Archive of Our Own

Callum Hunt was confused.

For one thing, Aaron staying at Call's house for the whole summer had been like having a brother in almost all ways- building robots, drinking lemonade and eating pizza, rolling around laughing in the overgrown grass and practicing magic- except for one thing.

Aaron was not like Call's brother. At all. He didn't feel like a brother. Which was weird, because he was Call's closest, best-est friend, and yes, Call knew that wasn't a word, but he didn't care. The point was, Aaron should have felt like a brother, and yet somehow, in Callum's mind, the words 'Aaron' and 'brother' simply should not be used in the same sentence, unless there was a 'was-not-at-all-like-Callum-Hunt's' stuck between them.

Next, Celia. Where to even begin? She'd kissed him. Call was distinctly sure that had happened, and that he hadn't been imagining it, because he clearly remembered Aaron laughing in the background at him. Probably because of his confused arm-waving.

But did Call like Celia? He honestly wasn't sure. She was kind, sweet, caring, and wonderful, a lot like Aaron. Except Aaron also had that other side to him . . . Call had never seen Celia have a dark side. She was super nice, though Aaron was as well. Maybe all people had dark sides. Call wasn't sure, but he knew he himself definitely had one.

Only he wasn't going to think about it, because he was fine, and his friends didn't care, and everything was great now.

Celia was also very pretty, with her dirty-blonde hair, which was much darker than Aaron's pale waves, and far bushier, usually pinned back with a cute clip or held at bay with a colourful hairband.

Celia's big eyes, light freckles, fuzzy sweaters, and cozy skirts were cute too. Celia was really cute. She was great. But would she expect him to ask her out? Probably. And Call had no clue what to do- no girls had ever liked him before, and he had no experience with this sort of hand-holding, dating stuff.

Finally, Tamara. He didn't know what was going on with him, but whenever he was around her he felt like he'd just been kicked. But, like, in a good way. Stunned, or speechless.

So with his murky, undecided opinions on his relationship with his not-a-brother-but-a-best-friend/Aaron, his situation with Celia, and the weirdness that seemed to radiate off Tamara like an . . . an . . . aura of weird, clearly Call had some issues.

Add all that to his awesome new chaos powers, which incidentally made him even more like Captain Fishface (though he wouldn't focus on that since he'd decided to stop with his Evil Overlord List), and Call's resulting double-counterweight arrangement with Aaron, which caused the two boys to be almost closer than ever before, well, Call was at a loss.

And this time he had a feeling Warren wouldn't be able to help him out.

~X~

The mood at the Magisterium was different.

Things felt oddly subdued.

One sure reason for this was Jennifer's death. It hung over everyone. It seemed impossible that she'd never walk through the caves again. But it was possible. It was very possible, because Call had seen her body himself.

Another reason, one even more relevant to Call, was Aaron. The normally caring, understanding, kind, and generally happy friend had been replaced by a bitter, angry model who snuck glares at Celia at any chance. Aaron hated her. Aaron hated Celia- with a passion. It was crazy- he was acting as if she'd killed his grandma!

Except, Aaron didn't have a grandma, and he actually suspected Celia of being a murderer- the murderer of Jen, and the one attempting to kill Call and possibly Aaron while she was at it.

Of course, this was ridiculous- Celia was no spy. Call pushed down the little voice in his head, which sounded suspiciously like Aaron, telling him that if he knew that she was a spy, then she wouldn't be a very good spy.

~X~

When they reached the Gallery, Tamara immediately struck off to talk with Rafe, Kai, and Gwenda, near one of the glowy pools.

Call and Aaron walked over to grab some snacks. When they were approaching the fizzy drinks, Call felt Aaron's mood shift. Call glanced up and saw Celia standing near the stalactite-dispenser of her favourite fizzy drink; the green one. She looked away from Aaron, who was scowling right at her, his green eyes shadowy and dark.

Call felt a sudden need for popcorn, but there were only the goldeny-brown chips that tasted like popcorn. He grabbed a huge handful of those.

"Hello, Call." Celia's voice was tight, and she was determinedly pretending Aaron did not exist.

"Hi, Celia." Call tried for a smile.

