"Can you go?" I asked Victoria once our shifts were about to come to an end.
"I doubt it," She sighed out. "I have to help my mom at home."
"Dang," I said under my breath as I swept under another chair. The salon was having a busy morning but was slowing down. I was about to clock out and spend the rest of the evening with my friends. We were going to go to Bayside to celebrate all of us declaring our majors.
"What about next weekend?" I asked.
Victoria let out a small high pitched laugh. "Next weekend is Valentines. I'll be with Carlos."
"Valentines is next week?" I asked baffled. I had totally forgotten that we were in February and that Valentine's Day was so close. I still had to figure out what I was going to get Aaron. It's nearly impossible finding him gifts. What do you get someone who has everything?
"Just text me if anything comes up," Victoria shrugged while taking her apron off. She headed towards the back and I followed her with the broom. "I've got to go. Chao Chica."
With that she clocked out, blew me a kiss, and was out the door. I quickly finished up my work to head out as well. After saying goodbye to Isabella, I followed Victoria's actions and clocked out. On my way to Daisy I called my mom. She had been trying to get into contact with me over the last few weeks. Every so often I would text her but I couldn't remember the last time we had an actual conversation.
My mom quickly picked up the phone and enthusiastically shouted, "Parker!"
I smiled as I got into my car. "Hey mom."
"Why haven't you called?" She asked, "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
"Uh-huh," I rolled my eyes and placed the phone on speaker mode. "I've been busy."
"I am your mother and I am paying for your tuition, I deserve a phone call at least once a week."
"Sorry," I said even though I wasn't at all sorry. I had been busy lately. I don't have the time to constantly be calling my mom. "Besides, doesn't dad pay for my tuition."
"That's not the point Parker," I could picture my mother rolling her eyes. "The point is you should talk to your family more often."
"I text my brothers," I admitted as I thought over our group chat. We always send each other weird pictures. It's like having an Instagram and Snapchat but we 'post' more frequently and only to each other. They mainly send memes. I once sent a picture of me at the beach and said to them Be Jealous. The three of them replied with pictures of them flicking me the bird. Classic sibling bonding.
The whole ride home my mom continued to talk. It reminded me as to why I never call. Once my mother starts talking she never finds a way to stop. The change in subjects happen subtlety until eventually the conversation drifts entirely to something new and odd.
When I told her I declared my major I could already hear the disappointment and the hesitation in her voice. I could easily tell her about the skyscraper Aaron had me design. But I think it'd be much better to arrive home over the summer and tell her how successful my year was. Yeah, I thought to myself. I'll wait to see her face.
The conversation on my end can be summarized like this:
"Uh-huh."
"Yeah."
"Nope."
"Ok."
About forty-five minutes later of traffic and driving through the crowded Miami interstate, I finally took a deep breath and said, "Mom I have to go. I've got to study."
"Wait before you go," She quickly said. "Are you and that Aaron man dating?"
I guess one of my brothers must have told my mother. I hadn't actually come out to tell my family that Aaron was officially my boyfriend. I just never thought it was a topic of conversation. But I did admit it to James that I was with Aaron. He made a big deal about it by telling Will and Matt. It must have gotten around to my mom.
"Yeah," I replied.
She gasped loudly. I wasn't sure if she was going to scream at me for not telling her or if I was going to get a lecture over abstinence. "But..." My mom said with a bit of disappointment. "So Jeromy is completely out of the picture?"
Wow... I thought. My mother is dense.
"Goodbye Mother," I hung up the phone before she could say anything else.
When I walked in through the doors of my apartment, I entered what seemed to be a WWE showdown. Pierce and Logan were wrestling in the center of the living. Aaron was watching from afar. He was sitting on one of the chairs dressed in his leather jacket while drinking some chocolate milk I had left in the fridge. He intently watched his brother and best friend hustle on the ground.
"Dammit Pierce," Logan shouted. "That's a foul!"
"Your pants!" Pierce shouted back which made me laugh.
