{ #1 } I Was Shooting For The Moon, I Hit Two Stars (MxMxM || 18+)

Chapter 49 - Merry Christmas!

Excitement fills me as we finally get on the plane. Part of the crew welcomes the passengers and guides them toward their seats. Mark wanted to book business class seats, but Alex and I bugged him until he yielded for coach class ones. For one, he refused to let us pay for our own tickets, and we didn't want him to spend too much useless money. Of course, it was a lame argument to him, however, after looking at the seat map, we saw that the business cabin is set in a way that one of us would have been left out from the others since there are only two seats on each side, whereas there are three in coach. Besides, it's only a two-hour flight and we don't need the business comfort for so little time.

Mark invites me to sit next to the window so that I can enjoy the sight as we take off, and he takes the aisle seat, allowing Alex to settle between us. I'm not sure what Mark did, but we were lucky enough to get the first row on the right side, which means more comfort and space for our legs, especially Mark's long ones.

We get a short safety demonstration from the hostess once everybody has finally sat down. Yeah, there are always latecomers, but I can't blame them. Hadn't it been for Mark who urged us to arrive at least an hour before departure time, I would have been among them. As the plane gets towed to the runway, Alex's hand turns sweatier and his fingers almost painfully squeeze mine when the aircraft picks up speed. I can't really see in front of the plane, but it seems like the runway is getting shorter and shorter and I begin to worry a bit whether we are going to make it or not.

However, the front suddenly rises, and we get to feel the pull of the motors as our bodies are forced backwards. And there we are flying! Looking through the round window, I can see the ground slowly backing away, the cars and buildings getting smaller until I can't distinguish anything anymore. The sensations in my belly are eerie!

"Isn't it beautiful?" I ask Alex as I tug on his hand and make him look through the window while we fly through the clouds.

"It's like we're surrounded by cotton!" he exclaims, the pressure of his hand eventually relaxing.

As he gapes at the landscape, I briefly peek at Mark who is watching us with eyes full of love and smile back at him.

"Want to swap seats, Pumpkin?" I suggest after a few minutes when the seatbelt signal goes off.

"Can we?" he exclaims, turning to Mark for his approval, and he nods in answer. "Thank you, Muffin!" he then adds with a grin once we have moved.

"You're welcome!"

Mark grabs my hand and throws me a very warm look that makes me feel like a good boy. The rest of the flight is... long and boring. Taking off was cool with the speed sensations, but then, it's nothing more than sitting in an armchair without having anything to do. The clouds block our view from the ground, so I can't even keep busy looking at what our planet looks like from above. And boredom is definitely not my friend.

Mark sighs as my legs start bouncing again, but he soon leans down to search into his bag and pulls out some sort of comics that he rests over my lap.

"What's that?" I ask, frowning at him.

"Aww that's Waldo!" Alex whisper-shouts. "Come on, Shan! Don't you know who Waldo is?"

"Err... No, I don't. It looks like a book for kids..."

"Adults like him too, have a look!" Mark suggests.

"Yes, let's look for Waldo, Shan!" Alex says with renewed cheerfulness.

I think he's going nuts. Maybe he doesn't deal well with heights... I still take a look at the book. It's called Where's Waldo – Santa Spectacular. As I open it, all I can see is... a whole mess of characters and things! No speech bubbles like in comic strips, just confusion with dozens of tiny individuals. In front of my perplexed expression, Alex shuts the book and points the cover, where there's a guy with spectacles and a red and white pullover and hat.