8. It Turns Out Fireworks Can Be Internal Too

"Aiden can you grab the last chair? My arms are full," Wren asks over the top of the open trunk, as I'm grabbing the last of our stuff from the backseat.

"Yeah, I've got it. Go ahead, I'll catch up in a second."

I close the rear door of her sedan and readjust the stuff in my arms: some chips, a lawn blanket, a football, and a box of sparklers. My sweatshirt is tied around my waist—the one from my bottom drawer—and it's weighing me down even further.

I somehow manage to grab the chair from the trunk, shut it, and trudge towards the group without dropping anything.

Yeah, I've got it. Uh-huh.

I spot them in the park, setting up our spot in the grass.

The whole park has a pretty good view of the fireworks that our University puts on every year. There are a few spots on and off campus that people gather, but this is one of the closest and best.

It's also one of the most popular.

But they chose a good open spot where there'll be room for the six of us and all of our crap.

I lug the stuff over and drop it on the ground, not caring where or how it lands.

The others make short work of setting up the chairs, drink cooler, and snacks. I just unfold the blanket and plop down, huffing in the early evening humidity.

"I'll take the blanket since there are only 4 chairs," I decide. "Since someone, cough Jasper cough, didn't bring the other two back from Mira's."

I give him a playful glare as I kick off my sandals to the side, then pull my knees up so I can dig my toes into the cool grass over the blanket's tattered edge.

He rolls his eyes, mumbling, "I said I was sorry already, gosh dad."

"He's more of a Daddy," Ronan smirks. "If you guys are done being lil' bitches anyone wanna throw the football around before the sun sets?"

Most of them get up to join except for myself and Wren, who's sitting in her chair right next to me.

"You guys sure? It'll be fuuuun!"

"Nah," Wren says. "I'm comfy here, you guys have at it."

I shake my head. "No, I'm good, thanks. Pass me the chips before you go?"

Jasper tosses the bag at the back of my skull.

They head far enough away so they won't accidentally hit us and spread out to put some room between them.

We watch the ball spiral through the air towards Ronan who leaps for it. He makes a fancy spin and tosses it high for Aster, and she lines up for a perfect catch.

"Nice catch, Babe!" Wren calls out.

She takes aim for Kal and sends it flying right to him. He gets his hands on it, but it pops out of his grasp, rolling away.

Laughing, he jogs to grab it and lobs it back to Ronan. Some of his curls fall in his eyes and he moves them off his face. He looks lighthearted, yet focused as he watches the ball sail between the others before he calls out something I can't quite hear. Whoever it was must've replied cheekily, because Kal just sticks out his pink tongue before the ball sails towards him again.

"Who you staring at, hmm?" Wren pipes up.

"No one."

"So you're not smiling to yourself either, right?"

"You must be mistaken."

I pull my vision away from a certain blonde-haired man and purposely look in any other direction.

"Uh-huh. You wanna talk about those heated feelings I was picking up on at the table earlier?"

"Not particularly."

"Right. Must've been imagining those too..."

Kal pushes his long sleeves up and I think this is only the second time I've ever seen his forearms. Why am I even thinking about that? It's just his forearms for fuck's sake.

"Aiden."

"Hm?"

"You're not fooling anyone. You're practically drooling."

Ronan jogs his way over to Kal between a throw and leans in to say something. He pauses as Kal catches the football from Aster and then he leans back in to conspire.

Kal grins as he listens, before his eyes quickly shoot to me, grin widening into a full smile when he catches me already watching him.

I don't even look away like I probably should. I mean, he did just catch the ball, it would make sense for me to watch him catch it. Right?

"Definitely not fooling anyone," Wren smirks.

He moves his attention away as he throws the ball, goofy grin still plastered on his face. It wobbles a bit mid-air but makes it to its target.

They go around a few more times, and I note his gaze catching on me once or twice, like he's checking if I'm still watching.

I am. Even if I do try to watch the others too, it seems like every time I catch him, he's already caught me too.

They finally decide to call it quits as the sun starts getting hazy.

Ronan takes big gulps from Heidi before taking his chair. Jasper plops in the one next to it as he complains about being dizzy, so he closes his eyes and places his hands down on the earth to center himself and calm his head. Aster sits next to Wren, a single bead of sweat on her brow and Wren's praises in her ear.

A coke bottle suddenly dangles in my face. One of the glass old-fashioned kinds, and there's a fresh layer of frost coating it.

