Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aaron
I couldn’t believe how adamant Finn had been about me taking this job. Thinking about the job itself made a happy flutter go off in my chest, but then that flutter would turn to an ice-cold chill at the thought of moving away from him. Even now, as we decorated his Christmas tree together, I couldn’t help but worry about it.
But Finn had known what he’d wanted, and he’d made sure he’d gotten it. It just really freaking sucked that this time it was something that would separate us. But when he was determined, he always got what he wanted, even the first time I’d met him when we were both five years old.
I walked out back to get away from the screaming. I hated when they screamed like that. It was always worse when Daddy drank that gross-smelling stuff, too, and he’d had a lot of it today.
I found a stick on the ground, so I picked it up and started walking around and drawing in the dirt. When I got to the edge of the trees, I noticed a tennis ball sitting in some weeds. Last week I’d lost my tennis ball that my aunt gave me, so I was excited I’d found it again. I pulled it out and started playing with it, throwing it at the trees and making it bounce back to me. I kept trying to catch it, but I was too slow. I laughed whenever I missed.
I threw it as hard as I could at the tree closest to me and before I could duck, it hit me smack in the forehead. I groaned and fell on my butt.
Suddenly a kid, who was even smaller than me, came out of the trees and asked quietly, “Are you okay?”
I looked at the skinny kid with light brown hair and bright blue eyes and shrugged embarrassedly. Oh no… he saw me get hit in the face, now he’s gonna make fun of me. I swallowed thickly. “Yeah.”
He nodded and grabbed the ball, holding it up. “Wanna play?”
I was surprised, but happy. “Sure.”
And we played. It was fun having someone else to play with. Usually I was just by myself.
When the sun started going down, the other kid—I didn’t ask his name—said, “You’re my friend now. We’re gonna play tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
And just like that, the kid that lived three houses down from me became my friend… though I didn’t find out his name for a whole week, we met outside every morning and played all day long.
When school started weeks later, my only friend, Finn, was in my class, too.
“Hey, Aar, can you pass me that little box?” Finn asked me, pointing to a small box on the coffee table. I handed it over and he said, “Thanks. This one has my favorite ornaments.” He opened the box and pulled out a little glass snowman ornament, holding it up to me. “Layla gave this to me on our first Christmas. She took me home to her parents that year since I was planning on just staying at school. She bought me a plane ticket as my gift, but then got me this too. She wouldn’t let me pay her back, either. She’s always been way too generous.”
“Her family lives here in Sunberry, right?” I asked, grabbing a box of Christmas balls to hang on his tree and humming to the Christmas music Finn had playing from the kitchen.
“No, they actually live in Utah.”
“So you’d never been here before you moved here?”
Finn continued to pull out ornaments and hang them on the tree. “Actually, I’d been here a bunch of times with Griffin, since his family’s here. Layla and I started coming here for holidays and stuff. Her family isn’t really involved. I mean, they’re not bad people, they just travel a lot and are more the type to make occasional phone calls than to actually see their daughter. But Griffin has a huge family and they’re all up in each other’s business. That’s why we opened the bakery here.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “What about you? Had you visited before moving here?”
“Only a few times to tour the hospital and find an apartment. I didn’t really know anyone that lived here or anything.” I shrugged. I hadn’t been very social in college, or after college, for that matter. I mean, I went out on some dates, and tried to hook up, but that was as far as it went. I’d only recently really befriended people, and that was truly Finn’s doing. Or rather, Finn taking me into his world with his friends.
“What about in Oakford? Do you know anyone there?” he asked quietly without looking at me.
My stomach twisted at the thought of moving away, so I cleared my throat, not that it helped. “There’s a few people at the hospital that I know, and probably a few people I know from undergrad that still live in town, but I’m not really sure.”
“I guess you’ll just have to go out and meet some people, then.” His voice sounded a little strained.
I grabbed his arm and turned him toward me, so he’d look at me. “I’ll meet people when you come to visit.”
“I’m only going to be coming out like once a month. You can’t just become a homebody.”
“I’m already a homebody. And I’m coming to you every weekend that you don’t come to me. And seriously, Muffin, if I have a chance to go out, I’ll just drive home.” I cleared my throat. “Drive to you, I mean.”
His eyes softened and he set the ornaments he was holding on the table, then he stepped closer to me. He went up on his toes and wrapped his arms around my neck, tucking his head against me. I immediately embraced him back and just held him tight. After a minute the song switched over to one of Finn’s favorite Christmas songs, O Holy Night, so I started swaying him a little bit. He pushed his face farther into my neck and tightened his hold on me. I wasn’t much of a dancer, not that what I was doing could really qualify as dancing since I was just stepping slowly to the beat, but I knew Finn would appreciate it.
I wanted to savor these last few weeks with him before I moved. I knew we’d still be together, or rather, be in a relationship together, but we’d been spending so much time together lately that it would be hard to adjust to not seeing him every single day.
So I kept swaying and turning him in a circle while holding him tight, breathing him in and praying that he knew just how much I loved him.