Getting There is Half the Fun by Bethany What were once soft, gentle snow flakes floating down from the sky not too long ago, had evolved into tiny white missiles, shooting toward the ground at an alarming rate. A silver SUV plowed down the highway, snow shooting from behind its tires like water jetting out after a speed boat. Ryan Stiles squinted his large green eyes, desperately trying to focus on the road ahead of him. His tall six and a half foot frame was very tense, his knuckles a ghostly white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. His large hands seemed to dwarf the steering wheel beneath them, as his left leg bobbed up and down repeatedly, and old nervous habit of his. However, despite his current neurotic appearance, he was very excited. Ryan had been looking forward to this trip for months. His family, along with his buddy Colin's, had an annual ski trip every winter for what seemed like forever. That is, until about two years ago when both families became so busy, neither could make the trip for as many years. But this year they were going. Both him and Colin had cleared their schedules way in advance so nothing could stop them from regenerating this tradition. Colin Mochrie sat in the passenger seat, intently focused on the map he was holding. His deep brown eyes squinted with concentration underneath his reading glasses, comparing the map to directions he had gotten off the internet a week or so earlier. They were heading to the Blue Mountain Resort in Ontario Canada, about a five-hour drive from his home. They had left his house about an hour and a half ago, but Colin predicted that this trip would take probably twice as long. This being due to the fact that the weather was causing them to go about half as fast as they normally would. Colin wasn't quite as tall as his friend, standing at about six feet and two inches, but he was certainly anything but short. He was losing his hair as well, something he had learned to take in stride, despite how unfair it felt. Here he was, mid-fourties, not even two years older than his best friend, (his best friend with a full head of hair) and he was almost as smooth as an egg. Sure, he got playfully teased about it from his friends a lot, including Ryan, but his baby faced features and shy, loveable personality would always win them over. "Hey Ry?" Colin called out, still reading the directions. "Yeah?" Ryan replied, still heavily focused on driving. "These directions have a ton of facts on them about the resort. Did you know that this mountain has a vertical drop of 219 meters? And that-" "Feet Colin, feet," Ryan stated, cutting him off. "I'm already concentrating too hard on driving, don't make me try to convert your crazy Canadian metric system," he finished with a smirk. Colin just rolled his eyes, something he became very used to doing as a result of choosing to live in Canada, while the majority of his good friends lived in the good old U.S. of A. "Fine then," he continued as he focused on his paper once again. "It has a 720-foot drop. Happy now? . . . ya lanky bastard . . ." he finished, mumbling jokingly under his breath. "Very," Ryan simply replied. "Okay then," Colin stated. "And, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, it has a top elevation of 1,482 FEET . . . " Colin accentuated that last word as he glanced over at Ryan, who gave him an approving nod, ". . . and it has 37 trails, and . . . oh wow! Thirteen lifts, three high-speed and six-" "Colin!" Ryan shouted to get the other man's attention. "I don't mean to be RUDE again, but shouldn't you be focusing on the directions? Don't we have an exit coming up here pretty soon?" "Relax Ryan . . . " the Canadian said smoothly. "We have at least another five miles," he finished, leaning back in his chair as he spoke. "Yeah, okay," the green-eyed man replied. "Wait, what was that exit number again?" "Wha? Oh, ummm . . . Exit 98," Colin answered, his eyes closed. Obviously more concerned with resting than the worries of his overreacting friend. "Oh, okay . . . " Ryan replied with a hint of aggravation to his tone. Colin, knowing Ryan all-to-well as a result of their twenty-five year friendship, sensed his friend's frustration. Ryan looked Colin in the eyes, angry almost, then turned back to the road. "Ya mean the Exit 98 we just flew by not five seconds ago?" the taller man asked angrily, staring strait ahead. "What?!" Colin asked surprised. "We passed it?!" he shouted as he began scrambling through all his papers trying to find the map. "Yeah Col, we passed it," Ryan answered with annoyance. "So much for having `at least five more miles,' huh?" Colin searched frantically through all of his papers until he located the right map. His eyes flew over it desperately as he tried to find their location as quickly as possible. He found it, then breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay Ry . . . " he began with ease, " . . . there's another exit about three miles away. We can get off there, and then get back on course," he finished happily. "You sure?" Ryan asked, glancing at his long time friend. "I'm positive," Colin replied, certain of himself. "And if I'm wrong, you have my permission to sing Hoe-Downs until my head explodes," he finished with a smile on his lips. This earned him a laugh from Ryan. "Not if I explode first," the taller man added, still chuckling to himself. The two friends spent the next few minutes in silence. The snow seemed to be getting even heavier when, just a couple minutes ago, one would have thought that to be impossible. Ryan started thinking to himself how glad he was that Pat, Deb, and the kids had gone up a few days earlier. Colin and Ryan had to stay back a few days to finish up work related problems, but neither of them minded as long as they still got to spend the week they had planned at the resort. Colin was thinking along these lines too, knowing he would probably go nuts with three kids and two wives in the vehicle with him. Plus, it was nice to spend time together with just the two of them, as it doesn't happen too often. "Hey," Ryan broke the silence, his eyes focusing on something ahead. "Is this it right here?" he asked, beginning to brake slowly just in case it was the right exit. "Yeah, yeah this should be it," Colin replied, looking from the sign to his map, then back again. "Yup, this is definitely it, let's get off of this damn freeway," he finished, glad to be putting that death- trap behind them. Ryan eased the vehicle off the highway and onto the exit ramp. Looking in Colin's direction, waiting for his friend to meet his gaze, he lifted one eyebrow into a `now where?' gesture. Colin glanced down at the directions, and pointed to the left, still reading the paper. "You getting hungry yet?" Colin asked as his friend proceeded in making the left-hand turn. "Starving." The pair had left Colin's house late, around five PM. Neither had eaten dinner yet and it was almost seven o'clock. Colin began nodding his head, then folded the map and set it to the side. "Me too. There's a chain of restaurants coming up, and I think we can afford to make a quick pit stop," he finished, looking out the side window at all the glorious snow. "Good," Ryan stated happily. Colin continued to give Ryan directions for the next ten minutes or so, until they turned onto a road lined with restaurants and fast food places. "So, where's it gonna be?" the taller man questioned, looking around himself for somewhere halfway decent to eat. "Umm . . . I'm not sure exactly why, but I've got the biggest urge to have some Taco Bell," Colin stated, glancing at his friend and knowingly waiting for his disagreement to be voiced. "Aw Col . . . " Ryan began, his tone almost pleading. "Don't get me wrong, I like their food, but every time I go there something weird happens to me." Colin snorted before looking over at his friend. "Define `weird' Ry." Ryan, in turn, looked back at Colin with a serious expression. "You know . . . weird. As in something that doesn't normally happen to a normal person on a normal day," he finished as he turned his attention back to the road. He could still, however, see the `are you serious?' look his friend was giving him out of the corner of his own eye. Ryan then sighed deeply in annoyance. "FINE. If you want to eat there that badly we'll go." "Great!" Colin stated happily, focusing his attention out the window. "There's one coming up on the right," he added, pointing in the direction of the restaurant. "Oh goody," Ryan mumbled under his breath as he began turning into the entrance. "What was that?" Colin inquired, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "Nothing dear," Ryan mumbled yet again, but more audible this time so Colin could hear him. "Uh huh . . . " Colin replied sarcastically. "Are we going through the drive-thru or are we eating inside?" "We're NOT going through the drive-thru," Ryan answered sternly. "Every time I go through the drive-thru, they get my order wrong. SO then, you get all the way home before you notice they forgot a whole freakin' part of your order. And if they just so happen to get it right, they somehow find a way to screw you over on the price! Then when you ask them about it, they look at you like you're insane, and everyone else is yelling at you because you're taking so long! AND THEN-" "So we're going in then?" Colin asked, obviously amused by his friends agitation. Ryan just glared at him as he slammed the shift into park. "Yeah, we're going in," he replied, still glaring. Colin patted his friend on the shoulder with a big smile on his face before exiting the car. Quickly walking through the frigid temperatures, the two improvers entered the building, only to be met by a long line of waiting customers. "This is a joke right?" Ryan asked his older friend, who just shrugged in response. "How can there possibly be this many people in here on a Wednesday night?" he asked through clenched teeth. "Relax Ryan," Colin said while nudging the taller man in the ribs. "The line will go faster then you think," he finished, giving his friend a reassuring look. "Remember what happened the LAST time you told me to relax?" Ryan asked, still through clenched teeth. Colin just shot him another glare which succeeded in silencing Ryan. (20 minutes later) "You sure as hell better enjoy every last bite of this meal, Col," Ryan grumbled. The brown-eyed man took his attention away from trying to find a place to stand that WASN'T sticky, and gave his friend an annoyed look. "We're next in line. It wasn't THAT bad." "That's funny . . . " Ryan replied sarcastically. "My watch stopped. OH! That's right! It only has a thirty YEAR warranty!" he said loudly, but only loud enough to attract a few of the surrounding people's attention. "Will you take it easy?" Colin whispered sternly to his friend. "Sorry," Ryan replied more calmly. "I'm not a very patient person, in case you hadn't noticed," he finished, smiling at his companion. Colin shook his head with a smile, rolling his eyes as he looked away. After a couple more minutes, Ryan's patience was wearing thin again. `The guy in front of us is still deciding!' he thought to himself. `He had half a goddamn hour to make his choice, and he's STILL deciding?!' Ryan's face began to turn to an expression of not only impatience, but anger. His fists began clenching at his side. So hard, in fact, that his knuckles were turning white. Colin could see the anger building up in his friend. Ryan's jaw was clenched tightly and his head was practically buried in his shoulders. He actually caught himself taking a step back from the impending explosion that was bound to happen. "Uh let's see . . . " the guy in front of them stammered. "I guess I'll have the steak Grilled Stuft Burrito . . . with umm . . . oh wait, no . . . no I don't want that . . . I'm gonna have the Taco Supreme . . . I'm just not sure what I want on that. Do you guys have any bell peppers? You don't? Oh, okay, never mind the Taco Supreme then. Listen, just give me a . . . well, actually I-" "FOR. THE LOVE. OF. GOD!!!!!!!!!!" Ryan interjected angrily. "Just PICK SOMETHING before I make a TACO SUPREME OF YOUR ASS!!!!!!" Colin put a hand to his forehead and started laughing quietly to himself. Then to his, and Ryan's, surprise the people around them began laughing and saying things like "Thank God!" and "Tell me about it." After all the noise had died down, the undecided man spoke again. "Uhh . . . just give me two Taco Supremes and a beef Gordita," he said so quickly the teenager at the cash register could barely make it out. He then stepped over to the side swiftly, avoiding Ryan's eyes which were following him slowly, glaring. "Uh, can I help who's next?" the teenage boy behind the register asked. "Please," Colin replied smiling, still amused by what had just happened. Colin proceeded with ordering his food which, Ryan noted, he had decided on BEFORE he got up there. Then, after paying the cashier and receiving his change, he stepped aside to wait for his food. However, before Ryan could step up to order his food, someone walked up to the cashier and told him something. The teenager nodded and began to walk away. Before Ryan could think about what was going on, an elderly woman approached the cash register, as it was time to change shifts. Ryan, unnoticed by anyone else, rolled his eyes in annoyance. It wasn't that he didn't respect or like elderly people, he just had a sort of prejudice for them in the work place when he was in a hurry. However, he figured most people felt the same way, they just didn't want to say it out loud. Ryan noticed that this particular woman appeared to be in her seventies, and just prayed that she would get his order right. "Can I help you young man?" the woman's kind old-lady voice asked, while she squinted at Ryan as he approached. "My! But you're a tall one aren't you?" she asked gazing upward. Ryan was easily two feet taller than this woman, and he practically had to look straight down to meet her eyes. "That's what I've been told," Ryan replied, smiling before slowly making his order so that the woman could get all of it. "Okay . . . I'm just going to have two chicken Chalupa Supremes . . . a beef Soft Taco . . . a grilled steak soft taco . . . and I'll have a medium drink with that," he finished, his hunger showing in the amount of food he ordered. "Is this for here or to go young man?" the woman asked, now squinting at the register. "This is for here," Ryan replied, happy she got his whole order. It took her several moments to find the right button on the register, then when she did find it she pressed it slowly, almost as if she were making sure it worked properly. "Okay sir, can I take your order?" she asked, once again squinting up at Ryan. Confusion overtook Ryan's features, soon replaced by annoyance. However, he forced a smile to his face and calmly began his order again. "YES. I would like TWO CHICKEN CHALUPA SUPREMES . . . " Ryan said, accentuating his order. Not in a rude manner, but in a way that you sometimes have to speak to elderly people, as she obviously didn't hear one thing he said last time. "Okaaaaay . . . " the woman replied, finding the right button and pressing it twice. "Will that be all?" "NO," Ryan replied. "I would also like A BEEF SOFT TACO . . . " he waited for her to punch that in, then continued, " . . . and A GRILLED STEAK SOFT TACO," he added, waiting once again. "Okay, and I just need ONE MEDIUM DRINK," he finished, and he hated to admit, was relieved. "Do you know what a very handsome young man you are?" the woman stated, smiling happily up at him. Colin, who was still waiting for Ryan with his food, began to chuckle quietly to himself again. He did feel sorry for Ryan, but this whole situation was very humorous. "THANK YOU," Ryan replied, smiling down at her, his last nerve on the verge of exploding. "Is that all sir?" she asked once again. "Did you get my drink on there?" he asked, gesturing toward the register. "Nooo . . . I didn't think you were a bear . . . " the woman replied, obviously confused. This earned an all out fit from Colin as he burst into hysterics a few feet away. "NO. NO, DID YOU GET MY DRINK ON THERE?" Ryan tried again, pointing to the register this time. "Ohhh . . . oh. Yes, yes I did," she replied, understanding now. "Okay then, THAT WILL BE ALL," Ryan finished, as he pulled out his wallet. "Okay, your total is $12.63," she replied. He handed her the money and, after a few VERY long minutes, received his change. Ryan then moved to stand next to Colin and just glared at his friend who was trying very hard not to laugh out loud. "I hate you," Ryan stated. "Come on Ry," Colin began. "You have to admit, that was really funny," he finished, still laughing a little. "I TOLD you Col, what did I tell you? Every single time I come here, something-" "Here you go sir, have a nice night." A woman employee, who appeared to be in her thirties, set a tray of food down in front of Ryan, forcing a smile at him. "Thanks," Ryan replied. He then looked down at his order and realized that it obviously wasn't his. It contained three soft tacos and a taco salad. "Umm, excuse me . . . Ma'am?" Ryan called out to the woman who gave him the food as she was walking away. Obviously annoyed, the employee turned around to address Ryan. "Can I help you sir?" she asked. Apparently, Ryan noted, she was having a bad day or something as she wasn't in the best of moods. "Yes, actually, you can," Ryan replied, trying to be nice. And that took a *lot* of effort. "This isn't what I ordered." The employee looked at his order, then glanced up at the computer screen. "Yes it is," she stated. Momentarily taken aback, Ryan tried again. "No, I'm pretty sure it isn't." "Yes, it is," she said again. "NO, it isn't," Ryan stated, not sure how much more of this place he could take. "YES, it is sir. The computers don't lie about the orders," she replied, giving Ryan some major attitude. "Really?" Ryan began very annoyed. "Well then, maybe it's your ability to read that's impaired, because this isn't what I took a half hour of my life to order!" he shouted, vowing he'd make Colin pay for this later. "You know what sir? I really don't care for your attitude," she replied simply, and then proceeded to walk away. Ryan just stood there with his mouth hanging open, shocked at what had just happened. `MY attitude?' he mouthed. "Come on Ry," Colin said as he tugged at his friend's arm, "let's just eat so we can go." "FINE." Ryan snatched up the tray of food that wasn't his, before following Colin to a table. After they had both filled their cups with pop, Ryan and Colin began to eat. As Ryan picked all the stuff out of his tacos that he didn't like, he glared at Colin. "You do realize that's about the eight hundredth time you've looked at me like that today," Colin stated before taking a drink of pop. "Only because it's about the eight hundredth time you've deserved it today," Ryan shot back around a mouth full of food. Colin began to laugh to himself once again. "Look Ryan, if it's worth anything now, I'm sorry. I guess this place really does have a curse on you," he finished, looking around. "Never again Col . . . " Ryan replied. "I will NEVER set foot in one of these places again," he finished, focusing once again on picking at his food. "Just keep thinking about where we're headed," Colin stated, looking very forward to their vacation as well. Just then, as Ryan picked up another taco off his plate, the woman he had been arguing with not three minutes ago stomped over and ripped the plate of food out from under him. "Why didn't you tell me this wasn't yours?" she asked rudely, stomping away with the food. Ryan dropped his taco onto the table and gaped at her. At first, Colin thought his friend was going to shout, then he thought he was going to cry, until finally, Ryan just gave up and covered his face with his hands in frustration. Colin moved to sit next to his best friend, and began rubbing his back with a smirk on his face. "Just think," the Canadian began, "we only have about eight more hours of travel time to go . . ." Ryan slowly looked up at his friend, glaring at first, then gave up on being angry and collapsed on Colin's shoulder. Colin just smiled, and continued to comfort his friend. "This is going to be a looooooong trip," Ryan muffled into Colin's shoulder. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 2) Ryan and Colin quickly finished the last of their meals. Ryan was given a replacement meal along with many apologies from the manager. He accepted it still angry and annoyed, but took it none-the-less, as he and Colin were both eager to get back on the road. After the pair had finished, they stood up to throw their wrappers and such away in the garbage near the door. "So Col . . . " Ryan began as he placed his plastic tray on the counter above the garbage. "Where to now? Are we getting back on the highway?" he asked as Colin began dumping his garbage. "Umm . . . no actually," Colin answered as he then began scanning the directions. "We have to turn left at Highway 26, and follow that to Stayner. Then we can get-" "You two won't be goin' nowheres t'night," a scratchy, muddled voice came from a corner behind the two friends. Colin and Ryan glanced at each other curiously, then slowly turned to see the source of the voice. A crotchety, drunken old man met their gaze. His eyes appeared tired and dazed, and his overall appearance was pretty tattered, as well as dirty. "Excuse me sir?" Colin asked politely. "Have you two taken' a gander outside in the last half-hour?" he began, gesturing towards the window next to him. "It's one of the worst blizzards I've ever seen in all my years. There's no way yous two can travel in that. I don't care how fancy a vehicle you might have," he finished, focusing his attention back on the taco he was eating. "He's right ya know," a voice that came from their left chimed in. "I've been watching the news in the back, and this is one of the worst storms they've seen in a long time. Authorities are saying that no one should be traveling right now," a young woman employee stated to Ryan and Colin. "Really?" Colin questioned with disappointment. The woman employee nodded in response before disappearing behind the counter again. Ryan looked at Colin with a somewhat desperate expression on his face. "Well, now what Col?" he asked, his fatigue clearly showing in his voice. Colin opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the old man once again. "I know of a place where yous could stay . . . " he began, his eyes slowly rising to meet the others. "Really . . .?" Ryan asked skeptically, but hoping that the stranger really did know of a good place. "Uh huh," the old man continued, "it's just down the road . . . but they don't take money for payment, if you know what I mean . . . " he trailed off while licking his lips, his eyes darting between the two younger men. Ryan and Colin both looked at each other, fear plain on both of their features. Taken aback, they began to slowly back away from the old man. "Uhh . . . thanks, but uh . . . no thanks," Colin replied quickly. He and Ryan then spun around and bolted for the door, flat out sprinting for their SUV. The snow was coming down as thick and as heavy as ever. Colin hit the automatic lock on his keys, as he and Ryan continued to run for their car. Once there, they both jumped in, and Colin reached over to his window and hit the `lock' button. For a couple of minutes they both sat there, breathing heavily, their breath visible as they panted. Once their breathing had calmed, Colin put the keys in the ignition and started the engine to help get some heat. Ryan turned his head in Colin's direction and looked the older man in the eyes. "THAT, was DISGUSTING," he finished, still breathing raggedly. The taller man then looked forward and focused on the windshield wipers working to get the ice and snow off the window. `Anything to get my mind off what happened,' he told himself as he continued to stare. "What's the matter Ryan?" Colin began, seriously at first. "First time a drunken old man ever sexually harassed you?" he asked, grinning at Ryan trying to lighten the mood. Ryan laughed a little at this, then turned back to Colin. "Other than you? Yeah, it was," he finished with a smirk. Colin shook his head with a smile. "Let's just get the hell out of here, okay?" he pleaded. "Fine by me," Ryan answered as Colin shifted into reverse. "We'll just search for a hotel to stay at tonight," Colin began, "then we can hopefully get out of here tomorrow, bright and early." "Sounds good," Ryan replied tiredly. He then leaned his head back against the chair and waited for that seat warmer to start doing its job, and help relieve his already aching back. For the next hour Ryan and Colin drove up and down all different streets, slipping and sliding on ice the whole way, trying to find a hotel with at least ONE vacancy. It seemed as though they weren't the only ones stranded in this town because of the storm. They finally pulled up to the last hotel they could find, and both prayed it had an unoccupied room. Colin drove up the steep hill that was the entrance to the "Lover's Inn." Ryan, upon noticing the name of this place, visibly stiffened. "Dear Lord," he breathed, "Colin, there is NO way-" "Will you just shut up?" the Canadian interrupted. "Look, chances are they won't even have a room like everyone else, but if they do, we're taking it! I'm tired! You're tired! We're both TIRED! I don't give a crap if people we've never seen before and will never see again think we're a couple for one night . . . OK?" he asked staring at his friend, breathing heavily while waiting for a reply. Ryan, who was visibly trying to hold in his laughter, just nodded at his friend with a huge grin. A smile then began spreading across Colin's lips before both began to chuckle. After another moment, Colin opened his door to exit the vehicle while Ryan focused on unbuckling his seat belt. As Ryan faced his door to open it, he heard a short gasp and a loud thud, followed by a "Dammit!" Ryan quickly turned to see his friend sprawled out on the ground next to their SUV, one hand grasping the door handle, the other rubbing his back side. "Slippery," Colin stated simply now trying to get off the ground. "Col?" Ryan questioned, "oh man, are you okay?" He could barely get that last sentence out before he began laughing once again. He felt bad for Colin, and seeing the older man glare at him made him feel a little worse, but once he saw that his friend was okay, the humor of the situation set in and he couldn't control himself. Colin's look of `I'm going to kill you' changed to one of amusement as well, before he climbed half-way back into the car and began laughing again, leaning on the driver's seat. Once they both calmed down yet again, Ryan made a move to open his door and exit the vehicle. Colin, however, grabbed his coat and roughly pulled him back in. "Uh uh," he said as he addressed Ryan's `what are you doing?' look. "I'll go in. You stay here. Your back couldn't take a fall like that, and it is damn slippery out there," he continued as he began to get out once again. "If there are any vacancies, I'll come back and drop you off at the front, okay?" he asked, although Ryan could tell that he wasn't about to win any argument over this. "All right," Ryan agreed. "No offense, but I really don't want to be seen in there with you if we're not even going to stay . . ." he finished with a smirk. "Non taken," Colin answered truthfully. He then closed the door and made his way, slipping and sliding to the entrance of the hotel, as Ryan began concentrating on the map. Ryan buried his face in the map, focusing intently, and so he didn't notice the backward momentum of the car he was in. Colin continued to make his way towards the hotel, then stopped as he heard a weird noise behind him. He turned around to see his SUV sliding backwards slowly down the hill. Shrugging, Colin continued to walk forward until his reflexes acted and made him do a double take. Whirling around so fast that he slipped on the ice and fell forward onto his face, it took him a moment to shake off the fall before looking up. When he did, the Canadian saw that his car was gaining more momentum now, and it was sliding quicker down the hill. "RYAN!!!" Colin shouted at the top of his lungs as he scrambled to his feet on the slippery ice. Ryan looked up from his map at the sound of his friend's voice calling his name. He peered through the semi-frosted window to see Colin waving his arms and trying to run towards the vehicle. "What's his problem?" the green eyed man muttered to himself. Then, upon noticing his backward movement, Ryan gasped and looked out at Colin with fear etched on his face. "Christ! Shit! Dammit it all to Hell!" Ryan began his creative stream of cursing as worry and fright took over his body. He quickly began twisting his body over the shift in between the seats in a desperate effort to get onto the driver's side. This proved difficult however, as Ryan, being a very tall man, had to struggle just to get one leg over onto the other side. In the meantime, Colin had finally reached the driver's side door of the car. To his surprise, when trying to open it, he realized that it was locked. Attempting to get his friend's attention, Colin was shouting his name and pounding on the window. Ryan was too shocked at his sudden situation, however, and was still focusing on getting himself in the driver's seat. Finally, when his wide emerald eyes looked over to his right, he could see his friend running along-side the car, trying not to fall with every step he took. Ryan reached over to the driver's side window and hit the `unlock' button. Colin pulled on the handle, and quickly opened the door. Because of all that was happening however, the older man's adrenaline got the best of him and he opened the door a little too quickly. Colin slipped on the slick surface, but continued holding onto the door handle so that he was now being dragged on the ice down the steep hill. He could here Ryan desperately shouting his name, not only making sure he was all right, but getting more worried as each passing second they were closer to the road behind them. The road with *very* fast moving traffic. Ryan, somehow getting his other foot tangled in his seat belt, was now frantically trying to get it loose. At the same time, Colin mustered up all the strength he had to pull himself up so that he was running next to the car once again. Pulling himself to the inside of the ajar door, Colin made a very ungraceful leap into the driver's seat, hitting his head on the top of the entrance and jabbing his elbow into Ryan's knee. Colin quickly pulled the emergency brake, and when it did nothing, he threw the SUV into drive and slowly accelerated in order to get some traction. Ryan, who had one leg on the driver's side and one in the passenger's side, was sitting on the arm rest between the chairs and grabbing onto Colin for dear life. The SUV wasn't getting any traction, and they were descending the hill very quickly now. Suddenly, even though it seemed to play out in slow motion, the inevitable happened. Colin couldn't do anything, and Ryan sure as hell couldn't do anything. The SUV flew back into oncoming traffic, and the comedians held their breath and closed their eyes as cars and trucks swerved and honked their horns in an effort to avoid hitting them. After all the noise seemed to die down, Colin and Ryan slowly opened their eyes to see what had happened. Ryan looked around outside and noticed that none of the cars had hit them, or anyone else for that matter, and people were walking around to make sure others were okay. Colin noticed this as well, as he was the first to speak. "We're alive," he stated simply. He glanced up at Ryan and the two smiled at each other. Then, one of the other drivers knocked on their window. Colin reached over and pressed the button to roll the window down. "Hey. You two all ri-?" the man cut himself off and gave Ryan and Colin a funny look. He then shook off his confusion and began again. "You guys all right?" "Yeah, yeah I think we're okay," Ryan answered, relieved. The other man just nodded and began walking in the opposite direction to check on other people. Ryan and Colin then realized why the man had looked at them so funny, given their positions. Ryan had his arms in a death grip around Colin's shoulders, while Colin had his the same around Ryan's waist, all while the taller man was straddling the armrest of the seats. They both looked at each other and started laughing to themselves for a few moments. "Oh man . . . " Colin trailed off with flushed cheeks, his embarrassment setting in. He then let go of his friend and aided Ryan to his own seat. "What a sight we must have made huh?" he asked, beginning to chuckle again. Ryan simply shook his head back and forth in response, still laughing. "Let's try that again, shall we?" he asked, gesturing up at the hotel. "And this time, don't park on the hill," the taller man pleaded with a smile. Colin just nodded and proceeded to make their way back up to the "Lover's Inn." He slowly began accelerating and, because they actually achieved forward momentum, were able to make it back up the hill with few difficulties. Once they reached the parking lot, as luck would have it, someone had just left and a vacant parking spot was open near the entrance. Colin pulled into the empty space and put the vehicle into park, for the second time in a short while. The pair sat silently for a few minutes before Colin sighed heavily, mentally and physically tired, and threw on a pair of gloves and a winter hat. "Here goes nothing," the older man breathed as he opened his door and began to get out. "Col . . . wait," Ryan began as he motioned to pull his friend back in. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it quickly as if he wasn't sure he should speak his mind. "What's up?" Colin questioned his friend with raised eyebrows. "Well, I um . . . we-we uh . . . " Ryan groped for the right words until he finally sighed and started over. "I'll go in with you. It'll be more convincing that way." Colin frowned to himself, knowing that was not what Ryan had wanted to say. He then quickly changed the subject, hoping his friend wouldn't notice his disappointment. "Convincing?" "Yeah . . . you know . . . " Ryan suggestively commented, a smile breaking through, "that we're a `couple'. Maybe the guy will cut us a break if he thinks we're together. You know, just in case there isn't a room," he finished as he too began exiting the car. Colin smiled, shaking his head at the situation they were about to be in. "All right. But I'm helping you on the ice," he stated, and Ryan could tell by his tone that it wasn't a request. Colin began moving to the other side of the SUV, very slowly so as not to fall again. "Good Lord. Haven't these people ever heard of salt?" he asked in frustration. "I mean, seriously," he continued as he grabbed one of Ryan's arms firmly and began walking the icy path. "You'd think that since MAYBE, because we're in Canada, they might have the slightest clue about snowy weather." Ryan just smiled at his friend's sarcasm which, itself, is a rare occurrence. He then hooked his arm into Colin's, gripping tightly, and began concentrating on NOT falling on his ass. Colin was guessing that it was about two degrees out, as his breathing was short and ragged just from walking a short distance. Ryan's breathing was labored as well, as the snow continued to fall heavily down on the two. Their parking spot had to be about thirty feet away from the entrance, and yet it had taken them a good thirty seconds to walk about three-quarters of the way. When they were only a few steps away, however, Ryan got over confidant and began to walk a little faster. This proved to be a mistake as his feet slipped out from under him, and he began to fall backwards. Colin quickly reached out and grabbed Ryan to prevent his friend from falling. In doing so, he grabbed the taller man's shoulders and pulled him into his chest. Ryan's face was buried in Colin's coat, and they remained like that for a few seconds making sure they wouldn't slip again. "Thanks Col," Ryan muffled somewhat sarcastically into his friend's jacket, grabbing Colin's shoulders and beginning to pull himself up. They were both very unsteady, however, as Colin's feet began to slip which succeeded in making Ryan slip as well. The younger man once again began to fall, and Colin, reacting too quickly this time, reversed their positions and landed hard on his back with Ryan falling on top. A puff of air escaped Colin's mouth as he lie there, stunned. It had happened so fast, neither even knew what had hit them. Eventually, Ryan pushed himself up and stared down at Colin, dazed and confused. After gazing at his friend for a few seconds, his mind cleared and he began to panic. "Col?" Ryan asked questioningly at his unmoving friend. "Hey Col . . . you all right?" he tried again as he gently shook the man pinned underneath him by the shoulders. "Uhnnn . . . " Colin groaned as his eyes fluttered open. His deep brown eyes were glazed over, and once the blurriness of his vision cleared he could see his friend's worried expression looking down at him. "Col, man, are you okay? Did you pass out? Should we go to the hospital?" Ryan asked so quickly it made Colin's head spin. Clearing his thoughts, Colin looked back at his friend with a slight smile. "No, Ry, I'm okay . . . really." Still seeing Ryan's unsure expression, he continued. "Seriously, I just got the wind knocked out of me, and I was closing my eyes to help ease the pain. But I'm okay now, honestly." Ryan, still a little unsure, decided to trust his friend and slowly got to his feet. Once standing, he reached down to lend Colin a hand. Gratefully accepting it the older man pulled himself up, slowly as well, meeting Ryan's gaze. The Canadian began to pull away so he could grip his friend's shoulders and begin walking again, but Ryan held firmly onto Colin's hand. Colin questioningly raised one eyebrow at his friend, and Ryan smiled in return. "My hero," the green-eyed man said with a smile. Colin began chuckling, and Ryan patted him on the back before they resumed their journey to the entrance. After a few more seconds, they finally reached the glass doors and let themselves into the hotel. Feeling the heat rush over their bodies, as if it were thawing their frozen limbs, Ryan and Colin both sighed in relief. "Thank God," Ryan muttered as the two began brushing the snow and ice off of themselves. Once that was done, he looked up and saw the check- in counter ahead of them on the corner. "Well, let's get this over with," he said as he wrapped an arm around Colin's waist. Colin glanced up in surprise at first, then realizing what Ryan was up to, returned the gesture. "We're going to have to use every acting skill in our bodies to pull this charade off," Colin muttered through a toothy smile as they approached the man behind the desk. "Yeah, right," Ryan began sarcastically, "because people don't ALREADY think we're gay or anything." Colin threw him a playful glare, jabbing him in the ribs as they approached the counter. "Good evening!" the clerk began cheerily. He then, however, noticed the fact that two men were approaching him. "Can I . . . help you?" he questioned slowly, running his judging eyes over the two friends. "Yeah, yeah you can help us," Colin began angrily, "help us by maybe salting your damn walkway once in a while! We almost broke our backs trying to-!" "Honey! Honey, calm down . . ." Ryan said calmly, cutting off Colin. Using every skill he had at his disposal to keep a straight face while calling his best friend `Honey', Ryan then began rubbing Colin's shoulders in a tenderly way. "I'm sorry sir, it's been a long night," he continued, now looking at the employee. "You wouldn't happen to have a vacant room would you? We've been all over town and this is our last hope." "Are you two, umm . . . a couple?" the man asked stuttering, obviously embarrassed. Ryan and Colin looked at him with quirked eyebrows, as if asking `isn't it obvious?' "Not that there's anything wrong with that," he continued quickly, "it's just that, only couples are permitted to stay at this hotel. It's uh, the owner's rules, to um, uh . . . to keep up appearances I guess," he finally finished, his eyes shifting from one man's to the other's. "Well of course we're a couple," Colin began matter-of- factly. "Nothing could keep me away from my widdle Wuv Muffin here," he added, framing Ryan's face and returning the loving gaze. The two friends were both laughing hysterically on the inside, but their acting skills played out perfectly as they looked as though they were truly in love to the employee. "Right . . . I uh, I apologize," the man replied, still a little embarrassed and now pretty uncomfortable. "You're in luck though," he continued, desperately wanting to change the subject. "We do have one more room left, however, it's the Honeymoon suite so it's-" "We don't care about the cost." Ryan had interrupted, desperation showing in his voice. "We just need a place to sleep." "Great!" the employee enthusiastically replied. "Well then, your total will be $189.00, plus any extra services you request including food, movies, massages, etc. So you fellas can pay tomorrow when you check out, but I am going to need some information from you." Ryan proceeded to give the employee all of his information: his phone number, address, and of course, his name. He wasn't worried about revealing his name to this man, as the employee obviously didn't recognize him to begin with. That was one of the things he enjoyed most about Canada. Up here, he wasn't as well known and, therefore, wasn't stopped every three seconds for an autograph by people. It was different for Colin here though, of course. Ryan was sure that if they had revealed his friend's name, the clerk would have recognized it in a second. "All right," the employee said, smiling as he reached behind him to a filing cabinet. "Here's your room key. You two will be in room 163 on the third floor, and . . . do you two have any luggage?" he asked while peering down and around Ryan and Colin. "Crap," Colin muttered, "we left it in the car . . . I'm gonna go get it and-" "It's all right sir," the clerk cut in with a smile. "If you give me your keys, I'll have a bellboy retrieve it for you and bring it to your room." "Oh, okay . . . " Colin trailed off as he began fishing for his keys. He really did not want to go back on that ice if he didn't have to anyway. "Here you go. It's a silver SUV on your left," he said to the bellboy that appeared next to him while placing the car keys in his hand. "There's two carry-on bags in the back seat. A blue one and a black one, those are the only two we need," he finished with an appreciative look. The bellboy nodded politely as he began to head for the doors to the parking lot. "All right gentlemen," the employee began, addressing the two improvers. "We just have a couple of rules here at the Lover's Inn that we need to go over really quick." Ryan and Colin just nodded, wanting to get this over with so that they could get to their room and go to sleep as quickly as possible. "First of all," the other man began, "there is no eating in the bathroom or hot tub, for sanitary reasons. Secondly, please refrain from making long-distance phone calls without intending to pay for them. We've had problems with that in the past, believe me. And lastly . . . " the man looked downward as if hesitant to bring up this last rule. "Lastly, please, no lovemaking in the hot tub. Not only for sanitary reasons once again, but because it isn't very pleasant for our next guests who stay in that room if we haven't had the chance to thoroughly clean it out." The employee then looked up questioningly at Ryan and Colin, who nodded in understanding. Nothing is worse than needing to laugh out loud hysterically, and knowing that you can't. So the two barely managed to keep the smiles off of their faces and laughter out of their voices as they made their way to the elevator. "All right, well thank you sir," Ryan said as he and Colin backed into the waiting elevator. "Have a nice night." "Thank you very much. Have a nice night yourselves," he replied as the elevator doors began to close. "Sooo, Ryan?" Colin began with a huge smile on his face as they ventured towards their floor. "Up for a dip in the hot tub?" he asked, laughter shining in his deep brown eyes. "I don't know Col..." Ryan began, his tone nothing but serious as a stoic expression graced his face. "Once I start making love to you, I don't know if I'll be able to stop." The pair just smiled those familiar smiles at each other, and began laughing out loud. When the elevator reached the third floor, the door opened slowly and Ryan took a quick look outside into the hallway. Once he made sure no one was out there, to see the two comedians enter the same room and then possibly recognize them, he motioned for Colin to follow him into the hallway. The pair walked briskly down the corridor trying to locate room 163 as quickly as possible. Once they found the room, Colin began to fish around in his pockets to locate the key. The two men both jumped at the sound of approaching voices coming around a nearby corner. Colin found the key, but began fumbling as a result of the pressure that was now on him. If he didn't hurry up and open the door, those people would see two MEN, that they may even recognize from television, entering a room together at the Lover's Inn. Colin could just see the tabloids now. Getting frustrated as the lock wasn't responding to the key card, he began cursing under his breath. "Hurry up Col . . . " Ryan pleaded as the voices were just about to round the corner. "I'm trying dammit!" he whispered loudly in response. "If this damn door would just cooperate, I wou-" suddenly the door opened and the pair flew inside the room just as the group of people rounded the corner. Quickly shutting the door behind them, Ryan and Colin breathed a sigh of relief. Both very tired and ready