Lover Boys / Disventure camp, James x Aiden /

Morning Rain

"Um, I'm kinda busy right now-

"Oh that's fine! I don't mind that you have company over, I brought you some of my wife's casserole!" Aiden's neighbor interrupted him, trying to smile his way through suspicion.

"Well I'm going to be leaving soon-

"Oh! Well, we better hurry this event up!" His neighbor laughed again, pushing his way through Aiden and into his apartment, where he was greeted by James from a distance.

Aiden wasn't sure if his neighbor was purposefully interrupting him or was doing it to prevent Aiden from saying no. Probably both...

James eyes widen as he crossed his arms, watching this all happen from a small distance behind. He was taken aback by the neighbor's rudeness but kept his composure.

The neighbor immediately greeted James, feigning friendliness, completely disregarding the fact that Aiden was right there. James could see that Aiden was clearly uncomfortable, and so he stepped in to defuse the situation. He introduced himself and made small talk with the neighbor, trying to lighten the mood. However, the neighbor seemed to be fixated on James, asking him questions about his work and his travels, not even attempting to engage in a conversation with Aiden.

James wasn't going to be... too mean... hopefully.

"Oh! And who are you? I can tell you keep up at the gym." The neighbor laughed, his attention focused on James and James only, complimenting him.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" James eyed this mysterious man up and down, still crossing his arms as he stood a whopping 3 inches taller than this new stranger.

James heard small footsteps walking right next to him, he looked over for a second seeing Aiden, who was standing close to James, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Furthermore, James could sense a certain level of unease in Aiden, but he wasn't entirely sure what was causing it. Although James had always been protective of Aiden and had always made sure that they felt safe, he couldn't help but feel that there was something more at play here. Was there a danger that James was unaware of? Was Aiden sensing something that James was not?

Despite these concerns, James didn't want to alarm Aiden unnecessarily, so he stayed silent and focused on this uninvited guest.

Aiden was the first to speak up, trying to break the awkward tension in the air, and decided to introduce his neighbor and James to each other. James, who had been standing quietly by the side until now

"James, this is John." Aiden said, giving the 'mystery man' a name now.

"And John, this is James... Urm- John is my apartment neighbor." Aiden explained awkwardly.

'Ahh, so that's who this asshole is' James thought to himself.

"I thought you said you didn't have neighbors." James asked, somewhat annoyed at this new threat to him and Aiden's relationship.

"I don't have upstairs or downstairs neighbors... he lives next to me with his wife Caroline... he's my only neighbor." Aiden sighed, avoiding the eyes of John, who had a smug smile.

"Ahh! Well it's nice to meet you James. It's nice seeing another strong and real man." His neighbor smiled at him, extending his hand for a shake from James.

James eyed him, up and down, his arms were still crossed as a form of dominance over this intruder and the situation. Eventually, James slowly reached out his hand back, grabbing a hold of it, and giving it a rough and tight shake, not caring if it were to hurt this 'John'.

The tension was high, the air was full with momentarily silence. Aiden was fidgeting awkwardly, his eyebrows furrowed at the individual holding a pan of slowly cold-ing casserole. James stood high, making sure to stand not only his, but Aiden's ground.