from her eyes and turned her face to see him. "Right on
both accounts," he said, kissing her softly.
"Cave Man Joe? Get
a new nickname and not tell us, Bri?" Howie asked.
Brian chuckled as Sarah
stood up and let him sit. "You might say that," he said, pulling
Sarah in his lap before she could grab the chair she was reaching for.
"Silly, you aren't my
chair," Sarah said, trying to pry his fingers off of her.
"Yes I am, when I'm sitting
in your chair, I become your chair," Brian said. "Stay seated and
tell Howie why you call me Cave Man Joe."
Sarah laughed and relaxed
against Brian's chest, his head being able to peek over her shoulder.
He half listened as she explained about the day he'd gotten to her house
and she'd started calling him that. He held onto her waist, feeling
her hands rest on top of his. He missed her so much over the last
six months, it was hell not seeing her. But he lived for this day,
the day when he'd finally see her. He glanced around at everyone,
Howie, AJ, and Nick sitting in chairs surrounding Sarah and Brian, Kevin
behind Howie, occasionally flipping a burger or hot dog, checking for them
to be done. All four were listening intently as Sarah explained animatedly,
using her hands to express herself. Then Brian glanced over at Aaron,
who was watching Sarah. He had a sad look on his face, almost like
he was going to cry. Brian so wanted to find out exactly what was
bothering him, but knew when
Aaron was stubborn about something, there
was almost no budging him.
'Unless I can convince
him that Sarah and I are more than what we seem, but how can I do that?
Aaron just thinks she's my friend, not in any relationship simply because
of what I said. It was hard to get rid of Leighanne, we were together
for so long, and I was still technically with her when I met Sarah and
started going out with her. I was cheating on Leighanne, just like
she was cheating on me. I am thankful that the whole thing with her
finally ended, but when I said that, I wasn't really thinking about Sarah's
age, just about her, as a person. I wish I could figure this
out, its too difficult,' Brian thought, watching
as Aaron went back to playing basketball and ignoring everyone else.
"Brian? Brian?
Littrell, are you alive or did I cut off the circulation to your head?"
Sarah asked, interrupting his train of thought, squeezing his hands.
"What? Oh, no, sorry,
I just dazed off there for a second," Brian said, looking at her.
Sarah gave him a strange
look. "Are you ok? Is there something wrong?" She asked,
concern in her eyes.
Brian shook his head.
"No, not a thing, I'm just thinking."
"So that's what the smoke
means, I'll remember that," Nick said.
"Shut up, like you don't
have your moments, blondie!" Brian shot back, a smile sneaking up
on his lips.
"Hey! Lay off the
blond jokes!" Nick exclaimed.
"I will if you lay off
the stupidity jokes! So what if I get confused easily, its nothing
bad," Brian defended himself.
"Hey, watch it, if you're
gonna fight, take it to the playground during recess," Sarah said jokingly.
"But don't do it when you're holding me, you're squeezing too tight," she
said, pulling at Brian's hands.
Brian released his grip
from her waist and she stood up, walking to Kevin and grabbing a plate,
placing two burgers on it. She handed the plate to Nick and grabbed
another plate. "How many, Howie?" She asked.
"Uh, one," Howie said,
looking strangely at Brian. Brian nodded, sending him a mental message
to go along with it. He knew that Sarah was one of those people who
believed that everyone deserved food before she did, she was just like
that and you had to accept it.
Sarah handed a plate with
two burgers on it to AJ and looked at Brian. "How many you want?"
She asked.
Brian stood up and wrapped
his arms around her waist from behind. "I just want one burger and
one Sarah, to go," he whispered in her ear.
Sarah laughed. "That
means one burger for him," she said to Kevin. Kevin nodded and handed Sarah
the plate with the burger on it.
"How many do you want
Sarah?" Kevin asked, reaching for another plate.
Sarah shook her head.
"I don't, thanks anyway," she said.
Brian looked strangely
at her as he let go of her waist and moved to the table next to the grill
and started putting fixings on his burger. "What's wrong, already
eat?" He asked.
"No, I just don't want
anything," Sarah said.
Brian furrowed his eyebrows
in thought, worried. He knew Sarah liked barbecue hamburgers and
stuff, she'd told him before. He also knew that she was hungry, she'd
told him on the phone.
"Hey, what's wrong, man,
you look like you have a lot on your mind," Kevin said, standing next to
him and grabbing the ketchup bottle.
Brian glanced over at
Sarah, who was sitting at the picnic table and talking with AJ. "I
don't know, there's something up with Sarah, and with Aaron. He reminded
me of that vow I made a few months ago about not dating
anyone outside of my immediate age range
and he refused to believe that Sarah was actually my girlfriend, he's convinced
that she's just my friend. I don't know what's with Sarah, though,
she's acting a little different from
what I know. Its like she's preoccupied
with something and she won't tell me what," he said.
