Although Aiden Had Plenty Of Friends In Town, Most Of Them Were Already On Their Way To Another Part

Although Aiden had plenty of friends in town, most of them were already on their way to another part of the states to visit family or just go on vacation. Aiden wouldn’t really have anywhere to go to. He considered Wilmington his home. Though Aiden didn’t enjoy putting up Christmas decorations anymore, due to the fact that it hurt him too much, he was always more than willing to help out his friends who needed it. They mainly used him for his tall stature, but he was totally okay with that. Aiden drove over to Gray and Winnie’s place. Though Aiden and Gray have known each other for years, it wasn’t the same with Winnie. The two had met here and there, but Aiden wasn’t sure of Winnie. He figured if Gray was living with him, then Winnie must not be a bad guy after all. Aiden got out of his car and hopped on up to the front door, nearly going for the door handle before learning his manners and ringing the doorbell. “Santa’s here!” @winnieblythe​

abbyrchrds‌:

“Well then if you have to write about me,” she began, grinning. “make it something cool. Like, magic and shit. Ooh, put me in some kind of Harry Potter, super hero hybrid.” She let out a wistful sigh. “That would be perfect.” Nodding, Abby waved her hand. “I totally get that, I know that if you stare at a piece of work for long enough it becomes completely insane and you start to think everything makes sense but you just need another set of eyes.” She knew she could get the same way with her dissertation, even though they were two completely different things. “I would love to take a look at it, though. Do I get to know what it’s about beforehand or is it a secret?”

She shook her head. “No, but the ones that are factory made and not good for you just feel…” she shrugged. “More festive. Like its tradition that it’s supposed to make my stomach upset.” She looked over at the food, almost forgetting entirely that it was there. “Oh! Well we can fix that, can’t we?” She stood up, once again conveniently ignoring that Aiden deliberately ignored her (though she didn’t mind) as she went to heat up the french toast. “You can come join me in the kitchen, if you want. Make yourself at home, make yourself a drink. I have those old Batman Begins cups from 90s era McDonalds that used to be my dad’s.”

Aiden grabbed one of the cups, being as careful with it as possible. He was sure that this cup was treasured and the last thing he wanted to do was break it or anything. “Thank you,” he kissed her gently at the top of her head, nearly sending his heart into a frenzy. Besides the hand holding, this was probably the most affection that Aiden had shown Abby. He was surprised at how freaked out he was. “Uh - sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” he was quick and brief.

Aiden leaned against the kitchen counter and moved on from that brief encounter. “Okay, I’ll make sure to think of a cool character for you. Do you have a name preference or anything? Any features of yourself you’d like to change?” Aiden didn’t think she needed to change anything, but he figured he’d extend the question regardless. “Don’t laugh at me, but I’ve never seen one Batman movie. I’m sure that I just lost a bunch of brownie points.” He was hoping that the French toast would survive sitting in the bag for a couple hours. “I also hope I don’t give you food poisoning with my cooking.”

grayfischer‌:

   “Alright, brother, I trust your judgement,” Gray chuckled. He knew not many would have a tolerance as high as his by now, and it’s not exactly something he took pride in… just a fact of life. Just there mere mention of his mom made him smile. Reyanne had always been such a special person to Gray, and he was definitely a full-blown momma’s boy. He wasn’t surprised she still sent Aiden gifts; she’d always treasured his friend, especially because he’d done so much to bring Gray out of his shell. “Yeah… she’s gonna be thrilled we hungout. Here, let’s send her a selfie.”

   Gray leaned in with his phone held out, getting close to Aiden’s face to snap the pic, listening as Aiden talked about his love life as he sent the text and a brief message to his mom. “Well, you’re already having better luck than most - so the new girl, then, is she… are you guys…?” Gray left it opened ended, smirking to his friend. He hoped to keep the subject focused on Aiden for this part; talking about Alana or Abby right now was not something he felt inclined to do. 

Aiden leaned in for the selfie and smiled. “Tell her I miss her good food and her nice hugs,” he mentioned. It was nice to feel like he was still a part of a family. “No, she’s not my girlfriend or anything like that. I’ve barely even had the courage to ask her on a date, to be honest. It’s kind of insane how everything worked out. I told her about my parents and she told me about her dad and it kind of clicked for me that we both went through similar tragedies. Although, we watched Harry Potter and I got triggered and ditched her in a theatre, but she forgave me and understood and honestly, she is an angel on Earth. Her smile pierces through your soul,” he continued on.

“I’m not good with this whole asking girls out or being smooth. She’s like the girl version of me and it’s kind of insane because we’re both messes but in a way it’s nice to have someone else who can understand the pain that I’ve been through. She’s smart, she has ambitions, and I can be vulnerable with her in a way that I haven’t been able to with another girl I’ve had feelings for. I’m trying so hard to be patient. I haven’t even kissed her yet because I want to build a good foundation before jumping into affection.”

winnieblythe‌:

On account of being utterly clueless of just about everything, Aiden’s uncertainty around him has always soared over Winnie’s head. He thinks they’re friends – despite the ever so small issue of him not being able to remember Aiden’s name. He hadn’t been listening when Gray introduced them, and it’s gone on for too long now that he doesn’t feel he can ask. For all he knows, his name could actually be Santa. Maybe his parents were just really jazzed about Christmas. “Hello, my sweet summer child!” He greets cheerfully when he opens the door, giving Aiden an affectionate cheek pat. “Gray isn’t here. If you can believe it, he’s actually left the house, so I’m decorating. Can you give me a hand to get that–” he points at a hideous inflatable Santa, “–up into his room? I just think he’ll really appreciate it.”