"Celia," Aaron said pointedly.

Call grimaced as Celia glanced at Aaron, and just kept crunching away at his chips.

"Aaron." Celia smiled stiffly.

The tension swelled. Call suddenly felt a little scared- they were sizing each other up like they were rivals, opponents. It looked like at any moment Aaron and Celia would leap at each other and attack.

He knew that Aaron didn't like Celia, but he hadn't been that open about it, only mentioning his suspicions to Call and Tamara. So what was this about, then?

Why did Celia hate Aaron just as much as he despised her?

Call glanced helplessly at Tamara, who was still locked in conversation with Kai, Rafe, and Gwenda. As if she'd felt him burning holes in her skull with his intense, panicked gaze, Tamara abandoned her conversation, not even bothering to excuse herself, and marched over to Call, Aaron, and Celia, none of whom had moved a muscle.

As Tamara walked briskly over she plastered a huge smile on her face. When she reached Celia she squealed, "Celia! Great to see you!"

And with what Call could identify only as either supreme bravery or a death wish, Tamara pulled Celia into a tight hug, shooting a look of intense remonstration over Celia's shoulder at Aaron, who looked down at his feet like she'd scolded him for the whole room to hear. Celia stood stiffly in Tamara's arms.

When Tamara pulled away, Celia had a tight smile on her face.

"Tamara, how are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine!" Tamara trilled. "You know, I've been looking all over for you!"

"Really? What for?"

"Well," Tamara started, "Rafe told me that Kai told him that Gwenda saw Jasper looking very lost, so Gwenda told Kai, who told Rafe, who told me, that she thought that Jasper must be looking for you!"

Call studied Tamara. Either she was telling the truth, which seemed a little too coincidental, or she was a very good liar. Call thought it was almost certainly the second option.

Celia seemed to have come to the same conclusions, judging from her expression, but then she said, "Well, I'll be sure to talk to him soon. Thank you for letting me know."

Her eyes flicked past Tamara, over Call, and settled on Aaron. Then she snapped them back to Tamara, gave a fake little smile, and turned to leave.

"Bye Tamara, Call." She nodded curtly at Aaron, who waved tightly, his eyes never leaving hers, though she tried to avoid his gaze.

And then she was gone.

Tamara breathed a huge sigh of relief, relaxing visibly. She looked at Aaron, who stared challengingly back.

"You know what I'm going to say," she said sternly. Call felt as if his not-really-popcorn popcorn was going to be needed.

Aaron met Tamara's gaze, then shook his head. "I know. I'll . . . yeah. She started it."

Tamara gave Aaron a look so fierce that Call felt a sudden need to step in. "It's kind of true, Tamara. Celia did start it- she was ignoring Aaron and being kind of rude."

Tamara threw her hands out exasperatedly. "Of course she was trying to ignore Aaron, and of course she'd just want to talk to you, Call!"

Call looked at her blankly.

She gave a long-suffering sigh, shook her head, and said, "Boys! Never mind. Come on, Alex is doing a movie."

~X~

They sat, watching the movie, which was a sort of Matrix, Avengers, and D.C. crossover. It was pretty good, and Call saw a little Aaron murdering a shrieking Celia in the background of one of the fight scenes. Call caught Alex's eye, and Alex winked. Maybe Aaron had been a little more obvious than he thought. Then again, Alex was Master Rufus' apprentice, and probably had heard them on occasion, talking about Celia and her supposed nefarious intentions.

Call glanced over at Aaron to gauge his reaction, and saw that Aaron wasn't even watching the film- he was staring intensely at Celia, who was sitting and giggling with Jasper.

Call nudged Aaron's arm, who turned, startled.

"Hey, maybe if you stare hard enough you'll be able to drill a hole in the back of her head. Then you wouldn't have to worry about whether she's the spy or not."

Aaron sighed.

"What was all that with Tamara earlier, anyway?" Call inquired. He was genuinely curious- something was being hidden from Call, and they'd decided that this apprentice group would have no secrets.

Aaron sighed again. Call felt a surge of anger that his friends, who he told pretty much everything, were hiding something from him- something that seemed really big.

