Author’s Note: AAAAAAAAH! Sorry. This took a LONG time to write. Why? I had a writers block and I couldn’t figure out exactly how I wanted this to progress. Finally, it’s done and I’m semi-satisfied. I would just like to let everyone know that seeing people review makes me feel happy inside. Actually, it was receiving reviews that reminded me I needed to finish this chapter. So! Here it is! Bwahahaha.

Lordess

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Chapter 13: First Date

So this entire date thing, I reasoned with myself. It’s supposed to be, theoretically, just like hanging out with your friend, right? So like, it could just be two guys sitting around, drinking obscene amounts of alcohol, talking about women… cause that’s what guys do when they hang out…

Only I didn’t really like drinking, and I don’t think Ayden really liked that either. And I really doubt that gay men on a date talk about women. Unless it’s Cher maybe. Or Celine Dion. Or-

You’re really missing the point of this, my mind told me with a very harsh bite to its tone.

Yes, I told my mind. I most definitely am missing the point. Make it sharper.

The point, oh clueless one, is that you are really, really nervous about this entire thing and you NEED to get your mind on something else.

Like what?

Like anywhere but the gutter.

Actually, my thoughts had NOTHING to do with the gutter until that moment. Immediately the image that followed was scratched from my mental television and said television was promptly thrown out the window of my imagination department. Really, as if I didn’t have enough to worry about then having to think about that.

It was nice though, wasn’t it?

Shut up.

I was very grateful when said inner voice actually listened. Not that it really cared what my conscious thought train wanted, it had merely gotten distracted by the accidental shove of people that jostled me out of my thoughts. But thankfully it was just another means to the same end and I was grateful.

Arguing with myself was a very bad sign. Clearly I was loosing my rational touch. The amount of heat in my face left after that damned internal television that went above PG-13 wasn’t helping my state of mind either. In fact, it was making me even more frazzled because I was blushing in public.

I don’t blush in public. It’s embarrassing.

Which made me blush more.

It was a horrible cycle.

So there I was, standing in the mildly cold weather, frowning (and blushing) and wondering where my sanity had run off to and if I started now, would I be able to catch it in the next month. Maybe even before Ayden finally showed up after being ten minutes late.

Not that I was counting.

I most definitely wasn’t counting.

…eleven.

And besides, even if I was counting (which I wasn’t), it was only because I really wanted this to be done and over with. Nothing like the first step to make you have cold feet, really. That first step was frozen. Couldn’t they just hang out in the room? Watch TV maybe? Listen to music? Play music? I mean wasn’t that night on Christmas nice? Just hanging around, playing weird carols and singing slightly off key? I know I enjoyed it.

And I most definitely wasn’t counting.

…twelve.

What in God’s name was he doing?

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…

Ayden nearly tumbled over a bench trying to scramble through the backstage. Upon avoiding it, he immediately had to twist around a plastic hedge and continue moving through the barrage of stage props, not to mention people. A few of them shot him a dirty look. Not that it mattered much.

I’m late, I’m late, oh crap, I’m late…

He wondered, dimly, what kind of date shows up on time anyway. Immediately he answered himself, ‘Kamui’. After all, the boy was the epitome of perfectionist. Even the way he brushed that long hair of his so every strand was in its perfect place. Not that there really was a perfect place… but it looked so goddamned good all the time anyway, there might as well have BEEN a perfect place for each hair. And if there indeed was, Kamui seemed to grasp it and hold tight.

And that leaves me, he thought, glancing at his watch. Incredibly late. Is he gonna kill me for this? Nah. I’m only a little late. As long as I leave now I-

“Hey Ayden, I need your help over here!”

The boy froze, closing his caramel eyes and counting to ten. He was needed. Great. He skewered his best smile into place and turned to face the voice. “Yessum?” he asked, making sure to put impatience on hold.

“The chain for the curtains is stuck again,” the person, a fellow student and current co-worker informed. He pointed up to where the chain had caught itself on a poorly designed edge. Ayden gave a sigh and nodded.

“I’ll take care of it,” he mused, walking over and climbing up the bits and bobs and other assorted odd angles.

“We also need some help getting the pieces in their set places,” the other also informed him.

“I thought we agreed I wouldn’t have to do all this preliminary stuff,” Ayden mused out loud.