The sound of my laughter caused Aaron to turn around and look at me. He gave me grin before putting his hand up and curling his finger at me, beckoning me forward. I stepped towards him until I was standing in front of him. As he wrapped his arms around me I sat onto his lap, putting my own arms around him. "What are they up to?" I asked as I watched how the two were wrestling.
"Something utterly irrelevant." Aaron answered gently. He lazily threw his head back and looked up at me with a grin.
"What?" I asked as Logan threw Pierce onto the couch.
Aaron shrugged, "Just patiently waiting for my kiss."
I bit my lip through my smile. "Oh really?"
"Really."
"Well I guess I could give you one," I said with an eyeroll. Aaron pinched my side causing a small laugh to escape as I leaned down and kissed him. Aaron pulled me closer and quickly deepened our kiss as the sound of pillows hitting people echoed in the apartment.
Kissing Aaron never gets tiring. People always compare physical attraction to addictions and drugs. Because it feels intoxicating. Kissing Aaron was sort of like that. But different. It's not addicting, it's pleasurable. The kind of pleasure you get when you ace an exam you studied hard for. Or the kind of pleasure you feel when you see someone like a family member or loved one after a long time. Or even the kind you get when you're reading a good book. It's content, happy, satisfying. And pulling away from kissing Aaron is like finishing the most wonderful book. You're carefree and delighted, but completed disappointed it's over.
"Come on," Aaron said the moment we broke away. I licked my lips—still able to taste his honey like lips—and bit my own softly to enjoy the small buzz I felt coursing through me. I stood up, Aaron following after me as he wrapped his hand around mine.
"Boys," Aaron said sternly. He didn't even raise his voice. I was shocked that someone's voice could sound so dense without a shout. Both Pierce and Logan looked up in the midst of their girly pillow fight.
"Yes father?" Logan asked as he casually wacked Pierce so hard—Pierce stumbled back.
"Come on we've got to head out to Bayside," Aaron said.
"All right," Logan enthusiastically shouted as he headed into the room. He came out holding a leather jacket. I frowned for a moment, thinking that it was Aaron's. But when I glanced at my boyfriend I realized he was already wearing his.
"You two have matching jackets?" I asked.
"Tattoos weren't the only souvenirs we got," Logan said with a wink. "We're the real-life T-Birds."
Aaron rolled his eyes and handed me my own jacket. Unlike theirs, I was glad mine had the finch sewed into the back. The three of us looked like we owned a bike gang. "Come one knuckle head," Aaron said pushing Logan through the door.
The ride down the elevator, Logan made sure to teach me how to tap dance. He tapped his toes and heels against the floor of the elevator just to freak us out. When Logan said he was a dancer, he meant it. The guy can pull off any moves. I didn't think I would ever meet someone who could actually dance like people from YouTube videos. But Logan was him.
"I mainly focus on hip-hop but I've been a dancer for just about everything." Logan said to me after I had asked.
"For how long?"
He scoffed, "Years and years and years."
We walked into the parking lot, Pierce already heading towards his car. Logan followed Pierce as I went in the direction of Aaron's bike. Aaron asked if I wanted to drive, but I refused. I could already see the excitement in his eyes for the want of a race. I quickly put on my helmet and as Pierce pulled out of the parking lot, Aaron placed his hands over mine.
*******************
"There they are!" Kellie shouted as the four of us aimlessly walked through the outlet. I wasn't surprised seeing Kellie and Jackson having non-alcoholic piña coladas in the center of the outlet along with tourists.
"We've been waiting for you," Jackson said as he followed Kellie up to us. He let me take a small sip of his drink before he retracted his arm like he was hogging it. Jackson was wearing his Miami Heat basketball shirt while Kellie wore a tank top with our university sigil on the front.
"Sorry," Pierce said with an eyeroll. "We got stuck in traffic."
Aaron put his arm around my shoulders, giving his brother a snarky grin. "We didn't."
Logan reenacted Pierce's eyeroll and shoved Aaron lightly. "Stop talking shit or I'll call Jarrod up for an actual race."