to go straight to bed, they exited the foyer and proceeded into the larger part of the suite. Colin fumbled along the wall for a light switch, as it was pitch black and he really didn't feel like falling over something. He'd done enough falling for one night he decided to himself. Running his hand up and down the wall, he finally located the switch and turned it on. As the room filled with light, Ryan stopped dead in his tracks ahead of his friend, and Colin's eyes widened in shock. The two remained in those positions for a few moments staring at what, Colin decided, had to be THE ugliest, tackiest hotel room he'd ever seen. The room was nothing but an array of reds, pinks, and whites. Almost like a nightmare someone would have after a Valentine's date went terribly, terribly wrong. On top of the horrid colors, everything in the room was disgustingly heart shaped. Colin took a quick inventory of heart shaped cups, a TV stand, lights, the sink, pillows, everything down to the heart shaped bed. The bed. Colin grew visibly uncomfortable as his eyes laid on the queen sized, red velvet, heart shaped bed in the middle of the room. Ryan's eyes were locked on to this atrocity as well, as the two continued to stare until a knock at their door made them both jump. "Wh- who is it?" Colin asked, his voice wavering. "Bellboy sir, I have your luggage," the employee replied in a professional tone. Colin, being closer to the door, stumbled backwards as he still couldn't take his eyes of the bed. He fumbled for the door knob and once he found it, opened the door and was able to focus his attention on the man in front of him. "Thank you very much," Colin addressed the man as he received his luggage. He then dug out his wallet and tipped the bellboy. "Thank YOU sir," he responded happily to Colin's generosity before turning on his heal and walking in the opposite direction. After the bellboy rounded the corner, Colin incoherently mumbled "you're welcome" to him and proceeded to close and lock the door. Upon entering the larger area of the room, Colin noticed that Ryan was still in the same spot, staring at the bed. He shook his head and laughed to himself as he moved forward to stand next to his friend. "Ryan?" Colin questioned his unmoving companion. "Yeah?" Ryan replied, still staring ahead of him. "Come on, let's get ready for bed." Colin chuckled, thrusting Ryan's bag into the taller man's gut, forcing him to look away from the bed. "Colin . . . " Ryan began, looking his friend in the eye. "I am not sleeping in THAT bed. It scares me, and who knows who's been in it," he finished, shuddering at the thought. "Yeah well, YOU scare *me*, and I have to sleep WITH you, IN that bed. So how do you think I feel?" the shorter man joked as he moved to place his luggage on the giant red velvet heart. "Oh, ha ha," Ryan replied as he followed Colin's motion to unpack. Once they had uncovered their toiletries and fresh clothes, they proceeded to remove their winter attire. "Col!" Ryan gasped as his friend removed his hat. "Your head, it's bleeding," he continued quietly as he moved to look over his friend's wound. "It's bleeding a lot." Colin raised a hand to his head to feel the area, but Ryan quickly snatched it and pulled it back down. "Don't touch it, it might get infected," the younger man commanded as he squinted his eyes in the poor light, trying to inspect the damage. "Yeah, no wonder it hurts so much," Colin replied half-jokingly. "When did this happen?" Ryan asked, concern showing on his features and in his tone. "When we were sliding down the hill and I jumped back in the car . . . " Colin replied as Ryan led him into the bathroom. "I hit my head pretty hard, but I wasn't too concerned with that at the moment," he finished, smiling a little. However, the memory was frightening at the same time, and Ryan could see the guilt in his eyes. "It wasn't your fault . . . you know that right?" Ryan asked as he motioned for Colin to sit on the bathroom counter. Colin reluctantly obeyed as he hopped up next to the sink, looking over at his friend. "Ryan, you don't have to do this. I can take care of it-" "Just, shut up and hand me that washcloth over there would you?" Ryan replied seriously, as he gestured for the cloth with his hand. Colin, still feeling guilty, obediently reached over and placed the object in his friend's waiting hand. Ryan then ran the cloth under warm water and dabbed antibacterial soap onto it. Once he got a nice lather, he took the side of Colin's face in his left hand, and began tending to his friend's cut with the other. Colin studied his friend's face, but avoided looking into his eyes. He watched Ryan as the younger man focused intently on the wound, being as gentle as he could while cleaning it. Ryan, noticing Colin wouldn't look him in the eye, tried to get him to answer his earlier question. "Col?" he momentarily stopped cleaning the cut and looked at his friend. "It wasn't your fault." Colin's eyes slowly rose to meet his friend's gaze. "I'm sorry Ry," he began, as if he hadn't heard what Ryan had just said. "You were right, I was so stupid to park on that hill when it was so icy. I could have gotten us both killed. I wasn't thinking and I should have, because if those people hadn't dodged us, we could-" "Colin," Ryan interrupted with a smile, "I was only joking about that parking on the hill thing. I was still a little shaken up and was just kidding around to lighten the mood. I'm sorry, I thought you knew that . . . " he continued quietly but matter-of-factly. Colin opened his mouth to argue, but Ryan cut him of once again. "It was a mistake Col, okay? Anyone could have done it, and there was nothing either of us could do to stop it. Who would have guessed the ice would take the car all the way down the hill like that? The important thing is that we're both okay and no one else was hurt either. Right?" Ryan finished smiling at his friend, grabbing his shoulders and gently shaking him in a friendly gesture. Colin slightly smiled up at his friend. He knew Ryan was right, but deep down he still felt a pang of guilt for putting his friend in danger like that. "I guess you're right," he began, to which Ryan nodded in affirmation. "Falling on my ass all those times was probably my punishment for making you eat at that Taco Bell earlier anyway," Colin finished, smiling up at his friend. Ryan laughed out loud at that, giving his friend a pat on the back. He then moved to leave the bathroom and give Colin some privacy so they could both change and finally go to bed. After they both changed and performed all their night time hygiene rituals, they proceeded to call their families up at the resort and let them know what was going on. They explained about the weather, and how they were staying at a hotel for the night. They then told their wives how they would get back on the road in the morning and hopefully be there by tomorrow afternoon. After Ryan said goodnight to his wife and kids, he handed his cell phone over to Colin so he could do the same. While Colin talked to his family, Ryan dialed the desk downstairs to request a wake-up call. "Hi, this is Ryan Stiles in room 163. I'd like to request a wake-up call tomorrow morning for 7 AM please . . . uh huh, that's right. All right, thank you very much." Ryan hung up the phone just as Colin ended his call with his wife. "Hey Ryan," Colin began as he moved toward his friend, "your battery is low, you'd better charge it overnight." He handed Ryan the phone before crawling under the covers in their hideous bed. "All right," Ryan replied as he moved to plug his phone into the charger. However, a knock at the door interrupted him and he put the phone down near his bag to go check out the noise. Ryan opened the door and looked around, but no one was there. "Okaaaay . . . " he mumbled to himself. He then closed the door, making sure to lock it, and headed toward the bed. Ryan climbed under the covers and turned out the light on the night stand next to him. The room went pitch black once again, and Ryan and Colin both began moving around to get comfortable. "You know, as ugly as this thing is, it's surprisingly comfy," Ryan mentioned as he settled on his left side toward Colin who was facing away from him. "Can't judge a book by its cover I guess," Colin mumbled sleepily into his pillow. "No, I guess not . . . " Ryan replied with a yawn. After a few minutes, the taller man began quietly chuckling to himself. Opening one eye, Colin turned his head so that he could see Ryan's outlined form next to him in the darkness. "What? What's so funny Ry?" he asked with a small smile of his own due to Ryan's snickering. "Hey Col? Guess what?" the younger man began, still chuckling. "We're spooning," he finally said out loud, earning an exaggerated sigh and a pillow in the face from his best friend next to him. "Good night, Ry," Colin basically commanded, not being able to control his own chuckling. "Night Col," Ryan replied, still laughing quietly to himself as well. ***************** A couple hours later, Ryan awoke when he thought he heard moaning in the room next door. This made him open his eyes and stare into the darkness, his fear being confirmed. The moaning got louder until it was more like grunting and, uniformly, noisy bed springs began to squeak. "Oh dear Lord," he quietly mumbled to himself, becoming agitated. He noticed that Colin's breathing changed, a sure sign that the noise had woken him too. "Col?" Ryan questioned in a low voice. "Yeah," he replied loudly, obviously angry. "Sorry buddy, just making sure someone else is suffering with me." After a minute or so, Colin and Ryan were both laying on their backs, staring at the ceiling. The moaning had gotten much louder, and the two lover's bed must have been beating on the wall as a pounding noise was heard about every second. "Man, don't those two know when to say when?" Ryan asked jokingly. Before Colin could respond, the lovemaking couple began to shout each other's names. "Can you believe this?" Colin asked Ryan as they both tried to block out the noise with pillows over their ears. "I said it earlier and I'm gonna say it again Col," Ryan began, "it's going to be a looooooong trip." "Or night for that matter," Colin replied tiredly as he gazed over at the clock on his night stand. The digital numbers read 12:43 AM, and he could only hope they'd get more sleep before the morning. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 3) Ryan's tired green eyes fluttered open, squinting as the harsh afternoon sun poured through a nearby window. Getting agitated at the bright light that prevented him from falling back asleep, he moved to pull a pillow over his head to block it out. In doing this, however, he then noticed the presence of another body lying close to him. A pair of arms were wrapped tightly around his stomach, and he felt soft breathing on the back of his neck. Ryan smiled and began to feel himself drifting back to sleep once again, content and forgetting about the light, until he looked down at his hand. He had another person's hand gripped softly in his own, but the hand didn't belong to his wife. That hand belonged to a man. Ryan's eyes snapped wide open in confusion. He could feel his stomach knotting as panic set in, until a few moments later when everything started to come back to him. He was on his way to the resort with his best friend, and they had stopped at this hotel until the bad weather blew over. After blowing a relieved breath out of his mouth, a wide smile appeared on his face, one that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. "Colinnnn . . . " he called quietly, his voice soothing. "Colinnnn . . . " he tried again a few moments later, his voice louder this time. "Hmm . . .?" Colin's voice answered back, still half asleep. "Col!" Ryan shouted to wake his friend. The Canadian's dark brown eyes snapped open in annoyance. He opened his mouth to yell back, until he noticed his position. "Ryan?" he asked in confusion of his own. "Why Colin!" Ryan answered back in one of his fake southern accents. "Ah never did know you felt that way `bout little ol' me!" he finished, amused by this whole thing. "Oh dear Lord," Colin sighed to himself, shaking his head in an unbelieving manner. "First of all," he began, playing along, "you know I've always felt that way about you Ryan. And secondly, sorry to break it to you, but you're far from little, Giraffe boy." "All right Dino-man," Ryan replied, chuckling to himself. "Now, would you mind removing your arms from my mid-section? I already told you, I'm not that kind of girl." His smile widened as he continued to joke with his friend. "Love to," Colin came back, "once you let go of my hand it would be a lot easier though." Colin couldn't keep the laughter out of his voice either, as this whole thing was rather amusing. "Oh, whoops," Ryan stated as he released his friends hand. "Sorry," he mumbled as they both began to get out of the visual atrocity that was their bed. Colin began to walk toward the bathroom as Ryan moved to get out clothes for the day, when a thought suddenly occurred to the taller man. Looking outside with a quizzical expression on his face, Ryan called to his friend. "Hey Col?" he said loudly so that Colin could hear him through the bathroom door. "Yeah?" the older man called back. Ryan, still looking out the window with a confused expression, continued his question. "What time does the sun rise up here in the middle of December?" "Uhhh . . . usually around eight or so. Why?" Colin asked, raising his voice over the sound of the toilet flushing. "Eight?" Ryan said to himself. "But I asked them to give us a wake-up call at 7-" Ryan cut himself off as he turned to look at the digital clock on the night stand. "Oh shit," he said out loud just as Colin came out of the bathroom. "What's wrong?" Colin asked. Then, seeing Ryan gaze at the clock, he looked himself. "12:30? It's 12:30? That can't be right . . . " Colin said quietly, confused. "Oh it's right," Ryan replied looking up at his friend, his anger showing in his voice and on his face. "Those ass-holes forgot to wake us up! I can't believe this!" Ryan shouted angrily and annoyed as he began throwing his clothes in his bag. "Calm down Ryan," the shorter man began quietly, "you don't have to-" "Calm down?! Christ Colin! We still have about eight more hours of driving to go!" he continued as he looked up at his friend, anger flaring. "We'll make it by ten o'clock tonight if we're lucky, which means we just threw another vacation day with our families down the toilet!" Ryan was obviously less than happy as he hurriedly snatched a small plastic bag out of his luggage. Shaking his head and mumbling under his breath, he began heading toward the bathroom. Stopping himself, Ryan slowly turned and faced Colin, a more calm expression on his face. "I'm gonna take a quick five-minute shower. Why don't you start getting all of our junk together, then we'll switch." "Fine Ryan, that's sounds good," Colin replied with a hint of aggravation as he turned away to start packing. Ryan made a move to approach his friend, but hesitated. Sighing, he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Five minutes later, Colin had finished packing and Ryan was still in the bathroom. Looking around for something to do, his expressive eyes narrowed questioningly, as across the room he noticed that the door to the hallway was cracked open. ********************************* Ryan's palms pressed heavily against the shower wall as he leaned into it, letting the hot water run down his neck and over his back, the soap rinsing off his body. He started thinking about how damn good it felt and how he wished he could stay in that position forever. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, when the water suddenly turned ice cold. "Holy shit!!" Ryan squeaked, jumping back in shock. After a moment, and letting his breathing go back to a normal rate, he got the courage to brave the freezing water. Reaching for the knobs underneath the shower head, he tried to let the least amount of his body touch the cascading water as possible. Ryan turned the hot water up all the way, and when nothing happened, he started to turn down the cold. He knew this was a mistake as the `cold' knob got closer and closer to all the way off, but he really wanted his hot water back. Suddenly, more like instantly, the water turned scorching hot and Ryan literally jumped out of the shower. Sliding on the tile floor, his hand caught the bathroom sink so that he was able to regain his balance. Stepping back toward the shower stall, he gingerly reached in and turned off the water. He would have given anything for just a few more minutes under that water, but decided that he'd much rather keep all of his skin. Ryan then tightly wrapped a towel around his waist and exited the bathroom. He was about to address his friend to tell him the bathroom was free, when he looked over and saw Colin sitting on the bed staring into nothingness. His friend's face was pale and held a blank expression. "Col?" Ryan questioned with concern, moving to stand by his friend. Colin slowly looked up to meet his friends gaze, and once he saw Ryan's face, his own expression grew angry. "You forgot to lock the door last night, didn't you?" he asked accusingly. "What? What, no... What are you talking about?" Ryan asked, very confused by his friends anger. "When that person knocked on the door right before we went to bed, you forgot to lock the door after they left, right?" Colin asked angrily, standing up to look his friend in the eyes. Ryan gazed downward as he tried to recall that moment. He was positive he locked the door, but he was really tired, maybe he was mistaken? No, no he knew he locked it, he remembered making sure it was locked too. "No Col, I locked the door. I know it," Ryan steadily replied to his friend. "Oh bullshit," Colin snapped back. The taller man's eyes widened, taken aback by his friends tone and dangerous gaze. "Col?" Ryan began, his voice still showing his confusion, "what's this all about?" Colin, breaking his stare with the taller man, began to walk away. "Someone robbed us last night Ryan," he sighed tiredly, staring out a window. "Robbed?" Ryan said to no one in particular. "Yeah Ryan, robbed," Colin replied matter-of-factly as he turned to face his friend once again. "While you were in the shower, I noticed the door was open. So, assuming the worst, I checked my wallet and everything is gone. Everything that we need anyway; cash, credit cards . . . " Colin paused as he sat down, rubbing his temples. "Then I checked your wallet, and all of your stuff is gone too." Ryan moved to check his wallet, and confirmed what Colin had said. "Oh man," Ryan began, sighing to himself as he plopped down on the bed next to Colin. "How could this have happened?" he mumbled to himself. Colin stiffened next to him. "How could this have happened? How could this have happened?! Maybe if you hadn't left the door open for every one and their mother to come in, we wouldn't have lost everything!" he stated loudly, staring intently into his friends shocked eyes. "I told you already Col . . . " Ryan replied steadily, angry at his friend's accusations, "I locked the door, I'm POSITIVE." Ryan rose to his feet in an almost challenging manor, fixing his eyes onto his friend's narrowed ones. Colin stared back up at the taller man, his gaze piercing. The two remained like that for a few moments until Colin suddenly broke their gaze. He walked over to a nearby chair and slumped down in it, hiding his face in his hands. Ryan, concern wiping away his anger, went over to his friend and kneeled down in front of him. "Colin?" he questioned softly up to his friend. "This isn't just about us losing our money, what's wrong?" he asked, trying to get the other man to look at him. Colin scrubbed his face with his hands as he motioned to get up. "It's nothing Ry, I'm sorry, I-" Ryan, placing both hands on Colin's chest, hastily shoved his friend back down into the chair. "Bullshit," he replied with a small smile, as he used his friends earlier words. "You might as well tell me Col, `cause I'm going to find out sooner or later." Ryan then placed both his hands on the arms of the chair, blocking off any escape Colin could have as he leaned over his friend. Colin sighed deeply, hesitating before speaking. "First of all," he started, his eyes rising to meet his captor's apologetically. "I'm sorry Ry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I did believe you, I just needed someone to blame because, well because of something that was stolen . . . " he trailed off sadly. "What Col? What was taken?" Ryan asked gently. "Look, Ry," the Canadian began, shaking his head, "I don't want to talk about it now. I'm just going to go take a shower all right?" he asked, his eyes pleading with the taller man. "Colin, please," Ryan began, his green eyes still searching the depths of his friends. "This is obviously making you upset buddy, just tell me what's wrong." Colin just sighed sadly, looking back at his tall friend. "I will Ry, I promise. But not right now okay? I just want to take a shower and forget about everything for a little bit. Please Ry?" he questioned, using his large, puppy dog eyes to his full advantage. Rolling his eyes at how Colin knew he couldn't say "no" to that look, Ryan sighed deeply. "All right," he reluctantly agreed, stepping back from the chair to let his friend up. "I just became painfully aware that I'm practically naked anyway," he joked with a wink. "No more than usual," Colin quipped as he headed for the bathroom. "Only when I'm with you buddy," Ryan came back, both men smiling as Colin closed the bathroom door behind him. After Ryan dressed, he proceeded to call his wife and explain all that happened so far. She kept asking over and over again if they were all right, and Ryan kept replying that they were fine. All the while, Deb could be heard in the background frantically yelling "What?!" and "Oh my God!" over and over. ****************************** Once in the bathroom, Colin began to undress. Everything was fine, until he attempted to take off his shirt. He began to pull it over his head, when he stopped very suddenly, a sharp pain spreading throughout his body. "Holy shit," Colin commented quietly to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. With his shirt half way pulled up, he had a perfect view of what had to be the nastiest looking bruise he had ever seen on anyone, let alone himself. It was a deep bluish-purple color, and it spread up the right side of his back from his hip to his shoulder. So when he moved to put his arms up over his head, it aggravated the area badly, as it was extremely tender. "I must have fallen harder than I thought," he mumbled to himself. He then gritted his teeth and ripped the shirt off over his head as fast as he could. It hurt like hell afterwards to the point where he thought he might keel over and die, but he couldn't wait to take a shower any longer. He was about to turn on the water when he heard Ryan's voice call his name through the door. "Yeah?" Colin called back. "Hey, be careful with the hot water. I almost gave myself third degree burns because that damn shower has a mind of its own," Ryan stated. "All right. Thanks Ry," Colin called back. "No problem," the taller man said before returning to his conversation on the phone. Colin jumped in the shower under the warm water and relished in the feeling. He began washing himself, relaxing a little as he did so. He was still pretty agitated, but he tried to put what had happened out of his mind. Having minor difficulties with the water temperature, Colin got out of the shower. He reached for a towel and wrapped it around himself. Before opening the door to head back into the room, he stopped himself and thought about what would happen. `If Ryan saw my back like this, I would never hear the end of it,' Colin thought to himself. `He'd be babying me the rest of the trip because he'd feel guilty about it.' "Hey Ryan?" Colin called as he poked his head out of the bathroom. "Yeah?" his friend called back, having hung up with his wife a moment ago. "Could you bring me my bag?" the Canadian asked through the slightly cracked open door. "I might as well just do all my bathroom stuff while I'm in the bathroom," he concluded. Ryan nodded his head and went to get Colin's luggage. He wondered to himself why Colin didn't just go get the bag himself, but he put it out of his mind as he handed the bag to his friend. "Thanks," Colin responded as he tried to get the bag into the bathroom while keeping the door closed as much as possible. "No problem . . ." Ryan replied as he looked quizzically at his friend. He assumed Colin probably wasn't decent at the moment and let his friend's suspicious behavior go, for the moment anyway. After getting his belongings into the bathroom, Colin began rummaging through his bag. He silently cursed himself for not bringing a SINGLE button down shirt. All he had were sweaters, pull-overs, and long sleeved shirts. Colin avoided the sweaters, as he would have to wear another shirt under it, making for twice the pain to get dressed, and reluctantly grabbed for a pull-over. He picked out pants to match it and put those on first. Gritting his teeth, he slowly raised his arms to put on the shirt, preparing himself for whatever pain may be headed his way. However, despite his best efforts, a grunt of agony escaped his mouth as he tried to pull it on. He hoped Ryan didn't hear it, and continued trying to get the shirt over his head. After several minutes of struggling and grunting in aggravation and pain, Colin took a break and sighed to himself. "Hey Col?" Ryan's voice came from the other side of the door. "Hey, you all right buddy? Did you fall in?" he asked jokingly. Colin sighed deeply and then began trying to get the shirt on again. "No Ryan, I'm fine," he answered convincingly. However, it wasn't convincing enough for his best friend. "You sure Col? Because you sound like you're having problems . . ." Ryan trailed off as he began to open the door to the bathroom. "No really! I'm fine! Don't come in!" Colin pleaded, but it was too late. Ryan had entered the bathroom to see his friend struggling to get his shirt on. Ryan started laughing to himself at the site, as Colin was on an angle where Ryan didn't yet see the bruise. The Canadian's shirt was covering his face, and Colin's arms were stuck over his head. "What's the problem Col? Having a hard-" Ryan cut himself off as he spotted the huge bruise out of the corner of his eye in the mirror. "Holy shit Col!" Ryan cried out as he rushed over to his friends side to get a better look. "FortheloveofGod! DON'T TOUCH IT!" "Sorry! Sorry!" Ryan replied, backing away a few steps. "Geez Col, are you okay?" Ryan asked as he reproached his friend. "Does it look like I'm okay?!" Colin asked sarcastically as he flailed his arms around above his head, his shirt still half-way over his body. Ryan laughed a little at the funny site his friend made, then proceeded to help him. "Oh man, Colin . . ." he began as he slowly and gently pulled the older mans shirt down to where it should be. "I did tell you how much I appreciate you being the one to go down on the ice first, didn't I?" Ryan mused as the shirt was now below Colin's face, and so they were looking at each other for the first time. Colin just glared at his friend, then took a step closer and gave his friend a playful glare. "Yeah you did. But I wouldn't mind hearing it again," Colin replied as a smirk spread across his lips. Ryan's green eyes softened as he smiled and wrapped an arm around Colin's shoulders as the two walked out of the bathroom. "Well I do Col, I *really* do." "You had better," the Canadian joked. He then patted his friend on the back as the two seperated. The improvers then proceeded to gather up all of their stuff in preparation to leave the hotel behind them, for good. "I told Pat and Deb to go ahead and cancel our credit cards for us, so that's one less thing we'll have to worry about," Ryan stated as he and Colin began to exit the room. "Oh shit!" Ryan cried out upon realization of something. "What?!" Colin shouted, jumping at his friends unexpected outburst. "What is it?!" "Col, we're so stupid! We don't have any money! How the hell are we going to get there, let alone pay for this Godforsaken room?!" Ryan shouted as he began to panic. "Oh. Relax Ryan, it's okay. I've got some money we can use," Colin responded as he began to calm down. "You do?" Ryan asked with uncertainty. "How? All of my stuff was stolen, how do you have money left?" he gazed questioningly at his friend. "Yeah well I uh . . ." Colin trailed off as he sighed to himself. "I never told anyone about this before, or showed them for that matter, but . . . well here-" Colin bent over and started to take off his right shoe. Ryan watched his friend with wonder as he questioned what on earth Colin could be doing. Once Colin's shoe was removed, the older man reached into it and pulled out five one-hundred dollar bills. Ryan's eyes widened as his friend pulled out the cash. "Col . . . you keep five hundred dollars in your shoe . . . all the time?" Ryan asked, lifting an eyebrow questioningly at his friend's somewhat odd habit. "No, it's not always five-hundred. Just whatever I happen to have off- hand," Colin stated simply as he put two-hundred in his pocket and proceeded to put the other three-hundred back in his shoe. Ryan continued to stare at his friend in confusion, and Colin rose to meet his eyes. "No, Col, that wasn't the point. Why would you even HAVE-? Ohhhhh . . ." Ryan cut himself off as realization hit him hard. Colin's past was not an easy one, and Ryan kicked himself for not realizing that was the reason for his behavior in the first place. When Luke was first born, Colin and Deb had it rough. Deb had just lost her job, and Colin couldn't find work. Everyday was a struggle just to get food on the table. Colin and Deb even had to sell their CD collection, just to buy diapers for their son. Ryan always hated himself for not realizing the problem was as bad as it was. He knew they were struggling, and he and Pat helped them out doing whatever they could, but Colin and Deb were proud and didn't want to solicit help from their best friends. However, once Ryan realized just how bad it was, he confronted Colin, actually more like cornered him, and wouldn't stop interrogating his friend until Colin gave in. It was shortly after that day that Colin was given another chance for "Whose Line?", and this particular audition he blew everyone away with his performance. The rest, as they say, is history. Colin just nodded at his friends understanding as he reached down to pick up his bag. "I guess, I guess I just never really broke the habit," Colin said as he smiled at his friend. "Lucky for us, eh Col?" Ryan replied, not quite realizing at the moment what he had said was rather unsensitive. "Oh man, Colin I- geez," he backpedaled, "that's not what I meant. I'm sor-" "It's all right . . . Ryan, it's all right," Colin responded, smiling at his friend once again. `Good old Ryan,' Colin thought. He knew that Ryan had played a very large part in him getting a second chance for "Whose Line?", more like he demanded that they gave him one. If it weren't for Ryan, Colin wasn't sure where he'd be today . . . or if he'd even be here for that matter. Colin could never thank Ryan enough for what he had done. He never knew the right way to show Ryan how much he appreciated all he did for him, except for telling him over and over that is. But that was when it had first happened, and he wondered if Ryan still knew how much he loved him for getting him through a difficult time. Colin figured now was as good a time as any to find out. "Hey Ry?" Colin started slowly as he looked toward his friend. "I-uh . . . I just want you to know, that-" "I know Col," Ryan responded, smiling warmly down at his friend. "What say we get on a different subject now, okay?" he finished as they both finally exited their hotel room. Colin nodded in agreement, a smile spreading across his features as they made their way to the elevator. "If those bastards try to make us pay for another day because we didn't check out on time, I swear to God . . ." Ryan trailed off as they entered the elevator. Colin chuckled as he glanced over at his friend. "Well, if they do, well torture them with corny Drew Carey jokes until they let us go," he said jokingly. Ryan laughed to himself before he became serious again. "I'll uh . . . I'll pay you back for everything when we get to the resort," Ryan said as he pushed the elevator button for the first floor. Colin just smiled to himself. "You already did Ryan, you already did . . ." he said quietly as the elevator doors began to close. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 4) For the majority of the elevator ride, Colin and Ryan rode down in silence. Each one thinking their own individual thoughts, and yet both thinking about the same thing: `would they EVER reach that blasted resort?' Colin sighed to himself as he listened to the boring elevator music. `How long has it been since I've heard this?' Colin thought to himself. `It seems like you never hear elevator music anymore... not that I care, but still...' His mind trailed off as he waited for their descent to be over. "Elevator music." Ryan stated simply, staring ahead. Colin jumped a little at the break in the silence then looked at his friend questioningly. "What?" Colin asked, wondering to himself why he was surprised Ryan read his thoughts. "Elevator music." Ryan stated again, turning his head to meet his friend's eyes. "I mean, when was the last time you heard that?" he questioned, smiling at his friend. Colin just nodded in agreement as the pair turned their heads to look forward again. Ryan was the one to sigh this time, as he thought about the events of that morning. "I wonder why we never got a wake-up call?" Ryan thought out loud, still looking ahead. "I don't know," Colin shrugged. "People make mistakes, they probably just forgot." "I don't know though Col..." Ryan began as he turned to address his friend. "I've never heard of a hotel forgetting to send a wake-up call. I mean, that's like the worst thing they could do... other than stealing from you but hey, I guess anything can happen right?" Ryan finished sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." Colin mumbled in aggravation, as well as fatigue. It was probably around 1:30 AM last night when the couple next door had finally settled down, and Colin guessed it was probably a half hour later when he had finally fallen asleep. Not too long after that, however, the people next door started up again, for the second of what would end up being a grand total of four times that night, waking up Ryan and Colin once again. Doing some quick math in his head, Colin figured that he and Ryan had gotten around five hours of sleep that night. Had that sleep been uninterrupted, he might feel refreshed. But, since he never slept for a single straight hour until the morning, Colin was feeling pretty out of it. Taking a quick glance at his friend, he could see Ryan felt the same. "You okay Ry?" Colin asked as the elevator doors opened, revealing the lobby. "Never been better Col, never been better," Ryan answered tiredly, trying to smile at his friend. The two improvers gathered up their bags and proceeded to exit the elevator. As they walked up to the main desk, Colin and Ryan noted a different man standing behind it then the one they dealt with last night. Ryan couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it seemed as though the man was smirking at Colin and himself. As the pair put their bags down near the desk, the employee, whom Ryan noted from his nametag to actually be the manager named Nick, addressed the two. "Good afternoon!" Nick welcomed in a mocking tone. The two friends looked up harshly, both recognizing an ass-hole when they heard one. Nick was an older man, who appeared to be in his fifties. He had slightly graying dark hair and cold blue eyes. He was slightly shorter then Colin at 6'1", and his face never seemed to leave that smug, derisive expression. "Hope you had a pleasant stay," Nick continued as he chuckled to himself, obviously amused by the two men. "Right..." Ryan began, eyeing the other man warily. "Can we uh, can we just skip the pleasantries and get on with this?" Ryan was growing more impatient by the minute. Not only with this rude person, but the entire hotel as well. "Absolutely," Nick replied, smiling. He then began to look Colin up and down in a leering manner. At the look Nick was giving Colin, Ryan could feel his blood begin to boil in anger. Colin just glared back at the man before handing him the two hundred dollars. "Oooooooooh, I'm sorry gentlemen..." Nick began, his tone showing clearly that he didn't mean it. "But since you two failed to check out before eleven AM, it seems as though you're going to have to pay me a total of $378.00 for the extra day." Ryan, already expecting this to happen, tried to keep the anger and frustration out of his voice. "Listen, uh... Nick is it?" he began, to which Nick nodded as if it were the stupidest question he had ever been asked. Ryan squinted his eyes in an effort to remain calm. "Right. I requested a wake-up call last night for seven AM in room 163, and I never received the call this morning. Therefore, I don't think we should be liable for not checking out on time," Ryan finished as he glanced at Nick to watch his reaction. "Riiiiiiiiight... lemme just check on that really quick..." Nick trailed off nonchalantly as he began typing onto a computer. "Umm... nope. Sorry, but there doesn't seem to be any record of a wake-up call request for that particular room." Nick smiled up at the two improvers a little too brightly. "Are you SURE that you gave me the right room number? Because I'd be more than happy to check-" "YES. I'm sure," Ryan confirmed, frustration clear in his voice as well as his tense stance. He was getting pretty damn sick of this guy's attitude. He was acting as if Ryan were the dumbest person on the face of the earth. Colin, noticing his friend's breaking point when he saw it, decided to step in. "Listen, are you positive you have no record? Because I was right there when he made the call to request it." Colin held Nick with a steady gaze, almost challenging him to deny what he and Ryan had said once again. Nick lingered, gazing back at Colin with that taunting smile playing on his lips. "I'm sorry sir. But if you HAD asked for it and no one ever took care of the call, there would be a record of the request in the computer. But since there is NO RECORD of it, that means that either you never made the call, or it was taken care of." "Oh really?" Colin questioned, getting frustrated himself. "And you've NEVER made a mistake? There is no possibility what-so-ever that someone may have accidentally erased the request before taking care of it?" Leaning heavily on the desk now, Colin was staring intently into Nick's eyes waiting for him to insult Ryan and himself again. "Look, gentlemen," Nick began with a sigh. "All I know is that in our twenty years of service, we've never once slipped up in that department. Now, are you two going to pay me the correct amount, or am I going to have to call the authorities?" he asked looking serious now. Colin and Ryan exchanged a quick glance that, to anyone else would seem meaningless, but between the two of them, had all the meaning in the world. "Would you ah, would you excuse us for just a moment?" Ryan asked with feigned politeness. He couldn't help being rude, especially since all he could think about was decking that man right in the face. The whole time Colin was questioning Nick, Ryan could see by the looks Nick was giving, and by his body movement that everything he said was a lie. One thing Ryan learned in all his years as an improviser is how to read people, and that man read out as plain one of those "How to- for Dummies" books. Ryan grabbed Colin's forearm and gently tugged him out of listening range from Nick. Before Ryan could even say a word, Colin jumped in. "He's lying to us. That son-of-a-bitch is lying!" Colin whispered loudly to his companion. "I know Col, I know," Ryan said back. "I'm betting that because he heard a 'gay' couple was in that room, he purposely canceled the call or something." "How are we gonna get out of this?" Colin questioned his friend. "Look Col..." Ryan began, "I don't know about you, but I REALLY don't want to let this SOB get away with this..." "Join the club," Colin replied under his breath. "Any ideas?" "Maybe..." Ryan trailed off, a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Colin watched as his friend's facial expression transformed into a look he was all-to familiar with. The one he'd seen a thousand times while performing on stage with his friend. The look that said "I've got an idea, I know where I'm going with this, and I'm taking you with me." Ryan looked down at his friend to meet his stare, and they both new what they would do. They didn't even have to say a word to each other. Colin knew Ryan had an idea, and he trusted his friend it would work... he just had to follow his lead. Ryan wrapped his arm tightly around Colin's stomach, and Colin returned the gesture to the taller man. Smiling at each other in a loving way, they reproached the manager ready to pull off one heck of a stunt. Nick looked up as the other two men approached the desk once again. Since neither Colin nor Ryan had on their jackets yet, it was crystal clear how close and tightly they were holding each other. Upon noticing this, Nick's face went from that amused smile to a flat-out frown... with just the slightest hint of anger. As Colin and Ryan came closer, Nick could see that they were giggling and whispering to each other, like teenagers on their first date. He suddenly became very disgusted. Nick HATED gays, flat out sickened by them. Once he had heard a rumor from an employee that a gay couple was in room 163, Nick had personally gone up to their room to investigate and see if it was true. The employee said that one was really tall and lanky, while the other was not quite as tall and balding. So Nick knocked on the door to their room, then hid quickly around a corner. He cautiously peered around to see the tall one poke his head out and look around. As if that wasn't proof enough, he listened through their door shortly after to hear two definite male voices talking. That was when he decided to screw them over, so- to-speak, by claiming he never got the wake-up call request. Nick then visibly shuddered as he looked at the other two. As if knowing they were together in a hotel room all night, and in the SAME bed nonetheless, wasn't bad enough, now he had to watch them flirt?! Nick didn't like this at all, and the look on his face made it apparent. Ryan and Colin could already see how uncomfortable and disgusted they had made Nick, simply by acting flirtatious. All they have to do now was play it out until Nick couldn't take anymore. Nick watched as the two men reached his desk. The taller one started whispering, what Nick assumed must be, "suggestive" things into the other's ear, as the shorter one began to blush and giggle uncontrollably. For a moment, Nick thought he was going to lose his lunch. He just wanted them to pay him, and then get the hell out of his sight. Colin was the first to "notice" Nick's look of irritation. He suddenly looked up and pretended to be embarrassed as he was the first to speak. "Listen Nick... we were talking and we're sorry for giving you such a hard time." Colin began, as he focused on tracing his finger lightly in small circles on Ryan's chest. "You were only doing your job after all, and I'm sure it's not your fault for the mishap. Right Honey?" Colin asked sweetly as he gazed lovingly up at Ryan. "That's right Sweetie," Ryan replied smiling down at his "partner". Ryan then went even further by leaning over just enough to place a feather-light kiss on Colin's forehead, just above his right eye. Nick, upon seeing this, visibly stiffened. His face appeared as though it was carved out of stone, set in a look of pure disgust as well as outrage. Ryan grinned to Colin in a way that said `we've almost got him', to which Colin understandingly smiled back. "LOOK-" Nick began angrily. "-Will you two just pay me the correct amount? I have other things to do today." "Oh, oh sure. I'm sorry," Colin said sweetly as he and Ryan continued to flirt with little touches and looks. Colin then began to reach for his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. Even though there wasn't any money in there as it was still in his shoe, Nick didn't know this, and Colin had an inkling of what Ryan would probably do next. Sure enough, as Colin reached for his pocket, Ryan's hand snatched Colin's wrist stopping his motion. Ryan continued to hold onto Colin as he stared deeply into his friend's eyes. To anyone else, the stare would have shown love and desire. But to Ryan and Colin, there was laughter and a mutual understanding in the gaze. "Here, let me get that for you Honey," Ryan said suggestively as he wrapped his left arm around Colin's back and pulled his friend's body tight against his own. He then took his right hand and reached behind Colin, putting it in his friend's pocket to retrieve the wallet. Colin smiled up at his friend and returned the tight hold around Ryan's back. Now came the *killer*, if you will. Ryan began to slowly "feel up" his friend until his hands were cupping Colin's face. He then leaned down and kissed Colin HARD, on the lips. Colin responded as his own two hands wrapped around Ryan's neck tightly in order to pull him closer. Nick watched all of this from only a couple feet away. His mouth fell open and he sat there gaping at the two men as if they had grown donkey ears and a tail. He was so disgusted, he didn't even know if he could function properly. He wanted to punch those two men for acting that way. It's so wrong and unnatural; there should be a law against it. As he watched the two