Archive of Our Own

˚ ｡⋆ 📱°˖✧˙ Reuniting at Tipiskaw ˙✧˖°📱⋆｡˚

It was likely that some sort of angry karma had activated into the world the moment James had signed up for All-Stars. Maybe it was some mysterious deity up there, or maybe he had angered the wrong subscriber by stating something uncomfortably true – like that his followers weren’t actually his friends, oh the scandal –, honestly he would have even explored some supernatural nonense. There had to be a better explanation for him to be first boot after winning his season.

Mostly because it was pretty demeaning admitting that the fault belonged to the boy toy with trust issues. Because of him, James had barely talked to old and new friends.

Because of him, James had left Aiden behind. The suckiest first day possible.

Thus James’ adventure at the Losers’ Motel had begun, a stay not only he had avoided entirely during season two, but one he was going to begin as the only resident aside from the unnamed staff. Kinda like hell for an extrovert thirsty for attention like himself – yippie.

Scoffing at a proper bed and decent food would have been pretty ungrateful, although his first day had been quite uneventful. Staying in his bed, staying in the lobby, switching room numbers as a running start to prank his future neighbors – he needed a hobby, okay. The usual. As it turned out, the losers had a special screening of the new episode the morning after filming, in a little cinema room with lots of couches and a single extremely old screen. James had managed to look at himself being kicked out of camp with low FPS while having a cappuccino.

Delightful.

Loneliness wasn’t going to last, at least.

After the morning screening and every effort possible at making time pass – including making absolutely sure no phone was available in the area, another eliminated was going to arrive, before the episode watch, which meant that James had no idea which unfortunate soul was going to be dropped until it happened. He knew who he would have wanted, and who he would have not.

Unfortunately, seeing Lake walking off the bus, the last had come true.

The two had hugged it out, floored of being out this soon, adamant at pranking the absolute hell out of all the people that were going to come after simply out of principle of being goody two-shoes – suddenly Lake being out first of Cyan had been a blessing. She had apologized to him, stating that she really wanted to look after Aiden given James’ elimination and yet this had happened, only for James to grab her shoulders and tell her to stop being awesome for a second.

Screening of episode three had been hard to watch. Aiden’s reaction to James’ elimination, especially. James couldn’t believe he was going to have to wait weeks before seeing him again.

But he was going to. Because it was Aiden. For him, it was worth it.

Eventful and uneventful days had followed, and out of the mess that the Yellow Team was, Miriam had been the best person to hang out with at the Motel. Hunter had definitely been a shock to see so soon, although it had been cool hanging out with him given how much they had in common – both cool pansexual dudes longing to see their significant other again. Ideally Connor had been another cool addiction, but the man had seemed too floored to even attempt a conversation.

Which was a pity, because James had enjoyed the musical episode way more than people thought he was going to. Sure his boyfriend had kissed someone else, but first, that had been just for the challenge, and second… did people see how sexy Aiden was in that outfit??

Needless to say, James had slept quite well that night.

Some pretty tense episodes had followed, and between welcoming a pissed off Fiore and a reserved Ellie, the rest of the stay at the Losers’ Motel had been a bit less carefree than before. Each new episode was showing more and more tension within the contestants, between Grett and Yul’s relationship, Jake’s unreasonable jealousy and the growing power of the Villains’ Alliance.

It had definitely come to a peak when Tess, fucking TESS, was voted out, and James thought it was going to get more surprisingly than that… only for Ashley to be voted out. Fucking ASHLEY.

The comeback episode had definitely been a blessing in disguise.

Even just to see Aiden again. Even just to kiss Aiden again.

Even just to let him know that James and Lake knew he could do it. It had been so important yet so quick, nowhere near enough time with his boyfriend, and James had done his best to keep his face directed to the window as to not let anyone see his expression of longing and sadness.

When Tom had arrived at the Motel, many of them had felt disappointed given that, for the first time, both villains and heroes had tied. He had watched over Aiden, so James had felt sorry for him.

… he had also told Tom to fucking figure it out with Jake or else, but still.

Miriam had done the same tenfold, so it had been a given after all.

Even while knowing the outcome, episode twelve had the whole room on their feet from beginning to end, even Fiore and Ellie had been all into the hype. It had definitely been the most equal confrontation between the so-called heroes and the Villains’ Alliance. Ellie had let out the biggest scream of happiness when her girlfriend had made it, and even though it had signified the loss of Aiden’s side, James hadn’t been able to call her out. He understood.

Even so, that ending had definitely been bittersweet, and he had dreaded the future.

… only for Yul to walk onto the Motel, flip the bird to every single one of them, and segregated himself into his room. Needless to say, episode thirteen had become James and many of the presents’ favorite episode. Grett had been absolutely glorious, the Villains had seemed less united than before, and of course Aiden had gotten the win – with Jake, sure, whatever.

Another good night of sleep, maybe dreaming of his superhero boyfriend in cool outfit.

Only to wake up to Gabby’s elimination, a genuinely upsetting moment cut short only for the crazy gal to launch herself onto her girlfriend, and for the influencer to witness his favorite episode ever.

Was it cringe? Ideally. Was it insane? Very. Was it absurd? Absolutely. Was it holding together infinite TikTok and remix material? Definitely. Was it also a forever representation of his boyfriend dancing on a boat the most demeaning TikTok dance of all time? Fuck yeah.

Ten out of ten.

And that was this morning.

When James saw him, his bicolored hair peeking from the windows of the bus, his heart had immediately fluttered. A part of him cursed himself for that, because he didn’t want to be happy that his boyfriend got voted out, especially since, given how good he had done in the last episode, it was likely that something shady had happened. James was supposed to feel sorry for him, curse whoever had dared to vote him out – bonus point if it was Jake –, promise Aiden that whoever was going to win this messed up season was never going to measure up with him.

All those noble intentions had been thrown away the moment Aiden had stepped off the bus, looking a little gloomy yet mostly alright and so very beautiful.

James had been sprinting towards him before he had to think about it.

Aiden looked up and his face lightened up, running as well.

“James!” He jumped at James’ neck, and James had to lean down a bit because his boyfriend was so small and cute and adorable and here. They hugged, in the middle of the Motel’s parking lot, not caring about the little crowd next to the building waiting to welcome their fallen hero. “I missed you so much! Oww, this is so not how I hoped to see you again!”

James chuckled, caressing Aiden’s head slowly. Did his hair grow up a bit? There was no sign of brownish roots on the top of his head so it was likely not it, yet it felt like those soft locks were longer. Maybe James hadn’t seen him in that long.

Maybe he wanted an excuse to rediscover his boyfriend’s beautiful body all over again.

“Bet it’s not, it would have been nice to see each other at the finale. This works too, though.”

“… but I didn’t win.” Aiden deflated a bit between his arms. “I lost.”

“Well, you still had way more screen time than me, and honestly what else matters when you’re working on getting your face out there?” Aiden’s forehead was still furrowed. James’ grin went down. He clenched his hold around Aiden. “Hey, you did your best, and I’m proud of everything you’ve accomplished during this season. You never let anything stop you, and you connected with so many other people. You were amazing, sunshine.” It was the whole truth.

Aiden hummed, sounding unenthusiastic, slowly untangling himself from the embrace. They were walking towards the building while holding hands, but it didn’t feel like it.

James looked at Aiden, worried yet somehow not completely surprised.

To be honest, the both of them had debated if coming back to Disventure Camp when they had first gotten casted for All-Stars. After all, James still had a good chunk of his win even after all of their travels, and why going through all of that mess when they were plenty of satisfied with what they had? They had financial stability, they had each other, why going for it?

At the end, Aiden had convinced him. The reasoning had been that Lake was going to be there and so were other old friends, so why not? James had known that something else had been behind it. Something he hadn’t gotten out of Aiden yet.

The show was over for the both of them. Yet this doubt remained.

They stayed in silent some more. Then James clenched his hold to grab his attention.

“Hey.” Aiden’s pretty teal eyes went over him, James smiled. “You don’t have to prove anything to me, you know? But I know you can do anything. A loss will never change that.”

Maybe that wasn’t the problem.

Seeing Aiden perk up and smile still made it worth it.

“Thanks, sweetheart. I’m fine, I’m just a bit under the weather, I guess I wanted to get to the very end more than I thought and the elimination blindsided him… you’ll see.” It seemed like tomorrow’s episode was going to be a surprising and potentially enraging one. “And I… I mean… yeah, that’s it.” It wasn’t it, but James let it slide. They didn’t have any rush. “Honestly, I’m just really happy to see you again.” For now, it was fine.

James nodded, caressing the palm of Aiden’s hand with his thumb, only to suddenly stop and use that contact to pull his boyfriend between his arms. He kissed him, feeling Aiden melt in less than a second, earning a couple of whistles from afar – right, they had an audience.

