The Silence | ✔️

34. I

Last night I had fallen asleep alone. Aiden was out late and I had just stirred alert when he crept in beside me at some insane hour of the morning. I could remember the scent of his soap after a shower, the feel of his soft warm skin as he slid his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. I could remember the feeling of instant ease and the drowsy smile that lifted the corners of my mouth.

Both of us had woken at a similar hour this morning, despite the fact that he had gone to bed so much later than me. It was a Saturday morning so we laid together and watched the sun rising. The soft clouds were wisps of white with magnificent golden  beams highlighting the edges.

I laid on Aiden's chest and he ran his finger tips through my hair, letting it fall through his grasp before he picked it up and did it again. Nothing could be better than waking up beside this man. He was dream that I had. The one about a better life. The home that we shared, the kitchen that we cooked in together. The bed that we awoke in before we shared morning cuddles. It was what I had wanted but even better, it was who I had wanted it with.

"How was dinner last night?" He questioned. "Were Zee and Po good company?"

"Mhmm," I nodded as my finger traced light patterns on his bare chest. "Dinner was good. You'd have to ask someone other than the cook. But I think that it was fine."

"You're too humble," he chuckled. "It would have been mouthwatering."

I grinned. "Well Zoerina went for thirds so I'll take that as a positive sign."

He laughed, his chest rumbled beneath me.

"But the night went well," I continued. "We sat in the living room after dinner and just talked for a while. It's nice that Hunapo seems to be more comfortable around me."

"How do you mean?"

"He just seemed to be kind of guarded around me before. But I've noticed that the more time we spend together, the less. . . tense that he is."

Aiden lightly chuckled, ruffling the hair on the top of my head. "Yeah," he sighed. "He's kind of timid I suppose. Plus, I think that he was a bit concerned about us spending time together."

I arched my neck so that I could peer up at him. But he was watching the ceiling as he rubbed his hand up and down the length of my arm. "Concerned about us spending time together?"

"Mhmm," he hummed. "He expressed concerns about your intentions and thought that I might have ended up hurt because you were married and he knew that I was falling in love with you."

I inhaled a deep breath in fear that I would squeal. It was hard to contain the amount of ecstatic energy that wanted to burst from inside of me whenever he declared the truth about how he felt. It made sense for Hunapo to show concern for his best friend. I had never blamed anyone for their perspective of our situation. No one had known the truth. At one point, not even Aiden and I had known the whole truth about one another. Assumptions were sort of inevitable when it came to human beings.

But it made me happy to know that he was warming to me.

Aiden and I got up and dressed for the morning. I wasn't sure what we'd be doing but he did tell me that we had plans. He dressed in a dark blue, short sleeve, button up shirt. The sleeves hugged his biceps and the black chinos finished his casual look. I obsessed over how well he dressed and how his built frame made all of his outfits ten times more attractive.

Once I was dressed in a pastel pink tank top, a pair of denim high waist shorts with a cute black belt, I slipped on a pair of flip flops and let Aiden lead me through the quiet apartment. Zoerina and Hunapo must have been sleeping in. Our soda glasses and chocolate wrappers were still on the living room coffee table and I offered to clean them up before we left. But Aiden gave me a gentle tug so that I couldn't defer from our path and we continued on until the elevator.