Aiden is taking a break by the window when I step into the Bright Future building.

He’s sitting back on his elbows, his long legs stretched out, his chestnut hair disorganized in that sexy way it gets. His head is tipped back, because he’s lounging in the sunlight, absorbing it into his bronze skin. The strong line of his jaw is already coated with a dark layer of stubble. He wore regular clothes, not work clothes, since we’ll be at the exhibition space all day.

When he lifts his head to look at me, the combination of his shining blue eyes with his ice-blue t-shirt is enough to briefly stop my heart.

He smiles at me, and it stops all over again.

"Hi," he says, the rumble of his deep voice reaching me across the room.

“God!” I sputter, already crossing to him. “Hi.”

I sit down cross-legged next to Aiden, facing him. I hand him the coffee I brought for him and lean forward to kiss his forehead, but he tips his face up, catches my lips with his. Keeps them there for a long, breathless moment.

I can feel my cheeks burning by the time Aiden pulls back.

“Mmm.” His blue eyes flutter open, bright and warm. “You sound nice. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I just - nothing.” I pluck at my sleeve, not about to tell him that it’s purely because he looks nice. “You’re ridiculous, that’s all.”

“Me?” Aiden’s eyebrows shoot up. “I’m ridiculous? I had to wash cookie dough out of my hair last night, because of you.”

“Are you saying that was my fault?” My eyes widen in disbelief. “I’m not the one who came home all-”

“I wouldn’t have come in like that if you hadn’t left me that note!”

“I wouldn’t have left you the note if you hadn’t brought me those newspaper copies!”

Aiden makes a puzzled face at me. “Was that… sexy, though?”

I think of Aiden in his office, swamped with work, but still taking the time to set aside everything that made him think of me, everything he thought I’d want to see.

“Yes,” I say firmly, and Aiden huffs out a baffled laugh.

“Whatever.” He takes a handful of my shirt, draws me in for another kiss. “You weird freak.”

I make an indignant sound, and Aiden breathes out another soft, low laugh. It breaks against my mouth.

Sweet memories of last night flood into my mind, making me blush even deeper. I remember soaking up the heat of Aiden's body. My lips skating down the muscled planes of his chest as my hands went elsewhere. The way he broke into soft, breathless curses, his velvet voice purring in my ear.

“I was still thinking about last night when I woke up," I admit quietly. "I - was thinking about it all morning, actually."

Aiden draws back and looks at me, biting his lip. I see embers of that azure fire in his blue eyes, and feel certain that he was still thinking about it, too.

I give myself a little shake, trying to come back to the present.

“Everything going smoothly?” I ask, taking a sip of my coffee. “You wrangling everyone okay?”

Aiden opens his mouth to answer, right as the hallway door crashes open. Ripley comes sprinting through, a blur of laughter and green curls. Noah is right on his heels. He makes a swipe for Ripley with a tattooed hand. Ripley dodges it, lets out another burst of laughter as he escapes through the open front door.

“Punkass kid!” Noah yells after him, then swings around to face us. “You busy, Aiden? I got something I need taken care of.”

“Sorry, Noosh, but I need Ripples alive." Aiden gets to his feet, then offers a hand to help me up. "At least until this exhibition is over.”

“The mouth on that guy.” Noah is trying hard to look insulted, but I can see the laughter in his eyes. “He'd have made a formidable addition to the crew, back in the day.”

I remember Aiden and his group as they were in high school. Ralph, master manipulator, the expert at finding ways to get under your skin, able to cut you in half with words. Grant, the watchman and scout, gathering intel for the others. Noah, the wildcard, with his unpredictable, haywire, barely roped-in energy. Taking lightning-fast, hairpin turns just to park the car at a party, working the wheel with a cig in his mouth. Throwing up sparks where metal met asphalt.

And Aiden, the silent machine of pure muscle, towering over everyone, his burning blue gaze like a blowtorch. The undisputed leader of the pack.

I’d say the crew was formidable enough, with the members it had.

“Used to be a time when no one would dare run their mouth at me like that,” Noah complains. “People around here better not think I’m going soft.”

I take a look at Noah. He’s in a thin, torn-up t-shirt, which reveals all of the elaborate tattoos from his biceps to his fingers. The sunlight slides down the ornate designs, catching on the piercings studded all over his face and ears. His jet-black hair is up in a bun, although some of it tumbles free to frame his face.

He actually looks more intimidating now than he did in high school. But his eyes are different. Lit warmly from within, two glowing grey halos.

Aiden must be thinking along the same lines.

He arches an eyebrow at Noah. “Are you going soft?”