MEN make out like horny teenagers, he suddenly remembered he still had the $200.00 the older one had given him earlier. Working quickly and trying to avoid the "loving couple" not two feet away, Nick put the money in the register and took $11.00 change out of it. He thrust the money outward and spoke loudly in an effort to get the attention of the other two. "Eleven dollars is your change, have a nice day," Nick said quickly while his eyes looked everywhere BUT Ryan and Colin. Colin and Ryan separated and looked up "surprised and baffled" at what Nick had just said. "What?" Colin asked innocently. "Are you sure?" he questioned as Nick placed the money in his outstretched hand. "Yes, YES I'm sure! Now PLEASE just leave!" Nick replied with aggravation, although it was more of a plea then a demand. He then turned to the opposite direction and quickly walked off to a nearby office. As soon as the door to the office slammed shut, Colin and Ryan faced each other and exchanged those infamous smiles of theirs. "WE are good," Ryan mused as he and Colin gave each other a high-five. "Oh no Mr. Stiles. We are VERY VERY good," Colin replied as they both began to chuckle. "Man, did you see the looks that guy was giving us?" Ryan asked quietly in-between spurts of laughter. Colin shook his head with that unbelieving tongue-in-cheek smile of his in response. "I can't BELIEVE that it worked," he began as the pair began to put on their coats. "I mean, I knew it would work... but I still can't believe that we pulled it off." Ryan cocked his head to the side as an amused, questioning look spread across his features. "You DO know that what you just said made no sense right?" he asked, smiling at his friend. "Probably, but right now, I really don't care," Colin replied grinning. "Let's get out of this hotel and go vacation with our families. How about it?" "Took the words right-" "-Out of your mouth... I know." Colin cut off Ryan smiling mischievously. "Don't -" "-Do that? Okay, I won't." Colin interrupted again, laughing at his friend's surprised expression. "Stop that," Ryan and Colin said at the same time. Ryan playfully glared at Colin for a minute before speaking again. "I mean it Col," they both said at the same time again. Then, when Ryan saw how Colin was mimicking his stance: feet planted firmly on the ground, glaring at one another with their hands placed on their hips; Ryan began to laugh out loud once again. Colin soon joined him and they continued laughing as they gathered up their bags and made their way out of the hotel. When the two comedians stepped outside, they were momentarily blinded by the afternoon sun bouncing off the bright white snow. They stopped walking and blinked rapidly in an effort to make their eyes adjust to the brightness. It had stopped snowing, for now, and Colin took in his surroundings. It really was beautiful. There was a good three feet of snow on the ground and it was untouched by anyone. As far off as you could look was a sea of endless white, glistening under the sun. Then Colin looked forward at the plowed parking lot and was brought back to reality, so-to-speak, as he knew they had better get a move on. Ryan began to step forward, when Colin grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Did you learn nothing from last night?" Colin asked his friend with a smile playing around his lips. "Apparently not," Ryan replied as he looked downward at the ice under his feet. Laughing to himself while shaking his head, Colin began to move forward. "All right, THIS time, I am going to go to the car ALONE and then come back and get you, okay?" Colin asked over his shoulder to Ryan. "Whatever you say Honey," Ryan answered smiling. He didn't even have to see Colin's face to know that he was smiling too. Colin slowly but surely made his way over to his SUV, only to be met with about four inches of snow covering it. Making his way to the rear left passenger seat, Colin grabbed the door handle tightly and pulled as hard as he could. Ice had frozen his doors shut, but with enough force he was able to yank the door open. He then retrieved his snow brush/ ice scraper and began the tedious job of clearing his vehicle off. Ryan watched his friend as he walked over to the SUV and started to clean it off. `This is stupid,' Ryan thought to himself. `If Colin can go all the way over there and clean off nine-hundred pounds of heavy wet snow with how much pain *his* back is in, there's no reason I can't go help him... especially since what happened to him was mostly my fault.' Guilt washed over Ryan's face at that last thought, but only for a moment before a stubborn expression replaced it. Gathering up his bag, as well as Colin's, he began to cross the ice rink that was the parking lot. As Ryan cautiously treaded the slippery ice, he looked up to see that Colin had noticed him. A frown spread across his friend's face before he started waving his hands in a motion that said `stay back'. Ryan wouldn't listen though, and soon he was next to Colin, grabbing the side of the vehicle to help steady himself. "Ryan, what the hell are you doing? Is it really THAT hard to stay still for five minutes? If you fell-" "Geez Col. Will you stop acting like a mother hen already?" Ryan cut in, rolling his eyes. Colin's expression turned to one of disagreement. "I am NOT acting like a mother hen. While you were..." Colin trailed on but Ryan didn't hear the rest. An amused expression overtook Ryan's features as he flashed back to about five years ago. When Colin had said "mother hen" Ryan was reminded of the time his friend had to be a `chicken with its head cut off' in a game of party quirks. It had to be one of the funniest things Colin had ever done... as far as physical comedy goes, and Ryan had remembered himself laughing so hard he felt light-headed. It took him a minute to realize that he was laughing out loud, as Colin's expression turned to one of frustration. "Ryan? Were you listening? What's so Goddamn funny?" Colin pleaded almost angrily with his chuckling friend. "I- I'm sorry... I'm sorry Col," Ryan managed to choke out between laughs. "Remember the time you had to be a `chicken with its head cut off'?" Colin gave his friend a questioning look, with just the hint of amusement at the memory. "Ryan...?" he began laughing a little. "What the HELL does that have to do with anything?" "Nothing, never mind Col," Ryan replied as he began to calm down and catch his breath. Then, upon seeing the confused, and still a little angry, expression his friend was giving him, Ryan sighed. "I'm sorry Col, I really am. But I'm here now, so I might as well help you so we can get out of here." Colin gazed at his friend for a moment before letting out an annoyed sigh. "FINE. Let's just hurry up then." Colin then began to brush the snow off his car with an excess amount of force. The way people will bang things around when they're angry or in a bad mood, that's what was happening here. Ryan was wiping the snow off the hood with the sleeve of his coat, watching his friend the whole time. "Col what is it? What's the big deal?" Ryan questioned with a hint of aggravation to his voice as well. "What's the big deal?" Colin asked loudly, not believing Ryan had just asked him that. "Ryan, we had SO many close calls for permanently injuring your back the last time we were out here, and you're asking me what the big deal is?" he asked as he angrily turned back to getting the vehicle cleaned off. "Col..." Ryan began quietly as he took a step toward his friend. When Colin ignored him, Ryan tried again. "COLIN," he said more strictly, as though he was a father about to scold his son for drawing on the walls. Still no response. "Colin Andrew Mochrie! Look at me this minute young man!" Ryan yelled half-jokingly, smiling the whole time. But Colin didn't want to look at him. Ryan made Colin smile and he was still mad at the taller man. Colin took a breath and put on his best angry face before turning and facing his friend. This had caught Ryan a little off guard as he expected the Canadian to be smiling after the way he was talking to him. Then he realized by the familiar glint in Colin's eyes that his friend wasn't too far off from losing control of his stoic appearance. Ryan then began making faces, the way a five-year-old would, to try to get his friend to laugh. Colin remained expressionless, however, as he continued to glare at his friend. `Fine' Ryan thought. `Two can play at that game.' Planting his feet firmly on the ground and crossing his arms over his chest, Ryan glared right back at Colin. The two comedians remained that way for about a minute, before Ryan decided that they were both just too good, and that he had to do something to end it. Still holding the same expression, Ryan slowly began to cross his eyes. Colin faltered at this and let a smile crack through. He tried to hide it before Ryan noticed, but he was too late. "Ah ha!" Ryan exclaimed as he pointed at his friend. "I KNEW you weren't mad at me." "Of course I was mad at you smart-ass. Just not mad enough I guess," Colin replied as he pushed Ryan aside to enter the SUV. "Don't worry Col," Ryan smiled as he patted his friend on the back. "Not many people can resist my charms." "Not many people can resist watching "Survivor" either." Colin mused as he started the engine. "So much for what *people* think...eh Ryan?" he finished, grinning at the taller man. "Right Col," Ryan said sarcastically as he scratched his eye with his middle finger. The taller man then picked the bags up off the ground and made his way around the vehicle to the passenger side. After struggling to get *his* frozen door open, Ryan threw the bags in the back and sat down as Colin began to back out of the parking space. "Where to now navigator?" Colin questioned as they pulled out of the hotel parking lot. "Okay, here's the plan Col," Ryan began as he looked over the directions. "We're gonna stop for a nice big lunch, at a decent place where people won't be ripping my food out from under me..." "Check," Colin replied, staring forward at the road as he broke into a smile. "Okay, then we're gonna get on the freeway and GET to the resort tonight. We have enough snack food with us to eat for dinner so we won't have to stop again. So we should make it without anymore interruptions... except maybe a rest stop or two." Ryan leaned back into the seat with a sigh. "Sounds good. We'll probably even make it there earlier if the sky stays this clear," Colin stated as he gazed up through the windshield at the cloudless sky. Since it wasn't snowing, they could now travel the normal speed on the freeway, rather then 35 mph like they were doing yesterday. "So now all we have to do is figure out where we want to eat..." Colin trailed off as he began glancing at the restaurants that now lined the street. "You know..." Ryan began as he sat forward to search as well. "On any other day, in any other circumstance, with anyone else... that wouldn't seem like such a hard thing to figure out. But since it IS today, IN this circumstance, and I AM with you, somehow I don't think this will be such an easy task." The taller man glanced expectantly at Colin for a witty remark of some kind. "Yeah," Colin replied simply, staring ahead. Ryan smiled at his friend and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Colin smiled weakly, but continued to look for a restaurant through heavy- lidded eyes. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 5) The duo continued to search for a nice restaurant to stop and eat at before they continued their journey. Numerous appealing eateries lined the street... now the only problem was choosing one. Colin and Ryan looked from side to side as they tried to decide which place to stop and eat at. "How about this one?" Colin suggested as Cindy's began to approach them on the right. "Nah..." came Ryan's response as he continued to look. "Okaay... This one?" the Canadian asked as he pointed to the left. "Nope." Colin sighed impatiently. "Well, what about that place?" he asked as he gestured to Country Cookin' on the right." "Too... redneckish." "That's not even a word," Colin came back, his patience wearing thin. "THIS one?" he tried, pointing to Bistro 256 on Ryan's side. "Too... FRENCH." "For the love of God Ryan. Just PICK something PLEASE!" Colin pleaded with his friend. He was STARVING, and it began to show in his tolerance. "Gee, I'M sorry Col..." Ryan began, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "I'd HATE to pick a place that ended up being a horrible experience for you, and have you be mad at me the rest of the trip," he finished as he playfully glared at his companion. Colin sighed tiredly. "We both know I didn't know that was going to happen, and you know it." "What do I know?" Ryan asked with a smile on his face. "You KNOW," Colin answered back, his face breaking into a wide grin as well. "And you're NOT still mad at me." "Oh really?" Ryan challenged. "And how would YOU know?" "Let's not get into that again." Colin smiled as he continued to search for a restaurant. With a wide grin of his own, Ryan turned his head and spotted the perfect place to eat in the distance. "Pull in there Col!" Ryan stated loudly as he gestured ahead. "Where?!" Colin's eyes were searching frantically for what Ryan was pointing at. "There!" Ryan yelled back as he accentuated more fiercely. Colin's eyes continued to look for the location. "Denny's?" Colin asked his friend with a sideways glance. "Sure. Nothing beats their Grand Slam breakfast my friend." "Well, sure but... Denny's isn't exactly a step up from Taco Bell Ry," Colin concluded as his laughing gaze met his friends. "No... but it isn't fast food. And how could they possibly mess up their most common order?" Ryan questioned as they pulled into the parking lot. "All right Ryan. But if ANYTHING out of the ordinary happens... I had nothing to do with it. Got it?" Ryan sighed heavily. "Of COURSE you had nothing to do with it Col, and you had nothing to do with Taco Bell either. It was just a coincidence and I'm NOT mad at you." The taller man shook his head from side to side before smiling at his friend. "You were just my lightening rod of hate, conveniently placed for my fit of aggravation." Colin playfully glared at the inside joke Ryan had just used against him. "What? I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. I must have NOT been paying attention, as usual, and now I don't know what's going on." Colin smirked at Ryan's now glaring features. The Canadian had just zinged the taller man based upon the fact that Ryan is the ONLY one on Whose Line who seems to forget what the scene is, or get confused and do a totally different one. For example: getting the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers confused, switching E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, forgetting his Weird Newscasters role, etc. "All right all right! Can we just eat now?!" Ryan shouted, feigning anger. His face held an expression of mock amusement, with his eyes narrowed toward Colin and an embarrassed smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Colin returned the smile to his friend as they exited the SUV and began to walk towards the entrance of the restaurant. As they walked across the freshly salted black top, Colin leaned his head back to study the sky. Some clouds were visibly forming in the distance, and he silently hoped they would stay that way... distant. While the sun was shining brightly down on the two comedians, the air was still very frigid. Ryan pulled his heavy winter jacket more tightly around himself in an effort to retain his body heat. While the taller man did grow up in Seattle, spending a large amount of time in LA has made him more susceptible to the winter's biting cold. Ryan was already shivering by the time they had reached the entrance to Denny's, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the inviting warmth of the restaurant washed over him. The restaurant had a very cozy atmosphere. It was dimly lit, but at the same time the afternoon sun was pouring through the windows. Waitresses could be seen rushing around with drinks and coffee, as well as carrying trays of steaming hot food. The aroma of eggs and bacon floated to Colin, and smelling the food only made his stomach more impatient. Suddenly, a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties with medium length, dark brown hair and matching color eyes, approached the two men. "How many?" the woman asked as she glanced down at her table arrangement sheet. "Just two," Colin replied as he stepped closer to the hostess. "Smoking or non?" "Non, please." "Okay... right this way gentlemen." The hostess gestured to the right as she grabbed a couple of menus and began to lead the way. As Colin and Ryan walked behind the hostess, the pair noticed quite a few people casting confused looks in their direction. Almost as if they were trying to place where they'd seen them before, but couldn't quite figure it out. Colin secretly hoped that those people would be unable to recall where they'd seen the two improvers, so that he and Ryan could get out of the restaurant quickly, without having to sign any autographs. Their hostess led them to booth near the middle of the restaurant. "Here you go," she said as she placed two menus and two sets of silverware on the table. "Your waitress will be here shortly." "Thanks," Colin and Ryan replied at the same time as the woman began to walk back to the entrance. The two comedians began the long process of stripping their winter attire from their bodies. First the gloves and the scarves, followed by the hats and finally the jackets. The pair then shoved everything in-between themselves in the booth as they sat across from each other. Ryan reached for his menu, then stopped himself. "Hell, I don't even need to look at this. I already know what I'm getting." "Me too," Colin replied as he reached for Ryan's menu, then proceeded to stack both Ryan's and his own at the end of the table. "Maybe it'll get the waitresses attention," he replied to Ryan's questioning gaze. The two friends then silently began to wait for their waitress. Ryan was drumming on the table with his fingertips while Colin began stacking the different jelly containers according to flavor. Upon noticing the funny look the taller man was giving him, Colin raised his eyebrows at his friend. "What? You can't tell me you've never organized the jelly containers before," the Canadian asked, a grin spreading across his features. "What? No..." Ryan began laughing to himself. "I was just going to ask you if you took any money out from you-know-where..." "Oh. Yeah, I took care of it earlier. I've got 100 bucks in my wallet," Colin replied as he resumed his organizing. "Okay," The taller man replied simply before beginning to chuckle to himself. "And you're right, by the way. I have organized the jelly containers before." Colin's eyes rose up from his current task to meet Ryan's wide grin. "You see? I told you. I'll bet anything that NO ONE can say they've never done this. I seriously believe that the staff purposefully mixes these things up, just to give people something to do while they wait." The Canadian spoke seriously as his gaze lowered towards the table again. "Right Col," Ryan replied with a smile as he rolled his eyes. "It's a conspiracy. This way, the restaurant doesn't have to pay money to get mazes and puzzles printed, or have to buy any crayons." "Hey, it's very possible," Colin came back. "Do you have any idea how many crayons a day places like these lose? Kids take them home all the time. Plus, you know, they probably buy new ones a lot just because they don't know where the kids were sticking them before they gave them back..." the older man trailed off. He then began laughing at the look of disgust that masked Ryan's face. "Okay, that's enough Col," Ryan laughed to himself. "I want to be hungry right now, I don't want to hear about kids sticking crayons in various places." It was at this precise moment that their waitress decided to show up. Giving Ryan somewhat of a funny look, she put down two glasses of ice water and smiled politely at the two men. "Hello, I'm Lyn and I'll be your waitress this afternoon." She spoke quickly, proving just how often she said that a day. "Can I start you two off with something to drink today?" "Actually we're ready to order everything if that's okay," Ryan said as he gazed up at their waitress. "Sure," Lyn replied smiling as she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. "What can I get for you two gentlemen?" she asked as her hand hovered over the paper waiting for a response. "Go ahead Ry," Colin answered to his friend's questioning look. "All right. Mine's gonna be easy anyway. I'll just have the Grand Slam Breakfast please," Ryan finished as he played with his napkin. Colin swore to himself that if that napkin wasn't providing so much amusement for the taller man, the look of hunger in Ryan's eyes proved that he probably would have eaten it. Now that Colin looked at the napkin himself, that didn't seem like such a bad idea. `Wow.' Colin thought. `I need food!' "Okay... and what to drink sir?" Lyn asked as she continued jotting down his order. "Just some coffee please," Ryan replied as he looked over to his friend across from him. "All right... and for you sir?" Lyn questioned as she raised her eyebrows in Colin's direction. "I'll have the French Slam with coffee also please," Colin replied, then cast a defensive glance towards Ryan whose eyes seemed to be laughing at him. "What's wrong with French toast?" Colin questioned to which Ryan simply raised his hands in an offensive manner and looked away smiling. "Will that be all for now?" Lyn, who appeared to be oblivious to everything but her job, questioned the two friends. "Yes, thank you," Colin replied as his own smiling features looked away from Ryan and up at the waitress. "Okay, I'll be back in a few with your coffees." Lyn proceeded to gather up the menus from the edge of the table. "Okay, thanks," Ryan said as she started to walk away. When the taller man's eyes went back to meet Colin's gaze, he was met with a questioning look. Ryan sighed to himself tiredly, then sat forward in his seat. "All right Col, you wanna know why I was laughing right? Well it was the name... *French Slam*. It just... you know, sounds dirty, doesn't it?" Ryan started laughing to himself, then stopped when he saw that Colin was looking at him like he was an idiot. At the uneasiness that came over Ryan's features as well as his posture, the taller man slouched a little and his face turned the slightest tint of red. As Colin studied his friend's behavior, a sly grin of satisfaction came to his face as the Canadian leaned back against the seat, folding his arms across his chest. Ryan's head shot up upon noticing his friend's expression. "You jackass!" Ryan yelled playfully. Colin started laughing to himself as he sat forward and patted his friend's hands which were lying on the table. "I knew why you were laughing Ryan, I just wanted to hear you admit it. And boy was it worth it! Look! You're as red as a tomato!" Ryan sat up quickly as he yanked his hands out from under Colin's. "I hate you," he said as he glared playfully across the table, face still flushed from embarrassment. Colin put his best "kicked puppy" expression on his face as he slowly slid his own hands off the table and into his lap. "Don't even try it with that face Col," Ryan began as a smile touched his features. "I still hate you ya know." "I know. I hate you too Ryan," Colin replied as he grinned back at the taller man. "And on that pleasant note, I have to pee," the older man continued as he began to rise out of his seat. "Nice Col," Ryan said, grinning to himself. Colin just winked as he began walking toward the bathroom. Ryan watched as his friend walked in the opposite direction. He winced a little as he noticed Colin's tense posture. Ryan knew it was because of the Canadian's bruises that he was moving that way, and he couldn't help but feel guilty all over again. As Ryan pondered how he could make it up to the other man, their waitress appeared with the coffees. *************************** Upon entering the restaurant bathroom, Colin sighed to himself in aggravation. Out of the two stalls, both were taken. It wasn't that Colin minded using a urinal, he just preferred the privacy of a stall. The Canadian never was comfortable with blatantly taking a pee in front of other people, however, he figured most shared that opinion with him. `Why they won't just give men more stalls like they do women, I'll never know.' Colin thought to himself as he stood in front of the furthest urinal from the door. As the Canadian stood there, another person entered the room. Colin didn't look up, but he could see out of the corner of his eye that the other man was moving towards him. Colin grew more uncomfortable as the other man took a position right next to where he was standing, which is VERY bad men's urinal behavior. There is a sort of unspoken code among men that says one should NEVER stand right next to another man if other urinals are open. Colin cleared his throat and continued to look forward, but he could see that this younger, dark haired man was looking right at him. Colin was getting agitated now. This younger man was uncomfortably close, and staring at him non-the-less. Colin turned his head to the left and gave the other man an annoyed look. "Listen, buddy... You wanna NOT-" "You're that guy right?" the younger man cut him off, asking with friendly enthusiasm. Colin faltered at the other man's abrupt question, then began stammering as he tried to respond. "I thought so. I could recognize you from a mile away." The young man smiled as he looked forward. "Colin right? From that show... uh... What's My Line? or whatever." "Uh... yeah," Colin answered, still confused as to how this perfectly normal seeming man didn't have the slightest clue about urinal etiquette. "Whose Line is it Anyway?" he continued, not knowing what else to say. "That's it." The other man nodded, smiling to himself. "I'm Tom by the way," he stated as he reached his left hand across his body and extended it out to Colin. Colin raised his hand to except the gesture, then stopped himself and eyed Tom's hand warily. The younger man then pulled his hand back, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry man. Wasn't thinking," he laughed to himself. "Uh... that's okay..." Colin responded as he continued to gaze at the other man suspiciously out of the corner of his eye. The Canadian couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something about this man that he was unsure about... it almost made him a little nervous. Maybe it was that smug look on his face, or the way he was so relaxed (given what they were doing) around someone he'd never met. But it was mostly the fact that Tom had chosen the spot right next to Colin, rather then being polite and respecting his personal space. When Colin finished his business, he turned around and walked towards the sinks. As he turned the water on to begin washing his hands, he noticed in the mirror that one of the men that had been in a stall walked hurriedly out of the bathroom without washing his own hands. A look of disgust came over Colin's face. `Hope to God he doesn't work here,' he thought to himself. He then bent over the sink as he dabbed soap onto his hands, and began the process of cleaning them. When he finished, Colin glanced up into the mirror, only to be met with Tom's wide grinning features staring back at him. Startled, Colin spun around to face the other man, finding that there was about an inch between them. Not liking this close proximity, the older man automatically leaned back over the sink to put more distance between them. "Oh sorry... did I scare you?" Tom asked without losing the grin on his face, as well as not making a motion to step back. "Uh... no, you just surprised me," Colin smiled timidly. He then moved to reach for the paper towel on Tom's right side, but to do that, he had to reach around the other man. When Tom didn't seem to be making a move to get out of Colin's way, the older man looked back up at Tom's still grinning features. "Excuse me," Colin said, trying to be polite as he made another move to reach for the towels. This time, Tom stepped in-between Colin and the paper towels, preventing the Canadian from obtaining any. Colin gave the younger man an odd look, just as Tom thrust out a pad of paper and a pen under his nose. "Would you please sign this Colin? You're my favorite guy on Whose Line... well you and that Ryan guy," the younger man stated happily as his face never lost that creepy grin... at least, that's what Colin noted it as being. "Oh sure..." Colin said as he forced a friendly smile on his face. "Could I uh... dry my hands first?" he asked, still uncomfortable as the man had yet to step back away from him. "Well sure! Hell, it's not like you have to ask my permission!" Tom joked despite the fact he still wouldn't move. Colin's eyes gazed downward while he reached around Tom yet again to grab some towels, mouthing `okaaaaaay' as he did so. After his hands were dry, Colin forced yet another smile as he accepted the pen and paper from Tom. He began to sign his name when Tom stopped him. "Oh no, you can't just sign your name!" The younger man stated, STILL grinning widely. "Could you please make it out to me, and maybe write a little something?" "Oh yeah... sure," Colin replied, almost afraid to make this man angry... wondering to himself if perhaps Tom may even be a tad crazy. Colin wrote "Tom," on the paper, then he drew a blank. `What should I write?' he thought to himself. `Hey, it was nice meeting you while we went to the bathroom even though you're beyond creepy?' Colin started smiling at this thought, until he remembered Tom's all- seeing eyes were still upon him. Colin then gazed back at the paper and proceeded to write: "It was nice meeting you. Best wishes! Colin Mochrie." Sure, it was plain and boring, but Colin found he was having a hard time being creative... plus he wanted to get the hell away from this guy! "Oh great! Thanks a lot!" Tom replied happily as Colin handed the paper and pen back. "No problem," the older man smiled genuinely this time. He loved making fans happy. "Well it really was nice meeting you..." Colin lied as he began making his way toward the door. "But I really have to be going. My foods probably out there by now." "Hey yeah. It was nice meeting you too!" Tom continued grinning as he stepped toward Colin with an outstretched hand. Colin accepted it timidly, as he realized Tom hadn't washed his hands yet. `Looks like I'll be washing again,' Colin thought to himself. "Hey, are you here with anyone?" Tom asked as he grinned widely. The only indication that he had asked a question was how his eyebrows raised up. "Here with someone? Oh no... I'm by myself, on my way to meet some friends..." Colin didn't like lying, but he wasn't about to tell this man that Ryan was here too. He figured he'd spare his friend the agony he's been through just by talking to Tom. Tom's smile twitched when he heard the older man's response, then a frown formed quickly. This was the first time the younger man's face had shown ANY indication that it was capable of moving, and it was so sudden that it actually frightened Colin. The younger man's hands gripped tightly around Colin's. So tight, in fact, that the improver squeezed his eyes closed as he winced in pain. "WHY did you just lie to me?" Tom's voice seemed to boom now as he accused the older man. "L-lie? I wasn't lying..." Colin stammered, as he was truly afraid of this man now. Not to mention he couldn't get his hand out of Tom's vice-like grip. "DON'T LIE! I SAW you out there with Ryan earlier! I KNOW he's here too!" The younger man's accusing eyes burned holes into Colin, as the Canadian cried out in pain at the increased pressure on his hand, falling to his knees in the process. "Now TELL me, why did you lie?!" Tom questioned again angrily, holding steady with his grip on Colin. "L-look... we were in, in a hurry... and I didn't want to bother him..." Colin wavered due to not only his fear, but the fact that his hand was killing him. He thought that if Tom squeezed any harder, he would break every bone in his hand. Suddenly, the grip loosened and Colin looked up at Tom through watery eyes only to find that he was grinning again. "See? Was that so hard? Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place? I understand that you guys are busy and all..." Tom said pleasantly as he reached down and helped the older man to his feet. Colin just stared at this man as if he were insane... which, Colin was pretty sure he was. The Canadian rubbed his hand absentmindedly as he stared in shock at Tom, willing the pain to go away. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you Colin," Tom said again as he sauntered out of the bathroom. Colin watched dumbfounded as the door closed behind the dark haired man, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. `What the HELL was that?!' his mind screamed as Colin tried to come up with an answer. He shook his head when he couldn't come up with one, then made his way back to the sink. He leaned over as he turned on the faucet, washing his hands again nice and thoroughly. He then splashed the cool water onto his face. After drying himself with a paper towel, Colin gazed at his reflection in the mirror. He looked a little frazzled he decided, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Wincing at the pain in his hand, Colin made his way out of the bathroom, looking more and more forward to his French toast. As Colin sat back down across from Ryan, the taller man glanced up at him questioningly. "You okay Col? I was just about ready to go check on you," Ryan said laughing a little. "Oh yeah, I'm fine," Colin replied as convincingly as possible. All he wanted to do was eat his breakfast which, he noted, must have just gotten there as Ryan had taken only a couple of bites. He figured he'd tell Ryan about everything AFTER he had satisfied his hunger. Ryan lowered his head to try to meet his friend's downward gaze. "You sure buddy? You look a little... I dunno... frazzled." Colin snorted, dropping his fork, as that was the exact word he used to describe himself not two minutes ago. A startled look came over Ryan's features, then he raised an eyebrow at his friend in a questioning manner. "Sorry Ry... it's just that was exactly what I was thinking when I was looking in the mirror a few minutes ago." Colin began laughing a little again, and the taller man still gazed expectantly at him for the explanation he wanted. "And I mean, how often do you hear THAT word twice in one day? Or twice in two minutes for that matter?" Colin finished as he looked back down at his food and took a bite of French toast. Ryan watched his friend as he took a few more bites before speaking up again. "Uh... Colin dearest?" he questioned with a smile. "Yes Ryan darling?" Colin replied while still keeping his attention focused on his food. "So why is it... exactly, that we look frazzled to begin with?" the taller man continued as his grin grew wider. Colin sighed as he laid his fork down on his plate and looked up at Ryan's still questioning, yet amused expression. "I can see that you're not going to let me eat in peace until I tell you what's up." The older man moved his plate aside and folded his hands on the table. An approving nod came from Ryan, as the taller man leaned forward to devote his full attention to his friend. "Okay, it was just that a *really* creepy fan, and I mean *REALLY* creepy, kinda... freaked me out in the bathroom." Ryan's eyes widened at this. He had weird encounters with fans before... but never in a public bathroom. "How so?" he questioned as he tried to meet his friends wandering eyes. Colin looked back at Ryan and could see the concern his green eyes held. "Well... it was just... WEIRD. Like, okay, first of all, I'm going to the bathroom right? And he comes in and stands RIGHT next to me. As in he picked the urinal next to mine when there were two others he could have taken." Ryan's face scrunched up at the thought. "Oh man, that *IS* weird. Not to mention rude." "Hang on buddy, I haven't even begun," Colin said as he began to smile a little. Ryan's eyes widened once again in response, urging his friend to go on. Colin told him the whole story, about how Tom wouldn't stop staring at him, and how that creepy grin never left his face. He talked about how Tom cornered him by the sinks and wouldn't let him get any paper towel, etc. The Canadian then began telling him about the man's abrupt mood swing when he found out Colin had lied to him. "And when he was grabbing my hand, oh man, it HURT. But I didn't know what to do ya know? He was, and I'm not ashamed to admit this, he was scaring the SHIT out of me. And THEN, when I told him why I lied, he turned into a completely different person and became all pleasant. Like I said... it was WEIRD." Colin shook his head unbelievingly once again at the mere memory. "That fucking bastard." Ryan's tone was venomous as he spoke. "I swear if I see him in here I'll-" "Bye Colin! Bye Ryan!" Tom's cheerful voice floated over to the two improvers. Colin looked over past Ryan and saw Tom's figure waving at him as he exited the restaurant. Colin, not wanting to get the man mad again, forced a smile and waved back. Ryan, on the other hand, slowly turned around to look behind him and was met with Tom's smiling face. Ryan's own face became hot with anger, and he stood up abruptly, knocking into the table as he did so, ready to go deck the man. As the taller man began to get out of the booth, Colin rose up as well, placing his hands on his friends shoulders in a motion to stop him. "Ryan don't, please." Colin pleaded with his friend, trying to meet his eyes as the taller man glared angrily in Tom's direction. Ryan stepped out of the booth and Colin followed so that there was no longer a table between them. Ryan moved once again to go after the other man, but Colin grabbed his friend's shoulders again to stop him. Ryan spun around to make Colin let him go, but seeing his friend's calm gaze, the taller man's own temper began to soften. "Col..." Ryan started carefully. "We can't just let him leave! Let him go on thinking he can treat other people that way! Asshole's got no right to-" "Ryan listen..." Colin pleaded as he held Ryan's shoulders more firmly in an effort to make the other man meet his gaze again. "I seriously think something might be wrong with that guy... like something mental. His moods were so varied, I didn't know WHAT the hell to think. All I know is he's strong Ryan, DAMN strong. And if you go chasing after some mental patient who's STRONG, I don't even want to THINK about the outcome okay?" Colin finished as his deep soulful eyes gazed intently into his friends. At the concern and worry Ryan could see in Colin's eyes, the taller man loosened up a little and grudgingly watched as Tom left the restaurant. He still wanted to chase that bastard down and beat him, wanted to make him pay... but Colin had been through enough on this trip and it would be selfish of him to make his friend have to worry as well. Ryan looked down at his best friend and slowly nodded in agreement. Colin smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder before letting him go so that they could resume their seats. What with the abrupt motions Ryan and Colin had made, not to mention their arguing, quite a few people had been staring in their direction. As the improvers sat back down, however, people began to focus on their food and conversations once again, and the restaurant once again sounded like a social gathering, rather than a funeral. The two comedians focused on eating once again, and after a few minutes, began to enjoy themselves as well as their food. Ryan would once in a while catch himself glancing at Colin's clenched up right hand on the table as he ate with his left, but would always see Colin giving him a look that said "I'm FINE". Luckily for Colin, he was left-handed anyway. After a few more bites, Ryan glanced at the apparatus that held the different flavors of jelly, and looked in confusion as he noticed that two of the grapes were on the strawberry pile. Every other flavor was where it belonged, except those two grapes. "Look at that Col," Ryan said to his friend as he gestured to the jelly. "Hm? What?" Colin asked as he looked over to where Ryan was pointing. "What about it?" "See those two grapes on the strawberry pile?" The taller man questioned as he glanced at his friend. "Yeah... what about them?" Colin asked, giving his friend a funny look. "I dunno... I was just thinking. I mean, you know, if there was just one grape in the strawberry pile... it'd be weird, it wouldn't fit right? I mean, all the other jellies are perfectly fine, going about their business in an orderly fashion... but because you have TWO grapes in the wrong pile, it still kinda works you know? Because there's two of them and they stick together. I bet if we came back here tomorrow, and all these jellies were messed up again like we said they'd be, that those two grapes would STILL be together." Colin stared at Ryan as if he were from another planet. He knew that Ryan was talking about the two of them, how if they're together they'll be all right no matter WHAT this trip has in store, but he still had to make fun of his friend a little for making such an absurd analogy. "YOU..." Colin began as he broke into a smile, "are a DORK." Ryan returned the smile and they both began laughing to themselves and went about finishing their breakfast. