"So, when's Ria coming over again?"

Aiden's eyes didn't leave the screen of his TV as he underwent a battle with his Kingdom Hearts party members. "I dunno." he shrugged, furiously pushing buttons on his PS2 controller to fight the BOSS character. He cursed as Donald got a hit and K.. "Why?" Aiden asked, only half listening to his roommate who was leaning against the doorway. Chris pushed himself away from the wall and, with arms folded over his chest, moved into Aiden's room. Shrugging nonchalantly, he sat down on Aiden's bed. Aiden still seemed too involved in his video game.

"Cuz..." Chris began shortly. He paused a moment, debating to tell Aiden or not. He knew there were no feelings between Aiden and Ria; but he still suspected the news wouldn't go over well. Taking a deep breath, Chris just decided to spill it. "Cuz I really like her." He replied.

As soon as the words echoed into Aiden's brain, the gamer's heart seemed to stop beating. His hand slipped from the controller at the same time the BOSS decided to take another hit to his team. It killed off Sora in a single attack and the screen faded to black, with Sora floating in mid air. A sign flashed, asking if Aiden wanted to continue or not. But Aiden was too frozen to reply.

As the reaction swept through his best friend, Chris sat back and looked concerned. He wasn't sure what to get from that. The color in Aiden's face seemed to fade and leave him with nothing but a ghostly looking appearance. Silence dominated the room for several minutes before Chris dared speak. "Uh... Aiden?" His voice seemed to jerk Aiden from his spell, and the chestnut brown haired gamer shook his head to clear his mind. Returning to normal, he turned to face his roommate for the first time. Producing a half-hearted smile, he spoke.

"That's great."

Chris eyed him suspiciously. "Aiden...?"

"What?"

"Are... you okay?"

Aiden laughed and it appeared he really had returned to his old self. "Yeah, I'm fine." he reassured his friend. "I'm glad you like her. I don't know when she'll be over next, though. She's like a stray cat, you know." Chris smiled and nodded his head; thinking the description fit Ria to a "T".

"Yeah. I know. Well, thanks, bud." Standing up from the bed, he patted Aiden on the back before heading for the door. "See ya."

"Later." Aiden replied. He waited for Chris to leave before he dropped his charade. He felt as if he was choking on his heart; his chest hurt to breathe. He thought he was going to full-out panic when he heard Chris' confession. In truth, it didn't at all surprise him. But at the same time...

Aiden picked up his controller from the floor and stared mindlessly at the screen before him. It still egged him to pick a choice between continuing or aborting.

At the same time, Aiden didn't want Chris to like Ria. What if... what if Ria liked him back?

Moving the analog control slightly to the right, he hit the "X" button, confirming his surrender to the game. Leaning forward, he turned off his PS2 prior to letting the controller once again meet the floor. Getting up from his chair, he tossed himself onto his bed and sighed heavily into the silence.

(Later...)

Aiden zipped the collar up on his winter coat and proceeded to button it. It was the coldest day of the year-- and, if it wasn't, it sure as hell felt like it. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the main parking lot, he waited for the cars to pass before crossing to the other side. Right before he put his foot down onto the road, he heard it: the familiar laughter of one of his best friends. Heart leaping in his chest, he suppressed a smile as he turned toward the noise. He felt deflated when he realized Ria was walking towards him with another guy: her best friend from high school, Sean. He had always been suspicious of Ria's and Sean's relationship. They had always seemed closer than close and, even though Sean had a girlfriend, they were always flirting with each other. Ria always said it was nothing but harmless fun; but Aiden still couldn't help but feel jealous.

Though, of course, he never said anything about it.

"Hi, Ria." Aiden called out when the two friends were within ear shot. Ria was brought out of her laughter when she saw Aiden. A smile broke out across her face that made the older man's knees weak. It ignited a rush through his system that seemed to make the coldness around him feel nothing but a gentle breeze. Ria steered herself and Sean towards Aiden. Dressed in a light blue ski jacket, black fuzzy gloves and wearing the school-sponsored beanie hat, Aiden thought she looked adorable. She raised her right hand to brush sand colored blond hair from her eyes and stood in front of Aiden.