Noah throws his arms wide and beckons with his fingers in a you wanna go? kind of way. A gesture completely undercut by Raj, who comes through the door and immediately mistakes it as an invitation for a hug. He wraps his arms around Noah, pops a kiss onto his temple.

“Hey, you,” he says affectionately, twisting his fingers through an escaped strand of Noah’s hair.

Noah catches the twin grins on mine and Aiden’s faces. He gives us a dark look.

“Nobody say anything,” he warns. “And you’re one to talk, Aiden, because I happen to know that you-”

He breaks off abruptly as Aiden levels his unblinking blue gaze on him.

“Go ahead, Noosh,” Aiden tells him, very calmly. “Say what you were gonna say.”

“Fuck no, dude. Jesus Christ. Think I just saw my life flash before my eyes. I'd rather stay on the right side of the grass.” Noah pauses, then lets out a laugh. "You're still so good at that shit. It's fucking terrifying."

Aiden wraps an arm around my shoulder and takes a sip of his coffee, all innocent. “Don’t know what you’re talking about."

I narrow my eyes at Noah and Raj, noticing something odd. Raj has several shiny stickers on the hem of his paint-spattered t-shirt. Four gold stars. Noah has them, too - but he has six.

“What-?” I turn to look at Aiden, and realize that he’s got a few, too. “Why are you guys all wearing those?”

Raj shrugs his shoulders. “Mel’s been giving them out all day."

“Why?”

“She hasn’t explained. We think it’s some kind of motivation technique?”

“It’s not gonna work, though," Noah adds. "Because, you know, we’re not kindergarteners.”

Melanie steps inside with a clipboard clasped in one hand, her braid a little undone by the wind. Ripley follows after her, carrying a box of paint from the car.

“Why are we all standing around?” Mel strides over to us, her cherry-red dress billowing in her wake. “Didn’t I give everyone stuff to do?”

“We’re not just standing around,” Noah protests. “We’re taking a break, but we’re getting shit done.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you finish the floor lights, yet?”

Noah bites his pierced lip, then tosses his hands up when Mel makes a knowing face at him.

“It takes time, okay? I’m almost done, getting there!”

“Raj?” Mel turns to him, spreads a hand on his chest. “Did you finish priming the title wall?”

“Yep,” he says brightly, and Mel smiles at him.

She pulls a sticker pad from her pocket, adds another gold star to his shirt. Raj grins widely, and Noah tries not to scowl.

“You can earn one, too, babe.” Melanie goes up on her toes and brushes a kiss onto Noah's lips, instantly dissolving the frown on his face. “Whoever brings the rest of the paint in from the car gets the next sticker.”

Noah scoffs at her. “Again, we’re not children. That’s not gonna work on us.”

Mel shrugs her shoulders, already headed for the other room. “Okay, whatever.”

She slips through the door to take a phone call, and silence falls. Ripley, Noah, and Raj all stare at each other for a second. Then there’s an immediate, simultaneous rush for the door.

“Ripples - come on, you’re already in the lead!” Raj shoves him away from the door. “Let me get one!”

Noah gets outside first and turns around to try to close the door on them.

“You two suckers should just give up,” he informs them. “I’m gonna have the most stars. I’m gonna get the prize.”

“What prize, bro?” Ripley laughs, as Raj manages to force the door open. “Nobody said anything about a prize!”

All three of them crash outside and take off running. I watch them go, trying not to laugh, then look up at Aiden.

I poke his ribs. “Not concerned about getting more stickers, Callahan?”

“I’d kill or die for more stickers,” he answers, very seriously.

I let out a startled laugh, and Aiden smiles down at me.

“Nah, just - didn’t want to start running and spill the coffee you were nice enough to bring me.” He takes a long sip, then runs a hand over his stubbled jaw. “I need it. We still have so much left to do.”

His tired blue eyes roam around the room, which still looks decidedly unfinished. I see the anxiety in them, and slip my hand into his.

“Hey.” I give his fingers a squeeze. “It’s gonna be great.”

Aiden looks down at me, and I try to channel all my love into my smile. To use my eyes to show him the kind of faith I have in him.

Aiden breaks into a slow smile of his own. He releases my hand and takes my chin in his fingers. I lean up to meet him halfway.

A gentle wind rolls through the open door and windows of the exhibition space, the light of the golden afternoon spilling in through the glass. The kiss is all sun and air, my hand caressing Aiden’s cheek. I taste cinnamon and nutmeg on him. The cookies we made together last night. He must have brought one with him, had it right before I got here.

I guess that means they turned out good. I wasn't sure they would. We made them in our boxers, stupid and clumsy from loving each other, laughing as we made mistake after mistake.