The kiss felt unbelievably good after such a long time, it was like a stimulus going through his entire body like a sparkle. James pulled away, feeling lighter than ever.

“Forgot the ‘welcome back’ kiss.”

Aiden blinked those blissful eyes, smiling softly.

“How could you? I demand a ‘sorry for forgetting the welcome back kiss’ kiss!”

They kissed again, smiling in between, clearly eager to get a little further in this effusion of love but deciding to postpone such an event, because Lake had started to walk towards them and there was no stopping Aiden from running to hug her. Others joined the welcome, Tom, Tess, Gabby, Miriam, Ashley, even Ellie – something about welcoming the last comrade of the Cyan Team.

James looked at the sweet scene happening, ignoring the press of worry in his stomach. All he had to do was focus over the fact that the last days at the Motel were going to be infinitely better now.

˚ ｡⋆ 🧸°˖✧˙ Matching in Germany ˙✧˖° 🧸⋆｡˚

Aiden didn’t know what being a spy included specifically, but he had heard some general random stories from Tom back at camp – mostly about his less than ideal second job at Disventure Camp, poor guy had it rough – and he could totally work with such limited knowledge in order to make this completely improvised plan work. He was a cinephile for a reason – kinda.

It was all about codenames and hoping for the best, right?

“Angelwing to Mama Bear.” Aiden had his phone in front of his face like a walkie-talkie, blowing his breath over the screen. “Come in, Mama Bear!”

“Mama Bear here.”

“And Little Bear!”

“And Little Bear.” It sounded like Rosa Maria was doing her absolute hardest at not laughing, but Aiden was pretty sure that, given how into the situation Sofia was being, she was going to crack any moment now. “The- pff- the subjects have left the premises approximately two minutes ago, moving to your position in order to gather some beverages. Extreme caution is advised.” Another suffocated laugh. “I will go no contact right now in order to gather resources.”

“And get some pretzels!”

“And gets some pretzels.” Yep, she was laughing. “Mama Bear and Little Bear, over and out.”

There were no words to describe how cute those two were, but – surprisingly – there were more important things to keep in mind at the moment.

The subjects were closer than expected.

Someone cleared his voice from inside the shop. That someone just so happened to be Aiden’s man.

“Angelwing, I believe we just found ourselves some disguises.”

“Alright Trendsetter, show me what- damn it, James!” Honestly, it was on Aiden letting James pick up clothes for the two of them. Of course it wasn’t actually for disguise, buying clothes in each place they travelled to was tradition. Which meant that Aiden should had definitely known better. “Where did you even find those??” No way those had been showcased in the shop window.

Somehow James was still grinning, still beyond proud, while holding up two black sweaters sporting bright white writings of ‘He’s a Brat’ on one and ‘He’s the Wurst’ on the other.

He was waving them around like they were somewhat alluring.

“With these, we’ll blend in for sure!”

“That’s a lie and you know it! The cringe is a fist in the eye!”

“Oh come on, these are awesome! Please?” And now the influencer was using his puppy eyes. Aiden held back as much as he could, only to let out a long sigh and grabbing the first shirt. James snorted. “Of course you picked the brat one.” The sweater was slapped into his smug face.

Aiden was quick at putting on the outfit, knowing already that it was going to fit as James knew his size by heart. It was even a bit bigger, just the way he liked it, and despite being done with those stupid puns Aiden couldn’t help feeling warm at that carefulness. No time for this though, as right after getting the ‘disguise’ on, Aiden took sight of the corridor passing in front of the shop, going towards a random kiosk. He immediately recognized a couple of girls amicably chatting.

Random people. Only Aiden’s best friend, sporting an incredibly confident tone and an immense grin on her face, next to a cute girl with a purple beanie, who seemed eager to hang onto every single word coming from Lake. The two were walking like they were floating midair.

Aiden lost maybe a second too much cooing at the scene, only to realize that he was in the middle of the corridor in plain sight, not exactly the best way to go unnoticed. Just as he was about to let panic take over – was he going to fail wingman-ing without even trying –, a hand grabbed him and dragged him back into the store, right behind one of the two plants at the entrance.

James had him completely pressed against his body, pressing a finger onto Aiden’s lips. The steps got very close to them, along some pretty excited chatters – something something ‘I won’t sleep until you promise to read To Kill A Mockingbird’ –, then they slowly faded away.

Aiden let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, I thought I-” Almost immediately his boyfriend pecked his lips, interrupting his train of thoughts. “What-” Another smooch, a bit longer, making him laugh. “What are you doing?”

That was definitely one of James’ signature devious grins.

“Making sure we’re not heard. You can be quite loud.”

“You did not just say that.” James winked, Aiden blushed, and there it went that stupidly beautiful laugh, louder than anything Aiden had said so far. Payback was needed. “Well aren’t you being a bit of a tease right now. Also, if I may?” Aiden huffed away a lock of hair then he grabbed James’ new sweater and pulled him closer. “If you gotta shut me up, at least commit to it.” It was so fun being forward every once in a while, because it always caught James off guard.

Not enough to distract him from pressing him against the plant and kiss him again, of course.

This was all part of the plan of course, they couldn’t let the two subjects notice them. Kissing at the entrance of a clothes shop was totally part of the course.

It was all going to be worth it as long as Lake and Mariana had their alone time.

Going on a vacation after Disventure Camp All-Stars would have been a mandatory thing to do regardless of Lake’s proposal of coming to see her homeland. Given the offer Aiden had been all aboard sharing this beautiful travel with his boyfriend, his best friend and everyone’s adoptive mom with her actual daughter along. Losing after coming so close to the final five, and specifically because of an ally – ironically – blindsiding him had left him quite bitter, for reasons Aiden hadn’t managed to bring himself to talk about, not even with James.

He wasn’t ready for it, but hopefully soon.

Better focus on cheering himself up, and so far, it was working wonders.

The travel had been absolutely lovely so far, the first day had been incredibly fun and Aiden had never seen a country with so many beerhouses, literally placed around each corner. After some time of exploring and eating deliciously heart racing food – cholesterol who –, Rosa Maria had gotten a text from her sister, who was an artist, that her student was in Germany and to say hi if in the area.

As a matter of fact, they were almost at the same corner of the city, therefore the five of them had managed to meet Mariana. A spunky creative and sweet girl, a little shy at first but warming up quite quickly – thus the power of James and Rosa Maria combined.

It had been a normal, chill, lovely conversation between a group of friends at the Westfield Centro.

Then the topic had changed, casually shifting onto Lake’s book and how popular it was becoming, especially after Disventure Camp All-Stars. Mariana had frozen up, she had taken a copy of Lake’s book from her bag to check the author, and her eyes had exploded – Aiden could swear he had seen sparkles. From then on it had been a quite one-on-one chat, with an extremely excited Mariana and a deeply flattered Lake, sharing comments and compliments over the writings.

At some point Mariana had taken off her beanie, Lake had commented how cute she looked without, and it had been widely comical how much Mariana had blushed at it.

All four of the other – yes Sofia included – had let out a synchronized gasp.

From then on, the love mission had been a go… yes making out behind a plant included.

Perhaps Aiden had gotten a little too into the whole secret mission thing, as they had all made excuses to explore the mall and leave the two girls alone, or maybe he really wanted to make this work for Lake, but he was starting to realize how much of a scene him and James were making if anyone was to see this – some embarrassing noises were being made…

With a bit with a heavy heart, he pulled away, arms around James’ neck still.

“I think they’re gone.”

“Mm?” James tried to lean in again. “You don’t know that…”

Aiden couldn’t help a snort, putting a hand over James’ mouth.

“I can’t hear the high pitch giggles of an infatuation anymore so yes, I do know that. Get it together babe, we’re here for Lake.” His boyfriend’s loud whine made Aiden laugh. At last, they walked out of their little hiding spot, walking towards the counter in order to pay for their horrid shirts. The cashier wasn’t looking at them in the eyes – fuck, they got spotted. “Enough pouting already. If Lake’s into Mariana, we’ll make that happen.” And that was a promise.

James smiled at him, casually putting himself between Aiden and the cashier and dropping money, once again paying for everything. It was a bit of the usual.

It secretly made Aiden feel guilty, sometimes.

“Someone really wants to play cupid. Not that I blame you, it’s Lake.”

“Right? Besides, it’s the least I can do given everything she did for me in the past.” Aiden sighed a bit, memories of season two remerging. “Whenever I had doubts about you, she always gave me advice, and I know it was thanks to her that the two of us found each other.” Disventure Camp had given him the love of his life and the greatest friend ever.

Aiden was very grateful… that being said, that show needed to stay away from him forever.

