#aidex

“You know what today is?” Aiden asks as he lies in the grass next to his boyfriend of two years Alex, the two staring up at the stars in the middle of Aiden’s backyard.

“Hmm?” Alex says, turning his head to look at Aiden, having been too lost in his own thoughts to hear what his boyfriend had said. Aiden giggles, grabbing onto Alex’s hand and lacing their fingers together.

“Today’s two years since you gave me this.” He says, holding up his free hand to show off his promise ring. Alex smiles.

“Yeah,” He says. “And?”

“It’s just a special day,” Aiden says with a shrug. “I thought you’d want to celebrate it.”

“How so?” Alex asks, sitting up. Aiden does the same, a giggle slipping past his lips.

“Only way I know how.” He says with a grin, and Alex’s cheeks turn red.

“Aiden,” He says. “Your moms are home.” Aiden lets out a laugh at that.

“I didn’t mean in that way, babe.” He says, sighing. “I meant something else.” Alex’s eyebrows go up at that, and then Aiden kneels in front of him, taking both of his hands in his own. He opens his mouth to speak, but when he finds himself at a loss for words, he lets out a small laugh.

“God,” He says under his breath. “I don’t know how people do this.”

“Do what?” Alex asks. Aiden sighs, shaking his head.

“Alex,” He says. “I really, really love you. I know I tell you that all the time, so you already know, but… Two years ago, I made a promise to you that we’d stay together until we were old enough to get married. And I kept that promise, didn’t I?” Alex nods, still confused as to where Aiden was going with this. When he notices his boyfriend’s eyebrows furrowing, Aiden giggles.

“Well, all I can say now is that I hope you’ll keep up your end of it this time around.” He says.

“What do you—?” Alex tries to ask, but loses his train of thought as Aiden pulls something out of his back pocket, which Alex can easily tell is a small, black box. Letting his question go forgotten, a gasp escapes Alex’s mouth, a look of shock on his face as Aiden opens the box to reveal a small silver band.

“Alex Delgado,” He says, tears blurring his vision as his lips curl into a smile. “Will you marry me? For real this time?” Alex giggles, his own eyes water.

“Yes.” He says. “Of fucking course I will.” Aiden giggles, slipping the ring onto Alex’s finger before tossing the box aside, pulling his – now fiancé – into a kiss, accidentally knocking him over and lying on top of him. With their lips still pressed together, Alex giggles, his chest bouncing beneath Aiden’s. He pulls back and groans, giggling as he tries to push Aiden off of him. The older of the two giggles as well, but doesn’t budge.

“Just like old times, huh?” He says, and Alex is silent for a moment, before a smile appears on his face as he realizes what Aiden’s comment means.

“We’ll probably end up like this during every important moment in our relationship.” He says, and Aiden smiles.

“Well, so far, that has happened three times already, not including this one.” He says.

“Three?” Alex asks, raising his eyebrows. Aiden simply giggles, and Alex groans again, a blush covering his cheeks.

“I love you.” Aiden says, resting his head on his hands as he places them on Alex’s chest. The younger of the two smiles, a fondness in his eyes.

“I love you too.” He says, his gaze accidentally slipping down to Aiden’s lips, the older boy getting the hint and leaning down, pressing his lips to Alex’s once more.

“Now,” Alex says a moment later when he pulls back. “Will you get off of me?” Aiden giggles, but obliges, even sticking his hand out to help Alex up as well. The younger boy takes it without hesitation, feeling himself blush yet again when he realizes that the hands that touched were the ones containing each of their rings – Aiden’s promise, and Alex’s engagement. Aiden seems to realize this as well, only smiling and kissing Alex on the cheek, slipping his opposite arm around his fiancé’s waist.

"Do you really have to go?" Alex asks almost inaudibly whilst the two lay in their treehouse on the last night before Aiden has to leave for college. The older boy sighs, glancing over towards his boyfriend, meeting his eyes.

"Of course I do, babe." He says simply. "College is just a part of life."

"But I'm gonna miss you." Alex says back, hearing his voice shake, turning his head before Aiden could see him cry. The older boy sighs again, reaching out and taking Alex's hand in his own, gently running his thumb over the knuckles.

"I'll be back before you know it, Alex." He points out. "Plus, you can visit me whenever you'd like. Or, if you want, I can come down here for a few weekends. I'm sure my moms wouldn't mind at all. Heck, they'd probably love it if I visited a lot. But, we'll figure it out, baby, I promise." Alex sighs, blinking away a few tears and facing Aiden again. Aiden sighs yet again at the sight of Alex's tear-stained face, not saying anything else as he leaned in, cupping Alex's face with his free hand, kissing him deeply. Alex quickly reciprocates, a little shocked at the small feel of cool metal on his cheek.

"You're wearing the promise ring I gave you." Alex points out, staring at the metal band on Aiden's ring finger. The older boy flusters.

"Yeah, well, I have to wear it," He says. "It'll remind me of you when we're away from each other." Alex smiles, kissing Aiden again.

"I love you." He whispers, as if someone would hear him.

"I love you too." Aiden whispers back, kissing Alex again.

"Promise me that you won't move on to someone else and forget all about me." Alex says softly, pulling out of the kiss for a moment. Aiden chuckles lightly.

"I could never do that." He says. "I love you too much, and we're getting married, remember?" Alex giggles cutely.

"Get married." Alex replied casually, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "I mean, do you think people would approve of it? Like our friends? O-our moms?"

"Al, of course our moms would approve of it!" Aiden commented. "You saw what they did when they were our age! They fantasized about us, babe! They practically planned all of this out, writing stories about us, finding pictures of what we might look like and everything! So, of course they'd approve of it. But as for our friends, I don't know. We'll just have to hope for the best with them." Alex sighed, reaching into his pocket, taking something out, keeping it hidden inside his hand before holding it out, gently dropping something into Aiden's open hand.

"What's this?"

"Just, um, s-something." Alex mumbled shyly. Aiden's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as he squeezed his hand, the small metal ring feeling cool against his warm skin. Gently, he slid the ring onto his finger, smiling as it fit perfectly.

"Is this what I think it is?" He asked, a smile on his face, his eyes filling up with joyful tears. Alex shrugged.

"It's a promise ring." He answered back. "To make sure that we always stay together, and when we're ready, we can get married." Aiden's smile turned into a grin at that, quickly pulling Alex into a tight hug, peppering his face with kisses.

"I love you." He said repeatedly in between each kiss. "I love you to infinity and beyond, to the moon and back, till death do us apart, really." Alex giggled, turning his head, pressing his lips against Aiden's.

"I heard about what happened today," Aiden said, standing up from the bed, walking over to his boyfriend. "With you getting beat up by my teammates."

"So?"

"I did the only thing I could."

"Which was?"

"Quitting the team."

"But you love soccer, baby." Alex said, sighing as he reached out, grabbing Aiden's hand, intertwining their fingers, bringing the other boy closer in the process. "I don't wanna be the cause of you giving that up."

"It's fine, though." Aiden said. "If being on the team causes the boy I love to get beaten up and abused, then I don't want that. As long as my little Alex is safe and healthy." The slightly younger boy smiled at this, a light blush covering his cheeks. Aiden pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, but Alex winced as his soft lips touched a fresh bruise.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay."

"You want me to help clean you up?"

"Uh, sure, that'd be great."

With that, Aiden smiled, and as he led Alex towards the bathroom, that smile quickly turned cheeky.