Chapter 19 - Same Page
by CameoLover93
W R I T T E N BY C A M E O LO V E R 93
19. SAME PAGE
Aiden has yet to mutter a word to Julian ever since ending their petty fight from earlier in the morning.
He was being his usual stubborn self whereas Julian was trying his hardest to get his obstinate boss to open up. Nevertheless, the almost forty-five-minute drive to Jeremy Pine's house, Clarissa's ex, was set to be filled with an uncomfortable and incredibly awkward silence that Julian would soon break.
"So, Cassie, the best friend that I told you about, her birthday is coming up pretty soon," Julian said, ignoring the fact that Aiden was ignoring him. "I was wondering if I could take a few days off to visit her in New York. You always go on and on about me needing to take time off to visit with my family and friends. I guess I'm asking for it now."
"Do whatever you want, Julian. I don't care." Aiden lied, continuing to stare out of the passenger's seat window. "You don't have to ask my permission to visit with your friends."
"Thank God I finally got you to say
something ." Julian smiled, sighing in relief. "Cassie doesn't have a birthday coming up, and with everything that's going on right now, I'd never leave you alone at a time like this." Julian glanced over at Aiden, his expression was blank, but his pulse was going wild at Julian's admission. "I was lying about the birthday party thing. I was just trying to get you to talk to me. I hate it when we argue over stupid shit."
"So do I," Aiden sighed, letting his guard down. "It just really pissed me off when Kyle showed up and you acted like it'd be no big deal if he caught us in bed together. I get that you're openly gay, but I'm not. I'm not ready for my family to learn about that part of me, and I thought you understood that."
"I do," Julian said. "I really do, but it's just..."
"No, let me finish," Aiden said, calmly. "Please know that I don't want you to go back in the closet for me, Julian. I don't want you to hide who you are from people by any means. But, at the same time, you have to respect me and my limits." Julian nodded. Aiden continued.
"You have to understand that I'll be a little jumpy when you and my family are under the same roof, or are in the same room. I thought that I wouldn't give a shit about all of that, but when Kyle showed up while we were in bed together, reality hit me and I realized that I'm just not ready to come out. And if that's going to be a problem for you, we should probably end whatever this is that we have going on because, at the end of the day, I honestly don't want to hurt you."
"Oh, Grayson..." Julian blushed, smiling again.
The two men had finally reached their destination: Jeremy Pine's house. Julian parked two houses down from Jeremy's and then removed his seat belt and leaned across the armrest to kiss Aiden.
"You put on this 'fuck the world' act when really deep down inside you're nothing but a softy," Julian muttered against his lips.
Aiden chuckled while Julian continued to kiss along his face and neck. The tinted windows on the car protected them from being caught by nosy, wandering eyes; however, for once, Aiden actually wasn't in the mood to fool around.
"Look, I'm trying to be serious here, Julian." Aiden gently pushed him away. "I like you a lot and I know you like me too, but whatever this is that we have going on, it won't work if we're not on the same page."
"But we are," Julian replied, desperately trying to ignore his growing erection. The Aiden who spoke his true feelings was about as hot as all his other alter egos, Julian thought. "We're on the same page, Grayson. You're in the closet, I'm not. You're not ready to come out, but I already am. I won't act fake when your family is around, but I'll definitely start to be more cautious because of how uneasy you still feel about them discovering we're together."
"If you understand where I'm coming from then promise not to put me on a deadline for coming out because I don't want you changing your mind later on down the road." Aiden leaned over and whispered in Julian's ear, his hand on his thigh, "I need to hear you say it out loud, Jules."
"I won't put you on a deadline. I promise," Julian panted, wanting to fuck. "Can we please have a quickie in the backseat? Let's forget about Jeremy, just for a little while."
"Maybe later, baby." Aiden smirked and exited the car, leaving Julian behind all hot and bothered. "Serves him right," Aiden muttered under his breath while he walked towards Jeremey's house, later knocking on the front door. "Hello! Anybody in there?" Aiden called out after a few minutes rolled by. There was a car in the driveway, so he assumed that somebody had to be inside. It didn't take much longer for his patience to falter as he then began to bang on the door like a maniac.
"You're going to call the attention from everyone in the freaking neighborhood, calm down!" Julian hissed after reaching Aiden. "We're supposed to be cool, calm, and collected, remember? How are we going to get him to open up to us when you're banging on his door like you're the damn police?"
"The sooner we get done here, the sooner I get you home to..." Aiden replied with a smug grin. Julian blushed, finishing Aiden's sentence in his head. "Now do you get my sense of urgency?"