"Look," Call said. "I know you're hiding something, so can you please just tell me? Aaron, come on!"

Aaron looked uncomfortable. "Call, can we talk about it . . . later? Please?"

Call fixed Aaron with a shrewd look and replied, "You mean after you and Tamara have figured out some lie to tell me? I'm not an idiot, Aaron!"

Aaron shook his head. "I never said you were, it's just . . . we're watching a movie!"

"You were watching the back of Celia's head," Call noted.

Aaron gave a long-suffering sigh and placed his hand on Call's- sending little electrical currents tingling up Call's arm- looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Later," in a voice that left no room for even Callum Hunt to disagree.

~X~

By nine o'clock, Call's spidey-senses were going haywire.

Tamara and Aaron had decided to stay back at the Gallery for a bit longer, or so they said- they still hadn't returned.

Call was certain that they were conspiring, making up and perfecting their tale of lies that they would weave to Call upon their return. But he wouldn't be taken in! Oh, no! He'd been hard at work, thinking up all possibilities of what they would say, and what was the truth.

His most logical explanation was that they'd decided it was too dangerous to be friends with Captain Fishface, and they were going to report him, and he'd be imprisoned, or killed. He could already see their laughing faces.

His craziest idea was that they were going to join a weird Devoured-worshipping cult with Warren.

Admittedly, he was basically high off of his secret stash of Sour Patch Kids by this point, so all of his other ideas ran along the same train of thought after that.

Nine thirty.

Call was buzzing with energy, bouncing on his bed with Havoc when he heard the door open, and then Aaron and Tamara's hushed voices. He stopped bouncing and skittered to the edge of his bed, just managing to seat himself and flatten his hair when a knock came at the door.

"Call?" It was Tamara's voice.

Aaron's joined it. "Call, we want to talk to you. Let us in. Or . . . If you're decent, of course!"

Aaron sounded panicked for a moment, and Call snorted, getting up and swinging the door open.

Tamara and Aaron's faces appeared, Aaron's flushed and Tamara's exasperated. Tamara swept into the room and sat primly on Call's bed, then she flopped over onto her back. Aaron followed, sitting next to Tamara uncomfortably.

"Well?" Call walked over to the bed and flopped over with his feet on his pillow- he'd taken his boots off a long time ago. Havoc got on the bed and curled up on Tamara's stomach. She let out an "oughf".

Tamara spoke first. "Well, Call, we've been talking, and . . . we've decided that . . . Aaron will talk to you about it."

Aaron shot her a look and she continued hurriedly. "Because it's his thing! Not mine!" Aaron sighed, like Tamara was saying all the wrong things. Tamara stopped talking immediately.

Aaron fell back onto the bed, lying next to Tamara with his left ear beside Call's. Aaron looked upside down to Call, since Call's feet were at the headboard. Call gave him the side-eye.

"Call, it's kind of . . . it's not really important, but-"

"BULLCRAP!"

"It's TRUE!"

Aaron rolled over onto his stomach, looking upside down at Call, green eyes meeting grey.

"Look, Call. I promise we will talk about it within this week, probably, but we- I. I need to just . . . have, like, a couple days to figure out how we're- stop it, Tamara! How we're going to say it."

"By which Aaron means how he's going to say it, with me far, far away, out of the room, but still supporting him!" Tamara trilled.

Aaron rolled his eyes, a rare display of snarkiness. "Whatever. She's right, though, it's not really to do with her."

Well, that discounted nearly all of Call's conspiracy theories, then.

"Okay . . . But you've got to tell the truth, okay? I can tell when you're lying!"

Aaron snorted. Call shot him with a shrewd fish-eye. "What?"

"Nothing. Just . . . Pfft. Sure."

And just like that, the secrets, the conspiracy theories, and the Devoured-worshipping lizard cults were forgotten.

Call rolled over, drew himself up indignantly, and squinted into Aaron's bright green eyes, nearly nose to nose. He could've counted the freckles that had formed on Aaron's cheeks and nose in the harsh North Carolina sun.

"What do you mean, sure? Sure yourself, mister! I can tell when you're lying!"

"No, you can't."