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 6) After finishing their breakfast and paying the waitress, Ryan and Colin made their way out of Denny's and to the SUV. Only one thing was on the two improviser's minds, now that their hunger was satisfied, and that was getting to their families. Colin took his car keys out of his pocket and pressed the "unlock" button on them. His SUV made a beeping noise as indication of unlocking, and the Canadian proceeded to open the driver's side door. As Colin pulled on the car door, a large hand fell on his shoulder, gripping him tightly. The older man slowly turned, only to be met with Ryan's stern gaze. "Hand over the keys, Col," Ryan demanded. His other hand opened up between the two in an accepting gesture. Colin eyed his friend's hand before looking back up his commanding gaze. "That's okay," he replied, before moving to open his door again. Ryan spun Colin around so that they were facing one another again. "I wasn't asking," Ryan stated as the adamant expression on his face remained. Colin could see that his friend wasn't kidding. The Canadian sighed tiredly as he broke their stare. "Ryan, don't treat me like a child. I know what this is about and my hand is perfectly fine." His eyes met his friend's in a challenging manner. "Oh really?" Ryan questioned skeptically, looking down to Colin's side where his right hand lay against his hip. "Because the way you have it clenched up tells me differently." He looked back up at Colin only to be met with an angry expression on his friend's face. "Dammit Ryan, I can drive with one hand. It's not that difficult." Colin raised his left hand to emphasize his point. "Yeah well, I can drive with two hands. That's even less difficult," Ryan came back as he raised both of his hands. "You don't like driving in the snow." The Canadian moved to a different subject, in a desperate effort to get his friend off his back. His pride was hurting enough as it was, he really didn't need Ryan babying him this way. Ryan raised both his arms and looked all around the two comedians. "Do you see any snow coming down, because I sure as hell don't." "Well, if those fast approaching clouds are any indication of what's going to come, this nice weather won't last for long." Colin gestured to the nasty looking storm clouds headed their way. Ryan looked towards where his friend was pointing, then looked back into Colin's eyes, determination plain on his features. "Give me the keys," the taller man demanded as he stepped closer to his friend and reached for the keys. "No," Colin replied as he stepped back while raising the keys up and behind himself, trying to keep them out of Ryan's reach. "Hand them over," Ryan commanded once again as he reached over Colin to get the keys, now effectively pinning his friend between himself and the SUV. "NO." Colin's tone was sterner now. He tried to push Ryan back with one hand and keep the keys away from him with the other. "You're not going to win," Ryan began with a smile on his face as he kept trying to reach for the keys. However, every time he grabbed for them, Colin would pull them just out of reach. "I'm taller than you, and I can get those keys from you at anytime," he declared as he kept grabbing over Colin. "So why don't you do it then?" Colin asked teasingly, a grin spreading on his face as well. "Huh Giraffe Boy? If you're so much taller, how come you can't take them from me?" "Because you're pushing me back with your good hand." Ryan grunted, still struggling to reach the keys. "Uh huh, suuuure." "Don't make me wrestle you to the ground Col. I think you're forgetting which one of us can kick the other one's ass," Ryan stated with a grin. Colin began laughing as he continued to keep the keys away from Ryan. "I think YOU'RE forgetting which one of us can kick the other one's ass." Ryan suddenly stopped what he was doing and, while having both hands rest on his friend's arms, stared into the older man's laughing eyes. Ryan couldn't explain it exactly, but at that moment, he felt like a kid again. Having fun with one of his brothers, or being mean to one another and playing "keep away", just like what he and Colin were doing now. Ryan smiled down at his friend's now searching look, as if Colin were trying to figure out what the taller man was thinking. "All right, so you wanna play it that way huh?" Ryan questioned playfully as a wide grin spread across his face. Colin's eyes went wide with fear at his friend's remark, as well as the look in his green eyes. But before Colin could say or do anything, Ryan's hands had left the older man's arms and went to Colin's sides. The taller man started to tickle his friend where he knew Colin was the most sensitive when it came to tickling. Even though the Canadian's coat was on, he was so ticklish on his sides that it didn't matter, he began laughing uncontrollably and begging Ryan to stop. "RYAN! Stop it! Please! I... can't... BREATHE!!" Colin shouted at his friend in between laughs and began to curl up in an effort to get Ryan to stop. He would have fought back, but he was laughing so hard that all his energy was being used up trying to get air into his lungs. Colin was laughing so hard now that tears were rolling down his cheeks, but he had to admit that after all the shit that has happened to them so far, this felt GOOD. "Are you going to give me the keys and stop acting like you have to be tough and don't need anyone's help?" Ryan questioned over his friends laughing and gasping for air, still tickling. The two were now kneeling on the ground, as when Colin curled up to stop the tickling, Ryan went right down with him to continue. "YES! God anything yes!!" Colin cried as his back side landed roughly on the parking lot pavement. "Okay then," the taller man stated as he stopped tickling, satisfied with the response. He then took the keys from Colin's outstretched hand and straightened back up to pop his back. Ryan then opened the driver's side door and leaned in to start the engine. Once he made sure the vents were blasting to heat up the vehicle, he closed the door and looked down to face his friend. "Come on Col," Ryan beseeched as he held out his hand toward the man who was still sitting on the ground. "Your butt's going to get all wet," he added with a smile. Colin moved his head to look back up at his friend, and the smile on Ryan's face faded. While looking at the older man's blank expression and tear streaked face, Ryan couldn't tell if those tears were from the laughing he did a few moments ago, or from truly crying. Ryan didn't like the possibility that it could be the latter, and he once again kneeled on the ground to be eye-level with his friend. "Colin? Hey, what's wrong?" Ryan asked quietly as he tried to meet his friend's stare. "Nothing Ry, sorry. I kinda just blanked out there for a minute," Colin replied as he smiled weakly toward his friend. He then stood up off the ground and proceeded in wiping the ice and snow off his backside. Ryan followed his friend, as he slowly stood up as well. "You know what?" Ryan began as he sighed tiredly and, Colin noted, there was a slight hint of anger to his voice. "I am SO sick of being left in the dark Col. WHY do you think it's necessary to hide everything from me?" Colin eyed his friend warily as Ryan grew angrier. "I'm your friend dammit! WHY won't you tell me anything? What's wrong Col?" The taller man looked intently into his friend's eyes. Colin looked back at Ryan with a hurt, angry expression. "You wanna know what's wrong Ryan? It's not THAT hard to figure out. You probably could have a while ago if you really thought about it long and hard enough." Colin's voice began to waver a little, and Ryan's gaze softened a bit at his friends accusing tone and gaze. "You want to know what's wrong? You REALLY want to know?! I'm TIRED! I'm beat up! I miss my FAMILY dammit! I want to have FUN and RELAX like people are SUPPOSED to on their vacations! But most of all, you want to know what I'm angry the MOST at?!" Colin was starting to shake. His emotions were getting the better of him and his anger was finally able to flow out to relieve all the tension that had been building up all this time. "I'm angry because I'm yelling at the top of my lungs at my BEST friend! I'm angry that all of my rage is coming out on the very LAST person who deserves it! The ONLY friend who's EVER believed in me unconditionally, and the ONLY man I love enough to actually SAY that I love you without feeling embarrassed or weird because it's SO GODDAMN TRUE!" Ryan moved to his friend in one quick movement and enveloped the older man in a bone-crushing hug. Ryan could feel Colin shaking, and a part of Ryan thought that if he squeezed his friend hard enough, he could make the shaking stop and all of Colin's frustration and pain go away, along with his own. Colin wasn't aware of much at this point, other than how exhausted he suddenly felt. What he was aware of though, was his friend's tight hold around him, as well as how reassuring it felt. Colin squeezed his friend back as much as he could. He thought he could feel Ryan shaking too, but it was hard to tell, as it could have just been himself shaking enough for the two of them. An elderly couple passed the two embracing improvisers on their way to their car. While the older man gave the two a confused look, the woman just smiled to herself at the scene. Ryan and Colin were oblivious to everything but the release of their frustrations, and didn't notice the looks they received. Once the two had begun to calm down, they slowly separated and looked each other in the eyes. Their expressions held a look of concern for one another. "Are you okay?" they questioned at the same time. Still holding each other, the pair smiled and they began laughing to themselves. "I'm sorry..." Colin began, as his face grew more serious. Ryan raised his hand in a gesture that silenced his friend. "Don't be Col. I think I needed that just as much as you did," the taller man added with a small smile. Colin gave his friend a thankful look before pulling him in for another quick hug. After squeezing each other tightly once more, the pair separated and proceeded to get into the SUV. Much to Colin's objection, however, Ryan was the one in the driver's seat. ***************************** The pair drove silently for about an hour, quickly, but silently. The roads were clear and they were making very good time. Colin did some quick math in his head and estimated that if the weather stayed friendly, he and Ryan should arrive at the cabin no later then eight PM. The older man then glanced at his companion to the left. Ryan had been concentrating very hard on driving for the past hour, a little too hard. Colin decided that Ryan was definitely engaged in some serious thinking, and didn't want to be disturbed as his train of thought may be derailed. If the taller man wanted to think out loud, he knew that Colin would be there to listen to whatever he needed to say. Colin resumed staring out his window at the vast countryside and waited secretly for his friend to tell him what was on his mind. Another fifteen minutes had gone by and the two men had yet to converse. Colin was getting sick of the quiet and decided to make some small talk in an effort to get Ryan to speak up. "If this keeps up Ry, we should reach the cabin by about eight o'clock." "Hm? Oh yeah? That's good Col," Ryan replied, never taking his eyes off the road in front of them. Colin quirked an eyebrow at his friend, confidant in the fact that Ryan had NO idea what Colin had just said. "Yeah, they said it was supposed to storm later today, but those clouds look pretty far away to me..." the Canadian trailed off as he gave his friend another sideways glance. "Yeah, it should be nice," Ryan replied, still looking forward. Colin had to suppress a laugh, and decided to have a little fun with his friend who was obviously somewhere else at this moment. "Yup, so I had an affair with an alien for a few weeks. But things didn't work out because she had to go back to her home planet. Deb knows about the affair, but there's something she doesn't know about it. You're the first person I've told Ryan, but here it goes... I'm pregnant." Colin was able to hold in his laughter as he said this, but he couldn't stop the ear-to-ear grin on his face. Ryan continued to stare forward, with no indication of hearing what Colin had said. After a few silent moments, Ryan spoke up. "Yeah, I know what you mean Col. Those aliens can be a bitch. That's why whenever one comes near me, I kill it with my Destructo-Ray." Ryan slowly turned his smiling features toward his friend, only to be met with Colin's gaping expression. "I thought you weren't listening to me," Colin stated with a chuckle. "Gee. Do ya think so?" Ryan replied sarcastically as he began laughing and turned his attention back to the road. "Well hey, it worked to get us talking again didn't it?" "Yes, discussions about people having relations with aliens tend to get the ball rolling." "Smart-ass." The two smiled at the familiar banter and began to relax a little more. "So what's on your mind Col?" Ryan began as he glanced over to his friend questioningly. "MY mind?" the Canadian replied surprised as he gestured to himself. "Yeah. You wouldn't have been so desperate to break the silence if there wasn't something you wanted to talk about. So what's up?" Colin thought about this for a minute. HAD he wanted to get Ryan's attention so that he could talk about something concerning himself? He was pretty sure that he just wanted to hear what was on Ryan's mind... but sometimes, Ryan seemed to know what was going on in Colin's head better then he did himself. "I-uh... I... don't think anything's up. I could just tell that you were thinking about something and I wanted to know what it was." Colin looked at his friend expectantly. "Well..." the taller man began, unsure of himself. He was fairly hesitant to bring up what was on his mind. "I-umm, I was thinking of something, but you're just going to get mad at me for bringing it up." Colin laughed a little despite himself, and then looked at his friend with a serious expression. "Come on Ry, I wouldn't be asking if I didn't REALLY want to know. Whatever it is, just come on out and tell me. Besides, it's three o'clock so we've got another good five hours to kill before we get there. Gotta talk about SOMETHING don't we?" "All right..." Ryan sighed. "But don't say I didn't warn you." The taller man cleared his throat and repositioned himself in the driver's seat before he began to speak. "I was just thinking, you know, about this trip so far. How it seems like everything that could possibly go wrong HAS gone wrong. And how everything bad seems to have happened to you. I mean, the ice, hitting your head, the guy in the bathroom, your hand, whatever that thief took from-" "Ryan... I-" "No Col, let me finish all right? I know you don't want to talk about this, but you just said yourself that you wanted to know what was on my mind and this is it." Ryan paused as he gave his friend a searching look, almost asking for permission to continue. Colin gave his friend a half-smile and nodded in agreement. "Okay. So part of what I was thinking was about how you're doing. I mean, you know, physically... are you okay? Is your back still hurting?" The concern in Ryan's voice and features made it impossible for Colin to get aggravated with his friend. Colin had to keep reminding himself that if their positions were switched, he'd be just as concerned for Ryan. Colin smiled a little and brought his head up to meet his friend's gaze. "Yeah, my back's all right. Still a little sore, and the bruises are still very much there," he finished, laughing a little. He wanted to just say that he was 100% fine, but Ryan is his best friend, and more than deserved the truth. "Okay..." Ryan's emerald eyes were looking Colin over, and the Canadian could tell from years of experience that his friend was checking his body language to make sure he was telling the truth. When Ryan appeared to be satisfied with the response, he continued. "What about your hand... is it okay?" Colin lifted his right hand in response and attempted to move his fingers. They could function, but were still very tender and not as flexible as they should be. Ryan began nodding even before Colin responded by watching the grimace on the older man's face when he made a gripping motion with his hand. "Hand's still pretty tender," Colin replied as he looked back at his friend. "Okay, and your head?" Ryan questioned as he gazed up at the cut on the side of Colin's head. Colin began laughing a little and smiled over at his friend. "I feel like I'm at the doctor's office. Yes Dr. Stiles my head is doing just fine," he finished in a joking way. Ryan began to laugh to despite himself, and then grew serious again. "Come on Col, seriously, how's your head? Is it okay?" "Umm... Ryan? Is my head EVER okay?" Colin asked with a wide grin. Ryan smiled also, but his stern gaze returned all too quickly as he waited for an actual response. "Okay okay, yes Ryan, my head is FINE. It looks a lot worse then it is." Colin turned to look at the road ahead of them. As Ryan continued to drive, he felt somewhat relieved now that he ACTUALLY knew how Colin was really doing. He still felt badly however, as his friend had been put through way too much in such a short amount of time... or any amount of time for that matter. "What about you Ryan?" Colin asked, breaking Ryan's train of thought. Ryan stuttered for a minute, a little surprised at the question. "What ABOUT me? Nothing has happened to me on this trip... well nothing half as bad as what's happened to you." "Well, that's true, partly I guess. But still, you've been here WITH me this whole time. You've lived through this living hell of a trip just as much as I have. So how are you?" "Well... other than being tired in a way I never thought possible, all right I guess." Colin smiled and nodded to himself at Ryan's response, knowing that the taller man was being truthful as well. Then, seeing Ryan's posture, the way his arms were tense from the shoulder down to his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel, Colin let out a sigh. "I know what you're thinking Ry, and stop it." Ryan turned his head at his friend's accusing tone and lifted a questioning eyebrow at Colin. "Don't play innocent with me Stiles, it's as clear as if you were telling me right now." Colin shifted his body towards his friend and gave him a stern look as he continued. "You're still blaming yourself for everything that's happened to me. Even if there is NO possible way that it could have been your fault, you're somehow finding a way, and you need to stop." Ryan let out a sigh as his shoulders slumped in defeat. "All right, maybe I was. But answer me this. How was you being knocked unconscious on the ice NOT my fault? If I hadn't been so eager to get inside the hotel, neither of us would have fallen." "Ryan..." Colin began gently, but a hint of impatience could be heard in his voice as well. "First of all, you don't know that. We still could have fallen. And secondly, it's ICE. Unless you put it there yourself, it's not your fault that people are going to slip on it. It's inevitable. People walk across ice; it's going to be slippery. NOT your fault." "Okay okay, I'm sorry. If it will make you feel better I'll stop beating myself up about it." "No, I'll feel better once you let yourself believe that it really wasn't your fault. Okay? Accident. Not your fault. Happen to anyone." Ryan began laughing out loud while shaking his head. "All right Tarzan. You got it." Colin smiled in return, moving to lean back in his chair and resume relaxing. The Canadian's eyelids began to feel very heavy all of the sudden, and try as he might, Colin couldn't win the battle with them to stay open. "Hey Col?" "Hmm? Yeah, what's up?" Colin asked lazily, squinting one eye in his friend's direction. "Listen Col, if you want to sleep, go ahead. You look dead tired too..." Ryan trailed off as he began to study his friend's face. Upon seeing his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles that contrasted with his already pale features, Ryan started up again. "Okay, now I'm TELLING you to sleep. You look awful." Colin was too tired to argue, so he began positioning himself for sleeping. "You sure? You don't mind?" he questioned his friend as he leaned back. "No, I don't mind that you look awful. Hell, I've lived with it for- OW!" Ryan laughed as he rubbed the side of his face where the empty pop can Colin threw had hit him. Colin laughed too as he closed his eyes and prepared for some much needed sleep. "Smart-ass," he muttered. Colin opened his eyes again to see Ryan's smirking features and then glanced to the clock on the dashboard. "Wake me up at 4:30 okay Ry? Don't let me sleep more than that or I might never want to wake up." Colin closed his eyes for the last time and waited for sleep to take over. "Alrighty. Can do," Ryan replied. The taller man's voice was the last thing Colin heard before he fell asleep about 30 seconds later. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 7) BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!! "Watch it ass-hole!!!" Colin awoke with a start and looked all around himself in confusion. For a moment, he had forgotten where he was. Until Ryan spoke, then it all came flooding back. "Sorry Col. Some prick just cut me off," Ryan stated angrily. "Oh... that's okay," Colin said, more awake now. He then noticed his friend's tense posture and the glint of fear expressed on his face. "You okay Ry?" "Yeah, just pissed I guess. Have a nice nap?" Ryan asked with an amused tone, but still feeling a little guilty for his friend's abrupt wake. "Well I was..." Colin trailed off with a smile before gazing at the clock. "Ryan! It's almost 5:30 you lying bastard!" Colin gave his friend a mock glare. "Come on Col... I only noticed what time it was like a half hour ago and I wasn't about to wake you. You looked so cute, and you had all this drool coming out of your mouth-" "NICE Ry, very nice." Colin cut off his friend as he began to laugh. "No, but seriously..." the taller man continued as he stared forward. "I had no intention of waking you up in an hour. It was obvious you needed more than that. If you had seen the way you looked, you would be agreeing with me right now." "Yeah, well..." the other man began, looking toward his friend now. "I'm seeing the way YOU look now, and I'm thinking it's definitely time for us to switch seats." "Nah, I'm good." Ryan stole a glance at his friend, waiting for the inevitable argument that was going to arise. The older man sighed tiredly. "You are NOT fine. I can see clearly how tired you-" "Col," Ryan said abruptly. "I'm good. Just, hear me out okay?" He paused as he waited for a response from his friend. Colin nodded his head as he sunk back in his chair. "I think it's going to start snowing pretty bad soon, looking at those clouds that are dead ahead of us anyway..." Colin leaned forward and gazed through the windshield only to see some VERY unfriendly clouds looking back at him. "And since we all know how much I LOVE driving in the snow, I think it would be better for me to just keep driving until the really bad weather starts. That way, you'll be energized and ready to deal with it because you've had the chance to rest a little." Colin couldn't help but agree with his friend's logic, despite how much he didn't want to. He decided that it probably would work out better if they stuck to Ryan's plan. "All right," Colin grudgingly agreed. "But the SECOND the weather starts to get bad, we're switching. Got it?" Colin demanded the answer more with his eyes than anything else. "Yeah, jeez, I got it Colin. Stop looking at me like that. You know I hate it when you give me your `Do what I say or I'll hunt you down' look." Ryan shook his head while laughing to himself. A few minutes later, Ryan saw a sign for a rest area coming up a couple of miles ahead. "Hey Col, I'm gonna stop at this rest area coming up. I really have to use the bathroom." Colin visibly shuddered at the thought of a public bathroom and turned his pleading, yet laughing, eyes toward his friend. "Aww, Ryan..." Colin whined, "can't we just pull over and use a bush?" Ryan's features twisted into a look of disgust. He then laughed as he addressed his friend once again. "First off, that's disgusting. Secondly, the odds of some guy cornering you in the bathroom are VERY slim. Therefore, IF that happens again, I'll eat my shoe. Okay?" The taller man questioned while looking at Colin, laughter apparent in his eyes. Colin continued to look forward, his face clearly showing that he was debating the proposal. He then turned to face Ryan, smiling widely with the same humor in his eyes. "BOTH shoes." Ryan shook his head from side to side. "FINE. Both shoes. But not my black and white flame ones, those are my favorite," he finished with a grin. "Okay, then those blue suede ones. Those are hideous," Colin stated with a shudder. Ryan turned to his friend, shocked. "Col... you CAN'T be serious," the taller man said unbelievingly. The two then began to laugh once again as Ryan began easing off the freeway and toward the rest stop. Once the vehicle was parked, Ryan turned off the engine and the pair began layering their winter attire on once again. When they stepped outside and into the cold, the improvisers were met with the most frigid of temperatures yet. The air was so cold that it hurt, and being out in it too long could end up causing some serious damage. The sun had already set, it was almost six now, and the lack of light and warmth made everything that much cooler. Colin and Ryan jogged carefully toward the building. They didn't want to go too fast due to the fact that neither one wanted to fall on the ice again. They stepped lightly and hugged their coats around themselves tighter to preserve warmth. Once they reached the building and moved inside, both were panting slightly and had already begun to shiver from their short time outside. Every part of both of their bodies had been covered in some way, except their eyes. When they removed their hats and scarves, it was easy to tell where their skin had touched the air, and where it hadn't. There were red outlines along their eyes and the rest of their skin remained its natural color. Colin, upon noticing this discoloration on his friend's face, realized just how dangerous this weather was becoming. "Hey Ryan?" Colin questioned once his breath returned. "Yeah?" "Listen, I'm going to call the lodge and see how our families are doing. This weather just keeps getting worse and worse." "Tell m-me about it." Ryan breathed as he continued to shiver, despite how long he had been in warmth now. "I- I was j-just thinking the same thing..." Colin gazed to his friend with worry etched on his face. Sure it was cold outside, but Colin wasn't shivering anymore, in fact, he had stopped a few moments after they got inside. "Hey... are you okay?" Ryan looked up to his friend and smiled shakily. "I'm f-fine. Jus- st not used to this cold I g-guess." "All right..." Colin said skeptically. He then began patting and searching each one of his pockets. "I know I have the lodge's number on me somewhere..." he trailed off until he examined his back pants pocket. "Oh! Here we go! Hey Ryan, hand over your cell phone," Colin said as he looked over the number. "Umm..." Ryan stalled as he thought of where it was. "It's still in m-my bag." "Oh. All right, well I'll just use the pay phone." The Canadian began fishing out some change. "Okay, I'll be right back Ryan..." he trailed off as he headed towards the exit. "Wait! I'm coming t-too." Ryan started jogging to catch up with his friend. Colin turned around to see Ryan's approaching figure. "Ryan, you are NOT going to stand outside with me for five minutes. Look what being out there for twenty seconds did to you." The older man began to rub up and down Ryan's arms. The taller man was still shivering from head to toe, and Colin was really starting to get concerned. Ryan glared at his friend who was being overprotective again. "Col, I'm j-just going to have to go out-t there again when we leave, and I r-really want to t-talk to my family... all right?" Ryan moved past his friend and toward the exit. Colin grabbed Ryan from behind and turned him back around. "You're going to see them in another two hours. I'll just ask how everyone's doing and tell you what they said okay?" Colin held his friend in place, gripping his arms tightly. Ryan debated the statement, and decided that Colin had some good points. Even though Ryan's shaking had decreased, he was still very cold. Reluctantly, he looked at his older friend and nodded his head in agreement. Colin smiled and patted the taller man on the shoulder as he turned to leave. "Go back inside and get warmed up. I'll be back in a few," Colin said over his shoulder as he left the building. He then turned the corner and began making his way over to the pay phone. ***************************** As the cold air hit Colin's body once again, he was confidant in his decision to make Ryan stay inside. When he reached the pay phone about 20 feet away from the building, he reached into his pocket to retrieve his change, then dug out the lodge number once again. Colin then proceeded in dialing the number and waited impatiently while the phone on the other end rang and rang. "Hello?" Colin smiled to himself as he recognized his wife's voice immediately. It was like music to his ears. "Deb..." he breathed as he leaned heavily on the booth. "Colin! Oh God! Honey how are you?! Are you okay?! I haven't talked to you since before you left!" Colin continued to smile to himself. The concern in her voice never failed to touch him, and the obvious excitement she showed just by talking to him made Colin want to get to the lodge all that much faster. Colin chuckled to himself a little before he answered her: "Deb, Honey, I'm fine. Everything's great, well... NOW it is," he finished, his smile growing even wider. "What? Colin, what do you mean, "now it is"? Did something else happen earlier... or is everything okay now because you're talking to me?" Colin didn't have to see his wife's face to know she had that irresistible grin spreading across her features at that last comment. Now came the difficult part of their conversation. He didn't want to lie to Deb about everything that had happened, but he didn't want to worry her either. "Deb," he began, "believe me when I say that everything is fine now. Ryan and I had some... problems earlier, but we're okay now." Deb was about to burst out with questions, but Colin continued before she had the chance. "Honey, I miss you like crazy, but we're going to be there in about two hours so I'll explain everything then. Right now, I don't have anymore change and wanted to ask how everyone is with you before this phone kicks me off. So how is everyone? Is the weather really bad there?" "No, no, everyone is fine. It's pretty cold outside too. Too cold to go anywhere, so we're all just lying around and waiting for you two. Luke, Mac and Sam are all playing a game, and Pat and I have just been talking." Colin began to get a very nice mental picture in his head. The warm glow of the fire warming the lodge, all the kids happily playing together, drinking hot chocolate while the snow lightly drifts down outside. Then seeing Pat and his wife laughing and talking over some wine. "God I wish we were there with you," Colin sighed quietly to himself. "What was that? It's hard to hear on this thing... and why aren't you just using Ryan's cell phone?" "Umm... it's kind of an involved story. Just add it to the list of things I have to tell you later," Colin chuckled. "Okay Colin..." she trailed off. "You're SURE that everything is okay?" "Yes Deb, Honey everything is fine." Colin said truthfully, because for the moment, it was true. "Okay... well um-" Deb cut herself off and Colin heard her talking to someone in the background. "Colin, Honey, God we're selfish. Could you put Ryan on? Pat really wants to talk to him." "Oh. Umm... well, I can't right now." "What? What did he say?" Pat could be heard in the background asking Deb frantically what was going on. "Deb, lemme talk to him." "Okay," came Deb's voice before she addressed Colin once again. "Honey, I'm going to let Pat talk to you now. But I love you, I miss you, and you had better get here soon," she playfully threatened. "I love you too Deb. And make sure to tell Luke that the second I get up there, no matter what time it is or how tired I am, we're going to have that snowball fight he keeps claiming he'll whoop me in." Colin smiled to himself at the thought. "Okay Honey, I will. See you soon." "Count on it." Colin began to hear some static and different voices as the phone was being passed to Pat. "Colin? Colin what's going on? Is Ryan okay? Why can't he come to the phone?" Pat's voice flooded the phone with concerned questions about her husband. "Whoa, Pat, slow down Dear. Ryan is fine. He's just going to the bathroom right now." Colin answered, trying to calm his friend down a little. "He's okay? Are you sure? Colin Andrew Mochrie you had better be telling me the truth," Pat scolded. "Pat, Darling," Colin began with a smile, "have I EVER lied to you?" Colin could almost feel the grin spreading across his long-time friend's face. "No Colin Dearest, you never have." The wheels in Pat's head began turning again, and Colin sensed that another question was coming up. "But Colin, did Ryan know you were going to be calling us?" `Oh no' Colin thought to himself. `Now I'm making Ryan look bad, his wife thinks he didn't want to talk to them.' "Oh man, I'm sorry Pat. I should have told you this earlier." Colin continued as he mentally kicked himself in the head a few times. "Ryan wanted to talk to you guys, but I kinda made him stay inside where it's warm. He was shivering really bad and I didn't want him to be outside again if I could prevent it," he finished, still feeling guilty. "Oh, that's all right Colin," Pat answered relieved, feeling much better now. "You're such a good friend. I'm so glad you guys are looking out for each other. It really helps Deb and I to relax knowing that at least you're together. ESPECIALLY after all the crap you guys have been through these last couple days." "Yeah. Tell me about it," Colin chuckled, thinking about how she didn't even know the half of it. "Well Pat, I have to go. Two more hours and I'll be able to personally draw you a diagram of everything that's happened so far." Pat started laughing at this. "Maybe I'll hold you to that Col," she said with a smile. "All right Dear. Ryan misses you, and tell Sam and Mac he can't stop thinking about them." "Okay Colin. Tell Ryan we love and miss him too. We'll see you soon and drive safely. The radio says there's a pretty bad snow storm headed your way." "Will do. Bye Patty," Colin smiled to himself. "Bye Colly," Pat replied, grinning widely as well. Both could be heard laughing to themselves as Colin put the phone back on the hook. Colin then turned toward the building and began to head back inside. ********************************* Ryan watched as his friend exited the building and thought about running after him one more time. He then pushed that thought out of his mind as he grudgingly turned around and headed towards the rest rooms. `God I miss my family,' Ryan thought to himself as he rounded the first corner and could see the men's bathroom in the distance. Sure, Ryan had been separated from his family for much longer then he had during this trip, but this separation felt... somehow different. Maybe it was because it was taking them so long to get there, he knew he was missing out on being with his children one of the few times a year he COULD be with them without getting interrupted. Especially since he still needed to make up with Mac after that argument they had. `Ugh, best not to think of that right now,' he told himself. As Ryan entered the restroom, he was beginning to feel angry again. It was almost as if whatever higher power there is out there was purposefully keeping himself, and Colin, from reaching their families. That, especially, made him angry. Colin had to be the nicest person Ryan had ever met in his entire life. His friend is the very LAST person on the face of the earth to deserve the hell that this trip has put them through. A few minutes later, Ryan had taken care of his business and was washing his hands at the sink. After staring at a tired and sad face he couldn't quite recognize as his own in the mirror, Ryan looked around and chuckled at the realization that he was indeed alone in the bathroom. "Col will be happy to hear this," Ryan said to himself with a smile. Ryan exited the bathroom to see his friend approaching him with a very familiar smile on his face. Ryan recognized it immediately. It was the look Colin had whenever he talked to, touched, looked at, and just plain sat with, his wife. "I take it all is well?" the taller man called down the hall to Colin. "All is very well," Colin said back. "Well, all except the fact that we're not there with them," he said sadly as he reached his friend. "We will be. Another couple hours and we can put this whole mess behind us." Ryan smiled as he patted his friend's shoulder, earning a smile out of Colin as well. "Yeah... I know," Colin sighed as he moved towards the entrance to the restroom. "Oh, and this isn't anything new, but your wife and kids love you and miss you like crazy." Ryan smiled to himself and nodded happily in response. Colin stopped at the door to the bathroom and smiled happily at his friend. "Well, I'm going to go relieve myself. You didn't uh, notice anything strange in there did you?" "What? Other then the creepy looking man gawking at me from the corner? Nope, nothing strange at all," Ryan smirked, making Colin roll his eyes. "Are you sure that it wasn't just your reflection in the mirror?" The older man quipped, earning a defensive gaze from his friend. Ryan then smirked and smacked his own forehead as if realization had struck him. "So THAT was why he was so well built... if you know what I mean..." he trailed off and quirked his eyebrows suggestively. The Canadian shook his head from side to side as he entered the bathroom. "You would notice," he mumbled just loud enough for his friend to hear. Ryan shook his head as well and laughed at the familiar banter. He then spotted a padded chair by the wall and walked over to take a seat. As he was about to sit down, he stopped, hovered over the chair for a moment, then stood back up and eyed the chair warily. He laughed and decided against sitting in it when a certain line from The Drew Carey Show entered his mind: Larry: "Why don't we have a couch in the men's bathroom?" Drew: "If there was, would you want to sit in it?" Ryan began pacing the hall as he waited for his friend. He busied himself with reading the various etchings on the walls, one dating back to 1993. It read: "Jon and Megan 2-gether 4-ever". Ryan laughed to himself as he wondered why ANYONE would ever want to `declare' his or her love for someone on a rest area wall. "What's so funny?" Colin's voice drifted from behind the taller man. Ryan turned to face his friend's questioning expression. "Oh, nothing. Are we ready Col?" he asked, eager to get a move on. "Yeah, let's get the hell outta here," the other man replied as they made their way to the exit. Both men jogged quickly to the vehicle, Ryan jumping back in the driver's seat as Colin shut the passenger door. Once the engine was turned on and the heat was blasting again, they were back on their way. The two men had been driving for about a half hour when the first few flakes of snow began to fall. Colin stole a questioning glance at his friend, but Ryan made no indication that he couldn't handle a little flurry. Colin decided he wouldn't ask him to switch, yet, as he didn't want to receive "the look" again. About ten minutes later, the snow began to fall much more heavy, and Colin was getting nervous. "Okay Ryan, it's time to switch." "Please Col, I'm fine. This is no big deal," Ryan declared passively toward his friend's plea. "Whether or not it's a "big deal" Ry," Colin began through clenched teeth, "we had an agreement." Ryan turned to his friend angrily; his own patience was wearing thin. "I've driven in this kind of stuff before, I can handle it. Calm down will you?" Ryan ended with more of a command than a question. "Dammit Stiles," Colin began with irritation. "You don't know these storms like I do. They're different then the ones you have. We're much farther north and this kind of snow can be deceiving." The older man knew all to well how dangerous even a mediocre amount of snow could be, not to mention how quickly it could become much worse. "Col, do me a favor and spare me the lecture? I'm fine," Ryan came back with just as much annoyance. Colin gazed out the window and was alarmed to find that the snow was coming down much faster and thicker then it was a few moments ago. "Ryan, listen to me. Look how much more is coming down just since we've been arguing. *I* don't even want to drive in this! Let's just pull over okay?" Colin pleaded as he began to feel nervous. "Take it easy. You're overreacting, as usual," Ryan stated as he focused more intently on driving. "Well you're under-reacting, as usual!" Colin came back, getting more impatient with his friend's unwillingness to cooperate. "That's not even a word." "It is now! And just so you know, you're acting like an incredible ass-hole." "Dammit Colin!" "Damn YOU Ryan!" "Kiss my ass!" "I'd LOVE to. Too bad I can't reach above your neck!" Ryan glared at the insinuation. "Then kiss your own ass! I'm sure you've had plenty of practice!!" "PULL OVER!" Colin finally cried angrily, tired of their childishness. Ryan looked toward his friend intently, staring him straight in the eyes. "NO." "PULL OVER," Colin tried again, using his most commanding voice. "NO!" "NOW!" "NO DAMMIT ALL! WILL YOU JUST-!!" "LOOK OUT!!" "NO!-what?" Ryan asked in confusion at the unexpected statement. He then looked at the road ahead to see a car braking less then twenty feet in front of him. Not having enough time to stop, the improviser swerved the vehicle to the right, speeding off the road. Ryan had just enough time to gaze into his friend's terrified eyes as Colin reached over to him, before they crashed into a snow bank. Then, everything went black. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 8) Ryan grunted in pain as his eyes slowly fluttered open. Trying to clear his vision, the improviser took notice of a cool sensation on the side of his head. Ryan grimaced as he realized why exactly it was there, as well as what it was. His head hurt... BAD, and it was a cool cloth that was lying on it. He heard stirring to the left of him, but when his eyesight cleared, he was starring at the back of the passenger seat. Confusion began to dominate Ryan's thoughts, just before he heard a loud crash behind him. "DAMMIT!!" Ryan tried to sit up to look where exactly the voice came from, but as soon as he attempted to, he was overcome with dizziness. "Col?" Ryan called out weakly. He heard the stirring stop suddenly, then someone approaching him from behind. Colin's concerned eyes were soon hovering over Ryan, his face unreadable. As Colin gazed into the taller man's eyes, he was able to relax somewhat. His friend was awake, but still very glassy eyed and pale. "Ryan..." the older man breathed, relief coating his voice. "Are you all right?" he asked as he aided his friend into a sitting position. "I- I think so..." Ryan stammered as he held his head. Ryan's head was still swimming, but not half as bad as before. As he looked intently at Colin's worried expression, everything that had happened before he was out came flooding back. "Colin... I can't believe, I mean, I'm-" The taller man was cut off by his friend's bone-crushing hug. Colin was holding him so tightly, so closely, that all Ryan could do was hug his friend back just as fiercely. When the pair separated a few moments later, Colin held his friend in place as he stared into his eyes once again. "I'm glad you're okay Ryan... because I'm gonna kill you," he finished seriously, before turning away from his friend. Ryan didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know how right Colin was to be angry with him. As he looked back to before the crash, he realized what an ass he was being. That of course, wasn't his intention, but how the hell would Colin know that? "Colin... listen, I am SO-" Ryan stopped himself as he took his first good look around. "What the hell is going on?" he asked in confusion as he gazed toward windows that were completely covered with snow. Colin turned to face the taller man once again, hunched over a little due to the small quarters they inhabited. "We're TRAPPED Ryan," Colin stated, his features showing as much anger as his voice held. "I guess that's what happens when you slam into a pile of snow going 70 miles per hour huh?" "Trapped?" Ryan blinked in confusion. "How can we possibly be trapped?" "Simple," Colin began angrily. "The snow is blocking all the windows and doors from any possible exit. Believe me, I've tried all of them..." he trailed off while absentmindedly rubbing his shoulder. "Not to mention that the car won't start, which gives us a whole NEW problem, we have no heat." Ryan stared ahead in complete disbelief. "This can't be happening," he said quietly to himself. The bitter truth was, however, that this was all real. And what's worse, he couldn't think of a way out. "Oh, it's happening," Colin began with agitation. "So take a good look at everything here Ry," the older man continued as he gestured all around himself. "Because there's a good chance all of this will be the very LAST thing you and I ever see." Colin plopped into the seat next to his friend and let out a deep sigh, almost as if he was giving up. Ryan turned his head slowly to the left and gazed at his very tired, suddenly very old looking friend. "Col..." the taller man began cautiously, "this can't just be it. I mean, yeah, I can see the snow all around us just as easily as you can, but it can't be thick everywhere. There has to be somewhere we could tunnel out or something right?" He tried to put hope into the dire situation he knew he had created for them. "Ryan..." Colin sighed as he met his friends pleading gaze. "You were out for about a half hour. In that time, I went around to every door and pushed as hard as I could. When that got me no where, I went to the back of this damn thing and tried to push on that pop up hatch door hoping the snow was less dense in the back. I even tried ramming my shoulder into it with somewhat of a running start around the time you woke up. But still, no such luck." Ryan suddenly found his hands very interesting as he began to stare at them. Actually, the truth was that he found his hands much easier to look at then Colin's eyes. Looking into those dark pools of worry, concern and anger only reminded him how much trouble and anguish he had caused his friend. "You sure the car won't start?" Ryan asked quietly as he continued to gaze downward. "Yes Ryan, I'm sure," Colin breathed tiredly. "Christ, I even broke the window back there to see how far the snow continues on," he commented as he pointed over his shoulder toward the back hatch of the vehicle. "And...?" Ryan questioned as he found the courage to look at his friend. "AND," Colin began as he met his friend's gaze. "I stuck my arm into it as far as I could and all I felt was snow. Which means that even behind us it's at least two feet thick." "Shit," Ryan muttered as he looked away once again. Colin shot his friend a look that seemed to say, "DUH" in response. Suddenly, the older man's face lit up so quickly and out of nowhere, it almost frightened Ryan. "Holy shit! Ryan! Your cell phone! Why didn't I think of this before?! We can call someone for help!" A grin spread across Ryan's features in response as he moved to retrieve his phone from his bag, only to have Colin hold him back. "You don't move, I'll get it," he commanded his still unsteady friend. Ryan wasn't about to argue, not after what happened the last time they fought. "It's in the left side pocket," the taller man called back excitedly. Colin was already searching the bag for the phone. Suddenly, Ryan's face went pale as flashes from the hotel room the night before flooded his memory. He had gone to charge his phone when someone at the door interrupted him. `Oh. My. God.' Ryan thought to himself, `I only set it in my bag... I never charged the damn thing!' Ryan began to clutch at his seat; desperately trying to find some way to release the tension he felt building up. His breathing became heavy and he could feel his heart pounding in his ears. "Got it!!" Colin called excitedly from behind Ryan. The older man rushed back to his seat by Ryan to share his triumph. "See?! Look Ryan, we're gonna be okay!" Colin exclaimed as he thrust the phone under his friend's downward stare and into his field of vision. It was then that the Canadian looked at his friend's face and white knuckled hands grabbing at the seat. The wide grin melted off Colin's face as he placed a hand on his Ryan's shoulder. "Col... Colin I," Ryan began unsteadily as his breathing became more rapid. "Ry? Ryan settle down," Colin said soothingly as his friend's behavior began to worry him. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." "It's quite possible..." Ryan trailed off under his breath. "At least, after you kill me." The taller man then looked into Colin's questioning eyes and took a deep breath to prepare for the explanation he knew his friend was waiting for. "Col... remember last night at the hotel when you told me to charge the phone... but I got interrupted when someone knocked at the door?" Ryan asked cautiously. Colin's eyes began to narrow as he sensed where this was going. "Yes..." he said slowly, not wanting to hear what he already knew was coming. Ryan looked downward once again and began wringing his large hands together. His mannerisms had a remarkable resemblance to a child confessing they did something wrong. At least, that's what Colin thought. The green-eyed man didn't even have to continue, his silence and actions told Colin everything he needed to know. "No..." the Canadian whispered quietly as he looked at the cell phone. "Colin I'm sorry!" Ryan shouted as he felt he had to confess. "I meant to charge it, but I got interrupted! Then, I don't know, I guess I was just so tired that I forgot and we went to bed!" Ryan looked warily at his unmoving friend. "Col…?" "No!" Colin shouted angrily as when he tried to turn the phone on, it indicated that there was a very low battery and shut right back off again. "This CAN'T be happening!" the older man exclaimed unbelievingly as he threw the cell phone with force. Ryan winced at the sound of the phone crashing against the wall. He then turned slowly to face his furious companion to try to apologize yet again. "Colin... Colin I'm-" "You're what?! You're sorry?!" The Canadian cut in with such bitterness it frightened Ryan. "Well you sure as hell ought to be Ryan! I don't think I've ever been this mad in my entire life!" Colin was furious. He could feel his heart beating like crazy and his head was so hot, he felt as though it would burst into flames at any moment. Ryan sat quietly and took it all in. He knew this was his fault, and so he figured he was getting what was coming to him. Colin continued to yell as he stood in front of his friend, staring daggers into his soul. "Because of YOU, we're stuck in this giant mountain of snow! Because of YOU, we're going to slowly freeze to death if we don't die of starvation first! And because of YOU, I'm never going to see my family or friends ever again!" Colin slowly sat down next to Ryan again, calming down a bit after being able to release his anger. His body hunched over as he put his head in his hands and began to take deep cleansing breaths. Ryan continued to watch his friend, whose body was trembling as an after effect of the outburst. The taller man didn't know feeling as guilty as he did now was even possible. He supposed he could have killed Colin and felt less guilty about it. Probably because what he had done to his friend was five times worse then death, and Ryan had no idea how to get them out of it and make everything okay again. Ryan did the only thing he could think of at the time, and that was to comfort his friend as best he could. The taller man moved closer to Colin so that their sides were touching. He then placed his right hand on the front of Colin's right shoulder to help steady the trembling man. His left hand then began to rub up and down the older man's back. He started at the small of his back, then worked his way up the spine and to Colin's neck where he would massage it gently, then work his way back down. Colin leaned into Ryan's touch before turning his pleading eyes in his friend's direction. "Ryan... what were you thinking?" he asked quietly, almost fearful of the answer. "Why didn't you just pull over? You can't tell me you couldn't see how dangerous the snow was getting. Why wouldn't you listen to me? Did you WANT to get us in an accident?" Ryan closed his eyes tightly and looked away from his friend. He saw the hint of fear in those dark eyes, and he hated himself for it. His own actions had put that fear there. He took away some of the trust Colin had always had in him and replaced it with doubt. It was then that Ryan began to feel afraid. Afraid that his best friend wouldn't unconditionally trust and love him like he always did. Ryan knew why he didn't pull over, he just hoped to God Colin would not only understand, but believe him. Ryan then took a deep breath and gazed back to his friend once again. "Colin..." Ryan began slowly as the two stared at each other, "I didn't pull over... because of you." The Canadian's eyes widened as he looked at his friend questioningly. Ryan sighed as his gaze dropped to his feet. "Colin, I... I just wanted to get us there... especially you," he continued as he looked to his friend once again. "After everything that's happened, all the crap we've been through, I wanted to put it all behind us, ya know? And I KNEW that if we pulled over, even just to switch seats, I knew that you would decide to wait out the storm on the side of the road and it'd end up being yet ANOTHER day we wouldn't be with our families. And now look at us," Ryan finished quietly as he gestured to the prison they were being held in. Colin sat silently, absorbing everything his friend just told him. "Col," the taller man continued. "Believe me when I say I wasn't trying to be an ass... even though that's most definitely what I was. I only wanted to get you there and put this nightmare behind us. And now... now I've just created a whole new one and I don't think I can ever make it up to you." After a few moments of silence Colin took a deep breath, and looked into Ryan's apologizing eyes. "For what it's worth Ryan, I believe you." Ryan let out the breath he was holding in relief, and smiled happily at his friend. "So... you understand then," he asked hopefully, "why I did it?" "I didn't think- well," Colin began slowly as he recalled the incident. "I DID think you were just being difficult when you wouldn't pull over. But after we crashed and I laid you down back here, for a while I just stared at you thinking `why would he risk our lives, just to be stubborn?' you know? Then it occurred to me that there had to be another reason to it. Guess I was right," the older man finished as he smiled to himself. "So... you're not mad at me anymore?" Ryan asked reproachfully. "Hey! I said I forgive you, that doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you," Colin said seriously, with the hint of a smile. "Okay, okay," Ryan said with a grin, holding his hands up in defeat, "I can live with that for now." Colin looked back at his friend with sad eyes. "I'm serious Ry. It may not seem like it now because I'm so happy you're okay... but when I got that air bag out of my face and I saw you lying there, limp and motionless... I don't think I've ever been that scared in my entire life." The grin melted off Ryan's face as he saw how frightened the mere memory was making his friend. Colin then moved closer to the taller man, almost to verify that he really was okay. Ryan put his arms around Colin in reassurance, and the older man took a deep, shuddering breath. "For a split-second," Colin continued, his voice muffled by Ryan's shoulder, "I was sure you were dead." Ryan closed his eyes; trying NOT to imagine what it must have been like thinking your best friend was gone, forever. He then began rubbing Colin's back again as the older man reached around him and hugged him back tightly. "I'm sorry Col, I can't even imagine what that was like." Ryan felt Colin shaking his head back and forth in his arms. "You don't want to," he continued as he squeezed his friend harder. "I started to panic and when I got over to you, I found a pulse and could see you were breathing. I calmed down a little, but when you wouldn't wake up or respond in general... I was so worried you were in a coma or something horrible like that." Colin continued to let Ryan comfort him. He didn't care what it looked like; all he cared about was how good it felt, especially during a time like this. The pair stayed like that for a while; just sitting quietly and thinking to themselves about the predicament they were in. After about ten minutes or so, however, Ryan couldn't stand doing nothing anymore. "Well I don't know about you," Ryan began, breaking the silence, "but I don't plan on spending the rest of my life in here." "Agreed," Colin chimed in as he sat up and began stretching his aching muscles. "Good. Now that we know we don't want to die," the taller man continued with a smirk, "let's figure out a way to get the hell out of here." "Ryan..." Colin cut in questionably, "not to sound pessimistic, but I've already tried all the exits. What else can we do?" The younger man slowly scanned his surroundings before turning to Colin once again. "Let's just figure out where we stand all right?" "Okay..." "All right. So, as far as we know, we're completely covered with snow, correct?" "As far as we know, yes," Colin answered as he too began studying their environment. "However, I didn't try all the windows because I was too afraid snow would pile in on me." Which is another problem we have," Ryan continued as he began to rub his arms, "lack of heat. But yeah, we can store away the idea of trying all the windows in case we can't think of anything else," he decided as he moved toward the front seats. "In the meantime, I'm getting my jacket back on. It's really starting to get cold in here," Ryan stated as he reached for the pair's coats, which were taken off shortly after they left the rest area. "Here Col," he called to his friend as he tossed a jacket to him. "Thanks," came the Canadian's reply as the two threw on their jackets. "Okay," Ryan continued after they were settled, "what else? No heat, no cell phone, possibly no way for us to get ourselves out..." "Um, Ryan?" Colin began hesitantly, "This just occurred to me but, uh, oxygen may be a problem as well." The taller man's eyes widened in response. "Christ Col, I hadn't thought of that..." he trailed off, his worry becoming more apparent. "Okay, well, putting that thought out of our minds," Colin continued quickly as a grin formed on his lips. "At least we can't go thirsty." Ryan smiled in response as the two gazed at the feet upon feet of snow and ice that surrounded them. "Very true Col. And we have quite a bit of food in the back too, so that's not a problem either." "All right, now we're getting somewhere," Colin replied enthusiastically. Ryan nodded to his friend before the pair split up and began to search for objects that may be of use. The taller man was searching the glove compartment when a thought occurred to him. "Hey Col?" he called back to his friend who was searching in the back. "Yeah?" came the muffled answer. "I just thought of something, our wives!" Ryan shouted triumphantly as he looked behind him and met his friend's eyes. "We told them we'd be there soon! As soon as they realize we're not coming tonight, they'll probably call the police or something and we'll have people looking for us!" The conclusion made Ryan excited at the possibility of a rescue. Colin smiled weakly in return, his usually warm eyes full of sadness and doubt. "Col?" the younger man asked uncertainly as he made his way around the seats, closing in on his friend. "Ryan," the Canadian sighed tiredly as he began, "think about that for a minute. Even when they realize we're an hour, or two or three hours late, they may not automatically jump to the conclusion that we were in an accident." "But Col-" "I mean sure," the Canadian cut in, his voice louder, "they could assume that. But even if they did and then called the police, what the hell are they going to do about it?" Colin could feel himself beginning to lose hope again, and he didn't like it one bit. "They wouldn't even BEGIN to know where to look. I mean... it's not like our car's exactly visible either. We're covered by snow on all sides and the damn thing won't start so there aren't any lights on it to possibly be seen through the snow…" "Colin..." Ryan began slowly, wanting to calm his friend. "The only thing that will be accomplished by our wives realizing that we're not going to be there is a CRAP-LOAD of worry on their parts! So happy vacation everyone! Maybe next time we should go to some remote island and join a tribe of cannibals! At least THEN we'd get a decent meal!" The taller man's face looked as though he was going to explode with laughter at any minute. At seeing his friend's face and hearing the soft muffles of laughter leaving his mouth, Colin's own frown began to melt away and form a grin. The two then began laughing out loud, almost to the point where it was difficult to breathe. "This isn't funny you know!" Colin cried out seriously above his own laughing. "I know I know!" Ryan answered back, feeling as though his side would split at any moment. "There's no way outta here!" the Canadian continued as the pair were practically rolling on the floor. "Yes there is!" the taller man called back, still laughing. "No there isn't!" Colin responded a few moments later with less laughter and more seriousness. "Yes, there is," Ryan came back, the laughter gone now. "No, there isn't," Colin stated, glaring at his friend in an almost challenging manner. "Yes there is Col, and I'm gonna prove it to you." Ryan said seriously as he moved to get up. "What are you doing?" Colin asked concerned as he moved to join his friend. "I'm getting us out Colin. ONE of these windows has to be a way out, and I'm not going to stop until I've tried all of them," he finished with determination. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" the other man cut in, "I mean, all that snow... we have no clue how much could be above us," Colin stated as he took in their surroundings. "What's the worse that can happen? We break the windows; some snow comes in, big deal. It's not going to flow in continuously and consume us... or... is it?" Ryan questioned himself as he really began to think about it. "Shit Col, I didn't think that it was possible... but now, I mean, what if there IS enough snow to fill this thing in? Especially if we try ALL the windows." "I know..." Colin began as he looked at his friend sadly. "That's why I was too unsure to try it before." "Well," the taller man began desperately. "We have to try SOMETHING." Colin nodded his head in agreement as he began looking around once again. "Well, we could always just pick one window... and hope it's the one with the least amount of snow behind it." "Yeah," Ryan agreed enthusiastically as the pair began to look at all the windows. "But which one could that be? I mean, you would think the back, but you already said that it's at least two feet thick." "I know... and it obviously wouldn't be the front. " Colin continued to think out loud as he met Ryan's eyes once again. "Possibly the sides? Oh hell! What are we talking about?!" the Canadian shouted as realization struck. "The sunroof! If ANY window has less snow then the others it HAS to be that one!" "Yeah! Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Ryan questioned as the two positioned themselves under the sunroof. "Who cares!? Just give me something to smash the window with," Colin called out excitedly, hoping this would work. "Uhh..." Ryan trailed off as he looked all around himself. "Well what did you use before?" he asked as he looked to his friend. "My elbow," the older man answered simply. "I wouldn't recommend it," he smiled at Ryan before they both started to search their surroundings. After a few minutes of searching, the pair had come up with nothing suitable to break the glass with. "Forget this, I'll just use my elbow." Ryan positioned his arm under the glass and braced himself for impact. "Ryan wait!" Colin cried as he reached out and grabbed his friend's arm just in time. "What is it?" Ryan asked with an annoyed look. "First of all," the older man began as he reached behind a seat. "We need to wrap your arm to help stop the glass from cutting you." Colin wrapped a thick blanket tightly around his friend's arm before raising his questioning eyes up to Ryan's determined ones. "Secondly, are we sure about this?" Ryan continued to stare at his friend, his look of perseverance remaining. "Col, what can go wrong? Even if the snow piles in because there ends up being a lot, we can just go into the back and keep away from it. We're only trying the one window remember? The other man looked away from his friend in deep thought. His soulful eyes then looked back to Ryan's after rethinking everything. Colin then patted Ryan reassuringly and moved away from where the glass would shatter. "Ready Col?" Ryan asked as he positioned himself. "Go ahead, we're in this together," Colin answered from behind his friend. Ryan nodded and, with one swift movement, his elbow came in contact with the window. The improviser turned his head away quickly, to shield his face as well as his friend behind him, as the shards of glass cascaded down. Ryan turned away from Colin so that they could both see what had happened. The pair were amazed to see that none of the snow had fallen through when the glass broke. "Well this is weird," Ryan stated as the two scanned the dormant snow. "It's not frozen, why isn't it falling?" Colin shrugged in response. "I don't know. Maybe if we dig carefully at it a little, we'll help it get going." "All right," the younger man agreed before the two began to poke at the snow, making sure not to stand directly under it. After a few moments of digging, the snow plowed down from above without warning. "Holy shit!" Ryan shouted after the snow had stopped falling. Due to the close quarters, he and Colin were kneeling in such a way that the snow went up to about their waists where it had come through the sunroof. They couldn't see each other, as the snow went from the ceiling all the way down to the floor in between the pair. "Colin? You okay?" Ryan cried when he didn't hear any sounds from his friend. "Yeah, I'm all right," the Canadian answered back a little breathlessly. "Damn that's a lot of snow though." "Yeah it is," the taller man agreed as he tried to think of what to do. "Well uh, what now?" "Erm... I guess we just keep digging at it," Colin decided as he examined the pile of snow. "Pull the snow away from the top of the pile and see if we eventually get through." "All right," Ryan concurred as the two began to dig at the top of the pile, pulling the snow down and away from them. The two men continued this for about five minutes or so. However, all they were getting accomplished was spreading the pile of wet, cold snow further around the inside of the vehicle. After snow had fallen in on where Ryan was clearing it away for about the eighth time, he began to get frustrated. "This isn't getting us anywhere! Every time I clear some away, more just piles on down! How much can there BE?!" Colin shook his head from side to side in disappointment. "I don't know, but we had better stop before there's no where dry to sleep in here. We're getting snow everywhere and I'm freezing," he finished as he began to rub his arms quickly. "Yeah, me too," the taller man nodded sadly. "So we're just giving up then?" "What else can we do?" Colin shrugged as he peered around the pile to see his friend's discouraged eyes. "I say we just go in the back and keep warm through the night. Hopefully tomorrow, the sun will melt some of the snow or something and we can keep trying." "Okay, you're probably right," Ryan grudgingly agreed as the two began to trudge out of the pile of snow. Once the pair had gotten out of the snow and into the back of the vehicle, they realized one of the main reasons they were so cold. Their pants were soaking wet from the snow, as well as their socks and boots. "Thank God we've got our clothes with us," Colin stated as he and Ryan began searching their bags for some dry pants and socks. "Tell me about it," Ryan breathed tiredly. Once the two comedians had found their warm, dry clothes, they quickly changed out of their sopping wet ones. While Ryan located an extra blanket, Colin went to retrieve their hats, scarves and gloves from the front seat, carefully avoiding all the snow. On his way back from the front, however, he wasn't as cautious. "Guess I should have done that BEFORE I changed," Colin mumbled to himself after his foot landed in some snow. Ryan laughed to himself as he watched his irritated friend approach. "Come on Col," the taller man beckoned as he patted the floor next to where he was sitting. "I've got an extra pair you can use." Grumbling, the Canadian plopped down next to his friend and handed over Ryan's hat, gloves and scarf, receiving a pair of socks at the same time. "Uh... you're welcome," Ryan said with feigned annoyance before grinning at his friend. The Canadian just glared back as he slipped on one of the dry socks. Colin then began chuckling as he realized that the heel of the sock went up well past his ankle because the socks were so large on him. When he looked up at Ryan, his friend was grinning widely and raising his eyebrows suggestively, which only made Colin laugh more. A few moments after the pair had stopped chuckling, they began to realize just how cold they really were even after they had put all their winter clothes on. The laughing had helped them to put the reality of the situation aside, but now they were really paying attention and it wasn't helping the circumstances any. Ryan inhaled deeply and when he let the air out, he noticed for the first time that he could clearly see his breath hit the cold air. Colin noticed also, and then began paying attention to his own breath. "Damn, it really is getting cold in here," he stated as he hugged his arms around his upper body. "I know..." Ryan said, shivering slightly and copying his friend's movements. Colin looked at Ryan with concern. "You okay buddy?" the words slipped out of his mouth before he had the chance to realize how dumb of a question it was. "No, never mind. Of course you're not, and neither am I." The taller man looked toward his friend who was now noticeably shivering too. "Colin, I am SO sorry about all of this," Ryan said as he wrapped an arm around Colin's shoulder and pulled him closer. The older man accepted the gesture before wrapping an arm around Ryan's waist and pulling him closer as well. "Ryan don't, please? I just, I don't want to get into this," Colin pleaded. "I don't blame you for anything that's happened okay? You were just trying to help and fate went the other way," he concluded as he looked up into his friend's still guilty eyes. The shared body heat between the two had already begun to help ease the frigid temperature a little, but as the pair sat there, it still didn't seem to be enough. "Fate, right," Ryan rolled his eyes. "Colin, this isn't just some dream where fairies and elves decide what happens to us. This is reality, and I messed everything up past the point of fixing," he finished sadly, guilt still marking his features. "Yeah well," Colin began angrily as he looked forward, "reality can go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut as far as I'm concerned." "Pardon?" Ryan asked with a quirked eyebrow and a small smile. "Ryan you're right," Colin sighed as he sat up enough to look his friend in the eye. "Everything that has happened to us has been very real. But what I want to know is why? Why us? Why now? If reality wants to keep us away from our families and the two of us at each other's throats well, reality can kiss my ass." "You're right Col," Ryan began with a smile of realization. "In fact, you're SO right that reality can kiss BOTH of our asses." "Exactly," Colin smiled as he continued to gaze at his friend. "So Ryan, I want you to know that no matter what happens, I don't blame you for a thing. In fact, I don't blame you SO much that the only reason I'm even saying that is because I know you're blaming yourself, which is stupid because it's not your fault. All right?" the Canadian finished as he laid his head back on his friend's shoulder. Ryan smiled to himself, pulling Colin closer as he stared down at him. "You know what?" "What's that?" Colin questioned as he closed his eyes, trying to relax a little. The taller man paused for a moment, looking away before taking a deep breath and gazing back at his friend. "This-this isn't easy for me to say Col… even though it should be. I've known it for so long, I mean, you're my best friend, why shouldn't it be easy to say?" Colin couldn't help but smile to himself at the way his friend was struggling. "You're not getting all sappy on me, are ya Ry?" "Come on Col, this is serious. It's really pissing me off that I'm having such a hard time with this," Ryan sighed. The other man chuckled a little despite himself. "Does this have anything to do with a four letter word that starts with an `L' and rhymes with dove?" The Canadian quirked an eyebrow questioningly at his friend, to which Ryan smiled and nodded. "It's okay Ry, you don't have to say it. I already know, buddy. Grape jelly, right man?" he added with a wide smile. Ryan smiled back at Colin, giving his friend's shoulder a squeeze. He then frowned as he thought about what he was trying to say some more. "It's NOT okay though," he sighed angrily at himself. "This is so stupid, you've said it." "Yeah, well, I guess I'm just more comfortable with my sexuality," Colin mused with a smirk. "Oh really?" Ryan challenged with raised eyebrows. "Well you know what? I love you, Col. I really, really do. So what do you think of that?" The other man smiled genuinely, before replying simply, "I think that I love you too, Ry." The pair smiled at one another, before settling in and trying to get comfortable once again. After readjusting a bit, they settled into positions both liked. They sat in a comfortable silence, before Ryan's voice spoke up. "So does this mean we're moving in together, then?" "Oh shove it up your ass, Stick-boy." ********************************************* Another hour or so had passed by, and the playful banter and light atmosphere had long vanished. Colin was now shivering uncontrollably and Ryan was trembling, almost to the point of shaking due to the cold. "I can't-t believe h-how s-stupid we w-were," Ryan complained as he continued to shake. "I know-w," Colin agreed sadly as he looked up at the snow pile. "The o-only thing-g that damn th-thing did for us w-was make our bodies c-colder." "Mmm hmmmm..." Worry and concern replaced the Canadian's anger when he looked at his friend. He had been watching him closely, but Ryan's shaking was becoming more and more violent, and Colin was beginning to get very frightened for his friend. The older man had an idea, and pushed away from Ryan to try it out. At least, he would have pushed away had Ryan not grabbed him harder and pulled him right back. "C-colin n-no. Wh-where are y-you going-g?" Ryan asked worriedly, his eyes half closed due to how tired he was from the shaking, and the entire situation itself. The Canadian patted his friend reassuringly. "Relax Ry, I'm n-not going anywhere. Just l-let go for a s-second okay?" Colin requested, still having to pry Ryan's arms off of himself even after his friend had agreed. The Canadian then sat on the floor and opened his arms in an accepting gesture for Ryan. "Come o-over here Ry-y," Colin said soothingly to his trembling friend. Ryan slowly and shakily moved over to Colin, before crawling into his friend's lap, as the Canadian had motioned for him to do so. Colin was holding Ryan in a sort of "cradling" type position, as he reached for the blanket and wrapped it around both of them to help conserve their combined body heat. "This a-any better-r Ry?" Colin asked as he looked down toward his friend. "Y-yeah," Ryan nodded his head quickly, feeling childish but squeezing Colin tighter all the same. "Good-d," Colin smiled at the other man. "Life or d-death situation-n, right C-Col?" Ryan joked while still shaking uncontrollably. A small smile touched Colin's face, thanking God that Ryan was still his joking, smart-ass self. "Right-t Ry," the Canadian answered calmly, and yet, still fearful as he pulled his friend in closer and prepared for whatever else the night had in store for them. ******************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 9) When Ryan and Colin could hear each other's stomachs growling earlier, they had decided it was probably time to dig into the food supply. They shared a box of Cheez-Its and each had their own Snickers bar. A "well-balanced meal," as Colin had put it. It was approaching morning, or at least the duo guessed it was. They couldn't be sure, however, considering how time tended to go by very slowly in situations like these. Two hours could have gone by and felt like ten when being cooped up in bad conditions, with nothing to think about except living through it. And while Ryan and Colin weren't getting any warmer, they weren't getting any colder either. At least they had THAT going for them. They were both trembling, practically shaking from the cold. However, they had been doing so for so long that their speech was no longer affected by it. They had almost adapted to the shaking and could make their teeth stop chattering when they spoke. Colin looked down at his friend when he noticed Ryan's head began drooping, then snapping back up, a clear sign he was trying not to fall asleep. Then, finally, the taller man's head plopped down and didn't come back up. "Ry," Colin called out as he shook his friend a little, his own eyes half closed from fatigue. "Ryan!" he called again, louder this time. "Huh? What? I'm awake, I'm awake," Ryan proclaimed as he raised his head and yawned. "Ryan, come on," Colin scolded, "we HAVE to stay awake. If we fall asl-" "I know, I know…" Ryan cut in with a yawn. "If we fall asleep, we'll weaken automatically and due to the cold, may not wake up. You've been saying that all night Col." "Maybe I wouldn't HAVE to keep saying it if you'd-" "I know, I'm sorry man," Ryan apologized sincerely. "I'm trying to stay awake, but it's just that I'm SO damn tired." "I know Ry, me too. All this shivering really takes it out of ya doesn't it?" "I'll say . . . " Ryan trailed off as he resumed resting his head on his friend's warm shoulder. Colin laid his head back and began thinking to himself. He wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, but he figured that as long as he kept his mind wandering he wouldn't fall asleep. However, that idea faded quickly as he began to feel his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. He was slowly giving in as his eyes completely shut, then he quickly snapped them open and shook his head a little to get rid of the urge to sleep. `No' he continued to tell himself, `what were you JUST scolding Ryan about? Wait a minute . . . Ryan?' Suddenly, something felt wrong. Ryan was still shaking uncontrollably, but his breathing had changed. Colin's eyes went wide as he looked down at his friend. Ryan had fallen asleep again. Colin began shaking him, but his friend was motionless. He shook the taller man harder and harder, his desperation and fear becoming more apparent, and still, nothing from Ryan. "Oh my God. Ryan? Ryan wake up! You HAVE to wake up! PLEASE!" Colin began shouting as he continued to shake his friend more and more. "Hmm? What?" Ryan's eyes fluttered open before slowly lifting to meet Colin's panicked ones. "Col? What's wrong?" he asked tiredly before closing his eyes once again. "No! Ryan, you have to stay awake all right?! You HAVE to stay awake or you might never wake up again!" the Canadian commanded with fear etched all over his body. His friend was out again, and Colin didn't like how delayed the taller man's reactions were becoming. "Please Ryan!" he called when he still got no response. "For me?! PLEASE?! Don't you DARE leave me again!" At that last desperate plea, Ryan awoke quickly to see his best friend's frightened face with tears welling up in his deep brown eyes. "Oh my God," Ryan stated, much more awake now. The taller man wrapped his arms tightly around his trembling friend, enveloping him in the strongest hug possible. "Colin, I'm so sorry. I'm here, I'm here, it's all right," he soothed his terrified friend. "I'm sorry Col. Look, I'm awake now," he said happily as he broke away from their hug and looked his friend in the eyes to emphasize his point. Colin smiled back shakily at his friend. "Please don't do that to me again Ry, all right?" the older man pleaded. "No, no of course not Col," the taller man assured as he grabbed the sides of Colin's head. "Don't worry. I'm sorry, I thought I'd be able to stay awake, but I'm just so tired . . . " Ryan finished as a yawn left his mouth. "I know I know, me too Ry. But we have to keep each other awake." "How are we gonna do that?" Ryan asked suggestively, raising his eyebrows with a smirk on his face. Colin glared at the other man, ignoring the indication, "I don't care . . . " he trailed off. "Talk, hum . . . SING for God's sake! Just so we both know we're awake." "Okay," Ryan agreed as he laid his head back down on Colin's shoulder and wrapped his arms around his friend once again. Colin proceeded to wrap the blanket around the two of them tighter before returning the warm embrace to his friend. Just as the two got settled once again, Ryan began humming a very familiar tune to Colin's ears. The Canadian smiled to himself as Ryan then began to sing. "What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?" the taller man began with a smile on his face. A wide grin spread across Colin's face as he met Ryan's smiling eyes. "Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?" the brown-eyed man chimed in. Ryan's grin grew even bigger as he continued the song. "Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?" "Welcome back to the age of jive." Colin chuckled as he continued his `part'. "Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey? You can't dress trashy till ya spend a lot of money." "Everybody's talkin' `bout the new sound, funny but. . ." "It's still rock and roll to me!" they finished together, laughing at themselves. "Man does that song bring back memories." Colin said after their chuckling died down. "Oh I know," Ryan smiled to his friend. "The first time I heard that song was back in 1980, right before we were going on stage for our first official show at Second City." The other man smiled at the memories. "Yeah, those were definitely great times back then. Not that I don't love the present mind you . . ." he trailed off, winking at his friend as they both took in their surroundings. "Yeah, yeah," Ryan replied with a friendly punch to Colin's arm. "But hey Col? Can I ask you something?" "Of course Ry. You can always ask me anything, you know that," Colin began with a smile. "It's whether or not I'll answer that's the real question." "Okay . . . " Ryan trailed off as he chuckled to himself. "This is kind of embarrassing for me because, well I . . . um . . . " "What? You what Ry?" Colin asked gently as to urge his friend on. "Well, it's embarrassing because I've known you for so long and always wondered this, but I've never asked you." "Well," Colin stated after a few moments of silence, "what is it?" Ryan sat quietly for a moment, contemplating how he wanted to ask. He finally decided that the direct approach would probably work out best. "Colin . . . " he began slowly, "what did you think of me when we first met? I mean, did you . . . you know . . . like me?" Colin gave his friend a confused look. "That's it? All that worry and fuss just for that?" "Well . . . what did you expect?" Ryan asked a little defensively as he turned his head to meet his friend's eyes. "I don't know . . . but definitely not that," the Canadian answered truthfully. "I mean, what were you so worried about that you had to lead me on like that?" "I don't know . . . the ANSWER maybe? Why are you stalling Col? Why won't you just answer me?" "I'm not stalling!" Colin declared defensively. "Yes you are," Ryan came back simply. "No I'm not!" "It's a simple yes or no answer Col. But I think I'm beginning to guess what the answer is on my own. So never mind, let's just forget it," Ryan said dismissively. "Ryan . . . " Colin began guiltily after a minute or so, "you're wrong. It's not as simple as `yes' or `no', it's uh . . . well it's complicated." "Would you mind elaborating just a little Col?" Ryan asked, feeling a little irritated. Colin exhaled deeply, "I'm not gonna lie to you Ryan," he stated as he met the younger man's eyes. Ryan quirked his eyebrows as he waited for his friend to continue. "Okay Ry, when I first saw you . . . no . . . I didn't like you." Colin had decided to himself as he said those words, that may have been one of the most difficult things he ever had to admit. Ryan opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Colin. "Before you get mad, even though it's a little late for that . . . " Ryan nodded his head in agreement as he rolled his eyes. "Just let me explain all right?" Colin continued as he questioned his friend with his eyes. The taller man nodded in response before Colin began speaking again. "Okay then," the Canadian replied before looking at Ryan. "Well, this part you know, but a friend of mine had told me to go and check out your act one night. He said that you were one of the funniest things he had ever seen. I was a little hesitant . . . it being at a strip club and all. I'm not really the "strip club type" as you know . . . " Ryan smiled a little as he nodded to himself. "Right, so ANYWAY," Colin continued as he too smiled. "I figured it'd be a sleazy act and I wasn't much into stand up to begin with. BUT, I went anyway. For a change of scenery if nothing else. And man, when you came on the stage . . . " the older man began smiling widely at the memory of seeing Ryan for the first time, "I saw this goofy looking guy a little younger then me as skinny as a pole and I remember thinking `this CAN'T be him'." Colin had to stop telling the story, as he couldn't stop chuckling at the memory. Ryan rolled his eyes as a grin spread across his face. "Okay Col, it's not THAT funny. I'm still skinny and goofy looking and you don't laugh every time you see me now." "Believe me Ry," the Canadian said in between laughs, "you're DEFINITELY not as goofy looking now as you were then." "Well gee, thanks," Ryan replied sarcastically before an evil look crossed his features. "I guess the opposite goes for you then huh?" Colin stopped laughing and playfully glared down at his friend. "ANYWAY," he continued, "I was right in my prediction about your show. It WAS sleazy and it WAS bad humor." "But Col-" Ryan interjected with a hurt expression. "I'm not finished Ry," Colin continued seriously. "Your performance had left a bad taste in my mouth and I was ready to leave in the middle of it quite frankly. But I don't know . . . something made me stick around . . . fate I guess," the Canadian smiled again toward his now confused friend. "It was just by CHANCE that I went to the bar afterward, and just by CHANCE that you happened to sit next to me, and just by CHANCE that a conversation struck up between us. Only then, when I actually conversed with you did I realize that you weren't just some scummy sleaze bag working in a strip club because you WANTED to. You were intelligent, had dreams, and were MUCH more talented then you were allowed to be in front of an audience like THAT. This was just to put food on your table and a roof over your head. We had SO much in common and yet . . . were two VERY different people." "TELL me about it," Ryan smiled widely to himself as he too recalled their first conversation. "I remember having trouble getting you to talk about ANYTHING. But something just told me to keep trying, and it wasn't until I cracked some joke about the British that you smiled and laughed for, probably the first time since you set foot in that joint." Colin continued to nod at the fond memories with that all-to-familiar smile gracing his lips. "Hey Ry? Why are we saying all these things in past-tense? Every thing we said is still true now . . . well, except the `me thinking you're a sleaze bag' part," the older man finished with a smirk. Ryan raised his eyebrows questioningly, to which Colin began nodding in response. "Okay, okay . . . I guess I STILL think you're a sleaze bag," the older man joked. Ryan smiled and nodded against his friend before something occurred to him. "Hey Col? I um . . . you know, hate to ruin "the moment" and all but uh . . . I really hafta go," the taller man finished as he looked up at his friend. "I know, me too. I've just been trying to hold it," Colin replied as he shifted positions under Ryan. "My butt's really getting numb," he stated matter-of-factly. Ryan rolled his eyes, "Hold the presses!" the younger man shouted with a smirk. Colin lightly smacked Ryan over the head with his hand, "quiet, my butt's numb because of you ya know." The comedians sat silently with expressionless faces as they thought about what Colin had just said. They then turned their heads to look at each other and stared quietly. "Umm . . . that's not what I meant," Colin said with an embarrassed grin. "Really?" Ryan asked sarcastically before chuckling. "Shut up," the older man smiled. "But Colin?" "Yeah?" "I REALLY have to go," Ryan whined in a childish manner. "So go then. What are you telling me for?" he asked while chuckling at his friend. "Well . . . " Ryan began as he looked around, "where?" "I don't know . . . I guess we could just very carefully use the pop bottles from earlier," the Canadian suggested. "Oh God Col, that's so sick," Ryan replied with an expression of disgust. "Well . . . what do you want from me?" Colin questioned as he moved out from under Ryan. "There's not much else we can do," he added as he went to retrieve the bottles from the front. "Um . . . okay, I guess. But this really is-" "Here," Colin interrupted as he extended a bottle to Ryan. The taller man grudgingly accepted it, then the two stood there looking at the object in their hands. Ryan quirked an eyebrow at his friend, Colin's own face masked with an uncomfortable expression. "Erm . . . I guess just turn around, put it on the floor, and pray to God you have good aim. For both our sakes," the older man shrugged before turning around. "Okay . . . " Ryan breathed as he turned around as well. They both awkwardly began their business and silence filled the air, for a moment anyway. "So um . . . how's it going?" Ryan questioned over his shoulder. "Uh . . . okay I guess," Colin replied carefully, "Hey Ryan?" he called to his friend. "Yeah?" "Can we not have a conversation right now?" Ryan began to laugh out loud. "Okay Col," he chuckled. "Whoops . . . " "What?" Colin questioned. "Um . . . nothing," the taller man answered quickly and non- convincingly. "Let's just say that uh . . . I shouldn't have laughed." "Oh God, Ryan," Colin winced as he realized what the other man meant. "It's not that much . . . " Ryan came back. "Just, never mind. You done?" the older man asked, changing the subject. "Yeah." "Okay, well cap it, then stick it in the front," Colin said as he moved to put his own bottle as far away from where they were going to be as possible. "Christ this is sick," Ryan said as he slowly screwed on his bottle cap. "Just, CAP your damn pee and give it to me," Colin commanded impatiently. Ryan's face scrunched up as he tried not to laugh, then slowly put his hand out toward Colin holding the bottle loosely. Colin quickly snatched the bottle and placed it in the front next to his own. "There," he stated. "Are we done being childish now?" the Canadian questioned his snickering friend. "As long as I never have to hear someone telling me to "cap my pee" ever again, I think I'll be okay," Ryan answered with a wide grin. Colin shook his head as he chuckled. "My God, I did say that didn't I?" "Oh yeah," Ryan nodded as the two began laughing quietly together. "All right . . . " Colin began as his laughing died off and he started to search his coat pockets. "Now where did I put those?" he questioned as he continued to look. "What?" Ryan asked, still laughing to himself. "I took some of those sanitary napkin thingies from Denny's and I KNOW I put them in this jacket somewhere . . . " the older man trailed off. "Um . . . Col?" Ryan began as he tried to hold in his laughter once again. "What?" the Canadian responded, becoming aggravated with his search. "Don't you mean sanitary *wipes*? I'm pretty sure the two of us don't need sanitary napkins . . . unless, there's something you've been meaning to tell me," Ryan added with a smirk. Colin's face grew a pretty shade of pink as he found what he was looking for and gave one of the wipes to Ryan. "You KNOW what I meant. And please GOD use one, Sir Spill-A-Lot," Colin quipped. Now it was Ryan's turn to be embarrassed as the two began cleaning their hands. "I AM still shaking from the cold you know," Ryan stated half- jokingly in defense as he and Colin threw their wipes by the bottles. "Yeah, I know buddy," the Canadian answered seriously, almost sadly. "And now I'm even colder then before. What say we combine our body heat again? That seemed to help a lot." "Agreed," Ryan stated as the two made their way to the very back of the vehicle. Colin resumed his spot on the floor and Ryan proceeded to sit on top of his friend once again. The older man then threw the blanket around them once again, before wrapping his arms around Ryan. "Just so you know," Ryan began with a smirk, "NO ONE finds out about this." The taller man gestured to their current position, wrapped around one another. "Hey, what happens in Butt-Fuck Nowhere, stays in Butt-Fuck Nowhere," Colin replied with a smile. Ryan began laughing again. "Jesus Col, if I were in this situation with ANYONE else, I hardly think I'd be laughing this much." Colin smiled at his friend before leaning back in an effort to get more comfortable. For the next half hour or so, the pair rested their eyes as they conversed about different things. Their strategy was to keep talking, so they wouldn't fall asleep. As Ryan was telling Colin an old joke they both knew just to pass time, Colin was suddenly aware that his surroundings were lighter. Even though his eyes were still closed, he could tell that something bright was shining on his face. The Canadian opened his eyes only to be blinded for a minute. Then, squinting, his eyes could see a beam of light traveling through the sunroof and onto his face. "Ryan!! LOOK!!!" Colin shouted as he shook his friend. "WHAT?! WHERE?!" Ryan asked as his eyes snapped open and he bolted up. His wandering eyes found what was so important and a look of shock crossed his features. "Oh no way . . . " he trailed of unbelievingly. "Oh YES WAY!!" Colin cried excitedly as he and Ryan rushed over to the pile of snow beneath the sunroof. "Come on! Help me dig!" the older man called out excitedly. The pair began digging away at the snow, pushing it up and out until they had created a large enough hole for someone to climb through. "You first Col, I'll give you a boost," Ryan said happily as he hooked his hands together and lowered them for Colin to put his foot in. Colin nodded as he put one hand on Ryan's shoulder, and the other on the hood of the vehicle as he placed his right foot in the