James laced an arm around his waist, leaning his head against Aiden’s.

“I remember that. I owe it to her as well, I don’t think many other people would have told their friends that dating me was a good idea.” This man needed to stop thinking of himself as some sort of bad boy. He kissed the side of Aiden’s head. “Sweater looks good on you, baby.”

Aiden rolled his eyes.

“These things are terrible and you know it.”

“But they match. Therefore, they are beautiful.”

This damn flatterer, how was Aiden supposed to answer that? The only way he found was to lean in, seeing James’ grin getting wider and wider as they went for another kiss.

“Hey guys!” The magic broke, as the two of them turned around like deer caught in flashlights onto Lake waving happily at them. “You took such a long time getting clothes! Me and Mariana wanted to grab drinks for everyone, what-” Her eyes fell on their shirts, the eyebrow of all eyebrows went up. “James, for real?” It was kinda beautiful how clear it was who got the idea, and Aiden couldn’t help letting out a chuckle. “Bless Aiden for putting up with it, I don’t know how one could-”

“Oh my!” Mariana came up right there, bursting into laughter. “Those are hilarious! I love puns! Are there more shirts like that?” She walked in, looking around. “You wanna check the shop, Lake? We could find some too… NOT TO MATCH! AS IN! JUST TO CHECK!” She reddened right away, pulling her beanie back up and a bit over her eyes.

Lake blinked, let out an endeared chuckle, and followed the other girl into the shop.

Well, how about that. Not only were these two already going places, but it also seemed like Mariana was going to get along even too well with James. Therefore, future double dates. Future…

James was grinning all the way to his hair.

“Told you the sweaters were good disguise.”

“Alright, point to you.” Aiden grabbed his hand, giving a look at the girls to make sure they were distracted, before dragging his boyfriend outside. “Come on now, before they notice! The more time they spend alone, the better it will be!” Anything to make Lake happy.

James immediately followed his lead, clenching his hold.

“I guess we need to find another shop to make out in.”

Aiden snorted, his face warm.

“I guess we do.”

˚ ｡⋆ 📱°˖✧˙ Cooking in Brazil ˙✧˖°📱⋆｡˚

“Did you put the salt too, along with the butter? Alright, now bring it all to a boil. Now, be very careful, because once it gets boiling the milk tends to overflow almost immediately! No taking your eyes off the pan!” Wow, a full sentence and James’ mom hadn’t made a single comment, maybe there was hope after a- “James would know about that.” Never mind.

James whined loudly, peeking into the kitchen specifically to glare.

“Mom, that happened once, it doesn’t mean-”

“Hands where I can see them, senhor!” Having his sister manifest right in front of him, fists on her hips and the glare of a thousand suns, James should had seen it coming. Izabel had a tendency to appear right where and when he didn’t want her to be. “Did you forget what we talked about? You’re not allowed into the kitchen until it’s ready! With your luck at cooking, you might end up breaking equipment! Again!” You made the microwave malfunction one time and this was the result – okay maybe two. “Now stay!” Did she mistake him for their dog Ana??

James gasped, offended, outraged, as his sister went back to the cooking team.

“I’m not gonna take this ostracization! I might not live here anymore, but I’m still a valid member of this family! This is straight up harassment!” Whoops, his dramatic side was coming out, there was no stopping him now. “I cannot believe the blood of my blood is rejecting me!”

Mom was cleaning up the counter in advance, likely to knead the dough in a matter of minutes, although her arm was shaking from how much she was trying not to laugh.

“Where did you get that eccentric side, it still baffles me.”

“If you acknowledge my suffering, then let me in!”

“Not going to happen James, you know what happened last time you made bread.” You made the rising dough explode one time and this was the result – okay maybe three. “But if me and your sister are so judgmental and cruel towards you, maybe your sweet other half will have mercy on your soul?” Why, what a fantastic idea.

Aiden, who had been checking the pan this whole time, turned around right after being mentioned. He was wearing one of mom’s apron, which was pink and too big on him.

Being this adorable couldn’t be legal. He huffed.

“What are you complaining about this time?”

“Aidenbaby, my family is being mean and doesn’t include me!”

“If you’re trying to get access to the kitchen through me, you’ve got another thing coming.” Stab, betrayal, absolute defeat on every level. “What did you expect, the last time you tried to cook something you burned our kitchen!” You burned the whole kitchen over shrimp friend rice one time and this was the result – so far only once, thank god. “Come on, just wait a bit more. We’re making pão de queijo here, your favorites.” Aiden winked at him. “Don’t you want a treat?”

Welp, that absolutely destroyed all arguments James had left, as he decided to stop sulking at the door and leave the kitchen altogether – vaguely hearing Izabel's chirpy voice sputtering something something ‘you tamed him so well’.

Dad was watching Beto Rockfeller in the living room, which he had done it ever since James was a kid, so he decided to sit next to him on the couch and pout some more.

Dad snickered at him, lowering the volume of the TV.

“You got banished from cooking again, huh?”

“It’s your fault for giving me the bad cook genes!”

“Ahahah, fair enough.” There was a reason why dad was outside the kitchen as well, after all. “But I’m sure that even if we weren’t so bad at it, the girls would have kicked us out to spend some quality time with Aiden.” He laughed, giving him an elbow. “You have no idea how excited we’ve got when you called saying you were visiting again!” One could imagine.

After all, the first time visiting home post DC had been a blast. An absolute blast.

It was a couple of months after the end of season two and given how much time had passed since James had been home, it had been a long time coming. Back then him and Aiden had just started dating for real, and even James had been a bit nervous at making him meet his family – only a little, and that secret died with him, in a coffin of coolness. All anxiety had died down roughly thirty minutes of them all hanging out in the living room, with mom and Aiden talking like they had for years and Izabel gushing over how cute James’ boyfriend was.

His family adored Aiden. Which was fair, since James adored Aiden as well, it just meant they all had amazing taste. But that little event had still cheered James up immensely.

“Should I be jealous or something?”

“Maybe a little, a healthy little.”

“As long as Izabel knows her place, she got her boyfriend to think about as well!” James snickered, taking a deep breath. As he exhaled, a gloomier thought took over, making him drop his smile. “At least you guys like Aiden… I’m pretty sure his parents don’t like me.”

Dad snorted with a frown, leaning his elbows onto his knees.

“I thought having strangers liking you was the whole point of your old job, what happened?”

“I mean, they didn’t outright say they don’t like me, and Aiden’s mom is very sweet and kind.” James scratched the back of his neck. “But his dad… I don’t know, the last time we visited, I got the feeling he was staring at me a whole lot. We didn’t talk much, and we saw each other very few times. I just don’t want them to see me as a disappointment.” He had mentioned the sensation to Aiden, to which he had laughed stating it was all in his head, and his parents really liked him. Aiden loved his parents, James loved Aiden.

He didn’t want things to be awkward in between.

“Jaiminho.” Dad put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t overthink so much, okay? And if you have doubts, just make sure to show them how much you love their son.”

If only it was that easy, but it was a good advice. James nodded, smiling a bit.

“That I can do.” Laughter could be heard from the kitchen. “Mom really adores Aiden.”

“To be fair, they are quite similar! Both kind, lovely, yet fierce people!”

“… if that’s the case… then can I ask a question?” James thought he wasn’t going to bring it up, especially on such a happy occasion. But if there was anyone who could give him advice, that had to be this man. “Did mom ever hide something from you? Not like a bad thing, just something that upset her and didn’t want to tell.” He scratched his elbow.

Dad hummed, grabbing his glass of whiskey, shaking it a bit.

“Sure it happened, it’s pretty normal.”

“Then… how did you make her open up?” James sighed, looking down at his feet. “She knows that she can ask for help, she learned to rely on others, but this seems different. You don’t want to pry it out of her, it wouldn’t be right, but you want to let her know that whatever it is, she can talk to you about it.” Ever since All-Stars, Aiden had felt pensive. He still laughed, he smiled, he enjoyed their time together, yet at the same time James could tell something was bothering him. “Because she… he matters to me more than anyone else.” Even if it was little, James wanted to ease it for him.

Dad had his smile going up his ear. He quickly chugged the rest of his drink, letting out a satisfied smile, looking inside the empty glass.

“He really did change you for the better, huh?” He pointed at James while holding the glass, a single finger pointing at him. “All of what you just said to me, you say it to him. You might have to wait, but the best you can do is remind him that he has you at all times.” Honestly, it was a conclusion James could had come to on his own.

It really didn’t feel enough. Then again, James hadn’t communicated this yet, or at least not as much as he should had. The topic couldn’t be too serious or else Aiden would have definitely come to him right away. Which really meant that it was all a matter of waiting.