"You just lied! I can!"

"Can't."

"Can!"

Tamara joined in; "Can't!"

"CAN! CANCANCANCANCAN!"

~X~

Three days later, Callum was to be found lying on his bed with Tamara, who was painting her nails black with blatant disregard for the fact that her polish could drip onto his white pillow. Aaron was out in the grounds walking Havoc.

"Hey, Call, you know Kai?" Tamara asked, not looking up from her nails.

"Yeah?"

"D'you know Charlie?"

"Um . . . no?"

"He's kind of friends with Celia. Well, I heard he and Kai are dating. Celia told me."

Call looked up. "Kai and Charlie?"

"Yeah?" Someone who didn't know Tamara probably wouldn't have noticed, but Call thought he heard a cautious little edge to her voice.

"Well . . . nothing. It's just, I didn't know Kai was . . . gay?"

Tamara glanced up. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's gay, 'cause he was never interested in any girls. At all. You don't care, right?" Her voice sounded careful.

Ha. Care. If only she knew. "No, not at all. He's kind of our . . . sort-of friend. I don't care at all."

"So, would you care if it was someone who you weren't friends with? Like . . . Celia's moms?" Tamara sounded curious now.

What if she did know?

"Nope." Call popped the p, flipping onto his belly to watch Tamara doing her nails. She flicked the brush over her right pinky nail and capped the bottle.

What if he told her?

"Tamara." Call's voice came out funny. She looked up, her face concerned.

No secrets.

"Yes?"

"Um, I-" Call suddenly panicked. Why was he telling her?

"I-" No secrets. No secrets. No secrets.

"I wanted to- to tell you something."

Nosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecretsnosecre-

"I'm bi," he blurted out.

Tamara's eyes widened, and Call's stomach sank. What if she thought it was weird? What if she judged him? He couldn't deal with losing a friend, but they had a rule. No secrets, keep each others secrets. No secrets-

Then Tamara's face broke out in a huge grin.

"You are? Great!"

Great?

Call voiced his confusion. "Great?"

Tamara froze, then said, "Oh, yeah! Because, you know, just . . . congratulations! On . . . coming out! To me! Yeah, and it's great that you came out to me! I feel honoured!" She laughed.

Call side-eyed her. "Okay . . . So-oo . . . You don't care?"

Tamara looked puzzled. "Why would I?"

"I don't know, I guess I was just . . . worried."

Tamara shuffled over, setting her polish on the nightstand and giving him a careful, one-armed, non-nail-polish-endangering hug.

Call sighed, smiling contentedly. He had great friends.

Then Call jolted up. "Aaron!"

Tamara looked at him like he'd eaten some wonky lichen at dinner.

"I'm Tamara, weirdo."

Call rolled his eyes. "No, what about Aaron? Would he . . . care?"

Call needed to know. He didn't think Aaron would, but you never knew.

Tamara laughed lightly, her big, dark eyes seeming to convey a joke he'd never understand.

"Aaron? Never. He would definitely accept you."

Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

Call was too tired to puzzle a meaning out of that. He felt like he'd just fought some wyverns bent on revenge, even though coming out hadn't actually ended up being a big thing anyway. Tamara didn't care.

"So-ooo," Tamara started. "Um. Do you have- Never mind. I mean, can I paint your nails?"

Call stared at her. "Really? Stereotype much?"

Tamara looked aghast.

"Never! I was going to say something else, but I changed my mind halfway through! And that was the only thing I thought of on short notice, okay?"

"What were you going to say?" Call asked shrewdly.

Tamara swallowed. "I don't know, but now I actually kind of want to paint your nails. It's just black, and we'll be matching!"

Call sighed. Tamara always won, either way. And she was right, black nail polish wasn't bad at all.

In fact, it would kind of fit his whole E-o-D aesthetic.

He let his hands flop onto his pillow, and Tamara, with a wicked grin, uncapped her polish and began painting.

Her tongue stuck out as she worked, and when she started the second layer she asked, "Hey, Call. I was going to ask, do you like anybody?"

Call blinked. Well.

"Um, I-"

I mean, you don't have to tell me, but . . ." She looked up at him through her long, dark lashes.

