Love is for Show

26 - All Of Us?

"I feel like there's so much to talk about, but if I can be completely honest; right now, I don't know where to start,"

Aiden snorts into his slice of pie we managed to spot at a café we nearly sprinted right past. "You mean about what you just saw back there?"

Heat rises to my face and I end up stuffing my face into my own dessert instead of actually responding. – 'Cause that's just easier sometimes.

"That too, but no... That's not entirely what I meant,"

That has him pausing and actually setting his paper plate down for the first time since we sat down at the park bench to look at me.

Tilting my head, I purse my lips and let my eyes freely roam over his face before they settle on flickering repeatedly back and forth to gauge the emotion flitting around his caramel toned irises.

Here I am, staring right at someone I never thought would be in this position with me. We were all: "besties for life" for as long as I can remember, not a single indicator that his feelings mirrored mine.

"You confessed to me, Aiden,"

"And you to me,"

"Wha-" I sigh at myself getting all tongue tied again. "Technically, that's not true," I play with the corner of my bending plate, flicking my gaze across the wide grovel path in front of us.

"I never really got a chance to put all of my feelings into words yet," I clarify.

He leans forward, all his attention on me. That alone is enough to make my palms sweat.

"I don't think you understand how long I've felt... so strongly for you, I don't even know where it started, but, Aiden, the reason high school hurt as much as it did, wasn't only because of our friendship, but also because it felt like my one and only shot at saying something to you was gone,"

His lips part and something akin to an awkward squeak falls from his throat until a question eventually falls from his throat.

"What do you mean by 'gone'?"

"I mean: In my head, you and Connor were graduating and ready to start a whole new chapter together, a chapter that I no longer fit into, I kept quiet for so long, I wasn't about to jeopardize your guys' relationship for the sake of lifting a weight off my own chest... y'know?"

Licking his lips, a small laugh slips through his mouth, paired with a shake of his head as he mumbles:
"You're as selfless as ever, huh?"

My eyes widen and I try hard to bite back a smile. "Hey, I'm being serious,"

"I know... so am I," he puts his plate to the side and turns back to me with one of the biggest smiles I think I've seen from him yet. "Maybe if I hadn't been so ignorant and you were a little more bold back then, things would've looked different; but we're both here, clearing the air, right now despite everything in our past; Isn't that something worth acknowledging?"

Worth acknowledging, huh?

I heave a defeated sigh, his positive nature robbing off on me already. "What do we do now?"

I'm at a loss for words. What steps do we take now? How do we address anything we need to address from here? Where do we even start? What about Kalen and Elias-

Aiden's smooth hands, stained from last night's painting session, settle onto my free hand not holding my slice of pie.

"One step at a time, we have all the time in the world, Nathie,"

I chuckle, still not used to being called that childish nickname again. "First and foremost, you have two boyfriends,"

At the mention of them, his lips twitch upwards slightly. "I do,"