James could wait forever if needed – hopefully not that long but that was the idea.

“Thanks, dad.”

“Anytime.” Dad smiled at him. “I adore Aiden too, you know. He’s a really good one.”

His family was really keen on telling James what he already knew.

James smiled and nodded.

“Alright exiles, it’s your lucky day!” Izabel suddenly appeared – again, a bit of a gag for her to spawn out of nowhere –, arms crossed like the prison guard of a massive jail complex. “A debate happened in the kitchen, and we decided to give you one last chance not to mess everything up! Also it’s getting late and forming twenty-four balls is a pain…” She cleared her voice, loudly, like she hadn’t just admitted to be lazy. “Get up and follow me!” And she marched away.

James looked at his dad, who snickered and shrugged, and they both resigned over the fact that they didn’t have any saying when the women of this household were involved – a fact that was the basis of the entire Costa family. The kitchen was warmer than before, it looked like the oven had been turned on already, even though the dough was still to be treated.

And handling a part of the dough, kneading while following mom’s instruction, was Aiden. Sleeves up, still in that huge apron, a ponytail pulling up his hair and a pinch of flour on his cheeks.

He beamed at James.

“Happy you got released? Come give me a hand, I’ll show you how to do it.”

James had to genuinely hold himself together at that idyllic sight. Alas, Izabel pushed him forward – his sister had the subtlety of an elephant in a glassware –, therefore James had to get a grip over himself and try not to screw things up too badly.

He looked at the puddle of mushiness know as dough, poking it with a single finger. No reaction. He poked some more, and a little bubble popped from the surface, making him wince.

“It’s not alive, right?”

“Not this bread, it got no yeast.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT THIS BREAD??”

“Don’t get overdramatic again, come on. Give me your hand.” Aiden grabbed James’ wrist, leading him onto a small part of the dough. It was warm actually, James had the impression it was going to be ice cold. “We already kneaded it a bit, we just need to form lots of balls now. Just move your hand in a circular motion, like this.” Aiden placed his hand over James, moving it alongside. The dough was glossy and supple, and Aiden’s hand was soft and warm. “Not that difficult, huh? Feels pretty good.” This had to be the furthest James had ever gotten in cooking.

This felt so… domestic. Like it was a prelude for the future.

James bit his lip, containing a bit of a giddy smile, because suddenly it was hitting him how much he wanted the two of them to share more situations like this one. They were still traveling so much, they didn’t have a house of their own yet, but maybe… soon… if it wasn’t too much.

Alright, too much, thoughts for later. James brought his free hand behind Aiden’s back.

“Yep. Feels pretty good.”

Aiden giggled. Beautiful.

The sudden explosion interrupted the love in the air. The oven was smoking, dad looked speechless, and mom was rubbing her forehead. Dad brought his indexes together.

“Sorry Clara.”

“Nah, it’s on me.” Mom let out an exasperated laugh. “I know better than not watching over you.”

Izabel was going back into jail guard mode, and dad got dragged away right after promising to clean all the mess, as at least that much he was able to do. It looked like the pão de queijo was going to take a bit longer to make, but hopefully no more sudden setbacks were going to happen. At least it was routine. At least they all seemed very happy.

Aiden hadn’t blinked once since the oven had screamed for help.

“How… how even…”

“I wouldn’t question it, better for your sanity.” James snickered, nudging his head against Aiden’s. “It means you’ll have to keep your eyes on me, just in case!” Those genes were strong after all.

Aiden huffed, pecking at his cheek.

“Like I’ll ever take my eyes off you.”

˚ ｡⋆ 🧸°˖✧˙ Hanging out in Canada ˙✧˖° 🧸⋆｡˚

“A wedding planner??” Aiden almost dropped the soy sauce as he was pouring it down, grinning from one ear to the other. “That fits you so well, Jake!”

“Right??” They were currently talking about Jake’s new direction of life workwise, yet Tom was the one looking the most enthusiastic at the table. “Every time we tell someone, they always say that! See, I told you they were going to agree!” Tom poked his boyfriend’s arm, who rolled his eyes with a smile and took a sip of water. “The majority says it’s the right job for you, therefore, you’ll do amazing! I rest my case!” So this conversation had precedents, huh.

Jake was definitely trying not to give Tom the satisfaction of being right, but Aiden had hardly ever seen him this happy looking, even counting the finale after he had gotten back together with Tom. He just seemed so relaxed, so vital, his eyes were bright.

“Just because it might be perfect for me, it doesn’t mean it will be a success.”

“Still denying the evidence, babe? That’s so sad.”

“Oh my god, can one of you tell him he’s being ridiculous?” Jake looked at the two of them. Aiden and James looked at each other, then they shrugged. “Thanks a lot! Glad to have friends!”

They ended up laughing instead.

It had been less than a month since Miriam’s birthday, probably one of the nicest party Aiden had ever participated to and given how the big movie actor guy had been a no show, it had been inevitable having a redo at meeting up with Toronto’s happiest couple – alright, in competition with Gabby and Ellie, but the fight was tough. James’ filming had come to an end a week ago, with an extremely satisfied director and just a couple of roles in line for the future, so the two of them had managed to get back to Canada and catch up.

James was doing so great, Aiden was so happy for him… although it was hard, in some ways.

Still, the prospective of seeing two dear friends cheered him up immensely, and the meetup had turned out to be even more appealing when Tom had invited them to their favorite Chinese place, the one that had apparently been home to their first date and many more after that.

Seeing James’ eyes widen in alarm at seeing shrimp fried rice on the menu had made Aiden crack a laugh, and when Jake had asked and James had let out a loud nope, Aiden had laughed even more.

As of now, the topic of jobs had come up.

Not one Aiden would have liked to discuss, but whatever.

James was mixing his soy noodles with some extra sauce, moving his chopsticks around.

“Why do you want us to tell you that you’re going to fail so badly?”

“That’s not what I…! I guess I need a reality check or something?” Jake shrugged, casually putting in his plate some more dumplings, like he was getting hungrier the more he was stuttering. “Miriam, Gabby, Lucia, hell even Ellie are telling me that this is a great job idea for me and that it will go great.” Wow, if the sass queen of Disventure Camp had a genuine opinion on this, then it meant business. “I guess I’m scared to disappoint everyone’s hopes… again.” Oh. Ouch.

God, had it really been almost a year already since All-Stars’ disappointing ending? Aiden knew for a fact that not a single one of the cast had been in contact with Riya, despite occasionally seeing her on TV – Aiden had made sure to unsubscribe to all streaming services offering her movies. It wasn’t fair that those times were still creeping on any of them.

Especially on someone like Jake, that had worked hard until the very end.

It looked like Tom was about to unleash the pep talk of all pep talk, wrapping his arm protectively around his boyfriend’s shoulders, only for James to huff loudly.

“I don’t know if you realized, but Riya joined and left the show as an actor with money, literally the same. You joined in and walked away with the respect of most of the cast and the man you’ve been after for years.” He smirked, pointing at him with chopsticks. “Who did you disappoint, again?”

Oh. Wow. Jake was baffled, Tom was baffled, Aiden was even more baffled.

Him and Tom looked at each other, smiling in relief.

Truth to be told, the two of them had been a bit reluctant at making this meeting happen at first. Sure, despite James not being able to make it, Jake had invited him to Miriam’s and had seemed genuinely upset at not seeing him. Then again, the two of them had a less than ideal history during the show, even though it had culminated in a certain understanding towards the end. James had been cheering for Jake at the finale, Aiden knew that, but it was also kind of easy rooting for someone that wasn’t Riya – Aiden would have too, even if he and Jake hadn’t become friends.

It took maybe a second too much for anyone at the table to respond, so James looked already offended, which was, of course, really fun to see.

Jake blinked, slowly smiling.

“I didn’t expect this kind of speech from you.”

“Don’t push your luck, boy toy.”

“Ah, that one I saw it coming.” Jake snickered, way less gloomy. “Thanks.”

James shrugged, though he clearly looked pleased.

Aiden grabbed his hand underneath the table.

“He’s right Jake. Heck, even Yul was sitting one seat away from Riya on the bus!” That had to be an indicator of how low a person could go. “You got everyone on your side, and now you’re thinking of the future. That’s… what matters.” Hopefully that hesitation didn’t show.

Jake lightened up, taking a deep breath.

“Right, I’m no screw up. And I want to make this wedding planner thing work.”

“Now we’re talking!” Tom almost squealed, hugging Jake, making him laugh. “It will go great, I just know it. And you’ll always be a winner to my eyes.” Aww.

Yeah, the following kiss had been widely expected.

