It gets late, and the party winds down. Kent and Gabby are among the last to go, Ellen sleeping with her face smushed into Gabby’s shoulder. That leaves behind only Raj, Noah, and Melanie, who head out shortly after.

I close the door behind them, then turn to face the house. Aunt Sarah has already gone to bed, but - Aiden is missing again.

I find him in his room, sitting on his bed, staring out through the open window. I stop in the doorway, just looking at him.

Aiden tips his head to the side, listening. He must hear that I’m close, because his eyes drift away from the window, and find me.

I come over to sit with him, rest my head on his shoulder. He ruffles my hair, then winds an arm around me. He’s quiet now, tired out from his laughter, his blue eyes blinking slowly. But I can read his happiness in every subtlety and nuance of his breathing, his expression.

I nuzzle my nose into his neck, and he closes his eyes. A drizzle begins to sift down outside, whispering softly against the trees. The rich scent of old leaves and wet earth rises up to Aiden’s window. I breathe it in deeply, and can tell that Aiden is doing the same.

“You want to go home?” he asks. “Or - I mean - to my place?”

I nod, and he buries a kiss in my hair. Takes my hand, draws me to my feet.

Before we step out into the rain, Aiden zips both the hat and Ripley’s drawing into his jacket, so that they don’t get wet. We walk down the driveway together. The wild poppies that spring up at the edges of the concrete dance in the wind, and the clouds overhead give a blurred, painted texture to the sky. I get the feeling that we’re in for a storm tonight, after a crystal clear day.

Aiden drives, one hand folded around mine on the console. I’m just as tired as he is, and the gentle hum of the engine combines with the rain on the windshield to make a soothing sound. My eyes drift closed.

I wake up to Aiden leaning in through the open car door, giving my shoulder a soft squeeze. I stir, then climb out, yawning. Raindrops smack onto my face, cold little shocks that bring me back into full consciousness.

I look up at the clouds again. “Think there’s gonna be a st-”

A flash of lightning briefly throws our surroundings into sharp relief. Thunder follows fast on its heels, and the rain begins to pick up.

Aiden seizes my hand, locks the car, and runs for Kent’s house. I sprint after him, gasping. We just make it inside before the rain starts pouring down in waves. We both burst into ragged laughter, and I sink into Aiden’s arms.

He’s smiling as he presses me up against the front door. His fingers curl beneath my chin. He tips my face up to his, then treats me to a long, slow, thorough kiss.

“Upstairs?” he murmurs, and I nod mutely, grasping two handfuls of his shirt.

We do a sort of stumbling, kissing, grabbing journey through the living room, then practically fall into the kitchen, laughing and shushing each other.

“Um!" someone says.

We whip around to find Kent and Gabby, both in their pajamas.

Gabby is perched on the kitchen counter, and Kent is standing between her knees, his arm wrapped around her. He’s looking at us over his shoulder, one of Gabby’s hands still buried in his hair.

They have comically matching oh-shit-busted expressions on their faces.

“Hey, guys!” Kent says breathlessly, feeling around on the counter for his glasses, which are in fact on the kitchen table. “Um, we-”

“We forgot you weren’t home yet,” Gabby cuts in, then gets a better look at us, how we’re still half-tangled together. “What are you two doing?”

“Nothing,” Aiden says. “What were you two doing?”

“Nothing,” Kent answers. His hair is sticking up at wild angles, and there’s a smear of Gabby’s coral lipstick on his cheek.

We all four stare at each other, then burst into collective laughter.

Kent points to the door. “Go do nothing upstairs!”

“You heard the boss,” I tell Aiden, taking his hand.

“Oh, wait!” Gabby calls, as I pull the door open. “It’s really raining, there’s an umbrella by the-”

Aiden and I are already outside, and we gasp in the sudden onslaught, too late to heed Gabby’s warning. She sighs deeply from behind us.

“We hired those two,” I hear her tell Kent. “Uncoerced.”

“Are we stupid?” he asks, and their laughter is drowned out by another rumble of thunder.

“Rude!” I yell into the house, then shut the door after us. “Shit, Aiden, the drawing, and the hat-!”

“I left them in the car, just go, go!”

We race up the stairs, then press ourselves flat against the sliding glass door, gasping, watching the rain crash down.

"Again?" I groan, slicking my drenched hair out of my face. “Why do we always end up like this?”

Aiden opens his mouth to answer, then pauses, distracted by a clicking sound from somewhere by our feet. We both look down.

There’s a small glass bottle, tucked up against the door. Aiden must have knocked his foot into it. He bends down and scoops it up, turning it over so we can read the label.

