In the Fishbowl - 27. Chapter 27

A/N: Thanks to Jim for editing!

5 months earlier

October

Owen couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed Halloween, but nevertheless, he browsed racks full of costumes across from Lacy Chapman as she pulled a pitch-black wig of synthetic hair over her blonde head.

“What do you think?” she asked, tilting her head to give him a better vantage point.

Owen smiled at her. “I thought Ryan talked you into going with him as robots.”

“I’m too pretty to be made out of metal,” Lacy informed him, but then all teasing aside her expression grew grim. “Besides, there’s a good chance we won’t be going together, anyway.”

Owen frowned, her tone telling him there was reason for concern as he moved around the rack to better face his friend. “What’s going on?”

“Ryan’s seeing someone else.”

Owen laughed before he could think better of it, but the sound came to an abrupt halt when he saw that Lacy clearly didn’t find anything funny. “Come on,” he insisted. “You know better than that. He wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Actually, I don’t know that he wouldn’t,” Lacy said soberly. “Not anymore. He doesn’t want to be with me. Just because he won’t say it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I think I’m going to break up with him when I see him this afternoon.”

Feeling awkward, Owen hardly knew how to respond to that. It wouldn’t be the first time the pair decided to go their separate ways, but he preferred to know about it after the fact. He wondered if he was obligated to talk her out of this, or at the very least, give Ryan a heads-up--probably not, he mused. Better to pretend he hadn’t heard a thing and give them both the appropriate amount of sympathy later.

“Lacy...”

She smiled at him suddenly, as if they’d just been discussing something pleasant. “We should hurry up and find something,” she said. “I’m sure Aiden’s waiting to see what you end up with.”

Owen gave her a nod he wasn’t quite feeling and kept the response he had to that to himself. He hadn’t exactly mentioned to Lacy that he was suddenly so eager to find a Halloween costume because he’d needed to get away from his boyfriend. Or more to the point, his boyfriend seemed to want him away.

The stress of that morning was still working knots into the pit of Owen’s stomach after he and Aiden had experienced the closest thing to a fight they’d ever had. He supposed it had started off good enough, being fifteen minutes late to his morning class when Aiden had caught him ready to leave in the hall and then decided to drag Owen into the shower with him. It was when Owen had returned that the problems had started. All because Aiden Knightly had been seated in front of the coffee table, looking carefully over a layout of pictures of some half-dressed guy with too much sex appeal aimed at the camera lens. A lens, no doubt, that Aiden had been behind.

Owen wasn’t sure exactly why seeing that put him in such a sour mood. He supposed it was a long time coming. The subject’s name was Richard Bank, and Owen had met him shortly after starting school. The guy had been okay enough, Owen supposed. Wasting his time with college, as Richard had put it, while he was aspiring to be a model. Owen had been quick to mention his boyfriend was a photographer, but that was before Richard Banks laid eyes on Aiden and quickly took a little too much interest.

Owen had learned early on in his relationship that he was prone to a slight jealous streak when it came to his boyfriend, but then it had always been in a healthy enough way that Aiden was nothing more than flattered by it. Owen figured that was just because when it came to Aiden, he’d never had any doubts about who the guy was interested in coming home to.

Until recently, anyway. Right around the time Aiden was late meeting him at the theater because he’d been busy with Richard Bank. Aiden had called it working. In fact, he hadn’t seemed so concerned about being late to meet Owen at all.

Later on, Owen had finally grown tired of fuming about it since Aiden hadn’t seemed to notice anyway, and then informed him that he wasn’t very comfortable with Aiden hanging out with Bank. Owen clearly remembered Aiden laughing at him for that.

“It’s just work,” he’d insisted, kissing Owen’s face three times in various places for good measure before ruffling the blond’s hair. “Trust me, you have nothing to get jealous about. Besides, you’re the one who introduced me to him and it turns out he knows a ton of people who need head shots. That’s great for me.”

Seeing Aiden so enthusiastic, Owen had allowed the conversation to drop. He was probably being unreasonable, anyway. At least, that’s what Ryan had told him when he’d complained about it to him. So Owen had let it go, or tried to, anyway.

Okay, maybe he hadn’t tried that hard.

A few days later and Owen had been convinced that Richard Bank was Aiden’s new best friend.

