7. Luis
Chapter seven
Luis
Without a doubt, the following forty-eight hours were the longest of Luis’ life. He felt certain he’d have lost his mind without Paul and some of his fellow attendants keeping him focused on the task at hand. Still. A ridiculous grin crossed his face whenever he thought about Darius, and he found himself blurting out, “He loves me” to whoever was in his vicinity.
“Of course he does,” Paul said after what was at least the thirtieth time since they’d left Brussels.
The fact that Luis and Darius were finally getting together would have been the main topic of conversation amongst the flight crew if not for the incident on Darius’ flight. The videos had been watched, and the conversation was ongoing in the Facebook group. Their own roommate chat had been lively; even Ricky was taking potshots at the two of them. But none of it mattered.
“He loves me,” Luis said to Paul again as he sorted cups into the beverage trolley.
Paul looked up at him from where he crouched looking for more bottles of Bloody Mary mix and gave a very put-upon sigh. “You used to be a much better conversationalist. You know this, right?”
“I’m sorry,” Luis said with a helpless shrug.
Turning back to his search, Paul muttered, “I cannot wait for this flight to be over.”
“But you love me, too,” Luis said.
“I do, sweetheart, I do.”
And so it went for the rest of the flight. Thankfully, it was a smooth flight without any issues or irritated passengers, but by the time they landed, Luis was pretty sure his fellow attendants would have loved nothing more than to have thrown him off the plane mid-flight if they could have, but they were also all grinning at him and joking with him as they left the jetway and emerged into the terminal.
Luis felt as if he was floating, his feet barely touching the floor as he forced himself to keep pace with his coworkers. All he wanted to do was run through the airport, grab a Lyft, and get his ass home. He texted Darius that he was back, then stared at his phone while waiting to see a response. When there wasn’t anything, he frowned and sent another text, then called, but it went straight to voicemail.
“Anyone want to grab a drink now that we’re off the clock?” one of the attendants asked playfully.
When Luis flipped him the finger, everyone laughed.
“Put your phone away, sweetheart,” Paul said as the sliding doors parted and they stepped into the public area of the airport.
“What? Why?” Luis looked up, and when Paul nudged his shoulder, he understood. Because Darius was standing there with a sign that read “I love you” and a bouquet of red roses.
Luis stopped dead. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening to him. It was like something out of the swooniest romance. The love of his life was standing before him, proclaiming his love for all the world to see, and all Luis could do was stare at him and try to remember how to breathe.
“Go get him,” Paul said as he pried Luis’ hand from the handle on his flight bag.
Almost of their own volition, Luis’ feet carried him across the floor and into Darius’ arms. The poster board sign fell to the ground, and then Luis was lifted off his feet. He felt the flowers crush against his back, the rough edge of a leaf grazing his skin, but he didn’t care. His arms went around Darius’ neck, and he stared into the face of the man he had loved for most of his life. He knew every feature on this face, down to the dark lashes that framed Darius’ beautiful eyes, the exact angle of his cheekbones, the curve of his lips. He had studied Darius’ face so often and thought he knew all of his best friend’s expressions, but the way Darius stared at him in this moment was completely new. Love had always been there, but now there was passion, there was desire, and there was so much joy Luis felt it to the very core of his being.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he whispered.
“Of course I am, chico. I will always be here for you. Can I kiss you?”
“Oh my God.” Tears filled Luis’ eyes. “If you don’t, I think I’m going to die.”
“Can’t have that, can we?”
Then Darius’ lips touched Luis’, and it was unlike anything he’d ever experienced or dreamed about. Familiar and completely new at the same time. Revelatory. Luis held Darius tighter, brought their bodies as close as they could possibly be. At least while they were in public. Though Luis was barely aware that they were. All he knew was the feel of Darius in his arms and in his heart and how very, very much he wanted to live in this moment for the rest of his life.
The kiss gradually slowed, and they began murmuring to each other in between quick touches of their lips. It didn’t matter to Luis what they said because it all meant the same thing: Darius loved him.
Of course, they couldn’t stay like this forever, and as small as Luis was, Darius couldn’t carry him all the way home. Darius carefully lowered him to the floor, making sure he was steady before letting him go. He held out the flowers, now slightly crushed, and Luis’ eyes filled with tears all over again as he took them.
“Let me grab my bag,” Luis said but couldn’t bring himself to let go of Darius. He leaned in for another quick kiss. “I love you.”
“And I love you.” Darius kissed him back, then nodded toward where Luis had left Paul with his bag. “And so do they.”
Luis turned to see his coworkers still standing outside the sliding doors. As soon as he faced them, they broke into applause and cheers, as did several people who had watched the whole reunion. A few tucked cell phones back into their pockets, and Luis had a brief thought for how many of them had posted videos, but then he was surrounded by his fellow flight attendants, and all thoughts of anything but Darius flew from his mind.
There were hugs and several “about time” comments, along with a couple of “we know what you’ll be doing” ones said with a lilt and a wink, which made Luis blush. It was strange to think that after all these years of fantasizing, of all the times he and Darius had played with others, this was going to be their first time together as a couple.
As that thought truly sank in, Luis clutched the bouquet closer to his chest and felt Darius’ arm tighten around his shoulders, pulling him closer. A light kiss to his temple made Luis tilt his head up to take in Darius’ profile, and his heart welled with joy all over again.
