ｂｏｎｕｓ ａｉｄｅｎ ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ

(𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝟥𝟨 & 𝟥𝟩)

Waking up on Christmas morning was a whole disaster. He had multiple things to worry about—he had told his older brother about his stupid crush on his best friend, his relatives would be over in several hours time, and he didn't know where his relationship stood with Cadence. Aiden wanted to roll back into the dream he was having about Toad and Dry Bones, but he had to face the day at some point. So, he rolled out of bed around nine and ate breakfast alone.

At the kitchen table, he stared at his phone that was dark and sitting beside his bowl of cereal. It had bugged him that Cadence hadn't texted him at all since their friendship-ending kiss some time back. It was weird to not wake up to memes and Instagram posts sent to him from the kind boy, but here Aiden was sulking about his notifications being empty. Even so, he curled his lip at the device and pushed it away, turning it over so the screen was against the tabletop instead of mocking him.

Footsteps descending the stairs caught his attention and he was met with a sleepy Max who was rubbing his eyes. He'd grabbed a bowl from the table—Aiden had pulled out enough for all the Balm brothers to use in the morning—and made himself a bowl of cereal the same as Aiden's. The older brother wanted to complain about him copying him, but he chose not to bug his brother so far.

Their breakfast was quiet for the most part, Max turned on the tv to watch cartoons and Aiden joined him even if he complained about the shows. They were terrible and the teen didn't know how his brother could stare at the tv for so long, ingesting whatever was on. But, the longer the shows were on, the more invested Aiden got.

A couple hours later their grandmother broke them from their spell, ruffling their hair, and Aiden ducked away. He hated people touching him and there were no exceptions now. Cadence had been that one, but seeing as how he reacted before to Aiden initiating some type of contact, Aiden went back to his ways from before.

"Good morning you two. Some cousins will be over for lunch, but you don't have to eat with us if you don't want to," Marlene informed the two. The latter part was probably for Aiden, but he didn't try to figure it out.

He put his bowl in the sink to be washed and walked to the basement for some alone time. He didn't want to be around his brothers and what better place than the basement where it was silent and no one really went? Aiden dropped onto the couch, eyeing the jacket that was left behind from one of his brothers or cousins, and pulled out his phone. He remembered the troubled duo's words to just say merry Christmas to Cadence to see if that would get him to talk, yet Aiden didn't want to seem desperate; he'd already texted before and was left on read. It's been a couple days since then and Aiden's ego was still bruised.

So, the teen distracted himself by watching a Christmas movie from the recording on the tv in the basement, curling up on the couch and possibly dozing off towards the end.

.

..

...

Aiden woke up when his grandmother was calling for him to help with the food. He enjoyed cooking or baking since it calmed him and his overthinking brain, and could really use it. He took a cautionary glance towards his phone and saw a text at the top of the notifications that was sent hours ago, but minutes from the 'merry Christmas' text he'd sent before dozing off again, an emoji at the end of the name. And despite Aiden not wanting his body to have a reaction, his lips pulled into a small smile and his heart pounded in his chest.

🥸

Merry Christmas

He joined Marlene in the kitchen, quickly washing his hands before touching any food. He heard the voice of Jasper behind him and wanted to groan. The older guy annoyed him to his bones and never seemed to realize that Aiden didn't want to be around him or his brother, who was attached to Jasper's hip like a conjoined twin.

Until the food was ready, Aiden stayed in the kitchen away from everyone else. At some point Jasper and Mikey disappeared, a single knowing thought of what they'd do in the room, but Aiden focused on the vegetables he was pouring into the bowl to be microwaved. Marlene came back to help when the duo brought up the Christmas plates and walked to Mikey and Aiden's room.

She stepped beside him and Aiden could tell there was a question to come. It came out as soft and Aiden wanted to hide from the attention on him; he'd rather it be on Mikey or Max—he was used to being overlooked and would rather it stay that way.

"Are you having someone over, Aiden? Noah has his girlfriend coming over, Jasper's here, it's just you and Max."

The peas seemed more interesting than he'd planned, but the blush forming on his cheeks was even more to Marlene. She chuckled and poked his cheek closest to her, wondering out loud of who he could have invited.

He swatted away her hand and turned to the microwave. He dismissed her with, "no one, Nanny. Did you bug Max like this, too?"

"No, but he wasn't blushing like you are. Is it that boy Noah mentioned earlier? How's that going?"

He wanted to growl, wanted to scream into the void, but he also wanted to tell someone else of his self-consuming crush on Cadence. But, he wasn't like that around his family, so he stayed quiet on the topic and brushed it off quickly.