“We had a few people bail on us,” the student replied from below. “Just these two things and you’re free to go. You’re just watching the play with a friend of yours, right?”

A date, Ayden’s mind supplied for him, but he didn’t voice it.

“Your friend will understand.”

My date will think I’m an ass for being late on our first night out. Ayden reached up and unhooked the stuck chain. Smooth.

People were being seated inside. I wondered if I should go and see if I should wait for Ayden inside. It certainly would be much warmer. Honestly, what was he thinking making me stand outside like this? I had much better things to do than be here and-

“Kamui!”

My thought-train was derailed in record time. I turned around toward the voice, determined to be angry. But when I saw him jogging toward me, I momentarily lost all conscious thought. Who? My mind asked. Oh, Kamui. That’s me.

Ayden stopped in front of me, taking a moment to catch his breath. “Sorry I’m late. They had a few more things for be to do backstage before they’d let me out.”

“Backstage?” I asked. Oh wait, I was supposed to be angry at him, wasn’t I? I couldn’t seem to muster the energy to be angry. Too dizzy. The man nodded, smiling.

“But before I explain that-” he reached into his coat and pulled something out, handing it to me. I blinked at it. “You know, I never really thought you were the daisy type. Too… yellow. So I caved and bought you this instead, cause out of all the flowers, this seemed like you’d like it the best.”

A red rose. Simple. Classy. Elegant. Damnit, Ayden had me all figured out didn’t he? And here I was, struggling to keep up.

Oh boy. I’m dizzy. Very dizzy. Come on, Kamui, my mind urged. Snap out of it! What happened to your normal smart ass self?

“It should have been white,” I said. Now, had I said it with my usual sarcasm, it would have come off as a joke. However, I was getting so light-headed that it came out almost breathy sounding, as if I was disappointed.

“Oh,” Ayden said, and I watched his face fall a bit. A mental kick was delivered right to my brain and a string of curses that I’d never dream of saying out loud filed their way through.

“No, no,” I said, shaking my hands. “That was a joke, I-uh.” Another mental kick delivered to my brain to jump start it. “Thank you.” I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, so I just looked down at that rose and smiled.

And then he kissed me on the cheek.

“Ayden!” I said in a stressed whisper. He was smiling as if he were proud of himself. “We’re in public!”

“And now everyone knows that we’re secret lovers and they’re all staring at us,” he whispered. Immediately I felt my heart jump into my throat and my head jerked around to look at the people around us. They were, all of them, talking and laughing with each other, completely oblivious to the obvious gay men in their midst. I felt myself seethe at Ayden.

“You’re blushing,” he informed me.

“Shh. I’m contemplating murder.”

He laughed at me, placing an arm around my stiff shoulders. “You know,” he said in a low voice. “None of these people notice that we’re here. I really don’t think any of them care. I could probably take up in my arms and ravish you-” Oh, if I wasn’t blushing before, I was beet red now. “-and they wouldn’t even bother to look up. Just relax and enjoy yourself, alright?”

I heaved a sigh, looking at the arm that hung on my shoulders. “Yeah, but still,” I started. I honestly didn’t know how to finish. How could I tell him just how uncomfortable I was in that moment? I was bad at showing my real self when I was alone, much less show off a controversial relationship. I didn’t want to make him feel bad for my shortcomings.

He caught my drift without having me say a word. His arm lifted and he smiled at me. “Right right,” he said. “I’ll tone down the public display of affection. Come on.” He nudged me towards the open doors. “We have some of the best seats in the house.”

Now when he said ‘best seats in the house’, my first thought was front row middle section. And as such, I was very confused when once we entered the main foyer, he lead me off to the side, away from where everyone else was going. “Ayden, where are we-”

“I’m sorry, I cannot answer any questions till we have taken our seats,” he said, ushering me through a side door. The light in this side passage way wasn’t very good and I knew immediately that this was for stagehands only.

“Ayden, I should be back here, I-”

“Shh!”

I glared at Ayden in the failing light, but said no more as he took my free hand and guided me through the narrow hallway. The area lightened the further we went until we reached the stage area. I blinked, looking at the closed curtains and hearing the audience behind them. I looked back to Ayden as he let go of my hand and followed him closely around all the props and people busy getting the last few things ready.

We stopped next to a ladder and Ayden tapped one of the stage hands on the shoulder. “Hey, is it ready for us to go up?” he asked. The stage hand nodded and gave a laugh.

“Yeah, it’s ready. You know, you sure are cheap,” he mused, handing the short haired boy a headset and radio.

Ayden smiled, attaching the radio to his belt and throwing the headset around his neck. “Not cheap, poor,” he replied. “There’s a difference.” I blinked as Ayden started climbing the ladder, shifting uncomfortably. The stage hand turned his attention to me.

“What’s the rose for?”

“Uh,” came my brilliant reply.

“It’s for his sister,” said Ayden, pausing his ascent to look down at us. “She’s meeting us after the play for dinner. She’s been out of the country for a while now.” He looked down at me. “Come on up, Kamui.”

The stage hand turned to me for affirmation and all I could do is nod, then turn to amble up the ladder after Ayden. When I reached the top, he was waiting to help me up. He then led us down the cat walk towards the center. I blinked, looking down I could see the audience and I was sure that they could see me.

“I’m glad you wore black. The director might have been mad if you wore something brighter,” Ayden said quietly as he moved toward one of the spotlights.

“Why didn’t you say on the card to wear black?” I asked, similarly quiet so the people below wouldn’t hear.

“Because I figured you would anyway,” he said, moving to check the wires on the light. He then turned to me, smiling. “This does seem like a pretty shitty first date, considering I have to work. But I figured you’d enjoy the play, so I got ‘em to let me have you up here while I work the spotlight.”

I blinked at him.

“Afterwards, we can go out and get a bite to eat, anyplace you chose, I promise.”

I blinked again, and then I placed a hand over my mouth to stop the laugh.

Ayden blinked as he watched my face contort in effort to suppress the laughter. “What?” he asked, shrugging. “It’s lame, I know, but it’s something.”

“No, I-“ I pinched my lips for a moment to swallow the laughter. I watched Ayden move a ways a way and grab some things that were lying there.

“Look, I even brought a pillow, a blanket, popcorn and drinks,” he said. “It’ll be just like we’re at our place, only we’ve got a real play.” He paused. “And if you spill the popcorn or drinks the people below you are likely to get upset. And I’m likely to get in trouble. And-“

“Thank you,” I interrupted, the laughter slowly subduing. “This is… it’s cute. Thank you.” I smiled at him and he smiled back, letting out a breath of relief.

“So, can you make an exception to the public display of affection rule?” That teasing smile appeared on his face and I leaned up and kissed it.

“Only because you asked nicely.”

“I’ll have to ask nicely more often,” he said, leaning down to capture my lips again, slowly and gently. I felt my heart melt as I sank a bit against him and into that wonderful kiss of him. My cold feet vanished at the warmth that suddenly spread through my body.

And then the lights went out and Ayden pulled away.

“Damn, it’s starting,” he said. He handed me the stuff he had picked up. “You get comfortable. And we’ll continue later, yes?”

I took the stuff, trying my best to wipe the damn smile off my face. “Maybe.”

Ayden made a motion of a stab to the heart and I laughed quietly, sitting down and placing down the drink and popcorn. He took his place at the light, pulling his headphones on and letting his eyes linger on me just a moment before turning to the stage. The crowd settled down and a figure slid through the curtains and Ayden turned the spotlight on him.

The short haired boy honestly felt guilty for all the looks he snuck to Kamui during the play as the other watched. It was beginning to become a guilty pleasure of his just to sit and watch the younger boy. He had almost missed his cues for the spot light on three occasions because his mind was drifting. He couldn’t help it though.

Watching Kamui do the simplest thing, like take a sip water or adjust the pillow he was sitting on, was fascinating to Ayden. He would almost start to feel awkward about himself when Kamui would do something else that would entrance him.

If there was an example of perfection, Kamui was the closest thing to it.

He gave an amused smile as Kamui choked on a piece of popcorn as one of the actors did something comical. The raven haired youth hid a smile and sipped on his soda to dislodge the piece. Even his imperfections were perfect.

Ayden turned his attention back to the stage, turning the spotlight on the actor in the center. It was the final monologue of the play. As the actor began walking off the stage and the curtains closed, Ayden faded the spotlight. The brief silence was filled up by the audience’s applause as curtains opened once more and the actors and actresses took their bows.