Gradually, the congratulations died down as the crowd around them thinned until it was just Paul and a few other attendants they knew well. Paul pulled Luis to the side, smiling at Luis’ reluctance to let go of Darius as he took a couple of steps away while still holding on to Darius’ hand.
Paul nodded with his head, and Luis finally let go, loving that Darius turned so Luis was still in his field of vision.
“I’m happy for you, sweetheart,” Paul said. He glanced back at Darius and sighed. “Someday, I want to find a man who looks at me like that.”
“You will,” Luis said. “Thank you for everything.”
As they hugged, Paul told him again how happy he was for Luis. “Be honest with him, hon. He’ll understand.”
“I know. And I will.”
The constant hum of voices around them shifted in an instant, became more focused, and Luis was vaguely aware of a group of people stepping into the bubble of space that had surrounded the flight attendants since they’d stepped through the doors. Luis immediately looked for Darius and found him shaking his head as a reporter thrust a microphone in his face.
“Shit,” Luis said, recognizing that he’d seen a news team in the terminal just before his entire focus was filled with the sight of Darius and the sign and the roses. But now, reality was crowding back in.
“Yup,” Paul agreed as they both closed the distance they’d put between themselves and Darius.
“No comment,” Darius said as the reporter asked him a question about the incident in which he’d been involved.
“But you’re a hero,” the reporter cajoled.
Darius shook his head. “No comment.”
The reporter turned to Luis, and her eyes got comically round as a sly smile curved the corners of her lips upward. “And how do you feel about your boyfriend saving a plane full of people?”
In shock, Luis looked at Darius, who shook his head, then took hold of Luis’ hand while Paul and the remaining attendants stepped between them and the news crew.
“Go,” Paul told them, and Darius pulled Luis away as their friends blocked the reporter’s path and kept her and her cameraman from following. Her voice rang out in the terminal, firing more questions, which made people turn their heads to try and figure out who or what was causing the commotion.
Despite the unusualness of the situation and the way his heart was pounding, Luis laughed as they rushed toward the far end of the terminal, Luis’ flight bag clattering behind them, and then out the doors toward the parking garage. When they stopped at the curb, Luis was slightly out of breath.
“Is this what celebrities have to go through?” he asked.
Darius shook his head, his mouth a thin line. “It’s been fucking nuts,” he said. “That’s why I had to turn my phone off. Thank fuck Paul got ahold of me before I did.” He grinned as he turned toward Luis. “The flowers were his idea.”
“I love that man,” Luis said. “Not as much as I love you, of course.”
In a heartbeat, Darius turned serious. He raised his hands to Luis’ face, the move at once tender and possessive, and Luis’ heart started beating harder for an entirely different reason than it had before.
“I love you,” Darius said just before his lips touched Luis’.
The drive home was both familiar and not at the same time. Familiar, of course, because Darius was driving a route either one of them could probably do in their sleep and because Luis knew the contours of the passenger’s seat in Darius’ car like he knew his own face. But it was also unlike any drive they’d ever made before because of three simple words. I love you . Luis couldn’t wait to whisper them to Darius in the shelter of their bedroom, beneath the covers of a bed they had shared for years as friends, while he finally got to know Darius’ body the way he had always wanted to. They had so much to discover about each other.
“How long?” Luis asked as Darius took the exit to merge onto the 10.
Darius glanced at the GPS. “Probably another half an hour. There’s a slowdown coming up. Why? You in a hurry to get home?”
Luis laughed. “Well, yes, to be honest, but what I meant was…how long have you…” He took a breath, suddenly shy and uncertain. “Have you—”
“Been in love with you?” Darius reached out for Luis’ hand and brought it to his lips without taking his eyes from the road. “For as long as I can remember.”
“Really?”“Cross my heart and hope to die. I’d even pinkie swear it.” Darius kissed Luis’ hand again before releasing it. “And you?”
Luis contemplated the question because, really, when did his feelings for Darius become something more? And what was that more? He probed at the edges of all the memories that were filled with Darius, looking for that one moment when this man beside him had gone from friend to best friend to the most important person on the entire planet. Someone who was as essential as the air he breathed for him to keep living.
“It’s okay if it just happened,” Darius said quietly, apparently mistaking Luis’ silence as an unwillingness to admit how recently his feelings had changed.
“It didn’t,” Luis said and looked down at his hands. “I’m just trying to figure out when it changed for me because as far back as I can remember, I’ve loved you. I think it took me so long to recognize I was gay because I’d always loved you, and no one else made me feel like you did.”
For a moment, Darius’ expression got serious, and he looked as if he were going to say something but was hesitating.
“Dar?” Luis asked. “What is it?”
Darius shook his head, glanced at Luis, and smiled. “Nothing, chico. I’m really glad we finally figured it out.”
“Yeah. We’re going to get so much shit from all our friends.”
They both laughed. “You check your messages yet?” Darius asked.
“Fuck.” Luis pulled his phone out. There were over two dozen unread texts and DMs. “We are never living this down.”
“They can have their fun.” Darius reached for Luis’ hand again. “After all, you’re the one I get to take home and finally do everything I’ve dreamed about doing since I learned my dick was made for something other than peeing.”
Luis shrugged. “Glad to see you’re not going to turn into a romantic sap just because you’re now my boyfriend.” He glanced at the roses in the back seat. “But you can continue to bring me roses anytime you want.”