Working. Three full afternoons and them meeting for breakfast wasn’t working, as far as Owen was concerned. Of course, Aiden had plenty of pictures to prove otherwise, so Owen wasn’t exactly forthright with bringing up the issue he was having with his boyfriend again. But then, he didn’t really know how to. Because working or not, Aiden definitely liked spending time with Richard Bank.

Aiden was allowed to have friends that weren’t necessarily Owen’s friends, too. In fact, he had plenty of them, so Owen was increasingly confused as to why this one bothered him so much. It was snowing the afternoon Owen watched Aiden pack up his camera to go meet Richard and his friends.

Submerged in his task, his boyfriend had seemed oblivious to Owen’s troubled features as he watched from the couch where his books were taking up every cushion but the one he was on.

“That shirt looks good on you,” Owen had commented, admiring the way the soft white material clung to Aiden, his dark hair down and brushing his shoulders. He’d glanced back then, smiling at the compliment before going back to his camera, but just as quickly had turned back, an inquisitive expression touching his features when he saw the one on Owen’s face.

“Are you okay?”

Owen nodded slowly, but Aiden’s frown only deepened as he forgot his camera completely and moved to the sofa, not seeming to mind the books he had to push aside to sit down. While he was at it, he cleared the books from Owen’s lap too, his gaze becoming more probing by the moment.

“What’s going on?” Aiden asked.

Owen felt the corner of his mouth turn up, but his attempted smile was nothing he felt he should be proud of, so he shrugged instead. “Nothing. Just have a lot of studying to do. That’s all.”

Aiden smiled at him. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Those familiar words at least brought more humor to Owen’s face, and he let out a breath. “I’m not trying to lie to you. Look.... things for me have felt a little weird lately. And you’re going out again.”

Aiden blinked a few times, waiting for Owen to continue, but when he didn’t, his expression went from expectant to understanding. “This is about Richard.”

Owen’s brow knitted, as if hearing that out loud made it more difficult to believe it was reasonable. But he didn’t have a chance to respond to it as Aiden asked a question that sounded more like an accusation.

“You don’t trust me? How am I even supposed to respond to that?”

When Aiden looked like he was about to get up and start pacing the way he tended to when he was agitated, Owen quickly reached out, placed a hand over his.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he said quickly. “I know... I know you’d never let anything happen.”

“Nothing’s even going on,” Aiden stated. “Richard’s just a friend.”

Owen’s blond brow flew up. “Maybe that’s how you see it, but don’t play dumb, Aiden, I’ve seen the guy with you... but maybe that’s not even the point,” he quickly added when he sensed Aiden ready to go on the defensive again. “But it has me thinking...I keep wondering if...”

“If what?” Aiden demanded.

“If maybe you’ve been spending so much time with him because you don’t want to spend it with me anymore.”

Aiden regarded him as if someone had asked him to respond to all the questions on a French exam in German.

“And I know how that sounds,” Owen said, frowning. “And maybe I’m being crazy... but if it wasn’t going to be Richard...”

“It’s not Richard...”

“...Maybe it could be someone else. Someday.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

Frustrated by his lack of communication skills, Owen shook his head. He wasn’t trying to be the crazed, jealous boyfriend. Maybe he was, a little bit, but he didn’t want to be, and what he’d been feeling for weeks felt so much deeper than any of that, anyway.

“It means... how do I even know I’m giving you what you want? It feels like, all of a sudden you’re happy with someone else--and even if that’s not the case, whenever you take off to see him, all I can think about is what happens when it is? You’re practically the only person I’ve ever been with, and now I don’t even know if I’m doing it right, and the more I think about it, the more I feel like the worlds biggest jackass, but...”

Suddenly having had enough, Aiden grabbed Owen’s hands, drawing his attention back to the side of sanity. “I’m done,” he said firmly. “I’m done seeing him. Working with him, okay? If it’s that bad... I’m done. Please, please don’t start thinking about things like that. I love you. I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

And it had been over, just like that. Aiden had stayed there on the sofa with him for the rest of the night, and for the last few weeks Owen hadn’t heard a word about Richard, or so much as wondered if Aiden was running into him on the street.

