Snowed In

Chapter 29

We arrived at the airport a little ahead of schedule which was crazy to me. I knew he had a tendency to speed. But I didn't think it was that bad. I checked the time on my phone and looked at him wide-eyed.

"We left a little early." He shrugged and grabbed a bag. It happened to be mine, but that just meant that I ended up with his. We shipped the luggage that we didn't feel like checking and kept our carry-ons with us. I offered him a piece of gum after we cleared security, which was really fun because the TSA agent seemed to want to strip search him. They pulled him out of line as he looked like a homegrown terrorist with that thick beard or maybe just Avi Kaplan from Pentatonix, and looked through his bags. They actually pulled him into a little room and forced me to wait outside for him. I was pissed, but you know you just don't make a scene or argue with the people that determined whether or not you could even get on the plane with your boyfriend.

"That was fucking embarrassing," he said as we met up after, "Bitch. I should file a formal complaint. Here is her badge number remind me to do that as soon as we get home." His face was actually red, and his hair was down and a mess. We had pulled it up that morning.

"What the fuck did they do to you?" His cursing inspired my cursing. He was a mess. His shirt was untucked, his buttons were askew. Where was his belt? His face turned a much deeper shade of red and his ears followed suit.

"And she had the fucking nerve to ask for a selfie and a goddamned autograph." My eyes went wide with shock and fear. He was getting a little belligerent. Avi was never belligerent. I grabbed his shoulder. We were still in no danger of missing our flight. I pulled him aside and sat him down. I wanted to touch him but there were eyes all around.

"What happened? Look at me, Love." I avoided calling him by his name.

"I don't want to cry right now, but that was the worst experience I have ever had to go through. They damn near stripped searched me. Unbuttoned my shirt." He grabbed and his buttons and pulled them away from his chest aggressively, releasing them with a silent snap. "No, they didn't let me do it. They did it." His hands were moving aggressively too. "They looked for pins in my hair and beard." He tugged fairly hard on his beard. "At least that was their excuse to run their hands through them. If that girl had moved her hand half an inch up my thigh." He broke off there and actually did start crying. "She would have grazed me." I was beyond pissed. I wanted to go back and rip them apart. They pretty much violated him, actually sexually assaulted him. They had authority over him and they abuse both it and him. Then asked him for an autograph and a selfie of which, he no doubt, gave. If he started rocking that was it I was going to kill me a bitch. He calmed rather quickly and look into my eyes. He must have seen murder there. "Don't leave me. Don't go to jail. If you do whatever it is your eyes are saying I will lose you forever. I don't want that. Let's just get on our plane and fucking go. I got their names and badge numbers. Let me write this down and we will file an official report when we land in LA. Please." He was pleading wiping his eyes with one hand while talking with the other.

I was bound by my love for him and he knew it. I watched him pull in his strength and I felt a surge of pride swell through me. His eyes cleared, and he looked at me with an expression I am not certain I want to see on his face ever again and smiled a wicked smile.

"It was recorded on camera. I took some pictures with my phone to note the time. They will never work in law enforcement again. That smile said it all. He pulled through that rather quickly, maybe a bit too, we would see.

He got up and we moved along to our gate. I think at some point he forgot where we were. He took my hand in his and held it tight for ten steps or so. He let me go only to take my hand and hold it the rest of the way to our gate. We sat down in the room with everyone else that was on our flight. Luckily, we found a relatively secluded spot. We were whispering and talking to each other passing a water bottle back and forth between us when he noticed a couple of people staring at him and then recognized one from a meet and greet. He slipped into the role of performer very quickly. He stood and excused himself and headed over to say hello.

The girls were relatively young, maybe 13 and 15 if I had to guess. Their mother was sitting right beside them. From her posture and expression, I imagined that she was scolding the teens and telling them that it wasn't polite to stare or point. But the teens being teens, did it anyway. He boldly walked right up to them and offered his hand. I have no idea what was said but the girls ended up in tears. They got extra hugs and selfies with him then a group shot was taken by a stranger of Avi and the three of them.

He was on his way back to me when someone intercepted him. She looked back at me, grinned something fierce and purposefully put herself between us. I instantly hedged and went on high alert. Something did not feel right about this one. Avi's eyes met mine over the woman's head and spoke volumes in the seconds that he had to express himself. She was probably in her late thirties to forties if I had to guess from the quick glance I got of her face and hairstyle. She had dark brown hair That was just past her shoulders and wore glasses. She was much shorter than Avi and thick enough that I couldn't see his body on the other side of her. Not that that was fair, Avi was super thin. But she was heavyset. She wore black slacks and black flats and a letterman's jacket that said Bozeman on the back. Something Clicked.

When she spoke, she spoke to him like he was an old friend. And loud enough for almost everyone to hear I got an eerie feeling and I Avi got a little freaked out. "Hey, Avriel! What are you doing in Colorado?"

"Just exploring. You know." He tried to sound casual too, but I caught the edge in his voice.

"So, are you going to be exploring all of the US?"

"I uh. I don't know. Maybe." He shrugged. That got personal fast.

"Are you ever going to come to Montana?" She asked moving quite a bit closer to him than he seemed comfortable with. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. I was just about to be his next adoring fan. Then a set of ladies who happened to be biting their lips a second ago strolled up to him.

"Excuse me?" The taller of the two spoke first.

"Did she say your name was Avriel." The second spoke smoothly.

Avi nodded. I could see a spark of recognition in his eyes as he smiled a smile of relief.

"Avriel as in Avriel and the Sequoias?"

"This person." They both held up their phones for him to see and his smile spread across his face.

"Yeah. That's me." The girls had completely shut the other woman out of the conversation.

"Can we take a picture with you please, if that is alright. You're not working." The taller woman said.

Avi respond kindly and took the first phone from the taller woman and took the picture. He brought the phone down for her and her friend to see the picture.

"The lights no good."

"Yeah, the light is not good over here. Do you mind if we go over there?" The shorter one point towards me and the windows. I think they knew exactly what they were doing.

"Sure thing." Avi wrapped an arm around each woman and pulled them towards the window. He leaned down and whispered something in each of their ears and they both nodded happily and smiled. They took selfies by the window. It must have been a dozen or so each then he pulled them all together and took a picture of the three of them with his phone. He looked at it and shook his head.

"Miss. Excuse me miss." He called to me. "Would you mind terribly much please?"

"No sir I wouldn't." They all laughed. I snapped several candid shots of the three of them before they finally managed to pose.

"I'll send it to you both." They all smiled at each other like three friends would. He thanked me. Then he whispered again and nodded gently in my direction. The women both looked at him like they couldn't be happier for him, looked at me and looked back at him while nodding. They kept their voices low and discrete. Then they wished him well and safe travels. They each hugged him one more time. He planted a small kiss on each of their cheeks and thanked them by name. As they walked away they smiled just as happily at me and kept on going.

"Who were they."

"Only two of my favorite fans. You know that doll my mom has of me."

"Yeah."

"One of them made it for me. You know that book that sits on the coffee table of letters from fans?"

"Yeah."

"The other collected those letters and made that book for me by hand. I'll tell you about them on the way home. C'mon they are calling our row."