Chapter 10A: Surprise

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were going to the dance. I mean, no one goes to those things! Lemmings do, but real people like us, do not attend school functions." This was Adam, shouting loud and clear through the portable phone as I lay upside down on my bed Friday night, waiting for Aiden to finish with his shower.

"It wasn't exactly something I was planning, Adam," I retorted, "but I swear, the next time I become a lemming, I'll ask your permission first."

"You'd better," he said with a laugh. "So are you really going with Lacy Chapman? She's hot."

"I just met her, but we're only going as friends," I assured him. "And why don't you and Shane ask a couple of girls and come too? It should be fun, so I hear."

"No way!" Adam sounded completely disgusted with me. "Besides, Shane's coming over anyway; we'll probably just hang out."

"Have fun then."

"You too, lemming."

"Hey, don't get smart," I retorted. I looked up as my cracked bedroom door opened wider and Aiden walked in with a towel around his waist.

"So, I'll see you at school on Monday?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you then. Bye, Adam." I hung up the phone and went to my dresser to pull out a clean pair of boxers, and then offered them to Aiden. "I doubt you want to walk back downstairs like that," I remarked, glancing down at the towel around his waist, albeit momentarily.

"Thanks," Aiden replied, taking the shorts and turning his back to me as he dropped the towel. It was probably a good thing he turned around, otherwise I might have been caught staring. His skin was still damp from the shower and his hair was down and messed from the towel. Small drops of water cascaded down his back, over the round globes of his ass between two narrow hips. I wondered if he knew exactly how hot he was. I couldn't remember anyone having the effect on me that Aiden did, not even Nicky.

My eyes snapped back up to the back of his head when I realized that he was speaking to me.

"Owen, um... did you, uh... did you mention to Adam that I was here?" He bent down for a moment to step into the boxers and my eyes wandered again, but as he turned back around I plopped down on the bed and pulled a pillow into my lap, suddenly needing to hide my bulging problem.

"No," I replied cautiously, because I wasn't sure why he was asking that question. "Should I have?"

He turned to face me with a wan smile.

"No," he sighed, "I was just wondering. I guess I just thought if Adam knew, then Janie might find out and..."

"Trouble in paradise?" I teased, leaning back on the mattress.

"Ha, Ha." Aiden rolled his eyes as he sat next to me and leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. "No. Really, I just feel like she's sort of smothering me lately. Like today, I never told her that I'd go over to her place. She just then decided it when she told you at the mall."

That got my attention.

"Then why..."

Aiden held up his hand before I could finish asking.

"Why didn't I go out with you tonight?" he asked, smiling wistfully. "I thought you guys could use some family time, you know? I planned on stopping by tonight anyway, and it's not like I won't be able to celebrate with Tony and Chris tomorrow, with the party and all. That's why I didn't say anything at the mall. But afterwards, when Janie's mom came to pick her up, I told her I'd see her later. I didn't say when, you know? Well, I ended up over at Jake's, we were calling around to make sure everyone we invited to the party was coming--they are by the way; and then, when Jake brought me home, I found Janie on my doorstep practically in tears."

I turned on my side to face him better, taking the pillow with me.

"Was something wrong?" I asked.

"That's what I thought," he said. "But no, nothing was wrong, other than the fact that she called my house over thirty times and when I wasn't there she rushed over because I didn't tell her where I was." He was becoming agitated, his voice rising. "I mean, can you believe that shit? And don't get me wrong, I love Janie, we've been friends for as long as I can remember. But lately it's like someone flipped a switch or something and I can't stand her."

I turned back onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

"She likes you," I said.

"Well, yeah, I like her too. We're best friends."

"No." I smiled. "I mean, she really likes you."

Aiden fell silent for a moment. I knew that Janie wanted more than a friendship with Aiden. Actually, everyone seemed to know it except Aiden, and that was funny to me. It also annoyed me to no end that he could be so naive.

And I didn't exactly like being the one enlightening him, either. I was suddenly wondering if this new information would cause him to see Janie in a different way. Who knows, maybe they would even end up together. I hated the thought.