And it was all so incredibly wrong. Because now insecurity turned into severe doubts, and all Owen could think about was whether or not he’d broken something. Because in retrospect, he had. Putting his doubts about their relationship out in the open the way he had, obviously came with consequences. Like the fact that even when Aiden smiled at him, he couldn’t hide the fact that he wasn’t happy.

And maybe he had a right to feel that way, Owen had thought one too many times. Because Owen knew showing Aiden his lack of trust had hurt Aiden more than he’d ever meant for it to, and there was no way to take it back.

The worst part was, Aiden had given him exactly what he’d wanted, and now he was miserable for it.

And then there was that very morning.

Sometimes Owen believed that no matter what happened, he couldn’t possibly make a bigger mess out of certain situations. In this case, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

There had been a good amount of buried stress on both ends... he knew Aiden was feeling it as much as he was. So when that half-dressed guy in the pictures Aiden was looking over happened to be Richard Bank... well, they both could have reacted better.

“Don’t freak out,” Aiden had said before Owen had even had a chance to react, and he was already gathering the photographs, sliding them back into an envelope.

“What are you doing?” Owen had asked, moving closer, looking down at each black-and-white Aiden placed a hand on, apprehension growing before he could even think to control it.

“It’s definitely not what you think,” Aiden added, reminding Owen all over again that his boyfriend recently decided he needed to walk on eggshells with him in a way that Owen didn’t like so much.

“And what am I supposed to be thinking?” Owen demanded.

Aiden’s expression turned guarded. “These are from before... look, I haven’t seen him, but I’ve got to get these to him. He’s already paid.”

“So I’ll go give him a refund,” Owen had remarked before he could think to stop himself. He felt anger, though suddenly he wasn’t sure what it was directed at, and he found himself shrugging out of his coat to distract himself.

“Owen!” Aiden called after him when he stomped through the house, towards their bedroom. He didn’t stop, wanting to gather his thoughts. But then, Aiden was in front of him before he could reach it. It might have been easier to look at him if he looked as angry as Owen was feeling, but instead, Aiden only looked sad as he opened his mouth, closed it again, and then shook his head regretfully. “Nothing’s better for you, is it?... I don’t know how to fix this, Owe.”

And neither had Owen, which is why he’d been in such a hurry to get away and called up Lacy.

But as Owen watched his blonde friend cruise through one costume after another while she pretended she wasn’t worried about the problems in her own relationship, his desire to fix it was overwhelming.

Because it had to be something simple. Much more simple than what he was feeling was. Because the first thing out of his mouth when he’d seen those pictures that morning should have been to tell Aiden that he wasn’t angry; just a big idiot for allowing him to go around thinking that his boyfriend didn’t trust him. But instead Owen had allowed Aiden to think just the opposite, and for a moment... maybe he’d even wanted him to.

As ashamed as Owen felt for it, it didn’t make it any less true. For a moment he’d wanted Aiden to feel like that. Guilty. Because if Aiden felt guilty, it meant he still cared.

But Aiden had always cared, and deep down Owen knew it, and it scared the hell out of him because suddenly, he didn’t deserve Aiden Knightly and he was quickly developing a strong desire to tell him just that.

“Lacy,” Owen called, catching up to her. “I’ve got to get home. Maybe we can come back again tomorrow?”

Lacy shrugged, not seeming that torn up about it. “Sure. I’ve got things to do, anyway.”

“Thanks, Lacy,” he replied, but before Owen went, he gave her one last glance. “Hey... you shouldn’t do anything about Ryan yet. Not if you don’t know the whole story... not unless you’re sure you want what happens next. Trust me.”

.......................

Aiden had never minded when things were quiet, not until that afternoon as he looked over the empty living room in the house that had been home to him since high school. Chris Dovan had taken him in, watched over him like he was his own brother. The Dovans had given him a family and he had years of happy memories with them, but the ones that meant the most to him were the last few years, after Owen Dovan in particular, had come into his life.

Thinking back on in, Aiden couldn’t recall ever feeling more attached to anyone in his life. For all intents and purposes, Owen was his first love, and those feelings had never come lightly for Aiden.

He’d determined a long time ago that even if Owen had never returned his more romantic feelings, ejecting Owen from his life for it would have been equivalent to cutting out his own eyes--which he’d never confessed to anyone else--were his favorite body part, giving him the ability to see ordinary things in the most colorful ways behind the lens of a camera. And if he’d known that particular talent of his would have gotten him into so much trouble that morning, he might have given it up a while ago.

