Chapter 7: The long day

A/N Thanks to Jim for editing!

The rain had stopped by morning. The chill was still in the air, and the sky was gray, but it didn't look like we'd have another downpour anytime soon. That was good thing, because I was looking forward to going hiking with Aiden.

He wasn't in the tent when I woke up, and I wondered if there would be any awkwardness between us after last night. I hoped not. But I also figured that if there was any awkwardness it would be my own fault. I knew that everything that had happened last night meant nothing to Aiden. We'd just been two friends, helping each other out. He'd probably done that sort of thing a hundred times before with his friends. But I hadn't. I'd never participated in a circle jerk or anything of the sort. It would have been considered too gay at the time in my life when I would have been interested in it. The only other boy I'd ever touched before last night was Dan.

I got dressed and headed out of the tent, wanting to see Aiden. I figured that all I needed was for him to smile at me and any awkwardness would fade away. He was sitting on the tailgate of my truck with Tony, though, and it looked like they were in the middle of a pretty serious discussion, so I didn't interrupt.

I went to the fire, which was burning low because of all the moisture, and I helped myself to a pop tart. Shane and Chris were awake, but Adam was still asleep. I told Chris that I was planning on going for a hike with Aiden and Shane mentioned that he and Adam planned on seeing the girls from last night, which earned him some friendly teasing from Chris; that is, until Shane turned it around on Chris, mentioning that he had looked pretty cozy with the eldest Luis daughter.

I noticed that Tony and Aiden had finished talking. Tony was coming towards the fire but Aiden was still sitting on the tailgate, looking somewhat dejected. He looked up and caught me staring at him and suddenly whatever seemed to be bothering him disappeared from his face. He flashed me a wan smile and waved, so I guessed whatever it was, I wasn't his problem. I waved back and then looked at Tony as he sat down next to me.

"What time are we leaving?" I asked.

"Depends on the weather." Tony yawned. "I was thinking we could head out before dinnertime and stop somewhere on the way home, but if we get anymore rain we should leave earlier. But it seems everyone has plans today, so I think we should at least pack up most of the camp this morning so we don't have to worry about it later."

"That's a good idea," Chris agreed. "I'm gonna go wake Adam up."

The three of us nodded tiredly and after stuffing ourselves with a breakfast of junk food we started to tear down the camp, deciding to leave the coolers out and our bags accessible in Tony's car. I helped Aiden take down the tent we had slept in and we got things done fairly quickly.

"You still up for that hike?" he asked. It was the first thing he had said to me all morning.

"Yeah, if you are," I replied.

"Cool." He smiled. "Do you want to leave before your fan club gets here?"

"Huh?"

Aiden nodded to where Shane and Adam were disappearing into the woods and smirked.

"They're off to get those girls," he explained.

"Right." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I want to leave before they get here. Wouldn't want them following us."

Aiden nodded and then grabbed a backpack. I finished putting away the tent as he went to fill the pack with food and a few other supplies. I wasn't sure where we were going and I wasn't sure how long we'd be gone, but Aiden seemed to have an idea, so I decided not to worry about it.

After Tony asked us to head back if the weather turned, we were on our way. At first, it seemed like just another walk, but as we continued I began to wonder how Aiden never managed to get lost. Something would catch his eye and he'd go take a picture of it, then he'd see something else, and we'd be off again. For a while I actually thought we were going in circles, and I had no idea where we were.

But I liked watching Aiden, and I was personally enjoying myself, too. The rain had left the ground muddy, and water was still dripping from the trees, but the walking around in it seemed somehow refreshing.

As the morning became afternoon the clouds seemed to vanish and the sun was back by the time we started moving uphill. I was behind Aiden, transfixed on his perfect butt and tight jeans, thinking about last night. Not a word had been said about it, but I guess that was the way it was supposed to be.

And then he suddenly stopped. Without looking, he absently reached back for me and I purposely moved into his hand, not at all surprised as he took hold of my arm in that familiar way and pulled me up next to him without taking his eyes off of whatever it was that had his attention.

"Owen, look," he whispered.

I did look, and if Aiden weren't holding onto my arm so tightly I would have taken a step back. At the top of the hill, moving through the trees was the biggest elk I'd ever seen. Actually, it was the only live one I'd ever seen.

Every year my father would go hunting. I only went with him one year, when I was fifteen, and I guess you could say that I was glad we didn't find anything. I hate guns, and shooting at animals wasn't on the top of my list of fun things to do. It was the first time in ten years that my father came back from hunting with nothing, so he decided to call me a jinx and never took me with him again. And don't think it hurt my feelings either.

