The Agreement •MXM• (Book 1)

In for the ride

Cyrus

That satisfying yet scary click of the ride sounds,and the roller coaster is off. Aaron does scream,but it's more of a laughing scream than an actually scream. Like he's having fun. He smiles until his dimples pop and his hair sticking up when we fall,I only get time to look at him when the ride slows down otherwise I'm also screaming.
Then time slows down and realise how dumb the entire purpose of this trip is. The purpose was to find out if I in fact did have any romantic feelings for Aaron. And you shouldn't need to do that. You should just ask yourself and the first answer that comes to your head from you heart is it.
I'm asking myself one simple question. Do you like Aaron?
Yeah.
Yeah,I think I do. As scary as that feels and sounds. Either way I can't keep living in this fantasy of us hating each other. Because we don't,he doesn't and I don't think I do anymore myself. I'm starting to accept that I like his slick back hair,his custom suits,his smug grins and his golden boy dimples. I like how smart he is. I like his moles. I like that we can bicker without taking it seriously. I like that he has ambitions and goals. I like the sharpness of his jaw,all the way to the swoop of his nose. I like his colonge,I like his annoying minimalistic style where every outfit looks like the last in a different font. I like how he talks about his family,I like how he actually cares about me. I think that he's not bad at all. He's good. He's a very sweet husband and I'm glad that I married someone as understanding and kind as him.
He catches me glancing at him and I offer a smile,he gives me a confused look but he's still happy. I think I like you Aaron,more than a friend. More than a man I made an agreement with. All I hear is my heart beat,all I see is his flushed face in the pink and purple lights that shine down on his skin.
Well of course until the ride falls again. And the screaming starts all over again. But heck,I'm still in for the ride.

We both breath heavy once the experience is over. Stumbling back into the main road,"So tell me what next?"he says sounding like maybe he got drunk on a mixture of joy and terror,that makes his face flushed hair messy and his smile permanent. I wonder if that's what I look like too.
"Ummm..."I slur out as I laugh,"Photos! I forgot we were supposed to take photos-"
"It's fine! We'll just take some right now. Would you like another serving of dangerously unhealthy food?"he asks and I scoff,
"Yeah.. sure."we end up going to a stall with cotton candy. He let's me get two and he insists that he only wants one. The poor stall worker had to watch us arguing for ten minutes.
"Okay,let's take the first one of the night. Tell me,should I pose?"I like this Aaron. The Aaron who has cotton candy stuck to the side of his mouth,and says silly things Aaron.
"Do whatever you want-"I say taking my phone out and snapping a photo of me and him eating out cotton candy. The first one. "Okay now we have to pose-"I set my phone down on the pavement as it counts down from three with small clicking noises,
"Oh my gosh- what do I do?"the sense of urgency is slipping in even though it doesn't matter all that much if the photo goes to waste we can just take another one. That's called rationality. Too bad we've slowly been losing that since we came here,
"Uh- make a heart. A heart."I affirm,and he looks at me with a face that says he has no idea what I mean. "A heart."I take his hand and we make an unsymmetrical heart at the last moment. He realises what he didn't understand and squats on the ground laughing at his own stupidity until he snorts. Huh? I didn't know he snorts when he laughs too hard.
"The timer is still going-"he gets up immediately and we take another photo which just consists of me trying to make sure Aaron doesn't fall on his butt.
Then we make another heart but this time it's bigger. Into a series of strange poses,anything that comes to mind. A mixture of chaos and laughter that makes me glad not a lot of people are around this time of night.
"Wait Cyrus,I think I know how to speed this up."Aaron tells me while taking my hand and leading me to the photo booth. "Tadaaa,we can get a whole six photos out of this one,and then we'll have..."he waits for me to say what we'll have,
"I don't know I lost count."
"Same,let's go in before the arcade closes then we can go get our plushies too."he pulls me into the booth and we sit down.
"How do we pose? We already used all our poses for the day."
"Don't worry,I got this."he puts his arm around my shoulder and kisses the top of my head by pulling me in. Picture number one. I make a face of irritation once he pulls away and he laughs,Picture number two. I pretend to attack him and he plays along,number three. We make weird faces for number four. For number five he kisses me again on my cheek. And I stare blankly at him for number six and I realise we totally just wasted number six.
"Ugh,I messed that last one can we go again?"
"Sure- "A pause as he searches his pockets,"Gosh darn it! I'm outta quarters..."
"Haha,gosh darn it? You still say that-"
"Yeah,don't you?"
"Not really... let's go get our stuff before they close up."I take his arm but he runs back to get our six photos,
"Twelve pictures,one for me and one for you. Everybody's happy."He says with a smile,and I laugh. We go get our plushies and head out of the arcade.

________________

"Man,I'm beat."Aaron says as we sit down on his bed,Lucky in my hands ready to sleep himself,
"Same."I says through a yawn. He takes off his hoodie and I see a peak of his skin before his shirt falls back into place. He makes a tired face,as his eyelids drop over his eyes like he really wants to sleep right now.
"Is Lucky sleeping with us?"Us? Like I'm going to sleep here? Well I probably am,I'm too tired to get up since the adrenaline wore off.
"Yeah... he's scared of this place still."
"Lucky,I thought you were a big boy?"Aaron teases the small guy as he pets him with his sluggish hand. With drowsy smile he puts Lucky under the covers right over a dirty shirt of his,before he gets in himself. He looks at me with a tilted head,"Are you not going to sleep?"
"I'm going,relax."and we fall asleep just the three of us.