Everywhere, All At Once

Chapter 14 - Real

Aaron listened to her so intently as they spoke throughout their meal, like he genuinely cared about every single word that came from her mouth. It all felt so, so easy. He stared into her eyes while they spoke, giving her every bit of his attention. Kenna noticed that he didn't touch his phone once while they ate or afterwards, and she felt guilty every time her phone would go off and she'd automatically pick it up.

He touched her as he listened to her, too. Idly. Softly. Rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Tracing the inside of her wrist with his fingers, which was distracting as hell when she was trying to complete a thought. It made her crazy. And nervous and a little punchy. She wanted to grab his hand, tell him to stop teasing her, to touch her like he meant it, not like he was afraid of what might happen if he did.

He looked at his watch, though, after she made her final point on gun control and why assault-style weapons should be banned throughout the country. She wondered if she was boring him. They always talked about this kind of stuff, but maybe the rules were different now that things had changed between them.

She glanced up at the clock on her wall and noticed it was already eight-thirty. They'd finished eating a while ago, but hadn't gotten up from the table since they were mid-debate and kept jumping to different topics. She had a healthy love for debating, and he usually did, too, but that wasn't why he'd come here. He was probably bored out of his mind.

Kenna gathered the plates from the table and, standing, she took them into the adjoining kitchen and rinsed them, then stuck them in the dishwasher. When she came back in Aaron was standing, waiting for her, presumably to tell her he'd be getting on his way. She suppressed a wave of disappointment and smiled at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Did you still want to watch that movie? Or do you want me to..." He gestured behind him toward the door.

"Yes," she blurted. "To the movie, I mean," she added, her face heating. "If you want to, of course."

He was silent for a beat.

"Can I just say something?"

Uh oh.

Kenna nodded, holding her breath.

"I don't care if all we do is sit on the floor and stare at each other. I'm just not ready for the night to be over." A hopeful smile quirked one side of his mouth.

Kenna felt the air rush out of her.

"Oh thank God," she said, laughing and walking over to him. She took his hand in hers and pulled him behind her into the living room. "I thought you were gonna say you wanted to go home."

Aaron laughed. "No, definitely not."

They sat on the couch, close, but not touching.

"I really appreciate how honest you've been about everything so far," Kenna said, and Aaron tilted his head at her in confusion.

"Of course. I mean, I didn't think there was another option," he said, with a laugh and a shrug.

Which was refreshing, she thought, to say the least. How many years had she spent dealing with lying, cheating, gaslighting, et cetera, from the various boys and men she'd been with over her lifetime? She wouldn't dare to hope she had finally stumbled upon one who's default setting wasn't pathological lying, but she couldn't help that she hoped he might actually be different.

"No, I just meant that - usually it's a game, this kind of thing. Hiding how you feel at first, playing hard to get, and so on. And you've just been giving it to me straight since this all happened."

Kenna sat back and tucked her legs beneath her, getting comfortable. She was surprised to find how comfortable she was with Aaron and she noted that it was likely because they were good friends and spent a lot of time together, rather than some guy she'd just met online and decided to go on a date with. Regardless of how she felt about him, he'd been her friend first, genuinely, and she trusted him enough that she believed what he was telling her.