Chapter Forty-Five - A Well-Planned Revolution
The cozy lodge was surrounded by tall fir trees and other mountain vegetation, and the heavy layer of fresh snow that had just fallen made it a sight fit to inspire postcard painters. Jonathan had expected that much since Maddox had described the place to him to the minutest detail. It was easy to understand why his boyfriend was so excited to come here. It looked like a winter fairytale setting, but what made it truly amazing was that they were there together. A tender feeling engulfed Jonathan as he held Maddox's gloved hand in his while walking up the steep hill. Just as he was about to comment on the test of endurance forced upon their persons by the location, a thump and a yelp from behind them made them turn.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Ray shouted at them and waved. Hanna struggled to get him to his feet, but her boyfriend somehow managed to drag her down, as well.
Maddox and Jonathan hurried to help them. As usual, Ray manifested a suspicious passion for the heaviest, biggest backpacks in existence. It made Jonathan remember fondly his first day at Sunny Hill when he had met his roomie slash bestie for the first time. It felt like it had happened a long time ago. So many things had occured in the meantime, some amazing, some not so much.
Hanna and Ray both laughed as their friends tried to help them get up. Jonathan freed Ray from the impossible burden he called a backpack, but that only gave his bestie the freedom to let himself fall on his back and swing his arms and legs in well defined semi-circles. "Look, guys, I'm making snow angels!"
They were behaving like small children at the sight of all that snow. Jonathan could only agree that it would be impossible to have grim thoughts while surrounded by so much pure white.
"Get up," Maddox scolded them. "I'm sure Dex and Kane are already going through the beer supplies and we're far from midnight. You don't want us to go thirsty, right? Hanna, help a little, will you?"
Ray's girlfriend, however, didn't care about setting Ray straight, and she launched hearself into what was her own version of a snow angel. "You guys should try it," she told them with a face-splitting grin. "Don't act like grandpas. And I only care about champagne anyway."
That last comment earned her a snort from Maddox, which made Jonathan wince internally. "Champagne? In your dreams, Hanna. And who drinks that piss anyway?"
Oh-kay, so not that good a time to tell his boyfriend that his parents had a special delivery made to the place. Jonathan grabbed Ray by one leg and threatened to take action. "I will drag you up to the lodge door if that's what it takes."
"Do it," Ray challenged him. "I bet it'd be awesome."
Jonathan growled playfully. "You won't think the same when you're wet down to your underwear."
"What are you guys doing?" someone yelled at them from the top of the hill.
Rusty was already there, apparently, and not so surprisingly since he was the most athletic of them all.
Maddox was the one to reply, "We're dealing with a bunch of kids."
"Hurry up," Rusty yelled again. "We're organizing a race."
"What race?" Maddox shouted.
"Who goes fastest down the hill," Rusty clarified, placing his hands around his mouth to act as a megaphone, although they weren't that far from each other.
"Don't believe him," someone else intervened.
Jonathan gave up on Ray's leg and watched Dex followed by Kane appearing in the picture. They all had winter gear on, and it seemed that the full team of The Amazing Four was about to be reunited.
"Yeah," Kane chimed in. "Who would want to go down the slope only to have to climb back up it?" He barely had time to finish his sentence before Rusty grabbed him suddenly, and the next thing, they were both rolling down the hill.
Jonathan had to jump out of the way, and the two ended up stopping against Ray, who acted as an unwilling obstacle.
"That's it," Dex bellowed. "I'm coming for you, Rusty!"
Rusty seemed completely impervious to threats as he was busy snow fighting Kane. They didn't stop to make snowballs, simply using handfuls of the fresh snow to throw into each other's faces. Soon, Ray was a collateral victim, and Hanna joined in, determined to guard her boyfriend.
Jonathan laughed and shook his head. Instead of Ray's leg, he grabbed the heavy backpack. Maddox did the same with Hanna's luggage, and now they were the only ones climbing the hill.
"Can you believe the kids?" Maddox said with a snort.
"Yeah," Jonathan confirmed, "it looks like we're the only adults around here."
They both burst into laughter at the same time. "Yeah, right," Maddox commented. "You're up for a snowball fight later, Hamilton. Ever since I visited your folks, I feel a strange competitive streak developing inside me."
"I sincerely think that you've always had it," Jonathan replied. "Or else, you wouldn't have ended up with me."
"Whatcha trying to say?" Maddox drawled. "You make it sound like I got a bad deal."
"Not at all," Jonathan said airily. "My mom is really impressed with your determination to get me."
"Seriously?" Maddox's face lit up with a smile. "I didn't notice."
"We're secretive like that," Jonathan said with a wink. "By the way, do you really think champagne tastes like piss?"
Maddox caught on to the trap right away. "Don't tell me that... Oh, shoot. They, what, had it delivered here?"
"Don't say my family's not the go-getter type. This wasn't even a challenge."
Maddox sighed from the depths of his soul. "Does this mean I have to get trashed on champagne?"
"Dear, one doesn't get trashed on champagne. It's not done," Jonathan said in a phony accent. "But you'll have a glass for my sake, right?"
"Only if you let me lick some straight from your skin later," Maddox said with a naughty wink.
Jonathan licked his lips as he felt the familiar frisson that came, usually, with Maddox's comments on the topic. During Maddox's stay at his parents' house, they had become experts at finding secret places to make out. However, stealing snacks here and there had only made them hungrier for a full-course meal, so it was an understatement to say that he was more than ready to get to the lodge and lock himself inside, with Maddox on the same side of the door, for at least one hour.
