Affection

"What's going on with Addie?" Elise asks, still confused as to the way her sister rushed away. Adelaide and the others have just left, while Elise and Aiden have settled onto a nearby bench to wait for their return.

"Dunno. She said she wanted exercise?"

"Maybe, but that doesn't seem like her. I don't know. But anyway, how was the fiddling performance at the historical site? You enjoy it?"

"Oh, yeah! It was pretty cool. I mean, I've only ever studied classical music, so it's interesting to compare it to the folk music they were playing. Like it would've been around the Baroque or Classical Period then, but the style's completely different. Ooh, and they had this poster at the gift shop — a copy of an original manuscript that was written at the time. I got one of them… but sorry, I didn't mean to go off about music," Aiden laughs sheepishly.

"No, keep going. It's—" cute she was going to say, but she stops the pointless thought. "It's cool, seeing how excited you are about it. And you do the same for me with astrophysics," she teases.

"Yeah. About that, weren't you saving up for a telescope?"

"Oh. Yeah." The money she'd spent on the stuffed animals does put a dent in her plans to purchase the instrument by the end of the summer. "But really, it's fine. I just won't splurge as much on other stuff. Don't worry about it."

Aiden tilts his head, but smiles and remarks, "You care for them so much. Kathryn and Ethan, I mean."

Elise pauses, a bit surprised, but she shrugs. "Didn't want to deal with tears or temper tantrums."

"Yes, but…" Instead of finishing, he just shakes his head and laughs. She looks at him quizzically.

"It's just, you don't usually show it," he answers.

He's right, of course. He knows her too well. She isn't quite sure what to say, though, so she remains silent.

"Would it be such a bad thing? To let them in?" he asks.

"I— I don't know. Expressing affection just feels weird. Too awkward."

"Hm." He grins. "Well, um…" In that moment, he sounds almost shy. "How about something like this?" Before she knows what's happening, he casually throws an arm around her shoulder.

"I—" She tenses up, and she's sure she's turning red from embarrassment. But she doesn't pull away.

~~~~~

Aiden can't believe he just pulled that off.

It was a spur of the moment, anyway. Entirely spontaneous, or he probably wouldn't have had the nerve.

But still, he's sitting there, grinning like an idiot. Elise is blushing furiously, which he somehow finds all the more endearing.

Elise is searching for something, anything to say.

Luckily, at that moment: "Hey, the others are coming back!" Elise stands up abruptly, hoping desperately that Ethan and her sisters haven't caught sight of Aiden and herself yet. She quickly heads over to greet them, refusing to look at Aiden, who's still sitting on the bench.

Aiden chuckles, getting up to follow her.