14
Aiden
With a gentle shake,Aiden’s awareness crept back to him. He opened his eyes slowly, finding the sun high in the sky and an expanse of cerulean blue beneath it. The brine of the ocean reached his nostrils through the open window, invigorating and nostalgic, and a soft breeze caressed his cheek.
For a moment, he just let himself experience the scenery with all his senses, pretending he couldn’t feel Darren close by. When the tingling just under his skin became too much, he turned his attention to the other man and found those indigo eyes locked on him rather than the breathtaking view. Darren’s hand still rested on his shoulder too, not shaking anymore, but rather, rubbing gentle circles along the curve of it that released pleasant sparks of electricity down his spine.
On an exhale, Aiden stopped his mind from overthinking, then looked out the window past Darren, taking in the sunflower fields and the indistinguishable silhouettes of woods and mountains in the distance.
“When is Bea picking us up?” he said, wondering where they were. His curiosity wasn’t enough to make him ask, though.
“She’ll be here in five minutes.”
“And the shuttle?” He cast his gaze around the interior. “Are we leaving it here?”
“No.” Darren angled his head, prompting Aiden to look out the passenger’s side window. “We’ll dump it in the sea. It’s best if we don’t leave any traces of our visit to Earth.”
Aiden couldn’t see the bottom of the cliffs from up here, but he could hear the rumble of the waves crashing at the shore. “Okay.”
They sat in silence for a few more seconds and Aiden used the time to chase away the lingering grogginess of sleep. He gave Darren a nod once he felt ready and, grabbing the bags from the backseat, they exited the vehicle. They dropped them on the dirt path that served to separate the flower fields into sections of equal size, then double-checked that nothing had slipped out and hidden under a seat. The Maine came into view a minute later, descending from the sky in its sleek glory like some fairytale dragon. It hovered low above the cliffs with its expandable cargo ramp down and within reach.
“Let’s go,” Darren urged, grabbing both bags.
Aiden nodded, jogging over to the ramp. He climbed onto it first, took the bags, and then offered Darren a hand. With a shy smile, Darren took it and once they’d both boarded, Bea maneuvered the frigate so it faced the ocean, blasting the shuttle right off the edge before the ramp had even finished closing.
“Evidence all taken care of,” Bea’s voice boomed over the ship’s comms.
“We are coming up,” Darren replied, herding Aiden up the stairs to the elevator. “Head back to the hideout.”
“Roger that.”
When they reached the bridge level, Darren didn’t get off the elevator right away, making Aiden pause mid-step and turn around.
Darren was staring. He had his hands in his pockets and there was something different about his midnight-purple gaze. A hint of that raw vulnerability he had shown in front of Aiden at the mansion ruins lurked in his eyes, the shift in their intensity so very subtle and yet still causing Aiden’s breath to catch. His nerve endings lit up and his stomach swam with anticipation, though he wasn’t even sure exactly what he was expecting.
Darren’s tongue darted out and ran along his bottom lip, flicking over the hoop piercing as a small, shy smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. It didn’t materialize fully, Darren didn’t let it, his hesitation making Aiden’s heart race even faster.
Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, Darren squared his shoulders over a full-body exhale. “Aiden,” he said cautiously in his low and smooth baritone.
An electric shock started at the back of Aiden’s neck and rolled down his spine, making him fight to suppress a shiver. There was so much want in the way Darren said his name, so much hope, so much yearning both for acceptance and a chance.
Besides Claudia, Rick was the only person who called Aiden by his first name. Whether because of the environment he’d grown up in, or because of the circles of acquaintances-but-not-quite-friends he had always gravitated around, most people had always preferred to refer to him by surname. It was why the use of ‘Aiden’ had grown to be special, a privilege reserved only for Claudia and his best friend.And Marcus, a voice at the back of his mind reminded him, though, in truth, he’d never really felt comfortable with it. It had felt wrong like it did with anyone but Aiden’s closest people—like Marcus was overstepping some kind of a personal boundary—and he had always wondered why.
Perhaps, deep down, his gut had known Marcus wasn’t a good person, but that didn’t really matter anymore. It also wasn’t why he felt like his world had just tilted on its axis.
This, what he was experiencing now, had nothing to do with Marcus; it was all Darren. It was how terrifyingly right it felt to hear ‘Aiden’ come out of Darren’s mouth and how Aiden just couldn’t bear to deny it. Didn’t want to either, refusal or turning back at this point no longer an option.
Darren speaking his name caused that same pleasant fluttering in his stomach that Claudia saying it had used to, and that both scared and excited him. Because, despite everything, this rightness he felt was not built on lies. It had come gradually without him noticing, and it was a deeper, fundamental shift within him, sudden and unexpected in this very moment, that settled in his chest as easily as if it had always belonged there. The hate, the self-disgust, the anger and all those ugly things Aiden carried couldn’t reach there, and although he still felt the guilt, it alone was not enough to taint it.
“Yes,” Aiden said after a tense pause, sounding a little breathless even to his own ears.
Darren’s smile fully materialized then, a deliberate upturn of his lips that was still shy in comparison to the grins directed at the Maine’s crew and also not quite like the ones reserved for Sara which Aiden sometimes received, too. This one was for him alone, and it touched him as if it was tangible, causing a whirlwind of sudden desire to mix in with the lingering guilt.
“Aiden,” Darren said again, this time with more confidence.
He looked happy and it reminded Aiden of the way Sara always beamed, her radiance clearly something both the Valrais siblings shared even if Darren’s likely lay forgotten somewhere deep and hidden.Somewhere that only Aiden could reach, with time, a passing thought whispered, latching onto that pleasant feeling in Aiden’s heart he tried to pretend he didn’t notice.
Darren got off the elevator and headed toward the bridge, though stopped when Aiden didn’t follow. It was his turn to spinaround now, but when he did, his eyes seemed a bit less haunted, carrying a glint Aiden couldn’t remember seeing before.
“I’ll contact Nyle. He should have news about your friend Rick. Maybe an update on Liu’s allies, too.” Darren cocked his head slightly to the side and let his shoulders relax. “I’ll set up a call in the conference room.”
The invitation—the request—for Aiden to join him was clear. It felt natural in a way that didn’t require a question, like Aiden being there with Darren when the important things happened was a given.
“I’ll be there in five…” Aiden nodded and watched Darren walk away. Licking his lips, he hesitated for a moment, and then, while Darren was still within hearing distance but no longer facing him, he added, “Darren.”
