Before Christmas holiday, Brian suggested we should have a much deserved honeymoon at his residence in Aspen. What neither of us could anticipate was getting stranded there for eight days.

Brian had the genius idea to go by ourselves on this trip, which wasn’t such a bad idea at the time. I was sick by the constant company with some security man breathing down my neck.

Though, Brian's timing to release his men from their duty couldn’t have been worse.

Our trip to Aspen was supposed to be a secret, but I was forever grateful for telling Emmett in passing at the election party that Brian and I might go to the mountains to celebrate his victory and our honeymoon.

Of course, no one had asked Emmett about us. He was in another state. He was virtually no one to Brian's team. Until Drew cancelled their Christmas plans due to an emergency, which was President Kinney and his husband missing.

On our part, we had accepted our fate on day three since the avalanche had blocked all access to the road, leaving us virtually trapped inside the house.

We had food and water.

We kept ourselves warm experiencing the primal survival one-on-one act.

On day six, Brian joked that I had his permission to eat him if we ran out of food.

It wasn’t the most enjoyable experience, I had to admit.

One could do as much fucking until even that become boring.

We swapped childhood stories and talked about our future – if we ever survived this trip.

It turned out to be a honeymoon to never forget.

Currently, we were on a blanket in the sitting room, basking in the afterglow, watching the last embers of the wood dying in the fireplace. We were royally fucked.

“Now what?” I whispered, truly worried for the first time in the past week.

“The snow will melt eventually,” Brian felt around for his cigarettes.

“By then, Schmidt would be President, because you were declared abducted by the aliens.”

Brian sat up with a horrified look in his eyes. “Fuck.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “So, what’s the plan?”

Brian grimaced, turning to face me. “Up for one more?”

“We’re going to die here, you realize?”

“Stop being melodramatic. It’s been, what, five days…”

“Eight days, Brian. That was the last wood around.” I pointed to the now burned out wood in the fireplace.

“There’s still wood around,” he said pointedly.

I narrowed my eyes at him, because it wasn’t time for sexual jokes. “Are you willing to set your dick on fire?”

“Don’t be a twat,” he drawled, smoking slowly. “I meant…the chairs, the table. Someone is bound to realize we’re here. There are not many options for where I could have gone.”

“We haven’t told anyone about this! Now, more than ever, I realize the importance of security and why they have to know my every move.”

“Whatever.” He lay back on the blanket, frowning at the ceiling and holding his cigarette between two fingers. “Do you really think they’d instate the twenty-fifth amendment?”

“Who knows? Have you ever been MIA for eight days before?”

Brian palmed his cheek. “If we die, I vow to haunt Theodore for eternity,” he said in a shaky voice.

I was about to answer when a loud rumbling noise had both of us on alert.

“Another one?” Brian groaned, grabbing my arm.

The sound before the avalanche hit in the wee hours of our first night here was something ripped out of horror movies. Then came an eerie silence which stretched for days.

“I don’t think so,” I said warily.

We stayed quiet, listening to the terrible sounds coming from outside, before patches of light were visible at the window. Not a moment later, the windows were broken and a large amount of snow fell into the house along with several Secret Service guys dressed in skiing equipment.

I snatched the blanket to cover my nakedness, while Brian stood, grabbing a cushion to keep in front of his dick.

“I’d applaud your spectacular entrance, but I can’t.”

The men started taking their ski masks off, talking into their collars that they found Eagle and Warhol, and that we appeared to be unharmed.

“Good evening, Mr. President,” one of them said, approaching us.

“Evening, Brandon,” Brian replied, awfully relaxed for the situation we were in.

“We should get a move,” the man still standing by the window commented. “The conditions aren’t the best and the chopper might not be able to fly.”

“If you’d kindly turn around so we can get dressed…” Brian made a spinning gesture with his finger.

“Our things,” I gasped, hurriedly pulling on my sweatpants and the T-shirt Brian had torn in his haste to get it off me earlier.

“There’s no time,” the third agent said urgently.

Brian only had his sweatpants on, but he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. We took our battery dead phones, and allowed the extremely professional men to guide us outside. We were both barefoot, but I was the only one to cry out at the coldness.

The guy Brian had called Brandon swung me his arms, probably over and done with my hissy fit. “Follow my exact steps, sir,” he said over his shoulder.

I poked my tongue out at Brian, over Brandon’s shoulder. My amusement died down a moment later when Brian vanished from sight.

“Brian,” I shouted, twisting in Brandon’s arms.

The other two men pulled him from under a large pile of snow, and I could tell he wasn’t okay. He allowed one of the men to support his weigh.

The helicopter was on idle not that far away from the house, but the swim through the snow felt like we had walked for miles.

Inside the lukewarm transportation vehicle, we were both wrapped in thick blankets and offered hot tea.

“Are you alright?” I checked, bumping Brian's shoulder.

“Besides, fucking freezing, I’m fabulous.”

