“Where’s Ben? I thought he was coming with you.”

Aidan narrowed his eyes at Chris, staring him down in silence. This was such an obvious distraction he could have smelled it from a mile away even on a morning they were making their richest, most aromatic chocolate muffins. Though, after a long moment he sighed and clicked his tongue.

“Things were slow and he’s been up since before the crack of dawn. I told him I can handle closing without him and sent him home early to get some rest.”

“That would explain it,” Chris laughed. “Should have probably told him we were meeting thirty minutes earlier too then. Though I guess spending the night here can be an interesting experience.”

Aidan snorted and rolled his eyes. “Oh, like you haven’t done that before at least once.”

“Done what?”

Aidan’s smirk dropped and his heart once more made the familiar free fall to the pit of his stomach followed by a leap to the very top of his throat. He snapped his head back to find Ben standing over his shoulder, smiling down at the both of them as he undid his scarf. 

Fuck. He thought he was getting better but when it was a surprise attack like that… his heart just wasn’t ready. Thank god Chris was there to allow him a moment to calm himself down. 

“You know, just the typical party boy behavior I’m apparently so well known for,” he snickered, as he leaned back in his seat again, pulling his hand off Aidan’s in the process. The lost warmth, which Aidan only noticed once it was gone, made the restless energy that ran laps in his chest pick up its pace again, sprinting recklessly around. It was as though a piece in his shield was removed and he was once again exposed to the harmful effects that radiated from Ben, just as he sat down next to him.

“Come on, cut him some slack. Chris is past that rebellious stage, he’s a responsible, reliable adult now,” he laughed. The gentle nudge he gave Aidan felt like it knocked the wind right out of him, and though he chuckled, the smirk he wore was not quite right. A little too angular, like a jagged piece of glass. For a moment, Chris’ gaze met his and Aidan immediately looked away. It felt pathetic, somehow. The look in the other’s eyes made him think that, once again, he was seeing right through him. Chris, on his end, didn’t make any comments about it. Instead he merely snickered, shifting his attention back to Ben.

“While I appreciate the flattery you’re still buying the first round.”

“I know, I know,” Ben lifted his hands in defeat. “Sorry I’m late. It’s just… things got a little crazy.”

Crazy? Aidan’s brows pushed together as he turned to look at Ben. He went home nearly three hours before they closed. Though, now that he got a closer look, weren’t those the same clothes he wore when he left the cafe? And why was Ben looking at him with this worried, apologetic expression?

“I…” he bit his lips, answering the non-verbal question that hung in the air. “Leah was having a really hard time at work, I told you. Her boss was giving her a million things to do, then really getting on her case to do them a certain way. Almost like he was waiting for her to mess up,” he frowned. “And then today he just fired her. Told her something about not performing as expected, which is absolute bullshit. He was just out to get her.”

The unfiltered anger in Ben’s voice, the way his eyes burned in protest over this injustice, made Aidan’s heart warm up and twinge in pain at the same time. This, right there, was one of the things that made him love the other so much, yet it was also a reminder to the fact his emotions were not even close to being reciprocated. They were not free to do so, when they were so earnestly and wholeheartedly given to someone else.

“I’m sorry man, that sounds rough,” Chris propped his elbow on the table and leaned his cheek against his head, his brows pushing together as he looked at Ben. “How’s Leah doing?”

“She’s… not great,” Ben sighed, taking his lips between his teeth for another moment. “When she told her roommate she completely flipped. Leah called me in the middle of it… her roommate was yelling things about not being able to pay rent and expecting her to take her on as a charity case. She told her she has to get out by the end of the week.”

There was a short silence, during which Ben ran his hand back and forth through his hair in visible distress, broken when Chris sighed.

“She can’t just kick her out, there's no way that’s legal.”

“I know but her uncle is the landlord or something. Plus I don’t think she should stay there either way, not with what just happened… and she doesn’t want to.”

“I wouldn’t want to either,” Aidan said. “That sounds like a fucking nightmare. But what is she going to do now?”

There was something that Aidan did not expect to see in Ben’s eyes when he turned to look at him. More than worry. Fear, almost. 

“I’m sorry Aidan. I couldn’t just let her stay there, I had to do something and I… I told her that she can move in with us.”