The elder boy took off the headset and unclipped the radio from his belt, turning back to Kamui, who was clapping himself. The long haired boy turned upward to him, a satisfied smile on his face. “That was a good play,” he said.

Ayden nodded, crouching next to Kamui. He smiled. “I thought you might like it,” he said. “It was all student oriented. No teachers.”

“And you built the sets?”

“Helped, yeah.”

The blue eyed boy looked back to the stage, still lit with the actors giving their final bow. The lights in the auditorium came to life as the actors quickly left back stage. Kamui smiled again. “You… you surprise me,” he said, a bit hesitantly.

Ayden blinked. “I do?”

The other nodded, turning back to lock eyes. It became a moment where time slowed down until it seemed to stop as the elder leaned in, his eyes sliding shut as his lips met the other’s in a gentle kiss. He felt Kamui respond and the younger boy shifted to make the kiss more comfortable. In the middle of this shifting, Kamui’s hand hit the still half full popcorn bowl, sending it over the edge.

The younger boy sucked in a gasp, pulling away immediately and reflexively reaching to grab the bowl. He caught the bowl, but the contents slipped out and showered the leaving audience below. For a few split seconds, Kamui and Ayden were frozen, the younger cringing and the elder thinking just how much trouble he was about to get in. Both gave out a sigh of relief as the people who had received the majority of the popcorn spill started giving ‘whoops’ and throwing it back up in the air as if it were a party. The two on the catwalk stifled laughs, pulling back out of sight.

“Quick, if we leave now, we won’t have to clean up that mess,” the elder said, laughing as he pulled together some of the stuff.

“Won’t you get in trouble?” Kamui asked, starting to fold the blanket.

“If we leave now, I won’t have to explain either.”

“Right.”

Once we had ambled downstairs, Ayden returned his radio and headset and maneuvered back stage to put the blanket and bowl in a locker, claiming he’d take it home another day so we wouldn’t have to be carrying that stuff around the rest of the night. The next step was deciding where to go eat. Being that I had filled up on popcorn, I was in no mood to shove more down my throat so I suggested a café.

“Know any?” Ayden asked.

“There’s one not to far from here, actually,” I mused, pointing down the road as we exited the auditorium, stepping out onto the street. “Within walking distance.”

“Does it have good coffee?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if it didn’t.”

Ayden immediately ushered me to lead the way and I began down the road. We talked as we walked. Actually it was more him talking than me. I enjoyed listening to him, though, and watching him and his animated gestures. His hands would wave in the air as he described some of the happenings that had taken place during the practice of the play.

“And there was this one time when one of the actors pushed another right into the backdrop before it had been completed. The entire thing came crashing down! He wasn’t hurt at all, thankfully,” he said, then paused. He snapped his fingers as if remembering something. “Speaking of which, I heard from Teki the other day!”

I stiffened a bit, faltering in my step and Ayden laughed. “No, no. Nothing bad. Something good,” he assured. “Teki’s made a complete recovery. All his stitches are out and everything. The gang is having a little party tomorrow to celebrate and they invited me and…er… Kaito.”

I felt my eyebrow twitch.

“Don’t worry! I told them that we couldn’t come.”

My stiff shoulders relaxed and I heaved a sigh. I had no intention of dressing up as a girl again. Once was enough and it was an embarrassing scar on my memory. I looked up as I saw the café come into sight and I pointed to it. “There it is,” I said and we picked up the pace a bit, heading for the door.

Right as Ayden was reaching for the handle, I froze. Quickly, I grabbed Ayden’s wrist away from the door and turned him around, hiding my face from view of the windows. He blinked at me profusely as I led him away. “Kamui, what are you-“

“We can’t go there,” I said, a sharp bite to my tone.

“But why not?”

“Because we can’t!”

After a few more seconds of getting dragged, Ayden finally pulled himself from my grip and pulled me to a stop. His hands were heavy on my shoulders as he turned me around. My eyes were glued to the wall at my side. “Are you going to explain?” he asked.

I bit the inside of my lip, wondering how to explain to him. He wouldn’t understand, not the way I did. He was too carefree. He’d brush of the matter as if it were nothing. But it was something to me. I bit down harder, tasting the coppery flavor of blood as the points broke through the skin.

“Well?” Ayden urged.

