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Hey everyone, its been a while. I hope you all aren't too mad at me for taking so long to update. I had planned on updating earlier, but things got in the way. Such is life. :/

Well, hope you all enjoy the chapter at least.

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Aiden's P. O. V.

After dropping Nathan home, I didn't immediately go back home myself. The reason being, because I wasn't prepared to face my parents and their curiosity and bombardment of questions regarding tonight's date, and especially my father's suspicions.

I have a strong inking that my father may already hold speculations towards my sexual preference, and it wasn't only caused by my one slipup that day, but also because of my lack of resent interaction with those of the opposite sex.

And no doubt the topic of meeting the mysterious 'girl' I went out on a date with will come up again, and like fire, I will avoid it at all cost so that I do not get burned by its scorching heat.

Now, the question of most importance after that, is of how long I would be able to keep such an act up until I am exposed?

I let out a long sigh, feeling exhausted already by the prospect of my future misfortune, and looked around for a place to hang out for a bit before I had no choice but to go back home due to how late it will undoubtedly grow to be, as I was not planning on returning home for at least another hour or two.

That way, I can at least hope that my parents are asleep, and then I will not have to deal with them until the next day, later that day, because I will be obviously attending school for the most part of that day.

It wasn't long before I chose a small Starbucks to settle in.

After parking my car, I walked in and ordered a Caramel Macchiato for myself, then took a seat at the far end of the store and quietly nursed my drink as I watched the outside world pass by in a daze. However, my mind was very much active.

During the whole time I sat there, I was constantly thinking up new plans for the future. Plans regarding Nathan, my parents; anything and everything.

I was so absorbed in my mind that I hardly noticed when it was no longer me seated by this table. It wasn't until someone cleared their throat that I jumped and was startled out of my daze. With a small gasp of surprise, I quickly looked over to who had interrupted me and my brows raised when my eyes landed on two somewhat familiar figures.

One boy had blond hair that went a little past his chin, with a few streaks of brown mixed in, and bright, blue eyes that shinned with intelligence and sincerity.

The other boy, who was a good head shorter than the other boy, had brown hair, with matching eye color, and a bit of a baby face, giving him more of a childish innocence to him.

A hesitant smile broke out on my face as I looked at the two boys who looked roughly around my age and who I had a vague remembrance of seeing them around school at some point or another, but I couldn't seem to clearly recall where I had exactly first sighted them. But with a mental shrug, I gave up on trying to remember as I addressed them.

"Hello, can I help you?" I questioned, wondering why they had decided to sit at my table, rather than at the empty ones scattered around the store, and from my count, there was at least five more tables to choose from.

Yet they chose to sit by me.

I couldn't tell if they had bad intentions by doing this, or good ones. However, when I looked closely into their eyes, I found no ill intent within them, so I deemed these two to be harmless for now.

"Ah, why are you acting so formal? Don't you remember us?" The boy with the brown hair exclaimed, seeming disappointed as he pouted cutely, a small frown forming on his face.

"Uh, no, sorry," I said with an apologetic smile, feeling somewhat bemused by this guys over familiarization with me.

I was sure I didn't know the boy for very long, I wouldn't even call us acquaintances, yet he seemed to be so familiar with me, it was actually quite disturbing, and wondered how he could know me so well, but it was the opposite for me.

"It's me, Brandon, and Simon," he introduced himself, then indicated towards the boy next to him. "We're friends of Nathan. Is this ringing any bells?"

I was about to shake my head, however I paused as a memory surfaced, one of these two boys walking side by side with Nathan as they went to class.

Ah, so this is why I had a feeling that I had seen them around before in school, I thought. Its no wonder then, why they know of me, Nathan must have told them about me. However, it bothered me some that Nathan never introduced me to them before.

I didn't show my frustration on my face as I smiled gentle. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you two right away."

"No problem," Brandon said.

"Its understandable, you haven't really been properly introduced yet to us," Simon said, returning a smile my way, an understanding look in his eyes.

Just from their responses, I could tell a lot from them. Brandon seemed to be the kind of guy that was friendly to those around him, as well as carefree and couldn't seem to bother with worrying about the little problems of life, only going about his life with a cheerful smile occupying his face.

He was the very definition of a man with no constraints, however, upon closer inspection, dark secrets seem to shine in the depths of his eyes. He was by no means, as worry free as he portrayed himself to be. Instead, it was obvious to me that he was struggling with unknown demons, just like me.

Immediately I felt some sort of companionship towards him, as I had a feeling the boy was dealing with problems similar to my own.

Simon, on the other hand, seemed the type to lean more towards the serious, sincere type who was most likely oblivious to certain things around him; this usually implied anything involving love or relationships in general. I've met several people like him throughout my short life, and his type is the kind to cause all sorts of frustrations for anyone who try to point out their misgivings, as they cannot seem to comprehend or change what it is that is pointed out, or at least, rarely can.

However, my judgment regarding them could be false to a degree, as I am still young and have many years ahead of me. What thoughts towards these two boys right now, could always be proven wrong tomorrow, or at least some time in the future.

"Then why don't we change that right now. I'm Brandon Fairfield, born and raised in Southern California, moved here five years ago, where I met my best friend Simon and have been friends with him ever since. My favorite foods are hamburgers and steak, and I absolutely hate any food that looks green," Brandon said with a look of disgust, as if he wanted to gag at the mere thought of eating vegetables or healthy fruits.