Aiden laughed at the greeting, unsure of the nickname that Winnie had given him. Though the two had met briefly, Aiden always thought Winnie was a little - off. He didn’t mind the nicknames and carried along. “Hi, Winnie, how are you?” he smiled, giving a warm response. “He left the house? What did you do to him? Did you chase him out with your little gerbil or whatever it is?” he chuckled. “Um - should I put gloves on in case he tries to track fingerprints? This stays between us. I had no part in moving this Santa,” Aiden grabbed the Santa and headed up the stairs. He had become accustomed to the house in the few times he had been there. “So, I see you guys are going all out for this Christmas.”

grayfischer‌:

   “Wow,” Gray breathed out, fingers freezing over the keyboard as his eyes flickered up from the screen to meet Aiden’s. He knew what a big step that would have been for him, telling her about his family; hell, Grayson remembered the emotional experience Aiden had telling him. “Must be serious,” He added with a supportive smile, before returning his gaze downwards and quickly finishing up the second text with Aiden’s added sentiment to his mom. Hearing his friend talk so fondly about someone. It almost reminded Grayson of the way he’d felt for a girl who was a bit similar. 

   “Bro, what? All that and you haven’t kissed yet?” Grayson interjected, though he was hardly one to talk. “Sounds like you need to just go for it. I think girls like the whole intensity thing, or something. I dunno, I’ll probably never get it, but it seems like you like her. What’s the problem? And when do I meet her?”

Aiden wasn’t one to open about his life, outside of the fact that he had two dogs who he loved more than anything in this world. That was the crazy thing, to be able to open up to someone without feeling anxious. Grayson understood it and it was nice for Aiden to have his best friend back. He took a deep breath and continued, “I mean, I don’t want to jinx it and say it’s serious, but I do like her. She’s honestly so amazing. The patience she has, the kindness she embodies, it kind of reminds me of my own mom,” he simply stated. “I mean, that’s why Brie broke up with me in college. She always asked about my family and I’d find one way or another to avoid telling her what I was feeling or my past. I was ashamed of it and I just never felt close enough to tell her. It was a weird feeling, loving someone but not being emotionally close to them all at once. It’s different this time, I can feel it in my bones.”

“No, I don’t think she’s the type of girl that would be okay with me just springing a kiss on her. I want to take it slow. I want her to know that I’m not dating her for sex or whatever. I told her I wanted to get to know her and if I have to wait to kiss her, then so be it,” he declared. Aiden was never good with girls and his previous situation didn’t turn out so well for him. “I just feel nervous. You know how rare it is for me to want to commit to someone and now that I’ve reached this point, I’m scared to take a step forward. Umm...I don’t know when you’d meet her, to be honest. Isn’t that kind of quick? Introducing your crush to your best friend?”

emmycahill‌:

WHEN: december 18. evening. WHERE: aiden’s dog’s house that they allow aiden to share. WHO: @aidenjcarter​ & emmy.

Emmy was restless, pacing a line into the floor at home until she finally couldn’t take it anymore. Her eyes traveled to the closed door of Winnie’s room, and annoyance danced through her like a flame. There was no reason why it should have stoked such a reaction inside her– at least, not one she felt keen on giving a name– but the longer she was inside the house, the more intensely it burned. So, she stomped off to her room, knowing that, should she be heard, they’d assume she was just in a mood. To be fair, they weren’t wrong.

She stuffed several well-loved DVD cases into her bag– she refused to let time render them obsolete– and gave Noodle a kiss on the head before stomping back through the hallway and out the front door. 

Her inexplicable rage had simmered to a moderate annoyance by the time she made it to Aiden’s house and, pulling her keys from the ignition, realized she hadn’t let him know she was coming. Ice-like dread chased away the burning remnants of earlier’s sour mood as she considered the fact that he might not even be home. And she really needed him to be home. 

Overwhelming relief washed over her as she stood in front of his door, staring for several long moments until he was pulling it open. Wordlessly, she held up her stack of DVDs and shrugged. “Hi,” she murmured and then sighed. “I brought various versions of Meg Ryan, can I come inside?”

Aiden finally had a day alone, no interruptions, his dogs were happily asleep at his feet. He opened up his laptop and found the unfinished chapter in his book and started word vomiting all over his workspace. Writing came naturally to the boy, but he had encountered writer’s block from time to time. He was thankful for Abby’s advice that he should write something that he would be proud of us regardless of the judgments of other. It gave him motivation to finish his book up.

Aiden heard a knock on the door and immediately closed his laptop. He thought one of his friends had dropped by for a cup of tea or something. To be honest, Aiden was kind of surprised when he saw that it was Emmy. The two had met before, when Aiden was over or when Emmy had walked his dogs. They have never really spent any quality time alone, but it was good to see a familiar face.

His bed hair was quite apparent. Aiden never bothered to get dressed up when he was at home all day. “Hi, um, not sure who Meg Ryan is, but yeah, you can come inside,” moving to the side to allow her to enter.

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