Aaron shot a quick glare in Logan's direction. While Logan simply shrugged and returned it with an incredible smile. He bit his lip ring—a small giggle escaping—as he said, "Is tough Aaron scared of losing to Jarrod?"
"Who are you?" Kellie interrupted before I could learn anything more over Aaron's friends. She quickly looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "Where the hell do you keep finding hot guys? Is there a website?"
"Right," I said completely ignoring Kellie's question. I quickly introduced Logan into the group. "Kellie, Jackson, this is Lo. He's Aaron's friend."
They both looked bewildered as Logan gave them a piercing smile and a small cute hand wave. "Hi," Lo said biting his lip ring in and kicking his shoe against the pavement. I didn't take Logan as the shy kind of guy but he seemed somewhat embarrassed being placed on the spotlight.
"Aaron has friends?" Was the first question Kellie asked—causing everyone to laugh. "What I mean," She said trying to cover up her evident miswording. "I didn't know you were Aaron's friend."
"He's visiting," Aaron answered before anyone else could add anything.
"I like your tattoos man," Jackson said pointing at Lo's arm. Lo had rolled up the sleeves of his leather jacket, simply up to his elbows but it showed off enough of his arm to see the tattoos.
Logan smiled softly and rubbed his hand down his forearm. "Thanks man," He said before adding. "I love your afro. Sometimes I wish I was black just so I could work the fro."
Jackson raised an eyebrow—looking between my roommates and I—he finally said, "That's like the weirdest-nicest thing someone's ever said about my hair...I guess."
Our group decided to start walking down the outlet. The thing about having such a large group is that we inevitably all split up. Kellie would drag me into stores because she wanted to buy certain things. Pierce and Logan would run into the tech-gadget places to find something cool. Aaron would hover around us and Jackson would follow whoever interested him the most.
Lo spent a lot of time collecting small trinkets we would see as we walked by the more touristy shops. It was like being on a street market except...less bargaining. Imagine a classier street market. That basically makes up half of Bayside. Logan picked out a googly-eyed shell that was named Fred. Then he went off and bought a few small flamingos.
"I just think they all need a home," Lo said to me and he passed by some creepy spiky fish. His smile was almost contagious—radiating—as he seemed unbelievably happy just by passing by the smallest of things.
"Everything makes you happy doesn't it?"
"You'd be surprised how impacting little things can be," He answered while placing a black snapback on his head. He glanced in the mirror—the black stitching that seemed three-dimensional—popped out reading Miami. Lo ended up buying it and kept it on the entire time. It matched his checkered tank top that Pierce let him borrow.
"It's all about the butterfly effect," Lo said as we continued walking.
"Small things equal big effects," I commented.
"Exactly," He smiled lightly. "Sometimes you just have to look at everything from a different perspective and enjoy every bit of everything you have."
"For you that means buying all this random junk?"
"But it's not random junk," He pulled out Fred from his pocket. The little trinket had cost him a whooping five dollars. I could have literally found an exact same shell on the beach and with five dollars buy a whole bag of googly eyes. But Logan smiled at the souvenir like it was the best thing in the world. He put Fred on the palm of my hand and bit his lip ring, "This piece of random junk will now forever remind me of the time I was at Bayside. In Miami. With my best friend, his brother, and girlfriend. And years from now if I look back at Fred, that memory will always pop back up in my mind. I might not remember everything I did today or who I met, but I'll remember what I felt."
I was in awe. I wanted to coo at Logan for having such an enormous heart. Instead, I put Fred back into his hand with a smile. "And what do you feel Lo?"
"Happiness."
Logan walked off to catch up with the rest of our friends who were patiently waiting for him to finish shopping. I walked over to Aaron who was holding a small bag in his hands. He gave Logan an odd look at first as if asking what he did. But then Logan held up Fred which only seemed to cause Aaron to chuckle.
"What's in the bag?" I asked Aaron.
Pierce smirked beside me. He elbowed me lightly and wiggled his eyebrows, "Presents for you."