"Yes." Julian then took it upon himself to bang on the door, making Aiden crack up. "Open the door, Pine! We know you're in there!"
Aiden laughed, shaking his head. "So much for being cool, calm, and collected."
"What in the hell do you people want?" Jeremy Pine swung open the door moments later, wearing nothing but an angry expression on his face.
"Who are you two and why the fuck are you banging on my damn door?"
"We're here about Clarissa," Julian said. "Do you mind if we come in and chat for a bit...after you've put some clothes on? I promise it'll be worth your time."
Aiden, on cue, pulled a wad of cash from his back pocket and handed it to a now confused looking Jeremy. "Let us in, Pine."
"Fine. Come inside, I guess." Jeremy disappeared into a back room as Aiden and Julian stepped inside the house.
"Babe, we'll have to pick up where we left off later. I got some business to attend to, can you head out and come back in about thirty minutes?"
"Are you serious? We were in the middle of fucking!" a girl shouted. "You're such an asshole, Jeremy! I can't believe you're kicking me out right now."
Aiden and Julian sat quietly on the couch, minding their own business, when a pissed off half-dressed blonde stormed past them and out of the front door, slamming it hard behind her. A few seconds later, Jeremey entered the living room - fully clothed - looking completely unbothered by what had just happened. He sat in a chair across from Julian and Aiden, eyeing the two heavily before speaking.
"Are you two connected with a guy who calls himself Price?" Jeremey asked. Aiden nodded. "He came around here a couple days ago asking questions about Clarissa. Are you three working together on something? What's the deal here?"
"He used to work for us," Julian stated. "We hired him to find Clarissa because she's been causing a little bit of trouble for my boss." Julian nodded to Aiden. "It's imperative we find her."
"Price is a private investigator. He's been trying to track Clarissa down so that we could catch her before she does something she'll be unable to take back," Aiden informed Jeremey. "Price found out that you two had a thing, so he came to check you out to see what you knew. He reported everything back to us. And I assume you already know that Clarissa's off her hinges right now, so it's crucial that she's apprehended as soon as possible."
"Off her hinges is a bit of an understatement," Jeremey scoffed. "So what is it that you two want to know because I told that Price guy everything? And before I get asked again, I don't know how to get in contact with her. She just pops up here randomly whenever she wants."
"Well, what does she say to you when she comes over here?" Aiden asked. "More importantly, why does she continue to come by here when you two aren't together anymore?"
"I really don't know, man. Her whole situation is honestly depressing," Jeremy sighed. "We were only together for a couple months. Things weren't even that serious, but after we broke up and shit started to go bad for her, I felt sorry for her. I used to help her out whenever she needed it. I'd give her a few dollars here and there and sometimes buy her food. She told me once that she was trying to get back on her feet, but as I'd later come to find out, that was nothing but a lie."
"How so?" Julian asked.
"I didn't tell your detective guy this because he didn't drop a wad of cash in my hand when he showed up here," Jeremy said. "I found out that she'd been hooking up with some junkie and she'd been using the cash I'd give her to buy dope for her and him. I cut her off after that, but she continues to come around here begging for shit."
"Do you still help her out?" Aiden asked.
"I'm not entirely heartless, so yeah, I still help her out. I don't give her actual money to feed her addiction, but I give her food and sometimes clothes," Jeremey admitted. "But, in a sense, I guess I kind of get why she does what she does. I'm all that she has down here. Aside from me, she has nothing. No friends, no home, and she was never close with her family from what she told me while we were together. There's nothing but me...and now apparently you," Jeremy said to Aiden. "I get why she won't leave me alone, but what is it that you did to piss her off?"
Aiden shrugged his shoulders. "I was hoping that maybe you could tell me."
"Sorry, I got nothing, bro," Jeremy replied, making Aiden's optimism for answers die. "Like I said, we were only together for a couple months, so if she had any grudges towards her past boyfriend's I wouldn't know about them."
"I was never her boyfriend," Aiden clarified, rolling his eyes.
"What about the junkie? Do you know if they're still together?" Julian asked Jeremy. "Or maybe where they hang out at?"
"I'm not sure," Jeremy said. "Whenever she shows up here, she comes alone. And just so you know, I had a restraining order put out on her and everything, but she isn't fazed by that. The law doesn't scare her," Jeremey made it clear. "She's annoying as fuck and I want her to leave me alone, but I also want her to get some help, whether it be in a psych ward or a jail cell; at least she'll get clean and will be in her right mind long enough to see how bad she's fucked up."
"And that's the main reason for why we're here today," Aiden lied. "We want to do what we can to help her. She's lashing out at you and me and it's clear that it's just a cry for help. So is that really what you want? Do you really want to help her out and see her get better?"
