Academic lovers

35 | Moment

Why did this have to happen? Of all the moments and places, it had to be here and now. I watched as Aiden put down his phone, cursing under his breath. "No call service," he muttered.

Unable to contain my nerves, I began biting my thumb, a nervous habit that I always do in moments like these. It was as if my body was trying to release the tension building up inside me.

"What if they're already at the hotel? Or what if something bad happened? Or maybe they went somewhere far away?" I rambled, my thumb now feeling the pressure of my biting.

Aiden walked over to me, his presence calming. He took hold of my hands, gently rubbing them to soothe my nerves. "Hey, hey. Don't worry. It's going to be okay. They probably haven't gone too far. It's only been a couple of minutes." His voice was reassuring, trying to ease my worries.

"But still, I don't know this city."

"Good thing I do," Aiden replied casually, as if it were no big deal that he just revealed a piece of information about himself.

"You do?"

"Yup, I don't usually share this with people, but I grew up here, it's been a while since I've been back, so I'm not sure where to go next," Aiden admitted, glancing around uncertainly.

"Don't worry, there's a spot nearby where we can wait until we get more information," he suggested.

This is one thing I admire about him; he can come up with a solution in no time, while I was a nervous wreck.

"Alright, lead the way."

—

As we headed towards the cozy little lodge, just a stone's away from the festival, we were glad to find a spot with an awesome view. The place was small but cozy, and we had it all to ourselves. Everyone was at the festival, leaving us with this hidden gem.

We stumbled upon a seating area with a clear roof that let us gaze up at the night sky. I couldn't help but plop my head down on the table and let out a deep exhale.

No distractions, just us and the peaceful atmosphere of the lodge. It was the perfect spot to finally have a real conversation.

"I'll try to call again." Aiden said, standing up. I simply made a noise, too lazy to talk.

My mind kept drifting back to what went down,  half an hour ago. My feelings for Aiden just skyrocketed. I saw a whole new side of him. He noticed all these little things about me that even my closest friends wouldn't catch. I couldn't help but feel this deep admiration for him.

When Aiden came back a couple of minutes later, he told me about how there wasn't any signal, but I'd come eventually. It's something that happens during the winter.

"You still didn't tell me about that book you picked."

"Ah, I didn't finish it; school's been too much." He groaned, "College applications, dad pestering me about taking football professionally, the usual."

"Your dad's still on your case about that?"

"Yeah, since my brother went professional, he wants me to follow up."

"Is your brother still playing?."

I remember now that his brother, who was just three years older than us, graduated a couple of years ago and had quite a bit of fame when he went pro in university. But it seems like things have changed since then.