James scoffed, looking away with a hand on the side of his head like he was witnessing some disgusting spectacle. Hopefully he was a better actor on set than in real life, because he was doing a really poor job at hiding his smirk, witnessing the sweet couple parting from their smooth and look at each other lovingly into the eyes. Aiden decided to make sure that such grin was there, by taking James’ chin and kiss him on the lips too.

Yep, it was definitely there. Getting wider by the second.

It was easier going back to a lighter atmosphere after more delicious Chinese food was served – that eggplant potato dish had no business being that delicious. Alas, sometimes nature called, so Aiden eventually excused himself to go to the bathroom.

As he was washing his hands, casually appreciating the nice smell of the bathroom – it was the indicator a restaurant was good –, Tom came in as well with a dark spot on his shirt.

The big guy grinned at him, grabbing a bunch of wipes.

“All I’ll say is, this place got the juiciest dumplings ever!”

“I can tell… I hope you weren’t planning to use those pants again.”

“Wait, the pants too?? I thought I dodged the worst, what in the…??” Yep, the damage had been complete, and suddenly Tom looked smaller by the second. He slapped a hand in his face. “Jake’s gonna have a field trip on this one, he always insists I put a towel on my collar whenever we go out for dinner, I always say I’m not a child and I don’t need a bib…” Poor man, forced to behave like a civil member of society by his boyfriend. “This kinda happened last time too so it doesn’t exactly go on my favor…” Yeah, it didn’t look like he was going to beat the allegations.

Aiden snickered, drying his hands under the stream of hot air.

“Bib aside, it looks like things are going pretty great between you two. Isn’t it easier being in a relationship after stopping boycotting yourself?” It had been a while since then, they could laugh about it a bit. Tom looked almost proud of the achievement. “Not only that, how’s the lifeguard job? You barely mentioned it before.” Almost by mistake, even.

Tom stopped his wiping for a second, continuing with a little smile right after.

“It’s going fine, nothing exciting really. Jake’s the one starting something important!”

“Sure but that’s it? It feels like it’s a pretty big step for you.”

“Yeah, but… can we focus on Jake for today?” Tom’s eyes were exceptionally soft right now. “He really struggled job hunting this past year, he apologized for being unemployed so many times. I don’t think he ever believed me whenever I said that I was happy to support him until he found himself something good.” At last he took off his jacket, tying the sleeves around his waist as to hide the stain. “I really want him to feel good about it.” His voice was so kind.

Aiden had genuinely been looking forward to seeing Tom and Jake again. Because the two of them had been through so much, in their lives and together, and now that they were making each other happy, it was like seeing a beautiful palace completed after years of painfully hard work.

It was a nice view to have. It was like the proof that if there was love, there was a way.

Even when talking was… complicated.

Aiden swallowed, forcing that tightness into his stomach to relax.

“That’s very sweet, Jake’s lucky to have you.” He was seeing his friends, there was no reason to feel uneasy. Although Tom frowning at him wasn’t helping. “What’s up?”

“Uh, I was gonna ask you the same. You good, buddy?” Tom went to wash his hands, keeping a concerned glance over Aiden. “I don’t know, it felt like you were being a bit distant after we started talking jobs. You went on a limb over how amazing James is doing, but then kinda deflated when you said you’re not really working right now.” Oh boy. “Are you okay?”

Well, his attempt at pretending to be fine had been for nothing if even Tom had managed to notice. Did that mean that Jake had caught up on that too? What about James??

Aiden didn’t want them to worry, it wasn’t anything serious, it was honestly really stupid.

He was alright, everything was fine. He forced a smile.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything for it to bother you, you know? I know something about letting random thoughts get to me.” Tom smiled at him, drying off his hands. “And even if it was nothing, why not talking about it anyway? I’ve spent way too much time not expressing my feelings, and I wouldn’t be half as happy as I am now if I remained secretive about my life.” He pointed to the outside, and Aiden followed him back into the dining area. “It feels good too, talking nothing with the person you love. A whole lot, really.” He winked at him.

Aiden stayed back to watch, as Tom reached for the table, getting a smirk from Jake as he had likely noticed the mess his boyfriend was in. And in front of them James was laughing, handsome and serene, as they were living happy lives.

Right now. Right now.

Was this stupid fear really worth talking about?

Aiden took a deep breath and walked to the table, his will to keep it for himself slowly fading away. James turned to him and beamed, and for now Aiden focused on the happiness that gave him.

˚ ｡⋆ 📱°˖✧˙ Clinging in Mexico ˙✧˖°📱⋆｡˚

“Well then,” Rosa Maria had fire in her eyes, and fury in the tightened fists. “Explain.”

There weren’t a whole lot of things that James was genuinely afraid of. Aside from having his sense of shame widely reshaped by his influencer career and being able to laugh at that one scene from The Exorcist – you know the one –, without including his diehard passion for horror movies, he was simply a generally courageous guy who could hardly be startled by jumpscares anymore. A truly dashing and fearless man he was.

Then again, it was truly hard not fearing for his life when he was standing in the middle of Rosa’s living room like a defendant, sweat dripping down his forehead as the angry mother in front of him seemed ready to strangle him any moment now. Especially when such person just so happened to be one of James closest friends, coming back from her supposed ‘day off’.

James cleared his voice, almost coughing in the process. It was a bit hard focusing on pleading his case when there were fearful laments nearby.

“Alright, I’d like to preface by saying that it wasn’t on purpose.”

“I would hope so.”

“We thought Sofia was sleeping, we told her the Pájaro Verde tale like you asked, she was asleep!”

“Then maybe we have different concepts of the term. Does this-” Rosa pointed at her daughter, shaking like a leaf, hugging herself over the couch. “-look asleep to you?” Well now, using logic and evidence and witnesses just wasn’t fair.

James widened his collar, deciding that the is it hot in here comment wouldn’t have been well accepted. Also, Sofia wasn’t the only one trembling, therefore James needed to cut this short.

“Alright, fair, but everything was going just fine! Me and Aiden were laying on the couch and zapping around channels, we would’ve gone to sleep in an hour at best!” They had been cuddling all evening too, because James’ life was awesome like that. “Then we stumbled upon a channel that had a… certain movie… and I’ve watched it when I was a kid, it was my all-time favorite back then, so I felt like I would’ve been cute rewatching it with Aiden. He said he had never watched it, I told him it wasn’t that scary, you know how it is…” The teasing game.

Rosa Maria exhaled from her nostrils, shaking her head.

“What was the movie.”

“Uhm, it was scarier than expected, but nothing too-”

“James. What was the movie.”

“… Coraline.” Alright, he had been downplaying the whole thing, because Rosa was doing the inhale boi spongebob meme in real life, which probably meant that James had about five seconds to leave this room. “To be fair, I think that movie gets scarier with age.” Hopefully.

Rosa Maria huffed, pointing at the couch again with her thumb.

“Is that why your boyfriend is like that?”

Right, because not only had Sofia been trembling this entire time, but she had been hugging an equally scared looking Aiden, like they were trying to stop the other from shaking.

James was really trying to feel guilty and not deeply endeared by the scene.

“Something like that. In hindsight, maybe not his cup of tea.”

“What a shocker. When did Sofia come to watch?”

“… we noticed she was there only after the roll credits.” James might had been too distracted by Aiden’s cute reactions and his tendency to hide against his chest to escape the scary parts. It was hard seeing a child standing there when the air was so pink. “But I heard that the editor of the book read it to their daughters, and they were around six or seven! They were, like, totally terrified by it and didn’t show it only to know what happens next but still… I read it and turned out fine!”

“I don’t know if I would call all of you fine.” Preposterous. At last, Rosa Maria let out a laugh, kneeling next to Sofia who immediately wrapped her hands around her neck. “Alright, it really wasn’t your fault, I’ll let it slide this time. Maybe just keep your horror love at bay next time I ask you two to babysit for me, yes?” A fair deal.

And James Costa escaped death once again.

He scratched his neck, sitting next to Aiden, who clung onto his arm right away. Cute.

“I really am sorry about that, you know.”

“One scary movie won’t condition her forever, kids are sturdy. Especially since they get to eat a little bit of ice scream to recover from the fright…” The way Sofia perked up and ran towards her room with a big yippie was hilarious. “See? I’d worry about yourself more.”

Right, Aiden had been unresponsive ever since the last scene with the clawed hand had showed up, and he was currently clawing – funnily enough – James’ arm quite harshly.

James had some apologies and smooches to do.

“An all-nighter awaits me, it seems.”

“You and me both.” Rosa winked at them. “Good luck!”