"Totally," Jeremy replied.
"Then the next time that she stops by here, slip away long enough to give me a call. We'll handle things from there." Aiden pulled his wallet out and retrieved one of his business cards. He wrote both his and Julian's personal cell phone numbers on the back of it after Jeremey handed him a pen. "Day or night, the next time that she contacts you, call us. And don't tell her about me having been here. She'll probably snap and I don't want you to wind up dead or some shit like that."
"Really, Grayson?" Julian whispered, shaking his head. "Just give us a call if she shows up here again, Mr. Pine."
"Will do, gentlemen." Jeremy stood and shook Aiden's hand. "I don't know who you are or what it is that she's done to you, but I'm glad that you want to help her. I'll be in touch."
"And I'll be looking forward to your call." Aiden smiled and Julian could see right through his bullshit fake 'caring' act that he just put on with Jeremy, who seemed to be oblivious to it all. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
Julian and Aiden left the house and walked back to their car.
"You were a completely different person back there. If I had an Oscar to give away I'd have given it to you," Julian laughed. "Tell me, did you really mean what you said? Do you really care about her?"
"No," Aiden answered. "But do I feel bad that she's homeless and strung out on God knows what? Sure. I'm not a complete asshole, but there's nothing that I can do about all that now. Hell, I'm just trying to get my life together and the sooner that we catch the crazy bitch, the sooner everything can go back to normal for me." Aiden looked over at Julian and smiled. "The sooner I get to really enjoy my time with you, in peace."
"What do you say we take a mini-vacation once all this is over?"
Julian asked when they climbed into the SUV. "Just you and me on some deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Doesn't that sound nice?"
"That actually sounds pretty amazing." Aiden leaned over the armrest and kissed Julian on the cheek. "I'm looking forward to it already, but right now, I have something else in mind for us."
"I'm intrigued. What do you—" Julian's words were cut short after Aiden began to unbutton his jeans, his head now lowering towards Julian's lap. "Holy shit, Grayson..."
"Eyes on the road or I'll stop," Aiden teased. "And try not to kill us, please."
"I'll try my best not to." Julian took off down the street, moaning and gripping the steering wheel with both hands, as Aiden took him into his mouth. "Oh, God..."
. . .
by CameoLover93
W R I T T E N BY C A M E O LO V E R 93
19. SAME PAGE
Aiden has yet to mutter a word to Julian ever since ending their petty fight from earlier in the morning.
He was being his usual stubborn self whereas Julian was trying his hardest to get his obstinate boss to open up. Nevertheless, the almost forty-five-minute drive to Jeremy Pine's house, Clarissa's ex, was set to be filled with an uncomfortable and incredibly awkward silence that Julian would soon break.
"So, Cassie, the best friend that I told you about, her birthday is coming up pretty soon," Julian said, ignoring the fact that Aiden was ignoring him. "I was wondering if I could take a few days off to visit her in New York. You always go on and on about me needing to take time off to visit with my family and friends. I guess I'm asking for it now."
"Do whatever you want, Julian. I don't care." Aiden lied, continuing to stare out of the passenger's seat window. "You don't have to ask my permission to visit with your friends."
"Thank God I finally got you to say
something ." Julian smiled, sighing in relief. "Cassie doesn't have a birthday coming up, and with everything that's going on right now, I'd never leave you alone at a time like this." Julian glanced over at Aiden, his expression was blank, but his pulse was going wild at Julian's admission. "I was lying about the birthday party thing. I was just trying to get you to talk to me. I hate it when we argue over stupid shit."
"So do I," Aiden sighed, letting his guard down. "It just really pissed me off when Kyle showed up and you acted like it'd be no big deal if he caught us in bed together. I get that you're openly gay, but I'm not. I'm not ready for my family to learn about that part of me, and I thought you understood that."
"I do," Julian said. "I really do, but it's just..."
"No, let me finish," Aiden said, calmly. "Please know that I don't want you to go back in the closet for me, Julian. I don't want you to hide who you are from people by any means. But, at the same time, you have to respect me and my limits." Julian nodded. Aiden continued.
"You have to understand that I'll be a little jumpy when you and my family are under the same roof, or are in the same room. I thought that I wouldn't give a shit about all of that, but when Kyle showed up while we were in bed together, reality hit me and I realized that I'm just not ready to come out. And if that's going to be a problem for you, we should probably end whatever this is that we have going on because, at the end of the day, I honestly don't want to hurt you."
"Oh, Grayson..." Julian blushed, smiling again.