He swallowed.

On one hand, he was weird about Aaron. On the other hand, he was also weird around Tamara.

He did not feel like he had any sort of crush on Celia, so that simplified things. Plus, she was with Jasper now, since he'd asked her today.

Yeah, that's right, Call. Go ahead and like all the people you have absolutely no chance with. That makes perfect sense.

Call shook his head. "Ugh."

Tamara glanced up from his nails. "Ugh, what?"

"Just, ugh."

She frowned sympathetically. "Confused about it?"

"Definitely."

"Can I help at all?"

I wish.

"No, not really. But thanks. Just make my nails look awesome and I'm thrilled."

"So you don't mind!"

Call made a face at her.

~X~

Callum Hunt had a crush. In a really bad way.

And it was on Aaron Stewart. His best friend. His counterweight. His balance.

Call guessed he'd known for a while, but he'd been shoving it to the back of his mind. Way to the back.

You didn't just . . . grow feelings for your best friend, who you didn't even know liked guys. You grew things like carrots, not a crush on your best friend!

He snuck a glance over at Tamara.

She'd fallen asleep. They had been talking for a long time after she'd finished his nails, waiting for Aaron. Call stood and untucked the sheets and blankets on his side of the bed, the right side if you were looking into the room from the door. He folded the blankets over Tamara, and she snuggled into them.

Now Call was cold.

He grabbed a huge, navy blue hoodie with the crest of a soccer team printed on the front. There were two white stripes on either sleeve, on the upper arm.

The name Stewart was printed on the back, at the bottom, in big, white, capital letters.

It was Aaron's.

Call must have picked it up sometime over the summer.

He shrugged it on anyway- it was fleecy and thick.

He didn't really have a crush on Tamara, he'd decided.

She was his best friend, like Aaron, and she was a smart, mischievous, beautiful, trouble-making, clever friend. And he felt funny when he was around her.

But she wasn't Aaron, around whom he also felt funny, but not quite funny, just really natural with a little bit of funny when he thought about it.

It was easy, being around Aaron.

Really easy. Everything flowed smoothly, unlike with Celia, who was also great and cute and sweet but just didn't . . . fit.

Besides, Tamara and Call were too similar to work out, even if she'd liked him. Which she never would anyway- it was universally accepted that girls like Tamara never, ever, ever, ended up with guys like Call, unless they were characters in some fantasy children's novel.

If Aaron liked guys, well, he was probably still way too good for Call. But, you never knew. Weirder things had happened.

Tamara and Call were both the troublemakers who definitely needed that moral compass stuck to them like a magnet.

And Call's moral compass was Aaron.

Aaron, he was like . . . the kind, warm, caring side to Call's dark, cynical, coffee-dependant mind.

Yet Aaron had his dark side, too- and it was Call that brought him back from the edge, every time, just like Aaron had saved Call back at the tomb, stopping Call's chaos magic with his own.

And when Call saved Aaron at the bowling alley, when Aaron lost control.

Call couldn't believe it had taken him so long to understand that he liked his best friend.

They were literally perfect for each other.

Now, if Aaron liked guys, Call just had to convince him of this rock-solid fact.

~X~

Call heard Aaron opening the door to the room.

Nails scrabbled at Call's bedroom door. Havoc was trying to get in.

Then Aaron knocked.

Call sat up quickly, acutely aware that he was wearing Aaron's hoodie. He probably should have thought that through better.

He heard Aaron clear his throat. "Havoc demands entrance, sir. Shall I let him in?"

Pfft.

Call snorted, "You shall. Let him through."

"Entrance granted," Aaron declared regally, opening the door.

Havoc leaped onto the bed and snuggled himself under Tamara's head. She grumbled, then buried her face into his fur like he was a pillow. Havoc rumbled contentedly.

Aaron entered the room and seemed to take in the scene-

Tamara, to Aaron's left, Call's right, asleep and cocooned in Call's blankets, head on Havoc's back. Call, to Aaron's right, sitting on the bed uncomfortably, wearing Aaron's soccer hoodie.

Aaron blinked.

Great.