Casually stopping by Mexico City had become pretty much the norm by now, it just so happened to be a city holding together some of James’ favorite people in the whole wide world. Lake had moved out of Rosa’s house for a while now, but her apartment was quite literally around the corner, and with how often the two of them met you would’ve not realized that the redhead’s stuff had disappeared from those big rustic wood painted closets that had belonged to Rosa Maria’s family for who knew how long. The house had two levels, isolated like they were two different habitations, one of which was usually occupied by her parents but was now James and Aiden’ guest house, given Sofia’s grandparents were currently on vacation.

Tonight, award-winning author Lake was busy going on just another date with Mariana – which had prompted the whole group chat to give them dancing emojis. Rosa had begun taking a couple of days for herself lately, to mingle with people, have fun, maybe even finding someone special, and since the usual designated babysitter had been busy, James and Aiden had offered right away.

Despite how it looked like, everything had gone pretty well up until the Coraline Collision, and once again Sofia had proved that even if she wasn’t identical to her mother, she would have given away their relationship through wonderful manners and likeability alone.

Kids weren’t on James and Aiden’s list, nowhere close, and they agreed on that.

It didn’t mean that behaving like adults wasn’t nice… it kinda made him think.

The house was warm and welcoming, with lots of family pictures all over, which was slightly menacing but also very heartwarming. James was doing his absolute best not to burst into laughter, because Aiden was still pouting like he had pouted every time James had made him watch a movie that was slightly scarier than expected. Maybe it was the surprise in those eyes, or maybe it was sharing the thing that had gotten them to bond the most during their time on the show, who knew.

They went into the bedroom, which didn’t have photos watching them sleep – thankfully. Aiden finally let go of his arm solely to get changed, as quickly as possible, only to lay down onto the bed and turn the opposite way.

“I’m not talking to you!”

James snickered, sitting onto the firm mattress.

“You just-”

“You know what I mean!” His grumbling voice was seriously too cute, because you could tell right away there wasn’t any actual intention behind it. “Screw you, I can’t even stay mad, the vibe of the movie was immaculate… why do I wanna watch it again?” Thus the effect of taking a peek at an unforgotten masterpiece – the two of them really were film buffs.

James quickly changed into his pajama as well, joining his boyfriend just to stare as his back. The whole room smelled like oak tree, there were several incenses sticks around them.

“Too mad to even give me a cuddle session reward? I did win that new casting.”

“Be thankful you’re not sleeping on the couch!”

“How can you be so cold towards me? I think of you!… which is the translated title of the TV show I’ll be filming for.” Alright, maybe to make this apology worthwhile, James needed to at least make it. “Sorry sugar booger, I couldn’t resist. Forgive me?” Could still use some work.

Never mind, Aiden had turned around almost right away, sinking his nose into James’ chest. The way he almost disappeared under hair when they were in this position was always adorable.

“Just this once.” Well that was a familiar line. James chuckled, wrapping his arms around him. “… Rosa seems to be doing great. I know she loves being a mom, but I’m happy she’s trying to explore herself and who she is when Sofia isn’t around. It will do her good.” Aiden was talking such sweet words, yet his tone was… spent. “Lake published the sequel of her book and she’s getting closer to Mariana with each passing day, Tom and Jake have never been better together and on their own… it’s great. Really great.” The last word almost sounded breathless.

It was still on his mind, whatever was on his mind.

James hated not being able to do anything about it… so he did something about it.

“Aiden.” His boyfriend looked up, with those gloomy yet so lovely eyes. James smiled at him, brushing a lock of hair away from his forehead. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.” He tried to visualize the scene, the two of them alone at camp. In the water, at the lake, talking like no one else mattered. “You don’t have to feel forced to talking about it with me, until you feel comfortable doing it.” Aiden’s eyes lightened up in understanding. “Nothing is going to change… what I think of you.”

It somehow felt like it had been yesterday and forever ago at the same time. The two of them were different, better, braver people than back then and that was for sure. Their love was tougher too, after withstanding so much, a bond that was getting stronger with each passing day.

Yet the feelings James had wanted to communicate that day, they were the same as now.

Aiden’s eyes were sparkling. His smile was turning the night into day.

“Babe…”

“I know something’s bothering you. It’s been bothering you for a while, and I’ve been waiting this entire time for you to tell me about it.” James took his hand, holding it tightly. “Rest assured, I’ll keep waiting, as long as you need. Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together.” He kissed his knuckles. “I’d wait forever, if it would make your happiness.” That came straight from his heart.

James had craved a kiss right now, and when Aiden went for it, pure warmth had blossomed into his chest. Slowly turning into a different type of heat as their touch became more intense.

Surprisingly, Aiden got up and straddled James’ lap, a beautiful reddish face.

He looked unbelievably pretty right now.

“I’ll tell you soon, I promise.” It was good enough for James. Aiden leaned down to steal another deep kiss, hands caressing James’ chest. “Meanwhile, I think I changed my mind. Maybe you do deserve a bit of a prize for getting that role.” That grin was really promising.

Forward Aiden was the sexiest thing James had ever witnessed in his life.

He would have not denied him anything, even wanting… and he absolutely didn’t want to.

This house didn’t have shutters or roller blinds, only some apparently-but-not-really heavy curtains that were either laughably cheap or insanely old, and still very bad at keeping the room in the dark. The moon seemed to be extremely luminous tonight, because it highlighted everything. Aiden’s ruffled hair, James’ drops of sweat, their lips melting into one kiss after the other, their bodies entangled together, their senses exploding, their skin trembling with pleasure.

Whenever they made love, it made wherever they were a wonderfully familiar place to be with. Just their bare embracing bodies, and each other’s warmth.

That was enough.

˚ ｡⋆ 🧸°˖✧˙ Plushie in the Sky ˙✧˖° 🧸⋆｡˚

Wasn’t it wonderful growing up from his numerous fears and face the world, free from the burden of irrational frights that had always taken over his life?

… was it? Aiden would have loved to know.

He had been holding onto the seat arm pretty much since takeoff.

“So, let me get this straight. We’re currently on a long-haul flight above the thirty thousand feet, which usually wouldn’t bother me but go figure.” There was simply something different between taking a plane for a trip and to jump off of it – thanks for nothing, Riya. “We just rewatched Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and I completely forgot Frodo being tricked into meeting a fucking giant spider.” Because despite handling one just fine in season two, there was a big difference between… well, a big one. “And apparently this flight goes near a thunderstorm.” Aiden took a deep breath, turning to his boyfriend. “Did I forget anything?”

James had been munching on trail mix the entire time, interrupting mid chew after getting that question. For whatever reason this man had made it his mission to always have trail mix whenever they were traveling, like he wanted to find the perfect combination possible and it was a serious matter – which was why Aiden had never told him trail mix tasted like shoes to him.

James swallowed, took a sip of orangeade, then he grinned nervously.

“That we rock-paper-scissored what we were going to watch after LotR, either your choice of drama movies or my choice of horror trash.” A pause. “And I picked paper.”

“And you picked paper.” Aiden sank into his seat. “What a lovely day.”

Hopefully the next eight hours were going to pass swiftly – yes he was in denial.

It was a bit sad being this stressed on such a day. After all, tomorrow was going to be their second anniversary, and they were currently on their way to Europe’s boot. They had been in Italy beforehand, a necessary travel to Rome in order to check the place The Gladiator was filmed in and kiss in front of Trevi’s fountain – maybe Aiden was catching a bit of James’ shamelessness – but given the romantic occasion the two had opted for exploring Verona on this turn. Juliet’s balcony, the big and glorious Arena, and a risotto made out of red wine – the life.

A time to celebrate an achievement, their love growing from the most unconventional situation and lasting two years already. A lifetime and no time at all at the same time, and Aiden was really looking forward to enjoying everything they had achieved together.

Unfortunately, right now, he was too busy lamenting all the variables that had turned sour one after the other on the way. It was like scratching an itch that was only getting more impellent.

James closed the bag of trail mix, leaning against his seat to brush their shoulders together.

“It really is a lovely day. I’m casually traveling, casually towards the most romantic city, casually with my wonderful boyfriend. Isn’t that such an incredible casualty?” Was this guy playing the charming goofy card to make his mood a little better? “Just for this occasion, I might be persuaded to put on one of your cheesy films. Only this time.” He was succeeding.

Well now, how was Aiden supposed to keep up the bad mood when his boyfriend was being this gentlemanly with him? He leaned his head onto his shoulder, letting out a nice clean breath.

Why was he hating on traveling agai-

The sudden flash of light coming from the window would’ve knocked him onto the floor for the surprise, wasn’t for the seatbelt and the line of seats in front of him… which resulted in Aiden slamming his nose against the back of the seat in front of him.

Aiden pressed his hand against his pulsing face, taking a deep breath. A big snort followed.

“Not a word.”

“You want me to kiss it better?”

