The Oldest Bradford

#5

A/N Now I'm going to be completely honest with you guys and say I didn't edit this at all, but it has been such a long week, and I figured it wasn't like I edited the last four chapters super well so no one would care. Thank you for your patience! I have so many writing projects right now it's hard to not get stuck focusing on one and forgetting the others.

Despite the tension, it wasn't awkward as Brad drove them to his apartment, his left foot tapping anxiously against the floor of his car as he considered what was about to happen. When he agreed to go somewhere else with Aiden, he was only thinking about spending more time with the younger man, and not what they would be spending that extra time doing. Now that he had long enough to think about it, he felt himself getting nervous.

It was a relatively short drive, even with all the traffic, and after fifteen minutes, Brad pulled into the underground garage of his building, parking in his reserved spot. Aiden looked around in interest, eyebrows raised. "You live here?" he asked.

"I do," Brad confirmed. "Top floor. You'll like the view".

Nodding, Aiden unblocked his seatbelt and rubbed his palms on his dress pants, the gesture striking Brad as nervous. It made him swallow heavily as he shut off his car, also unbuckling his seatbelt. "Let's go".

They took the elevator up to the top floor, and Brad couldn't help but notice Aiden had his lip pulled between his teeth the entire time. He worried if it was too presumptuous to bring Aiden to his apartment, if he'd maybe made his assistant uncomfortable. When he opened his mouth to ask this though, he was interrupted by the familiar bing of the elevator reaching its destination and the surprised exhale that left Aiden lips when the doors opened into his living room.

"Oh, wow," he breathed, stepping forward into the penthouse. "This is yours?"

"Yeah," Brad confirmed, looking around the space. He supposed it was a little bit impressive, though he'd been living there long enough that he was used to it. "Do you like it?"

Not responding, Aiden slipped off his shoes and went to stand in front of the windows over looking the city. Smiling a little bit, Brad also ducked to remove his shoes, placing them besides Aiden's on the mat and taking a moment to marvel at how small the other man's shoes were in comparison.

When he raised his head again, Aiden was still in the same place, only now his hands were curled into fists at his side. Brad went to close the distance between them, stopping behind Aiden and reaching out to grab one of his fists. "Are you alright?" he asked gently. The blond turned quickly, looking somewhat pained. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by bringing you here. I just thought it was better than some place public".

"No," Aiden said, voice very low. Brad raised his gaze from the other man's fist to meet his eyes. "I mean... I'm not uncomfortable at all. It's just..." He turned away again, looking outside, and Brad moved to stand beside him, eyes not wavering from his face as he waited for him to continue. "I'm worried that I'm going to make your life difficult".

"Difficult?" Brad echoed, confused. "How so?"

Aiden's shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. "What happened today, me being recognized, it's going to happen again, and I don't want people to think-" he cut off suddenly, looking frustrated. He turned towards him again, this time with his whole body. "I'm a broke college kid who had to resort to stripping to pay for school, and you're a well known business man who is over a decade older than me... Don't you know what people are going to think?"

"Oh". Brad frowned, eyes searching Aiden's face carefully. "Are you really worried about that?"

Nodding, Aiden's green eyes dropped to stare at the front of his suit. "I think it's a little weird you're not".