Aiden and I stand together in stunned silence, absorbing our discovery.

Ripley. It makes sense, now that it’s hit me.

He works at City Hall, which means that he has access to information no one would bother to keep under lock and key - like the coding system for marking the trees.

The paint stains, scrubbed from Ripley’s hands the day after this happened. The tiny smile on his face when Alix was talking about how amazing she thought the artwork was.

A second realization rises in my mind, close on the heels of the first.

“Oh my god, Aiden. Melanie was right. Ripley has the most game out of anyone in the group.”

Aiden finally breaks his gaze from the trees, turning to look at me. “What?”

“Alix - she told Ripples that this grove was special to her, that she was upset about the trees coming down!”

“Holy shit. So he came here in the middle of the night and staged a fucking guerrilla art protest, and got the work shut down for months?” Aiden blinks rapidly, then gives a sort of impressed nod of his head. “Damn. Respect, Ripples. Although - Alix doesn’t even know that it was him, does she?”

“I bet he didn’t do it to earn points with Alix, he probably just…” I shrug at Aiden. “Did it because he cares about her? And I don’t think that this is solely about Alix, either.” I press my fingers to my temples, realizing as I speak. “Oh, my fucking - I asked Ripley if he wants to go into politics, and he said yes, but not the kind that Gabby does.”

Aiden looks back to the dripping letters. “Well, he’s definitely got his own style, doesn’t he?”

“I can’t believe that he hasn’t let one word slip about it, this whole time,” I mutter, and Aiden huffs out a soft laugh.

“Of course you can’t, because your secret-keeping skills are-” He stops, suddenly troubled. “Jamie - you know that you can’t tell anyone about this, even by accident? Ripley could get in huge trouble.”

“Don’t worry.” I weave my fingers through Aiden’s. “Doing the heist has gotten me pretty good at diversion where I can’t lie. Except with you. Never seem to wiggle out of it, with you.”

“Perfect.” Aiden smiles, squeezing my hand. “Let’s keep that as it is, please.”

I lean into him, and we take another moment to look at Ripley’s artwork.

My heart twists, imagining it all crashing down. When trees this size fall, they all but liquefy the soil, sending the critters scattering. Some of these trees could be a few hundred years old. There could be creatures living in the canopies who haven’t come down in generations.

They’ll all be coming down tomorrow, though.

I turn my gaze on the massive metal frames of the vehicles parked nearby. They’re silent for now, barely visible through the blackness of night. Waiting to wake up and sink their teeth into wood and bark.

The thought sends a stab of pain through me. I release Aiden’s fingers and walk closer to the parked cutters and chippers. Aiden follows behind me.

“Man, it sucks that Ripley did this incredible thing to try and save these trees, and it’s not going to work.” I place my hand on the freezing metal of the nearest machine. “Hope that’s not - super discouraging for him, or whatever.”

Aiden falls silent, working through his thoughts before he answers.

“You want me to do something?”

His blue eyes are lingering on the machines, but still, it takes me a moment to parse what he’s talking about.

“To these?” I nod at the nearest vehicle, the one my hand is pressed against. “What do you mean, do something? Something with magic?”

“Yeah.” Aiden shrugs his shoulders. “I could break them. Accidentally exploding stuff is basically my specialty.”

“Your specialty is heat and light, Heliomancer.”

“Regardless, I could definitely break something. Easily.”

This is a thought that hadn’t occurred to me, and for a second, I’m kind of tempted.

“You would be okay with doing that?” I ask, and Aiden hesitates.

“If - if it would make you happy.”

Something pressed deeply into my memory rises to the top: what Aunt Sarah said to me after Aiden admitted that I knew about his magic, and that we were officially together.

I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’ll give you anything you want. It’s on you to make sure that he doesn’t.

Aiden made the offer unprompted, but it’s obvious that he’s not comfortable with this. He’s avoiding my eyes, and his fingers are fidgeting in his pockets. I can see the movement through the fabric.

“You don’t like this idea.” I don’t phrase it as a question, because it isn't. “Not at all.”

“I…” Aiden nibbles his lip. “I just…”

“Hey.” I trace a fingertip down the side of his face, then tap his nose. “We’re not doing anything that you’re uncomfortable with, okay? Which means we’re not doing this.”

I turn and head for the chain-link fence, my footsteps crunching on icy leaves. Aiden lingers by the machines, then comes after me. With his long legs, it takes him about two seconds to catch up.

The fireflies dissipate behind him, blowing away on the wind.

