Love is for Show

13 - The Third.

"We should get a cat,"

I push the textbook down back onto my lap and stare at my oddly serious best friend sitting across from me by the foot of my bed. "I thought you wanted a dog?"

"I want a dog and a cat,"

"Not in our first apartment though, it'll be a lot of work taking care of ourselves let alone two pets," Me being forced to be our voice of reason earns a pillow to the face. I giggle and shove it back at him.

He groans and flops over onto his stomach, his eyes now facing the floor as his head looms over the side of the bed. "I can't wait..." he whispers.

"Can't wait for what?"

He turns his head away from my carpet to look me straight in the eye with one of those sunny grins adorning his face. "To move in with you obviously,"

I chuckle a bit and lift my history textbook up again. "We have about four more years to go until we can even start thinking about that, Aiden,"

"I know," he sighs. "But that gives us plenty of time to think of where we want to go,"

"I'm sure you'll end up at the Arts Academy, I'll just find a school in the same area," I shrug.

There's a small pause as the clouds shape the sunlight flitting into my room again. "Or you could join me,"

My eyebrows lift and I drop my book again. "Why would I do that?"

Wordlessly, he stares over at the dedicated slot beside my desk where my guitar is securely pressed against the wall in its protective case.

"I'll leave the artsy stuff to you, I'll keep my music as my hobby," I go back to re-reading the same paragraph of our history textbook for seemingly the hundredth time, only to stop again at the sound of him sitting up to join me against the headboard.

"You and I both know the Arts Academy has an extensive music course for talented people like you,"

I resist the sudden urge to roll my eyes and instead sneak a small glance over to my guitar. He bumps his shoulder against mine and silently gestures with his head and I simply get up to grab my instrument. After carefully lifting it out of its case and dragging a gentle finger along the deep green coloring surrounding its head, I make my way back to my previous spot on the bed.

It doesn't take me any longer than five seconds to start testing out different melodies while Aiden gets comfortable beside me with a knowing smile on his face.

"So... where were you headed?" Aiden promptly asks after about a minute of awkward silence.

I look up from the table and wring my hands together on my lap. "Oh, just for a walk, I was gonna get some food on my way back,"

At their nodding, I briefly look around the table, then out to the surrounding crowd, then back to them. "What?" Aiden asks after watching me and I shrug with a small shake of my head. "I recognize that look, what were you thinking?" He tries again.

I sigh and look back down to the table. "Nothing..." I was just curious if people... know about your guys' relationship. The three of them look to be on some sort of date before I joined in and I can't help but wonder how careful they're trying to be in front of the public eye. Especially with Axford being such a prominent figure in the business world.

Elias eventually clears his throat and leans forward over the table with his cup of tea. "I heard Kalen over here decided to pay you a visit the other day," he smiles over the rim of his mug and I almost laugh a bit at the reminder of that. It was such a random visit and gesture from the man, I can't deny that.