“Those are several words!” A laugh. God was this demeaning. James was taking his hands and he was kissing Aiden’s nose, which was sweet and lovely, and all Aiden could think was how little he was feeling it right now. “Why am I always like this?” James arched an eyebrow. Aiden took his hands back, grimacing. “I thought that I made progresses, but right now it feels like I haven’t changed at all since the beginning.” Back when life was even more uncertain.

The seatbelt icon lightened up, which meant that they couldn’t get up anymore – which meant Aiden couldn’t run away out of embarrassment anymore, what a pity.

James put a hand on Aiden’s thigh, squeezing it.

“You did improve, by the end of your time at All-Stars you were jumping off the cliff without a single hesitation!” While that was true, it wasn’t really uplifting thinking of that time. Especially how such ‘journey’ had ended with his elimination. “Give yourself some credit, you’re in a flying cabin with lightnings and spiders creeping on you, it’s only fair you’re unsettled.”

That was… kinda fair. Aiden really wanted to believe him, and he did, but there was a creeping thought telling him that James was making up excuses in order to not admit how pathetic Aiden was acting right now. Aiden knew better than to believe it, but it was there, and it was heavy.

He put his hand over James’, feeling it warm.

“I guess.”

“But if it bothers you too much, I know who can help.” James leaned down onto his bag, the one underneath his seat. What was he- “Tadah! Did your miss your little buddy?”

Aiden gasped out loud, grabbing his teddy bear right away.

“Wha- how?? I left Bobo in the checked baggage!”

“Well, I might have checked the weather before the flight, just in case it got delayed for whatever reason. It said there was a chance for thunderstorms, so I thought you might’ve liked some emotional support.” Oh god. “I’m proud of the progresses you made, you’ve never left those fears interfere with your life, and there’s no denying that’s a big step.” Oh god. “Now relax, okay? This is a happy travel, we’re gonna have so much fun this little misadventure will get very far away…” James was still talking, and Aiden had stopped listening at some point.

All he was thinking about was the man in front of him, how lucky Aiden was for meeting him, how insanely special he always made him feel. His partner, his love, and why was Aiden being so secretive about the thoughts that were bothering his head? Why was he being so difficult and avoiding being upfront with him, like it would have been a mistake?

Talking to James was never going to be a mistake. Aiden hugged Bobo tightly against his chest.

“… I’m scared.” He exhaled. “I’m really scared about the future, James.”

It felt both shameful and relieving finally admitting it, and while there were likely plenty of strangers within earshot, not minding their own businesses and eavesdropping just to have something to do, Aiden felt like the two of them were in a tightly closed room instead.

Just the two of them.

James widened his eyes, just for a second. He slid an arm around Aiden’s back, pulling him closer to him in half an embrace. He kissed Aiden’s head.

“Why are you scared of it?”

Aiden breathed out, slowly relaxing as words left him.

“Of how uncertain it is. The more I think about it, the less I can see myself in it, like I’m heading nowhere. I thought it was just a stupid fear I had after losing All-Stars, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it for a while now.” Like a slight nausea creeping on him when he least expected. “We’re gonna finish traveling soon, I know that, this year was to see everything we wanted and to give one last video compilation to your TikTok channel before you stop being an influencer.” He clenched his hold onto the teddy bear. “And I don’t know what comes next.”

It was like walking onto a tightrope that had no end in sight, and Aiden had tried to pretend like he knew where he was going, because the way had been surrounded by beautiful things. Alas, he had forced himself to come to term with it, how darker it was getting the more he walked forward.

He was getting tired of keeping the balance inside.

James was rubbing his side, it was immensely comforting.

“Is this why you seemed so off, whenever we talked about jobs and stuff with our friends?” He really had noticed for a while now. Aiden nodded sheepishly. “Oh, sunshine…”

Aiden felt himself tearing up. He closed his eyes.

“Everyone around us is doing so well and I’m happy for it, but I’m also not and I hate it. I don’t want to be jealous of them, Lake and Rosa and Tom and Jake, they all been through so much and they deserved to feel accomplished!” He felt a lump in his throat. “But I haven’t gotten casted once in my life as a theatre actor, I’ve never worked before… I’m really scared of not getting to have a happy future, like everyone else.” It was awful and liberating, hearing himself.

The other day Lake had sent him the uncut prologue of her third book. She had always sent him the first version, and he had always answered back within days after reading it, full of compliments and fanboying over his favorite characters. This time, Aiden had taken his time, feeling so guilty for being jealous of his best friend.

Aiden wanted to tell Lake about his worries too, like he was doing it with James right now.

James was holding him so gently right now, like he didn’t want to hurt him. He looked so sad, so guilty, and he really didn’t deserve to feel like this.

“It will be okay, we’ll deal with it one step at the time. I’m sorry you had to deal with all of this.”

Aiden smiled at him. His heart felt beautifully free right now, finally.

“It’s okay. I think that’s just a part of being an adult, and maybe I never really thought too much about it until now… it helped that my boyfriend is a millionaire and we never had to worry about money before.” James snorted. Aiden laughed, scooting even closer to him. “But I have to do my part too, finding a proper job and all, and I promise I’ll do my best.” He turned to him, smiling, finally talking of something that gave him strength instead of doubts. “Because you’re the one certainty I have about my future, James.” One powerful, unbreakable one too.

James’ eyes sparkled, just for a second, before a beautifully warm smile moved his features. They kissed, just a sweet loving peck, going back to embracing as tightly as they could, even with the impediments of sitting on plane seats.

He placed a hand over Aiden’s cheek.

“You’re not the only one being worried, you know?” James let out a shacky breath. “Being a movie star is so sudden and new, I’ve never been something other than an influencer, and I still wonder if I have what it takes. And once we stop traveling, we’ll have to think about a house, a routine, a life.” They were on the same wavelength, and it was so reassuring. “But it’s the two of us, we’ll figure our future out. I know it will be happy as long as you’re in it, Aiden.”

There really wasn’t anyone else for Aiden. His heart was beyond full right now, bursting of adoration for his one and only, the man of his life.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you more.”

“Don’t even try to start with that!” Aiden laughed again, hugging him more, Bobo pressed between their chests. “Thank you.” It was so warm all around them, comforting, and Aiden felt so relieved for letting it out in the open that his eyes were getting heavier.

He felt safe and sound, away from heights and thunders.

Falling asleep in their warm little place that was the two of them together. Their home.

˚ ｡⋆ 📱°˖✧˙ Remembering in Lyoko ˙✧˖°📱⋆｡˚

“I really, really like you, Aiden.”

It was like getting rid of the biggest weight of his life, no matter how wonderfully sweet those words leaving James’ lips were. Because he had kept it inside of him, for months now, just to not risk causing problems as hanging out with someone like James seemed always to be the source of troubles, for reasons somehow even above the secret he shared with his group of friends.

His whole body was reacting to it right now. His feet felt lighter, his body relaxed and even energized, and while hitting just another Blok with his laser arrow, it felt like the power erupting from his wrists was stronger, even if just by impression.

They were struggling, they were surrounded, and the Forest Sector likely had plenty to throw at them still, yet right now James had never felt more at ease.

Aiden was gaping at him, holding up his sword. His face was of a lovely red.

“Wha- what the-” These monsters were being really unpolite, attacking them both and trying to interrupt this romantic moment. Very uncool. Although Aiden slashing creatures left and right was always a delight to see. “Now?! You’re doing this right now, in the middle of a fight on Lyoko?!” A couple of clearly very reckless Bloks went for the attack, meeting the blade of the samurai-like warrior in an instant. “Are you insane??” There had to be a name for the skill of multitasking defeating monsters and panicking over a love confession – maybe anxiety.

It would have been really fun keeping up the teasing, but unfortunately some massive Crabs were on their way and they had James’ name on them. He pointed and blasted, making clean area of them, but ending up running out of arrows.

Always in the least indicated moments.

“Ally, I need an ammo recharge, stat!” Silence. “Ally?” It was almost unsettling, not hearing her voice giving orders on them players. “What could be taking her attention?”

“Do not think you can just change the subject like it’s nothing!” It genuinely wasn’t the intention, they kind of needed their supercomputer expert on call, but now Aiden was looking even more embarrassed, and it was a feast for the eyes. “When did you- I mean!” He speeded up, slashing the monsters right where Xana’s eye was. “All this time- how…!” He ran around a group of monsters, raining destruction on them. “Why???” The place was suddenly very silent.

James couldn’t help laughing, which made Aiden pout even further. They were avatars right now, and the question over how much of what they were feeling was real was a bit of a complicated one still. But it was so heartfelt and light the joy James was feeling right now, and his current tail had been waggling quite happily, almost as it was of a dog.

He walked to him, slowly, loving the way Aiden was clearly nervous yet making an unconscious step forward. James gently took his chin between his fingers.