But that wasn’t entirely fair, Aiden mused when he grew tired of looking for his own faults in the whole matter. The photographs that had caused the sudden rift between himself and Owen had only been the tipping point. He wondered how long he just hadn’t seen the cracks in the foundation, how long he’d been walking over them.

The last weeks hadn’t been the first time that Aiden had been exposed to Owen’s insecurities. Those had been turning up since the day Aiden met him. Owen had always doubted his own self-worth. Not all the time, but often enough that Aiden felt inclined to show Owen just how worthwhile he was every time the opportunity presented itself. Besides, showing him had been half the fun. But obviously, it had only gotten them so far.

And for the first time, Owen’s doubt had been aimed at Aiden to more of an extreme than ever before.

Aiden hadn’t been oblivious to it. He’d sensed it around the time he first met Richard Bank. At the time he’d been confident that Owen would come around and realize just how ridiculous his jealousy was. So Aiden hadn’t seen the point in blowing off Richard when the guy had asked him to photograph, or when he’d invited him out to meet new people. And yes, the guy had been a bit flirtatious, but if Owen had taken the time to look at the situation more clearly he quickly would have realized what Aiden had realized: Richard Bank would hit on a houseplant if given half the chance.

But obviously, Owen’s problem had been worse than Aiden had first thought. Unfortunately, he had realized his mistake in dealing with it--or not dealing with it--a little too late.

Owen Dovan didn’t trust him. Aiden had been blind-sided by the hurt that realization inflicted. Probably because regardless of whatever doubts Owen might have had, Aiden never, ever thought his boyfriend would doubt him.

As he pulled on his coat, Aiden moved through the house to ensure doors and windows were locked, knowing that if he didn’t it would be Owen who heard it from Chris later, as he didn’t plan to be around.

But his feet were dragging on the way out the door. He’d been stalling, hoping Owen would come back. But after he locked up and turned around to come face to face with the blond on his mind, he found that it didn’t make a difference. Facing Owen made nothing easier. Nothing at all.

Owen seemed guarded, the way he always did when there was something he wanted to say but hadn’t yet sorted out the right words to use. And whatever it was, Aiden couldn’t bring himself to speak because he was too busy waiting it out.

But when looking at Owen became more painful than trying to speak to him, Aiden’s eyes found the ground at his feet. It was only moments later when Owen was standing in front of him, sliding his arms around him, Aiden allowed his forehead to fall against his boyfriend’s, releasing the breath he’d been holding.

“I’m sorry,” Owen said. “I don’t know why I can’t stop being such an asshole... it’s going to stop.”

Frowning, Aiden forced himself to meet blue eyes. “Did you mean it?” he asked. “Do you think I want to see other people?”

Owen sighed, as if he were already becoming exasperated by the conversation. “Aiden...”

“You’ve been like this for weeks,” Aiden pointed out, and then added regretfully, “maybe I’m not the one who’s having trouble being happy.”

“With you?” Owen asked, alarmed. “Hey, I never meant...”

“Maybe not,” Aiden cut him off. “Maybe you didn’t mean that. But you meant something... maybe you need to start thinking about it. I need to think about it.”

Aiden pulled away from him slowly, and Owen let him, but he was already shaking his head. “Where are you going?”

Ben and Leo’s. I think I need to get out for a while, okay? Give us both some space.”

“When will you be back?” Owen asked, leaning into it when Aiden moved to drop a kiss firmly over his cheek.

“I’ll call you when I know.”

.......................

February, Valentine’s Day

“I know I shouldn’t be telling you this. Breaching trust and all that... but don’t judge me. I think Owen’s going to seduce Travis... Maybe seduce isn’t the right word for Owen. But he’s definitely thinking about something, and I thought you should know.”

Glancing at the clock on the oven, which indicated it was only a few minutes past six in the morning, Aiden blinked a few times, swallowed a yawn, and then regarded Ben as politely as possible.

“Why?”

Ben smirked. “Well, Travis isn’t exactly the shy type, and if I was single, there’s a good chance I would...”

“Why are you telling me?” Aiden tried again.

He was so tired. Unable to fall asleep the night before, he’d taken his camera out for a walk and ended up home way too late. He hadn’t counted on such an early visitor.