The two men had finally reached their destination: Jeremy Pine's house. Julian parked two houses down from Jeremy's and then removed his seat belt and leaned across the armrest to kiss Aiden.
"You put on this 'fuck the world' act when really deep down inside you're nothing but a softy," Julian muttered against his lips.
Aiden chuckled while Julian continued to kiss along his face and neck. The tinted windows on the car protected them from being caught by nosy, wandering eyes; however, for once, Aiden actually wasn't in the mood to fool around.
"Look, I'm trying to be serious here, Julian." Aiden gently pushed him away. "I like you a lot and I know you like me too, but whatever this is that we have going on, it won't work if we're not on the same page."
"But we are," Julian replied, desperately trying to ignore his growing erection. The Aiden who spoke his true feelings was about as hot as all his other alter egos, Julian thought. "We're on the same page, Grayson. You're in the closet, I'm not. You're not ready to come out, but I already am. I won't act fake when your family is around, but I'll definitely start to be more cautious because of how uneasy you still feel about them discovering we're together."
"If you understand where I'm coming from then promise not to put me on a deadline for coming out because I don't want you changing your mind later on down the road." Aiden leaned over and whispered in Julian's ear, his hand on his thigh, "I need to hear you say it out loud, Jules."
"I won't put you on a deadline. I promise," Julian panted, wanting to fuck. "Can we please have a quickie in the backseat? Let's forget about Jeremy, just for a little while."
"Maybe later, baby." Aiden smirked and exited the car, leaving Julian behind all hot and bothered. "Serves him right," Aiden muttered under his breath while he walked towards Jeremey's house, later knocking on the front door. "Hello! Anybody in there?" Aiden called out after a few minutes rolled by. There was a car in the driveway, so he assumed that somebody had to be inside. It didn't take much longer for his patience to falter as he then began to bang on the door like a maniac.
"You're going to call the attention from everyone in the freaking neighborhood, calm down!" Julian hissed after reaching Aiden. "We're supposed to be cool, calm, and collected, remember? How are we going to get him to open up to us when you're banging on his door like you're the damn police?"
"The sooner we get done here, the sooner I get you home to..." Aiden replied with a smug grin. Julian blushed, finishing Aiden's sentence in his head. "Now do you get my sense of urgency?"
"Yes." Julian then took it upon himself to bang on the door, making Aiden crack up. "Open the door, Pine! We know you're in there!"
Aiden laughed, shaking his head. "So much for being cool, calm, and collected."
"What in the hell do you people want?" Jeremy Pine swung open the door moments later, wearing nothing but an angry expression on his face.
"Who are you two and why the fuck are you banging on my damn door?"
"We're here about Clarissa," Julian said. "Do you mind if we come in and chat for a bit...after you've put some clothes on? I promise it'll be worth your time."
Aiden, on cue, pulled a wad of cash from his back pocket and handed it to a now confused looking Jeremy. "Let us in, Pine."
"Fine. Come inside, I guess." Jeremy disappeared into a back room as Aiden and Julian stepped inside the house.
"Babe, we'll have to pick up where we left off later. I got some business to attend to, can you head out and come back in about thirty minutes?"
"Are you serious? We were in the middle of fucking!" a girl shouted. "You're such an asshole, Jeremy! I can't believe you're kicking me out right now."
Aiden and Julian sat quietly on the couch, minding their own business, when a pissed off half-dressed blonde stormed past them and out of the front door, slamming it hard behind her. A few seconds later, Jeremey entered the living room - fully clothed - looking completely unbothered by what had just happened. He sat in a chair across from Julian and Aiden, eyeing the two heavily before speaking.
"Are you two connected with a guy who calls himself Price?" Jeremey asked. Aiden nodded. "He came around here a couple days ago asking questions about Clarissa. Are you three working together on something? What's the deal here?"
"He used to work for us," Julian stated. "We hired him to find Clarissa because she's been causing a little bit of trouble for my boss." Julian nodded to Aiden. "It's imperative we find her."
"Price is a private investigator. He's been trying to track Clarissa down so that we could catch her before she does something she'll be unable to take back," Aiden informed Jeremey. "Price found out that you two had a thing, so he came to check you out to see what you knew. He reported everything back to us. And I assume you already know that Clarissa's off her hinges right now, so it's crucial that she's apprehended as soon as possible."
"Off her hinges is a bit of an understatement," Jeremey scoffed. "So what is it that you two want to know because I told that Price guy everything? And before I get asked again, I don't know how to get in contact with her. She just pops up here randomly whenever she wants."