I was jealous, of course. I hated to admit it, but it was the truth. I had been convincing myself that although I was attracted to Aiden, we would only ever be friends. The truth of that thought now seemed very aggravating.

"No," Aiden finally said, "that can't be right." And he was completely serious. "I mean, we're friends, Janie knows that." Now he sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "And even if she did like me--which she can't because she knows we're just friends--I could never feel the same way about her, even if I tried. Shit, she's like my sister."

"Well, I could be wrong," I replied. But I knew I wasn't. "Anyway, I'm sure it will work out for you. And hey, you can hide out here anytime you want."

"Hmm." He sighed, and then turned his head to look at me. "Maybe I'll take you up on that, at least until you get sick of sharing your bed with me."

"That's not going to happen," I promised. If he only knew how much I liked having him in my bed.

"You really don't mind?"

I smiled at him, but it faded when I saw the serious expression on his face. He looked sad, almost. Like, he really needed me to convince him that it was all right for him to be there. I wasn't sure what to say. If he was straight, like I thought he was, it might not be a good idea to tell him exactly how I didn't mind. But, if I played it off as a joke, and he wanted reassurance because he felt safe here, I might offend him and he'd never stay the night again. I decided to be as honest as I was ready to be.

"I don't," I said, looking away because I was having trouble looking into his eyes at the moment. My voice came out a little softer than I intended, just above a whisper. "I kind of like it... it's nice, having someone so close. I think I sleep better that way."

"I know what you mean," Aiden replied after a moment, and then we fell into a silence for a while--not necessarily uncomfortable, but still a silence.

I felt the bed shift and looked to see Aiden was getting up, a smile back on his face, and I found my own mouth curling up in the corners. When he smiled, all seemed well.

"We're you serious about that run tomorrow?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," I said, reaching to set my alarm.

"Then we'd better get some sleep," Aiden pointed out.

And as usual, while I crawled under the covers, he turned off the light and a moment later I had my arm around him, his hand firmly over mine, but my butt pushed back and my hips away from him, and we drifted off into peaceful sleep.

...

I have five different settings on my alarm, each ring louder than the next. I usually set it on the second setting; it's loud enough to wake me up, but not so loud that it sounds like a damned fire drill--that's what the fifth setting is for.

I must not have been paying attention the night before when I set the alarm because I woke to the sound of high-pitched ringing. I shot right up in bed.

Aiden woke equally unnerved, and when we both disentangled and sat up all at once, we bumped heads, none too lightly. We both groaned, held our aching skulls, and then burst out laughing, which seemed to put us in a good mood after our less-than-happy wake-up call.

No more than an hour later, after Aiden had run downstairs and changed into some jogging shorts and a sweatshirt; after I put on my normal running gear; and after we had literally torn a sleepy Ryan away from his bed, we were jogging circles in the park.

Aiden had kept up rather well, which wasn't a complete shock, he was in great shape; but he still didn't like to run the way I did, and by the time we were on our eighth lap around the park, I could tell he was growing tired.

Ryan liked running even less, not to mention he was hung over from the night before, so I took up the lead, keeping a steady pace at least five paces ahead of Aiden, and Ryan was three behind him.

"We do realize that it's Saturday morning, don't we?" Ryan remarked. "You know, the one day a week it should be, like, a rule to sleep in?"

"You could have stayed in bed," Aiden reminded him. "As it is, we almost left you there."

"Two more laps, and I'm done," Ryan swore.

"What are you doing today?" Aiden asked him. "You will be at the party tonight, won't you?"

"I'll catch a ride with Leo," Ryan replied. "What time is this thing again?"

"Jake said that people should start showing up around six," I explained.

Ryan nodded. "Cool."

We continued on our trail around the park, passing a few cyclists and more joggers. We had just finished another lap when Ryan suddenly spoke up.

"That's it," he huffed; "I'm done."

Aiden and I stopped another five paces away as Ryan's decision to go two more laps went out the window and he plopped down on the grass outside of the trail. He laid back to catch his breath and looked at us.

"You two go ahead," Ryan breathed. "You can pick me up on your way back. I'm taking a nap."

Aiden and I laughed and jogged back to him, each of us taking a seat on either side of Ryan.

