~~~~~~~~~Aiden's POV~~~~~~~~~

Another week passed by.

Only difference was that I didn't hate my week, quite the opposite, actually..

I had gone over to Sage's house almost everyday to work on the project since then. Every day she'd greet me with a smile. Every day her mother would treat me like one of her own and make me a good meal. Every day her father would ask me questions about my magic, though I barely ever used it. Very day, William would ask me to play astronaut with me.

And every day, Noah would glare at me with pure hatred in his eyes..

It wasn't the first time someone had hated me this much, but it was a look that I would never get used to. Especially from someone who I thought I'd be friends with..

But even so, I liked coming over, as long as it didn't bother them.

Once again, I rang the doorbell, and James let me inside with a kind smile. "Good afternoon, Mr. Aiden. Miss Sage is up in her room."

I gave a small nod and a thanks before heading upstairs. Because I had been spending more time with this family than I expected, I was trying to speak more often. More specifically, speak a bit louder than usual.

Telling the truth? I was pretty proud of myself for the progress I had made, I hadn't been this comfortable in a while.

Knocking on her bedroom door, I stood in the hall, waiting for her to open the door. About ten seconds of silence went by, and I leaned against the wall to wait. She was probably in the bathroom or something.

However, I froze in place as a sudden hand slammed against the wall right beside my head, forcing me to look up out of instinct.

My cheeks quickly heated up at the sight. Noah was now right in front of me, his arms beside my head to cage me in, my back pressed against the wall as he glared daggers at me with pure rage.

But that didn't change the fact that he was really, really close to me right now....

N-no! Not the time to be thinking like that! One does not simply pin a random person like this! What the hell!

"U-uh, wh- what are you doing..?!"

"Listen here, Aiden, and you listen good. I don't know what you and Sage have been doing this whole week, but Sage has been seeming a lot more cheerful recently, and I just wanna get something straight: if you do anything, and I mean anything to hurt her, I won't hesitate to end you. Got it?"

...

Okay, so, I know I'm supposed to be intimidated right now when he's very oblivious threatening me, but:

a) As much as I want to, I can't exactly say 'Hey, I'm gay, you don't have to worry about me hitting on your sister!' I'm just not ready to come out yet..!

b) I honestly can't even concentrate, this man is too attractive and TOO CLOSE TO MY FACE.

Feeling the sudden heat of realization spreading across my face, I gave a nod, but before anything else could happen, Sage opened the door, her calm expression morphing to one of anger almost instantly. "Noé!! You better not be picking on him again!!"

Noah pulled away, dusting off his jacket, still obviously annoyed. "I was simply giving him a small warning."

"Fuck off already, we have work to do!" Sage grabbed my sleeve and pulled me inside the room, slamming the door shut with a heavy sigh.

I just stood there, awkwardly shuffling my feet a bit as I thought of all that happened in the span of like two minutes. I walked upstairs, I waited, Noah threatened me, and Sage saved me. Awesome two minutes.

She sat at our usual spot on the blue carpet, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm so so sorry about him.. again.."

I took off my bag and sat beside her, giving her a small smile. "It's alright, it didn't bother me.."

However, I raised an eyebrow when she stared at me with her eyes narrowed in concentration, then placed the back of her hand against my forehead. "Are you okay?"

"Huh..? Yeah, why..?"

"Your face is red as hell right now."

Feeling embarrassed, I raised the top of my hoodie a little, trying to cover half of my face as I chuckled awkwardly. "I-is it?"

She stared at me for a few more seconds, then glanced at the door, and a grew nervous when a smirk spread across her face. "Wait a minute...."

I gulped quietly, and she tilted her head. "You're not blushing from that little scene with Noah, are you~?"

My cheeks heated up even more at the comment, unable to look at her in the eye. "W-what?! No, no, I- It's not- I'm not- I c-can't- I'm just-!"

"Aiden?"

I looked back at her, biting at me as she stared back with a serious yet gentle expression.

"Are you gay?"

I froze in place. I never wanted anyone to know, I hadn't planned on doing so in a long time. Had I really been so obvious with this? Dammit!

When there was no surprise, she gave me a small smile. "That's a yes, isn't it?"

After waiting a few seconds, I finally gave a nod. "... I-I've never told a-anyone about that..."

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone if you're not okay with it."

"Thank you..."

Another moment of silence went by, and then Sage grabbed my shoulder, giving me a small shake. "So you like my brother~?•"

I grew a little darker. "I-I just think he's cute... Not like it matters, he obviously hates me, no matter what I say..."

"He just thinks you're trying to use me in some way."

"I know, he made his point clear earlier..."

"I'll talk to him, and maybe you two can hang out!"

I thought for a while. As much as I wanted to get to know him more, did I really have the time for a boyfriend..? What if Dylan found out..? What would he do to me..?

...

But..

I wanted to..

I wanted friends, I didn't want to be alone anymore..

Finally, I turned her with a small smile. "I'd like that, thank you.."

She smiled back, this time with determination, and we continued on our project.

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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