"Is that . . . mine?" Aaron inquired.

"Um . . . yeah. It's the warmest thing I could find, and Tamara . . ." Call gestured toward their friend, who was hogging all the blankets. "I think I picked it up sometime over the summer, because it was in my bag."

"Oh, yeah, I was just . . . wondering where it went."

Call smiled awkwardly. "I guess you found it!"

Aaron pointed at the bed. "Is there room on there for four?"

"Oh, yeah. Come on." Call bounced back so he was sitting against the headboard. Aaron sat near the end of the bed, cross-legged and facing Call.

Call bit his lip, glancing over at the sleeping Tamara. He could feel Aaron watching him.

He could do this.

Aaron would be fine.

Tamara told him he would be.

Tamara was fine.

Call was going to be fine.

"Um- ah, Aaron?" Call cursed himself for stuttering. Stupid nerves. Aaron would be fine with him. Tamara told him so.

"Yeah? You okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine. I just . . . I was talking with Tamara earlier, and . . . I sort of told her something and I probably should tell you too since, you know, she knows, and we . . . don't keep secrets in this apprentice group." Call fixed Aaron with a reproachful look at the last part. Aaron had the decency to look abashed.

"What's going on, Call? Is it something about . . . Captain Fishface?"

Call laughed without really finding anything funny. "No. I mean, unless the original Fishface was bisexual."

He did it.

Aaron's lips parted in surprise.

Call waited on tenterhooks.

Aaron breathed a little laugh, and grinned. "Oh! Oh, okay. You're bi! Yeah, that's . . . great!"

Thank God. He was fine.

Wait.

Great?

Hadn't Call just had this conversation?

"Great?"

Aaron froze. "Um, you know, because, I don't know, I just . . ."

Call laughed. "Kidding. It's just that Tamara said the exact same thing, so I kind of had deja vu. That's all."

"Oh. Okay. She did, did she?" Aaron poked Tamara in the side and she groaned, swatting at him.

Suddenly, Aaron looked awkward. He glanced over at Call, then said, "Well, I guess if everybody's coming out today, and- ow!"

Tamara had jabbed him in the ribs. "I'm straight."

The words came out muffled by Havoc's fur.

Aaron laughed. "Okay, I mean, yeah, now you've both come out. Straight-" He pointed at Tamara, "and bi-" he pointed at Call.

"So," he cleared his throat as if preparing for a speech, wiping his palms on his sweatpants. "Since we don't keep secrets, I guess I'll . . . come out too."

Come out?

But that meant . . .

Was he?

But Aaron considered Tamara's admission of being straight a coming-out moment.

Aaron was straight.

He was going to say he was straight.

He had to be.

He was-

"I'm gay." Aaron spread his hands as if welcoming applause. He wiggled his fingers a little, like jazz hands.

He was gay.

"Oh! Okay! That's great!"

Did he really just say great as well?

Aaron quirked an eyebrow. "Great?"

"Shut up."

Call was struck by a sudden thought.

"Was that . . . the big secret?" he demanded.

"Nope. That is still completely, secretly secretive."

"You have to tell me, you know."

"I will. Promise."

~X~

The next morning, Celia was watching Call from another table. It was the day after Jasper asked her out, and things were slightly awkward. He could feel her gaze on the back of his head and tried to ignore it.

Aaron watched them carefully. He shot Call a sympathetic smile when he saw how uncomfortable Call was.

"You should apologize to Celia," Tamara said quietly.

Call looked at her like she'd grown another head. "What for? She likes Jasper now. She probably liked him to begin with, anyway."

Tamara stared him down. "She liked you, Call. She thought you wanted to ask her out. Then you never did. She didn't hear from you over the summer, I assume, and she didn't get asked out in the first couple months of school. You kind of led her on, Call."

"I- I- but, Jasper, and- wha-?" Call spluttered. Aaron snorted, choking on his purple, fuzzy lichen. Call patted his back.

When Call stopped attempting to save Aaron's life, possibly keeping his hand on Aaron's back a moment longer than was standard First-Aid protocol, he faced Tamara.