"Hi, Aiden." She greeted him back. Her light green eyes seemed to sparkle with the sunlight bouncing off the snow. "Sean was just telling me this hilarious story about him going into the wrong classroom for lab--"

"I didn't go in the wrong classroom!" Sean interjected on his own behalf. "They gave me the wrong room number!"

"Oh, that's right." Ria replied back sarcastically; though there was teasing laughter in her voice. "And they were plotting against you; just like the aliens from outer space."

Sean played along. "Hey," he tried to be serious. "I told you those aliens are out to get me, man! They turn off my alarm when I have to get to class!"

"Yeah, right." Ria laughed, nodding her head. "And that's the same class that you have a major test in that you're late for?"

"That's right."

"Damn, those aliens are convenient." Laughter broke out between the two of them again, and Aiden stood on the sidelines. He wasn't listening to their conversation so much as he was watching Ria. He knew Sean only through Ria, but otherwise the two weren't great friends.

When the laughter died out, Aiden tried to gain headway in the conversation. "Look, I was just on my way over to the student center... but I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come by later."

"What time?" Ria asked.

"Around..." Aiden paused for time, trying to think when he would be back. "Maybe seven? I have an assignment I have to finish, but I should be done by then."

"Sure." Ria agreed. "I was gonna play darts with Sean here anyway. He owes me five bucks." (She took a moment to smile at Sean smugly; which Sean replied by sticking his tongue out at her. She laughed and returned the favor before giving Aiden her attention). "So, seven it is."

"It's a date." Aiden couldn't help but add in. Ria smiled and nodded her head in agreement before grabbing Sean and heading off to their dorm building. Aiden felt his heart flutter happily in his chest. He was pretty sure Chris would be out of the room that night, so he could have Ria to himself.

(Around seven: thirty...)

Aiden couldn't help it: he was restless. He tried killing time by surfing the net on his AlienWare, but he couldn't concentrate. Not only that, he had nothing to look for. He tried turning on his TV, but he couldn't sit still. He tried music, but he couldn't find the right CD. Therefore, he paced his room absentmindedly, waiting.

After several moments of pacing, Aiden picked up his cell phone again. He searched through his recent text messages and again found the most recent one from Ria: Hey, Aiden. I might be a little late. :( Me and Sean got bored playing darts, so we decided to watch Batman Begins in his room. I'll be over when the movie's done.

Aiden's eyes flew to the clock sitting on the wall shelf above his computer: 7:39. His heart raced in his chest as anxiety flew through him. What was taking her so long?

But then he heard it: the familiar sound of the door opening and shutting; the swoosh of a jacket being shrugged out of and a sweet voice calling out, "Hello? Sorry I'm late..."

Rushing from his room, Aiden sped to meet Ria. She seemed a little shocked by his excitement to see her, but she laughed. He felt a little embarrassed, knowing that he had been too obvious; but he found himself smiling back anyway. "Did you like the movie?" He asked; settling on the only thing his mind could land on.

"Eh," she shrugged and made her way to his room. Aiden followed. "I've seen it before." Aiden felt a little crushed by this answer; he'd been stood up forty minutes for a movie she'd already seen? But he didn't let his disappointment show. Instead, he forced a smile on his face.

"And Christian Bale doesn't do it for you the second time around?" He teased.

Ria laughed and rolled her eyes. "Well... I wouldn't say that..." She met Aiden's eyes and she smiled at him. Her smile was contagious and intoxicating. He couldn't help but smile right back with her.

Jumping onto the end of her friend's bed, Ria picked up a random book that was sitting on the blanket against the wall. Aimlessly flipping through it, she asked, "So... what'd you wanna do?"

The question caught Aiden off guard. He had wanted so much to just see and spend time with Ria; he hadn't thought of anything they could do. "Uhm..." he frantically searched his mind for anything. "We could..." Deciding to settle on "the usuals", he listed them off. "Watch a movie. Play a video game. Play Checkers."