taller man's hands. As Ryan lifted Colin up, the Canadian put his other hand on the roof of the car and pulled himself up and out, into the wet snow on top of the vehicle. "Okay, give me your hand Ry," the older man commanded as he held out his own hand. "That's all right Col," Ryan stated as he placed both of his hands on the roof and lifted himself up and out. Colin gave his friend a confused look. "Why didn't I just do that?" "Because *I* didn't want you to put all of your weight on your bad hand," the taller man responded with a sneaky smile. "Ooh, very smooth Stiles," the Canadian said with an appreciative smile. "Hey Col?" "Yeah?" "We made it bud," Ryan said as he gave his friend a huge grin. Colin smiled as he let out an exhausted breath. "Oh man, I can't believe it Ry," he said, shaking his head back and forth. "Well . . . " Ryan began as he and Colin slid off the roof of the car and over the huge piles of snow. "Believe it buddy. We're out, we're alive, and DAMN but it feels good to stand up straight!" "Oh man I know," Colin agreed as he stretched. "And I mean, we were right Ryan, this snow has to be at least two feet thick all the way around," he said as he pointed around the SUV. "I know . . . thank GOD it's sunny today," Ryan said as he gazed upward. Colin nodded in agreement as the two men took in their surroundings and relished the fresh air. It was bright and sunny outside with a good three feet of snow on the ground, but there were more clouds in the distance. At the angle of the sun, Colin guessed it was about ten in the morning, and then a thought occurred to him "Hey Ry?" "Yeah Col?" the taller man turned to his friend, still smiling ear to ear. "Umm . . . what now?" the older man asked with troubled eyes. "Uh . . . I don't know. Hitchhike, I guess . . . " Ryan shrugged as he resumed looking around. "Hitchhike?! There's three feet of snow on the ground!" Colin exclaimed as he gestured to their feet. "I know that Col . . . that's why we hitchhike on the freeway." "ON the freeway?!" "No, not ON the freeway. But, you know, next to it . . . where there's less snow." "Ryan, I don't know . . . " Colin began as his eyes became troubled again. "Hey, come on buddy," Ryan began gently as he grabbed Colin's shoulders and looked him calmly in the eyes. "Unless you want to go back in the SUV with the pee bottles, we really have no other choice," the taller man finished, his bright green eyes shining with humor. Colin let out a chuckle despite himself before looking back at his friend. "All right, hitchhiking it is. But Ry? What if someone WEIRD stops to pick us up?" Colin asked nervously as they trudged through the heavy snow to reach the side of the freeway. The older man really didn't like the idea of being in a complete stranger's car. "Then we'll get in, ignore the weirdness, and just be glad we won't have to walk," Ryan said with a smile as he patted his friend's back and started walking. Colin paused as he glared at his friend's back. "Smartass," he mumbled with a smile before he jogged up next to Ryan and the two began walking into the distance. ********************************************* Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 10) The two comedians had been trudging through the inches of snow next to the dangerous freeway for about a good three hours now. There weren't too many people on the road; however, the ones that were flew by, practically making Ryan and Colin jump out of their shoes each time it happened. As the day wore on, the temperature grew colder. The pair were once again shivering, and the on and off flurries didn't help that fact much at all. Both men had their hands stuffed in their pockets, and their heads ducked as far down into their jackets as possible. As they walked, shivering madly, the pair moved in synch with one another, leaning into each other heavily. Practically anything they could think of to ease the biting edge of the harsh cold they would do. As another flurry started up, Colin and Ryan felt tense and aggravated, praying to some higher power that they'd reach a gas station or rest stop soon. "Ryannn . . . I don't know how much more of this I can take . . . " Colin stated loudly over the wind to his friend, through chattering teeth. "I know buddy, I know . . . " the taller man replied. He was beginning to feel rather hopeless himself. Colin then looked ahead, for what seemed like the fiftieth time in a minute, in anticipation of SOMETHING being in the distance. "God . . . we've been walking for at least three hours now, how can we have NOT come across ANYTHING?" he questioned angrily. Ryan blew out a frustrated breath in response. "Don't ask me, YOU'RE the one who lives here." Colin shot his friend a look, to which the taller man just smirked down into the Canadian's glaring features. About another twenty minutes later, the snow wasn't so much of a flurry anymore as it was a downright blizzard. Colin and Ryan walked very slowly, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. The harsh wind blew against them, making forward movement that much more difficult. The stinging ice-cold snow hit their faces, obscuring their vision to the point where they just couldn't go on anymore. Ryan walked in front of his friend, turning around to face him and stopping their movement. His taller form blocked the wind from Colin's face, as well as allowing them to see each other for the first time in a while. "Col . . . I- I don't know what to do," the younger man stated loudly above the howling wind, panic and uncertainty clear in his wide green eyes. "I REALLY don't want us to end up like the Donner Party here . . . " he trailed off with a small smile, trying to lighten up the frightening situation they were in. The Canadian just glared in response, obviously not amused. "Oh THANKS Ry. REALLY wanted to hear THAT," he responded angrily, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. Colin's own large, expressive eyes then took on a worried, almost pleading look. "Seriously . . . how can you joke right now? I mean . . . what ARE we going to do?" The taller man's eyes downcast as he shook his head sadly and shrugged, almost as if he were giving up. Colin picked up on this. "Oh no . . . don't YOU start acting that way Ryan Lee Stiles. We're not just going to stop trying. We've come TOO far to quit now an-" "All right then Colin, FINE," the taller man interrupted coldly. "As soon as you come up with some amazingly intelligent idea on how to get us out of this, then you go ahead and let me know about it okay?" His harsh gaze softened as Colin continued to stare into him with a calm, reassuring look, almost as if he were trying to convince Ryan everything would be all right with his eyes alone. The taller man then sighed tiredly, reaching a hand out to cup the back of his friend's neck and pulled the older man into himself. Colin went willingly as he laid his head on his friend's shoulder, both men wrapping their arms around each other in a warm embrace. "Colin, I'm sorr-" “Forget it," the older man said quickly, his voice somewhat muffled by Ryan's shoulder. He then pulled away only slightly so that the two could look at each other once again. "Just . . . don't say that, okay Ryan? It's been a VERY long trip and we're tense and aggravated. We both have every right to be angry." Ryan closed his eyes while shaking his head in disagreement, before looking back at his friend with a gaze that apologized for him. "That doesn't mean I have a right to take it out on you. If it weren't for you Col, I probably would have gone insane a long time ago," he finished with an affectionate, teasing smile. Colin's own lips quirked into a grin as well before lifting his eyes to meet Ryan's, laughter dancing in their depths. "What? You mean you're not already insane?" he asked with his eyebrows raised questioningly. Ryan looked up, an expression plastered on his face as though he were actually thinking about it. He then wriggled his eyebrows comically, making funny faces all the while. Colin just shook his head back and forth while laughing, giving his friend a playful shove. The continued to play around before things became more serious again. "Col, how *are* we going to get out of this?" All Colin could do was shrug helplessly. He wished more then anything he had an answer for that. He had already admitted to himself that he didn't have a clue as to what they should do, which is why the two remained standing there instead of trying to get somewhere. Then again, where would they go? And how did they even know there would be somewhere to "get to" before either the elements took there toll, or they got too hungry to go on? These were just more of the questions Colin wanted to avoid thinking about, and yet, couldn't escape their almost taunting presence. Before the older man could think of anything to say in response, the two were startled as the beep of a horn sounded nearby. The two comedians lifted their heads and gave each other a puzzled look, before their eyes simultaneously gazed toward the freeway. There, less then ten feet away, was a friendly looking man in a decent station wagon, smiling toward the two improvisers and motioning for them to come over. Colin and Ryan looked back at each other with an odd expression, before smiles spread across their features at the thought of finally being "rescued", so-to-speak, from this winter wasteland. They then realized that the man was still waiting, and that they were still just standing there, staring at each other like idiots. They looked back to the waiting stranger and then hurried their way over to the other man, leaning over a little to peer in through the passenger side window. The stranger met their eyes, and was smiling from his place in the driver's seat. Ryan took note of the other man's appearance quickly. He had a medium build, probably about 5' 8" when standing, mid to late thirties with a full head of graying hair and dark brown eyes. 'He SEEMS normal enough . . .' Ryan said mentally, smiling back at the other man through the rolled down window. "Where you two headed?" the unknown man questioned as he leaned over the passenger seat so the two comedians could hear him over the wind. "Anywhere but here," Ryan replied with tired smile. "Good. Same place I'm going," the stranger replied with a wider grin, motioning for the other two to hop in the car. "Both of you guys will have to take the back though," he said with an apologetic look as he pointed next to himself. The passenger seat was overflowing with what looked like a bunch of boxes as they were covered with blankets, so one couldn't be sure. But regardless of whatever it was, it took up the whole seat. Ryan waved away the strangers apologizing gaze with an appreciative expression of his own. "Don't worry about it, we're just glad someone finally stopped," he said as he moved to open the back door of the vehicle. Ryan opened the door and motioned for Colin to hop in, but the older man just gave him a questioning gaze. Colin had been quiet this whole time for good reason, he still wasn't so sure about taking a ride from a complete stranger. He got in the car, however, having already decided that anything was better then their previous situation. Ryan gave his friend a reassuring pat on the back as the older man slid in the car first. The taller man followed closely behind before slamming the door shut and leaning back against the seat with a tired sigh. The warmth from the heat vents spread over his body quickly, and he immediately felt relieved from the frigid temperatures they had been dealing with for way too long. He then leaned forward as the salt and pepper haired stranger put the station wagon into drive and began accelerating. "Listen, I can't even begin to tell you how happy we are you stopped, uh . . . I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Ryan commented as he addressed the stranger. "I didn't give it," the man replied with a smile before reaching one hand back without taking his eyes off the road. "I'm Craig. It's nice to meet you . . .?" "Ryan," the green eyed man stated, shaking Craig’s hand. After the other man placed his hand back on the steering wheel, Ryan motioned to his left, "This is my friend, Colin." Craig caught the Canadian's gaze in the review mirror, smiling back at the older man. "Colin, it's nice to meet you," he said simply with the same friendly tone he had this entire time. Colin still held the other man's eyes in the mirror, and simply nodded with a smile in response. Inside he was still pretty unsure about all of this, and he was afraid that if he spoke his voice would betray him and show just how worried he really was. So he decided against talking right now as he didn't want to make a complete ass of himself, especially since Craig DID seem to be a perfectly normal, friendly guy. "Colin, I hope you don't mind me saying . . . but you've been awfully quiet. Is something wrong?" Craig asked curiously as he raised his eyes to try to meet the older man's once again. The Canadian caught the stranger's concerned, questioning gaze in the mirror for a brief moment, and cursed himself inwardly for taking the seat behind Craig. It wasn't that the man's eyes were frightening or anything, he just didn't like the feeling that this stranger would be looking at him the whole way. He was never comfortable around new people, and Craig was no different. However, at least this man wasn't acting strangely, not like that fan Tom anyway. Colin shuddered inwardly at that name, before he realized that Craig was still waiting for him to reply. He sighed tiredly at himself for being so rude, before glancing up to meet Craig's eyes in the mirror once again. "Nono, nothing's wrong. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be ungrateful or anything . . . but I mean, well . . ." he struggled to get the words out without sounding like a scared little girl. He wasn't having too much luck, however, before he resolved to blurt out what he had been thinking about pretty much ever since Craig stopped his car: "Haven't either of you ever seen the movie 'The Hitcher'?" Craig let out a loud, appreciative laugh at this, while Ryan just shook his head back and forth; his eyes squinted shut in laughter as he chuckled quietly. Colin tried to bury himself into his seat, his face tinting pink with a sheepish expression as he too began to chuckle quietly. After Craig and Ryan's laughter died down a few moments later, the taller man nudged his friend in the side with a smirk, to which Colin gave him a sideways glance with that same bashful smile still playing on his features. Ryan just patted his friend's leg as he continued to smile widely, chuckling some more as he leaned back into his seat once again. "You don't have to worry about that, Colin, "Craig began with an obvious smile in his voice. "I'm not German, I don't have a pocket knife, and the last time I checked, I haven't killed anybody . . ." he trailed off jokingly, winking as he continued to smile at the Canadian's reflection in the mirror. "I don't know about that Craig . . ." Ryan began with an evil grin as he looked at Colin. "I *thought* I smelled something funky coming from the trunk . . ." Ryan and Craig began to laugh once again, the taller man placing an innocent look on his face as Colin threw him an evil glare. "All right, all right," the older man stated with his hands in the air, clearly in a surrendering gesture as his first real smile broke through. "Forget I mentioned anything," he said as he shook his head and rubbed at his temples, a smile playing on his lips all the while. He was finally starting to feel relaxed, the mood much lighter now. After a few more moments, all three of the men's laughter died down until they were all left just smiling widely. Craig then raised his eyes as he took notice of an exit sign approaching. "Hey you two, there's a town coming up in a few miles. You want me to let you off there?" Ryan looked for himself outside to see the sign as it flew by. "As long as there's a phone and somewhere to eat, by all means," he replied happily, relieved to soon be in some sort of civilization again. Colin nodded in agreement, letting his eyes slip shut for a moment. He suddenly felt very tired and figured it was the whole ordeal catching up with him, which didn't surprise him one bit, seeing what he and Ryan had been through. As if Craig could read his mind, he spoke up just then about that very subject. "So what're you guys doing way out here in the middle of nowhere anyway? If you don't mind my asking that is . . ." he trailed off, the curiosity plain in his voice. Colin opened his eyes once again, not at all surprised when a huge yawn escaped him. Ryan took that as a cue to answer the question himself. "We're actually on our way to go skiing, but we had some uh . . . some car troubles a few miles back from where you picked us up," he stated while sharing a look with Colin. "Yeah, this weather will do that to ya," Craig commented, not wanting to pry any further. "Oh hey, here's your exit fellas," he said cheerily while easing off the freeway and into a rather small town. It consisted pretty much of two main roads, crossing each other in what was supposedly the "downtown" area. There were few buildings: a gas station, restaurant, drug store, grocery store, etc. 'Oh well,' Colin thought to himself, 'at least we can get a hold of our families from here.' "This place DOES have electricity right?" Ryan only semi joked, looking skeptically out the window at what he was mentally referring to as a "ghost town". Craig chuckled, "Yes, don't worry Ryan, it has electricity." Colin rolled his eyes at his friend, to which Ryan raised his hands with an innocent expression as if asking, "what'd I do?" The older man just shook his head before Craig started talking again. "Hey, I'm gonna stop and get gas here really quick," he stated as he gestured to the gas station approaching on their right. "How 'bout if you guys just sit tight and I'll take you to the restaurant right after I fill up my car . . . that sound all right?" he questioned as he raised his eyebrows to Colin in the mirror. "Oh no, Craig, we don't want to be any more trouble," the older man replied sincerely. "Ryan and I can just get out here," he finished as they pulled into the gas station. "No no, it's no trouble at all," Craig replied truthfully as he parked next to a gas pump and turned off his car. "You two just take it easy, and when I get back I'll drive you to the restaurant." He then shrugged at their questioning glances as he began to get out of the car. "It's on my way anyway," he said with a smile before closing the door. The taller man turned to his friend after watching Craig head into the store to pay first. "Well Col, it's a good thing we took our chances with a raving lunatic instead of continuing our nice pleasant walk, huh?" Ryan asked with a knowing smirk as he met his friend's eyes. "Oh shut up," the Canadian grumbled as he slumped back into his seat. "Come onnnn, admit it, you were wrong . . ." Ryan prodded as he moved closer to his friend and poked him in the side. "Get away from me you bastard," Colin replied while attempting to push his friend's hand away, trying not to smile and failing miserably. "Whatsa matter Col? Don't want to admit it? Well here . . . lemme help persuade you!" Ryan then practically lunged at his friend, wrapping an arm around his neck and holding him in a headlock. "GAH! Dammit Ryan! Let go!" Colin shouted as he started struggling, laughing at the same time. Ryan's face took on a completely innocent expression as he met Colin's eyes for one brief, silent moment. "What? Why? Sounds like you're having fun to me!" he exclaimed as that boyish gleam enveloped his eyes and he began to tickle Colin mercilessly with his free hand. The Canadian's eyes went wide with fear as the tickling began, making him struggle all the more. "Nono! Errgggg! Let-t GO yo-you JACKASS! I h-hate YOU!" he managed to choke out through his laughing. One hand was trying to free his neck while the other pushing away at Ryan's tickling, neither being very successful. Ryan stopped the tickling for a moment, his laughing gaze meeting Colin's watery eyes. "Awww . . . hate you too dork face," and with that, the tickling began again. That went on for about another minute, Colin's choked pleading and both men's insane laughter filling the car. In this moment, both men were worry free for probably the first time since the trip began. Their childish wrestling and uncontrollable laughter was all that mattered at the time, but the freedom of the whole thing couldn't last forever, and it was taken away far too soon. Ryan tore his smiling features away from his best friend for a moment, just in time to see Craig's form running full speed to the car. A questioning look came over the taller man's face as he stopped the tickling, and Colin's laughter died down as a result. "Umm . . . Ryan?" the Canadian questioned his friend who was staring out the window, still holding him in a headlock. When he didn't get an answer, the older man shrugged and sat up, Ryan's arm that had him in a death grip a moment before, plopping down onto the seat. Colin gave his best friend an odd look before gazing up just in time to see Craig hop in the car. "Craig? What's . . . what's going on?" Ryan asked carefully, the other man panting heavily as his shaky hand finally found the ignition after several attempts. "Shit! They found me, I can't BELIEVE this . . . I stop in ONE God damn town with a population of THREE and they find me . . ." he rambled on almost to himself as he keeled out of the gas station and onto the road. Colin and Ryan exchanged a worried, frightened look before Ryan addressed their driver again. "Umm . . . Craig? Who found you? What are you talking about?" But before Craig could answer, Colin tugged on Ryan's arm, trying to get his attention. Once he had it, he motioned behind them, giving his friend a wide-eyed look. The taller man turned slowly to see a police car on the road behind them, giving chase. Ryan suddenly didn't have too much trust in their new acquaintance, for obvious reasons. One look at Colin proved that his friend felt the same way, what with the older man's stony glare piercing into Ryan. The now very wide-eyed, lanky man swallowed an uncomfortable lump that had developed in his throat. He moved to address Craig again, gripping Colin's shoulder tightly as he did so, trying to reassure his now terrified looking friend, as well as himself, that everything would be okay. "Craig . . . Craig what's going on? You need to slow down okay? Take it easy," Ryan was relieved that his voice remained calm as he spoke, despite the butterflies in his stomach that had come about at an alarming rate. Craig was speeding on the freeway now, and Colin's hand had found its way to grip onto Ryan's leg tightly as a result. They were going much too fast, especially while on a road covered in snow. Luckily it had stopped snowing so at least Craig could see fine, but there was that little concern still lingering in the comedians minds that they WERE being chased by the police, and had no idea what this man had done. What had seemed like forever, but was actually only a few seconds, Craig finally spoke. "I can't slow down. *Shit*. I'm sorry you two had to get dragged into this," he talked quickly, still panting but sounding genuinely apologetic at the same time. "I-I didn't think they'd find me. HELL, they stopped looking over a month ago for God's sake!" Ryan looked back at Colin, his friend’s eyes were like saucers and his face was very pale, still gripping the taller man's leg in a vice-like hold. The younger man continued to squeeze Colin's shoulder reassuringly, trying to keep the panic out of his eyes but failing. "What'd, what'd you do . . .?" Colin found himself asking before he knew what was coming out of his mouth. "Nothing!" Craig blurted out, making the two improvisers jump as a result. "Okay okay . . ." he added quickly wanting to confess, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I *may* have stolen a few hundred thousand dollars from my boss . . . um, again. But he had it coming!" he added defensively while catching Colin's eye in the mirror. Ryan and Colin's eyes grew larger, if possible, and they unconsciously edged closer together. Craig felt terrible about all of this, he really did, but he was not going to be caught. He had decided that a long time ago. He truly regretted having to involve his two passengers in this mess, but what choice did he have? Taking a deep breath, he addressed the two frightened men in his backseat. “Ryan, Colin, I’m very sorry about all of this, but I can’t let you out of the car until the cops stop chasing me.” “Reality check Craig, cops usually don’t just decide to *stop* chasing a felon,” Ryan spit out automatically. He was obviously less than thrilled with this man, and wanted nothing more than for him and Colin to be safe and away from him. “I realize that Ryan, therefore Colin, I need you to climb up here and take the wheel for me, okay?” Colin’s face took on a deer in the headlights expression. His eyes then narrowed at the driver. “YOU are out of your mind if you think for ONE SECOND that I would actually-” The brown-eyed man cut himself off with a startled gasp. There, not two inches away from his best friends face, was a handgun. “You were saying?” Craig said nonchalantly, cocking the gun as he spoke. Ryan’s eyes were closed shut tightly, but he still flinched when he heard the noise of the gun cocking. He was sitting up straight, stiff as a board, not daring to move a muscle. His hand was now gripping Colin's shoulder so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Colin’s face was ghostly pale, his mouth hanging wide open in a silent stupor. After a few failed attempts at speaking, he finally managed to get the words out. “I-I was saying… nothing would make me happier than to aid and embed you, Craig.” Craig couldn’t help but smile to himself. “Good, good, I’m glad to hear it.” He then took the gun away from Ryan, causing both improvisers to exhale deeply in relief. “Now then Colin, carefully lean up here and take the wheel for me. And please don’t try anything, remember that I do have the gun.” Colin carefully did as he was told, taking the wheel in a very uncomfortable position as the other half of his body was still in the backseat. Not knowing exactly what was going on, he continued to steer the car as Craig began rolling down his window. Before either he or Ryan knew what was going on, Craig began firing his gun. “Jesus Christ!” Ryan shouted from the backseat, jumping at the loud noise. The sudden explosive noise caused Colin to jump as well, making the car jerk to the right before he hastily jerked it back to the center of the road. “You’re shooting at the cops?!” the frantic Canadian cried out in disbelief. “No! No of course not. Just their tires,” Craig answered back, taking aim and firing a few more times. This madness continued for just about another minute (although it seemed like an hour to Colin and Ryan) before Craig was finally successful. The cops had finally begun to slow down and pull over, allowing the three men to make a speedy getaway. “All right Colin,” Craig began as he pulled himself all the way back into the car. “You can get back now.” Colin was more than a little freaked out as he quickly let go of the steering wheel and leaned back in his seat. His heart was racing and his breathing was so quick and sporadic, Ryan placed a concerned hand on his friend’s shoulder thinking he might be hyperventilating. “Col? Colin? Hey, are you all right?” The taller man realized this was one of the least intelligent things he could have asked, but Colin’s lack of response was making him worry even more. “Colin?” he tried again, shaking his friend a little as his voice became sterner. Colin audibly swallowed in response, his eyes closing tightly as he reached out and gripped his friend’s forearm tightly. Very suddenly, Ryan’s eyes turned from concern for his friend, to a glare full of hatred aimed at their driver. "PULL OVER,” Ryan growled through gritted teeth. Despite the taller man's venomous tone, Craig shook his head in response before speaking calmly. "I can't, not yet. It's too soon, they might still be sending someone after me and I-" "I don't care! Pull over NOW before I come up there and MAKE you pull over!" Ryan commanded. Craig sighed tiredly. He wanted to be able to make the other two men know that he never intended to hurt them, but he knew it would be a fat chance that they'd ever believe him . . . not that he blamed them or anything. Still, he felt he had to try. "Ryan, wait, let me explain something to y-" "NOW, you son of a bitch," the green-eyed man demanded again. Craig sighed again as he eased his foot off the accelerator. "Yeah . . . yeah okay," he agreed as the car slowed down before stopping on the side of the free way. "Come on Col," Ryan said quickly, moving to open his door. "No, wait. Please? Don't go, I-I need you to listen to me for a second . . ." Craig's pleading voice called after them. Not quite sure why, possibly because of the genuine sincerity and regret in Craig's voice, Ryan stopped himself from getting out of the car. He scowled in self-depreciation as he slumped back in his seat, looking at the driver expectantly. The gray haired man nodded in gratitude with a small smile, looking both men in the eye as he began to speak. "Colin, Ryan, please, you have to believe me when I say that I was never going to hurt you, either of you. I only held the gun on you, Ryan, because I knew it was the only way to get Colin to help me out with the cops. I never, NEVER, had the intention to shoot you." Ryan was nodding his head slowly as he listened, not able to help himself as Craig was successfully convincing him. This was where Colin lost it. Sure, he believed Craig too, the man never seemed to be a threat from the beginning. But the frightening memory of a gun being held on his best friend was still very real, and the Canadian felt as though these two men weren't getting the whole picture here. "You had your finger on the trigger Craig!" he blurted out, surprising both of the other men in the vehicle. "It doesn't matter if you never "intended" to shoot him. One little bump COULD have set it off on accident, and then Ryan wouldn't be sitting here with us right now! He'd be slouched over in that corner with HALF of his HEAD *missing*!" he finished angrily. The newcomer to this trio noticed that a pair of eyes were glaring at him now. Sighing, he looked back toward Colin and Ryan again. “I had the safety on the gun. Even if I did accidentally hit the trigger, it wouldn’t have gone off,” he finished calmly, sincerely. Ryan and Colin nodded, but still exchanged unsure glances. "Look,” Craig began again. “I-it never even crossed my mind. I mean, I've never killed ANYONE in my LIFE despite what you may be thinking now," he added sadly as he looked reproachfully at his passengers. "Really, I just-I stole from my boss. That's it. That's all I did. But, like I said before, he had it coming. I've never hurt anyone or anything of the sort . . . I just wanted you two to know that," he added before giving another apologetic look in the other men's direction. The three men sat in silence, staring ahead at nothing in particular for about a minute, although it felt much longer. All were thinking about what had been said, running over everything in their minds. "Look . . . Craig," Colin still wasn’t too sure about this man. But decided it would probably be better if they left him on good terms. "We, we believe you," he stated as he gestured at himself and Ryan. "I'm only speaking for Ryan because I've known him for so long and can read him pretty well . . ." he trailed off as the taller man nodded in agreement. Colin now wasn't too sure where else to go with his side of the conversation, so after Craig gave them an appreciative smile, the men sat in silence once again. After a few more moments, Ryan cleared his throat and sat forward a little, folding his hands neatly in his lap while looking at the man in front of him. "Listen, Craig . . . I uh, I don't know what your boss did to you that was so terrible, but I hope stealing however much you stole was enough to hurt the bastard," he stated with a wide smirk. Craig shook his head and chuckled a little. "Oh, it wasn't at first, which is why I had to go do it again," he finished with a toothy grin. All three men began laughing at that, the mood in the station wagon lightening up considerably. After a few moments, when the laughter died down to just smiles, Craig looked back at the other two men seriously. "I umm . . . I wanted to thank you two. Really, you have NO IDEA how much you helped me out back there." "Oh, I think we have a pretty good idea . . ." Colin trailed off with a knowing smile. They started to chuckle again, Craig clearing his throat this time to get their attention. "So really, you guys, ANYTHING I can do to help you, just name it. There's a town just about two miles ahead of us, let me take you there. Please? It's the LEAST I can do . . ." he pleaded with sincerity and concern in his voice. Ryan raised his hands in a declining gesture, shaking his head from side to side in response. "Thanks for the offer Craig, really, but I think Colin and I feel like doing a little walking right about now, huh Col?" he questioned with a grin as he looked to his left at his best friend. "Took the words right out of my mouth," the Canadian responded with a smile of his own. "Besides, it's stopped snowing and like you said, it's only about two more miles to the next town so we'll be fine," the taller man continued, clearly having already made up his mind. Craig responded by nodding in acceptance, not wanting to argue with these men any further. If it weren't for them, he figured his ass would be in a jail cell right about now. A warm smile spread across his face as he reached a hand out to Colin. "Well then, I have to get going if you know what I mean," he said with a smirk. "So Colin, thanks a lot man." The older man just smiled timidly, shaking Craig's hand. Craig continued to smile before offering his hand to Ryan. "And Ryan, no hard feelings?" he questioned with a small smirk; his laughing eyes meeting the taller man's. Ryan just chuckled before taking Craig's hand in his own and giving it a firm shake. "Nah . . . I mean, come on. You think you're the first person to hold a gun to my head?" he joked, feeling a little of his tension melting away. The gray haired man laughed quietly in response before leaning back into his seat. "You two be safe, okay?" he said seriously as the improvisers headed out of the car. Colin poked his head back in with a grin. "We will, we're not driving with you anymore after all . . ." he trailed off smirking, waving at Craig before shutting the door. Craig laughed to himself as he put his car into drive, waving through the window at the other two men as he drove off. Ryan and Colin just stood next to the road, waving for a few moments as the other man drove into the distance. When they could no longer see Craig's car, both men turned to face each other, sighing heavily at the exact same time. They then began to laugh, partly in relief now because that whole ordeal was behind them, but mainly because they were both really okay. As Ryan looked at his friend, he was inwardly just WAITING for the taunting to begin. He knew he deserved it for making fun of Colin back at the gas station, claiming the Canadian was wrong, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear it himself. So it came as a surprise when his friend didn't seem to be angry with him. "Ryan . . ." Colin trailed off as he slid an arm around his friend's shoulders, leading them both along the freeway once again. The taller man returned the gesture carefully, giving the Canadian an odd look. "Yeah Col . . .?" he questioned a little nervously, not liking the way his friend went all silent on him. "Oh, just thinking is all . . ." the older man trailed off with a smirk. "About . . .?" Ryan asked guardedly, cautious of the evil gleam in Colin's eyes. "Oh, you know, just about how cold this is gonna feel," he stated, looking Ryan square in the eye with a wide grin. The taller man's eyebrows rose questioningly. "How cold what is gonna-HOLY SHIT!" Ryan practically jumped out of his shoes as Colin shoved an ice cold snowball down the back of his shirt, making contact with the bare skin along his back. The taller man tried desperately to get the cold, wet snow out of his shirt, before seeing the Canadian wink at him and take off in the opposite direction. "You are SO dead Mochrie!" he shouted as Colin sprinted forward, Ryan trying to run after him while hopping around to get the snow out of his shirt. Colin laughed loudly as he looked back at the funny picture his friend made, grinning madly at his successful revenge plot. He slowed down to a jog now, his friend still pretty far behind as the poor guy kept trying to get the frigid snow off his back. Colin was, however, smart enough to know not to attempt to help Ryan right now, the taller man would probably tackle him to the ground if he tried to even get near him. So instead, he resolved to stay a good twenty feet ahead for now, looking back and snickering at Ryan's playfully glaring features as they moved onto what would hopefully be the last stop of their journey. ********************************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 11) Colin had heard footsteps getting closer behind him, and turned to see that his friend was now running to catch up with him. Grinning widely, the Canadian began to run faster, pulling away from his slightly younger friend. "Col! Col . . . wait!" Ryan called out breathlessly. He continued pulling at the back of his own shirt so that it appeared there was still snow in there. Ryan had actually gotten it all out a few moments ago, but now it was HIS turn for some revenge. "Come on buddy! Stop running and help me get this snow out okay?" he pleaded. The older man stopped running at the desperation he heard in his friend's voice, turning around and letting out a sigh as Ryan got closer. He just KNEW he was going to regret this. Then again, he didn't want Ryan to get sick if there really WAS still cold, wet snow in his shirt. So in the end, he began walking toward his friend to help him out. "It's still in there Ry . . . ?" he asked carefully with a skeptical look in his eyes. He knew Ryan, obviously, and had a VERY strong notion that this was all just a ploy. Ryan just nodded in response, plastering a look of discomfort on his features. "Yeah, yeah it's still there Col. Help me and get it out wouldya?" he questioned, giving his friend a hopeful look and throwing in a touch of pathetic-ness for effect. It worked, but Colin was STILL, however, a little hesitant. "Are you um . . . are you SURE Ry? You're not still mad at me are you?" Ryan just chuckled quietly, placing a hand on Colin's shoulder so that their eyes met once again. "I'm not THAT much of a poor sport Col. I CAN take a joke ya know," he finished, smiling widely into Colin's reluctant eyes. "Yeah, well, I know you buddy. You're not exactly mister "forgive and forget" when it comes to practical jokes," he stated knowingly, challenging Ryan with his stare. The taller man just smiled widely, inwardly thinking about how well his friend really DOES know him. "Oh come on Col. I'm NOT mad at you, okay? So could you PLEASE just be a pal and get the snow out of my shirt. I can't get all of it by myself," he finished, gesturing behind him with his eyes. Colin sighed as he went to move behind his friend, still giving him a challenging gaze. As he reached a hand out to lift up Ryan's shirt, he sucked in a startled breath as his friend spun around quickly while grabbing his wrist tightly. With an evil smile, the Canadian could see the playful gleam in his friend's eyes that was all-to- familiar. "Shoulda went with your instincts Col," Ryan stated knowingly, a wide smile on his face as he gave his friend a shove. He had placed a foot strategically behind Colin during all of this, so that when his friend was pushed backward, the older man tripped over Ryan's leg and landed square on his side. Colin let out a gasp as he fell backward, followed by a grunt once making contact with the ground. His eyes filled with pain as he rolled flat onto his back, taking a couple of deep breaths to ease the throbbing he now felt. He was guessing that Ryan must have momentarily forgot about the bruising he still had along his side when he had decided to pull that little stunt. Ryan was too busy chuckling at the surprised look on Colin's face when he fell, however, so he didn't see the look of discomfort that was there now. Ever the prankster, and loving to goof off with people, especially Colin, he continued to smirk downward at his friend. He then proceeded to sit on top of the Canadian, pinning the older man neatly underneath him and smiling widely down into his deep brown eyes. Colin just glared back up at him, his side sending a pounding sensation all through his body at the moment, and he wasn't too happy with the man on top of him as a result. The wide grin melted off Ryan's face as he took in the glassy look in his friend's eyes. He had seen that look before, and his own eyes went wide as he remembered about Colin's back. However, before he could do or say anything to make sure his friend was okay, Colin had somehow squirmed an arm loose out from under Ryan and promptly shoved a handful of snow into the taller man's face. Ryan fell off his friend backwards, wiping at his face to get the painfully cold snow off as well as out of his eyes. The older man then took this opportunity to pounce on his friend, pinning Ryan under himself now, and proceeding to white wash his face. "Colin . . . STOP IT!!" Ryan managed to get out as the Canadian continued to rub the ice-cold snow into his face. The taller man caught a glimpse of Colin's expression for a moment, and the look in those dark eyes told him that his friend obviously wasn't playing, he was angry. Ryan began to get mad as well. He didn't mean to hurt Colin; the other man should KNOW that. And now his best friend was purposefully trying to make him miserable? As Ryan continued to struggle underneath his friend, squirming to get away, that last thought made him angry enough to do just that. He stopped worrying about protecting his face for the moment, and pushed his friend square in the chest with both hands, hard enough to send the other man toppling backwards off of him. Surprised, Colin lay there as Ryan lunged at him this time, the taller man blanketing his friend underneath him. Colin scowled and before Ryan could do anything else, rolled both of them over so that he was on top again. This began an all out struggle for domination as the two men rolled around in the snow like five year olds, smashing the cold frozen water into each other's faces and down one another's clothes. "Dammit Col!" Ryan managed to get out between mouthfuls of snow and dodging his friend's attacks. "I was just joking around. I didn't mean to hurt you," he stated truthfully, rolling back on top of his friend. "Yeah?" Colin came back as he grabbed Ryan's wrist, stopping the other man from shoving snow down his shirt. "You NEVER mean to hurt me Ry. Funny how often it STILL happens, huh?" he continued dangerously, simultaneously struggling with the other man as Ryan kept trying to get the snow onto the Canadian. "Maybe if you'd just think ahead for one GOD DAMNED second of your life, it WOULDN'T happen!" Both men were breathing heavily, continuing to tumble over each other in the snow as they fought. "Shit Col, I was just trying to get back at you. I'm sorry I didn't "plan ahead", we can't ALL be perfect ya know?" he stated bitterly. Ryan DID have a very short temper, and when he fought with people, those personal jabs sometimes seemed to escape him before he knew what the hell was happening. Colin, however, let those remarks slide for now. "Getting back at me? For WHAT?" the dark eyed man asked incredulously, rolling back on top of Ryan. "For getting back at YOU? Christ Ry! You REALLY need to learn to let things go, ya know that?" he said, right before being pinned underneath again and getting snow rubbed in his own face. "Get OFF," he demanded angrily, pushing his friend off and immediately wiping at his face. Ryan, however, jumped right back on and pinned Colin's arms above his head so that they were staring directly at each other. Their faces were only an inch apart, both men panting and eyes narrowed in anger and frustration. He could feel Colin wriggling under him for an attempt at freedom, so he tightened his hold where his legs were straddling the other man's hips. "GET OFF," the Canadian commanded again, this time through clenched teeth. "NO COL. You NEED to listen to me," Ryan stated back, not moving a muscle as they continued to glare at each other. Colin appeared to be willing to listen, and Ryan was going to use this opportunity to apologize. He knew he was an idiot when he pushed his friend, and was truly sorry that he had forgotten about Colin's previous injury and thereby caused his friend more pain. "Colin . . . Col I-" "You can never just let anything go, can you?" the other man cut in, his voice very calm. "You always have to have the last say in everything." The taller man had a shocked expression, before rolling his eyes and shaking his head angrily in disagreement. "Oh that's just bullshit Colin." "The hell it is!" the Canadian shot back. He was still struggling to get free, however, it seemed to only be a token effort now. Deep down, he knew he wasn't going anywhere. "Just take a look at this trip Ry. Whether it was who was driving, any argument we've had, and even NOW when I got you back with a practical joke, you can't even let THAT go. Oh no, you just HAD to show me up, didn't you? And how did you do it? By using MY concern for *YOU* against me." "Are you QUITE through?" the other man snapped, not agreeing with anything Colin had said. "No. No I'm not. You do it