They had been sitting around the table for way too long. The leftover food had long cooled on their plates but their wine glasses were being constantly refilled. Aiden realised quickly that everyone except him was over twenty-one. Ava started clearing the plates and Aiden joined her. Oliver was too engrossed in his conversation with Robert and Alice to notice that Ava and Aiden had left the room. Aiden followed Ava into the kitchen with a couple of plates balanced on his arm.

"Just put them next to the sink," Ava told him. She started loading the plates into the dishwasher.

Aiden left the plates next to the sink and lent back against the kitchen island. "Do you throw these dinner party's often?"

"Sometimes. We meet up at least once a month, the five of us. We go to different restaurants in the city mostly, other times we do home cooked meals. We've never done it at Oliver's house though."

"Have you been to his house?" Aiden asked. He was quite curious to know.

"I have, yes," she admitted, "but I don't think the others have."

"Why?" Aiden asked. Ava paused in her movements. "You don't have to tell me. I really don't mean to sound like I'm prying on my boyfriend's life."

"It's not that, Aiden," she admitted. Ava took a step closer to Aiden. "I honestly find it hard to know how much to reveal about Oliver's life. He is the most private person I've ever known, and I won't break his trust."

"I wouldn't ask you to," Aiden assured her. "Believe me, I know what you're talking about."

"Oliver doesn't let people into his life. I've seen it over the two years that I've known him."

"He must have let you in," Aiden said. "You and him share some sort of bond."

Ava nodded. "We do. It happened over time. We started talking on the phone every once in a while, then having coffee a few times a month, and then it grew. It took a long time for me to gain his trust. He has told me things that I am sure he hasn't told anyone else, and I don't share those secrets with anyone, Fran included."

Aiden nodded. "You must be a special person, he obviously trusts you very much."

"You," Ava pointed at him, "must be a very special person."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I have heard about other men Oliver has been with. He's told me what happened, but only after. He calls me when the relationship has ended, but never during. So imagine my surprise when I get a phone call the day after your first date telling me all about this photographer with long dark hair and deep brown eyes who took him on a hike and made him climb a tree."

Aiden's face morphed into pure shock. "He called you after our first date?"

"He couldn't stop talking about you."

"I...I am shocked."

"I was too," Ava told him. She had a huge smile on her face. "He didn't tell the others though. He sent a text in our group message a few days ago asking if his boyfriend could come to dinner tonight. I got a lot of surprised phone calls that night."

"He must really care about me," Aiden muttered. He didn't understand the magnitude of what had been going on tonight.

He thought about what Ava had said. He called her after their first date. That first date where they had fallen over in the dark and taken silly photos of themselves up on that rock. He knew there was something different about what he and Oliver had right from the beginning, but now he knew that Oliver felt it too.

"He does," Ava told him. Her face turned serious. "It also means that you have a lot resting on your shoulders. He is trusting people again. This is huge for him."

"If things go wrong with us, you think it will hurt him a lot."

"I do. He's been used before. I won't tell you any specifics, that's for him to tell you, but people have used him for different reasons in the past and it really scarred him."

"I'm not using Oliver. I don't want to hurt him. I really, really like him. I like him more than I've ever liked anyone."

Ava smiled sweetly. "I'm glad, because I think he loves you." Aiden didn't know what to say. Ava finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher. "Let's get back out there, they might send a search party soon."

Aiden nodded. "Thank you," he said as they walked towards the other room.

"You're helping him more than you know," she replied, "so thank you."

They walked into the dining room but it was bare. Aiden followed the sound of voices back to the sitting room where they found the three of them sitting on the two yellow couches.

Aiden sat down next to Oliver. Oliver draped his arm around Aiden's shoulders. "You and Ava were gone for a while," he said.

"We were getting to know each other a little better."

"You were gossiping about me, weren't you?" Oliver said. A cheeky smile clung to his lips.

Aiden shrugged. "Maybe."

Oliver laughed. Aiden looked over at the other four, who were all looking at them. They had weird expressions on their faces. Aiden wondered if they were surprised at how touchy Oliver was with him. They had never seen Oliver with a boyfriend before, it must have been a strange sight.

"So, Aiden," Alice said, "how did you two meet?"

Aiden couldn't help but laugh as he told the story. Oliver chimed in with his version towards the end. Aiden loved their story. It was so weird but it was cute and unique and he wondered what it would be like to tell their children. He paused in his thought. Children? He had never thought about having children in his life, and yet here he was, suddenly imagining he and Oliver telling a little brown haired boy with Oliver's eyes how his two daddies met. He didn't know how to feel about it, but a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that it was a good thing.

"How long have you two been together?" Aiden asked Alice.

"Four years. We met at the café Robert manages."

"You tend to notice the girl who comes in every day with brightly coloured lips," Robert said.

Aiden smiled. "I'm sure. How about you two?" he asked Ava and Francesca.

Francesca linked her hand with her girlfriends. "We've been dating for almost two and living together for six months."

"It's our anniversary next month," Ava told them. She looked over at Francesca with a wide smile on her face.

Aiden realised how much he liked these people. They were nice, decent people who had spent the last two years with Oliver even though they knew that they would never fully know him. They had never been to his house, never met a boyfriend, yet they loved him so much that they didn't care. They just wanted to support their friend.

"Let's take a photo," Francesca said. "We don't have many of us, and we need to commemorate tonight. Our first time meeting Aiden!"

"Sounds like a great idea," Alice said.

"I don't know," Ava muttered.