I ignored Pierce's double meaning and snapped my attention to Aaron. I don't want to sound as a selfish girlfriend that always asks for presents. I also don't want to seem ungrateful. It's not that I don't mind Aaron getting me gifts, but sometimes it makes me feel guilty seeing him spend so much when I have so little. If I could buy him as much things as he could buy me, I would. But I can't. "You bought me gifts?"
"No," Aaron obviously lied.
I grabbed Aaron's arm, "Aaron."
He slowly—idly—rolled his eyes that were suddenly looking down at me with an amused expression. The corner of his lip curled up as he lent down to whisper in my ear—preventing the rest of our friends from hearing. "I like to think of it as a 'two-way street' sort of present. It's theoretically yours and you'd wear it, but I'd enjoy it just as much if not more."
He pulled away, a wink causing my already blushing neck to turn even more red. Aaron kissed the corner of my lip even though I was too busy chewing on my cheeks and figuring out if he meant it or not. "Don't worry Birdie," He said pulling me along. "It's mutual."
I hit his arm slightly—after I had regained some common sense—but it only seemed to cause a small laugh to escape his rumbling chest. "Your pants," I muttered.
Aaron raised his eyebrow, "What about them?"
He'd never answered my statement with a question so I was caught a bit off guard. I answered with a pathetic, "Nothing."
"Hmm," He said with a shrug. "Well then, your pants."
I smirked, retorting with his own question. "What about them?"
"They'll be off tonight," He said it smoothly. And quickly. I hardly had time to register what he said but when I finally did I was glad none of my friends could hear. They'd make fun of me. And if I was being honest, I was actually excited.
"Food," Jackson groaned loudly as we caught up to him and Kellie. "I need food."
We all agreed and decided to eat at a small restaurant by the side of the bay. The view of the boats and people walking by surrounded us. It was half way through our meal that Logan stopped laughing. His phone went off several times and whenever he would look at it, a frown would crease on his forehead. Finally, he shut the phone off but his demeanor went silent. He ceased to be part of the conversation within the group.
Without Logan, it basically left Kellie, Jackson, Pierce, and I to the conversation. Aaron never quite adds anything whenever I'm around my friends. He secludes himself the way he used to do when we first met. I want to believe it's all a façade he puts up just to act as some big 'tough guy,' but after knowing him several months, I've learned that it's simply part of Aaron's personality.
"You know what I think we should do?" Kellie asked clapping her hands together when she was done with the meal. She pointed towards the bay where several boats kept coming in and out. "Let's take one of the ferries out of the bay."
"Sorry," I said finishing up my fries. "I must have forgotten my ferry driver's license at home."
Kellie gave me a deadpan face causing mine to smile. "You know I didn't mean stealing a ferry Parker."
"Doesn't that cost money?" Jackson asked as he crossed his arms. "Going on the ferries I mean."
"They're not even ferries," Pierce pointed out. "They're just like...double decker boats."
"No," I said looking at the giant boat that was docking into the side. "That's a ferry."
"Nuh huh!" Pierce argued. "It doesn't have the spin wheel thingy."
Aaron, who's arm was placed around the back of my chair, sighed out. "God I pay for your school and education you're kidding me right now, right?"
"I take linguistics," Pierce added. "Not boat class."
Aaron rolled his eyes, "You'd be the reason the Titanic sunk."
Jackson decided to steer the conversation back to where it originally was. "Ferry ride then?"
"Yeah," We all agreed quickly getting up. We all left our tip on the table—Aaron naturally over-tipping the servers. He set a bit of cash aside before following after us. When he was standing beside me I decided to snake my arm around his waist.
"You alright Logan?" Aaron asked as we bought the tickets for the ferry.
Logan looked up from the ground like we had pulled him out of his thought process. He pushed a smile. "Fine," he said quietly. I frowned, aware that he had lied.
We waited a few minutes for the ferry to finish boarding. When we were on we realized the boat was actually quite empty. At the end was a small family. The rest of the ferry was filled with tourists. Even then, there were several empty seats. The bottom floor was covered in with windows that we could look out of. But from the outside, I could tell the top deck was opened. Like Pierce said, the boat looks like a double decker bus. Except—well—it's a ferry.