Aiden stretched. "I'm done too.".

I could have kept going, but found myself lying back against the grass and staring towards the sky as I caught my breath.

"You guys wanna come over?" Ryan asked. "My mom's home. She should be up by now. I bet she'll love to cook us breakfast."

I already had my answer. It was an immediate 'no.' I wasn't opposed to spending more time with Aiden and Ryan, but I wasn't about to spend my morning meeting someone's parents.

"That would be cool," Aiden replied. "I haven't seen Angie in a while. How is she?"

Ryan shrugged. "You know her. She misses you, though." And then he looked at me, "You're coming too, right?"

"Ah, actually..." I started.

"Come on," Aiden insisted. "Ryan's mom's a great cook. You'll really like her."

"I should really go see how Jake's doing," I insisted. "He's thrown together the whole party, and I want to make sure he doesn't need any last-minute help."

"I doubt he will," Aiden replied. "Besides, you have all day to get over there."

I noncommittally shrugged my response, but when Ryan gave me a firm pat on the back, and pulled both Aiden and me to our feet, I knew I was going with him. I had left my truck at Ryan's house, anyway. The walk from the park was all the time either Aiden or Ryan needed to talk me into staying around for breakfast.

Meeting parents makes me nervous. I think they're all like animals. Only, I never know if I should keep my head down and avoid eye contact, like a confrontation with a gorilla, or if I should look straight ahead and show no fear. But, I've already explained my issue with parents, haven't I? I was afraid of them.

However, Ryan's mother, Angie Sader, was not someone to be afraid of. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't her. She was one of those round women. She wasn't fat, but she just looked soft, the kind of woman that looked comfortable enough to cuddle with. She had a bright smile, and the same dimples that Ryan had. All in all, she seemed very approachable at first glance.

Of course, that didn't mean that she didn't have the ability to put me on edge. She greeted Aiden even more warmly than she had her own son, and then just about backed me into a corner when she greeted me in a big hug before Ryan even got the chance to introduce me.

Angie Sader's actions confused me. Not even my own mother hugged me for no reason. I wasn't sure what to think of this behavior. It put me on edge, but at the same time, it gave me a sense of security in an unfamiliar home.

It didn't take long for Angie to have breakfast on the table, and she sat down with us, not seeming to mind that we were three sweaty, smelly, teenage boys, all in desperate need of a shower.

All through breakfast, Angie ran the conversation. She stuck to safe topics, like school, which only put me more at ease. But she kept filling all of our plates before we asked for more. I noticed that Aiden took it all in stride, but he never did finish his second helping of food. He'd obviously done this before.

I, however, tried to be polite, despite being full, and I finished off my plate twice. It was on the third helping when I realized that Angie would try to feed me as much as she could until I stopped eating.

Ryan just ate whatever she placed in front of him, until the food was literally gone. I'd bet he never went hungry.

While we all waited for Ryan to finish eating, Angie reached over and took Aiden's hand.

"Now, where have you been?" she all but demanded. "You never come over anymore."

"I'm sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I've been sort of busy."

"Well you start making time, mister," Angie said, grinning. "I miss my boys. Leo and Ben never come over anymore, either."

"Leave him alone, Mom," Ryan said. "He's doing me a favor by staying away. You appreciate me so much more when there's no one to compare me to."

Angie narrowed her eyes on her son and then pinched his shoulder. Ryan winced and started to curse, but shut his mouth with one warning look from his mother.

"I appreciate you just fine," Angie informed him. "And you know you miss Aiden, too."

Ryan looked at his mother with something resembling mock disgust, and then laughed and smirked at Aiden.

"She's right," he said, "you should come over more." And then he went right back to his food, and Angie looked in my direction.

Uh-oh. I suddenly felt like I had Angie's undivided attention. I didn't like it.

"So, Owen..." More trouble. Sentences starting with, 'So, Owen, ' were dangerous coming from parents. It meant questions were coming. The hard questions. The ones I didn't want to answer. "Ryan mentioned that you live with your brothers."

"Yes, ma'am," I replied.

"It's just you and your brothers?" she asked. She was digging. It was time to excuse myself.