“Some of my father’s colleagues were in there,” I said darkly, blue eyes flashing up to his hazel ones as if daring him to challenge the matter. He stared at me for a good long moment, probably debating whether he should argue or let it go. Thankfully, he chose the latter.

“Fine,” he said, quietly. “We’ll go somewhere else.” And with that, he took my hand. But I didn’t want to hold his hand, I couldn’t hold is hand, and so I jerked it away. Ayden’s eyes turned dark as he looked back at me.

“What is your problem?” he asked, his voice angry.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, explain it!”

I hesitated, then motioned down the street. “Look, I’ll follow you, just not-”

“You just won’t let me touch you.”

Oh, yes. He was pissed.

“I can’t!” I yelled, my hands clenching into fists at my side.

“And why not?” Ayden yelled back. He pointed back to the café. “Because you’re afraid someone’s gonna rat to your dad?” I winced, my blue eyes refusing to break eye contact. His anger seemed to grow. “I can’t believe this. You still care what that bastard thinks.”

My lips pursed as my mind worked for something to come back with, but I could think of nothing. He was right. I hated it, but he was right.

In my silence, Ayden continued. “From what I’ve heard of that man, he’s horrible!” he shouted. “He treats you like crap, calls you horrible names, degrades you, doesn’t trust you. You hate him!”

“I know!” I snapped. “I know I hate him! More than anything! But-“

“But what? Why do you care what that asshole thinks?”

“He’s still…” My voice was dying and I could feel a tightness curl up in my chest. “He’s my father.”

I watched as the anger slowly faded from the other’s face, a twinge of understanding passing through his eyes. Even if I hated my father, even if he said horrible things to me, treated me terribly… he was my family. Even if I had spent my entire life letting him down, it was hard to knowingly do it again. He was my father. My family.

Even though he was still visibly upset, Ayden dropped the matter. He shoved his hands roughly in his pockets, eyes narrowing in an inspecting sort of manner, as if silently judging me. Finally he nodded and started moving down the road. “Alright,” he said. “Then let’s go.”

Stiffly, I followed. He was still upset and that made me even more upset. I could tell that as we walked quietly down the road that he was doing his best to push the matter aside, for which I was semi-grateful. This was something he would find hard to understand. His father had left his life and so Ayden didn’t have any expectations of his to live up to, and his mother was nothing but supportive and understanding. My mother, the kind one, was gone, and I was left with my father. Despite the fact I detested him and all that he was, family was family. I couldn’t help but feel a slight pull of obligation to that.

Maybe, somewhere deep inside, a small part of me wanted my father to be proud of me.

Maybe.

Or maybe for him just to leave me alone.

I blinked and looked up at the growing noise of music filling the streets. There, not to far ahead, was a bar filled, from the sounds of it, with other college students. At first I thought Ayden was going to go right past it and head elsewhere, but to my surprise he stopped right in front of it.

“Here?” I asked, making my voice blank.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s loud, crowded, and can get rowdy sometimes. Guaranteed not to have any business associates, and if it does, they’re wasted and won’t remember anything come morning.”

I paused, looking at the doorway and jumped when I heard a loud crash from inside, followed by a series of drunken yells and laughter. Technically, I had never been in a bar of this sort. For a reason. My gaze fell on Ayden, who was watching me, waiting.

“Thank you,” was the only thing I could think to say.

His hard expression melted into a small smile, as if he were trying to hold it back, trying to be angry with me but couldn’t. He motioned to the entry way and we both ascended the few steps and walked in. I pulled back as something flew past my head, left to follow Ayden’s lead up to two open seats at a table near the main bar. I immediately slid into one of the high stools, afraid of being hit by one of the many arms swinging to the music with bottles in hand.

“What did you want to drink?” Ayden asked, nearly yelling to be heard over the noise.

“I don’t suppose they serve wine here,” I muttered.

“What?!”

“Water!”

“You sure you aren’t hungry?”

“Quite sure, thanks!”

“I’m going to order a burger or something and I’ll be back with the drinks!”

“Okay!”

He smiled, and I smiled back, slightly amused at having to yell at each other. He nodded and started making his way through the mass of moving drunkards towards the bar. I watched him, my chin leaning on the back of one hand. As Ayden was placing an order with the bartender, one of the other men at the bar began talking to him, one that I recognized from the play. Blinking, I looked around and noted that many of the people here had come from the play, many actors drinking to their successful performance.

