Hello Aidan
1315 Words
I don’t even know your first name,” Stacey said as they neared his car. Her voice was softer now, steadier, though it still carried the edge of disbelief, like she was still catching up to the moment.
Aidan chuckled quietly, unlocking the door with a soft beep. “Aidan,” he said. “Though if you want to call me Mr. Callahan again, I won’t stop you.”
He raised an eyebrow in mock, seriousness.
Stacey let out a small, tired laugh and gave him a playful shove with her shoulder. “Shut up.”
Then, without asking, she tugged at the sleeve of his coat and folded into another hug.
This one was less desperate than the first. Slower. Less about unravelling and more about grounding. He hugged her back with quiet understanding, his arms solid around her. Not pushing for anything. Not asking for more than she was giving.
She didn’t know what to make of the way her heart steadied when she was near him. She didn’t know how to label it, and she didn’t want to. not tonight.
After a moment, Aidan opened the passenger door and guided her inside. The warm interior of the car was a stark contrast to the cool evening air. As soon as she sat, Stacey realized just how cold she really was. Her body trembled, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
Aidan got in, started the car, then turned the heater up. “You’re freezing.”
“I didn’t notice until now.”
He glanced sideways at her, frowning slightly. “Were you walking somewhere specific?”
Stacey shook her head, staring out the window at the amber streetlight casting long shadows. “Not really. I just needed to clear my head. My parents were” She sighed. “They were freaking out. Hovering. Smothering. It’s like… I didn’t get jumped." They did.”
“They love you,” he said gently.
“I know.” She paused. “But it’s not helping.”
There was silence for a beat.
“Where do you want to go?” Aidan asked.
“Anywhere but home.”
He nodded once, then pulled the car into gear.
They drove in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The streets thinned out until they reached the back edge of the park. Aidan turned off the headlights and parked near the overgrown edge of a trail, away from the streetlights, where the world felt quiet and still.
The only sounds were the ticking of the cooling engine and the slow whoosh of wind through trees.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Aidan leaned back in his seat, hands resting on the steering wheel, and broke the quiet.
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” he said, his voice low and honest. “After what happened in the medical room.”
Stacey looked over at him. “Then where were you?”
He took a breath. “At first? I needed to take a step back. Not because of what you said, because of what it meant. I’ve… I’ve worked really hard to keep my life clean. Separate. And then you came in, and suddenly things weren’t simple anymore.”
“You mean because I kissed you.”
He didn’t flinch. “No. Because I felt it.”
Stacey’s breath caught.
Aidan kept talking slower now. More careful. “I tried to chalk it up to stress, or the moment, or you being vulnerable. But that wasn’t it. That kiss… It wasn’t one-sided. And the moment it happened, I knew I had a choice, either run from it or figure out why it hit me like that.”
Stacey blinked, unsure what to say. Her hands gripped the sleeves of her hoodie tighter.
“I needed time,” Aidan said. “Time to understand what that connection actually meant. Time to figure out if I was losing my mind.”
“Did you?”
He laughed quietly. “Maybe a little.”
She looked at him carefully, trying to read past his easy tone. “And now?”
He turned his head toward her, expression open. “Now I see it clearly. I wasn’t just reacting to you because you were hurt or confused. I was drawn to you. Your fire, your honesty, even when it’s raw. Especially when it’s raw.”
She didn’t look away. “That’s a lot for a girl with a split lip and three new bruises.”
He smiled gently. “You’d still be you without any of those things. But seeing you fight through them? It just makes it harder to look away.”
Her breath hitched.
The car felt warmer now, almost too warm. She cracked the window slightly and let the night air in. The trees rustled like whispers just beyond the glass.
“I’m not asking for anything,” Aidan said, more serious now. “I’m not here to make things more complicated. But I’m not going to lie to you either. That moment in the medical room, it changed something. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.”
Stacey exhaled, long and slow. Her heart thudded against her ribs like it was trying to answer him before her mouth could form the words.
“I thought I made a mess of everything,” she admitted. “I thought you'd back away, that you'd”
“Run?” he finished.
She nodded.
“I considered it,” he said honestly. “But you don’t run from something that matters. You face it.”
A long pause stretched between them.
The space in the car was heavy now, not with tension but with honesty. With things neither of them had planned for.
Aidan broke the silence again, softer this time. “You said your parents weren’t giving you space. Do you want to talk about it?”
Stacey leaned her head back against the seat. “It’s like… they’re trying to fix it. Fix me. But they don’t even ask what I need. They just decided I was broken.”
“You’re not broken.”
“Don’t tell me that like it’s easy.”
“I’m not. I’m telling you because it’s true.”
She swallowed.
“I don’t want to be saved,” she said quietly. “I want to choose how I come out of this.”
“And you should,” he said. “That’s yours. No one gets to steal your healing process.”
Something about the way he said it, so sure, so steady, loosened another knot inside her.
“I’m tired,” she whispered.
He glanced at her. “Do you want me to drive you back?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Just… let’s sit a bit longer.”
Aidan nodded and leaned back again, settling into the silence with her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Their fingers interlinked like a natural infinity symbol, effortless, eternal in that quiet moment. Stacey tilted her head, just slightly, and caught him watching her. Their eyes locked, a mutual recognition sparking in the stillness. There was something magnetic in it, a gravity she couldn’t name, only feel. She leaned in first, just enough to close the breath of space between them. He met her halfway, like he’d been waiting for the world to allow it.
His breath was warm against her lips before their mouths touched. The kiss started slow, careful, almost reverent, but then deepened as the dam between them cracked open. His hand moved to the back of her head gently but firmly, tugging her closer, dissolving the air between them. Stacey let herself fall into the sensation, into him, tasting the truth. Neither of them had been able to speak out loud until now. It wasn’t messy. It wasn’t wrong. It was electric, needed, and real.
- Writer