"Well, what does she say to you when she comes over here?" Aiden asked. "More importantly, why does she continue to come by here when you two aren't together anymore?"
"I really don't know, man. Her whole situation is honestly depressing," Jeremy sighed. "We were only together for a couple months. Things weren't even that serious, but after we broke up and shit started to go bad for her, I felt sorry for her. I used to help her out whenever she needed it. I'd give her a few dollars here and there and sometimes buy her food. She told me once that she was trying to get back on her feet, but as I'd later come to find out, that was nothing but a lie."
"How so?" Julian asked.
"I didn't tell your detective guy this because he didn't drop a wad of cash in my hand when he showed up here," Jeremy said. "I found out that she'd been hooking up with some junkie and she'd been using the cash I'd give her to buy dope for her and him. I cut her off after that, but she continues to come around here begging for shit."
"Do you still help her out?" Aiden asked.
"I'm not entirely heartless, so yeah, I still help her out. I don't give her actual money to feed her addiction, but I give her food and sometimes clothes," Jeremey admitted. "But, in a sense, I guess I kind of get why she does what she does. I'm all that she has down here. Aside from me, she has nothing. No friends, no home, and she was never close with her family from what she told me while we were together. There's nothing but me...and now apparently you," Jeremy said to Aiden. "I get why she won't leave me alone, but what is it that you did to piss her off?"
Aiden shrugged his shoulders. "I was hoping that maybe you could tell me."
"Sorry, I got nothing, bro," Jeremy replied, making Aiden's optimism for answers die. "Like I said, we were only together for a couple months, so if she had any grudges towards her past boyfriend's I wouldn't know about them."
"I was never her boyfriend," Aiden clarified, rolling his eyes.
"What about the junkie? Do you know if they're still together?" Julian asked Jeremy. "Or maybe where they hang out at?"
"I'm not sure," Jeremy said. "Whenever she shows up here, she comes alone. And just so you know, I had a restraining order put out on her and everything, but she isn't fazed by that. The law doesn't scare her," Jeremey made it clear. "She's annoying as fuck and I want her to leave me alone, but I also want her to get some help, whether it be in a psych ward or a jail cell; at least she'll get clean and will be in her right mind long enough to see how bad she's fucked up."
"And that's the main reason for why we're here today," Aiden lied. "We want to do what we can to help her. She's lashing out at you and me and it's clear that it's just a cry for help. So is that really what you want? Do you really want to help her out and see her get better?"
"Totally," Jeremy replied.
"Then the next time that she stops by here, slip away long enough to give me a call. We'll handle things from there." Aiden pulled his wallet out and retrieved one of his business cards. He wrote both his and Julian's personal cell phone numbers on the back of it after Jeremey handed him a pen. "Day or night, the next time that she contacts you, call us. And don't tell her about me having been here. She'll probably snap and I don't want you to wind up dead or some shit like that."
"Really, Grayson?" Julian whispered, shaking his head. "Just give us a call if she shows up here again, Mr. Pine."
"Will do, gentlemen." Jeremy stood and shook Aiden's hand. "I don't know who you are or what it is that she's done to you, but I'm glad that you want to help her. I'll be in touch."
"And I'll be looking forward to your call." Aiden smiled and Julian could see right through his bullshit fake 'caring' act that he just put on with Jeremy, who seemed to be oblivious to it all. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
Julian and Aiden left the house and walked back to their car.
"You were a completely different person back there. If I had an Oscar to give away I'd have given it to you," Julian laughed. "Tell me, did you really mean what you said? Do you really care about her?"
"No," Aiden answered. "But do I feel bad that she's homeless and strung out on God knows what? Sure. I'm not a complete asshole, but there's nothing that I can do about all that now. Hell, I'm just trying to get my life together and the sooner that we catch the crazy bitch, the sooner everything can go back to normal for me." Aiden looked over at Julian and smiled. "The sooner I get to really enjoy my time with you, in peace."
"What do you say we take a mini-vacation once all this is over?"
Julian asked when they climbed into the SUV. "Just you and me on some deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Doesn't that sound nice?"
"That actually sounds pretty amazing." Aiden leaned over the armrest and kissed Julian on the cheek. "I'm looking forward to it already, but right now, I have something else in mind for us."
"I'm intrigued. What do you—" Julian's words were cut short after Aiden began to unbutton his jeans, his head now lowering towards Julian's lap. "Holy shit, Grayson..."
"Eyes on the road or I'll stop," Aiden teased. "And try not to kill us, please."
"I'll try my best not to." Julian took off down the street, moaning and gripping the steering wheel with both hands, as Aiden took him into his mouth. "Oh, God..."
. . .
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