Boy, I thought, blinking. They get drunk fast. Unless they’re like this normally…

I sighed with that thought, lowering my head a bit.

My head jerked back up as I felt a hand at the small of my back and immediately turned in my seat, expecting Ayden. But it wasn’t him. It was one of the actors I had seen in the play. I blinked, taking in his slightly glazed eyes and his lazy smile, as well as the beer in his free hand.

“Hey, miss. You look lonely.”

I blinked some more. See. This is why you don’t go into bars, my mind supplied. Because people already mistake you for a girl when they’re sober! I swallowed. “You’re not my type,” I blurted out, hoping that he’d realize I was male by my voice. Alas, he didn’t.

“Did you get stood up?” he asked.

“No.”

“Need some company?”

“Not you.”

He spread his arms, smiling wider. “Awe, come on, babe!” he said, laughing slightly. “Don’t play so hard to get. I’m a nice guy!”

Now he was just getting irritating. “I’m not a babe,” I said through clenched teeth. Where was Ayden, damn it?!

“Listen, I know the greatest place where-“

It was at this point that he had snaked one arm around my waist and had dipped his head low, close to my ear. My entire body stiffened and I shoved him away. Either I was stronger than I thought or he was drunker than I thought, for he tumbled back quite a bit, slamming into someone else and spilling their drink.

The second man got quite angry and as the first man was pulling himself up, grabbed his collar and threw him in another direction, into more people who were likewise, very upset. I’m not exactly sure how the rest of the chain reaction went, but the next thing I knew, half the people in the bar were kicking the crap out of the other half.

I stayed glued in my seat.

No, my mind corrected. That wasn’t why you didn’t go into bars. This is why.

Awe, shit.

I swallowed hard, easing out of my seat and preparing to dash for the door, lest the mob realize the source of the fight. A second before I was going to bolt, a man flew past be, being knocked down by none other than Ayden. Drinkless and foodless, he immediately put one arm around me, shielding me from the main part of the fight.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Um.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Okay.”

He started making his way to the door, leading me with the one arm around my shoulders, keeping me close to the wall. I gave a gasp as both of us were shoved back into the wall, the breath leaving my lungs for a second as I was momentarily crushed by Ayden. He immediately pushed himself off of the wall and me and swung around, punching the guy who had shoved us in the face.

The man who had hit on me had somehow found his way back to us and looked at me, then to Ayden, with a sneer. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked. Ayden made a motion as if he were going to deliver another punch, but my reaction was faster. I grabbed a beer bottle off the nearest table and smashed it against the drunk man’s head. He blinked, swayed, and collapsed, the remaining liquid dripping down his face and off his nose.

Ayden stared at me as if he had never seen me before. Hastily, I dropped the neck of the broken bottle. “Let’s go,” I said. “Now.”

Without another word the two of us bolted for the door, jumping and dodging flailing limbs. Much like how we had come in, but in fast forward. Once out onto the street, we didn’t stop. We kept running, pulling each other along if we had to, all the way until we had arrived in our dorm, slamming the door behind us.

I leaned against the door, breathing heavily. Ayden stalked back and forth in the kitchen, likewise trying to catch his breath. After a few moments, he turned to me, whipping a bit of sweat from his forehead. “Do you know how it started?” he asked.

I felt my cheeks blaze red, but thankfully I was already flushed from the running. “Um. Yeah,” I muttered, hands on my knees, still waiting for my heart to slow down. “Someone hit on me.”

“You mean punched you? What-“

“No. Not hit me.” I swallowed, moistening my dry throat. “Hit on me. And I shoved him and he tumbled into the next guy and… uh. Yeah.”

He stared at me a good long time and I stared right back, not sure if I should defend myself or not. Maybe I should feel bad that I had started a fight. Maybe I should feel proud. And then I saw the corners of Ayden’s mouth twitch and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

I burst out laughing and slid to the floor, holding my sides. Ayden joined only moments later, coughing in his hand in between laughs as his throat was probably still parched from running. Any time the laughter would start to die down, our eyes would meet and the laughing would start anew. A good five minutes was spent with me sitting on the floor and him leaning on the counter with nothing by laughter spilling from our throats.

Finally, when the last laugh was had and we sat trying to catch our breaths again, Ayden muttered, “I’m still hungry.”