The Halls of Westwood [BxB]

Chapter 15

"I hate the holidays" Austin groaned as he collapsed back onto his bed. "You're lucky you have somewhere to go. Westwood gets so boring on Holidays"

"It's just two weeks" Aiden reasoned. "I'm sure you'll be glad to have the room to yourself" He chuckled as he finished packing a small bag. He decided not to mention that he, in fact, was not lucky. Holidays were the most dreadful part of the year... Thanksgiving was tolerable for one reason and one reason alone; Sebastian stayed in Oregon.

Sebastian had a strong dislike for Thanksgiving with his family so he avoided Ohio like the plague. Christmas, on the other hand, he was indecisive about. He had liked it when he and Aiden first started dating... He liked their first Christmas together and everything had run smoothly. Then the next year he hated it and trashed the house. Aiden had spent the rest of his break cleaning up the glass, fixing furniture, and making excuses.

"I would be glad if every guy I'd consider in my league didn't actually have a family" Austin scoffed. "And I asked Markos if I could just go with him but apparently his aunt is pretty particular... Can I just go with you?"

"You'd lose your mind" Aiden snorted. "Not to mention, my house is trashed since only Xander's been living there" Austin groaned and buried his face into a pillow. Aiden let out a shaky sigh and grabbed his bags, not bothering to say goodbye. He headed outside of his room and his heart ached as he saw Beau patiently waiting.

"Hey" A small, yet fake smile reached the small boy's lips and Aiden found a lump forming in his throat. He knew it was for the best. Not only because of what Beau was going through but because Aiden couldn't truly be happy in any relationship until he could get Sebastian to leave him alone. "Are you sure you don't want to just spend Christmas with my family? You seemed kind of... Miserable when you got back last Holiday" Beau mumbled as he awkwardly rocked back onto his heels.

"Yeah, I'll be alright" Aiden lied. "Come on, we'll miss the bus" He hummed. He had considered going to Beau's. He had considered hiding from Sebastian as if that would solve anything... But it wasn't that simple. He'd have to face him sooner or later.

The two boys called their goodbyes and climbed on to their bus to the airport. Beau's fingers nervously messed with the strings of an old, worn, dark blue hoodie that looked just a size too big. Aiden didn't recognize it but decided it was best not to ask questions.

"Sup, bitches" Sage loudly announced as she hopped into the seat in front of them. Aiden internally groaned at the sight of the girl alone. Sage and Aiden had had a... Complicated relationship ever since they were kids. It started with them being forced to be playmates since their grandmothers were good friends. They hated the existence of the other for literally no reason what so over and spent their elementary and middle school years torturing one another.

Then Freshmen year rolled around. Aiden got involved with Sebastian and although he and Sage hung with the same crowd, they managed to avoid one another. Then things ended with Sebastian and about two years later he started dating Olive. Olive who was one of Sage's best friends... So you could only imagine how difficult it was for Sage and Aiden to remain civil with one another. For those reasons, Aiden harassed Sage about her sleeping with someone nearly twice her age, and Sage harassed Aiden for... Well... Everything.

"No" Aiden deadpanned. He couldn't help feeling a little bit excited when he heard Beau's sweet laugh. Sage rolled her eyes and reached over to mess with Aiden's hair as she used to when they were kids.

"Your hair's getting long" She blindly commented. "Are you going to go through another mid-life crisis and chop it off again or grow it out?" Beau

"Mid-life crisis?" Beau asked giving Aiden a long and confused look.