Professor's Pet (mxb)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The image above is what the boys' date place looks like!

Finn's POV

Aidan had brought me to the coolest beach I'd ever seen. There was a little bit of sand, but it was mostly large, flat rock that the ocean crashed up against. There was a lighthouse a little bit of a ways down and nobody in sight. There wasn't a single cloud blocking the blue of the sky.

The beach was beautiful, for sure, but Aidan's reaction to it was even more precious.

He took one look at the beach and his entire body shifted a little. His usual coil of discomfort and readily-released anger evaporated. The stance of his shoulders loosened a little bit and his facial features relaxed. His usual steel-gray eyes warmed just a little bit. It might've been the reflection of all the blue around us, but I was pretty convinced that it was the love he held for the area.

"I think it is too," he admitted, carefully. He had the tone of someone who was confessing a great secret. I wondered what happened to Aidan to make him so reluctant to admit his feelings.

He was so reluctant and yet here he was, admitting them to me. For a moment I was entirely confident that, yes, Aidan Demos did like me. A hell of a lot. With that confidence, I turned just enough to give him a peck on the cheek. I caught the slight smile he had before he hid it, and the way he leaned in towards me before he held himself back.

"You're amazing," I whispered, hardly realizing I was saying anything. His hidden smile showed itself again.

"Confident today, huh?" he drawled. I wanted to kiss that smirk.

"Well, we are on a date," I reminded him. And with my resolution sealed, I got on my tippy toes and gave him a kiss.

My embarrassment got the best of me though, and I pulled away quickly. It was barely a peck. Aidan's steady gaze never moved from my face, and at this point he was definitely amused.

"Cute kiss," he chimed. "It was kind of short, though."

I looked up, completely shocked, just for our lips to meet once again. Aidan deepened the kiss with a steady hold to the back of my neck. I grabbed onto the front of his shirt and held on for dear life, swaying just a little bit with the intensity of his kiss.

He pulled away, just barely, and I gave him the stupidest, happiest smile I could muster. "I can't ever stop smiling around you," I admitted. A dimple appeared on Aidan's cheek, one I'd never even seen before, and he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear tenderly.

"It's hard to imagine you not smiling, Finny," Aidan chuckled. "It's one of the best things about you."

I shrugged and ducked my face a little, because I was definitely blushing at the compliment. My stupid pale skin always let everyone in the room know if I was even a little bit embarrassed.

Aidan cupped my face with one hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "Aw, you're blushing."

I slapped his hand away. "Shut up."

"That's really cute, Finny."

His words were shocking enough that I peeked up through a couple strands of my pink hair to check out his expression. He was looking at me with affection and a hint of shock, like he hadn't realized how cute I was until now.

Which was totally ridiculous. I was pretty adorable, I mean look at my hair.

"I'm glad you're finally being open about how much you like me," I teased. "I know you've been holding back for a while now."