"We don't have to go back if you don't want to."
"Good, 'cause I don't want to."
I put my phone face down on Aaron's kitchen counter, only two additional sleep hours in my system after he had brought me home from Landon's. He hadn't asked anything when I returned to the car or rode to his house. He had just handed me his phone to pick the music and squeezed my hand when I noticed Landon's car was parked in the complex a few doors down from his apartment. He let me have his bed, and I welcomed Elote's company.
Lorraine woke me up with the news that Gerald's brain showed activity. I didn't cheer or cry in relief. Instead, I walked to the kitchen for some water, found Aaron typing away at his laptop, and updated him. Because he hadn't changed his clothes, I figured he hadn't gotten any rest himself.
"Have you had breakfast?" He nodded. I noticed a fresh mug of coffee behind him but nothing else. "That's not breakfast, and I already know the coffee won't do shit for you. Come on."
I walked around him and pulled on his sleeve. He didn't budge, squeezing his eyes. "I'm working on my budget for January."
"Okay nerd, the tab will be open in eight hours. Come on."
He let his arm be pulled but held onto the computer with his other hand. "Let me make you breakfast, at least."
"I can cook myself." I leaned over his shoulder and saved his document before closing his computer. He finally let go of it and stood.
"I don't want you to burn down my kitchen," he yawned, rubbing his face.
You confuse sugar with salt for mashed potatoes for your friend's Thanksgiving get-together once and suddenly you can't make breakfast. "Then I'll order something in. Come on, Elote's probably pissed that I woke him up."
Aaron snorted but caved, the hoods of his eyes threatening to close by the second. "Fine, but if anything, wake me up. It's nice having company when I'm not busy."
I knew he actually meant that he didn't want me to be alone, which was comforting. Still thinking of me when he was close to falling asleep standing up was... warm.
But not a pretty view. "Okay, yeah, I'll be around. Seriously, get!" I ordered, softly pushing him in the direction of his bedroom. I stood with my arms crossed until he went inside, and I heard the creak of his body falling onto the mattress. I cleaned up around the house for twenty minutes before carefully checking in on him. Seeing that he was in deep slumber, I grabbed his keys and left the house.
-
"Do you like how it feels?"
"God, it's amazing."
"Then you're gonna love what I have back here."
I rubbed my hands together, lathering the vanilla bean lotion the unusually chirpy Lush employee had squeezed into my hands. She was right - sugar scents were better in this season. With most of the lotion absorbed into my skin, I cupped my face, inhaling. Cocoa butter and something else I had forgotten... milk? Whatever, Aaron was gonna love it.
After an ATM visit and a couple of Google searches on how to guesstimate men's clothing sizes, I joined the 12 remaining people in the United States to still shop at the mall. I was searching for items to make Aaron a thank-you gift, considering he had stayed with me at the hospital. And compromised his job. And let me stay at his place. And was there for me for basically everything.
How do you shop for the best person alive?
Lush was the first store to grab my attention - inevitable since the smell bombarded my nostrils the second I entered the mall. I questioned how anyone would let that odor combination be the first thing guests encountered until I noticed they had free samples. Score.
The employee came back with a couple more products. "So we have some other things like Vanilla Dee-Lite, like our Celestial moisturizer and Coconut Drench bar. Would you also be interested in perfumes?"
"Oh no, he'd kill me. He's so snobby about those," I informed, taking the products and reading over the labels. "He wears this cinnamon-y cologne that leaves the whole house smelling like Christmas. Do you have anything like that?"
"Of course! We have our seasonal Christmas products out right now! Let me go grab some things your partner might love," she grinned, returning the items.
"Oh no, he's no-" She was out of hearing range before I could correct her. Then again, telling her my love life was actively declining wasn't a better alternative. I instead turned to the nearest samples available, wondering if "Merry Kissmas" was as good as it looked.
Landon had texted, then called, then had texted four more times. Eight, assuming the vibrating in my pocket while I had the time of my life at Lush were his as well. I didn't want to read them, much less reply. Not today. The last day was too much, all at once, and while I knew Dr. Jackson had already given me shit for avoiding my issues, I figured she would excuse delaying them under these conditions.
Lip scrubs were definitely not for me. I tried rubbing Merry Kissmass off, only to dig the sugar further against my lips and onto the skin around my mouth. My Lush guru rushed to me with a tissue and a couple of bottles. "Those can be sticky! But they leave your lips ah-mazing for that special someone in your life," she winked.
I forced myself to giggle out of respect as I wiped my face.
-
"Be honest, Heath... " Aaron asked as I guided him into his living room, "did you destroy my house?"
"You're a real jerk, you know that?" I sneered, following his cautious pace down the hallway. An inch taller than me, he made covering his eyes with my hands a bit difficult while still trying to keep my distance. "Besides, I would never admit to that. I'd blame your cat. Or you, in case you sleepwalk and I didn't know."
"You're not making me feel more confident," he answered, stopping once my hands pressed on his face. I uncovered his eyes, setting my hands on his shoulder. "Heath..."
I managed to return before Aaron woke up. I had spent the entire morning and some of the afternoon collecting items for a gift basket large enough to make his coffee table look smaller. An array of food, beauty products, and other carefully selected objects threatened to spill out, but they were restrained by the plastic wrap held together by a green ribbon at the top.
Aaron pulled away from my grasp in awe. "You did this yourself? When?"
"Today, and yeah, I had to make an executive decision on transportation," I informed him, handing him his keys. "I filled the tank and got it washed and detailed. I don't know how long ago you ate Cheetos, but there was one my guy had a hard time getting out."
He looked at the basket, then back at me, then back at the basket, approaching it carefully. "Heath..."
I motioned my arms forward. "Why are you waiting? Dig in! It's all for you."
He gave me a slight nod and eagerly sat on his couch, carefully undoing the ribbon and glancing at the visible options. "Where did you even get all this? Heath, these things are expensive. I can't accept this; your wallet must be in shambles."
It definitely wasn't happy, but I was. I sat beside him, leaning forward as he got to the goods. "Well, I already got it. That's that, the world keeps turning."
He elbowed me teasingly on the side after recognizing his words before taking out items, one by one. Some were obvious preferences, like a coffee bean bag that matched the one in his pantry, a package of Glade refills for his plug-ins (thank God for color matching), or a new package of ballpoint pens since he had a nasty habit of losing them all the time. Others were things I hoped he'd like, like the Christmas products from Lush or some toys and mini clothing I hoped Elote would adore. A couple of things were sourced from our previous conversations or moments we shared.
Aaron reacted stronger with every gift attached to a memory. He jokingly groaned when he found a plastic wedding ring, called me corny as he read a paper menu of the first restaurant we had lunch at together, and turned red as he recognized a bottle of beer - the same brand he had first offered me at Parsons.
"I know, I know," I said with a small smile. "But it's important, though. I'll be at the grocery store, see it, and think of you. I see all this stuff and think of you."
He let out a light "huh". "You're just not usually... no offense-"
"Affectionate?" I cut off. "Expressive in ways that don't have to do with feeling sorry with myself?"
He gave me an annoyed look. "Kidding!" I assured. "But seriously, in this whole disaster, you keep being the one thing that I can always trust to-"
"Cover your ass?"
"...make me believe that things can get better," I corrected, a serious tone entering my voice. "Aaron, I could buy the whole inventory of every store in a twenty-mile range, but it still wouldn't be enough to show how much you mean to me. I did wanna try, though."
Aaron's gaze stayed on the bottle for a few moments before he placed it carefully on the table. He looked up in my direction, his lips parting and closing slightly as if attempting to conjure up something to say.