Aiden told his grandmother, "we're not talking right now, but I was going to try going over to his today. Can I?"

Marlene met his insecure eyes and she had warmth within hers which caused him to relax a little more. It was nice to not have prying family members all of the time. It allowed him to show some type of emotion he wouldn't usually, and the reaction wouldn't be too severe to annoy him.

They cooked for awhile and Aiden stepped away once it was done to text Cadence about talking, plus he had gifts to give. Fortunately for Aiden, Cadence answered almost immediately, almost as if he was making up for all of the missed time from before—it'd been radio silence for too long.

is it ok if i would come over to give you your gifts?

🥸

Yeah! I also have stuff for you. Can we hang out? Maybe talk about everything?

🥸

Please.

whatever i'll come over after dinner

i can text when i plan to leave?

🥸

Sounds good, see you then

Once again, he was left smiling softly at his phone and had to wipe it off. He ended up walking away from the bathroom and behind Noah and his girlfriend. They all sat in the living room until Marlene woke up Jasper and Mikey and brought out all of the food.

.

..

...

"I can drive you."

Aiden shook his head, but finding comfort in his brother's protectiveness he held. Mikey didn't seem like the brother who would physically fight a minor, but he certainly would even if it would land him in jail. He had a hard exterior, but a soft spot for all of his brothers that he didn't try to hide too hard.

His anxiety must've been showcased on his face, because Jasper was touching his shoulder quickly to grab Aiden's attention, giving his advice. Marlene and Aiden left with a quiet departure and the sixteen-year-old fidgeted the whole time in the car, occasionally giving the directions to Cadence's house.

A single pine tree blocked the front door, but from the amount of cars in the driveway, Aiden knew both of Cadence's parents were home and a new wave of worry flowed into him. He wanted to say sike and just deal with the silence and heart break by himself, it'd be a lot easier than dealing with the problem head-on.

But, he stepped out of the car, telling his grandmother he'd text when he was ready to be picked up, and closed the door. Thankfully it was Cadence who opened the door and he grinned like nothing had changed between them. His eyes drifted down Aiden's body before hitting the gift bag he was holding.

"Aiden is here; we're going to my room!" Cadence called out to his family who didn't seem to care, and he led the anxious boy to a room they'd been in multiple times already.

Everything was awkward and stiff, but Aiden was determined to talk everything out. He learned from earlier friendships and problems with his brothers that maybe it was a small miscommunication between the parties, and talking it out would work splendidly.

Cadence opened his closet door and leaned in to grab what was assumed to be Aiden's gifts. The latter's eyes shamelessly wandered over his friend's butt that was in the open, and a small smirk appeared. Cadence had a nice butt, so why would Aiden not pay any attention to it? He did wipe the smirk off his face before his friend turned back though—he kept up the stoic facade.

A bubble of excitement popped when he was handed the large and heavy bag filled with torn up wrapping and tissue paper. Cadence scratched his arm and mumbled about the gifting, but Aiden shook his head and handed off his own gift bag. It suddenly looked lackluster and boring compared to Cadence's, but Aiden was sure his friend would like the gifts inside.

Aiden was gifted a new set of Nintendo Switch games (one that he mentioned once around Cadence, and another he raved about when they FaceTimed during the few months they were friends), a small figurine to be placed on his phone charger to protect the wire, a couple bottles of his favorite drink, and a shirt from an artist he listens to. This time, Aiden didn't hide the smile, he grinned brightly and his hands itched to grab onto Cadence, but he pushed away that urge.

Instead, he paid attention to how Cadence reacted to his gifts. Aiden had bought a shirt that said 'poggers' on the front in the Supreme font, a new phone case, and Cadence's favorite candy. The opposite boy laughed at the first gift, licking his lips to hide the wide smile, eyes flitting to Aiden's. They showed how appreciative he was, and Aiden had to look away with his ears burning up.

"Thanks–" Cadence pouted, moving his bag onto the floor to scoot closer to Aiden. He opened his arms for a hug, staying there and raising a questioning eyebrow for Aiden to answer. The Balm boy met him in the middle and hugged his friend, a little sad he had to keep calling Cadence just a friend. He was the one to pull away once it felt weird to him, and he could feel the shift in the atmosphere.

Instead of facing it head-on like he wished, Aiden worked on diligently placing his gifts back in the bag. The wrapping paper was ripped up further until Cadence spoke truthfully.

"Look, I'm sorry Aiden." His eyes were sorry as well and he was slouching, fingers nervously picking at one another. "I shouldn't have ignored you when you've been trying to talk to me—that's a dick move and a half."