It’s a bottle of hot sauce, boasting a ridiculously intense kick, the logo a circle of flames. It’s full, unopened, the plastic seal uncracked.

“Why is that out here?”

“I don’t know, but - this brand...” A frown slowly comes over Aiden’s face. “It’s like - an inside joke I had with Ralph.”

“Oh. Does he know that it’s your birthday?”

Aiden looks up at me, arching an eyebrow.

“I mean, yeah, he does, we’ve known each other since we were - wait, what are you saying? You think he left me a present?”

Aiden sounds doubtful, and I don’t blame him, but...

“What’s your explanation, if it isn’t that?”

“I don’t…” He fades off, then shakes his head. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to worry about this right now. I’m having like, a perfect day, so-” He cuts himself off, catching the look on my face. “What?”

“Perfect day,” I repeat, grinning widely. “After all the Jamie, please, I don’t want to have fun on my birthday-”

“Okay, that is not what I said,” Aiden laughs, and then, seeing me shiver - “Come on.”

He pushes open the sliding glass door, letting us into the warmth of his little apartment. We stop right inside, pulling off our soaked shoes and socks. The malachite plant shifts on the desk, the leaves turning to face Aiden, always seeking him out.

A tropism I share with this particular plant.

I used to think that Aiden kept his place so sparse, but now I see signs of him everywhere. A snapback resting on the couch. A box of teabags, out on the counter. The map, folded up on his desk. His apartment is so him that when I walk into it, I feel gathered up into his arms.

I turn to look at him, and he takes two fistfuls of my flannel, bending to put his mouth to mine.

I find myself walked slowly backwards all the way into Aiden’s bedroom. He doesn’t stop kissing me, not for one step of the way there. The only sound is the rain, and our breaths.

“Mmm, I love you,” I murmur against his lips. “I’ve been holding it in for so long, sometimes I forget that it’s cool for me to say it.”

Aiden huffs out a soft laugh. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

Nimble fingers slip beneath my jacket, slide it from my shoulders. It catches around my elbows, and I let it drop to the floor. Aiden takes my face in his hands, backing me towards the bed.

He stops abruptly, looking down at his night table. There’s a book sitting there, and he frowns at it.

“Is that yours? It wasn’t here this morning.”

“No,” I answer. “It’s yours.”

It takes Aiden a moment to realize what I mean. “You got me a present? I thought the party was my present.”

“Well, it was, but I had to get you something to keep, too.”

“So you left it on my night table?”

“I - didn’t want to be here when you found it, cause it’s embarrassing-”

“Oh, yay,” he says happily, reaching for it.

“Fuck!” My cheeks are already turning crimson. “I thought we were going back to my place tonight!”

“Well, you thought wr-” Aiden breaks off mid-sentence, looking at the cover.

I got him a book by that poet he likes. It’s a different set of poems than the ones in the used volume he bought in Berlin. Aiden stares down at it, smiling.

“Aw.” He looks up at me, traces an affectionate thumb over my jaw, and lets the book fall open in his hand. “This is so sweet, why are you embarrassed about-?”

His eyes land on the first poem, where I’ve used a pen to underline the very last part.

This is the closest thing I can draw to a map.

With you on one end and me on the other

and no space between.

Underneath, I’ve scribbled:

Aiden,

You are my map.

Happy birthday. I love you.

He stares at it for like, a long time. The longer he looks, the redder and redder my cheeks get. I press my fingers against them, hoping the residual raindrops on my hands will cool them down.

It absolutely does not work, and when Aiden finally looks up, he lets out a startled laugh. He lets go of the book, which stays floating where it is.

“Breathe, Jamie,” he purrs, putting his nose to mine, taking my face in his hands again.

The low, husky rumble of his voice rolls through me, making my toes curl.

“Whew. Okay. I’m all good. I’m totally cool, totally fine.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re fine, but what about me?” Aiden bites down gently on my lip. “I can’t fucking believe you ambushed me with that inscription. Can I have about two years to go away and process that?”

“Um,” I answer, as he starts brushing kisses up the length of my jaw. “I don’t fucking think so, no. Request denied.”

“Mmm, I can do what I want, it’s my birthday.”

“It’s actually 12:01, Callahan, and your birthday weekend is officially over. Now, gimme the book, so I can burn the evidence.”

I move to go get it, but Aiden catches me by the front of my flannel. He yanks me back to him, and my hands sprawl on his chest. His lips part against mine, one of his hands pushing up into my hair. I melt beneath his touch, let him back me up until my knees hit the bed. We fall into it, tangled together.

“Aiden, our clothes - we’re gonna get your bed all wet!”

“Oh no,” he says, kissing me down into the covers.