Now, seeing this elk with Aiden, I wondered why anyone would want to kill it in the first place. It was beautiful. I noticed it was coming closer, and was terrified to even breathe for fear of spooking it away. But I managed to pry my eyes from it long enough to look at Aiden, who seemed as transfixed as I'd been. He had this strange look on his face, sort of peaceful, and his eyes seemed glassed over, not moving from the creature lurking in the trees.

I placed my hand over Aiden's and slowly moved it from my arm, guiding it to his camera. Aiden looked down at his camera and then smiled at me before picking it up, ever so carefully, and waited to get a better angle. The animal walked right in front of us. Aiden took the picture and the elk's head shot up, its eye trained right on us, and all three of us stood there frozen for a moment. And then, in one quick flash it was gone.

Aiden and I both released the breaths that we had been holding. We silently smiled at each other and continued on our way. After a while I noticed that we had moved onto a trail and we were headed towards some tall rocks. Aiden gestured up ahead and grinned.

"This is the place I was telling you about," he said. "I found it last night."

He held his camera and his pack and suddenly ran ahead. I wasn't in a rush, so by the time I reached the rocks he had already climbed to the top. I looked up just when he decided to take my picture. Shaking my hand and chuckling, I climbed up the rocks where Aiden was waiting for me at the top. He grabbed my arm at the last minute and pulled me up with him and I looked over the scenery.

"Wow," was all I could say. It wasn't the most beautiful spot in the world, but I had to admit that it did have its charms. The rocks stretched up the side of the mountain, and in front of us was no more than an eight-foot drop into a pond. At least, I think it was a pond. It was too small to be a lake, but it was bigger than your average swimming pool, and the water looked deep enough. It wasn't the clearest water in the world, but the surface took on a silvery, shimmering effect, causing the yellow grass and brown shrubs surrounding it to appear livelier than they were.

"You should see it at sunset," Aiden replied as he took a seat on the rocks, not bothered that they were still damp from last night's rain. "I've got some pictures, I'll have to show you when we get back."

"Yeah," I said with interest. "It's really great, Aiden. Are you going to take more pictures?"

He shook his head.

"Nah, I used a whole roll here yesterday." He let the backpack drop from his shoulders, set his camera on it and got comfortable, so I took a seat next to him, letting my legs dangle off the edge. "Thanks for coming up here with me, Owen."

"Hey, I was glad to do it," I insisted. "Thanks for having me."

He grinned and then lifted something out of the backpack. He held up the joint that Ryan had given to him and a lighter.

"Wanna?" he asked.

"Shit, you guys are going to turn me into a pothead. Do you do this a lot?"

"No," he replied, "but I do like to indulge every now and then. Especially this week. Being suspended from school, and not having to work all week, well..."

"So light it up."

Aiden grinned and did just that. I didn't experience any coughing incidents this time, and instead of giggling uncontrollably like I had with Ryan, we were just really relaxed, leaning against each other and enjoying the view.

"Hey, Owen?"

"Huh?"

"Did you ever think this would happen?" he asked.

I looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"When you jumped in that fight," he replied. "Did you ever picture us here a few days later? I mean, I know it sounds weird, but I feel like I've known you forever, not just a few days. Maybe I did, because of the way that Chris and Tony talked about you, but still... it feels like something more."

"I know what you mean," I agreed. It was true, I hadn't known Aiden very long, and in truth, I hardly knew anything about him; but there was a comfort level there when we were together, just a feeling I got, like I knew that we could be friends for a very long time.

I looked at Aiden only to find he was staring at me again, and looked to be in deep thought, not so much as flinching when I caught him staring. Actually, the intensity of his gaze put me on edge; I couldn't have broken away from those brown eyes if I wanted to, as glazed over and bloodshot as I'm sure my own eyes were. But I thought I saw something there, the way he was looking at me. I didn't say anything though, not with the marijuana-induced haze I was feeling. I figured that whatever it was, it was my imagination.

And then the moment was broken when a sly grin made its way over Aiden's face and he suddenly stood up, tossing what was left of the roach into the water below. I watched in stunned silence as he braced his feet on the rock and stretched with as much gracefulness as a cat before he shook his coat off his shoulders and let it fall. I caught it, fearing it would fall into the water and looked up in time to see him pulling his sweater over his head. I actually started to get worried.

"Aiden, what are you doing? It's freezing out here, man."

"It's not that cold." He smiled back at me.