"If everyone could please take their seats," The captain spoke over the intercom. "We'll begin our process towards Star Island."
Star Island, the homes of every famous actor and actress. It's an island literally made for the famous, hence, Star Island. "Do you think I'll see Malcolm Dean?" I asked Aaron enthusiastically as the ferry started to move out of the dock.
"No Birdie," Aaron shook his head. "Malcolm Dean doesn't own a house on Star Island."
I huffed, "He should."
As the ferry pulled out, Logan kept his eyes locked with outside. He watched the water around the boat intently and for a second I thought he was caught in a trance. Pierce was on the other side of the ferry, sitting with Jackson and Kellie. "I'm going to get some air," Logan finally said as he made his way over Aaron and I.
"Do you want me to join you?" Aaron asked. Logan shook his head, pushing yet another smile. He headed up the spiral stairs to the top deck before disappearing.
I frowned and turned to face my boyfriend, "Is he ok?"
Aaron hesitated for a second. Finally, he sighed out and said, "Logan has depression. I don't talk about it because it's his life. Not mine. But he told me he showed you his scars."
Aaron licked his lips and locked his eyes with mine. For a second I think the both of us forgot what he was about to say. It took him a moment longer to remember but he finally added quietly, "Logan doesn't trust that many people with seeing his scars. They're not hard to miss if you're looking for them. But if he voluntarily shows you then that's surprising. He really likes you."
I smiled softly, "You're his best friend, which is why he took a liking to me."
"No," Aaron shook his head. "No one can resist my Birdie. You're too easy to talk to for him to pass up the ability to reveal a secret he likes to keep hidden."
"Maybe you should talk to him," I added.
"I would," Aaron said. "But he came here to clear his head. I don't want to fog it up."
"Maybe I should go talk to him," I concluded.
Aaron hesitated, "If you want to."
I licked my lips—contemplating what to do. It's not like I've known Logan for a long time. He was supposed to go back home in a day or two. But I did take a liking to him. He was funny and easy going. Seeing someone so friendly crash down so hard made me wonder how. Aaron watched me intently as I walked up the spiral staircase to the upper deck.
At the end of the boat, Logan was leaning against the railing and staring down at the water. There were a few people on the top deck. The smell of the ocean mixed with the combination of light salt water spray made it feel amazing. There was a breeze that turned into wind as the ferry moved faster through the water. The intercom went off as the captain started telling facts over where we're located and why Bayside is such an amazing outlet.
"Hey," I said lightly punching Logan's arm as I took a spot next to him. I asked again, "You ok?"
He was staring down at his phone that he quickly slipped into his front pocket. "Yeah," He crossed his arms over the railing. "Peachy."
I smirked, "Liar."
Logan looked at me through the corner of his eyes. His own lips going up into a soft and almost nonexistent smile. He leaned further onto the railing, putting his chin on his hands causing his butt to stick out. I moved closer to him, "What's wrong?"
He closed his eyes and shrugged, "I came to Miami to get away from certain things. They only seem to be trailing along."
I took the opportunity to ask, "Why did you come?"
"A lot of reasons," he said just like he had told Aaron. Logan stood back up and leaned over the railing slightly. He was staring at the waves underneath as they swirled behind the ferry. I put my hand on his bicep when he started to lurch even more over the railing. I gulped, realizing he had fazed out. His happy eyes became sullen and empty. Logan looked like he aged about ten years in a span of thirty seconds. His face pale and his knuckles white from gripping onto the railing.
When he looked back at me, he pushed a smile as he bit his lip ring. The color coming back to his face. "I'm having issues with a girl," He finally said.
I raised my eyebrow—trying to lighten the mood. "Oh yeah?" I asked nudging myself closer to him. It wasn't the same thing he had told Aaron on the balcony, but I guess it was one of the many reasons he was visiting. "What kind? Maybe I can help."
Logan hesitated before sighing out, "She has a boyfriend. And they've been together for a long time."
"So?"