This reaction of his caused a chuckle to escape me, and immediately I could feel my mood rising, as this boys cheerfulness seemed to be contagious.

Simon shook his head at Brandon, but an amused look entered his eyes before they turned serious as he directed his gaze towards me. "I'm Simon Patrick, I've lived here all my life. Its nice to meet you."

"Aiden White, but I'm sure you guys already know that. I've also lived here all my life, nice to meet you two," I introduced myself.

"Good, now that that's done and over with, I have a question for you," Brandon said, his eyes sparkling with a hint of curiosity and mischief.

I raised my bow towards him, wondering what he was so interested to ask about. "Go ahead," I replied and raised my cup to take a drink.

"Are you dating Nathan?" Brandon inquired.

I nearly choked on my drink and sat their sputtering and pounding on my chest, my face pinched tightly as I fought to regain my composure.

"Brandon!" Simon reprimanded with an embarrassed expression reddening his face, and Brandon shrugged his shoulders, an innocent look on his face, as if he had no idea as to what he was in trouble for, which in turn, caused Simon to glare forcefully his way, before turning back to me with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about that, Brandon has a habit of not knowing the difference between what he should say, and what he shouldn't say to people."

I swallowed loudly, finally able to breath right again, and let out a somewhat tense laugh. "Its fine. I just wasn't expecting that question," I dismissed Simon's apology with a wave of my hand, as there was really no need for an apology.

"So, is it true?" Brandon asked again, apparently not learning from his mistake earlier, and Simon glared fiercely at him with a look that could literally melt the skin right off Brandon's face, and I wouldn't be surprised if that suddenly did start happening.

"No we aren't dating," I replied with a gentle smile that contained a hint of bitterness when Brandon's face fell from disappointment. "However," I continued, sparking Brandon's interest, and his eyes lit up as he listened to my next words, "I'm trying my best to make that happen."

Brandon's let out a small, excited squeal. "Oh my god, that's so awesome," he gushed, causing a chuckle of amusement to escape me from how happy the guy seemed to be. Simon even seemed to nod his head, as if agreeing with Brandon.

"It's not that awesome," I said, taking a small sip from my coffee.

However, inside, I felt somewhat pleased to hear his words, as not many would say the same.

"Common, don't try to down play it. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you guys to get together!" Brandon exclaimed with a role of his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously, my brows furrowing.

"Well, ever since Simon and I became friends with Nathan, it was plainly obvious to us that he was totally into you. However, because of the bullying jerk I still thought you to be, I believed that Nathan wouldn't have a chance at getting into a relationship with you. Looks like I was wrong though," Brandon admitted with a slight apologetic shrug of his shoulders.

I let out a disbelieving laugh. "What are you talking about? Nathan hated me at that time, it was only until recently that I've been able to win him over."

Brandon raised a skeptical brow at me. "I'm not sure what Nathan your talking about, but the one I'm talking about, only had eyes for you. There was no doubt in my mind that he was hopelessly in love with you, especially with the way he looked at you when you were looking the other way. Maybe that hate was all just an at to cover up his actual feelings for you?"

Brandon's words stunned me, filled me with doubt and caused me to think back to the past few weeks with a frown of concentration on my face as I tried to see in the Nathan of that time, what Brandon had seen in him.

However, it was a pointless effort, as I couldn't seem to see through Nathans supposed façade during the moments of interaction between us.

This only further caused me to doubt Brandon's words.

"I'll just take your word for it and hope that Nathan and I become a couple soon," I said after a moment of silence.

"Very soon, hopefully," Brandon commented with a slight smirk, a know look in his eyes, as if he could already see the day when Nathan and I would get together.

"Alright, I believe its time for us to go," Simon piped up from beside Brandon, giving Brandon a somewhat pressured glare. He had been quiet for a while now while Brandon and I spoke with each other, so his sudden words and voice cause me to secretly feel startled.

Brandon's lips jutted out in the form of a small pout and he began to sulk. "Already."

"Yes, now lets go," Simon said, rolling his eyes heaven ward in exasperation. However, amusement still shinned in his eyes.

I let out a chuckle and said, "It was nice meeting you two," as they pushed back their seats and got up.

The both of them nodded their heads towards me and said, "It was nice meeting you two."

"Lets hang out again in the future," Brandon added with a wave of his hand as goodbye before the both of them walked out the front door and disappeared from my sight not long after.

Once out of my sight, I drank the rest of my drink and got up as well, feeling like it was time for me to go too. I then threw the now empty cup in the trash and walked out of Starbucks and over to my car, climbed in and started it, then set my destination for home, if I could even call it that in the first place.

I arrived home less then ten minutes later, as the Starbucks had be relatively close by, and parked my car in the driveway. Getting out, I stared up at my uninviting house with a gloomy expression.

If it was up to me, I would never come back to this place, ever.

However, I couldn't abandon my mother like that and leave her to my father and his unpredictable mood swings and random acts of drunken abuse.

So, with a somewhat depressed sigh, I walked up the steps to the front door and went inside, and to my relief, the lights were off and the only sound came from outside. It would seem that my parents were fast asleep, which was what I had originally hoped for.

However, I knew it wouldn't be long before I would have to confront the two, it was just a matter of what will happen when that day does come about.

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Next chapter may take as long to get out as my day are becoming increasingly busy.

Anyways, V/C/F!

Until next time, peace out! :)

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