I started to get up, but when he unbuttoned his pants and kicked off his shoes, my legs failed to work and I sat right where I was, staring at his smooth back and long legs.

"Oh, god," I muttered, for so many reasons. What the hell was he doing? Part of me wanted to get up and cover his crazy ass up before he caught pneumonia, but the rest of me was enjoying the show too damn much.

He reached down and pulled off his socks, one at a time, and then, when he straightened up, his boxers started to come off. My mouth went dry as he removed the last article of clothing between his bare skin and the cold air, and when his boxers had joined the pile of all of his other clothes he took a step back, so that his beautiful, round butt was practically in my face, his olive skin there just a shade lighter than the rest of him. It was all I could do not to burry my face in it. He glanced back at me with a grin on his face and I forced my eyes up to his.

"Coming?" he asked.

Shit. As I realized what he was about to do I was on my feet in a second.

"Aiden, come on," I insisted. Clearly he wasn't thinking straight. I would have to do the thinking for both of us, it seemed. "It's freezing, that water's got to be, like, zero degrees."

"You're exaggerating," he pointed out.

"Okay, but still, it has to be pretty damn cold, and you don't even know how deep it is! You'll end up breaking your neck and I'll end up having to carry you back to camp, which won't be easy considering I have no idea where we are."

Aiden laughed at me.

"Then I guess if that happens I'll owe you." He winked, and with that, he jumped off the rocks shouting 'Whoo-hooo!' I wanted to kill him.

I looked over as he disappeared under the water, waiting for him to come up announcing that he had broken his ankle. Instead he came up sputtering with his teeth chattering and attempted to grin up at me in triumph. I couldn't help laughing.

"Shit!" I called. "Are you alright?"

"Yep, water's plenty deep," he replied. "Now get your ass naked and get down here!"

I took a step back defensively.

"Hell no! I can see your teeth chattering from here, no way am I going to freeze my balls off."

"It's not that bad, I swear; come on, stop acting so damned responsible and get down here before I come up there and throw your ass in!"

I think he'd actually do it, too.

"No way!"

Aiden stared up at me with a determined look on his face as he treaded water, and another mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Okay, then," he said, smiling, "I guess you're just going to have to rescue me."

"Huh?" What the hell was he talking about?

"I'm gonna hold my breath until you get your butt down here," he announced. "If I drown, it's all your fault!"

I rolled my eyes at him and watched as he disappeared under the water. I stood with my arms crossed, smiling, waiting for him to come up sputtering again. After a whole minute passed and I saw no sign of Aiden my smile faded and I started pacing, beginning to feel paranoid.

After the two minutes I began to call his name, feeling knots in my stomach as I waited for him to surface. Before three minutes had passed I set a new record for removing my clothes. Naked, except for my socks I bent down to remove them when I heard a whistle much like one you would hear when a pretty girl walks into a truck stop, and I spun around to see Aiden grinning at me from the water.

"You asshole!" I shouted.

Aiden laughed and treaded water backwards, looking up at me.

"Come say that to my face."

I shook my head, half-tempted to put my clothes back on and call it a day, but hell, I was already naked and cold, I might as well go all the way. I stepped up to the edge of the eight-foot drop. I wasn't afraid of the distance, and the water seemed deep enough, so I turned my back to the water and lifted myself into the air in a back flip, the way I used to jump off the diving board of Nicky's pool, and then dropped feet first into the water.

It was cold. Not just cold, really cold. The second I hit the water I swear my balls shriveled all the way up to my throat. I came up sputtering and shivering at the same time, while Aiden laughed at me.

"That was fucking cool," he said as he swam towards me.

"You're fucking psycho!" I retorted, but with no malice. "It's freezing, I'm out of here."

I started swimming towards the shore but Aiden grabbed my arm, and before I could do anything about it he dunked me. So the wrestling match began. For the good part of thirty minutes we splashed, grabbed and dunked each other, laughing all the way. And it was more fun than I could remember ever having. There was nothing sexual about it; it was too damn cold to pop a bone anyways. Just two friends goofing on each other, forgetting the rest of the world existed outside of that pond.

I'm pretty sure that I managed to get Aiden a lot more than he got me. I also had a small suspicion that he was letting me. Every time I got my arms around him to dunk him or lift him up and throw him into the water he would completely relax against me and come up laughing.

For a little while he seemed so different from that intense, mysterious guy he seemed to be in the real world; here he was just a little boy having fun, and I felt the same way. My insecurities, fears, and doubts all went away for one afternoon and I had as much fun as I could until both of us were blue in the lips and our muscles were cramping.