I dissolve into laughter, and into his arms.

~~~~

He falls asleep with his head on my chest. I lay awake, trailing my fingers through his hair, unwound and drowsy, listening to the rain. Aiden is heavy, but that’s okay. I like his weight on me, and I’m cocooned in his warmth.

I’m having like, a perfect day.

I can’t believe he said that. I’ll have to think of something equally fun for next year. And the year after.

This is the first birthday Aiden and I have celebrated together, but something tells me it definitely won't be the last.

~~~~

Last night was so perfect, and I was in a great mood all morning. But now, sitting here outside of the exhibition space, my frustration is starting to overtake everything else. I sit back on my heels, frowning to myself, my knees sinking into the soil.

I turn my head, hearing Aiden come up behind me.

“Hi,” he says. “Noah and Mellie just got here, we’re going to - what’s the matter?”

I blow out an irritated sigh.

“I’m having a really hard time figuring out what to do with this garden. I don’t want to plant a bunch of things that are going to die when the temperature drops like, two more degrees.” I tip my head back and groan loudly. “I just want it to look beautiful for the opening.”

“Hey, it’s fine.” Aiden pulls me to my feet. “We’ll think of something. Take a break. It’s cold out here, and I could use your help inside. We just found more boxes of junk in one of the closets. Noah’s helping me get them out, but it’ll go faster with the three of us.”

I follow him inside, where Melanie is standing with her notebook, scribbling something down.

“Hi, guys!” She shoots us a quick smile, but her eyes go right back to what she’s doing. “I’m making a list of the damaged walls we still need to fix up, but let’s get those boxes out of here first. Raj can’t come until later, anyways. He’s working a job.”

“We’re all over it,” Aiden tells her, leading me through to the smaller room.

Noah is there, dragging boxes out of the closet.

“Hey,” he says, straightening up and scooping his hair back. He winds an elastic around it, surveying the pile of stuff we have to take out. “Man, whoever used this place last must have been chased out by the fucking cops, because they didn’t take any of their shit with them.”

“Well, it’ll be a good day for any amateur actors trawling the thrift store,” I answer, looking down into a box of costumes.

Noah laughs, then groans.

“Yeah, good thing Raj isn’t here. He’d probably see this stuff and want to stage some kind of impromptu production, or...”

Noah fades off, his gaze moving over my shoulder. I turn to see Melanie standing in the doorway, staring at him with a strange expression on her face.

“Noah?” she says.

He looks back at her, his grey eyes warm and smiling. “Yeah?”

“My - my water just broke.”

Noah freezes, and my hands fly up to my mouth. Aiden, who was crouching to look through the boxes, snaps upright.

There’s a silence, and then Melanie reaches for Noah.

He gives himself a shake, and goes to her. She seizes his tattooed hand, gripping it hard.

“Aiden, Jamie.” Noah’s voice is surprisingly calm. He uses his free hand to feel around in his pocket, then tosses Aiden a set of keys. Aiden catches them automatically, his eyes wide. “At the house, there’s a bag of stuff right inside the door. Can you go get it, then meet us at the hospital?”

“No,” Melanie says sharply, her face suddenly pale. “Wait, no, this can’t - I can’t - I don’t want to.”

Noah hesitates, then wraps an arm around her shoulders. She leans into him, shivering.

“Everything is gonna be fine, I promise,” he says softly. “You know you’re sick of carrying this baby around, anyways. Don’t pretend you aren’t. I’ve only heard you say it five hundred times in the last day and a half.”

He gives her braid a gentle tug, and Melanie lets out a shaky laugh. She closes her eyes, swallows, and nods.

“You okay to walk?” Noah murmurs. She nods again. “Okay. We’ll call Raj from the car. Aiden, can you help her get there? I’m just gonna - get her purse, and-”

“Yeah, of course!” Aiden darts forward, and Melanie falls into step by his side, moving slowly.

The second they’re gone, Noah’s face goes completely blank. He stands there kneading his palm, and only now do I realize that his fingers are trembling. Or maybe he didn’t let them until Melanie left the room.

He turns to me with wild, panicked eyes.

“Noah.” I step closer, rest my hand on his back. “She’ll be okay.”

He nods, runs a shaking hand over his mouth, and strides for the door.

“You’ll meet us there?” he calls, glancing at me over his shoulder.

I pull my car keys out of my pocket, rushing after him. “We’ll be right behind you!”

“Okay.” Noah lets out a breath, then shouts: “Let’s fucking go, dude! Rajling imminent!”

I let out a startled laugh, and Noah bends to grab Melanie’s purse.

We burst out of the exhibition building and run for our cars.