The Price For A Lifetime of Happiness

Sometimes things happen because that's simply the way it's supposed to be. Like when person decides to take an earlier flight, and takes a standby seat in place of a person who has, for whatevere reason, missed the flight that will crash shortly after takeoff, leaving no survivors. This is exactly what happend, and lives will be changes in ways that are unimaginable. In the small town of Arden Hills, Minnesota, the news rock the community. One of it's most popular residents has lost his life aboard the doomed flight #2617 Non-stop from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. Richard Nygaard, age 42 was killed instantly when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff. He leaves behind his wife Karen, and his 18-year old son, Kenneth. The tragic news is unbareable to all, but none more then his son Kenneth, or Kenny as he is called. His dad is the most important person in his life, and his only confidant. Kenny's dad was the only person who knew about the secret that Kenny had been hiding since his junior high years. He chose to confide in his father first due to his mothers radical views on morality, especially homosexuality. Kenny's life had made a turn for the better once he gathered the courage to say to his dad, the three words that had haunted him for years. 

"Dad, I'm gay" Kenny said

"I know son" His father replied.

Kenny and his dad talked for hours. And there was very little that he held back. Kenny even told his dad about what really happened between he and his friend Mark, and how that frinedship was lost when he confessed that he was in love with him. Kenny walked away from that conversation, knowing that his dad loved him no matter what the circumstances. Between Mark moving away a few weeks earlier, and now his dad accepting him for who he is, Kenny's life was finally looking to be worth while. Maybe a lifetime of love and hapiness was still possible. If not with Mark. certainly someone else who might walk into his life just as unexpectedly as Marks did when he moved into that vacant house down the street.

This all happened just a few month's before the crash. Now Kenny finds himself right back where he started. The truth about his life is once again a secret, and the weight that had been lifted from his shoulders has quickly returned. At the same time, the man who was supposed to be aboard flight 2617, and sitting in seat 24B, is not feeling as fortunate as you'd expect a person to feel after cheating death.

In the busy suburbs of Los Angeles, the residents of Monrivia, California are still abuzz over the miracle that saved one of their most popular citizens. Daniel Severson narrowly avoided certain death when he missed a scheduled flight aboard flight #2617 bound from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. Daniel had held a ticket for seat #24B aboard the ill-fated flight for more then a month, but missed it by minutes. 

Mr. Seaverson stated that he didn't learn about a plane crashing until he arrived in Los Angeles. His wife Janet, and two children, Robert and Kimberly. are grateful to have their father home with them after such a narrow brush with death. But shortly after the crash, Dan became riddled with fear that death was no longer waiting for him, but hunting him down because he had gotten away when it came calling. He could no longer live in the hussle & bussle of Los Angeles, and remain sane at the same time. He reached out to the business contact that he'd been visiting that week in Minneapolis, and a deal was struck for a business opportunity. One that would never require getting on a plane and would allow him to live in a small mid-western town miles outside of the Twin Cities. 

The news that they'd be moving was like music to his son Robert's ears. The teenagre had grown tired of being bullied at school, and called things like faggot, and queer. It didn't matter what people thought about Robert, the truth was that he was weak, insecure, confused, and either unable, or unwilling to stand up and defend himself. He couldn't wait to be in a new town, and a new school where nobody knew him. It would be his second chance to fix all of the mistakes that have made his life such a mess. His biggest mistake was telling his best friend Jason that he was in love with him. That's when Robert's life became a living hell, and he vowed that he'd never fall in love with another boy.

Two years had passed, and Robert has managed to keep that vow. It wasn't too difficult, sense he had already come to the conclusion that nobody would ever love him. At least not the way he feels love in his heart. Certainly nowhere close to the love he felt for his former friend Jason. Robert was just greatful that he had the opportunity to experience what being in love feel's like. He had only Jason tom thanl for that, no matter how terrible all of the things that he said on that day that he confessed his love for him.

Through endless phone calls with a realtor, the search for the Severson's new residence began. It didn't take very long and they settled on a home not too far Dan Severson's new place of employment. As soon as the Severson's could sell their house in California, they'd be on their way to their new home in the small community of Arden Hills, Minnesota.

Little did anyone know that fate was about to stir up a shit storm of emotions. Not just for Dan and his family, but also for those whom they've yet to meet. Like the family that lives across the street and three doors down from their new house. They've recently lost a loved one in a plane crash. Not just in any plane crash, but the plane that Dan was supposed to be on, and in the seat that Dan was supposed to be sitting in. Now both families will soon be neighbor's. 