"But Jasper made it seem like I wanted to ask her out!" Call explained. "I never did anything except stay friends with her! I never acted like I like-liked her! Did I? Aaron, did I?"

Call turned and appealed to Aaron, shaking Aaron's shoulders. Aaron looked awkward. "Um, did you actually ever like her?"

Call sat with his jaw agape while Tamara hooted with laughter. "Even- even Aaron th-thought you liked her, Call! Pffft!"

"Alright, fine." Call's voice was surly as he muttered, "I'll say sorry. Though it is not my fault she thought I liked her, because I didn't. Really."

~X~

After dinner, Call approached Celia while she was leaving the Gallery. He hadn't seen her all day, other than at meal-times, and she'd left the Refectory so quickly he was sure she was avoiding him.

"Celia! Celia, wait up!" Call jogged, limping a bit, waving to her. Her eyes widened. She stopped walking, waving Kai and a boy, who Call vaguely recognized as the mysterious Charlie, onward.

"Celia, I . . ." She watched him reproachfully, her big eyes sad. "I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry for not-"

"It's fine, Call," Celia interrupted. "It's okay that you didn't ask me out. What's not okay is leading me on. That's not okay, Call!"

Call felt awful. "I'm really sorry, Celia."

"Well," Celia's eyes were a little teary as she said, "I guess I always knew you'd choose him over me. Every time. I don't know why I even thought I had a chance." She sniffed bitterly.

Now Call felt awful and confused.

"Just . . ." Celia continued, "tell him that he won."

"Who won? What do you mean?"

Celia looked at Call blankly. Even teary-eyed and dejected, she had a pretty great side-eye. Then she said, "Aaron, of course. You can tell him he got his wish. I won't be trying to get you to ask me out any time soon."

And that was when things started to make a weird, surely impossible kind of sense.

"Celia . . ." Call said carefully. "What, exactly, are you saying?"

"At the beginning of the year, Aaron came up to me and told me to back off of you. So I did. I mean, at first- I was a little scared, to be honest. I mean, he's a Makar! Then I realized that he wouldn't actually hurt me over a little school crush."

Crush.

A crush.

Call's brain felt like it was working in slow-motion. Then-

"Celia, are you saying Aaron likes me?" Call tried not to sound way too hopeful, but was sure he failed miserably.

Celia smiled at him softly, though a little bitterly, through tears. "You never knew? Call, he's totally in love with you."

~X~

After hurriedly telling Celia he had to go, Call darted off as fast as his leg would allow. He staggered and stumbled through rocks and over stalagmites in his rush to get back to the room.

To talk to Aaron.

His mind raced as he ran.

Aaron told Celia to back off.

Did he threaten her?

Call had seen Aaron threatening Jasper, and it was no joke. Aaron could be scary.

If Aaron had threatened Celia like that, that wasn't cool.

Except Call didn't care, because Aaron liked him. So it was also strangely gratifying. And yes, Call knew that not caring, and finding it gratifying, that Aaron was likely threatening a super kind and sweet girl to stay away from him, or else, was probably a lot of points on the bad side of the Evil Overlord List, but, again, he didn't care.

Because Aaron Stewart liked him, and nothing else mattered.

Call suddenly screeched to a halt, sending shooting pains up his left leg.

But wait! What if Aaron didn't really like him? And now Call was going to embarrass himself!

But . . . Celia wouldn't do that. Then again, Call would never have expected Aaron to threaten Celia.

But, then again, if Celia really was lying then Aaron didn't actually do that, which proved that argument null anyway. Which meant that it was entirely possible that Celia was lying.

Or was it the other way around?

All Call knew was that he was getting a headache thinking about it.

Either way, Call would never find out if he didn't ask Aaron.

Call started limping onward with renewed and mildly desperate hope.

When he reached the room, he swung his wristband through the air and tumbled through the door.

Aaron was sitting on one of the couches, reading a comic with Havoc curled up next to him. He looked up as Call made his ungainly way into the room.

"Hey," Aaron smiled at Call.

"Hi," Call breathed. He was slightly winded from his weird sprint through the caverns, and thought he probably should have come up with an actual plan.

