The Realm

Chapter 1

The Realm

Written for: A.F. Stars

Written By: Cyd Kelly

Summary/Prompt used: They never believed in Faery Rings, well they do now

If you'd like to read more stories from the exchange, check out the hashtag #sexstoryexchange5

Thank you to Robert Tedders for helping with the Irish slang. If I missed anything it was entirely my fault.

Thank you to Tammy Jasperson Vlcek for betaing and making my words pretty.

Chapter 1

Tread lightly the things you don't understand, for they have the advantage over you.

Aiden

The fog out the window was dissipating. It had been for the last three days. The rain that plagued all of Ireland for the last couple months was starting to clear and the weather forecast promised three days rain free and Aiden was not going to waste them. The problem was his friends appeared to mostly not be on board with this idea. Caleb and Liam had plans already and Bethany had family coming in from out of town. His last chance was Astrid.

The red-haired woman had been his best friend since 1st Class and everyone had thought they should date since then. He and Astrid would make a great couple on the page, she was pretty in that girl-next-door sort of way and he was lean and sporty, and by the way other girls looked at him, he knew he was attractive. She was also incredibly smart, her high marks granting her easy access into Trinity College. Two years later, she was on her way to becoming a lawyer and he was working his way through business school. They would be a power couple, save the fact that neither of them had any interest in the other romantically.

There had been once that they talked about it. They couldn't help it, after being hounded for years by their friends to seal the deal. But after an evening and an awkward kiss, they both wrote off the idea for good. But that did not stop their friends, who didn't care that they had no chemistry, so making plans alone with Astrid sometimes came with more attention than they wanted. But this day, Aiden did not care. He would survive them taking the piss out of him if it meant he would not be stuck in his flat one more night.

Astrid, as it turned out, was agreeable to an evening out and so Aiden found himself scrolling his phone outside the pub as he waited for her. She approached him in a flowy summer dress that being anywhere else in the world, people would have said it was much too cold out to be wearing. But they were Irish, and so they took every opportunity to expose themselves to the sun when it appeared, which is why he brushed off the chill of the air that he felt on his own bare legs.

"They better have room on the patio, I'm not spending another second indoors," Astrid said as she gave him a brief hug in greeting.

"They said it will be about ten minutes, I told them to find me out here. I feel the same."

Fifteen minutes later they found themselves seated at a small round table with a pair of Guinness' between them. The patio was indeed full and smelled of greasy fries and stale beer, but the air still felt fresh and it was exactly what Aiden had been needing to unwind.

"How is school going?" he asked.

Astrid grimaced but fixed her expression so quickly that Aiden wondered if he'd really seen it.

"It's fine. I have six papers due next week. I really needed this night out."

"You're still liking it aren't you?"