Many may think that fate would bring all of this about for the propose of understanding and healing. But this isn't about a plane crash. It's not about Karen Nygaard and the loss of her husband, and it's not about Dan Severson and his near brush with death. It's about Robert Severson and Kenny Nygaard. Two teenage boys who need each other more then any two people possibly could.

Just day's before his dad came so close to getting on a plane that crashed, Robert was walking that slippery slope of gay depression He was not only having thought's, but actively planned on comitting suicide. He couldn't stand another day of the hell that he lived in. But his dad's brush with death became his salvation. When he learned that they would be moving away from everything that made his life hell, he felt a sense of hope, and a desire to hang on just a little longer. Maybe things will get better when he's away from that town, that school, and most importantly, away from Jason, his former best friend, first love, and the one person who now hates Robert more then any other.

Just day's before his dad was killed in the crash, Kenny was happier then he has been in years. His secret was no longer a secret. He told his father that he was gay, and found out that it didn't matter. His dad loved no matter what. A few minutes before Richard Nygaard boarded fight 2617, his cell phone rang. It was is son Kenny, and father and son had their final conversation. Kenny even heard his dad's name being called over the airport loud speaker in the background.

"Okay kiddo, I gotta go" His father said

"K - dad, I love you." Kenny replied.

"I love you more, and I don't care if you're gay, bi, crippled, or crazy! You're my son!" His dad said. 

Kenny felt a warm feeling when he heard his dad say that. It stayed with him as he walked to school that morning. Yet, by the time he arrived in his first period classroom, Kenny had no idea that his father had already been dead for more than an hour. Just 22 minutes after the conversation that had Kenny in such a happy mood, his father left this world with less than a minute to reflect back on 42 years life. He couldn't think of anything but his son, and how Kenny would take the news of his death. He was making deals with God as that plane fell from the sky. Apparently God couldn't hear him over the sound of so many people screaming.

Several Sunday mornings after his fathers death, Kenny got up and washed his dad's car in the driveway just like his dad had done on so many Sunday's before. He heard the rumble of a large truck, and looked up an felt his heart begin to speed up as it stopped right in front of Mark's old house. 

Kenny would look up the street every few minutes as he attended to his dad's car. He notices the Severson family stacking boxes and furnature in the front lawn of Mark's old house. He felt like walking over to introduce himself and welcome his new neighbor's like he did when Mark moved in. But today was different because he wasn't a little boy anymore. He couldn't peddle his bicycle over to see if maybe there was a boy his age to play with. But his did think going over to introduce, but that all changed the second he saw a dark haired beauty carrying a box down the ramp of the moving truck. He looked to be similar in age and wondered what was playing through the headphones over the teen hotties head. But then he remembered about Mark and didn't want anything to do with that house or any one who might live there. But Kenny didn't understand that it didn't matter what the fuck he wanted or didn't not want. Whatever was about to happen was going to happen no matter what. He was about to recieve a gift that carried with it a price tag of unimaginable perportions.

In a moment of celestial timing, Kenny and Robert looked up as if they they where being called. They both looked diagnally across the street and across the distance between their driveways. They Kenny saw that Robert was already standing there frozen in place. Neither seemed to have the power to move, or even look away for that matter. It was only when they both realized that they didn't look away because they didn't want too, that they became frightened.

It frightened Robert because he had vowed to never fall in love with another boy, no matter how cute the boy looked washing his car without a shirt. No matter how blond his hair is, or how well defined his chest looks form 3 houses away, Robert had to be strong and remain faithful to his vow. He couldn't be swayed by the boys frim abs, and the feeling that he got when the boy seem paralyzed in his lustful gaze. No matter how cute it was thst the boy lost his grip on the wet sponge he been holding, and dropped it as just let it lay there at his feet, and kept his eyes on Robert. It took several more seconds for Robert to break free from the lustful look being cast in his direction.

It frightened Kenny because he couldn't bare to associate that house with another rejected love. No matter how adorable the boy looked. He couldn't go through that again even if the boy seemed to be calling out to him with only his eyes. Kenny couldn't afford to risk the heart break. No matter how clear the shy boys messages where being recieved. He had to disregard his cries for help that he could hear only in his mind. Kenny felt as if he could hear every word that the boys was trying to say in a glance.

"I'm here! -- I need you to love me, please!" Kenny heard the boy say in the back of his mind. He kept looking, and listening for what he thought the boy was trying to say.

"Please come over here! I know you can hear me, and I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But I can give you the lifetime of love that you've been looking for. Just ask me, and it's yours. I Promise!" Kenny heard in his mind as he broke free from the boys helpless stare.

At the same moment they both darted their eyes in opposit directions. Kenny went back to washing his dad's car, and Robert went about moving boxes into the garage. Over the next few hours, the boys found themselves looking towards each other, but where careful not to become trapped like they did last time.
Kenny had to be creative in finding reasons to remain out front where he could steal glances at a boy that he didn't even know. He just wanted to know how someone that he'd never seen before could captivate him so intensely. He hauled out the lawn mower and mowed the lawn for the second time in two days. 

For reasons unknown to his parents, Robert removed his shirt and hung it from his back pocket. This was not somthing that Robert was known to do. Since puberty, he's been less then pleased with his perception of his body. Yet, he seemed to walk slower, flexing his muscles as he carried boxes down the ramp in full view of Kenny's front yard. He saw something in Kenny's eye's that made him feel beautiful, desirable, wanted, and maybe even capable of being loved. He would stop at nothing to find out.

"Since when do you walk around without a shirt?" Robert's dad asked.

"It's hot!" Robert said.

"Yeah, he is" Robert heard his sister whisper.

"What!" Robert said looking confused.

"Go talk to him." She said.

"Talk to who?" Robert replied.

"You know who?" Kim said shifting her eyes towards the boy washing his car down the street.

"Shhhhh" Robert shot back looking to see if his dad had heard the exchange between he and his sister.

Robert's sister was the only one who know about Robert's sexuality. He didn't really like calling it a sexuality sense he's never had sex with anyone other them himself. But if all of those times counted as sex, Robert would basically be a nympho who could get enough. That was just fine with him when he was 13, 14, or 15, but at 18, he needed someone to share those wonderful feelings with. 

The constant thought of connecting with someone that way, is what caused him to fall in love with his best friend Jason. Robert didn't want to give his body away for the purpose of casual sex, he wanted to share it as a gift with someone that he loved, and who could love him back. And now he's feeling similar feelings when he looks over at Kenny. It scares him terribly and he can't escape the memory of Jason's tyrade that day in his bedroom, more then a year ago. The sound of Jason's hurtful words echo's on the inside of his skull. They're words that Robert never forget.

"WHAT THE FUCK! - What are you, Some kind of faggot? - Jesus Robert! What in the fuck would make you think that I'd ever want to do nasty shit like that? - Get the fuck out of my house! - Don't come back! - 
Don't call here! - Don't talk to me! - Don't even look at me! - - Go faggot! Get the fuck out of here! NOW!"
Jason screamed as Robert ran away crying. 

He was so distraught that he couldn't even run much further then the end of Jason's street. He was crying so hard that people where actually stopping their cars and getting out to see what was wrong with him. He could only shout at them, and tell them to mind their own business to get them to go away. He could hardly see where he was walking through the tears that streamed from his eyes, and blurred his vision.

At the end of the street, Robert walked 10 steps in one direction, and 15 in the other. He didn't know where he should go, or what he was supposed to do now. All he could hear was Jason's words blasting in his head and the vision of him saying them in his mind. The surge of blood to his brain was on the brink of rendering him unconscious, and Robert could feel it coming. He crawled into a bush on the side of someone house just like a dog does when he knows that they end is near. That's what this was to Robert, the end, The end of everything that made his life so magical. His feelings of love, his friendship with Jason, his hope for a lifetime of love and happiness, and even his own life felt like it was in the process of shutting down. He crawled into the bush as best as he could so that nobody would see him. He waited and waited, and even prayed but death wouldn't come. He bit down on the sleeve of his sweatshirt in an attempt to muffle the crying just before everything went dark.

"Oh fuck! I did die." Was the last thing that Robert rememberd thinking as his world went black. He's not dead though. He just cried so hard that he passed out under that bush. He was so exhausted from sobbing, that seconds after he regained consiousness, he fell asleep. 

Robert has tried to forget that memory. He keep's it out of sight, but close at hand because It's that very sadness that Jason made him feel, that proves that the love that he felt was real, and undeniable. 
But now Robert feels an even more intense feeling for Kenny. He worries about Kenny not being able to love him in the same way that he does. He couldn't go through that agian, he just couldn't. He remembered how Jason referred to what he had perposed as "nasty shit" - But all Robert wanted was a kiss form a friend, and someone that he had just confessed to loving. What could be so nasty about loving someone, and wanting to share a kiss with them?