Secrets and Things (MxM)

Chapter 78 - Hi, how you doing?

He came back out into the main hall and rushed to the wall to blend in with the wallflowers whilst looking for the main attraction of this event.

It didn't take too long as she apparently had the same idea.

"Aiden! Oh my god, you were amazing! You could legit be a singer as a career. I'd sponsor for sure."

Mia proceeded to capture him in a crushing hug where all the oxygen was squeezed out of his lungs and the bones began cracking.

"Yes, great, thanks but can you let go now? You're turning me into mince."

"Oh!" She immediately let go of Aiden and gave an apologetic look. He dusted himself off and gave his old university friend an appreciative smile. The band on stage began playing something that sounded like it could be elevator music, which calmed the previously excited guests.

"Well I hope I did a good job this past three hours," Aiden playfully knocked her shoulder with his. "I'm getting paid for this after all. I still can't believe you remembered about my odd jobs website."

"Well at desperate times, you tend to remember a lot of things. You had no idea how much I panicked when that shitty C class celebrity cancelled on me because they were, quote on quote, too good for a unicorn birthday party. Like the audacity of that bitch. My mother is the owner of a multimillion-dollar..."

And then she proceeded to go on a tangent, which brought back memories for the other man as well as told him to bury himself in his own thoughts.

His mind went back to the rain incident (like it had been ever since it had occurred) and he recalled what happened, again. He just can't seem to wrap his head around it or believe that it had actually happened.

Halfway through his sobbing session that day, Erwin somehow moved them from the rain to the sofa of his living room. At the time, Aiden didn't even notice walking or straddling the other man's lap when he pulled him into his lap, only remembering that he clutched the other man tighter throughout. He'd sob harder when he noticed that the man was rubbing his back in consolation and whispering words of comfort into his ears. Aiden barely remembers what was said now.

After Aiden had finished sobbing into his bosses shoulders for what felt like decades, he slowly moved off his shoulder but still remained in his lap. He hadn't looked up, choosing to look down that both their laps in embarrassment and lack of knowing what to do.

It was silent before Aiden quietly apologised and Erwin gave him a playful flick on the forehead, scolding him on how he should never apologise for letting it out or being comforted by someone else. Instead, he should thank them.

He looked up at Aiden, who was giving him a soft smile, which in return made him give his own thankful smile and words of gratitude.

After that, both men got up, Aiden cleaned his face while Erwin cooked some food for them and then they both ate in comfortable silence.

Aiden's boss never asked what happened and the shorter one was grateful for that. Instead, Erwin gave him a week off work (working days) to stabilise and bring himself back to tip-top condition. Aiden was very against it at first, saying how he doesn't have time to take a break and that he'll be fine but eventually, he gave up. Both men knew he needed this.

Still, his pride as an employee who's heavily involved in the project wouldn't let him have that long of a break so he managed to reduce it down five working days off.

After that, he just went home and hadn't seen the other man since. He had checked up on Aiden via text a couple of times but the man is currently way too busy to care about anyone else. The sentiment was really valued though.