Hello? Hi.

30

Noah opened the door to the small apartment mid conversation with Aden.

"Remember when you say you'd never meet me in person?" Aden joked and stuck out his tongue.

"Well, I never expected to rescue you, you've got to give me that at least." Noah shrugged and Aden playfully pushed Noah as he laughed.

Noah wanted to talk about Aden's parents, what happened, and why, but he hesitated. It may be too early for Aden and instead, he should distract him. 

"Want to watch something?" He asked the younger boy, who put the pharmacy bag down on the table. 

"Sure, whatcha have?" Aden responded.

"Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and some DVDs," Noah stated.

"Wow. The whole thing." Aden said, smiling, but being a little jealous that he never could afford much of any subscription and his parents would never buy it for him anyway.

"Well, it's all my family account. So I share it with my mum, dad, sisters, and brother." Noah said, but then quickly added, "But don't worry, I have my own profile and stuff." Aden smiled. 

"Alright. Well, do you have any suggestions?" Aden asked.

"Let's see..." Noah started, picking up the remote and turning on the TV. "Mind turning off the lights?" He asked Aden who nodded. He searched for the switch and turned it off, making only the light of the TV visible, which shined brightly on Noah's face, who was now sitting on the sofa. "This is what they're recommending." Aden went to sit down on the sofa by Noah. Noah looked at Aden, "Have you ever watched The Office?" He asked.

"No, what's it about?" Aden asked.

"It's a TV show. It's hilarious. It's basically about this paper office company that's being recorded for a documentary, but the people that work there are so crazy. You have a good sense of humor, I think you'll like it." Noah said.

"I'm glad you think so," Aden said sarcastically, laughing. "Okay, I'll give it a try then." 

"You can't take anything they say seriously though," Noah warned with a smile as he put on the very first episode of the very first season. 

They were both so delved into the show that when Noah took a glance at Aden, he realized he put his arm around him.

Shit. I don't remember doing that. Noah froze for a second as Aden laughed at a scene, which caused Aden to lie his head on Noah's shoulder. Noah could barely pay attention to the screen when all he could think was: Don't move. Don't move. Don't move. Don't move. With each of Aden's laughs, he slowly cuddled by Noah's right side, hugging his stomach as he snuggled his face into Noah's shoulder. Noah breathed in and out slowly. I need to relax. I'm fine. I'm just fine. He shook off the nervous feeling and swiftly tightened the grip on Aden's shoulder. For two hours, they stayed that way, binge watching the short first season of The Office.

"You're right, those people are crazy," Aden said, "I love it!" He stretched his hands. "Love it. Love it. Love it." He said as he yawned.

Noah turned off the TV, the only source of light in the house. "Woah. I didn't expect it to be so dark. I'll go turn on the light." Aden grabbed his arm before Noah could fully get up. 

"No no, I like it. Let's talk in dark." Aden said, he didn't want to get out of the comfort that snuggling Noah brought him.

They stayed in the silence the dark brought for a minute.

"What do you want to talk about?" Noah asked, the darkness making his voice seem louder.

"Can you tell me about your family?" Aden asked. Noah made a surprised look, not thinking Aden would want to bring up anything family related because of what happened to him just yesterday, even if it seems like so much longer. Maybe he'd finally begin to get answers.