Chapter 5: Telling the Friends
Leo and Maya’s apartment smelled like searing garlic and the vinegary tang of cheap white wine. Aidan stood slightly behind Catriona as she knocked, his hand finding the small of her back.He could feel the fine tremors running through her.
Maya opened the door, her smile immediate.“Finally!We’re starving. Get in here.” She ushered them into the warm, cluttered space, her gaze skipping from Cat’s face to Aidan’s hand on her back.A brief, puzzled flicker, then her social grace kicked back in. “Leo’s battling the dumplings. It’s a lose-lose situation.”
They followed her into the open-plan kitchen-living area. Leo stood at the stove, a tea towel slung over his shoulder, frowning at a steaming pot. “They’re either bulletproof or disintegrating. There is no in-between.” He turned, saw them, and his eyes did the same quick scan Maya’s had.His brow furrowed.“Hey.You guys okay? Cat, you look… flushed.”
“I’m fine,” Catriona said, her voice a notch too high.She gravitated toward the kitchen island, fingers picking at the label on a wine bottle. “Can I help?”
They made it through the first twenty minutes on sheer, nervous habit. Aidan poured drinks.Catriona chopped scallions with unnecessary precision. Maya chattered about her work, Leo expounded on his dumpling theory.The normalcy was a thin veneer. The air felt charged, thick with the un-uttered thing hanging between Aidan and Catriona. Every accidental brush of hands as they passed a bowl, every shared glance, now screamed with new meaning.
They settled around the low table, takeout containers spread before them. The first wave of eating provided a cover.Aidan watched Catriona push her food around her plate. Her knee bounced under the table.Leo took a swig of beer.“So, what’s new? You two been up to anything… interesting?” His tone was light, but his eyes were sharp, darting between them.It was time. Aidan felt a jolt of pure fear, then a sudden, solid calm.He reached out under the table and found Catriona’s hand. Her fingers were icy. He laced his with hers and brought their joined hands up, resting them on the tabletop.The effect was instant.Maya’s fork halted halfway to her mouth. Leo’s eyebrows shot up, his beer bottle hovering.“We’re together,” Aidan said. The words sounded foreign and enormous in the quiet room.Silence stretched for three full seconds. Then Leo’s face split into a wide, incredulous grin.He slammed his bottle down. “No shit.”
Maya squealed, a short, delighted sound.She clapped her hands together. “Oh my god!Finally!When?How? Tell me everything!”
Catriona let out a breath that was half-laugh, half-sob. The tension drained from her shoulders, leaving her looking both exhausted and radiant.“Today.Well, officially today. It’s… it’s been a long time coming.”
Leo leaned forward, pointing a finger at Aidan. “I knew it.I fucking knew it.I told you, Maya. The vibes were off.” He turned back to Aidan. “You owe me fifty bucks, you bastard.”
Aidan chuckled, the sound rusty with relief.“The bet was for her thirtieth. I’ve got time.”
“Technicalities!” Leo waved a dismissive hand, his grin undimmed. “This is better. This is historic.” He got up, rounded the table, and slapped Aidan hard on the back before pulling Catriona into a brief, crushing hug. “About damn time.”
The next half-hour was a barrage of questions, theories, and playful accusations. How did we not see it?(They had).Were there secret signs?(So many). Who said it first? Catriona took that one, her chin lifting with a defiant pride that made Aidan’s chest ache. They recounted a skeletal version of the café, leaving out the rawest confessions, speaking in the comfortable shorthand of shared history. It felt less like an interrogation and more like a coronation.Later, clearing plates, Leo nudged Aidan toward the sink. He spoke under the cover of running water and Maya’s animated debrief with Catriona on the couch.“Seriously, man,” Leo muttered, scrubbing a pot. “Took you long enough.” He glanced over at the women, his expression uncharacteristically soft. “She’s… it’s Cat. You don’t mess this up.”
“I know,” Aidan said, the weight of it solid and welcome.“I mean it. You break her heart, I break your fingers.Artist or not.”
“Understood.”
Leo hip-checked him.“Good. Now go be with your girlfriend. You’ve wasted enough time.”
Aidan dried his hands and walked back to the living area. Catriona was curled into the corner of the sofa, laughing at something Maya was saying, a glass of wine cradled in her hands. The firelight caught the red in her hair and the gold freckles across her nose. She looked over at him, and her smile shifted, deepened, becoming something private and just for him.
In that moment, the last shred of fear evaporated. The rightness of it wasn’t a quiet thought; it was a physical certainty, a resonance in his bones. Leo’s joking threat, Maya’s joyful tears, the familiar, shabby warmth of the apartment—it all wove together into a net, holding them, blessing them.
They left not long after, promises made for a group brunch swirling in the chilly night air.On the sidewalk, Catriona turned to him, her eyes bright. “They’re happy for us.”
“They’re relieved,” Aidan corrected, taking her hand. “The unresolved sexual tension was poisoning the group chats.”
She laughed, the sound clear in the quiet street.She leaned into him, her head against his shoulder as they walked toward his car. The city lights blurred around them, but the path ahead felt brilliantly, unmistakably clear. The world knew now. There was no going back, only forward, into the terrifying, exhilarating weight of it all.