Page 14 of Just a Footnote

“Why me?”

“Because you’re going to be a doctor. You’re the responsible one.”

Aiden huffs as they start the incline. “I’m going to be a pediatrician.”

Miles shoots a teasing grin over his shoulder. “And we’re all children at heart. There you go.”

Aiden rolls his eyes, pushing his sunglasses back up his nose with his middle finger. Miles laughs loudly, tangling his fingers with Archer's. The walk to find a small field of snow is relatively short. He wonders how much yellow snow is out there. Hopefully if there’s any, Miles will fall into it. Aiden watches on as the three of them start a snowball fight as if they’re children. He’s scrolling through social media on his phone when a snowballsmacks him in the chest. The cold seeps into him despite his hoodie.

“What the fuck!” Aiden shouts through a laugh. When he glances up, he finds Liam staring at him bashfully. “You’re so dead.”

Despite the size difference between them, Aiden easily tackles Liam to the ground. Maybe Liam doesn’t do anything to stop him, he’ll never know. Liam lets out a littleoofwhen their bodies hit the snow. A warm grin spreads across Liam’s face. Aiden only has a moment to be afraid before Liam smashes a large handful of snow against the side of his face.

Aiden sits up, straddles Liam, and stares down in righteous anger. The snow slowly trickles down his face and Aiden valiantly tries to not laugh. He tries to appear angry but it’s hard when Liam looks so pleased with himself. Liam’s still grinning crookedly, green eyes twinkling up at Aiden, so Aiden has to put a stop to that. He grabs a handful of snow then shoves it under Liam’s hoodie.

“Ah!” Liam shouts, pushing Aiden off of him.

Laughter bubbles out of Aiden’s chest as he stares up at the blue sky. Archer’s face looms above him for a second before fingers circle his ankles. Miles pulls him deeper into the field, then suddenly they’re all covering him in fresh snow. It’s like a scene out of a beach movie when someone is buried in the sand except Aiden is being buried alive in snow. He can’t even be mad about it though because it loosens some knot in his chest he didn’t even know was there.

“You little shits, I’m going to catch another cold.”

Three identical cackles rent the air before he’s dragged out from underneath the snow. Liam dusts the snow off of him, not caring about the scowl on Aiden’s face.

“You’re fine.”

“Yeah, but I’m freezing,” Aiden argues, rubbing his hands together.

“Here.” Liam steps forward, pulling Aiden into his embrace, swamping him with his warmth. He smells nice. Kind of like oranges? But also something else too, something that’s probably just…Liam. He’s solid and warm. Aiden isn’t one for hugs, but this one is kind of nice. For a moment, he just lets himself melt into it.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” Liam laughs, making his entire chest rumble against Aiden’s cheek. “How about we go get coffee to warm up?”

Miles eyes them both, but gives nothing away besides one artfully arched eyebrow. The descent down the trail is quicker than the walk up. Once they exit the trail, they head back to the car while stomping snow off their shoes. Liam starts the car with his keyless ignition and the inside is blessedly warm when they climb in. Ten minutes into the drive they pull into a drive thru to grab coffees, Miles and Archer shouting their orders through their window.

“What do you want?” Liam asks, turning to look at him in the passenger seat.

“Americano.”

“Of course.”

Liam orders them both Americanos, surprising him a little. He kind of expected Liam to be the type to order one of those sickly sweet seasonal flavors. Maybe he doesn’t have Liam pegged as well as he thought he did. It’s nice though. Somehow that realization makes that familiar ache in his chest grow even tighter. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. After that is the empty week before New Year’s. He wonders if Liam will stick around all that time too. He kind of hopes he does.

3

Liam is absent on Christmas Eve. Not that Aiden cares. He’d rather spend the day watching shitty Christmas movies with Archer and Miles anyway. Aiden ends up drinking more eggnog than he should even though he finds it disgusting. Archer likes it so he plays along. He falls asleep halfway through Home Alone and wakes up to Miles putting his hand in a warm cup of water.

“You asshole,” Aiden says while aiming a kick at Miles' legs.

“You’re no fun.”

“Making me piss myself is mean.”

“Toyoumaybe. It would’ve been an early Christmas present to me.”

Archer reaches over to grab the cup of water, attempting to knock it onto Miles. “You are a little shit.”

Miles stops him with a tight grip on his wrist. Aiden instinctively flinches, but relaxes when Archer just grins at his boyfriend.

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