New beginnings

Part 2: Revelations

When I wake up, I've pretty much forgotten my dream already. Were Morgan and Aiden fighting? Why? I shake it off. My parents woke me up because when we were taking a nap, they were looking for a nice hiking trail. Now I'm being forced to take a hike, literally. So I'm groggily getting up. Morgan, the beautiful ray of sunshine she is, was immediately up, and excited. As I walk into the living room, I immediately notice Aiden. I chuckle. Aiden looks up.

"What are you laughing at?" he asks, sounding kind of confused.

"It's just.." I start, before bursting into laughter again. "Your hair." Aiden must've just woken up because his hair is all over the place. He usually takes pretty good care of himself so I've never seen him so ruffled before. Aiden rolls his eyes.

"Wow, sorry that I don't look as hot as usual after I've literally woken up five minutes ago."

"I'm sorry, dude, you just-" I cut myself off as I was going to say something kind of weird. 'You look cute.' isn't exactly normal to say. I scrape my throat. "never mind." An awkward silence ensues. I avoid eye contact and look down instead. Morgan, who watched this whole thing go down, coughs to get my attention.

"Babe, your dad said you should be ready in like fifteen minutes so if you wanna eat something you should do it now." She says. "Nah, I'm not that hungry." I sit down next to Morgan and she puts her head on my shoulder. It makes me kind of uncomfortable, but I don't say anything. I look at Aiden, who in turn was looking at Morgan and me, but then he immediately looks away. Wait, he wasn't like.. staring at Morgan was he? The thought fills me with jealousy. At that moment my parents walk in.

"Are you kids ready?" my dad asks. I nod and get up, and Harper and Lily come running from their room as well. "Welp, let's go!"

We've been hiking for about an hour and I'm kinda lagging behind. Everyone else is in front of us, but Aiden is still walking next to me. Suddenly I stumble and Aiden catches me and steadies me.

"Careful!" he smiles at me. My heart explodes at the contact and explodes again at the smile. All of a sudden, like a lightswitch flipping on, I realize it. I realize what I've been feeling. Why I've been so danm uncomfortable.

I like Aiden.

Oh my God I'm an idiot. How have I never realized before? Shocked and kind of confused I halt. I realize that I've never noticed because my idea of liking someone is based off of my feelings for Morgan. But I never felt like this about Morgan. Oh shit, do I even like Morgan? What if I don't? Aiden waves his hand in front of my face, catching my attention.

"You good? Why'd you stop?" I don't even know what to say.

"Could we take a break? Maybe? I'm pretty worn out." Is all I can think of. He nods.

"Guys?" He calls out. Everyone looks around. "Let's take a break."

"Sure!" my mom calls out. "I could use a break too."

We walk up and find a nice spot. Everyone sits in the grass looking out over the mountaintops but I sit a few 100 metres away by myself. I need some time to process this. Am I gay? Should I break up with Morgan?

Then Morgan walks over and sits next to me. I can't even look her in the eyes. It's all so obvious to me now, I never even liked her. I feel like I'm betraying her.

"What is up with you, Tate?" she asks, looking concerned. Unable to come up with a good excuse, I just say I'd like to be alone. She looks disappointed but joins the others regardless. I can hear them talking and laughing but I'm so lost in thoughts I can't join. So lost that even when Aiden sits next to me I don't notice at first.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" he asks. I look up into his eyes.

"Didn't Morgan tell you I wanted to be alone?" I answer, quite abrupt. I feel bad immediately. It's not his fault that I'm a mess.

"Look, Tate, I think I know what's going on with you. I don't mean to sound arrogant, or self-absorbed, but-" I cut him off immediately, my eyes widening.

"Don't say whatever you're about to say here! They can't know!" I tell him, shocked.

"Well I wanted to talk in private but you didn't let me." He rolls his eyes.

"We'll talk about this later, alright?" My heart is pounding in my chest. He knows? Does he not care? He wants to talk about it?

"I'll keep you to that. Let's go, then. Our break has been long enough." He gets up and calls for the rest to follow him. As if I'm in a trance, I also get up. Holy shit.