“Because,” Ben said, matter-of-factly, “we both know the only reason Owen’s doing this is because he figures he looks crazy, waiting for you to come around. Travis is probably the easiest way he can think of to move on.”

Frustrated, Aiden turned to open cabinets, trying to remember if he’d ever picked up coffee, and if so, if there was a coffee maker in a kitchen designed by Ryan and Travis.

“Listen Ben, I know you’re trying to help,” Aiden said, glancing sincerely back at the slim blond. “But you’re wrong. I think Owen likes Travis. And... I don’t get to have an opinion about it. Whatever Owe’s gonna do, he’s gonna do.” And I don’t want to know about it.

“Fair enough,” Ben replied, not bothering to hide the doubt in his voice. “But let’s pretend you do get an opinion. Isn’t Travis your roommate now? You really want Owen coming home with him?”

Frowning, Aiden lifted himself onto the counter, letting his feet dangle as he crossed his arms and stared at Ben. “Why are you doing this?”

Ben smiled. “Because Owen’s a good kid. You’re both my friends. I don’t like watching my friends hurt. Owen’s not over you. I don’t think he wants to get over you, but he doesn’t know how to deal with you. I think it’s because he has no idea how you’re feeling. That means he’s thinking about it too much. You could get mad at him for that...” Ben added when he saw the dark expression cross Aiden’s face, “…or you can admit that that’s how Owen’s always been and if it was really going to bother you as much as you’re letting it, it would have started bothering you a long time ago. So, whatever it is you’re feeling, now might be a good time to let him know.”

And that conversation had grudgingly left Aiden with more to think about than he really wanted to. For that reason, he called Leo directly after Ben had left to tell him he needed to do a better job of occupying his boyfriend so Ben wouldn’t need to go sticking his nose where it didn’t belong first thing in the morning.

As expected, Leo had laughed and hung up on him.

Aiden had learned his lesson when it came to telling Owen what to do. Especially when it came to Travis. So even if Ben was right and Owen had something in his head, Aiden wasn’t going to interfere. In fact, he hated that Ben had even given him to option to interfere because once again he wanted to, but doubted anything he had to say would be taken well by his ex.

It was hard not to feel that that decision had been a mistake a few days later when he heard about what Owen had been up to. Somehow it was little consolation believing Travis when he’d said he didn’t intend to take Owen up on the offer he’d made. Because the part that troubled Aiden wasn’t so much that Owen had kissed someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to say he wasn’t allowed to do that. It was that the person Owen had chosen to kiss was clearly going to reject him--and while a very large part of Aiden didn’t mind that in the least, he very much minded that Owen might be hurt over it.

That had been three weeks ago. Three very long weeks, for Aiden Knightly.

March brought more unseasonably warm weather. It was hard to believe that less than a month ago there had still been ice on the sidewalks, and he wouldn’t have been brave enough to leave home without a jacket.

Aiden was enjoying the sun, and the freedom of a simple t-shirt as he paused on the street to photograph a child who was being walked by her dog more than the other way around, and then crossed the street before stepping into the Dovans’ club.

He paused in the doorway--hadn’t really visited since they’d started opening for lunch--and found the crowd somewhat disorienting as he packed his camera back away in its case.

He spotted Chris and returned his wave. If Chris was surprised to see him there he was subtle about it as he pointed him upstairs. Aiden nodded and headed in that direction, his steps slowing as he reached the top of the stairs and heard quiet conversation and some muffled laughter before he spotted Owen and Nicky Davis scraping gum off the bottom of an overturned table.

For a moment, Aiden wasn’t quite sure how to move any closer. It wasn’t that he’d forgotten Owen Dovan’s smile, but it had been so long since he’d seen it he didn’t want to do anything that might chase it away. Like, being there for example.

But Owen looked up before Aiden could decide to walk away, Nicky’s eyes following his gaze before their conversation came to an abrupt, awkward halt.

Aiden tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes as Owen’s slowly faded. Looking between the two of them, Nicky stood slowly. “So... this is the part where I should be somewhere else,” he said. No one disagreed with him, and he took the time to clasp Aiden’s hand on the way out.

