Aiden walked up to the café that Oliver had asked him to meet at. It was a little café, deserted on the outskirts of town, surrounded by trees. The only thing close to it was a little bar that Aiden had passed. He wondered how Oliver found this place. There were a few cars parked outside, but Aiden didn't know what Oliver's car looked like.

Aiden walked through the front doors and was quite surprised at what he found. The café didn't look at all like the worn out building on the outside. It had a modern industrial feel with large pendant lights and metal booths. The small tables scattered around him were silver metal with stools for chairs. This was not the kind of place Aiden expected Oliver to go to. He looked around the café, finding a couple in the corner booth and a mother with her two children at one of the small tables. He couldn't find Oliver, and so he went up to the counter.

A man in his fifties with kind eyes and a huge smile walked up to the counter when he saw Aiden. The counter was made of dark stained wood. Aiden put his hands on it as he spoke, it was smooth against his fingertips. "Can I get a coffee, black, and," he looked over at the cabinet, "a banana bread."

The man nodded. "Sure, that will be six dollars." Aiden handed over the money. He smiled at Aiden. "You here alone or waiting for someone?"

"Waiting for someone," Aiden told him.

"Alright, why don't you take one of the booths and I'll bring this over to you."

Aiden walked over to one of the booths, a few down from the couple and pulled his phone out. He briefly entertained the idea of messaging Oliver, but he didn't want to annoy him. It was four minutes until ten o'clock, he was a few minutes early. He decided to message Chase. I made it to the café, it really is in the middle of nowhere, he said. Chase messaged back almost instantly. Is he there yet? Have you asked him about his job yet?

Aiden sighed. He still wasn't sure if he should ask about the other day. He had seen Oliver in the lobby of that building. He sure didn't seem like the low level IT guy that Oliver had made himself out to be. In fact, he looked much more like upper management. Well, he hadn't exactly lied if that was the case. He never said any specifics, but whenever they spoke about his job, Oliver had always made it sound like was just a tech guy, not that he had a powerful job or anything. One question still remained, why did he take off that fancy watch when he came to see me? That was the one question that made Aiden doubt whether Oliver had been just leaving out details, or directly trying to deceive him.

I don't know if I'm going to ask him about it, he replied to Chase.

Okay, let me know how it goes. Have a fun date, sweetheart ;).

I will, darling, he replied.

Aiden looked up just as Oliver entered the café. He smiled over at Aiden and practically ran the distance between the door and the booth. "I'm not late, am I?" he asked. He looked so cute. Tight white shirt and loose dark blue shorts. His hair was pushed back but it was obvious he hadn't put any gel in it as strands were falling over his forehead. Aiden looked at his wrist. No watch.

"I was early. It's all good," he told Oliver. "I've got a coffee coming, you should go order something."

Oliver quickly leant over the table and kissed him. Aiden kissed back, but he knew Oliver could sense the awkwardness on his lips. Oliver sent him a strange look but didn't say anything. Oliver placed his keys and phone on the table and walked over to the counter. Aiden could hear the man at the register calling out Oliver's name. He must come here often. Aiden heard something vibrate and so he looked down at his phone, but there was nothing there. His eyes then moved to Oliver's phone and he saw that same name as the other day, Ava, written a couple of times. She must have messaged him multiple times. Aiden wondered who this girl was. He didn't have much time to think about it because Oliver came back a few seconds later and slid into the booth opposite Aiden.

"How do you know about this place?" Aiden asked.

"I've been coming here for a few years. I know Paul well, we go way back." Oliver looked down at his phone before sliding it back into his pocket under the booth, not reading the messages.

Aiden assumed Paul was the owner. "How did you two meet?"

Oliver shrugged. "Oh it doesn't matter. Anyway, did you find the place okay?"

Aiden kept a frown from his face. He didn't understand why Oliver dodged his questions sometimes. It felt like he only knew the surface Oliver, but he wanted to know the real Oliver. "Yeah I found it fine."

"How's everything at work going?" Aiden asked. He was close to telling him about the other day.

"Yeah good. I managed to fix the technical issue with the help of the other IT nerds," Oliver laughed.

"Where is your job? In the city?" Aiden asked.

"Somewhere near there," he replied quickly.

"Do you work for a big company?" Aiden persisted. He needed to know if Oliver was going to be honest with him.

"Just a small one," Oliver replied.

The lie easily came from his lips. Aiden had gone home and googled the businesses in that building. There was the magazine, a headquarters for a company who sold aeroplane parts and a large tech company called Terabyte Industries. It provided software for overseas companies to protect their data from hackers. It wasn't a small company by any means. Aiden didn't understand why Oliver lied to him. He just didn't understand what he had done to make Oliver not trust him. He wondered for a second if he didn't want to intimidate him with his powerful job? Hell, on their first date Oliver had seen their crappy apartment building and his twenty year old car. He took a deep breath. He decided to just ignore it for the moment. He needed more time to think before he would know what to do. He needed Chase's opinion.

"What about your job?" Oliver asked. "Anything new going on?"

"I actually went to a gala last night. Took photos for Celebrity Today." Oliver rolled his eyes. Aiden laughed. "Hey, they aren't that bad!"