I smile against Aiden's mouth, then fall back onto my feet. Aiden returns my smile, ruffles my hair. He looks around the exhibition space again, this time with determined blue eyes.

“Alright,” he says. “Let’s get to work.”

~~~~

My corkboard panel of greenery is still alive, which means my mini-irrigation system worked. I look over everything in silent relief, then begin to touch up the plants, working slowly and carefully.

Will and Kasey have joined us, on a break from trying to crack the code. Grateful for the chance to put their minds to something else for a minute. Kasey heads off to give Aiden final approval on the labels before we start putting them up, and Will sits down by my side.

He talks quietly, telling me about the old-growth forest in its sprawling, natural, untouched beauty. I work while he speaks, listening intently as my fingers gently arrange the moss and plants. Incorporating what he says into what I’m creating.

When I have it exactly how I want it, I hang it on the wall and step back to take a look. Will stands behind me, looking over my shoulder.

“It’s fair grand, Jamie,” he says approvingly, and I smile at him.

“You think so? Should I go get Aiden, show him how it turned out?”

“Are you talking to me or Raj?” Noah calls from across the room, where he’s working on the floor lights.

“Neither," I call back. "I’ve got one of the ghosts with me. He’s two-hundred years old, so he’s helping me get this right.”

Raj lets out a laugh, busy installing hooks on the walls. “You know, I genuinely think you’re serious about it, sometimes.”

“His name is Will, if you want to introduce yourself.”

Noah laughs, shakes his head as he gets back to work. “What’s up, Will?”

“Nice to meet you, man,” Raj chuckles.

Will beams at them, delighted to be recognized by new people. “Hello!”

“Would you three mind giving me a minute?” I ask. “I want to show Aiden how it looks before I do the rest.”

“Let’s get the full effect going, dude!” Raj sets down his power drill. “Noah, c’mon, help me.”

The two of them roll the blackout curtains down over the windows, while I flip off the overhead lights and turn on the archival ones. Noah hands me one of the framed archival pieces, and I hang it.

Raj and Noah slip out of the room to go get Aiden, and Will follows after them. I wait, looking at my work. I think that I got this right, that it looks beautiful. I hope that Aiden does, too.

After some time, I sense a presence behind me. I turn to find my Companion Plant standing there, stock-still, staring over my shoulder.

“Hi,” I say brightly, winding my arms around his waist. “Thought I’d stop and see what you - what you think…”

I fade off, alarmed. Aiden doesn’t seem like he’s listening to me. He’s just staring and staring, his expression completely blank.

"Oh, no." I let him go, concern flooding through me. “Am I way off the mark? Did I-?”

“Jamie,” Aiden breathes.

“Is it - not what you were picturing?” I nervously twist my fingers together, peering up at Aiden, trying to read his expression. “I did a few different versions. I have pictures I can show you, if you’d prefer something el-”

I shut all the way up as Aiden tears his gaze from the wall and looks down at me with radiant blue eyes. I stop still, staring up into them.

Aiden lets out a soft, dazed laugh, right as I let out a relieved breath. He turns his eyes back to the wall. I watch him, biting down on my smile.

“Jesus, Keane! This is - how long did this take you?”

“Um - a few days.”

Aiden twists to stare down at me, startled. “Days?”

I touch a hand to Aiden’s back. “I just - I wanted it to be perfect, for you.”

Aiden looks at me, love and warmth flowing from his eyes. He wraps an arm around me, pushes a kiss against my forehead.

“It is,” he says. “It’s perfect, I don’t even know how you… it’s perfect.”

“You mean it?” I ask.

Aiden plucks one of the star stickers from his shirt and sticks it onto my flannel. I laugh, slipping my hand around his waist again. Aiden blinks rapidly, then closes his eyes, smiling.

“What?” I murmur, my arms locked around him.

“Nothing, just… you sound happy.”

“I am.” I snuggle my cheek into his chest. “Because you are.”

Aiden lets out a little breath, his fingers sliding into my hair. He puts his chin on my head, holds me against him.

We stand there together, looking at the first finished piece of the exhibition.

I don't know what Aiden is thinking, but I’m thinking about how my design wouldn’t have worked without the stunningly beautiful photograph. The one that Aiden found in a mountain of options from the archives. Every picture he chose has some unique, breathtaking quality. He has such a good eye for it, a way of rooting out and instantly recognizing what’s special, what’s important.

I’m thinking about how I never would have guessed that Aiden has this gift, before I knew him.

I’m thinking of everything that we’re building together, and what we’ll build together in the future. The exhibition is only one small part of that, one thread in the vast tapestry.

The way it makes me feel, to think about these things - it all shows in my note.

I understand completely the smile on Aiden’s face, as he listens.