Lo chuckled, "So I'm the asshole that loves her and is trying to break them apart."
I frowned, "Does she like you back?"
He scoffed, "I like to think so. But I guess not."
I wasn't sure what else to tell him. I wasn't exactly aware of the whole situation. Before I could comment further, we both turned when we heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Kellie and Jackson appeared, smiles on their faces. They waved at us as they walked past Logan and I.
"Pierce and Aaron are talking," Kellie said with a shrug. "We got bored."
Jackson gave me a begging look. He was standing behind Kellie so when he flicked his head for Logan and I to move she didn't notice. I placed my arm on Logan's hand even though he also saw the gesture. "We're going to sit down for a while," I said pulling Logan away. "You two enjoy the view."
Kellie seemed horrified for a moment. Her eyes wide even though I wiggled my eyebrows at her. This was it, this was when they were finally going to talk it out. It had to be. I've been shipping these two since the day I met them. Come on.
Logan and I took our seats on the plastic bench two rows in front of an elderly couple. I made sure we were facing Kellie and Jackson's direction. I wasn't going to let them off this boat until they admitted their feelings for each other. Their little game was starting to make me tired.
"I think Aaron loves you," Logan bluntly stated.
I quickly jerked my head in his direction—my heart skipping a beat. "What?"
Logan gave me a brilliant smile, "Your jacket."
I put my hands on the end of the leather jacket Aaron gave me. "What about it?"
"When we were young," Logan said leaning back on the bench. His gaze wandering away. "We all got matching jackets. We did it to show other people we're friends. Each of us in our group has a leather jacket just like we all have a tattoo. The jacket is obviously more visible. And it was more of a parting gift so that whenever we'd wear them we'd remember each other. Our tattoos were more symbolism of our brotherhood."
I decided not to interrupt as Logan continued, "When we first got the jackets we started talking. The four of us sitting around and making wishes we didn't think would come true. It was typical campfire talk except minus the campfire. Anyways, we all said that our girlfriends or wives would also wear leather jackets. We placed bets on what kind of girls we'd each end up with. Aaron's girl would be like him—the glue. She'd hold everyone together. So I guess that's you. My girlfriend and Jarrod's girlfriend would hate each other. Just like he and I used to fight all the time. And Mason's girlfriend, she would be the soft-spoken but ridiculously witty one—like him."
Logan turned to face me and smile, "Then we made a pact. Whenever we find that perfect girl we said we'd end up with, we'd give them our iconic leather jacket. It symbolizes you're part of the group. I'm surprised Aaron gave it to you. But the fact he did...it screams a lot to me. To us. When he showed our group—we were stunned."
I was stunned. All I could do was sit there motionless as Logan told me the story. Everything I've learned about Aaron has been from people but Aaron. I suddenly felt my heart swell. Wearing the jacket should have scared me even more now but it didn't. It made me prideful—and happy. Before now, I thought it was just Aaron's favorite choice of clothing. Now I realized it was much much more than that. It was his way of making me a part of his life. I smiled.
"Thanks Logan," I said biting my lip as I sat there with a silly smile on my face.
My eyes fell on Kellie and Jackson. My hand instantly went to touch Logan's causing him to look up as well. We both watched—me holding my breath and Logan grinning while biting his lip ring—Kellie and Jackson leaned forward. I squealed when they kissed. I guess they didn't hear me. The water crashing against the boat and the seagulls flying overhead as the captain told us all to look left must have drowned out my squeal. They didn't seem to hear me, but I like to think it was because they were lost with one another.
Just like I find myself completely lost in Aaron.
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Disclaimer: I'm taking a gap year :) But I will be attending Uni in fall of 2018
Sorry for the late update!!! I have family in town for my graduation and grad parties are taking up a lot of mine time. It's stupid, but hey, I only graduate once. I'm officially off school though! So whoooo!
Next chapter will be more eventful...I promise. Any ideas on what Valentines gift Parker should get Aaron? I legit can't think of anything lol. Other than that, keep the comments and votes flowing. They make me super happy. Let me know what you guys think!!!
Till next time
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