A phone was extended to Brian. “It’s Vice-President Schmidt, sir.”

Brian accepted the phone, shivering violently. “Theodore, I can’t even die in peace.”

“You’re alive! We were scared out of our minds, Brian.”

“It’s a relief to know I haven’t been replaced,” Brian said tersely.

“Officially, unofficially, I’ve been running the country for the past three days. It took us a while to realize you were MIA, and we couldn’t have the world to know we had lost our president.”

“I wasn’t lost,” Brian protested, sneezing loudly. “Can we do this when I get home?”

“Of course. I’ll gather everyone for an emergency meeting.”

As much as Brian wanted nothing more than to soak in his bathtub and regain feeling in his toes, he knew the meeting was more important.

“Who else knows about this?” he asked warily.

“The whole country. You were scheduled for several interviews and I covered your ass until I couldn’t anymore.”

“Fucking fabulous. Gather the press on the lawn. We’re going to make a dramatic entry and then a hasty exit. Keep the meeting for tomorrow.”

I held the cup of tea between my palms, rocking back and forth. A laugh bubbled up my throat when Brian hung up with the vice-president.

He threw me a dirty look. “What’s so funny?” he barked.

“Just imagine the stories after our adventure.”

He rolled his eyes. “All I can imagine is Ben following us to the fucking bathroom to make sure we don’t get flushed by accident. I have to make sure everyone will understand that it was our unilateral decision to go on this trip without security. Everyone will blame the secret services for how careless they are.”

“With all due respect, it was a childish decision, sir,” the oldest from our three rescuers said in a firm voice.

Brian pursed his lips, sipping from his tea.

When we got closer to landing, we were offered spare clothes from the equipment the team had in the helicopter. It wasn’t much, just thick black pants and a fleece shirt. We kept the borrowed military boots untied.

The crowd outside the gates was astonishing, and it showed how loved Brian was by the people.

Inside the gates, there was a group of reporters waiting for interviews, but what caught my eyes as we landed was two stoic figures near the helipad.

As soon as we touched down, Brian was up and he jumped out of the chopper. I followed him on shaky legs, because after all, this had been my first trip in a helicopter.

I allowed Drew to help me down, while I refused to meet his eyes.

Brandon brought our blankets, for which I was grateful since the December night was merciless, especially after our adventure through the snow.

Brian extended a hand to me, and I took it, before we walked to the press. Ben and Drew were right behind us, and their silence terrified me. I noticed Matt and Hank near a pillar, eyes on me.

Brian stopped behind the microphone, holding his free hand up. “Good evening,” he said softly. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily,” he chuckled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “We’ve decided to celebrate our honeymoon in my Aspen residence. Let’s leave it at: Mother Nature offered the President a secluded romantic gateway.”

There were some laughs and a general rumor of excitement and anxiety.

“I will take no further questions.” He sneezed loudly, before smiling shyly. Several voices blessed him. “Thank you,” he answered courteously, then he steered me inside the house.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Blake taking Brian's place behind the microphone trying to stop the chaos of questions being shouted at us.

“Not a single word,” Brian said to Ben when he stepped closer to us. “I’d like cold medicine and hot tea into our room,” he told one of the staff members standing pressed against a wall.

The woman nodded hurriedly and disappeared out of view.

Two sets of footsteps followed us, until Brian stopped in front of the presidential bedroom. “Go inside. Start a bath,” he whispered, nudging me to the door.

I hated that he was going to fight with Ben and Drew. My feet kept me rooted just inside the room.

“What.” I heard Brian's lifeless voice say, which meant he had no fight left in him. “Say you’re disappointed. Say you’re going to resign. Say something, don’t just stare at me, Bruckner!”

“We thought you were killed!” Ben’s words knocked out what little breath I had in my lungs. “We thought someone abducted you for ransom,” he continued in a hard voice. “I haven’t slept since the day I understood you were missing, which was after two days of no sign of life from either of you.”

“I wasn’t missing,” Brian groaned. “Like I said outside, my decision to give Justin a romantic, secluded honeymoon turned out to be more than we bargained.”

“It’s no joke, Brian. I’m at cross-swords with everyone from stalling them from replacing you with the vice-president.”

“Thank you,” Brian said sincerely. “Anyway, how did you figure out where we were?”

“Is that all you have to say?” Ben spat.

“I had to cancel my plans with Emmett, and while I didn’t want to alert him about you and Justin being missing, I mentioned it had to do with your absence. He was put out we couldn’t go skiing like I had promised him, and hopefully bump into you. That’s when he told me how Justin mention to him in passing that you planned on spending some time in Aspen,” Drew explained.

I had to hug Emmett extra hard next time I saw him.

“Thank you, Betty. Take them inside,” Brian's voice talking to the woman bringing our warm beverage had me sprinting to the bathroom.

While the bathtub filled, I sat on the closed toilet seat, hugging myself. The adrenaline rush from our rescuing was dying off, and I could feel my body going into shock.