We climbed back up to the rocks, finally, leaving the water behind. Aiden had a spare t-shirt in his back pack and we used it to dry off as much as possible, but when we put our clothes back on we were still damp, so we huddled together on the rocks as we ate some chips Aiden brought, satisfying our belated case of the munchies.

I'm not sure how long we were there for, but it was late afternoon when I knew that we needed to be heading back, and Aiden said exactly what was on my mind.

"I don't want to go back, Owen."

I gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze and he looked at me.

"I know," I said. But I didn't know, not really. The way Aiden had said it seemed like so much more than not wanting to go back to camp. It was like he was saying that he didn't want to go back to life in particular. But as usual, I didn't question him.

After a moment, he lifted his camera from where it had been sitting on the rocks, draped an arm around me and aimed the lens at us. Seeing what he was doing I leaned in and smiled. I might not like getting my picture taken, but this was going to be one picture I wanted a copy of.

A picture could never capture the way I'd felt for the past few hours, just being there with Aiden, being his friend, and having him as mine. But it could capture that one moment on the rocks, and it could be a constant reminder that we had each other.

We had only known each other for a few days, but there was a bond there, a silent, unspoken bond between two people who both had secrets. I didn't know Aiden's and he didn't know mine, but there was an understanding between us. I hoped that there would me many more of these little, trouble-free moments between us.

The rocks and the pond were in no way a paradise, but it was special to us now, because for one afternoon it was ours, and I couldn't wait to come back.

It wasn't quite dark yet when we reached camp. Chris and Tony were nowhere to be seen, but there was still a fire, and Adam and Shane were around it, along with Melissa and her sister, whose name I still couldn't remember. I felt nauseous when Melissa attempted to flash a seductive smile my way.

It wasn't that she wasn't a nice girl, I'm sure she was, but she came on strong, and I didn't like that. Not to mention that I wasn't interested in her gender in particular. I felt somewhat comforted when Aiden threw his arm around my shoulder, but I flashed him a look that could kill when he started to lead me towards the fire. He just winked at me.

"Damn, where have you guys been?" Adam shouted at us. "And what the hell happened to you?"

We both looked down, remembering that we probably looked like hell. Our clothes were muddy and out hair hadn't completely dried yet. Actually, we were still pretty damn cold.

"Owen talked me into going skinny-dipping," Aiden replied, matter-of-factly. "He's crazy, you know."

Shane laughed. "No shit?" he asked. "I didn't know there was any place to swim up here, but that water must have been freezing."

"Oh, it was," Aiden insisted, looking completely scandalized. "Believe me, I tried to talk him out of it, said it was too cold, he could end up breaking his neck, but no--Owen, here, had to go off and prove me wrong."

I fought back a smile as I glared at Aiden. We both knew that it was the other way around, but I decided to play along.

"Well," I said, "maybe I'm crazy, but that makes you stupid for listening to me. That water was freezing!"

Aiden just shook his head at me and then we laughed, but no one else seemed to get it. And then Melissa stood up to greet me as we reached the fire.

"I think it's awesome," she cooed. "I mean, I'd love to go skinny-dipping."

Okay, I admit it, the girl made me blush, especially with the way she licked her lips after that last statement.

"Well, I'm sure Aiden could tell you where to go," I replied, hoping to discourage her. "I'm not good with directions."

"Aiden can tell me and I'll take you," Adam said as he grinned at Melissa, causing Shane to giggle. She just rolled her eyes and sat back down, this time next to me as Aiden and I held our hands out towards the fire in an attempt to warm up.

"Where are Chris and Tony?" Aiden asked.

"They said that they were going for a walk," Adam explained. "I think we're leaving when they get back."

"That's too bad," Melissa said, pouting at me. "We hardly had any time to hang out."

"We've had all day," Shane remarked, obviously annoyed with Melissa's lack of interest in him. Melissa's sister didn't seem to care either way, she seemed like she was actually bored.

"They should be back soon," Adam said to Aiden and me.

We nodded and then Aiden squeezed my shoulder before he suddenly got up and announced that he was going to change into warmer, clean clothes. Since the tents had already been taken down he went behind my truck to change. I was half-tempted to follow him, but decided to do the same thing after he was finished.

I was glad that while I was warming up by the fire, Adam was busy chatting about life back home, keeping Melissa involved, which meant that she wasn't bothering me. But then he started talking about the fight, despite my objections, making me look like a hero, which I wasn't, and that had both girls asking questions and making silly remarks--was I okay? Did I break anything? Gag me! Better yet, someone gag them.