Free Fall (boyxboy)

Chapter Two

The plane touched down in Los Angeles in the late afternoon the next day. Charles' assistant had booked the flight for me - at his insistence - and purchased one first class ticket.

I had urged that it was too much but Charles had insisted. "Given your status," he'd said when I first brought it to him. "You know flying economy is not an option."

My grey suitcase was one of the first to arrive on the baggage carousel and I heaved it onto the ground in one motion. It was strange, given my job, that I was travelling so lightly but I didn't actually have that many personal items.

Anything I'd left in London was being sent over. Everything in my one suitcase was all I needed. I'd had my days of travelling with heavy baggage. This was not one of those times.

My black jeans and plain white hoodie allowed me to blend into the crowd better but members of security still helped usher me to the exit when one too many people started to notice my presence in the airport. A pair of sunglasses only went so far.

Outside, my dad was waiting by a gleaming black Range Rover. He stood with a firm stance by the car, a dark pair of Aviators shielding his eyes from view and a leather jacket that warded off unwelcome greetings.

The way he was currently dressed, my dad was the epitome of what a luxurious life could bring you. Power and success, but still enough nonchalance to look intimidating while picking your kid up at the airport. I wanted to laugh. After all these years, he still had it.

My dad and I were not the same people. Our hobbies differed and he had more in common with Aria than he did me, but at the end of the day he was still my father and I was still his son. I looked more like him than my mother and standing opposite one another, matching sunglasses and facial expressions, we must have looked like the perfect father-son duo.

No one approached my father as he waited for me but people soon began to catch on when they noticed me heading in his direction. The stares began to increase as I stopped short in front of him. A few camera flashes went off as people started whispering but it was nothing I wasn't used to.

"Dad." I said.

"Troye." he nodded in reply. The facade only held a moment longer until suddenly a grin broke out on my father's face and he pulled me to him, embracing me tightly.

"You damn idiot." he said, but I clung to him like life support. I knew what he meant.

We pulled back. "Where's Mom?" I asked.

"She's at home. She wanted to give you a surprise welcome home party and-shit-oh well, act surprised when we get there."

I laughed out loud this time. "It's good to be home."

He ruffled my hair. "Now get in the car. We're in the yellow zone and I don't need a fine. Plus your mother will kill me if we're any later than we have to be."