Aiden looked at her. He wondered if she didn't like photos. That was when he noticed that she was looking intently at Oliver. Oliver didn't like photos, he remembered suddenly. He had forgotten all about that. He spent so much of his time taking photos of Oliver that he forgot that he hated them. Oliver never made a fuss when he pulled his camera out and he felt bad suddenly. He wondered if he had been making Oliver uncomfortable this whole time.

"I'll take the photo," Oliver said.

"We can just do a selfie," Alice said. "That way we are all in it."

Oliver ignored her. He stood up and walked over to the other side of the room. He pointed his phone at the group. Aiden smiled. He watched Oliver come and sit back down. Alice tried to get him to take a selfie, but Ava quickly interjected and changed the subject.

After a minute, the group was back into conversation. Aiden lent over towards Oliver. "I forgot that you don't like photos," he whispered. "I take photos of you all the time, you must hate it!"

Surprisingly, Oliver smiled at him. "Aiden, you're the only person in the world I would let take photos of me."

"Why me?" Aiden asked.

Oliver kissed him. Aiden was left speechless and confused.

Aiden was drawn back into the groups conversation, but a happy feeling grew slowly in his gut. Oliver trusted him. He had trusted him from the first day they had met. It was a strange realisation, but it brought unexpected happiness to Aiden.

Aiden left Ava's apartment with a spring in his step. He was so happy with how their night had gone. He held Oliver's hand as they walked down the stairs.

"Do you want to sleep at my house tonight?" Oliver asked.

Aiden hadn't been back to the house since he had stormed out. "Yeah, I'd love to."

Oliver drove them to his house. It was cool seeing the house at night, it somehow seemed even cooler with the moonlight coming through the huge windows. Aiden sat down at the kitchen island while Oliver made them cups of coffee.

"Is it too late for coffee?" Aiden asked.

"Is it ever too late for coffee?" Oliver replied.

Aiden smiled. "You're right. It's only one in the morning."

Oliver gasped. "It's one in the morning?"

Aiden nodded. "We really lost track of the time back there."

Oliver slid the coffee mug over to Aiden before sitting down next to him with his own steaming hot mug in his hands. "I always spend way too much time at dinner with them. Once I came home at three in the morning. I still don't know how it happened."

"You're quite close to these people, aren't you?"

Oliver nodded. "Mostly. Ava is who I talk to the most, though."

"I like her," Aiden told him.

Oliver smiled. "Everyone likes Ava. She's a good person."

"She said everyone was very surprised that I was invited to dinner tonight."

Oliver paused for a moment. "I guess I've never liked someone enough to want them to meet my friends."

Aiden felt his cheeks go pink. "I really like you, Oliver."

"I have to confess something," Oliver told him.

Aiden felt nervous. The colour drained from his cheeks. "What is it?"

Oliver struggled to get the words out. "I lied about something."

Aiden took a deep breath. "You can tell me, I won't be mad."

"How do you know that you won't be mad?" Oliver asked him.

"I know because no matter what is it, if you're willing to be honest with me, then I know we can work through it."

Oliver's expression changed. Aiden wondered if he had finally gotten through to him.

"When I was nineteen, three years ago, I moved here and started a small business. A tech company. It was called terabyte industries and I created software to protect computers from hackers," Oliver explained. He still looked nervous, but much less so than before. "I partnered up with some other people and suddenly were selling software to overseas companies to protect their data from hackers. It boomed. I still own the business and that's where I work. I'm not just an IT worker."

Aiden considered acting surprised. He knew how much it meant for Oliver to be honest with him and he decided that Oliver deserved the same back. "I know about terabyte industries."

"You do?"

Aiden nodded. "I do."

"How?" Oliver asked in shock. "How do you know? Did Ava tell you?"

Aiden shook his head quickly. "No one told me. Celebrity Today's headquarters is in the same building. I was leaving one day and I saw you with a bunch of businessmen. You were wearing a very shiny watch. You didn't look like a low level IT guy, that's for sure."

Oliver sighed. "This whole time you knew and you didn't say anything?"

"You weren't ready to tell me."

Oliver seemed conflicted. "You should have said something."

"You would have been cornered. I didn't want you to feel like you had to tell me."

Oliver sighed again. He placed his head in his hands. "I feel like I'm screwing this up."

Aiden reached over and placed his hand on Oliver's back. "You aren't screwing anything up."

"You knew I was lying to you. I am such a terrible boyfriend. My issues get in the way of everything." It sounded like he was teary.

Aiden pulled his hands away from his face. "Oliver," he said, "I don't care that you lied, I don't care that you make more money than I thought, I don't care about any of that. I just care about you and why you didn't think that you could tell me about your job."

Oliver linked their fingers. "People have used me for my money my entire life. I have been screwed over more times than I can even remember. It forced me to hide my job because I don't want to attract people who will abuse that, but then once I got to know you, I really wanted to tell you."

"Why didn't you?"

Oliver looked ashamed. "I didn't want you to see me differently. You have money problems and you struggle and I don't."

"It wouldn't have changed how I saw you," Aiden assured him. Aiden never cared about money. 

"I didn't know that."

Aiden kissed Oliver. "Now you do," he whispered, "and it doesn't change a thing."

A small smile graced Oliver's lips. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Aiden wrapped his arm around Oliver's waist and rested his head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few, silent minutes.

"Can we go to sleep now?" Aiden asked.

Oliver pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "That sounds like a great idea."

Aiden linked their hands as they walked up the staircase. He had never felt as close to Oliver than he did in that moment.

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