"You better hit that thing while you can. You know airports have bitch fits about anything these days." Kenny ends his sentence with a wide yawn, smacking his lips a little as he finished. "God, it's too early for this shit."
"It's eleven am, dude." I chuckled, taking a long puff off of my vape. We were currently at the airport, standing outside for a minute before we headed into the inevitable chaos inside. Our flight wasn't until one pm, but I'd told Kenny to arrive at ten am sharp, just to make sure we weren't late. There were already hundreds of people here, passing by in a hurry as we stood there dilly dallying. I could hear their footsteps, their bags rolling across the sidewalk, yelled goodbyes and good lucks from family members they were leaving behind.
When I'd shown up at ten thirty, he had just been pulling up in an Uber, stumbling out with his one bag, looking like he'd been out partying all night. Although I knew more realistically these days, he was more than likely staying up crazy late playing video games. He liked to party, but I noticed he tended to not do it if I wasn't the one leading him into the fray.
Kenny and I had been buddies since… middle school. More than ten years now. He never changed, which I won't lie, I kind of liked about him. When I met him back then, he was irresponsible, a bit lazy, and unpolished. And he still was. Unlike all the other friends I'd made over the years, he never grew up. Never changed into an 'adult,' never matured or suddenly wanted to fit into society. I guess it was easy to tell why Steph didn't like him very much, why she said he was holding my back from my new life and who I was changing into, but what can I say? I liked the guy. He may have been goofy, uncoordinated in life, and a little immature, but he was always there for me. I always knew that no matter the time of the day, no matter the situation I was in, Kenny would be there for me.
So, no matter how much my new wife may not have liked him, I had no plans of kicking him out of my life. Though it was clear he didn't believe that. Every time we hung out lately, which honestly hadn't been too often, he'd commented on how I was changing, on how he suspected soon I'd leave him in the dust. I kept telling him that wasn't true, trying to reassure him, but I could tell he didn't believe me.
"Come on dude, lets grab some lunch before we have to be crammed on a plane for the next ten hours. On me, for making you get up sooo early." I teased.
"Pleeease," Kenny groans, grabbing his bag off the ground where he'd set it while I hit my vape one last time. I too squatted down to grab my bag, reattaching it around my middle after tucking my nicotine away into my pocket. I noticed Kenny looking at me and glanced up at him. "Aren't you supposed to be quitting those, anyways?" He asked, pointing vaguely to my pocket.
"Yeaah. Steph isn't a big fan." I muttered as I struggled with my bag's fasteners a bit. It was a habit I'd picked up when I was nineteen and still partying. I'd hated the way cigarettes tasted and made me smell but liked the little headrush you got from smoking on something.
"What does she like?" I heard him grumble, but I bit back a retort. Yeah, she may have been a bit stuck up, but I knew it was only because she cared about me and wanted me to stick around for as long as possible. It was hard to be mad about that.
"What are you in the mood for? It's on me." I asked Kenny instead, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him slightly into my side as we made our way into the crowded airport. This trip wasn't about my wife and what she liked, this was about me and Kenny, living life to the fullest one last time before I locked in and focused on my new family life. I wasn't going to spend it bickering with him about what I should be giving up and shouldn't.
"You know daddy loves him some meat."
"And you know literally everyone hates when you call yourself that." I joked, letting him go to hold the door open for both of us.
"So? If I stopped doing what I love because of other people's opinions…" He trailed off a little, casting me a look that told me exactly who he was talking about right now.
"Oh, come on, are you going to spend this entire trip dogging on Steph?" I asked, shaking my head a little. "I'm trying to play Switzerland here and you're making it really hard."
He holds up his hands in a fake innocent gesture, "No, no. I just… wish this wasn't your last trip, is all. Can't blame a guy for that, can you?"
I shrugged, a slightly solemn look crossing my face. "Me too buddy. But come on, I just had a kid." I held my hands out, hoping he could see my point for once. "I can't be traveling the world, backpacking across countries with twenty dollars in my pocket like we used to. I have a family waiting for me. Depending on me now. I have people waiting for me to come home and take care of them, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it." He grumbled, already making a beeline for one of the restaurants set outside the airport's security. I sighed, but didn't say anything else, just followed after him.
I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time I heard about this particular issue.