Kevin shrugged.
"Don't stress about it, just give her time to think about whatever it is
bothering her, ask her about it, but don't press her. As for Aaron,
I don't know what to say about him, he's always been one to have his own
opinion and he'll stick to it unless he's convinced otherwise. Just
let him do whatever he wants, let him think what he wants, he'll see that
you and Sarah are together as more than friends, he'll get it."
Brian nodded, trusting
his cousin. Kevin knew what he was talking about, so he had to trust
what he said. Brian walked back to his chair and dragged it next
to Sarah, placing his plate on the table.
"You sure you don't want
anything?" He asked her when she looked at him.
Sarah nodded. "Positive,
I just don't feel like having anything, maybe I will later."
Brian nodded, keeping
back his worry. He ate his burger thoughtfully, trying to figure
out what it could be that was making Sarah act the way she was. She
was relatively quiet, except for when someone else started up a
conversation, but even then she stayed somewhat
quiet. She didn't volunteer information, she made them ask for it.
He finished his burger and sat back in his chair, watching Sarah as she
and Kevin talked about something. He
couldn't get over just how beautiful she
was, but couldn't help but think that she was hiding something from him,
something that hurt.
"Hey, AC, you want anything
or not?" Nick called to his brother, turning to face him.
Aaron ran over to the
table and tried to catch his breath, he'd been playing hard. "What?"
He asked.
"I said, do you want any
barbecue or not?" Nick said.
Aaron nodded and walked
over to the grill, taking a hot dog and hamburger, then loading his plate
with potato chips and putting mustard and ketchup on his hot dog and hamburger.
He grabbed a can of soda from the cooler on the ground and walked back
to the table, sitting in the chair between Brian and Nick.
"So what's been up with
you lately, Aaron? How was Europe for you?" AJ asked.
"It was ok, kinda cold,
and the concerts at night felt as if they were going too long. It
was almost as if I was performing in a different time zone or performing
three hours later than I should've," Aaron admitted, taking a bite of his
hot dog first.
"Jet lag, my boy, it's
a curse and you wish it had never been discovered," AJ said, finishing
both his burgers. He started on his chips and gestured to Aaron's
plate. "No cheese doodles?"
Aaron shook his head.
"No, I'm getting sick of them."
"That and someone sent
him a big bag of them and he got sick from it," Nick said, laughing.
"Shut up, like you could've
resisted if someone sent you a big package of Butterfingers," Aaron said.
"I could, I'd save them
for later," Nick said.
"Ok, you two, quit it,
your bickering gets on my nerves too easily," Kevin said.
"Yes, Daddy," Aaron and
Nick chorused.
"Smart mouths," Kevin
said.
Aaron and Nick both flashed
Kevin the same smile and Brian laughed. Whenever the Carter brothers
were around, there was never a dull moment.
"Hello?!? Is anyone
alive or did a crazed fan come and kill you all?" A voice came from
inside the house.
"Out here, BJ," Nick called.
Brian looked up as one
of Nick's sisters came out of the sliding door connecting the patio to
the kitchen. "Hey, guys, what's for dinner?" She asked, walking
over and taking Nick's burger out of his hands.
"Hey, that's mine, get
your own!" Nick exclaimed, trying to grab his burger from her.
BJ took a bite and handed it back.
"Ugh, needs pickles,"
she said. "How are you all doing?" She asked, looking around
at the rest of the table.
"Fine, BJ," everyone said.
"Ok, be that way.
Who's your guest?" She asked, gesturing to Sarah.
Brian smiled and leaned
forward, draping his arm on Sarah's shoulders "BJ, this is Sarah, Sarah,
this is BJ, one of Nick's sisters," he said, gesturing between the two.
"Hi," Sarah said, smiling.
She held out her hand and BJ shook it.
"Nice to meet you," BJ
said, smiling.
"Likewise," Sarah said.
She looked next to her at Brian and he could practically see pain in her
eyes, a pain that he'd never seen before. A pain he never wanted
her to feel.
"What time is it?"
She asked quietly as BJ started conversation with her brothers.
"It's nearly nine, why?"
Brian asked, looking around the dark yard.
"I have to be back downtown
at eleven, I just want to make sure I'm not late or anything," Sarah said.
Brian took her hand and
squeezed it, looking in her eyes. He knew the eyes so well, yet there
was something in them he'd never seen before.
"Come on, let's go," he
whispered, standing up. "Guys, we're gonna go now," he said to everyone
else.
"Already? But its
only nine o'clock," Kevin said, glancing at his watch.
"I have to be back soon,
but thank you for letting me come here, Kevin," Sarah said, giving him
a gracious smile.
"Anytime, Sarah, do come
back," Kevin said, standing up and giving her a friendly hug.
"Yeah, don't be afraid
to bother any of us again," AJ said, standing up and smiling.
Sarah smiled back.