I take it from Kal and twist it open, but when I don't feel a pop I realize it was already open.

"I took a few sips, it needed room to expand. And I was thirsty," Kal explains, sitting down next to my legs.

Room to expand? Oh, he froze it, I notice as I take a sip of the coke slushie.

"Thanks, these are becoming a new favorite of mine, I think they might even beat coke floats—"

Kal pushes at the tops of my knees, forcing my legs down straight, so I lean back on my palm to balance. "What're you—"

He turns away and then lays back, propping his head upon my thigh.

"Did you really just bribe me with a slushie so you could use me as a pillow?" I question.

"Pretty much," he responds simply as he closes his eyes.

His cheeks are flushed, and there are a few beads of sweat along his hairline. "You actually look warm for once," I point out.

He smiles faintly. "Yeah, I'm soaking it up while I can. Unfortunately, it won't last long; the sweat will freeze up on my skin soon and I'll be even colder than before. It's worth it though, as long as I don't get a cold or something."

"Hmm, well you can soak up my heat then, I've got enough for both of us."

"If you're offering," he hums, mimicking the conversation we've had quite a few times now.

My eyes move from his hairline up to his hair, which is in complete disarray. His bun had come nearly undone and wild pieces lay every which way on my lap.

I have the sudden urge to run my fingers through it.

"Your hair's a mess, I'm taking your hairband out before it gets lost," I make a quick excuse when I drop my empty bottle next to me, and my hand dives into the golden nest before I can stop it. He nods, the corners of his lips quirked up.

It's softer than I thought, and not quite as tangled as it appeared, so my fingers work out his bun easy enough and I roll the band onto my wrist like I've seen him do.

He seems content. Faintly, I recall Wren saying that Aster likes her hair played with, so I gamble a little and decide to keep my fingers moving in his hair.

I try to distract myself a bit, commenting, "You guys looked like you were having fun out there, I kind of wish I could've joined you."

"Yeah, it was fun. My arm is gonna be sore though," he breathes a small laugh. "I'm not that great of a ball thrower, I'm better at f—"

Wren butts in, "He's better at fondling them."

We all bust out laughing, and I squeeze in, "Not like you would know, it's not exactly your specialty."

She feigns offense. "Pfft, please, Aster's got a bigger set than you at least."

They all bust out laughing again, and I hold my tongue this time. The others just think she got a good jab at me—I'm the only one who catches the subtle nod towards Kal and realizes she's talking metaphorically, wordlessly bringing up our conversation.

Her neuroweaving doesn't involve telepathy, but I can practically hear her in my head, "Grow a pair, Aideebear, your not fooling anyone."

I pointedly avoid her all-knowing glare, just as Kal speaks up again, "What I was going to say... is that I'm better at footwork. Ronan and I surf pretty often, and I'm decent at soccer and hockey. My arms may not be the most shapely, but I've got buns of steel!"

I've noticed. I debate commenting on it, but think better of it, not trusting myself enough to disguise it as a jest. "Hmm, I actually prefer soccer too, even if most people would assume the opposite with my larger upper half. I swear it's just genetics though, I don't play soccer or even work out as much as I wish I could."

"I vote football, but I just watch it for the cheerleaders," Wren smiles. "Not for that reason though, get your minds out of the gutters... I just think it's cool to watch the flips n shit."

Aster nods. "Football for me. My whole family's pretty into it, my mom's actually the assistant coach at our high school."

"Oh, that explains how you were totally showing us up. Your throws were like crazy spot on," Jasper comments. "They're pretty tied for me, I'm not huge into sports so I guess I don't have a preference."

Ronan looks like he's thinking pretty hard about it, eyes all squinted up. He finally makes up his mind, "Option C: surfing."

Kal mumbles under his breath, "Go figure."

I glance back over the group and my eye catches on Ronan fiddling with something. "Is that a camera, Ronan?"

He holds it up proudly. "Yep. Nico, my Nikon. If I wasn't majoring in Marine Biology, I'd probably go for photography. I just do it for fun though and develop them in the darkroom in the university's Photoweaving Hall."

"Is Nico the Nikon friends with Heidi the Hydroflask?" I ask sarcastically. "That's cool though. What do you like to photograph?"

"Oh yeah, they're besties," he grins. "But, I dunno. I like candid stuff or just nature shots. I was planning to get a few of the group and fireworks tonight, so don't mind me."

