Frozen Heart - 15. Chapter 15 - The Afternoon

They wandered around a bit in the mall, it was still the middle of the afternoon and none of them were due before dinner time. They fooled around in an electronics store with some of the gadgets, they had a blast with some of the toys from a toy store. For Max it was like being the kid he never had been, he got the chance to hold toys in his hands and have fun with them. Aaron even convinced him to build a bear with him at Build a Bear Workshop (well duh), it was silly and even for the vendor it was funny. Seeing three teens in a little kid's shop was not something that you saw everyday. They spent more giggling and laughing than building the little bear. It didn't help that Aaron had taken a high-pitched voice, like one of a 6 year old. They FINALLY managed to finish up the bear, it was a simple brown teddy-bear, with brown eyes. The naming was hard for Max, he stopped giggling with the other two for a minute to think, it seemed important for him to name the bear right. He held back a few tears when he found the name he wanted: Liam. Aaron saw that.

"What's wrong Max?"

"Nothing, I'll tell you later k?" Max said with a fake smile.

Aaron took him in his arms and held him there. Max took a shaky breath and got back in his good mood.

The final shop they went to was the bookstore. Max needed a few more for his collection. The clerk who had been expecting them to go to the teens/young adult section was surprised when Max rushed over to the science section of the store. Max quickly glanced at all the shelves, then turned to ask:

"Sir? Would you by any chance have anything on economic theory?"

"Third shelf from the top on the left I believe," the man told him after having thought for a second.

"Yes I saw them but uh... they don't quite fit what I'm looking for..."

"Well I'm very sorry that is all I have, but if you want I can try to look for a few more. I'll order them and can tell you when they arrive."

"That would be awesome thank you sir."

Max gave him the authors and titles he was looking for, most earned him a look of surprise from the man. It was probably very unusual for a 17 year old, that looked like 15, to order books that were so complex. He also took Max's phone number so he could send him a message when they were in.

After having thanked the man they left with one book for Alice, a cheesy teen romance novel.

"What not all of us are smart like you!" she had teased Max when she had seen him look at the cover.

"Max just can I ask you something?" Aaron asked.

"You just did!"

"Smartass, anyways, were those books really too 'simple' for you? I mean I looked them over quickly I didn't even understand the introduction!"

"I read those two years ago," Max replied pensively.

Aaron and Alice stopped in the middle of the gallery, birds could have made their nests in their wide open mouths.

"Max just how much do you hide from our teachers?"

"Well, anything that would make them want to send me to college..."

"But why?"

"Because I would attract a lot of attention, and I don't really want that..."

Aaron just shook his head.

They dropped Alice of near her house, and drove off after having said goodbye. The drive back to Elizabeth manor was mostly silent, both had a lot to think about.

"Did you enjoy your day?" it was Aaron that broke the silence.

"Yes, it was really fun!"

"Good!" Aaron moved in closer to Max. "Because it's not over yet, tonight you are mine!" he whispered in a seductive tone.

He was so close to Max's ear, that Max felt his hot breath on his ear. To keep his balance as he was leaning in, Aaron had put his hand on Max's thigh, and was slowly moving it towards, well you can guess what. Max's heart skipped a beat, and breathing got hard.

"A..Aaron I'm d...driving."

"I know!" Aaron said with a quick kiss on the cheek before he backed off.

Elizabeth of course wanted to see everything Max had bought, and so Max had to put on a little fashion show for her. Aaron, to make it a little funner, used his phone to find some music, and commented every outfit Max came in with. Once his Aunt had seen everything Max took Aaron's hand and took him for a stroll in the woods while Elizabeth cooked dinner.

The late-summer air was still warm and a gentle wind blew through the forest. Hand in hand they wandered under the trees. The woods were full of life, you could hear it, you could smell it. Max took Aaron to one of the spots he loved to come to on his strolls. A little hill rose a little deeper in the forest, from there a few boulders were stacked and if you climbed on top of them you could see above the trees, in front of them they could see the town and the river that flowed through it, it was a marvelous sight to behold. Under the golden rays of the setting sun they shared a kiss, one that they loved both so much, one where they opened their heart for the other. As they were waling back Aaron asked:

"Why did you name you bear Liam?"

"It was my dad's name," he answered a little sadly.

"Oh, I didn't know that... want to talk about it?"

"No... I'm not ready yet," Max was beginning to break up a little.

Aaron didn't push it, he just put his arm over Max's shoulder and kissed the top of his head.

Dinner was normal, well as normal as Max could imagine them. He didn't really know what a normal dinner was... They chatted as they ate, nothing more nothing less.

Once that was out of the way, him and Aaron went in the living room to watch some TV. They flicked from channel to channel until Aaron told him to stop on an old black and white movie.

"This is a Chaplin movie you'll love it!"

"Chaplin?"

"Yeah he made a lot of movies back in the days, they're all classics now!"

And so they watched an old black and white movie, at first Max was a little hesitant, but he didn't resist Chaplin very long. Then end came too fast in Max's opinion, he had really enjoyed the movie. The fact that he was cuddled up in Aaron's arms made it easy for some reason...

Once the TV was off, they stayed the way they were for at least 10 minutes. They didn't say a word, they just cuddled as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Max had a lot on his mind though, he knew what was coming next, or at least some vague idea. He was trying to decide if he was ready or not. He knew that maybe, just maybe he was going too fast. Would he come to regret it? The answer though was evident: no. He was with Aaron, h knew that if at anytime he felt uncomfortable they could stop. Aaron understood him, he was sure of that. He also went over the day's events. He couldn't quite believe all that had happened, all that had changed. He took another look at his brand new watch, he loved how it looked on his wrist. His thought brought him to look up at his boyfriend. He was that he was waiting for him to make the first move.

And so Max got up and helped the love of his life up. He looked in his eyes, and he let all except one barrier fall completely and forever. He took his hand and led him to the library, the place where it had truly begun and where tonight he would take another step out of the darkness, out of the loneliness, and into Life.