Ria answered by vetoing all the available solutions. "I just watched a movie. I can't play fighting games worth crap. And the last time we played Checkers, we abandoned the game halfway through and started playing mini Frisbee with the pieces. So I don't think they're all there anymore." Aiden laughed, getting a flashback from their last Checkers match. He remembered a lot of them going under the couch in the other room; but he also swore he had seen at least one go out the window.

"Okay," Aiden nodded his head, arising to the greater challenge of finding something a little less than usual to do. He walked over to his bed and sat beside Ria. "We could... do homework."

Ria made a face that looked as if she had just been served a bowl of fried kelp and lima beans with alfredo sauce. "I've spent so much time doing homework, I don't even wanna look at a book until the end of the semester." Aiden laughed along with his friend; knowing full well she'd be up the next morning making a dent in her English Lit. assignment. Feeling more comfortable with being close to Ria, he dared slide his arm behind her. His pulse quickened as he got closer to her; but he wanted to be subtle about his movements; mostly so he could pull away and claim ignorance if she became uncomfortable.

"We could..." he tried to think of another solution, but found it increasingly difficult to form a thought while he was that close to Ria. "play a Mad-Lib."

Ria seemed intrigued. "You have Mad-Libs?" She asked, a hint of excitement in her voice. At that moment, Aiden really wished he had a book of Mad-Libs; just to keep her happy.

"No." he admitted sheepishly. "Sorry." Ria smiled anyway, not thoroughly disappointed by his answer.

"That's okay." She assured him. "We could play cards instead. How about Egyptian War? Or Old Maid?" Jumping from the bed, she walked over to his desk to look for his deck of cards. Aiden felt crushed by Ria's abrupt absence, but discarded those feelings. Leaning forward on his bed, he repeated incredulously: "Old Maid?"

"Yeah." Ria replied, a smile once again igniting her lips. "It's a very suspenseful game."

"Right," Aiden agreed in a veil of sarcasm. "For five year olds."

"And three year olds." Ria added, sounding as if she were scolding him for lack of mentioning the toddlers who loved the game Aiden couldn't help but laugh and, in the meantime, Ria located his deck of cards with a triumphant: "Ah-HA!"

(An hour later...)

The two friends sat opposite each other on Aiden's bed. Each had a hand held out; the identical sided part of the cards facing each other. Raising her eyebrows in silent inquiry (perhaps waiting for her partner to break and tell her which card was the Old Maid), Ria's green eyes never left Aiden's brown. Reaching out precariously, everything in the room seemed still. It was as if every atom of the room was poised on the edge of its seat; waiting to see if Ria would chose a "safe" card... or the one that would leave her with the Old Maid. The tension loomed for several more seconds as Ria contemplated her decision. Finally wanting it over in one fell swoop, the younger girl grabbed one of the cards and looked at it. Simultaneously, a devious smirk leapt across Aiden's lips. "No!!!!" Ria cried out in dramatic horror. She collapsed over her knees, her face falling to the bed. "Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" She cursed herself out as she held the Old Maid in one hand. "Dammit!" Aiden, in the meantime, only laughed. His delight echoed throughout the room and he felt quite accomplished that he had succeeded in, once again, getting Ria to chose the Old Maid.

Once Ria was done with her dramatic production, she sat upright again and glared at her friend; but she couldn't hide the smile from her eyes. "Goddamn you." As she cursed him out, the smile danced over her mouth. Aiden only laughed. "Just... fuck."

"Ha-ha." Aiden teased, unable to help but rub it in her face. "Yoooouuu got the Olllld Maaaaiiiid."

"You know what?" Ria said, sounding determined. "I've made up my mind: you cheat, and I'm not playing with you anymore." She tossed her cards down on the bed in defiance, exposing them. Aiden looked horrified.

"What? I don't cheat!"

"You have a good poker face!"

Aiden chuckled. "I have a secret for you, sweetheart: poker faces are legal."

"In poker, maybe." She retorted, unable to keep herself from enjoying their pseudo argument. It was always entertaining for the two of them to "fight".

"In any card game. That's the rules."

