Page 92 of Just a Footnote

“This entire time?” Liam asks brokenly, a loud hiccup at the end.

“We can just forget that.” Aiden pats Liam’s back gently, attempting to comfort him as best he can.

“Never,” Liam says forcefully before kissing Aiden. He tastes like salt, like an ocean of pain. Aiden keeps his eyes open to watch Liam’s face during their kiss. Even like this, Liam is heartachingly beautiful. A flush rests high on his cheeks from crying. Tears cling to his long eyelashes, and he sniffles a little into the kiss. Aiden loves him so much it causes him physical pain, right inside his ribcage.

They kiss for a long time. Until Liam gets sleepy, his kisses turn slow, lazy, and languid. Aiden rolls them so they’re both on their sides, facing one another. Aiden tosses a leg over Liam’s hip to hold him close. The position is intimate but Aiden needs it tonight. He just…needs Liam.

He’s not sure what happened. He thought maybe Liam would like the idea but obviously not. Something about it had upset him. Aiden’s stomach sours. Maybe Liam is dating someone? Maybe that’s what he meant by thenot yetto Archer. He’s going to tell Aiden that it’s over. Aiden has prepared for this. It’s okay. Why would Liam bring him here? Oh. Maybe this is it. A week of goodbye fucks.

“I love you,” Liam sleepily mumbles into his shoulder before drifting to sleep fully.

Oh,fuck.

The last three words he needed to hear.

Aiden carefully wiggles out of Liam’s grip. The room is dark as Aiden slips out of bed. He finds his phone on the nightstand, pads into the bathroom naked. A pair of Liam’s sweatpants sit on the bathroom counter, he grabs them, hastily drags them on. Chancing a look at himself in the mirror, he hates what he sees there. A lovesick fool. An idiot. Shit.

He splashes some cold water onto his face before grabbing his phone to text Archer.

are you awake?

Wtf it’s like 6 am here. Why are YOU awake?

I need you to change my plane ticket.

What?

I want to come home today

Don’t tell Liam

Can you do it?

Okay?

thanks. I can get a cab from JFK home, so don’t worry about it. I’ll see you soon.

Why are you doing this?

I need him to let me go. He needs to let me go.

Is this metaphorical or literal

more … figurative I think?

The toiletries can stay behind.He can buy more once he’s back home. Packing his bag will be the hardest part but also he can leave most of that too? He really just needs his wallet and clothes. He wiggles out of Liam’s sweatpants before padding back into the dark bedroom. Luckily, Liam is a deep sleeper.

He tugs on his jeans, one of Liam’s t-shirts, silently curses himself for grabbing Liam’s worn hoodie. The cabin is quiet as he walks carefully down the stairs. Locating his shoes by the front door, he quietly tugs them on. Looking around the cabin for a few minutes, he sees his wallet on the table, grabbing it before taking a deep breath. Determination to flee pushes him on despite the cracks forming around his heart.

The air is bitterly cold outside. It’s fucking December in Washington, it just snowed yesterday. Aiden is a massive idiot. What’s he going to do? Walk all the way back to the airport through the snow? The answer is yes, if he has to but it’s probably his most idiotic idea ever.

What Aiden really wants is for Liam to fucking love him. He wants todeserveLiam’s love. He wants to make Liam happy. But he’s far too damaged to do that. Not to mention he’s a giant asshole. God, if Liam isn’t fucking someone else he surely will be when he wakes up to find Aiden gone. Again.

Aiden crumbles to the snowy stairs outside, feeling hopeless and broken. He makes a snowball with his bare hands, tosses it around in his hand a few times, letting the weight of it steady him. He throws the snowball into the freshly fallen pile of snow by the stairs. Taking a deep breath, he releases it as he rests his forehead on his bent knees. Exhaustion bleeds his body of every ounce of will he had to walk to the airport in the deep night during a snowstorm.

“Aiden? Jesus Christ. What are you doing?” Liam hurriedlytakes the stairs to the bottom, he looks up at Aiden, radiating fierce anger. Barefoot and bare chested, he’s dressed only in a flimsy pair of gym shorts. The asshole is going to catch a cold or maybe even get frostbite. “Are you leaving? Archer just called me and told me to stop you. Something about letting you go?”

Archer is a traitor.

---