For the first time in days, I realized we could have died in there.

“Justin!” Brian's loud voice and his cool hands gripping my wrists grounded me. “Breathe with me,” he said softly.

It took several tries to even my breathing, before I collapsed into his arms, sobbing. He hugged me tightly, rubbing my back.

“Shh. We’re safe. We’ll face the consequences of our trip to Aspen in the morning. For now, let’s warm up and sleep.”

“I heard what Ben told you,” I gasped out. “He’s so right.”

“But we survived. Nothing bad happened.”

Brian undressed us and we sank into the hot water. He kept me in his arms for so long the water started cooling.

When we returned to the bedroom, he brought a plate of cheese to the bed, along with two steaming cups of tea and cold meds.

“My allergies could have kicked in,” I said around a piece of cheddar cheese.

“But they didn’t.”

“We could have died of hypothermia.”

“Justin. Forget it. Let’s focus on the future, which isn’t bright at all.” He scrolled through his phone. “My end of the year is filled with meetings, and I can’t escape a visit to Buckingham in the first week of January. I kept postponing it, but Cynthia can’t seem to push it around anymore.”

I decided to take a leaf out of his book and stop thinking of the past. I had a show to plan for mid-January.

Later, there was a knock on the door, and I went to answer, while Brian was in the bathroom. Ben seemed to have mollified, but his blue eyes were hard to read. He offered me his phone.

“I think your battery died, because I had your mother calling me. She called Debbie, who asked Michael for my number.”

I was surprised to hear my mother wanted to speak to me after her speech some months ago.

“I’ll call her from my phone. Thanks,” I said softly.

He nodded curtly, spinning on his heels.

“Ben,” I called after him. After checking if Brian was still in the bathroom, I stepped out of the room, wrapping the bathrobe tighter around my waist. “I told Brian it was stupid not to tell you or Drew.”

He turned and narrowed his eyes, reminding me of how much he hated me in the beginning. “You know, Justin…Brian has never acted so volatile and reckless before he met you. I’ve lost count of how many moronic decisions he has taken since you came into his life. Somehow, he’s still here, which is a wonder.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Is it my fault he wanted to be normal for a few days? To forget about carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders?”

“Of course, I knew you’d take it personally. I was just stating a fact.”

“Maybe you are jealous you can’t be with Michael, and you unjustly decided to take your envy on me,” I said pointedly. “You can ask him to move to DC, I’m sure he won’t say no.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he snapped.

The doors behind me were snatched open. Brian's hands cupped my shoulders as he pulled me against his warm chest. “You’re fired,” he said firmly. “I will not accept anyone from my staff speaking like that to my husband.”

Ben stared at Brian incredulously.

Brian squeezed my shoulders, before looking down the hallway. “Hey, Marine. I want Bruckner removed from the property.”

“Brian…” Ben said, shocked.

“That’s Mr. President to you. Come on, Justin.”

“Wait, wait.” I kept a hand on Brian's chest. “Wait,” I repeated loudly when the marine guarding our corridor complied to Brian's orders. I didn’t know his name, sadly. “Stop! You can’t fire your head of security.”

“I just did.” Brian tried to steer me into our bedroom.

“No.” I noticed remorse in Ben’s eyes. “I baited him. You most likely heard what I told Ben. I wanted to get a reaction out of him, because I couldn’t stand the silence and the cold shoulder they have been giving us.” I turned to Ben. “Ever since we landed, I felt seventeen and scolded by my parents for staying out too late. I’d like to think we are all mature people here. Just say what the fuck you have to say.”

“He said plenty,” Brian muttered.

“Say we were idiots for leaving without telling anyone,” I continued. “Tell Brian he is grounded and you’re going to follow him to the toilet if need be. Just say fucking something.”

Ben cleared his throat. “As the former head of your security, Mr. President, I felt like the biggest failure in the world when we couldn’t find what had happened to you. I haven’t felt so helpless since Iraq.”

Brian waved to the marine to release Ben from his grasp, before he pulled Ben in a hug. “I’m sorry, Ben.”

I caught the marine’s eye, and he looked moved by the exchange between Ben and Brian.

“Now, go to bed. We have some rules to redefine in the morning. You’re…un-fired.”

I snorted, and even the marine behind Ben cracked a smile at Brian's lame joke.

Ben nodded through tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry for the things I said.”

“You were right. I have been acting out of character ever since I met Justin, but I guess love makes you act irrationally.” Brian shrugged. “Now go. Both of you.”

I ran to Ben who was about to turn around and leave, and surprised him with a hug. “My suggestion still stands.”

“I might have that talk to Michael. Sorry again, Justin.”

While Ben and the marine turned the corner, I returned to Brian, and we went into our room.

“You’re too much, you know.”

“Your temper will land you in a shitload of trouble, Mr. President,” I teased. “You should be so glad to have me around to save you from yourself.”