“Are you sure?” His voice sounds strangely guilty. “Honestly, I can-”

“Aiden, yes.” I try to channel that firm voice that he does so well. “I’m sure.”

The more I think about this, the more I’m realizing that it’s a terrible idea, anyway. What if people find out that Ripley is the vandal, and blame him for breaking the equipment, too? Besides, it would probably be a nightmare for Gabby, and the workers could get hurt on the broken machinery… yeah, no. This isn’t happening.

I’m concerned that Aiden might argue with me about it, so I hook my foot into the fence, scaling it much more quickly than I did the first time. By the time Aiden drops down after me, I’m already crossing the street, striding back to my car.

It’s only when he makes it to his side of the car that I get a glimpse of his expression, and he does not look happy. I’m about to ask him what’s wrong, but he gets into the car without a word.

Is he - mad at me? He seems pissed off, but I didn't get a long enough look at his face to tell for sure.

I pull us back onto the road. There’s a growl from the ancient engine, and the metallic ping of kicked-up gravel hitting the undercarriage, but otherwise - silence.

This is not one of those relaxed, cozy silences that Aiden and I usually share. This one is weird, and uneasy.

The marked trees disappear into the folds of the landscape. I glance up at them one last time in the rearview, then notice that Aiden is watching me.

He turns away and stares out through the window, chewing on his thumbnail.

I don’t know what to say, and the silence stretches on and on. It follows us all the way back to my place.

I get out and lock the car. Aiden gets out, too, then stops by the passenger’s side door, hesitating.

It takes me a second, but I figure out why. When I do, I just stand there, staring at him. I’m trying to figure out where we went so wildly off-course tonight that now Aiden isn’t sure if I want him in my apartment.

Misreading the pause I take, he nods slowly, as if to say that’s what I thought. He steps up onto the sidewalk and sets off in the direction of Kent's house. Without even a kiss or a hug goodbye, or anything.

Now I’m starting to get mad, myself. What the fuck is happening, right now? Are we having a fight? And if so, why, exactly? Because I wouldn’t let him do something he didn’t want to do, anyways?

I could let him walk away, and maybe I would if he was anyone else, but - I can’t do it. Not with Aiden. He’s my Companion Plant.

I rush to catch up to him, and snag his hand. He turns, dark eyebrows arching in surprise. I meet his gaze with mine, and hold it. I give his fingers a very gentle tug.