"Liar." Ria said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I ain't a liar." he said, before sticking his tongue out at her.

"Don't you stick your tongue out at me!" Ria exclaimed, laughter echoing in her voice.

"I'll do what I want." Aiden replied smugly, sticking his tongue out again. Ria repeated this action, but made obnoxious 'in your face' noises. He copied her, so she battled back with louder obnoxious noises. Needing something to top that, he did the only thing his mind settled on. He leaned forward and licked her tongue.

The silence that followed was deafening. And it wasn't until it all happened that Aiden fully realized what he'd done. As soon as the seriousness of the moment hit him, he immediately retreated. His mind seemed to shut down from the impact of the situation. He hadn't meant to be so abrupt like that. They had just been playing, and he got caught up in the moment... as his mind raced with rationalizing what had just happened, Ria simply sat there. She didn't know how to react. She couldn't move. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Then, just as suddenly as it had hit Aiden, it hit her. Her entire body flushed. Even the tips of her fingers were bright red. Her heart was racing in her chest and she felt light headed. It all happened so fast... had it meant anything?

Aiden, at the same time, was cursing himself out for being so stupid. He wanted to physically kick himself for making a move like that. His biggest fear was that she would just turn away from him; but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't even bring himself to look at her.

Several long minutes drew out between the two of them, as they were enveloped in silence. All was not silent within either of their heads, though. To themselves, their minds were going hundreds of miles an hour, while their bodies remained in more or less suspended animation.

After five minutes, Aiden's small voice finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry." he mumbled. His brown eyes fixated on the striped sheets beneath him and he didn't dare look into Ria's eyes. Ria opened her mouth to reply, but the two of them were torn from their situation by the sound of the door slamming. Aiden jerked up and looked out towards the hallway in horror. Chris was back.

"Yo!" Chris called out, making his way through the dorm room. "Aiden, you here?" He walked up to Aiden's room and was going to say something before he saw Ria. He stopped and looked a little bashful. Smiling sheepishly, he said, "Oh. Hi, Ria."

"Hi." Ria replied back. "What's up?" She tried to remain as cool as possible, and she did it well enough to fool Chris. He didn't pick up on any mixed tension coming between the two friends.

"Nothin'." Chris replied. "I just came back from practice." He gestured minutely to the basketball he was carrying under his arm. Ria nodded her head in recognition. It was then that Chris saw the cards on the bed. "You guys playing a game?" He seemed intrigued to join, but both Aiden and Ria were quick to step in.

"No." They both said in unison. Chris looked slightly taken aback by their joined forcefulness, and therefore missed the slight blush that echoed both friends' embarrassment at talking at once. Busying himself with picking up the discarded piles, Aiden continued. "We were just finishing, actually."

"Oh." Chris seemed deflated by that answer, but he soon recovered. Turning his attention to Ria, he smiled softly. "Hey, there's something I really wanna talk to you about."

"Oh... uhm... sure." Ria fumbled with her response. Aiden tried hard to control the shock that settled in at Chris' announcement. He knew what Chris wanted to talk to Ria about. Thankfully, Ria seemed to delay the discussion until another time, because she glanced over at Aiden's clock. Sighing heavily, she looked apologetically towards Chris. "Could we do it another time?" She asked. "It's after nine, and I promised Rach I'd be back before ten. She wanted help with something."

"Sure thing." Chris tried to hide his disappointment. Smiling, he nodded his head in understanding. "So... I'll see you 'round." Ria smiled softly back and nodded her head. Chris then took his leave and disappeared down the hall to his room.

That left Ria and Aiden alone once more. Once again, silence dominated. Ria watched her friend; waiting to get any response from him. Yet he kept his head bowed and continued to avoid eye contact. Finally giving up, she sighed heavily and removed herself from the bed. Before leaving the room altogether, she took one last feeble attempt to get her friend to talk to her. "I'll see you around." She said. Waiting a moment to see if he would respond, she still got nothing. Sighing in defeat, she left without another glance back. She called a goodbye to Chris and left the dorm.

To be continued!