The Flight

At 3 am, Derek and Aiden were already in the car with their bags in the trunk. At 3:20 am, Derek told the driver to take them to the airport and the others would just have to catch up later or miss the flight. Aiden wasn't surprised in the slightest that Lyla and the demon spawn weren't ready on time and it seemed like Derek wasn't either.

The two of them arrived at the airport and made it to the waiting area with plenty of time to spare. They got some coffee and sat down near the boarding area. It was then that Derek's phone rang. When he looked at the caller id, he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"It's your aunt."

"Ugh." Aiden shook his head. "You should ignore that. She's definitely only going to cause trouble and give you a headache if you answer that." Despite that warning, Derek sighed and answered the call.

"Hel-"

"Derek! You won't believe what these people are saying! How could they do this?! We're paying customers!" Derek closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose while pulling the phone away from his ear. When he opened his eyes again, he turned to Aiden who had an 'I told you so' expression. He groaned before putting the phone back up to his ear.

"Stop shouting and tell me clearly what the problem is."

"We're at the airport but when we got to the counter they said the flight was overbooked! This incompetent employee wants us to sit in economy or board a different flight!"

"...So switch to economy class. I don't see what the problem is."

"What!? How could you say that? It's an eleven hour flight! How could we sit in economy when we clearly paid for first class?!"

"I'm sure they offered to refund the difference and it's not like you were footing the bill anyway."

"But that's…!"

"Look, it's really quite simple. Either take the economy class seats or take a later flight. Hell, you can skip the trip entirely if that's what you want. But, you better decide soon or you'll miss the fight." Without giving her any time to argue, Derek hung up. "I assume you heard that?" He asked Aiden.

"Oh yeah, I heard it. I think the whole airport heard it."

Time passed relatively peacefully after that. That was until Lyla, Spencer, and Becca finally showed up. All three of them were clearly in a bad mood.

"There you are." Lyla marched over to where Derek and Aiden were sitting and flopped down in the seat next to Derek. "How could you leave without us?! If we got here together there's no way they would have had the nerve to bump us out of first class!" She pouted and looked at Derek as if he had horribly wronged her.

"I clearly told you all multiple times that we were going to be leaving at 3 am. If you didn't want to be left behind then you should have been ready on time."

"We were only a little bit late!"

"And see where that got you? Now stop drawing unnecessary attention to yourself and wait quietly." It was obvious that Lyla wanted to say more but surprisingly she kept it to herself. A little while later, an announcement was made for first class passengers to begin boarding. Derek and Aiden both stood up.

"Where is he going?" This time it was Spencer voicing his discontent as he pointed angrily at Aiden. Derek ignored the outburst and walked away. Aiden grinned and held up his boarding pass.

"I'm boarding the plane, obviously. Just because you guys got moved to economy doesn't mean I would too. Enjoy the flight!" Aiden quickly followed after Derek and boarded the plane.

Unlike the economy class seats, first class seats were two to a row and had plenty of space. Aiden and Derek's seats were right next to each other and after storing his own carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, Derek helped Aiden with his as well. Shortly after all the first class passengers were comfortably seated, the rest of the passengers started to board. When Lyla, Spencer, and Becca finally boarded, all three of them were glaring at Aiden as they walked past. When he thought of how horrible they were bound to act on the flight, he felt sorry for the rest of the passengers.

Indistinct chatter could be heard throughout the plane as people stored their carry-ons and crammed themselves into their seats. Eventually though, everyone quieted down when the announcements started.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome on board Flight D31…" After the pre-flight announcements, another twelve minutes passed before the plane actually took off. Once they were in the air, there were more announcements and then the flight attendants started making their rounds.

"Is there anything I can get you?" One of the flight attendants stopped and asked them.

"No, thank you. Aiden?"

"Nope. I'm good, thanks." The attendant smiled and continued down the aisle to assist other passengers. Aiden covered his mouth and yawned. He had hardly gotten any sleep at all and it was showing.

"You should sleep," Derek said.

"Yeah I know. But I don't want to sleep for too long. Will you wake me up in a little while?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Aiden cheerfully laid his head on Derek's shoulder, who visibly tensed up at the sudden action.

"What are you doing?"

"Sleeping."

"But why on my shoulder? This is first class. They can bring you a pillow." Aiden picked his head up and looked up at Derek with a pout.

"So I can't?" Derek glanced down at Aiden's tired eyes and slightly frowning face.

"...Fine."

"Yay!" Aiden put his head back on Derek's shoulder and the tops of Derek's ears flushed red.

At first, Derek felt awkward with Aiden leaning on him. He wasn't used to people being that close to him. Ever since he was younger, people would approach him with ulterior motives due to his family's power. As such, he learned to keep everyone at a distance, both physically and emotionally. The only people that he could be said to be close to were his father and brother's and even with them he never really let his guard down. It wasn't intentional with his family though, it had just become so ingrained that he did it naturally. That's how it always was.

Yet somehow, Aiden had gotten past all that on several occasions without even trying. What started out feeling strange to him, now felt natural and warm. The slow, deep breaths that Aiden took as he slept made Derek feel a calm sort of happiness. It didn't make any sense. As time ticked by, he couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be so bad to stay how they were.

Three hours later, Derek begrudgingly woke Aiden up by gently shaking his arm.

"Aiden, wake up." Slowly, Aiden's eyes fluttered open and an adorable sleepy smile spread across his face. Derek's heart skipped a beat when he saw it.

"Morning." Aiden rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and stretched. "Thanks for waking me up."

"Mhm."

"And for lending me your shoulder."

"...At least you didn't drool on me."

"Haha." For the rest of the flight, the two of them spent most of the time talking about nothing in particular and just enjoying each other's company. Meanwhile, in economy class, things weren't going so smoothly.

The entire flight was absolutely miserable for everyone in economy class. There was a baby crying for hours, the in-flight entertainment wasn't working, an annoying teenage girl kept popping her gum, and a blond woman and her son were constantly complaining about anything and everything. They were so loud that even the people who had brought earplugs could hear their whining.

At one point, a brave flight attendant tried to appease the complaining passengers but it didn't work.

"What? Do you think a tiny bag of peanuts and an overpriced water bottle will improve this horrible treatment? We were first class passengers until you guys screwed things up. And why aren't you doing anything about that annoying baby? Just give it a pacifier or something. Is it that difficult?!" The blond woman went on and on with her remarks. The flight attendants were at their wit's end and all of the other passengers were praying for the fight to be over as soon as possible.

The best moment was when the captain announced they would be landing soon.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we have begun our descent into Honolulu. Please turn off all portable electronic devices and stow them until we arrive at the gate. In preparation for landing in Honolulu…"

By the time the plane touched down, the people in economy class cheered in relief and praised the flight attendants to the moon and back. When they were able to leave, they all practically fled the cabin as if their lives depended on it.