Aiden seems taken aback, but he doesn’t say anything. Only falls into step behind me, and lets me lead him up the stairs to my apartment.

~~~~

I close the door after us, then turn to lean back against it.

Aiden stops in the entryway, biting his lip. Normally he would already have his shoes and jacket off. He’d be crossing the living room, on his way to open one of the windows.

I move past him, taking the path that he usually takes. If he’s not going to open the window, I’ll do it for him.

As soon as I do, Aiden draws in a deep inhale, like he was trapped in a jar with an airtight lid.

I take one, too. I needed it. The air between us feels pressurized, electric in all the wrong ways.

It dawns on me that we haven’t spoken a word to each other since we got back into my car. I could almost laugh. Even when we’re fighting, Aiden and I have entire conversations in complete silence.

Or - are we fighting? I’m not sure what the hell is going on.

Aiden drifts over to join me by the window, then closes his eyes as the wind sweeps a cool chill into my apartment. It breaks gently against our faces, and I think it’s a mercy to both of us. I’m extremely stressed out, and my cheeks are on fire.

“Why are you mad at me?” I blurt out.

“I’m so sorry,” Aiden says, at the same time.

We stop, staring at each other, confused.

“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at myself, I…” Aiden takes another deep breath, then says, all in a rush - “I fucking hate disappointing you.”

He drops his gaze to the windowsill, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

“Disappointing me,” I repeat, somehow even more lost than I was before.

“Yeah, like - if you wanted me to do that,” he says miserably, still not looking at me, “But you changed your mind because I wasn’t - because I didn’t want-”

“Aiden,” I interrupt, taking his face in my hands. Again, I could almost laugh. “Is that what this is about? Oh, my god. You didn’t disappoint me. Not at all.”

He lifts his gaze over my head, tipping his head back and blinking hard.

“I saw you look in the rearview, dude, and I know how bummed out you are that Ripley isn’t going to get the result he wanted from this, and-”

“Hey.” I drop my hands to Aiden’s chest. “Listen to me. That was not a good idea. I wasn’t just saying that to make you feel better. As for Ripley - he’s younger than us, yes, but he’s his own person, and he clearly doesn’t need us to baby him. We both know him better than to think that losing one fight will be enough to make him give up.”

Aiden absorbs what I said, then finally looks at me, his blue eyes searching mine.

“You mean it? You’re not disappointed?”

“Seriously, that idea only sounded good to me for like, one second. Not even. If anything, I’m upset that you tried to pretend to be okay with it.” I frown up at him, a little hurt. “You promised me, man. Before the heist, you promised to say something if anyone on the team asked you to use your magic in a way that made you uncomfortable.”

“I know, and I’m really sorry, I...” Aiden cringes with his whole face, his shoulders sagging. “I just-”

“Even if I was disappointed that you didn’t want to, you still should have said no!” I continue heatedly. “I could have been mad at you about it, and even then, you shouldn’t have done it, if it made you feel uncomfortable! I love you so much, and the last thing I want is for you to ever feel like you have to-”

“Jamie,” Aiden cuts in, a small smile turning up his lips. “I love it when you shout at me about how much you love me, honestly, I do, but - your neighbors are gonna hear this if it gets any louder.”

I clasp my hands over my mouth, only now realizing the volume I’ve climbed to. Aiden lets out a soft laugh, gliding his fingers along my jaw.

My heart stutters, but I’m not about to let him get us off track.

“Aiden. You promised me.”

“I know.” Aiden skates his thumb over my cheek. His eyes lock with mine, his pupils dilating as he gazes down at me. “It’s just… you’re hard to say no to, Keane.”

My heart lifts into my throat, my cheeks burning an even deeper shade of crimson than they were before.

“Well, I don’t care,” I stammer, as Aiden bows his head, bringing our faces together. “You - you have to figure out how to do it.” His lips are so close to mine, but I force myself to put a finger over them, stopping him. “I mean it! Even if it’s hard for you, I want you to work on it. Please.”

Aiden is silent for a moment, but he nods. I let out a relieved breath, then drop my finger.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “You still love me?”

I nuzzle my nose into his. “Nope.”

He huffs out an indignant laugh. I feel the warmth of it against my mouth.

Something hungry and restless and white-hot stirs in my chest. Even right now, in the middle of this.

I lean into Aiden. His breath catches as I slip my tongue between his slightly parted lips. His fingers curve around the back of my head, sliding into my hair.

I started this, but Aiden takes over. He pulls my body into his, and soon all I can do is flatten my palms against his chest and try to keep myself standing.

When he draws away, he leans his head back at an angle, looking down at me with incendiary blue eyes.

Silence falls over my apartment again, but this silence is so much better than the earlier one. It’s broken up with our stumbling footsteps, our mingled breaths. The soft zzzp of Aiden’s zipper riding down between my fingers, the rustle of clothes hastily dropped to the floor, the muffled sound of us falling together into the bed.

I’m lost to my surroundings, all my focus taken up by Aiden, the small movements of his body, the easy strength of his powerful muscles, the way he bends over me to put the tip of his tongue to mine. But...

I want the promise again. If he’s going to try again, I want to hear it again.

“Aiden,” I manage. “Promise me that you’ll try - try to get better at saying no - when you don’t want-”

My words dissolve into a whimper as his hand slides down my body. He's watching me shudder beneath him, watching me struggle to speak. The fire burning in his eyes flares brilliantly.

“I promise,” he purrs, his voice dropped low and heavy. He keeps his elbow braced in the bedding by my head, but lifts a hand to smooth my hair out of my face. His other hand is moving slowly, sending shivers of pleasure up into my body. “I promise, I’ll keep trying.”

I can tell that he means it.

The promise secured, I let myself surrender completely to the blissful haze that is loving Aiden.

In the cool dark of my bedroom, there is hard panting, then whispered words, breathless sounds, a soft moan. A gripped handful of the comforter. The pads of his fingers stroking the small bones of my face. Our bare legs tangled together, the moonlight on his calves and his broad shoulders, his glossy chestnut hair. His hand spread on my sternum, pinning me down. Then mine on his, our eyes meeting up the length of his body, his heaving chest.

And, eventually, there are two shattered mugs, reduced to shimmering piles of ceramic on my dresser.

Aiden falls asleep with one arm curled tightly around me. I’m tired out, feeling secure and cozy in his embrace. Sleep is coming for me, but for a few minutes, I lay awake, gazing at the glittering remains of the mugs.

I feel even closer to Aiden than I ever have before.

Something tells me that the mugs will be among the last things we break this way.