Aiden turned to watch Nicky Davis leave. When he’d first met Owen’s best friend, Nicky hadn’t been his favorite person in the world, but that could have had something to do with how the guy had left bruises on his boyfriend. But then, Aiden had developed a respect for him since then, and felt sorry he hadn’t really spent much time with him since he came back to town.

“Hi,” Owen said, and Aiden took a breath before facing blue eyes again. At least this time they didn’t seem so openly hostile. Maybe a little wary, just like Aiden felt.

Moving further into the room, Aiden let his gaze drift to the overturned table. “That’s pretty disgusting.”

Owen made a face. “Tell me about it. I don’t remember being this messy in high school.” He left the floor, dusted his knees and stood awkwardly for a moment before he nodded towards the bar. “Want something to drink?”

“Water. Please.”

Looking relieved to have something to do, Owen headed to the cooler behind the bar while Aiden took the time to notice a new haircut, a bruised elbow that either Nicky or Ryan was probably responsible for, and jeans that were a little looser than Owen had worn in quite a while, leaving Aiden to wonder if he’d lost weight.

When Owen turned back around, Aiden lifted his eyes and found himself forcing another smile before Owen placed a bottle of water on the bar and regarded him expectantly. Realizing it was probably too much to expect Owen to hurl it across the room so he could keep a comfortable distance, Aiden crossed the room slowly and lifted himself onto a stool across from the blond, not feeling at all comfortable, but relieved at the same time to have made it within five feet of Owen without making him angry.

“Thanks,” Aiden said as he wrapped a hand around the bottle, but made no move to open it.

Owen was regarding him more expectantly now. Aiden supposed that was fair. No doubt Owen wanted to know what he was even doing there. But then, Aiden couldn’t seem to bring himself to open his mouth, and the silence became unpleasantly awkward.

“How’s work going?” Owen finally asked, his gaze drifting to Aiden’s camera.

“I’m moving,” Aiden replied, Owen’s question somehow provoking his announcement, and he met Owen’s blank stare with one of uncertainty. “Ryan’s the only one who knows. I wanted to tell you before everyone else found out.”

Owen nodded slowly, his gaze drifting in a way that made it impossible for Aiden to read him. Finally, he asked, “Why?”

“Part of it’s my mom,” Aiden replied, and when Owen looked concerned, he explained, “I’ve been talking to her a lot lately. She’s not really doing any better, but she wants to see me more. I found a place. It’s not too far from where she is.”

“You’re not just visiting? You’re moving?”

Aiden sighed. “And there’s a newspaper. They’re short a photographer and said they’re interested in me. Thought I’d try it for a while.”

Owen nodded slowly. “Congratulations,” he said, his voice coming just below a whisper before he cleared his throat. “Um... thanks for telling me.”

Aiden watched him for a moment, picking up on his unease as the blond pointedly avoided his eyes. “Owen, I didn’t want to leave things the way they are with us...”

Owen’s eyes snapped up. “I kissed Travis,” he blurted, and just as quickly, Aiden watched the color rise in his cheeks in a way that he couldn’t help smiling at.

“I know.”

Aiden frowned. “Is that why...”

“I’m doing this because I need a change, Owen.”

Owen nodded, as if to accept that, but then seemed to think it was necessary to add, “I’m not seeing Travis or anything like that. Turns out he’s... busy.” he shrugged. “And... maybe it wasn’t the best idea to begin with.” He looked at Aiden sadly, but it was no more than a passing glance as he lifted a rag on the counter and busied his hand with it. “I don’t think... anyone, is a good idea for me.”

“I’m not seeing anyone either,” Aiden said, understanding that Owen was curious about it, and this time felt his smile when the blond looked noticeably relieved over that. He opened his water when Owen cracked open a can of soda, and for a moment they fell silent.

“So when are you leaving?” Owen finally asked.

“Next week,” Aiden replied, regretting the frown that brought to Owen’s face.

“That soon?”

Aiden shrugged. “I don’t have much to pack. I’m leaving most of my stuff with Ryan. He’s been pretty patient with me.”

“Oh.”

“Um... I’ll probably visit. Maybe in a few months. Sometimes work will bring me back...”

“Will I see you?”

Aiden nodded. “If you want to.”

Owen met his eyes. “I want to.”

Aiden smiled. “If you want... you should come see me before I go. I’ll be around. And I miss you. I’m tired of pretending I don’t.”