on "Whose Line" all the time too Ryan. WHY do you always feel you need to show me up? I THOUGHT we were a team," he paused, the older man's soulful eyes lowering sadly before he quietly mumbled: "apparently I was wrong . . ." Ryan just shook his head, his eyes narrowed and his face flushed with anger. How could his best friend possibly think that? That he was a show off on "Whose Line"? That he wasn't a team player? He felt himself getting hurt now. Colin's friendship meant the world to him, and everyone, including himself, knows what a great team they are, so why was his friend saying all this? "You're NOT wrong, dammit Col. We ARE a team. I don't know what the HELL you're talking about! I don't show you up! I mean, GOD, where the HELL do you get off-?" "Is there a *problem* here boys?" Both Colin and Ryan's eyes went wide with surprise. Looking at each other, they both slowly turned their heads toward the freeway to see an officer of some kind standing a few feet away. The policeman, they were guessing, had a very confused look on his face, probably having something to do with how Ryan was straddling Colin as they were yelling at each other. "Umm . . . no officer," Ryan cracked, being thoroughly embarrassed at the moment. "There's no problem. We were just having an argument," he finished. The officer nodded as if he understood, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess SO. You two didn't even hear me pull up . . ." he trailed off, giving them an unreadable look. He had seen some weird stuff in his day, but two men sitting on top of each other while yelling at one another on the side of the freeway, well, that was a new one to add to his book. "No really officer, thanks for your concern but we're just FINE," Colin added; glaring at Ryan the whole time he spoke. Ryan, hearing the edge in his friend's voice, looked back down, glaring right back at Colin to see that his friend was no longer meeting his eyes. Needless to say, however, the officer wasn't convinced. "Mmm hmm . . . listen, could you two get up for me?" he asked. It was more of a command than a question though. Ryan and Colin sighed heavily, both thinking somewhere along the lines of `now WHAT?' as the taller man pushed himself up and off of his friend. The two improvisers then stood in front of the officer, wiping snow off of their bodies as they waited for him to speak. The policeman crossed his arms over his chest with a slightly amused expression as he looked the other two men over. "So uh, what're you doing out here anyway? I mean, with no vehicle and not another town for a few miles...?" he began, truly curious as to what was going on with these two men. Still agitated and impatient due to their anger for each other, the comedians found they had to restrain themselves from rolling their eyes at the officer. The LAST thing they needed was to be taken to jail right now. "We had an accident in the blizzard and have been hitch-hiking to get to a town," Ryan said pointedly, wanting to get this over with. The officer looked as if he were concentrating really hard on what Ryan was saying, nodding his head understandingly. His eyebrows then narrowed before looking back at the men in confusion. "In the blizzard? That was over yesterday evening. You two mean to tell me you've been hitch-hiking since yesterday?" he questioned with raised eyebrows. Ryan blew out a frustrated breath at the way this man was treating them, as if they were incompetent somehow. As he took note of the officer's nametag, which read "G. Spencer", he also noticed the other man's appearance for the first time. He was about 6 feet tall, with bright blue eyes and dark hair. He had a muscular build, `always good to see a policeman in shape' Ryan thought to himself with a smirk, and the officer had that ever commanding presence most policemen seemed to possess. "Yeah," Colin started this time, gesturing toward Ryan with a thumb as he spoke. "HE crashed *my* SUV into a pile of snow, and we were trapped inside for the night. LUCKILY, the sun melted some of the snow today and we were able to get out . . ." he trailed off. Colin could see Ryan glaring at him out of the corner of his eye at his own accusing statement, but found it hard to make himself care. Instead, he finished his story to the policeman. "So actually, I guess we've really been hitch-hiking since late this morning." Officer Spencer still wasn't exactly convinced, however. His face still had that skeptical look, and he quirked an eyebrow at Colin as he spoke. "So wait a minute . . . how far could you two have gotten in a few hours? I've been driving on this highway for about a good thirty miles and I haven't seen a SINGLE vehicle on the side of the road," he stated, his face still questioning. "Well actually," Ryan cut in this time, not wanting to hear anymore of his friend's hurtful words. "We got a ride from someone for a while, but he was making us uncomfortable so we told him we'd be fine if he dropped us off . . . and that was about a mile back I think." Although he was the picture of calm on the outside, Ryan was inwardly tense and worried as he spoke to the officer. Sure, he told the truth about getting a ride, but it wasn't the WHOLE truth. However, it wasn't like he was going to bring THAT whole ordeal up. Colin glanced quickly at his friend. He could tell just by the way Ryan's jaw was clenched that the other man was nervous, VERY nervous. He didn't blame him though; he was feeling his heart race pretty good too. If that policeman suspected them of being the ones who had been in the car with Craig, hell, he didn't know WHAT he'd do if that ever came up. Sure, he could act, and very convincingly at that, but Colin had learned a long time ago that he's a terrible liar. "Okay . . . " Officer Spencer trailed off, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That clears a lot of this up . . . now there's just the question of what exactly you two were DOING when I first came up," he questioned with a pointed look. "Exactly what I said we were doing - arguing," Ryan stated simply. The taller man's eyes met the gaze of the officer steadily as he spoke. The policeman chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment, before motioning for the other two men over to his car. "You two hop on inside, I'm going to go ahead and take you back to the station," he said while opening the back door of the car. Ryan and Colin gaped for a moment before the taller man stepped forward, his hands out in front of him in a questioning gesture. "Why? The last time I checked, arguing wasn't against the law," he said with more than a little sarcasm. Officer Spencer gave the green-eyed man a level look, something along the lines of amusement underneath the granite features. "Actually, I was going to take you guys back so that you could call someone, possibly get your vehicle towed and see if there are any hotel vacancies around, should you need it." Ryan's gaze slowly dropped. "Oh," he said in defeat, feeling more than a little foolish at the moment. As the officer motioned for them to come over once again, Ryan lifted his head and gave the other man a sheepish expression. "Listen, I'm sorry about that. It's just th-" "No no sir, it's all right. You two have obviously been through quite a bit these past couple days," he stated with a small smile, his features showing sympathy for the tired comedians. "So . . . hey," he perked up again as the other two men finally began to walk toward him. "Do you have Triple A or anything sir?" he asked Colin. "Yeah, actually, I do," he answered with something other than bitterness to his voice. Patting his back pocket to make sure his wallet was still there; he silently thanked God for at least not letting the thief take THAT as well. "Good," the officer replied with a friendly smile. Letting Ryan into his car first, followed momentarily by Colin, he then shut the door and moved around to hop into his driver's seat. The three rode in silence for a while as they began the drive to the police station. It was still fairly sunny and the snow continued to melt, therefore, they were making decent time. Not liking the silence, as Officer Spencer was rather personable, he decided to try and break the ice. "So, um . . . you two been friends for a while?" the uniformed man questioned as he quirked an eyebrow at Ryan in the rearview mirror. "Mmm hmm . . ." Ryan mumbled as he stared out of the side window. "Twenty-five years," he said with a sigh, resting his chin in a hand. Officer Spencer's eyes widened at this. "Twenty-five years?" he asked incredulously, "well HELL. That's practically a lifetime!" "Yeah," Colin replied steadily, his eyes locked outside the window as well, "a long time." Ryan wasn't exactly sure what he had heard in Colin's voice at that statement, but he knew he didn't like it. It seemed as though Officer Spencer agreed with this logic, as he just cleared his throat and devoted his full attention to the road once again. The drive continued on like that for about fifteen more minutes. The uncomfortable silence level seemed to rise every time one of them shifted positions, coughed, or did ANYTHING in general. Once the silence was broken in that way, it only reminded them how no one was talking and made everyone fidget more. Ryan would steal a glance at Colin once in a while, wondering what his friend was thinking, and feeling. However, every time he looked over, the Canadian looked the same; tense and very, very mad. A few minutes later, the car slowed and was put into park. A quick glance out the window told Ryan that they had arrived at the police station. As the two comedians shuffled out of the car and into the station, their spirits were less than high. Oh sure, they weren't being arrested, but this trip had just been one disaster after another. It seemed sometimes as though they'd NEVER get to the lodge, or their families. This was one of those times. "All right gentlemen," Officer Spencer began after leading the men into an office. "Where should we begin?" he asked before sitting down at a desk and motioning for the other two men to sit as well. Colin and Ryan took a seat and both began staring ahead thoughtfully. It seemed to be a mutual, unspoken decision between them to forget about their argument right now and figure out what they were going to do. That isn't to say, however, that there wasn't any tension between them. "Well . . . " Colin began thoughtfully, "first of all, I'll call Triple A, see how soon they can tow my car . . . " he trailed off. He reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. It didn't take long for him to find his insurance card, seeing as how all that remained in his wallet other than that was about $75 left over from when they ate at Denny's, membership cards to various restaurants and video stores, as well as family pictures. "I guess we really can't do anything else until we find that out," he continued, looking up at the officer. "Until then, we don't know if it'll be a couple hours or a couple days," he finished with a shrug. "Okay, that sounds good. Go ahead and use this phone," the policeman offered as he turned the phone on the desk toward Colin. "Thanks," Colin replied before dialing the phone number on his card. Officer Spencer then stood up and started heading out of the room. "I'll be back in a few you two," he said over his shoulder. Ryan and Colin nodded in response, the shorter man going back to his call, waiting for someone to answer. As the two sat in silence, Ryan nervously began bobbing his knee in that familiar way he does, while Colin was being put on hold. After a couple of minutes went by, it was obvious that Colin's patience was wearing thin with being made to wait, especially considering his mood before the call. The older man watched with annoyance as Ryan continued to bob his knee while looking forward. Suddenly, Ryan felt his friend's hand land roughly on his leg, stopping his nervous habit. Looking up, he could see that Colin was looking into his eyes for the first time in a while, and he felt hope. That is, until he noticed the annoyance and anger the older man's eyes expressed. "Will you cut it out? You're making me nervous . . . " Colin stated gruffly, removing his hand and looking away again. Ryan's eyes narrowed of their own accord, feeling that same anger and confusion at his friend take over his hurt. "Well I'm sorry Col," he began sarcastically. "But ya know, maybe I'm doing it because I already *am* nervous," he finished with a glare, receiving one back from his friend. Ryan knew how childish they were being right now. He could have sworn that Colin almost stuck his tongue out at him right then. But his friend was refusing to talk, refusing to listen, so there wasn't much he could do but defend himself and try to get through all of this. He also knew that Colin was hurting him, and well, if Colin couldn't see that, it meant that he was pretty damn mad . . . and so then Ryan decided that maybe he deserved what he was getting from Colin right now, no matter how much pain it involved. As Ryan's thoughts ran away with him, the older man had gotten through on the phone and had been talking with someone from the insurance company. "Really? You can't get it any sooner than that?" Colin was trying to keep the anger out of his voice as he spoke, and it was apparent to Ryan. `This can't be good,' the taller man thought to himself with a sigh. "No no, I understand that you're busy. Yeah, yeah it's okay. All right then . . . see you then. Yeah, thank you . . . you too," Colin hung up the phone with a sigh of his own. Officer Spencer came back into the room then, and Colin looked over at the officer with very tired eyes. "He says he'll have it for us tomorrow morning. I didn't know where to have him bring it, so I told him to drop it off here. Is that okay?" "Oh yeah, that'll be fine," the other man replied with a smile, taking a seat at the desk again. "Do you know what time?" "Umm . . . he said between eight and nine," Colin replied as he leaned back into his chair. "Okay," the officer nodded, "that's actually pretty good. You two should consider yourselves lucky. Normally, what with all the accidents this time of the year, it takes them at least twenty-four hours . . . " he trailed off, Colin and Ryan nodding tiredly. "All right you two, here's what we're gonna do," the officer started up again, leaning forward. "There's a hotel about two miles down the road. I'll take you over there now, you can rest up overnight, and I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at 7:30 to bring you back here and wait for your car. Sound okay?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "Oh no, officer, you don't have to do that," Ryan began as he sat up straighter, shaking his head. "Well what else do you suggest?" the policeman came back with a wide smile. "It's no trouble, really you two, and I'm not about to make you WALK the two miles," he stated, giving them both a serious look. "I'd say you've done enough walking for a while." The two comedians nodded, giving the other man appreciative looks. "That sounds good. Thank you Officer," Colin replied sincerely. "Thank you SO much," Ryan chimed in with a smile. All three men then stood up, and Ryan and Colin shook hands gratefully with the police officer. They then made their way out to the police car and piled inside. The car was already cold from the frigid temperatures outside, even though the engine had only been turned off for about ten minutes. The five-minute ride to the hotel was just about as bad as the twenty- minute drive to the station. There was little to no conversation, none between Ryan and Colin, and the two men in the back were very much on edge, as they had been since Officer Spencer came across them. After what had seemed like forever, they finally reached the hotel. After saying their final goodbyes and thanking Officer Spencer some more, the two improvisers hurried toward the entrance of the decent looking hotel, desperate to escape the cold once again. This hotel was actually a motel. You could only reach the rooms from outside, and there were about twenty of them lined up, one next to the other. All were a part of the same building, just with walls separating the individual rooms. As they entered the lobby part of the building, Colin moved right over to the clerk behind the desk. He just wanted to get a room so that he could relax as quickly as possible. "Hello," the young woman behind the counter greeted with a smile. "Hi," Colin replied, doing his best to smile back. "How can I help you two gentlemen today?" "We just need rooms for the two of us," he replied while leaning on the counter. "Okay . . . two singles then?" the employee asked with a raised eyebrow as she began typing at a computer. "Yeah, that'd be great," the older man answered as he took his wallet out of his pocket. "Okay . . . it's going to be $59.99 for each room," she stated while continuing to type. A pained expression overcame Ryan's features. Normally, he wouldn't care, but he was hoping that they'd have to share a room tonight, so that they could possibly work through their argument and get past all this discomfort. However, it still seemed as though Colin couldn't care less if they ever spoke again, and that's what really hurt. Ryan wasn't going to give up that easily, however, so he decided to play it out another way. "Col," he began seriously, looking over at his friend, "you're not paying for a room for me," he finished with an insisting voice. He then turned to the clerk and smiled, "we'll take one room." Colin began digging through his wallet and threw Ryan a stony glare. "You're paying me back, remember?" he asked with raised eyebrows before looking at the employee. "We're taking two." "ONE," Ryan insisted. "TWO," Colin came back. "You don't have enough there for two," the taller man stated, trying another angle and pointing at the cash in Colin's hands. "Yes I do," the shorter man retorted through gritted teeth. The employee's head went back and forth, watching this exchange much like a tennis match. The arguing went on between the two men, volleying back and forth, until eventually, the ball was in Colin's court. What he was going to do with it was up to him now. "Ryan," he began with a venomous tone, "I don't even want to see you right now, let alone share a room with you. So why don't you just back off, give me some God damned space, and leave me the hell alone." Colin hadn't meant for his words to sting as much as they did. He was just beyond angry and didn't know how else to get that fact across to Ryan. He needed to be alone for a while and since nothing else seemed to be working, he figured spelling it out was the last and final option. And boy did it work. Taking a few steps back, as if physically punched in the gut, Ryan moved away. He let anger take over his features to mask the sheer pain he felt as a result of those harsh words. "FINE," he stated angrily, "if that's what you want-" "It's what I want," Colin cut in as he pulled the extra cash out. After paying the employee the money, and giving all the appropriate information, the two each received a room key. Colin was in room 7 and Ryan was in room 10. "See you back here at 7:30," Colin stated as he began walking away. "Yup," the taller man replied. He didn't trust himself to talk right now, not that he had much to say at the moment anyway. With that, the two went their separate ways. They each entered their own room two doors away from each other, and each shut the door behind them, although Ryan's was more of a slam. As Ryan looked around his room, taking in the single queen sized bed, television, bathroom and sink, he could think of nothing else except beating the crap out of something. That pillow never stood a chance. Colin, on the other hand, entered his room and felt something inside of him ache. It was like a physical throb in his chest, one that made it hard to breathe. He decided it was just because he was so mad, and tired, and hungry; but for now, all he needed was a nice shower. He'd call his family later and let them know about this new delay, but right now, he needed to get clean. `That's what's wrong,' he thought to himself. `I'm dirty, exhausted and starving, that's why I feel this way. I mean . . . it definitely has nothing to do with Ryan.' His eyes widened as that thought came through. `Wait, where did *that* come from?' Doing his best to block that question for now, the Canadian made sure his door was locked before proceeding to take a shower. He would think more clearly about things once he got clean and some food in himself. Because there was no way his feeling this way had anything to do with his best friend. Right. ******************************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 12) Colin was clean now, and feeling nothing less than exhausted. He had just gotten off the phone with Deb, had explained everything that happened in vivid detail, as per her request, and so now he felt as though he just went through the whole ordeal over again. "And I thought I was tired before . . . " he mumbled to himself as he lay stretched out on the firm, queen sized bed. His mind continued to wander, thinking about the conversation with Deb. She had been so worried, so happy to hear from him. Not that he could blame her for worrying. He felt so bad for not having a way to let her and Pat know that he and Ryan were okay. They had never showed up yesterday, never called, (both of which were unavoidable). He could only imagine the hell their families had been put through. According to Deb though, Ryan had called them too. Colin figured his friend must have done it while he himself was in the shower. But everything was okay now. Deb and Pat, as well as their children, all knew that he and Ryan were okay, and would be back on their way tomorrow. Yup, everything was A-OK. Oh yes, just fine. "Who am I kidding?" he groaned, rolling over and pulling a pillow over his head. He felt sick. Seriously ill, almost nauseous, and he knew why. Sure, he and Ryan had gotten angry at one another before, but this time, it was different some how. Colin wasn't sure why, but he had this sinking feeling he had done something wrong. Something horribly wrong that he hadn't even been aware of. Oh, he was still angry with his friend, there was no denying that. But somewhere, deep down, he still felt something else bothering him. "I'm just hungry," he said to himself. Then, shaking his head once he realized he kept talking to himself, he decided to go out to a vending machine and get some food. Pulling his jacket and boots on, he jogged quickly outside into the freezing air. The vending machine was down a few doors from him, two past Ryan's room, actually. As he passed his friend's room, he paused and looked at the door for a moment. The lights in Ryan's room were out, but he could see something flickering through the curtains once in a while. `Probably watching TV,' he thought to himself before heading for the vending machine again. After putting in some change and getting himself M&M's, a bag of pretzels and a bag of chips, he paused before heading away. Realizing that Ryan hadn't eaten either, and had no money of his own to buy food, he began putting more money into the machine. Getting two of what he knew were his friend's favorites: Peanut M&M's and a bag of Doritos; he headed toward Ryan's room now. Pausing in front of his friend's door again, he took a deep breath before knocking tentatively. "Who is it?" he heard an agitated Ryan call out. "Carol Channing. I'd like to have a word with you young man," Colin called back jokingly. After a moment of silence, he sighed before trying again. "Who do you think it is?" "Yeah, I know," the taller man said bitterly. "Why do you think I'm not answering?" Colin sighed again tiredly, leaning his head against the door. "Come on Ryan . . ." he began, then, taking another angle, "I've come bearing food." He waited another moment, but still no response from his friend. "I know you're hungry Ry, at least open the door and take this," he pleaded, standing up straight again and waiting. Ryan, however, still didn't respond. "Fine Ryan, where do you want me to put this stuff?" "Oh I'll tell you where you can put it . . ." Ryan's muffled; angry reply came through the door. Colin sighed in annoyance. "Ryan, what the hell is wrong with you? If anyone should be mad, it's me. What's YOUR problem?" He barely got that last word out before the door flew open in front of him and he was met with a very angry looking Ryan. Taking in his friend's rumpled appearance, it was obvious that Ryan also had to put on the same clothes he was wearing before after showering. "Excuse me?" Ryan asked almost too calmly as he gazed levelly back at his friend. "I said . . . " Colin began, tossing the snacks onto a table near the door. "What is your problem?" The two gazed angrily at one another in silence, both men now feeling mad all over again. After another moment, the taller man rolled his eyes before scrubbing a hand over his face. "Close the door if you're staying," he began as he walked in the opposite direction, "it's fucking cold out there." Colin continued to glare at the back of his friend, slamming the door shut with his foot. "That was mature Col," Ryan remarked bitterly. He then turned back around as he took a seat on his bed. "You're one to talk. I thought people stopped rolling their eyes in high school. But then again, I AM talking about you, aren't I?" "Jesus Colin, do me a favor and just go to Hell," Ryan barked, putting his head in his hands. Colin sighed angrily once again. "Ryan, what the HELL is wrong with you? Why are you acting like such a jackass?" "Wow, umm… let me ponder that one for a minute," the green-eyed man growled with sarcasm. He then stood up off the bed and began closing in on Colin. "Let's see… my best friend thinks I'm full of myself, he thinks I'm not a team player, that I'm a show off," he continued to tick things off of his fingers as he moved closer and closer to Colin, glaring dangerously. "He also thinks I'm an ass-hole and that I meant to hurt him. He won't listen, won't talk, and doesn't want to figure things out. He's unwilling to cooperate and makes it pretty clear he wouldn't care if we ever spoke again. He's sick of me, doesn't want to see me, and oh yes, wants that I should leave him `the hell alone'." Ryan had Colin practically pinned against the door at this point. "Any of that ringing a bell for ya, Pal?" Colin just stood there in a kind of silent stupor. Had he really said all those terrible things to his friend? To his BEST friend? Yes, he had, and what was even scarier was that he was so angry, he didn't even realize how MUCH he had been hurting this best friend of his. Ryan was clearly waiting for a response of SOME kind from the other man, and after about a full minute of seeing Colin just stare at nothing, he blew out an aggravated breath. "Forget it man, I can see that I'm still not getting a god-damned thing through to you," he mumbled angrily as he began to turn. The brown-eyed man grabbed his friend's arm, stopping the other man from leaving. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say, he just hoped the improviser in him would be of use to help explain his actions and hopefully keep Ryan from getting any angrier. Or any more hurt for that matter. Looking directly into the taller man's eyes, Colin let the truth pour out. "Ry… I'm, I'm really sorry man. I guess that, I dunno, I guess I was just so angry that I couldn't see how much I was hurting you, and that's just not right." Colin shook his head at himself as Ryan shifted a little. The green-eyed man was feeling a little uncomfortable, and a bit foolish as well. He didn't think Colin heard any of what he had said, and he certainly didn't expect this onslaught of apologizing he was receiving. At the same time, however, he figured that he should just let Colin continue. He was still pretty mad at his Canadian friend, after all. "I feel like such a jerk," Colin continued as he looked back up at Ryan. "Ryan, I know you were just goofing around, and I know that you never meant to hurt me. I'd be an idiot if I thought anything else… which, well then, I suppose I was an idiot there for a little while huh?" Ryan nodded with a small smile. "Yeah Col, you were. A really BIG idiot." Colin nodded as well with a guilty look on his face. "No uh, no beating around the bush for you eh?" Ryan couldn't help but chuckle a little. Putting his hands on his friends' shoulders so that Colin would meet his eyes, he smirked at the other man. "I can understand why you were angry. I realize that once again, I took something a little too far. And Col, I'm sorry about that. And I'm REALLY sorry that I hurt you. But I just needed you to see what you were doing to me. It's not fun to think that your best friend hates everything about you, ya know?" Colin looked up with a pained expression and Ryan winced, he hadn't meant for his words to seem so bitter. "Ry, you didn't, you thought? Jesus, Mary and Joseph… I'm sorry you thought that. Nothing could be further from the truth Ryan, and I'm so sorry I MADE you think that. I-I can't even BEGIN to-" "Col," Ryan interrupted his friend with a smile. "It's okay buddy, you don't have to keep apologizing." Ryan had decided to be big about this whole thing. It was clear that Colin was truly sorry, and Ryan didn't want to drag this whole thing out. They were best friends, and therefore, shouldn't dwell on arguments that both sides felt bad about and apologized for. With a smile, Ryan looked to his friend and added: "Grape jelly, remember?" Colin laughed and nodded as that whole theory of Ryan's came back to him. "So umm… then you're not going to hate me for all eternity?" the brown-eyed man asked, returning the smile. "Well see now, that all depends…" Ryan trailed off with a grin. "Depends on what?" Colin asked with a quirked eyebrow. "On what kind of food you brought me," the taller man finished with a toothy grin. Grinning as well, Colin reached over to the table and held up the two items he had bought his friend. Ryan's eyes lit up as he saw what they were. "All's forgiven," Ryan said quickly as he snatched the M&M's and Doritos from his friend. Colin chuckled as his friend made his way over to the bed to sit and eat. On his way, however, he dropped his bag of chips and, without thinking, bent over a little too quickly to pick them up. "Shoot me," Ryan mumbled as a searing pain shot up his back. "Ry? Hey, are you okay?" Colin asked with concern as he hurried to his friends' side. "Yeah, yeah man, I'm fine. I just… I just threw my back out again," he said through clenched teeth. "Arggh… curse you Doritos." Colin couldn't help but laugh as he moved to stand behind his friend. "All right Big Bird, assume the position." Ryan turned his head to look at his friend behind him out of the corner of his eye. "Are you coming on to me?" he asked with a smile. The Canadian smacked his friend on the back of the head. "I COULD just let you live in pain the rest of your life ya know." "You could…" Ryan trailed off with yet another knowing smile. "But then, how would I perform sexual favors on you?" "Just cross your arms over your chest and shut the hell up," Colin said with a laugh. Laughing as well, Ryan did just as he was told. Colin the wrapped his arms around Ryan's upper body and lifted his friend off the ground, jostling him a bit until they both heard Ryan's back crack. Setting his friend back down, Ryan grinned and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What would I do without ya Col?" "Search me," the brown-eyed man answered with a smile. He then held out Ryan's Doritos. "Don't drop them this time, okay?" "Got it," Ryan saluted as he began ripping open the bag. "Well then, now that all is right with the world again," Colin smiled, "I suppose I can head back to my room and try to actually get some sleep." "Sounds good to me," Ryan answered with a yawn. "I'll see ya bright and early then?" he asked with a meaningful smile. Colin returned the look as he opened the door. "Yup, bright and early it is." "G'night Col." Colin was about to answer when he looked outside. Coming out of the main lobby was a VERY familiar looking man. "NO WAY." Ryan looked up from his chips just as Colin slammed the door and pressed his back against it, a look of pure fear on his face. "Col? Colin?" Ryan began walking toward his friend with worry etched on his face. "Colin what the hell is wrong with you?" "Turn off the lights, lock the windows and for the love of all that is holy HIDE ME." "What the HELL is going on??" Ryan demanded. "It's Tom," Colin whispered. "Tom?" Ryan asked with confusion. The Canadian nodded. "Tom." "Tom who?" "What do you mean Tom WHO?" Colin whispered back incredulously. "Tom, Tom psycho Tom who wants to have my babies. THAT Tom." "Ohhh TOM," Ryan said with realization. After a pause, the tall man turned off the TV and lights in record time and practically dove next to the window so he could peer out from in between the curtains without being seen. "Are you sure?" he continued to whisper. "YES," Colin hissed back. It was then that Ryan saw him too, and the very sight of that man made his blood boil. "How in the WORLD is that son-of-a-bitch HERE, of all places??" "I don't know Ry, but I think the best thing we can do is just AVOID him. He doesn't know we're here, and I want to keep it that way." Ryan nodded, despite how much he still wanted to kick that guy's ass. "All right Col, that's probably a good idea. Who knows what that psycho would do if he saw us here." Colin nodded before creeping down next to his friend, so that he could see what Tom was doing as well. The two comedians watched as Tom entered the back of a van and began loading shelves of something unidentifiable onto a dolly. "What is he doing?" Ryan whispered. "How should I know?" Colin came back. "Well, he is having you children-OW!" Ryan chuckled as he rubbed the part of his arm Colin just punched. Colin glared playfully at his friend before they both turned their attention to Tom once again. As he rolled the dolly closer, they could see that it was full of snack food, soda, and water. "Oh great," Colin mumbled. "He's the vending machine guy. He'll be stocking those things up for a while." "Well," Ryan began as he got to his feet, "looks like you may as well make yourself comfortable my friend." "Yeah," Colin sighed as he made sure the curtains were closed completely. "Wonder what's on TV?" "Only one way to find out," Ryan answered with a smile. The two men then grabbed what was left of their food and plopped down on the bed as Ryan began to surf for ANYTHING worth watching. ************************************************** Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 13) It was well past midnight, and the two friends were lying in the dark on their backs, side-by-side on the giant queen bed, thinking the other was asleep. Colin had planned on heading back to his own room after making sure Tom was gone, but while watching TV he found himself getting very comfortable. He was almost positive Ryan was sleeping, so he didn't want to get up and possibly wake his friend. He knew if there was one thing they both needed, it was sleep. It was funny really, Colin thought to himself, that he could be so exhausted that he felt he couldn't get up, and yet, he'd been lying here for more than three hours and had yet to get a wink of sleep. 'Over-tired' he said to himself. That's what Deb always told him he was whenever he couldn't sleep at home after a long trip of touring. "Col?" The Canadian jumped a little at his friends very *awake* sounding voice. He then released the breath he was holding and let himself sink face first into the mattress. "You too, Ry?" he sighed. "Huh?" "Can't sleep?" "Oh . . . yeah. I don't know what the problem is." Ryan sighed tiredly as well. "Over-tired," Colin stated simply, his voice muffled by his pillow. "What?" "Nothing." His voice was clear now as he turned his head to face Ryan. "Let's just say that I'm having the same problem." The two friends exhaled deeply, still wide-eyed and staring at nothing as sleep continued to avoid them. A smile crept across Colin's features a few moments later, and he softly laughed to himself. "You know what I was thinking about a little earlier?" Ryan turned his head slightly in his friend's direction. "What's that?" "You remember what happened that time when Deb, Luke and I were over for your birthday? That year you and Pat got that painting you still love so much?" The smile was unmistakable in his voice, and Ryan began to chuckle as well. "Of course, I don't think I'll EVER forget that." ********************************************************** "So Ryan . . . you're getting closer and closer to the big 4- 0 . . ." Deb's face held an unmistakable smirk as she, her husband, and Ryan sat in the Stiles' living room. The three of them, as well as Pat, had spent the majority of the evening just relaxing together and enjoying one another's company after the huge shindig Drew and the gang threw the tall improviser. "Yeah, yeah . . ." Ryan replied passively, rolling his eyes playfully at Deb's taunting. "Not as close as our favorite Dino-Man here though," he commented with a large smile, patting Colin on the head while taking a seat next to him. The older man simply shot his best friend an evil glare, laughter showing on the rest of his features. "So, when is that Col? THIS November? WOW, that IS getting close isn't it? That's only . . ." he began to count the months on his fingers before Colin hit him over the head with a pillow. Ryan put his hands up defensively, leaning back with a wide smile, chuckling as he tried to protect himself from Colin's constant beating. "What? What was that Ry? I'm sorry . . . I can't hear ya. You'll have to speak up!!" Colin replied, hitting Ryan with the pillow as he shouted. "Col. Col stop! Colin! Stop it!!" the taller man managed to shout out through his laughter. He then caught his friend off guard by lunging at him and grabbing the pillow, both men's laughter reverberating as they played tug-o-war over the pillow. "Boys. Boys!" Pat shouted with a large smile as she entered the room. Both men stopped their struggling to look over at Pat innocently; Deb's snickering being heard clearly throughout all of this. Pat just smiled and shook her head as she mouthed "why us?" to Deb, her eyes filled with laughter. "I just figured you two had better settle down, or Deb and I won't want to share the booze," she finished with a wink. She then set down the four frosted mugs of beer she had brought in on the coffee table before joining Deb across from their husbands. "Oh, well Col and I *certainly* wouldn't want that, would we Col?" Ryan asked with a grin, offering his hand between them in a gesture of truce. "CERTAINLY not," the brown-eyed man replied with a smile, accepting Ryan's hand and giving it a firm shake. "Now out of the way, Stick Boy," Colin finished while playfully shoving Ryan and reaching for a mug of beer. Ryan then proceeded to exaggerate the shove by falling off the couch VERY unconvincingly, making the other three laugh at his antics. "Ow . . . geez Col, it's good to know I have a true friend when I need him . . ." he trailed off, winking at the other man as he moved to rejoin him on the couch. "Here, have a drink," Colin dead panned as he extended a mug to his friend. "HEEEY," Ryan stated with a huge smile, throwing an arm around his friend as he accepted the drink. "Now THAT, is a true friend." All four of the good friends began laughing once again, the mood in the room very light as they were obviously enjoying themselves. Suddenly, something occurred to Pat as the laughing died down to large grins and general conversation. "Deb? Colin? Have you two seen our new painting yet?" she asked with curiosity, gesturing just to the left of herself. "Ohhh . . . you guys, that's just gorgeous," Deb said appreciatively, with Colin nodding in agreement. The four of them then got up to look at the picture more closely. They stood in front of it and focused all of their attention on the beautiful painting that hung before them. Suddenly, the four friends heard what sounded like spitting behind them, followed by a momentary fit of coughing. They all turned around to see a young Mackenzie Stiles standing on the opposite end of the coffee table, wiping her mouth with a revolted look on her face. "Ewwwwww. . . Uncle Colly . . ." she began, looking up at Colin with her tongue sticking out in disgust. "I think somebody peed in your apple juice," the blonde haired girl finished while pointing at Colin's mug of beer. Ryan later described the look on Colin's face at that precise moment to be one of the funniest things he had ever seen. The older man's eyes bugged out of his head as his mouth hung open in disbelief. But what made it all come together so hilariously was the look of panic that spread over all his features. "Mac, no nono Honey . . ." Colin began gently as he made his way over to the young girl. The whole time he had been trying not to laugh, as what Mac said WAS very funny, especially the way she delivered it. 'You're your father's daughter' he kept thinking with a smile. As he moved to the child, he threw a sheepish smile over his shoulder at the other three who were still practically in stitches, but keeping it at a quieter level so as not to make Mac upset. After all, there's nothing a kid hates more than being laughed AT, instead of WITH. Colin kneeled down in front of Mac and placed his hands on her shoulders gently, his deep brown eyes meeting her bright blue ones. "No, Mac, Sweetie, that wasn't apple juice," he continued with a smile, gazing into her confused eyes as she thought about this. "Well, whatever it was Uncle Colly . . . somebody DEFINITELY peed in it." Mac nodded her head, her blonde wavy hair bobbing as she gave Colin an insisting look. It was amazing, Colin thought, how a child can be so SURE of themself, and yet still possess that curious, wondering look that proved how innocent they really are. Colin couldn't help himself this time. Gazing into Mac's stubborn eyes as she spoke, he lowered his head and started to softly chuckle, still gripping her shoulders as he did so. Pat, Deb and Ryan were all hanging on each other for support now, tears of laughter even rolling down Debra's cheeks. After a few moments of laughing to himself, Colin raised his head to look at Mac again, hoping he hadn't hurt her feelings. As he met her eyes, he could see that cute, shy smile gracing her features. One that said she didn't know what was so funny, but she knew she had been the one to cause the laughter. That gleam that kids get, that proud look when they know they made the "grown ups" laugh, which really is a hard thing for children to do. "YOU," Colin began with a wide smile, touching the tip of the girl's nose as he spoke. "YOU are one in a million kid," he finished as he placed his hand back on her arm and continued to gaze at the bright- eyed girl affectionately. Mac's cheeks turned a little pink as she sheepishly looked down, a smile on her face as well. "Hey . . ." Colin called softly, lifting her chin up gently with one hand. Their eyes met again and he smiled warmly at her. "How much do I love you kiddo?" he asked as his eyebrows rose questioningly with that same genuine smile on his face. "Mmm . . . this much?" Mac asked with a curious smile, holding her arms in front of her about a foot apart from each other. "Nope, guess again!" "This much?" she tried again, her arms farther apart now. "Nope!" Colin stated, still smiling widely. "THIS much?" Mac asked wonderingly, her arms stretched out to her sides as FAR as they could possibly go. "Not even CLOSE," the brown-eyed man said sincerely, still gazing at his friend's beautiful daughter with fondness. "Hey . . ." he whispered, moving his face closer to Mac's. "Can I tell ya a secret?" he asked quietly, a serious look on his face. Mac's face lit up automatically. It was, after all, very rare that a grown up like "Uncle Colly" would let her in on a secret. "YEAH! Pleeeeaaase Uncle Colly? I won't tell! I promise!" she practically shouted, squirming in Colin's hold. "Ha ha, okay okay Honey . . ." he said with a large smile, leaning in closer and moving his mouth next to her ear. Mac waited with anticipation that was visible to anyone looking at her. She was bouncing up and down and wide eyed as Colin began to talk. "Do you know what the universe is Mac?" he asked, truly not knowing if she did or not. The young girl nodded her head, giving Colin a knowing look before whispering back to him. "Of COURSE Uncle Colly, we learned about that in school. It's where we live and it's REALLY big. My teacher says that NOTHING is bigger than the universe," she finished, meeting his eyes again. Colin nodded with a smile, surprised that she knew that at such a young age. "That's right Honey, the universe is HUGE," he began before leaning in to whisper once again. "And ya know what?" "What?" she whispered back, leaning in closer as well. "The universe doesn't even COMPARE to how much I love YOU, kiddo," he said softly, sitting back on his heels to meet Mac's eyes once again. The little girl's eyes were like saucers, wide and wondering. "You love me THAT much Uncle Colly?" she questioned unbelievingly, no longer whispering as she gazed back into his dark eyes. "That's right Mac, THAT much," he stated sincerely, continuing to look at his Goddaughter. Her bright blue eyes went even wider as a blinding smile spread across her face. She then threw her arms around her Uncle's neck and squeezed him as tight as she could. Colin grinned widely to himself, his heart warming as he leaned back a little and wrapped the small child up in his arms, holding her close. Deb and Pat were clearly touched by the scene that unfolded in front of them. Both had tears in their eyes and were grinning insanely between each other and their focus on Colin and Mac. Pat then took Ryan's hand in her own and looked up at his face. Even the tall improviser was obviously taken with this moment, as his eyes held emotion that the rest of his body tried to hide. "You know what Uncle Colly?" Mac muffled into her Godfather's shoulder. "What's that Mac?" he questioned, still holding her tightly in a warm embrace. "If there was ever TWO universes out there, THAT'S how much I love you," she stated. Colin smiled widely once again, shutting his eyes tightly and burying his face in the little girl's long, blonde, wavy hair. Mac's childhood sentiment touching him deeply, he found he could do nothing but hold her tighter to show he felt the same way. **************************************************** Ryan and Colin both slowly came back to reality, that fond memory making them ache even more so to be with their families. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the taller man's forehead wrinkled as a certain thought occurred to him, and it wasn't the first time this troubling realization entered his mind. "You know what?" Ryan's voice came out soft and wondering as he considered what he was going to say. "What's that Ry?" The shorter man turned his head toward his friend, hearing an unmistakable tone to Ryan's voice, one that almost made him sound hurt. "Sometimes Col, and I swear to God, I think that my kids like you more than they like me . . ." The Canadian smiled to himself with a laugh. "Yeah . . ." Ryan's head snapped in his friend's direction, despite the darkness, and he bolted upright. "WHAT?" he practically hissed. Colin softly chuckled, pushing himself up with one arm to meet his friend's angry gaze in the shadowed room. "Calm down buddy. Ryan, you know your kids love you more than anything." "Well, yeah, I guess," Ryan stuttered, his confusion apparent. "But why did you-?" "Hey, Ry, reality check, you're their DAD. Come on buddy, of COURSE they're going to like their "cool Uncle Colin" more right now. I don't have to punish them, I spoil them rotten, and whenever I come over, we all do nothing but have fun." Colin gripped Ryan's shoulder and gave him a friendly shake, smiling at his worried companion. "Ryan, your kids love the hell out of you . . . they're just in that stage right now where you're not cool, you annoy them, and it's very rare when they want to be around you at all," he finished, a wide smile still gracing his features. The taller man sighed heavily. "Newsflash, but you're mot making me feel much better, Col." "Oh come on," the shorter man continued with optimism, "it's completely natural. All kids go through it. But don't worry, they'll eventually grow out of it." "Is Luke going through it?" The tall comedian raised his head, his tone skeptical. "Uh . . . let me think . . . YEAH." Ryan's eyes widened of their own accord. "REALLY? *You're* son, Luke Mochrie, can't stand you?" Colin laughed out loud. "Are you KIDDING? He tells me at LEAST once a week that "I wish so and so were my dad! HE wouldn't be such a loser!" before storming up to his room and slamming his door." The taller man's green eyes narrowed in confusion and thought. "And, that doesn't hurt . . . when he says things like that?" "Well . . ." Colin started slowly, "yeah, it does, sometimes. But I just have to keep reminding myself that I was the same way at his age, and I know that he doesn't mean it. He's just mad, short- tempered, thinks he's always right . . . you know, a teenager." They both laugh softly, Ryan nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Man, when did you get so insightful about parenthood?" The other man laughed, shrugging his shoulders as his grin spread. "From Deb, most likely, and it makes sense to me." Ryan continued to nod. "Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Thanks buddy," he finished appreciatively, smiling in Colin's direction. The Canadian just smiled warmly back at his friend, but still sensed the worry in Ryan's voice and posture. "Hey, Ry, don't worry okay? Your kids think the world of you. I know, I've seen them look at you. Believe me buddy, you can't fake the kind of admiration I see in their eyes when they're with you." Ryan gazed back at his friend with a shy smile. "Really? You do? See that I mean?" Colin frowned at how unbelieving Ryan sounded. Almost as if his friend didn't really believe his kids loved him. "This is more than them just throwing a temper tantrum, isn't it . . .?" The shorter man squeezed Ryan's shoulder reassuringly as the other man shrugged. "Did something happen?" Ryan sighed, biting his lip nervously before he met Colin's eyes. "Well . . . yeah, kinda." The other man raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for his friend to continue. Letting out a breath, Ryan ran a hand through his hair before speaking again. "Okay okay, Mac was going to go out on a date with this guy she liked, right? Well, I've told her before that I don't want her to date until she's at least thirteen years old. I mean, that's been the rule for a long time. I'm not being unreasonable here, am I Col?" Colin shook his head. "No, no not at all," he replied seriously. "Yeah, see, that's what I thought. Personally, I think that thirteen is still too young to date. But what do I know, I'm just the dad," he said while rolling his eyes. "I also know that, unfortunately, a lot of the guys are going to date her because of who *I* am. And well, some part of me, probably that part that wants to keep her my little girl forever, doesn't want to expose her to that kind of hurt any time soon." Ryan sighed heavily; his entire posture slumped in sadness. "Or ever, if I can help it," he added quietly. The other man smiled affectionately at his friend. "I know Ry, we wish they could stay little forever . . ." "Exactly," the taller man breathed. "But, anyway, being the overprotective dad that I know I am, I told her that she couldn't see him. That she's still too young, and that's always been the rule, and always will be. I mean, I *know* I'm doing the right thing here Col . . . but I still feel like shit." Shaking his head, Ryan covered his face with his hands. "Well why, exactly, do you feel so bad?" "Because Mac is so angry with me," Ryan sighed. Colin let out a little laugh, giving his friend a knowing look. "Ryan, of course she's going to be mad at you. It will pass though, soon enough. This isn't something to get so worked up over, kids get mad at their parents, it's a part of life. You know you're doing the right thing, and deep down, I'm sure Mac knows it too." "No, Col, you don't understand." The green-eyed man's voice came out almost pleading as he looked back to his friend. "This whole thing happened about a week and a half ago, and when I told Mac she couldn't go on a date with this guy, she told me . . . she said . . ." Colin gazed at his friend questioningly. "What did she say Ry?" he asked with a soft voice. Ryan exhaled deeply through parted lips. "She said . . . well, more like screamed, 'I hate you, I wish you weren't my dad, and I'm never speaking to you again.'" Both friends sat there quietly, Ryan's gaze downward as he recalled the memory. Colin was about to open his mouth to speak, but Ryan cut him off. "I know Col, okay?" he blurted angrily. "I know that all kids do this . . . it's just, well, remember how I said this was a week and a half ago?" "Yeah . . ." "Well guess what? Mac hasn't said one word to me since that day," Ryan finished sadly. "Ry-" "Not ONE word, Col. Do you have any idea how that feels? There hasn't been one night that I can remember when I've said 'I love you', and then she didn't say it back." The tall comedian dropped his head into his hands, sighing deeply. "Until now . . ." Colin chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment, his eyebrows knitted together. "Well, you've tried to get her to talk to you right? To understand why you did it, explain how she should know better because that's always been the rule?" The taller man raised his head, rolling his eyes at his friend. "YEAH Col, of course I have. Many times." Colin just crossed his arms, looking at the other man levelly. "Hate to break it to ya Ry, but you're not trying hard enough." Ryan's gaze and tone became defensive. "How in the hell would you know? Where do you get off telling me that I haven't tried hard enough? You haven't been there, you don't-" "Is your daughter talking to you?" Ryan opened his mouth to make a smart comment, but stopped and shook his head slowly as the weight of the question really sunk in. "No . . . no she isn't," he replied, his voice a whisper. The stern look on the dark-eyed man's face slowly melted off, and he placed an empathetic hand on Ryan's slumped shoulders. The taller man exhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair as he sat up straighter. "You're right, of course you're right, and first thing I'm going to do when we get to the cabin is sit down with Mac and wait until she *does* talk to me. In fact . . ." Colin watched with curiosity as his friend leapt off the bed and began throwing his belongings back into his travel bag with vigor. "C'mon Col, get packed. We're getting back to our families tonight." The determination in Ryan's voice was just as clear as the look in his eyes, and Colin hated to bring his friend back down, but the taller man was forgetting one minor detail . . . "Um . . . Ryan? How exactly do you plan on getting there? We have no car until tomorrow morning, remember?" "I don't care," the other came back stubbornly. "I'll figure out a way." "Well . . ." Colin didn't want to do this, but his friend was acting very irrational. "We can't get a taxi out here, or a bus for that matter, what with being in the middle of no where and all . . ." "Jesus Christ Col," Ryan snapped with obvious irritation. "Then I'll walk. I don't fucking care HOW I get there, all I know is that I'm getting there." "Ryan, would you listen to yourself?" the Canadian began gently. "It's below freezing out there, even worse with the wind- chill factor." Ryan stopped packing at this statement. Colin then came up behind his friend and placed a reassuring hand on his back. "I know you want to get back to your family, I want to get back just as bad. But we won't last twenty minutes out there in that cold. Not with the clothes we have anyway. There's no way we'd stay warm." The green-eyed man was hunched over his bag now, leaning heavily onto the bed. Closing his eyes and shaking his head, he then turned his gaze to Colin at his side. "Damn you and your logical thinking Col." He smiled up at his friend. It was a sad, accepting smile, but a smile none-the-less. Smiling back down at Ryan, he patted the taller man on the back before moving toward the door. Ryan looked toward his friend with confusion on his features. "Where are you going?" Colin shrugged with a grin. "Well, before I was just to lazy to get up and go back to my own room. But now that I'm up, I figure, I might as well not waste it." Ryan nodded at his friend, a look on his face that Colin couldn't quite decipher the meaning of. The Canadian opened the door, but before exiting he stopped short. "Unless, you want me to stay, Ry." "Huh? What? Oh no, Col, don't be ridiculous." He waved his friend off with a hand, feeling more than a little embarrassed. Nodding, Colin gave his friend a small smile. "Okay, see you at 7:30 tomorrow then?" "Yeah, I'll see you then." Ryan smiled back and watched as his friend shut the door behind him as he left. As hard as he tried, Ryan just could not sleep. In the hours that had gone by, he had tossed and turned, stripped his covers off then put them back on more times than he could count. He had fallen asleep a few times, but only long enough to wake up and still need more. Plus, the hotel bed was doing nothing for his aching back. Turning onto his side with a grunt, he reached for the clicker on the nightstand and turned on the TV. He wasn't planning on finding anything worthwhile at four in the morning, but he figured maybe something would bore him to sleep. The light from the TV slowly lit up the room, and Ryan squinted his eyes as they adjusted to the bright light. Once his eyes had focused, he recognized a very familiar face in front of him. He chuckled to himself, as it was Colin on a rerun of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". About an hour later, Ryan began to worry for himself. He felt like a zombie, and guessed that he looked that way as well. He was sitting up in bed, his hand dialing a phone number as he mumbled almost incoherently. "Gotta order now or I won't get the portable attachments absolutely free . . ." Realizing what he was doing, the tall man shook his head, turned the TV off, and hung up the phone. He then proceeded to the bathroom sink, and after splashing cold water on his face, he climbed back into bed. "Damn infomercials . . ." he grumbled into his pillow. Another half hour or so had gone by, and Ryan was sprawled out on his back, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. It was then that he heard some pounding noises outside, along with a few choice words. Not having anything better to do, the green-eyed man climbed out of bed and went to investigate. Opening his door, he looked around until he spotted an agitated Colin pounding the vending machine with the palm of his hand. "Just give me some God-damned chocolate God dammit!" "You sound like my wife." Ryan had snuck up behind his friend, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. Colin had practically jumped out of his skin at the sound of Ryan's voice. "Oh, Jesus Christ Ryan! I'm old, don't do that to me," he finished, scrubbing a hand over his face. Ryan just chuckled at his friend. "Sorry buddy." "YOU'RE sorry?" Colin countered as he turned back to the vending machine. "Tell that to my underwear . . ." The taller man just shook his head, laughing quietly. "Hey, at least I wasn't Tom or something." "You can say that again," the Canadian replied with a grin. "I wonder where he went anyway?" "Who cares? As long as he's not here," Ryan grumbled. Colin just nodded with a relieved look before attempting to get his food once again. Ryan began rocking back and forth on his feet as he watched Colin reaching his hand up into the vending machine. "Umm . . . Col? Whatchya doing?" Sighing, the brown-eyed man looked over at Ryan out of the corner of his eye as he continued to fish for food. "What does it look like I'm doing? I couldn't sleep, so I turned on the TV, which had a cooking show on it, which made me hungry, so I went to the vending machine and put money in it, but then it broke, so now I can't eat, and then you show up, my tall friend with the stupid question who ate the cat who killed the rat who lives in the hotel that Satan built." Ryan's eyes scrunched up as he laughed out loud at his friend. "Are you QUITE through?" The Canadian asked over his shoulder with annoyance, but the humor in his voice was apparent. After a few more moments, the taller man wiped the moisture from his eyes before speaking. "Yeah, yeah now I'm done. And don't worry Col, I couldn't sleep either." "Really?" the other man came back sarcastically. "You being out here in your boxers at five in the morning gave no indication WHAT-SO-EVER that you weren't-" The shorter man was cut off abruptly as Ryan slapped him over the back of the head playfully. "Smart-ass." Colin just grinned back at his friend in response. "So Ry," he began a moment later, still reaching for that bag of peanut M&M's. "What did *you* resort to for sleep?" "Let's just say that I almost ordered cleaning supplies," he answered with a laugh. "Ah, the wonderful world of infomercials," Colin nodded in response. "I almost did the same thing, only mine was for hair removal." Looking up, he could see the jokingly sympathetic look Ryan was giving him in the reflection in the glass cover of the vending machine. "Oh shut up Stiles. What can I say? ANYTHING looks good on those things. And don't you dare try to argue with me or I'll start asking you why you wanted cleaning supplies." Ryan just lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. "I didn't say *anything* Col," he said with a smile. "Yeah, well . . . you were thinking it," the brown-eyed man replied with a knowing smile of his own. It was then that his eyes went wide and he leaned in closer to the vending machine. "Ohhh . . . wait . . . almost got it . . ." he trailed off before causing the M&M's to fall off their shelf. "SUCCESS!" he cried triumphantly as he stood and held up his peanut M&M's with pride. "Wow, that's great Col," Ryan began as he took the package of chocolate candies out of his friend's hand. "But what are *you* gonna have?" "Your ass, if you don't give those back," the Canadian replied with a menacing glare. The taller man just smiled back down at his friend. "All right all right, here, take it," he said as he handed the candy back to Colin. "Thanks," Colin replied as he snatched his food back. "And Ryan, as exciting as all of this has been, we've got about two hours before we have to get up." "You say that assuming we'll fall asleep at all," Ryan replied with a quirked eyebrow. "Yeah well, we have to try. Besides, I'm freezing my ass off out here." The taller man nodded. "Me too. Well then Col, I guess I'll see you at 7:30 if I don't happen to see you before again," he said with a smile as the two walked back to their rooms. "Sure thing Ry. Good night, er . . . good morning . . . whatever," he said with a laugh. Ryan grinned. "Whatever to you too Col." ************************************************ Getting There is Half the Fun (Pt. 14) The snow continued to fall in gentle little flakes as the boys waited in the police station. Officer Spencer had picked them up from the hotel at 7:30AM, just as he said he would. Their car was being towed as they sat in a comfortable silence. All they had to do now was wait just a little bit longer until they could see their families and start what was left of their vacation. "It's mocking me." Ryan turned his head toward Colin with a puzzled expression. "Excuse me?" "The snow. It's mocking me." Ryan just chuckled to himself. "We *really* need to get you home Col." The Canadian smiled. "Maybe, but it's still mocking me. Look at it. Falling all peacefully as if it couldn't POSSIBLY do anything wrong. Stupid little bastards." Ryan laughed out loud. "WHAT bastards are you speaking of?" "The snow flakes, DUH." Colin smirked at his friend as Ryan rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just keep watching for the tow truck, huh Col?" Ryan gave his friend a pat on the back as he stood up. "I'm gonna go get some coffee. You want any?" "Nah, no thanks, I'm good," he replied, waving his friend off. Before Ryan had even left the room, Colin's eyes grew wide as he jumped up. "Thank GOD. It's here Ry!" he shot past his friend as he made his way to the door. Both men dashed outside only to stop dead in their tracks. The SUV wasn't even recognizable. The entire front end was so smashed in it looked like an accordion. "Holy SHIT," Ryan muttered under his breath. "How the HELL did we survive *that*?" Colin just shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Jesus, I-I had no idea. It was buried with so much snow when we left it; it never even occurred to me that it was totaled. I just thought- Christ, I don't even know what I thought." "You two were very lucky." Ryan and Colin turned to see the tow truck driver come up behind them. "When ya hit snow goin' that fast, it's as if you're hitting a brick wall." The two comedians looked slowly back to the vehicle. Until now, that was their ticket out of there. "What the FUCK are we gonna do now?!" Ryan wasn't sure if he had yelled it or if Colin had, because Lord knows they were both thinking it. ***************************************************** "NO FAIR! Give that BACK Mackenzie! It's mine!" Mackenzie smirked down at her little brother as she continued to hold a small stuffed bear over her head. Her brother continued to jump up and down, trying to get it from her. "It's not my fault Sammy," she said with a laugh. "It's YOUR fault for being so short." "Maaaaaaaaaac! Give it to me! Come ON! That's MINE!" "MACKENZIE STILES." Mackenzie winced as her mother said her name in that tone that all children come to fear. "We were just playing around mom. . . " she tried as she handed her brother his bear. He grabbed it from her while sticking out his tongue. "Big baby . . ." she muttered. "WHAT was that, Mackenzie?" Pat asked while crossing her arms over her chest. "Nothing mom." "Good. Now apologize to your brother." "Awww mom," the twelve year old whined, rolling her eyes. "MACKENZIE." "HEY LOOK!" Luke cut in as he ran to the window. "A cop car!" "A cop car?" Deb questioned as she joined everyone else in the family room. "What is a cop car doing out here?" A moment after everyone had ventured over to the window, the groups' eyes simultaneously grew wide as they watched a very familiar looking tall figure emerge from the back seat. "DAD!" Sam cried happily as he shot out the door, wearing nothing but his pajamas. "SAMMY!" Pat cried after her son. "Get back here! Put your coat on!" Her command was in vain however, as Sam was already well on his way to the driveway. Before Pat knew what was happening, Luke had ran out the door as well, clad in a tee shirt and pajama pants. Deb and Pat gave each other a thoughtful look before Pat threw on her shoes. "Screw it," she mumbled under her breath before running out the door as well, Deb laughing and trailing very closely behind. ************************************************************ Ryan squinted as he stepped out of the cop car, his eyes adjusting to all the white from the snow. He inhaled deeply, smiling as he saw the cabin his family was probably sleeping comfortably in, as it was just a little after eight. No sooner had this thought crossed his mind when he heard a very familiar voice shouting his name. "DADDY! DADDY!" His eyes adjusted just in time to see a bundle of Batman pajamas shooting toward him like a bullet. Smiling widely, he kneeled down and opened his arms. Not a second later, Sam jumped into his dad, almost sending the two of them backwards. Ryan stood back up and held his son tightly to himself. "Hey Sammy," he said happily into his son's full head of hair. "I missed you pal." "I missed you too dad," Sam replied with a wide smile. Colin made his way out of the car now, smiling at the sight of Ryan holding his son. "Uncle Colin!" Sam yelled happily. "Hey kiddo," Colin said with a smile, rubbing Sam's head affectionately. "Were you the man of the house while we were gone? I know this one couldn't have handled the job," he added with a smile, gesturing at Luke who was now walking up to them. "You're such a dork, dad," Luke replied with a grin. "How could I forget? You remind me so often." Colin and Luke just smirked at each other, before wrapping their arms around one another. "I'm glad you're okay dad." Colin smiled to himself and squeezed his son harder. Just as Ryan had set Sam down, both improvisers were quite literally tackled by their wives. For the next few minutes, both couples were embracing and laughing, kissing and talking all at once, which made for a very confusing, yet funny scene. "Where the HELL have you been?" Deb asked as she hugged her husband harder. "And WHY were you in a cop car?" Pat added before kissing Ryan again. Ryan and Colin glanced at each other with a smile. "That's a conversation best saved for when some kind of alcohol is present," Ryan stated with a smile. "A LOT of alcohol," Colin added. Pat and Deb now looked at each other with worry and amusement. It was then that Ryan turned to Officer Spencer, who was quite amused himself at this whole scene. "Officer, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done," Ryan began sincerely. "Oh please Mr. Stiles, it was my pleasure," he replied while shaking Ryan's hand. "And Mr. Mochrie," he smiled, shaking Colin's as well. "Really Officer, thank you so much," Colin added as they continued to shake hands. A round of "thank you's" from everyone began until Officer Spencer said that he really had to be going. Everyone continued to thank him, and then waved as he left. Once he was gone, the questions and hugs from their wives began again. Ryan opened his eyes as he hugged Pat, distantly hearing her say "I'm so glad you're okay" for the hundredth time. It was then that he spotted a young girl standing quietly a few feet away. "Mac?" he questioned softly. Pat slowly let go of her husband, looking in confusion at her daughter. "Mac, honey . . .?" "GREAT," Mac spat out suddenly, glaring at her dad. "Now that you're here, you can ruin some OTHER part of my life." "Mackenzie!" Pat said with shock. "Mac," Ryan tried again, stepping toward his daughter. "I wish you were still gone. Now that you're here, I can't even have fun on my vacation!" Colin looked to his friend with concern. Ryan didn't even try to hide the hurt on his features that Mac's words had caused. And with that last stab, Mac turned around quickly and ran for the house, doing her best to hide the tears that were now trailing down her cheeks. "Mac! Wait!" Ryan shouted as he took off after his daughter. Everyone else watched on in a stunned silence as Ryan's tall frame jogged toward the cabin. ************************************************************* Ryan laid his head back on the couch, his entire body feeling tired. Tired from the last couple days of hell he had been through, tired from telling the whole story over again along with Colin to their wives, and tired from the guilt and heartache he felt as he waited for his daughter to come out of her room that she currently locked herself into. He suddenly felt his end of the couch being elevated slightly, as another body placed itself next to his own. Colin gripped his friend's knee for a moment, stirring Ryan from his thoughts. Ryan smiled sleepily at his friend. "How was the snowball fight?" Colin laughed and gestured towards Luke's room. "That kid's got an arm let me tell you," he said as he rubbed his side. "He even got me once really good in the butt when I wasn't paying attention." Ryan smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, I saw that. Actually, I prompted it," he finished with a wink. "I *knew* it," the Canadian said with a glare. "You were giving him strategy techniques the WHOLE time behind my back, weren't you?" "Yup," Ryan replied cheerfully as he sat up a little more. "And you my dear friend, well, what can I say? You got your ass handed to you." The two friends just laughed quietly as the day ran through their minds. "Damn it's great to finally be here," Colin sighed happily. "I know it," the green-eyed man replied with a smile. "So how's uh . . ." Colin trailed off as he pointed up to Mac's room. "I don't know," Ryan shook his head. "I mean, once we got her out of her room, she still spent the whole day ignoring me. And now she's locked up in her room again." The taller man sighed sadly. "I don't know what else I can do. I tried pleading with her to talk to me all day, and still nothing. So I guess I'm just gonna wait, you know? Hopefully she'll decide to talk to me eventually. And when it happens, I'll be here for her." Colin smiled at his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. "She'll come around Ry, I know she will. She's just very good at being stubborn, and I wonder where she gets that from?" he trailed off as Ryan gave him a glare. "THANKS Col," he replied sarcastically as his friend moved to get up. "No problem," Colin said with a smirk. "G'night Ry." "Night. And hey Col?" He called after his friend who was almost out of the room. Colin turned around with a questioning look. "Yeah?" "Really, thanks buddy. I mean it." Colin took in the meaningful look on his best friend's face before smiling widely. "You better head to your room Ry, or you're going to fall asleep on the couch." "Yes Mother," he replied with a laugh. Colin just waved him off as he headed back toward his own room. ********************************************************* Mackenzie slowly crept down the stairs, taking one step at a time with what seemed like great caution. She was completely silent, save for the constant sniffling that she just couldn't control. After descending the stairs, she carefully rounded the corner. The faint glow of the dying fire illuminated the opposite walls of the room, the flickering of the small flame causing the shadows to dance. More and more objects came into view as she snuck around the corner: the two recliners lined up parallel with the fire place, as well as the large coffee table in front of them. Finally, the long suede couch that was lined up with the furthest wall from her came into view, along with a lightly dozing Ryan. She stood still and simply watched her father for a moment, feeling even guiltier than before now that she was looking at him. She knew now that she was being a pain for no reason, and that made her feel horrible. But what worsened the whole ordeal was how incredibly worried she was about her dad while he was gone, especially those nights when they never got a call from him. But what did she do when her father arrived home safely, and opened his arms for her? Glared at him. Shouted at him. Acted like a four-year-old and stormed off on him, even though she wanted nothing more than to run to him. Inhaling deeply, the young girl finally took that brave step into the room, hoping with all her heart that her dad would forgive her. The light from the fireplace bounced off of her tear-stained cheeks, causing her blood shot, watery eyes and face to glisten even more so. She moved slowly, putting one foot in front of the other until finally, she was about five feet from her dad. Looking at her father, Mac almost considered just trying to sneak up beside him and place herself against his side. She was so afraid that would be the last time she could ever be close to him, because he wouldn't be awake to push her away. Ryan was sitting up, his head bowed down with both arms stretched out to his sides along the top of the couch, so crawling up next to him would be easy to do. Biting her lip, she shook those thoughts out of her head. If her dad wasn't going to love her anymore, than she would just have to deal with it . . . somehow. After all, it was all her fault if he didn't. Taking a long, deep breath, she called out to her father. "Dad?" Surprisingly, especially to herself, her voice came out rather clearly. However, it caused Ryan only to shift in his sleep. "Daddy . . .?" Her voice came out as a whisper this time, with a very pleading edge to it. Ryan lifted his head a little, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to blink his sleep and confusion away. Once he saw who was standing in front of himself though, all thoughts of sleep were gone, and the tall man pushed himself up in his seat as his large green eyes filled with hope, as well as concern. "Mac . . . Sweetie?" he called out softly, sitting forward a little more. His daughter's current appearance was heart wrenching, and Ryan wanted nothing more than to go to her and wrap her up in his arms. He knew better though, he knew that if Mac was ready, she would come to him. It was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do as a father, which was quite ironic, in that it was doing nothing that was killing him inside. Mac was dying inside too as she continued to stand there. Why wasn't her dad coming to her? `Oh you really screwed up this time,' she told herself, her eyes welling up with even more tears than before. She was about to take the cowards way out, turn around and run for her room again, but it was then that she looked into Ryan's eyes. She saw something in them, and it certainly wasn't anger or hate. A new hope rose inside of her, making her feel light on her toes. She was just waiting for an opening, one that proved she wasn't imagining all of this . . . It was then that Ryan's voice came out softly again, "Mackles . . .?" That was all she needed. The nickname her dad had called her for as long as she could remember. With a small whimper of happiness and relief, she took off at an extremely fast pace toward her dad's already open arms. Throwing herself toward her father, she crashed into him with force. Burying her face in his shoulder, the young girl was curled up completely in Ryan's lap, her arms locked around his neck in a death-grip. It was then that she began to sob openly, the tall man already feeling the material of his shirt getting wet. Ryan was beside himself with relief that his daughter was with him again, but felt his heart breaking at the same time as the young girl quaked in his arms. He held her as tightly as he possibly could, his long arms dwarfing her much smaller frame as he hugged her closely to himself. They sat silently like that for a few moments, Ryan rubbing his daughter's back, gently rocking them both, and letting her get it all out. He would stay there with her for as long as she needed, and then some. He was speaking softly to her, stroking his daughter's long, wavy blond hair. "It's okay Honey . . . shhh . . . okay . . . I'm right here . . ." Mac couldn't quite describe the feeling. It had been far too long since she'd hugged her dad, almost two weeks . . . what seemed like a lifetime to her. Sure, she had gone longer than that when he was away, but that was different. They weren't arguing during those times. But even though she was overcome with these great feelings that came with being held by her dad, she just couldn't get the tears to stop flowing, and she had no control over her sobbing as well. She knew why though, something was still eating away at her thoughts, and she gripped her dad even tighter before trying to speak. "Dad . . . daddy . . . I'm s-so sorryy . . ." she managed to get out through her choked voice and broken sobs. "I was s-such a br- brat . . . I'm s-sorry . . . please don't hate me . . ." Ryan's eyes opened at that last statement, or what sounded like to him to be a desperate plea. Lifting his head so that it was no longer laying over Mac's, the green-eyed man removed his hands from around his daughter and used them to frame her face, making the two of them lock gazes. "Mac . . ." His green eyes were gentle as he looked into her now clouded blue ones, his daughter continuing to sniffle and dropping her gaze to avoid his. "Sweetie . . . look at me," he commanded softly, using the ball of his thumb to wipe away the moisture covering Mac's cheeks. The young girl did as she was told, meeting her father's eyes, her lower lip trembling as she did so. Despite how much Ryan could resemble a rather large Teddy bear at times, he could still be pretty damn intimidating, and he knew this to be very true. And, unfortunately, sometimes it was his own children that were intimidated by him. Still cupping Mac's cheeks, Ryan tipped her head downward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, lingering for a moment before moving back a bit and allowing their eyes to meet once again. Mac smiled shakily into her father's eyes, not being able to help herself after such a blatant display of affection from the man. Seeing his daughter's gorgeous smile for the first time in a while, Ryan let a warm smile of his own spread across his features as he continued to look at her with fondness. "S-so . . . you don't hate me . . .?" Mac managed to whisper, her eyes full of hope. A look of disbelief and self-loathing took over Ryan's features, mirroring exactly how he felt on the inside. He quickly pushed those emotions away though, gazing softly at his daughter again. "Mac, Sweetie, NO. No no no NO. I've *never* hated you Kiddo, and I never will." His expression was completely serious as he continued to wipe her tears and smooth the matted hair from his daughter's face. "I love you, Mackles." Ryan began to feel himself getting a bit choked up now, but smiled warmly at the young girl he held as he spoke. "I love you so much, and I always will. Don't you ever forget that." Mac nodded her head slowly, eyes shining with happiness as she looked to her dad. Ryan quickly pulled her back to himself, leaning back and effectively sandwiching himself between her and the back of the couch. Running a hand through her wavy blonde hair, he placed another kiss on his daughter, on the top of her head this time. "I'm still sorry though daddy . . ." she muffled into his shoulder. "I was being really stubborn, and I'm still not really sure why . . ." she trailed off, thinking about the reasons as she did. "It's in your genes," Ryan mumbled to himself. "What?" "Nothing Sweetie, just talking to myself," he chuckled. "And anyway Mac, all is forgiven, so don't you even worry about it okay? It's all behind us. Hey, I've already forgotten about it, how about you?" he asked with a smile, giving her an affectionate squeeze. "Okay . . . sounds good to me," Mac answered with a smile of her own. They continued to sit that way for a while, perfectly content with the world as it was. Ryan thought that if he had to spend the rest of his life living just one moment, this would certainly be high up on the list. Feeling his daughter curled up against him was something he missed, as it happened less and less as she grew older. Ryan shook these thoughts out of his head though. He decided that cherishing this moment and making it last was a much better idea than to bring himself down with the concept of time flying. A little bit later, he began to feel himself on the brink of dozing off; already sure that Mac was sleeping. He could feel sleep coming, getting closer and closer, until something made him come back to consciousness in less than a heartbeat. "I love you, daddy." It came out sweet and full of truth and meaning, only accentuated more-so as Mac nuzzled her face into Ryan's neck and hugged him tighter as she said those four magical words. Ryan was beside himself with happiness as he squeezed his daughter, not being able to hide the larger-than-life smile on his face if he tried. "I love you back, Mackenzie." The two shared a long, bittersweet moment, broken only by the sudden sound of Mac chuckling. "What's so funny?" Ryan asked with a smile. "Uncle Colin said you'd fall asleep on the couch if you didn't get up when everyone else did," she replied with a smile, ribbing her dad for being notorious at falling asleep anywhere. Ryan laughed deeply, looking down at his daughter with fondness. "Well, Uncle Colin was right," he said simply. "He was right about a lot of things . . ." ************************************************************* Colin stumbled down the stairs at God only KNEW what hour of the night. He wasn't sure why, but he woke up thirstier than he could ever remember being. Moving side to side down the hallway that led to the kitchen as if drunk, his hands came in contact with cabinets and tables of all kinds, until finally it was his big toe's turn to hit something. "OW! Mother FU-!" Clapping a hand over his mouth, yelling into his palm as his eyes shut tightly. After a moment of standing there, clutching his foot, the pain began to subside enough to where he could get on his way again. Sure, he was kind of hoping on one foot, limping when his bad toe did touch ground, but he was making his way nonetheless. Once he was in the kitchen, he felt his way to the fridge, as he didn't know the cabin well enough to waste any time looking for a light switch. Well, that's what his tired, not-thinking-clearly mind told him. His eyes squinted as he peered into the bright fridge, searching for anything that would quench his thirst. Once he settled on Minute Maid orange juice, he pulled out the carton and set it on the counter. Now was the daunting task of finding a bloody glass with which to pour it into. He started feeling around blindly until suddenly, his hand gripped around a glass that was just sitting on the counter. He went to pick it up, but it wouldn't move. Confused, he started tugging it harder and harder and was about to give up on the possessed glass that seemed to have a mind of it's own when- "Can I help you?" "GAH! HOLY-MOTHER-OF-TROY!" Colin leapt back, his side hitting the counter as he was startled by a voice that came from nowhere. Panicking in the pitch-black room, the Canadian began feeling around for something he could use to protect himself when his hand gripped a metal handle of some kind. Thinking this was better than nothing; he held it up in defense just as someone turned the light on. Being blinded by the brightness his eyes had not come in contact with in a few hours, Colin just stood there, blinking as he tried to regain his vision. It was then that he heard a familiar sounding laugh. The brown-eyed man's vision came back slowly, as he could now identify the stranger as none other than his best friend Ryan. His best friend Ryan who was bending over in hysterics. His best friend Ryan that had scared the shit out of him. His best friend Ryan whom he was going to kill. "What are- what are?" Ryan tried to choke out a question between his laughter. "What are ya gonna do Col? WHISK me to death?!" he managed to get out before collapsing into laughter again. Colin just looked at his friend with confusion, before his eyes slowly looked to the object he had grabbed in the dark. Which was none other than a metal whisk. That is used to stir things. Things which you are going to bake. Still breathing heavily from having the shit scared out of him, Colin felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his chest. Also feeling thoroughly embarrassed, he threw the whisk at Ryan's curled up body as he felt his face grow hot. "OW! Hey!" Ryan shouted as the whisk hit his shoulder. Still chuckling a little though, he regarded his glaring friend. "Oh come on Col! That was hilarious and you know it!" "You *knew* I was in here the whole time you son-of-a-bitch! And you didn't say ANYTHING. You scared the PISS out of me Ry!" the Canadian countered. He was glaring at his friend, but there was a trace of amusement under those blushing features. "Awww . . . I'm sorry Col," Ryan began with a smirk. "C'mere and I'll make it all better." He began walking toward his friend with open arms. "Get away from me you lanky bastard!" Colin shouted with a smile as he backed away. Too soon he had backed himself into a corner however, and Ryan was closing in fast. Looking around, Colin grabbed the first thing he could find. "Get BACK Ry, or you'll have to deal with the wrath of THIS!" Ryan quirked an eyebrow at his friend. "A spatula, Col? You were better off with the wire whisk." It was then that Ryan took the utensil from his friends' hand, and wrapped his arms around Colin, squeezing his friend tightly. Colin smirked to himself. "Aww, Ryan, are we having a tender moment?" he joked with a smile. "Just shut the hell up and hug me Mochrie," Ryan came back. Smiling, Colin did just that. He wrapped his arms strongly around Ryan's back, and the two men hugged each other in the corner of the kitchen, after having a utensil fight. "So I take it all is right with the world?" Colin asked after a minute. Ryan looked up at his friend with confusion. "Yeah, actually, how did you know?" "I heard you and Mac talking a little while ago, so it was just an educated guess that you guys worked everything out." The two smiled at each other as Ryan backed away. "Yeah, everything is just as it should be now. In *so* many more ways than one," he added with a big smile. The two friends just stood there for a moment, smiling happily as they took in their surroundings. It felt so good to finally be back with their families. After a minute or two, Ryan perked up as he thought of something. "Oh hey, Col, I've been meaning to tell you since we got our stuff back from out of the SUV . . ." Ryan trailed off as he began to dig through his pocket. Smiling, he held out an object in his hand to Colin. "Missing something?" Colin's eyes went wide as he took the watch from his friend's outstretched hand. "Where the HELL did you find this Ry? I've been going NUTS thinking I lost it." The Canadian happily put it back on his wrist where it belonged. "I dunno," Ryan shrugged. "I found it in my bag. It must have fallen in there some how. Hey WAIT," Ryan looked at his friend with wide eyes. "Is *this* what you thought you lost? What made you so upset that day after we got robbed in the hotel room?" Colin looked down sheepishly. "Yeah, actually . . ." "But Col," Ryan began with a laugh. "It's so beat up, I'm surprised you even wear it anymore what with all the *nice* watches you have." The Canadian continued to look at his long lost watch before smiling into Ryan's eyes. "It's got sentimental value Ry, you know why I wear it." The taller man smiled back at his friend. "Ah shucks Col," he began with a chuckle. "That was so long ago." "This was just one of the *many* nice things you did for me back when I needed a friend the mo-" Colin cut himself off thoughtfully, and Ryan raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "Col?" he questioned after a few moments of silence. "You're not going to get all mushy on me are you?" he finished with a smile. The Canadian lifted his head, his eyes appearing to be a little watery. "No Ry, I'm not." Ryan gave his friend an expectant look. "Okay I am," the older man blurted out. "Just, thanks Ry, for being such a great friend." Ryan smiled widely at his friend's sincerity, wrapping an arm around Colin's shoulders. "It's a two-way street ya know Col, you've always been there for me. ESPECIALLY on this Satan infested trip we had," he added with a chuckle. "Well you know what they say, getting there is-" "SAY IT," Ryan began as he clamped a hand over Colin's mouth, "and you will never say anything, ever AGAIN." Colin smiled at his friend as they exited the kitchen, turning off the light as they did. "Are ya gonna take out my tongue with one of the kitchen utensils?" "No, but I'm gonna- AH, FUCK!" Ryan grabbed his foot in pain as he hopped on the other. "Damn tables . . ." he grumbled under his breath. "Ha ha, serves you right," Colin joked with an evil smile. "Oh, take it up the ass Col." "AGAIN? Ryan, that's twice in one night. You *are* feeling aggressive, aren't you?" Ryan glared as Colin smirked, and everything was as it should be. You know, grape jelly and all that. The End!