"I'll get your number from Brian and call you at seven in the morning,
then we'll see if your tune changes any," she said as they exchanged friendly
hugs.
"Muchacha, mucho gusto,"
Howie said, standing up and walking around the table to Sarah.
"Igualmente, se'or," she
replied, giving him a hug.
"Don't tell me you speak
Spanish," Brian said, picking up his plate and throwing it away.
Sarah smiled at him.
"Sa, se'or, hablo mucho."
Brian smacked his hand
to his forehead. "Oh no, not another one. Bad memories, bad
memories," he said jokingly.
Everyone laughed.
"Well, if helps any, I won't speak it around you, ok?" Sarah said, taking
his hand away from his face.
Brian nodded and squeezed
her hand. "Ok, you promise?"
"Promise."
"Sheesh, am I being ignored
or am I being ignored?" Nick announced from behind them, holding
up his hands.
"Nick, you're sweet when
you don't whine, I wasn't ignoring you, I was simply involved in something
else," Sarah said, turning around and walking over to him.
"Oh, ok, then that's ok,"
Nick said, smiling and giving Sarah a hug. "You, chick, you have
a lot of humor in there, let it get you the attention you deserve."
"You mean like you do?
No thanks, I like being right where I am. And don't call me chick,"
Sarah said, shaking her finger at him.
"Yes, ma'am," Nick said,
saluting her. Sarah laughed and Brian smiled, he loved her laugh.
He missed everything about her, her laugh especially.
Brian walked up behind Sarah
and put his arm around her shoulder. "Are you done saying goodbye
to the audience?" He asked.
Sarah shook her head.
"No, one more person," she said. She walked away from Brian and over
to Aaron, who was sitting in a chair in front of BJ, who was talking on
a cell phone.
"It was nice meeting you,
Aaron, you're a very good basketball player," Sarah said, squatting down
next to his chair and smiling at him. Brian was happy to see that
she was giving him a second shot, trying to be his friend.
"Thanks, bye," Aaron said,
somewhat on the cold side. Brian saw Sarah flinch, but she kept on
smiling. She stood up and walked back over to Brian and it was obvious
to him that she was hurt.
"Bye everyone," Brian
called, grabbing Sarah's hand and pulling her through the house.
He led her out to his car and drove her to his house, not saying anything
until he walked inside with her and into the living room. He
pulled her on the couch and onto his lap,
then kissed her, running his hands up and down her back.
"You have no idea how
much I wanted to do that since I first saw you," Brian said as they broke
apart a few minutes later.
Sarah smiled and put her
hand to his face. "Probably as much as I wanted to when I first saw
you."
Brian smiled and started
kissing her again, with an urgency that he never knew. He kissed
down her neck and made her lie back on the couch, kissing her neck and
chest. He kissed his way down her body, pulling up her T-shirt and
kissing her stomach. He started to unbutton her shorts, but she stopped
him.
"Brian, we can't," Sarah
said, pulling his head away from her stomach. Brian crawled back
up her body and held his body over hers.
"Why? I've missed
you so much. I've missed your body. I''ve missed your kisses. I've missed
your body," he said, kissing her neck at the one spot she fell weak to.
"Oh, Brian, please, stop,
please," Sarah said, moaning. Brian stopped kissing her neck, noticing
that the spot had barely become red.
"But why? I love
you so much and if you want us to, we'll stop, but why?" Brian asked,
looking in her eyes, searching.
"Because, once we start,
we won't be able to stop and if we don't stop, I'll be here all night,
and if I'm here all night, my mother will go ballistic on me when I finally
do show up and Matt will kill me because I'll get him in trouble," Sarah
said in a rush.
"Why would you get Matt
in trouble? And who is Matt?" Brian asked, relaxing on top
of her and gently caressing her arms.
"Matt is Vicki's son,
he's sixteen like me. He was suppose to take me out somewhere with
his friends, but he didn't want to, and I suggested to him that he just
drop me at Starbucks and pick me up at eleven to take me home. It
would look like we'd been out together, but I would've been with you and
he could do whatever his little heart desires with his friends. It
was a deal that I would be back at Starbucks at eleven and he'd take me
home. But I didn't tell him where I'd be or with whom, so he'll be
mad at me for not being there and for getting him in trouble," Sarah explained,
running her hand up and down Brian's back. He closed his eyes and
took a deep breath, breathing in her body spray. It was vanilla,
she loved the scent of vanilla and Brian had to admit that there wasn't
a much more soothing scent.
"Ok, so we won't do anything
like that, can I kiss you?" Brian asked finally, looking up at her
with a hopeful look on his face. He used that little kid voice that
she said always made him look that much cuter.
"Of course, but don't
get fresh," Sarah said, laughing.
Brian smiled and kissed
her on the lips, deeply. He just got lost in the thoughts of her,
not thinking about anyone or anything else.
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