“Why did I tell you? Because I’ve been keeping it in for months, and I desperately wanted you to know how much I think of you.” In Lyoko outfit Aiden’s hair were even fluffier. They were moving softly under the digital wind, right over his sparkling light teal eyes. “Why you? Unless you want me to talk you ear out about my favorite person in the world, I’ll keep that answer for later.” Aiden let out a whimper. James giggled, tilting his head. “Why now? I guess… I needed a bit of bravery. And it’s easier to feel that way as a warrior.” It was the sad and pathetic truth.

Aiden blinked at him, still red, still shaking.

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. Although I understand you might have doubts given how I usually behave.” Maybe that was another reason why he had decided to do it here, where they had to be serious. “I want you to know about how I feel. And how you feel too, about me.” He couldn’t think of anything else.

There was silence, deadly so, as Lyoko tended to be like that. Aiden slowly bit his lip, James followed the movement with his eyes. His eyes became elusive, his face even redder.

“I’m…”

In hindsight, confessing in the middle of a fight really hadn’t been the best idea.

At least back at the Kadic Academy every was calm and peaceful and wasn’t going to suddenly welcome an army of little creepy creatures born specifically to disintegrate them from this reality. Furthermore, there was little to no possibility for an over-wing to come crashing down next to them, and for two girls to jump from it and land quite gracefully onto the ground, ready to fight – at least for what James knew, he doubted his school was this cool.

Lake was catching her breath and Aiden immediately ran to check on her, the forever protective best friend, making James hold a little sigh of disappointment.

Tess had a tense expression on her face, hands tight on her tessen fans. Out of all of them Lyoko Warriors she was definitely the most controlled and focused one, rarely showing emotions during the fight, which meant that things were about to get particularly tricky. Mostly because James had seen her doing that face only one other time before.

“He’s here.”

Right on cue, jumping in front of the army of monsters with his massive sword leaning onto his shoulder, was Xana’s very own mercenary, out to absolutely destroy every single one of them. The iconic eye in the middle of his chest, black hair, and an evil grin.

Well, now James knew why Ally had been so distracted. It was hard to be focused on the task at hand, when your turned-evil boyfriend stepped onto the battlefield.

“Come on, Lake.” Hunter pointed his weapon at Lyoko’s prisoner. “Let me finish you.”

This nerd really didn’t fit the image of the villain at all.

James had every intention of correcting this stupid mistake Xana had made.

“Lake, run!” About time. Ally’s voice emerged into their minds, as frantic as ever. “Let the others keep Hunter and the monsters busy, you need to go and deactivate the tower! Go go go!” Lake didn’t let her tell twice, as she was sprinting towards the massive building in sight from there. As soon as the monsters tried to stop her, the three of them aligned to stop the menace. “Guys, keep the enemies busy so they don’t follow Lake! The tower needs to deactivate immediately! Then be ready, this Return to the Past will be pretty complicated…” Her voice was tense.

It wasn’t a good sign. Suddenly James felt uneasy, and only thanks to his reflexes as a Lyoko Warrior he saw Hunter attacking him, dodging the slash with a backflip just in time.

“Dude! You interrupted a promising moment between me and Aiden! I thought you were a bro!”

“Xana will take over, there is nothing you can-”

“I was wingman when you tried to ask Ally out! Sure you chickened out and made a poor show, but me being there made it less demeaning! Possibly! And she asked you anyway after that, so maybe I brought luck at the very least!” Whoa, was that something close to a reaction in those weirdass possessed eyes of his? “That’s very promising my man, we’ll keep that in mind next time we see you!” James shot a couple of arrows, getting promptly deflected, but that was enough time for Tess to intervene and cross her fans with Hunter’s sword with a grunt.

James let out a loud sigh, only to gulp when more enemies went for the attack. Faster than ever Aiden intervened, slashing the first line, giving him enough time to regroup. He wasn’t looking at him directly, and he still had some blush on his cheeks.

Cute. So cute. Aiden looked up at the sky.

“Ally, what did you mean when you said the Return to the Past will be complicated?”

“The thunderstorm that Xana somehow made happen, it damaged the supercomputer. I tried to fix it, but it will go back to proper functions only after a complete reboot. It will go back to normal once we go back, but as of now there are many programs not working properly.” This girl really needed to be more direct with her wor- “One of those programs being the one preventing the mind wipe. None of us is going to remember this.”

It was like being thrown ice cold water in the face.

Surprisingly enough, James felt like laughing. Maybe because he had overthought this so much, for such a long time, and many times he had wondered if he was even good enough for Aiden and if his affections were even remotely reciprocated. Many times, he had decided not to go for it, and the one time he had done it, this was the result.

Maybe it was like he had always thought. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea.

The monsters were getting more agitated, Lake was likely very close to the tower. James clenched his fists and went to shoot again, quickly unleashing all of his ammo on everything he was seeing. His arms were left shaking at the end of his assault.

“Let’s cover Tess while she handles Hunter!” No answer. “Aiden, come on, I need a hand!” No response. James turned to him. “Aid-”

“It’s not fair.” He had never heard that gorgeous voice this tearful. “It’s not fair!”

It hit James right into the heart. But the fight was far from over, and the moment the Crabs started to blast James immediately got in the way, getting a hit that pushed him away of a couple of feet. He managed to keep himself up, one hand over his stomach, raising his eyes over the absolute massacre that the guy he had a crush on was making of every single monster that had the misfortune of being put into this world by Xana. When Aiden tripled again, continuing to destroy one enemy after the other, the real copy turned to him.

His eyes were shining of tears. James winced.

“Aiden…”

“This is finally happening, but we won’t remember! It’s not fair!” Aiden grabbed his hand, tightly, like he didn’t want to let go. “I don’t want to forget this joy you gave me!” Oh god, thank you.

Neither did James. Their fingers entangled together.

James leaned forward, their foreheads lightly brushing together.

“Today might disappear from our minds, but what I feel for you will never leave me. My confession will simply have a redo, and your answer will be postponed.” James smiled at him, even though he was screaming on the inside, even though he wanted to shout. “I will never forget that I’ve fallen for you. That much I can promise.” Because it really wasn’t fair.

Tess and Hunter’s fight was getting louder, but so where the echoes all around them. It meant that Lyoko was reacting. It meant that Lyoko was rebooting.

Aiden looked up at him, putting his hands over James’ chest.

James stared right back, holding Aiden between his arms.

The two of them leaned in at the same time, a soft kiss that was covered into a blinding white light.

L A K E _

C O D E  L Y O K O _

… French was so boring.

“James, I can literally hear you thinking about anything other than homework. Get a move on or you’ll have to wake up early tomorrow to do exercises last minute again.” Curses, how did Aiden manage to catch him while perfectly camouflaging his current boredom? “Maybe you should stop trying to balance that pen on your upper lip, then I think you’d give the impression that you don’t find French a waste of time.” Mm. Good advice.

James let out a long sigh, to which the librarian immediately shushed him. They were supposed to study and prepare for tomorrow’s lessons, they were supposed to focus on what was coming next, but James was really having a hard time.

“It’s just so boring, I wish Xana was attacking instead!”

“Don’t jinx it! It’s a miracle it hasn’t attacked in so long, enjoy the peace!” Aiden was writing on his notebook. “Ally and Tess can relax and think on how to make Hunter come back too, it’s good.”

Right, that. Maybe it really was for the better, although it really had been a long while.

James huffed, looking at his uncompleted homework’s and Aiden’s almost done one.

“It’s not fair though, all of you are Canadians.”

“For the last time, not all Canadians are French! And I’m not even a good student, I’m just trying my best because when the teacher gets mad she gets angry in French and it’s really- OUCH!” That was sudden. Aiden winced, rubbing his eye. “Stupid rubber fragments, always getting everywhere… I’m fine, I’m-” James grabbed Aiden’s chin. “… fine.” His eyes widened.

Gorgeously red over his face.

How weird. Living with déjà-vu was pretty much the norm for a Lyoko Warrior, but right about now James couldn’t recall what could possibly compare with having Aiden this close to him. Maybe he didn’t care to know. It felt so beautifully natural right now.

James smiled, feeling his face heating up. He didn’t know what came over him.

“I really don’t wanna do French. Instead…” He swallowed. “Go on a date with me?”

It wasn’t the plan, doing it today. Somehow, for whatever reason, he couldn’t help it.

His heart was beating all the way to his ears. He was doing his best at not making his fingers trembling. It was like the whole world was stopping.

Aiden’s grin right now, so wide and so enthusiastic, James was going to remember it forever.

“Yeah…” He blushed, giggling happily. “Yeah, okay.”

Oh man. Now James too was hoping for Xana to keep up the peace for a little longer.