"He likes to do sneaky photos; you don't even know he's taking them, so they either end up really good or really unflattering," Kal comments.

"Very true... but the unflattering ones are great for blackmail," Ronan winks.

Kal grumbles in agreement. His eyes are still closed, but he opens his mouth up. "Ahhhhh. Gimme a chip."

I laugh at him, at his mouth gaping like a baby bird. I remove my hand from his hair and grab a chip, popping it in his mouth, before grabbing one for me too.

He finishes that one and I touch another chip to his lip. He smiles before opening his mouth to chomp it. We munch for a bit like that; I take turns between feeding him and myself.

I feel Wren's eyes on me, and turn to see her judging me with a raised brow.

I try to send back unspoken signals, "I'm growing a pair, leave me alone."

She turns away, shaking her head. Success.

It's a nice evening out—cooler now that the sun is setting, and there's a clear sky above us which should be perfect for watching the fireworks. The orange globe of the sun has just dipped below the horizon, no longer visible, but the sky is an ombré of colors: oranges, reds, and purples fading to a dark blue.

Golden red light tints the air around us as dusk settles in. Dark shadows and gold highlights slide across Kal's face and it turns his hair a deep rust color. I brush my hand on my hip to get rid of the crumbs before bringing my fingers back to his hair, looping it around my fingers.

He takes a deep breath in response, licking the salt from his lips. We've been this close before, but not face to face like this, and I take advantage of his eyes being closed to observe him. He has a few freckles on his cheeks I hadn't noticed before and his eyes—

Are not closed.

His eyes are open... and he's watching me.

He blinks lazily up at me, his icy blue eyes dancing and a sly smile playing on his lips.

"You were staring at me again weren't you?" He asks quietly.

"No... Of course not, I just happened to notice the pimple on your forehead."

"Mmhm, okay."

His eyes glide over my face. "It's fine, I don't mind. I stare too, I'm just better at not getting caught."

His statement catches me so off guard it feels like a physical shove to my chest. It's a struggle not to terribly overthink it, and I pray to the Gods he can't see my flaming face in the waning light.

He stirs around a bit then, seemingly unfazed, pulling his sleeves back down.

"I'm getting cold again already," he growls.

Shaking myself back to reality, I untie the sweatshirt from around my waist and lift my butt to slide it out from under me. "Here, want this?"

His eyes light up like it's Christmas morning. "Yeah! Thanks, I forgot mine."

He sits up and grabs it, throwing it over his head. I laugh when he pokes his head through and he looks at me quizzically.

"Your hair," I snort out.

He pats his head and groans. "You still have that hair tie? I didn't bring an extra..."

I hold out my wrist, and he smiles, taking it off. "What would I do without you?"

I shrug, "Probably freeze to death."

"Too accurate. I'm still cold. Told you I'd be even colder afterward... my nose hurts."

"And I told you that you could borrow my heat if you need, wanna sit in front of me?"

"SHH guys the fireworks should be starting any minute," Wren shushes us.

Kal and I share a sheepish look.

He shakes his head, answering my question. He moves towards me though, coming up in back of me instead. I lean forwards, pulling my knees up and resting my arms on them, still unsure of exactly what he's doing. He slides up behind me, legs on either side, and puts his arms around my waist. His hands are freezing, I can feel them through my shirt.

He's sitting on his knees since he's a tad bit shorter, and when he pulls himself flush he's able to rest his chin on my shoulder.

"There," he says in my ear. "Better. And now I can do this until the show starts..."

He turns his head slightly into my neck, his Rudolf nose lodged in the crook of it.

I smile to myself, content to be the small spoon for once.

I cross my legs to free my arms up, so I can bring one hand over to cover his on my stomach, sending my heat through it. I bring the other up to the top of his head over my shoulder, scratching his scalp lightly.

"Mmm," he practically purrs into my shoulder, and I decidedly like the sound.

I close my eyes, not that it makes much of a difference since it's pretty dark out now, but it helps to tune the chatter from surrounding groups and everything else out.

I can feel him breathe against my skin, and hear a slight sniffle from his cold nose. My entire back is pressed up against him and I feel the slight chill emanating from him.

A boom sounds, and for a split second, I thought it was just my heart beating extra loud in my ears or the crazy fluttering in my stomach. But then I realized Kal had jumped a little, so he must've heard it too.

I open my eyes and he lifts his head up, just as the first firework begins to arc down.