"Yes, ma'am, just the three of us," I replied dutifully.

"Chris and Tony own that club," Aiden said, The Shadow. Leo goes there all the time." Was he trying to change the subject? I smiled at Aiden. But Angie Sader was still staring at me.

"Where are your parents, Owen?" she asked.

That was the question I didn't like to answer. I never knew what to say. To make matters worse, Ryan had put down his fork and he was looking at me now, too. So was Aiden. I had never told either of them anything about why I was living with my brothers. I didn't want to do it now, not at the breakfast table. Not in someone else's home.

"Yeah," Ryan said, "you never did say where your parents were."

I didn't really notice the way I was hesitating and fidgeting, or the growing silence. I was too busy trying to figure out what I wanted to say. If I mentioned my confrontation with my father, like I had to Adam, Angie Sader would likely want to know why it happened. I had yet to tell anyone but my brothers exactly why it happened.

In all honesty, if this confrontation had come up with just Aiden and Ryan, I doubt I would lie to them. But, the idea of coming 'out' to another parent didn't sit well with me, no matter how nice she was. I wasn't going to do it and I wasn't going to let her corner me into doing it.

"My parents aren't in the picture anymore," I replied shortly, hoping that it was answer enough for now.

There was a silence after those words, but Angie Sader was looking at me expectantly, as if she expected me to say more. She could forget it. It wasn't going to happen.

I wasn't looking at anyone around the table, except for a few quick glances. I couldn't look at Angie, but Ryan looked confused, maybe a little uncomfortable. Aiden was just looking in my direction, seemingly impassive towards it all, until he cleared his throat.

"We should get going," Aiden said to me, and then smiled at Angie. I felt relief as soon as he said it. "Sorry, Angie. There's a party for Tony and Chris tonight. I think Owen had some things he needed to do before then."

After another moment, Angie smiled and stood up to give Aiden a hug. I got up and said goodbye to Ryan, grateful we were leaving. I was also grateful that Ryan said goodbye to me as if nothing out of the ordinary or awkward had happened.

Angie Sader gave me another hug. I was probably more rigid than I was when she gave me the first one. I wasn't comfortable, but she was kind. She invited me back and then informed Aiden that she required him to bring me with him the next time that he came for supper.

Once we were in the truck, I felt a tremendous relief, but I was also nervous. There was an awkward silence between Aiden and me. I wished that I knew what he was thinking. Maybe he was curious about my parents. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew some of it. After all, Tony went through the same thing I did. Aiden probably knew about that. I wondered if Aiden knew the truth about me too. It wasn't like he wasn't smart enough to figure it out.

"I hope you didn't feel ambushed," Aiden said, interrupting my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"With Lacy, " Aiden replied. Lacy? I thought he was talking about Ryan's mother. It took me a moment, but when I realized what he was doing, I was grateful for the change in topic.

"What about Lacy?" I asked.

"I don't know. I thought you might have felt ambushed at the mall." Aiden shrugged. I glanced over at him, and I don't think the sudden look of guilt on his face was my imagination.

"Was that your idea?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, not exactly... sort of."

Aiden glanced out the window and then back at me. He looked like he wanted to smile, but he also looked like he was nervous about something.

"I mentioned to Ryan that I asked you to go this dance, but you weren't really into the idea," he explained. "Well, the next thing I knew he's asking me if you had a date. I sort of did some thinking out loud, you know, mentioned that maybe we could get you to go if you had someone to go with... I wanted to run it by you first, especially when Ryan announced that he wanted to introduce you to Lacy, but then when you showed up at the mall... I'm sorry Owen, I really didn't want him to ambush you like that."

"I did feel a little ambushed," I admitted. "But you don't need to apologize. After meeting Lacy, I'm sort of looking forward to it."

"So... you hit it off with Lacy?" Aiden actually sounded as though that was the least likely thing in the world.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I? I think she's really cool. You know, I did try to get out of it when Ryan left us alone together, but she practically told me to shut up and ordered me to go with her." I laughed. "But, once we decided that we would go as friends and just have fun, it actually sounded like an okay idea."