All those little Things ✔

Day 2 - Black Bottom Cupcake

"Pretty obvious, isn't it?" the man retorted with a slight shake of his head and leaned back on his chair. "I'm Keith Turner, by the way."

Aidan was sure that he knew someone with this last name but couldn't quite place it, nevertheless he took Keith's hand and shook it.

"Aidan Campbell, nice to meet you."

"The last time I was here in Pine Grove this was a hardware shop," Keith told him and gestured around the bakery.

"A long time ago," Aidan commented, still trying to put a finger on the memory in the back of his mind. "It's The Sugar Stop for five years now and before it was a small clothes store."

Keith nodded and sipped on his coffee. "I wasn't here for about twelve years though I don't think a lot has changed."

Aidan guessed that Keith was somewhere around his thirties so he had probably left Pine Grove directly after High School. And then he finally remembered why the name Turner was so familiar.

"Are you Roger Turner's son?" he blurted out thoughtlessly and immediately felt the heat shoot into his cheeks. Luckily Keith didn't seem to be offended by it and merely chuckled.

"Yes, I am the famous traitor," he confirmed sarcastically and Aidan refrained from asking why the man was considered a traitor. He had heard rumors that Roger Turner once had had a son but because he hadn't gotten along at all with the old man he hadn't put a lot of thought into it. Just stories the people liked to gossip about.

"Well, welcome back," he commented and Keith grimaced.

"Trust me, I would have avoided this town like the plague if my father had taken care of his affairs properly before he died. Now I'm stuck with sorting through his shit."

Aidan cringed and fumbled around with the strings of his apron. He couldn't hold Keith's opinion against him because the old man hadn't been a friendly person at all. In fact, he had called Aidan Fairy since the day the whole town had found out about his uncommon hobby - thanks to Slade - and hadn't ever taken a step into The Sugar Stop as if it would make him look unmanly or something like that. For crying out loud, eating a cupcake wasn't something bad! Men could do that, too!

"Did you move here?" Keith inquired curiously and Aidan nodded.

"Yes, ten years back when I was fifteen," he answered truthfully and the other male made a sound that probably should express something along the lines of 'Ah, I see'.

"That's probably the only change that has happened in Pine Grove during those ten years," Keith said with a wry smile and Aidan agreed with a pained expression. Pine Grove wasn't the poster image of a economically or culturally thriving town and the people who were born here died here.

"You were the quarterback, weren't you?" Aidan wanted to know curiously and Keith nodded with a questioningly raised brow.

"I think I saw a picture of you in the glass cabinets with all the sports awards," he explained and Keith made a funny face that should probably express his utter mortification. However Aidan didn't think it was a photo he had to be mortified about. It was a typical High School photo with lanky teenagers on the football field, celebrating their victory with ecstatic faces. Nobody looked good in those photos.

"Is Coach Gonzales still a major asshole?"

"Yes, he once made me finish the laps although I had puked halfway through. It had about ninety-seven degree," Aidan told him with a shrug of his shoulders although he still felt sick to his stomach when he thought about that horrific day.