He tried to smile from the joke, but Aiden just looked somber and didn't join in. So, he tried again.

"I'm not saying this excuses anything—because it doesn't, I made my own decisions—but I'm not sure my parents would like this. I do, obviously, a lot, but I don't know about them. They say some shady things and I don't want them to hate you simply because I like you and you're a dude.'

"Aiden, you don't deserve to be hated simply because your into guys like me, and I feel like my parents would do just that. I like you a lot and I don't want to force you into suddenly hiding your feelings basically everywhere because my parents are literally everywhere."

A soft, couple of fingertips brushed over Aiden's jaw by his ear and Cadence lowered his voice. He whispered in the small amount of space between the two boys, "I promise to make it up to you, but you really don't have to forgive me—I'd understand if you didn't. I ghosted you basically without any reason—the boy I like likes me back, kissed me, and I bolted like an idiot. I know I hurt you, and I'm deeply sorry, Aiden."

The rest of Cadence's hand formed against his opposite cheek, pulling it toward him so Aiden would look in his direction instead of his lap. When they met eyes Aiden's lips were frowning and his eyebrows were downturned.

It took a few seconds for him to register everything and he took a deep breath, but raised his head and stared deep into Cadence's soul. Then, he was scrunching his face together and muttering, "you're lucky I like you," with a faint smile gracing his tone and lips. His hand fell naturally to the back of Cadence's head, and he brought them together with Aiden's fingers slid into the soft hairs at Cadence's nape as they kissed.

It seemed like Aiden's heart was going to burst out of his chest from finally kissing his crush who reciprocated it, yet he reveled in the feeling and simpered against Cadence's lips. He pulled away and replied to his apology.

"I mean I'm still annoyed at you, but I'll try not to keep a grudge for too long," a teasing tone taking over his voice, and he exhaled sharply—happily. "As long as you do try to make up for being stupid."

Cadence nodded sharply, leaning closer and his other hand, knowing or not, inching closer to the outside seam of Aiden's jeans with the intent to either just rest on top of his thigh or something else.

The small space between them was filled with a short laugh before Cadence moved forward to close the gap, and smiled into Aiden's lips. It felt like home to Aiden and he didn't ever want to leave this feeling he had around Cadence. He was comfortable around him, he was a friend first before becoming whatever he was now, and the Balm boy hoped it'd stay like this for awhile.

They were pulled apart by one of Cadence's parents knocking on the door, asking to come in for a hot second. Aiden wiped at his mouth and tried to hide his whipped smiled, but Cadence was opening the door and smiling at his parents.

Feeling all warm in his bones and blood, Aiden fell back into the soft bed, closing his eyes to replay every moment since walking through Cadence's bedroom door. It felt like a warm day at the beach with none of his brothers around to ruin the day, and instead of them it was his friend (he was still questioning that title) right next to him in the sand.

Aiden was forced to open his eyes when Cadence's mom said hello. He met her gaze and waved with a short, "hello!"

Then, she turned back to her own son and told him, "Aiden can join, God knows he probably wouldn't want to spend more time than he has to with his brothers." She grinned knowingly towards Aiden, who nodded even if he didn't know what he was agreeing to, and Cadence's mom chuckled. "Alright, well you guys have fun, don't burn down the house while your father and I leave."

Cadence saluted her and she shut the door behind her, her footsteps slowly growing quieter until it was heard no more. Then, Cadence was dropping on his bed next to Aiden, grinning.

"Where's your mom and dad going?"

"To the firehouse for my dad's work party. They said we can join them for the gifts later tonight; it's just adults drinking now." Cadence laid across Aiden's stomach, his back arching perfectly over the latter's hips. He continued with saying, "so we have the house to ourselves until then, or until they get back if you don't want to get free gifts from the firehouse."

Aiden shrugged, getting comfortable with Cadence laying on him, his weight becoming comfortable the more seconds on top of him. Neither moved for awhile, Aiden safely assuming Cadence fell asleep due to the even and deep breathing coming from him, so he closed his eyes as well, savoring the moment until he too fell asleep on Cadence's bed.

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And here we have it—the Aiden bonus chapter. It's was a long boi, but I'm happy with everything. It really made me want to write a whole other book for just these two, but I know I would lose inspiration a couple chapters in because idk what I could all write. Plus, life just gets too busy for me to think about wattpad, plus I don't use this much anymore; I'm only using it for this book and once it's published completely, the app is getting taken off my homepage of my phone and into the App Library.

But, thank you for sticking around, I appreciate all the comments and votes. I do have other books on my profile, but idk how good they would be, so you could check those out if you'd like.

Once again, thank you!!