He limped over to the couch and flopped down next to Aaron, Havoc making a muffled protest and leaping onto the floor. Call caught his breath for a moment. He didn't know what to say.

He didn't know what he was going to say until the words had already left his mouth.

"Aaron, why do you actually hate Celia?" Call watched Aaron out the corner of his eye.

Aaron simply sat there, just breathing for a moment, before answering carefully, "I don't hate anyone. But, I . . . just want you to be safe. And if Celia is the spy, which she totally could be, hanging around her isn't safe. For any of us."

Call fixed him with a skeptical look. "Aaron, we both know that Celia isn't the spy. Why do you really hate- or dislike her?"

Aaron pursed his lips.

"Tell the truth, Aaron."

Aaron closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose like he felt a headache coming on. Call felt bad for being annoying, but he needed to find out the truth.

And join Aaron's Celia-hating club if this was all a big joke and Celia actually was lying.

Then Aaron opened his eyes and shuffled around on the couch so he was facing Call. Call turned around as well, his left leg twinging as he moved.

For a moment they just surveyed each other. Aaron cleared his throat.

"Okay. So, this is it, I guess. This is the big, secretive secret. It kind of goes hand-in-hand with why I don't like Celia."

Call was about to hear Aaron's secret. He was about to know the truth.

"The truth is, Call, I like you. A lot. I have forever. I mean, alright, at first I thought you were kind of weird, but I still wanted to get to know you better. You were mysterious. And grouchy. I mean, I still think you're weird and grouchy, and I know you super well now. But I like you a lot, anyway."

Call's brain felt like it was working in slow-motion. Aaron actually did like him?

Aaron laughed softly, then continued. "I like your . . . dry sense of humour, your snarky comebacks, your whole kind of . . . attitude. I like how you act all independent, like you don't need anyone, even though Tamara and I know you love us."

Call couldn't believe his ears. Aaron Stewart liked him. Actually liked him. It wasn't a joke. Call took back all his doubts about Celia- she was an angel.

"So," Call's voice came out kind of weird, "you hated Celia because . . ."

And now Aaron looked really uncomfortable. "I guess because . . . she kissed you."

Call bit his lip. He felt Aaron's eyes follow the movement.

Call didn't think- he couldn't think or he'd chicken out, regardless of whether or not Aaron liked him.

"I don't like Celia, Aaron," Call breathed. "I like you. I always did." And he just leaned over and kissed him.

He kissed Aaron Stewart.

And his brain exploded.

It was the greatest thing in the world. At first, Aaron was surprised, but then he started kissing Call back and then he put his hand on the back of Call's neck and it was amazing.

And then they kissed again and Call's face was over Aaron's because Aaron was leaning back against the arm of the couch, and he put the hand that wasn't on Call's neck under Call's weird T-shirt from Value Village, and Call's hands were in Aaron's hair and on his neck and Aaron's blond hair was as soft and feathery as it looked, and it was probably the greatest thing that had ever happened to Call.

Then Havoc jumped on top of them, probably annoyed by all the kissing and wanting to go for his nightly walk and toilet-time.

So they fastened Havoc's leash and walked to the Mission Gate. Tamara was at the Gallery, and that was fine with Call because he had more time alone with Aaron this way. When they got outside they let Havoc off the leash, and they kissed and talked and kissed some more, and Call was about as happy as he'd ever been in his life.

He was kissing Aaron Stewart, his now-boyfriend-not-best-friend-and-definitely-not-brother.

He was with Aaron, and that was pretty much the best thing he could ever wish for.

~X~

Breakfast the next morning was amazing.

Celia shot daggers at Call and Aaron, who were sitting way closer than they normally did.

Call didn't care. Because Aaron.

"So," Jasper munched on some pudding and mushrooms, giving Aaron and Call a suggestive glance. "Are you two . . ." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Dating," Tamara filled in.

"Tamara!" Call and Aaron exclaimed in unison.

"What?" She looked at them weirdly. "You're so-oo obvious. It's like you two are up in the clouds."

"When you're in love, it is like living in the clouds," Jasper said authoritatively.

"Shut up, Jasper. No one wants your romantic opinions. You're full of crap, anyway," