Twins in College

While it had been nice to visit our parents for a few days for the holidays, it had been very strange and rather lonely for my big brother and I to sleep in separate bedrooms, although we did sneak in more than a few quick hugs and kisses. There were a few times when I wondered if our mother suspected that there was more than just sibling love between her twin children, but she never said anything about it to me.

Still, it was quite nice to finally return to California. The descent into Oakland International Airport provided a welcome sight as we flew along the bay. As the plane decreased its altitude, I felt my heart soaring, knowing that, at last, we were very nearly home.

It was strange to me in a way that, despite having grown up in the same house for virtually my entire life, the apartment I had shared with my big brother for only a semester truly felt more "home-like" to me. Perhaps that was due to the love we shared; perhaps that was due to the fact that we did not share that space with anyone else. In the end, all that mattered was that we were very nearly home, and once there, the seemingly endless days of hiding our loving relationship would thankfully end.

Being the holiday season, the plane was practically full, and since we sat in the very last row on the left side of the plane, my big brother and I had a long time to wait before we would be able to deplane. We simply sat in our usual comfortable silence, watching the mayhem before us as the other passengers scrambled to retrieve their belongings and rush into the terminal itself.

"You two are just so calm," one of the flight attendants commented to us. "I've noticed that ever since I saw you two boarding the plane. There's no hurry for anything. You just seem to move at your own pace. That's really refreshing at this time of year."

I simply smiled, and she returned to working through her post-landing checklist. Her comment raised another reason I was so eager to return to the apartment: The frenetic pace of the holiday season would be locked out of our lives... at least, until I had to return to work at the video store the next day.

As we at last made our way through Terminal 2, my big brother took my hand, leading me through the rushing throngs. Babies were crying, children were running amok, adults were hurrying to catch their flights, and people of all ages were practically yelling into their cell phones so they could be heard... even the people moving "slowly" were bumping others out of their way. The stress level was quite tangible. But my big brother was as effective as a bulky offensive lineman, creating a hole in the defensive crowd for me to pass through relatively unscathed.

At last, we made it out of the secure area, emerging by the Terminal 2 Baggage Claim area. Everything was even more chaotic here, especially since the lengthy lines to enter the secure area extended well toward the nearest baggage return carousels. The defense became even more unruly, jostling me much more often as I was led through the area and finally outside to the crowded sidewalk.

Yet, as my big brother led me toward the AirBART pick-up point, I was still able to remain calm. Just the simple act of holding my hand allowed his love to pour into me, to fill me with a calm and a sense of peace that seemed to be missing from the entire world at that very moment. While I was keenly aware of the hurrying people and the honking traffic all around us as we crossed the intersection toward the awaiting AirBART shuttle, none of it mattered to me – it was all essentially "white noise" in relation to the respectful love I felt flowing into me from my big brother.

We joined the mob of people shoehorning themselves into the AirBART shuttle. We had to stand, and we were able to arrange ourselves so that I faced my big brother. Our luggage – just carry-on bags – secured between our feet, I wrapped my arms snugly around his waist and nestled my head against his shoulder. He held an overhead bar with one hand, his opposite arm securely around my upper back to hold me to him, protecting me from the noisy, chattering throng. As the shuttle finally began to move, everyone was jostled about due to the starts and stops associated with traffic around a major international airport during the holiday season. Yet, as much as I have always disliked crowds, I felt secure, pressed tightly against my big brother, feeling his heartbeat echoing mine.

I felt a significant lengthening between us as the motion of the shuttle rocked me continually against my forbidden lover. Despite the hustle and bustle of the holiday travelers, his growing erection was essentially an island of normalcy, a familiar sword of calm decapitating the din around us. I whispered sweet nothings into his ear, and his hold tightened around me. To my surprise, I was a little reluctant to separate from my big brother when we finally arrived at the BART station.

Even on the BART train, there was still a tangible sense of stress and hurriedness surrounding us. Once again, there were no seats available, so we stood, but at least the passengers were not packed in like sardines as had been the case on the AirBART. At last, we had a chance to chat quietly, falling into our usual banter. As the train approached Berkeley and more and more people disembarked, the crowd naturally thinned, and the overall level of stress lowered noticeably until, finally, we were nearing our stop.

We were nearly home. We were nearly back in our safe haven, secluded from this busy, stressful, fast-paced world.

It had been sunset when the plane landed; it was quite dark when we stepped out of the BART station. Once in our neighborhood again, there was virtually no traffic, and definitely no one joining us on the sidewalk – clearly, the students were still largely scattered across the country visiting friends and family for the holidays. Lights were shining through only a very few windows in the houses and apartments.

Back in our cozy apartment at last, I locked the door behind us, shutting out the frenzy of the holiday season. My big brother turned on the lights on our tree, casting a cheery glow across the living room.

A heartbeat later, I was in my big brother's arms, savoring a long, warm kiss. We left our luggage by the door and slowly made our way to the sofa, where the foreplay was lengthy and slow, the undressing process proceeding at the pace of continental drift, and the eventual lovemaking as gentle as a young chick's feathers.

Despite the lengthy time without any sexual contact, neither of us was in a hurry. We took great pleasure in simply being alone together once again, our love once again expanding to fill the entire apartment with a tangible warm energy. And as we finally reached climax together, it was such a beautiful moment that tears of love and devotion trickled down my cheeks as my big brother and I sang softly together, our bodies and our souls joined as one.