the recovery project [2]

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aidan

he refuses to look anywhere in the direction of everett, smiling at the girl across from him as she blows on her cup of tea.

"nice to meet you," she says after she notices him, and sticks out her hand for a handshake. "i'm vivian."

"aidan."

her chestnut-colored hair compliments her light skin, and the smile on her face could light up an entire room. her brown eyes resemble his own, but she pulls them off so much better, damn. "so... what do you study?"

"huh?"

an awkward blush rises to her cheeks, and her hand raises to point at him, nearly knocking over her cup in the process. "your nyu sweatshirt. what do you study?"

"oh!" idiot. "sociology."

"right..."

he's being such a dick. he knows that she's expecting him to return the question, but all he's focused on is everett out of his peripheral vision. "sorry?"

"i should get going," she murmurs, sipping the last of her drink. she shrugs her wool jacket on. "it was nice meeting you."

preston slides in her seat the minute she leaves. "what the hell was that, dude? she was beautiful. you totally just blew it."

"everett's here."

"everett everett?"

aidan nods, and his throat is thick with nervousness, even though the only thing he should care about is preston, and as if on cue, everett walks towards the two. panic shakes him to the bone, and he staggers out of his seat towards the door.

"aidan, wait!"

he sprints outside to an empty alleyway and doesn't stop until he realizes tears are spilling down his cheeks.