Frozen Heart - 19. Chapter 19 - A night to remember

Not wanting to disturb them, Max stood in the dining room silently. Aaron was obviously upset about something, and although he should have rushed to see what was wrong he understood that if Aaron hadn't talked to him about it then it meant he wasn't ready to. Hell Max hadn't on his side either, and he didn't even know if one day he would! He respected their intimacy, but out of curiosity he listened. So what if listening at doors was a very bad habit!

"Honey, listen to me, I know that this is hard for you. I miss him too, all the time, and maybe it's my fault that you're in this way now. We all have different ways to move on, I had no choice but to force myself to move on, I couldn't stay in the past like that. And I was so happy so see you healing, but it was all a facade wasn't it? As a mom I should have seen that sooner, I'm so sorry. Now all I do is hope that you will heal for good this time, and I think that the first step would be to share with Max. I don't know what happened in his life, but he's been through a lot as well. He could probably relate to you, and I hope that maybe you can both help each other."

"Mom, you don't know how he is. I've seen him break down bad, and I feel bad because it was my fault. Thankfully he forgave me, and some really good things came out of it. But I can't add to his worries, not now. I know vaguely what happened, I know he lost both his parents on the same day, but that's it. He hurts more than me, so much more. I feel like he is holding back, not because he doesn't trust me, but because he doesn't trust himself. He's scared, I know it doesn't seem like it, but what you see is his brave face. Maybe he even puts it on for himself. Who knows what will happen when he will come to realize that."

Max silently took in Aaron's words, a lone tear trickled down his cheek, he knew that what Aaron had said was true, all of it. He looked inside and saw his last barrier, the last thing that he kept tightly locked. The memories, the horrifying memories, all of them there, all of them churning angrily in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind. Just thinking of them made them fight for their freedom. They rammed at the walls, hitting it loudly, each hit burning him deeply. Max started to panic! But Aaron wasn't done:

"I'm sure that one day he will be ready to face them, he's the bravest person I have ever seen. Even if I didn't love him I would want to be there for him, I want him to shine. Mom if you could see him like I do, it's like he has this golden heart, this miniature sun inside of him, but it's surrounded by angry, black storm clouds. I want to be there the day he dissipates them."

Max was able to get himself under control, he let his mind go blank. He sighed softly in relief.

"Aaron, that is the sweetest thing you have ever said about anyone. I love you dear, and I always will. But for now you need to be there as strong as possible for him, so he can shine brighter than the stars."

"I'm going to try, thanks mom."

"Now go check up on him dear, dinner is almost ready."

Max hurried back to the sofa, and wrapped himself in the covers. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Aaron's soft step came closer and closer. From the shuffling Max guessed that he was kneeling in front of the couch. After a few seconds, Aaron passed his hand slowly in Max's hair, and whispered:

"Max?"

Max opened his eyes slightly, making it seem like he was waking up. But the smile that spread on his face was genuine.

"Hey," he whispered back.

"Dinner is almost ready."

" 'K, now get in here with me."

Aaron giggled but did as he was told, they cuddled on the sofa in a very awkward position. Aaron was dangling off the edge, holding onto Max to avoid falling off. Max realized this too late when he rolled on top of his boyfriend. They almost fell but managed somehow to stay on the sofa. They had a good laugh about it, but then their eyes crossed. They fell silent instantly, love almost visibly passing through their them. Max lowered himself slowly and kissed Aaron's lips tenderly. It wasn't a particularly long kiss, or the most passionate one they had shared, but it was by far one of the best!

After dinner they watched a little TV with Sally, Aaron's mom. Then, after they both had yawned, they got up. Aaron went to kiss his mom goodnight, and Max was about to follow him upstairs when Sally called him over.

"Max. in this house a kiss before bed is mandatory!" she told him firmly.

At first, Max was stunned, then he grinned and went to kiss her goodnight. This was the first one in fourteen years.

Both boys headed upstairs to Aaron's room. Small, but very comfortable, the room smelled of Aaron (which is normal since it is his after all...). A queen-size bed took up most of the room, and a simple desk the other. Aaron had a bit of decoration, mostly souvenirs of places far away, and a few pictures. Max decided, however, that sightseeing would be for another day, he was just too tired! He got undressed and got under the covers in his boxers. His boyfriend looked at him funny.

"What?" Max asked curiously.

"Well, last night no one had even seen you naked, and here you are getting undressed like it was the most natural thing to do in the world."

"You've seen all of this sooooo.... whatever..." he replied with a timid smile.

Aaron also got undressed, but he took off his boxers then got in bed. Max snuggled in close to him, nuzzling Aaron's neck with his nose (he knew Aaron liked that a lot). At the same time he removed his boxers, and sent them sailing in the room. This earned him a chuckle from Aaron.

"Before our hormones take over, can we talk for a while?"

"I'm always good with talking with you!"

"Max, I know this... this might be hard, but I just can't keep it to myself."

"I understand, and to be honest, I think I'd like to share something with you too..."

"Really? you..."

"You brought it up first so you go first."

"Ok, that's fair. Where to start..."

"How about the beginning?" Max joked.

"Smartass," Aaron giggled. "I don't know if you noticed today," he was dead serious now. "but I cringed a little when I read the name of the hospital where your aunt was taken."

"I didn't see that, but I did notice you were very nervous the whole time we were there."

"Well, you see, fourteen years ago, my father learned he had cancer, and he had about two moths to live. It was two very hard months for our family, but the hardest was the last day. Soon after we learned the news, he had to stay in the hospital 24 hours a day. He was getting weaker every day, but I didn't understand that at the time," his voice cracked up a bit at this point. "I went there everyday to see him, and... and..."

"Aaron, I'm here for you as you were for me," Max said softly, as he hugged Aaron, who was crying now, a little tighter.

"His last day, I had come straight from school, I think that my mother knew it was going to be that day or the next, she wanted me to tell him a final goodbye. What she probably didn't expect him was to die as we were there."

"I'm so sorry Aaron."

"He died in my arms Max, and it took me years to realize he wasn't coming back. Then my mom got married again, and my step father and I we never got along that well... He doesn't hate me, I don't hate him. But he wasn't a father to me. God, why am I even complaining, to you of all people, I had a loving mother."

"Aaron, what happened happened, I can't change that, God knows how much I would want to go back in time as well."

"But it's so unfair, you lost both of your parents Max! I only lost my father."

"A loss is a loss Aaron, I understand how you feel. At least I think I do, we both are horribly scarred aren't we?"

"Yeah, but you more than me."

"Don't say that."

"It's true, and Max I want us to heal you, I want to see you happy."

"I am happy, I am with you, and I want both of us to heal. I want US to be happy!"

"I love you Max."

"I love you Aaron."

"It's going to be hard isn't it?"

"It wouldn't be worth it if it was easy."

"You're so much more mature than me it's unfair!" Aaron joked.

Max just smiled.

Aaron started stroking Max's hair softly, and in return Max ran his hands all over his boyfriend's chest, circling his nipples. One thing led to another and soon they were both rock hard. They started making out passionately. Their fingers went wild exploring the other's body, and Max slowly pushed his hips forward and back, making their dicks rub erotically. Things got hotter by the second, and soon both horny boys shared something that belongs to them alone. They had had sex the night before, they made love this one.