"Yes they are!" Oliver replied. "I hope they are paying you well to do their dirty work."

"It's not dirty work," Aiden said with a laugh. "I just walked around and took photos of famous people, who were all willingly there. It wasn't like I turned up at their front doors."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah that's true. I don't know, I always see stories in those magazines and I just know that they are a load of bull."

"I can't argue with that."

"Here you go boys," Paul said as he walked up to their booth. He had a black serving plate on his forearm and he placed the coffees in front of them. Aiden smiled when he saw that they both got Banaba bread. "Enjoy your day, gentlemen."

"Thank-you," Aiden said. He reached out and pulled his coffee closer to him.

"Thank-you, Paul."

Paul smiled at them and walked back towards the counter.

"So how did you end up freelancing for a magazine like Celebrity Today?" Oliver asked. He took a long sip of coffee.

"My friend Brian works there. We met at a photography workshop that his wife, well, then girlfriend, dragged him to and we just hit it off, even though he's ten years older than me. We've been friends ever since, and when he got his job there he's been giving me work. He wants me to work there full time, I think as a photographer but I really can't be sure."

"Would you ever take it?" Oliver asked.

Aiden shrugged. "If you asked me a year ago, I would have said no way, but I haven't made much money this year. My website isn't going well, the fitness magazines don't pay much."

"Things will pick up," Oliver assured him. He reached over the table and linked their fingers. "You are so talented. I don't think you should ever take that job. You wouldn't be happy there."

"How would you know?" Aiden joked.

"I just know," Oliver replied seriously.

Aiden wished that Oliver was as easy to read as he, himself, apparently was. They sat in the café for a few hours. Aiden easily forgot all about his doubts and just enjoyed being in Oliver's company. He felt sad when they had to leave the café. He and Oliver walked out of the front doors hand-in-hand. Oliver was holding onto his hand tightly, like he neither wanted them to leave.

"When will I see you again?" Oliver asked. He brought his face closer to Aiden's.

Aiden couldn't help but be totally absorbed in Oliver. He was just so mesmerizing, his deep blue eyes staring into his own. "Soon, I hope."

Oliver leant down and kissed him. It was a chaste kiss, one appropriate for public eyes, but Aiden wished suddenly and desperately that they were back in his room where he could kiss Oliver with uninhibited lips and freely moving hands. However, this was not the place nor the time and so Aiden pulled back.

"I'll call you," Oliver told him. He pressed one more kiss to his cheek and whispered a goodbye.

Aiden watched Oliver get in his car, a midrange jeep. The car was nice but a few years old. Not something a millionaire would drive, and that was somewhat of a relief to Aiden. He got into his own car and drove back to the apartment.

Aiden wasn't surprised when he walked into the apartment and saw that Chase was with Mary. Mary was wearing a bright pink cardigan with a blue singlet under it and black jeans. In her hair was a bright pink bow, holding up her long blonde hair. She reminded Aiden of a woman who was just itching to be a mother. He wasn't just judging that on her sense of style, but the fact that she regularly told him she was excited to have children with Chase. Aiden didn't want to think about what went on in that girls mind.

"How was your date?" Mary asked the second he entered the room. Her and Chase were sitting at the kitchen bench on the two bar stools. "Chase told me all about Oliver."

"It was good," Aiden told her.

"Did you ask about the other day?" Chase asked.

Aiden reached into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He took a sip and leant with his hip against the bench. "No, I don't know how to bring it up. I'm sure that he's hiding things from me though."

"What do you mean?" Mary asked.

"He told me that he worked for a small business but I saw him in the lobby of a huge tech company. He wasn't wearing the watch I saw him wearing. He wouldn't answer even basic questions about his past. I just don't know what's going on with him."

"You sure he doesn't have a twin?" Chase asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure of anything with this guy," Aiden muttered.

"You know," Mary interjected, "some people have trust issues. If he really does work for this big company and doesn't want to talk about his past, then maybe he has had people use him for his money before. He might be trying to see if he can trust you first."

Aiden really thought about this. "You might be right."

Chase kissed Mary on the cheek. "You're so smart." He looked over at Aiden. "That does make sense. You need to just stick around and show him that you care about him for more than the money, or whatever he's trying to protect."

Aiden nodded. "You're right. I am being so selfish about all of this and assuming he was lying to hurt me, but he's probably lying to protect himself."

"You know what, we should do a double date!" Chase proclaimed. "Invite him into your life. The equivalent of meeting your family, really. Getting to know your friends might be a good thing for him to find out more about your character."

Aiden nodded. He decided that it would be a good idea. He wasn't opposed to Mary being involved either, since it was basically her idea. He smiled.

"It will work out," Chase told him.

Aiden grabbed his phone and texted Oliver. You up for a double date sometime next week?

Oliver replied almost instantly. I sure am. With who?

Chase and his girlfriend. I promise I'll make it worth your while.

Oliver replied quickly, now I'm definitely in.

Aiden laughed. "We are on," he told Mary and Chase.

Remember to leave a vote if you enjoyed the chapter!

What do you guys think is up with Oliver? Any ideas?

Do you think Aiden is taking the right approach or should he have just confronted Oliver?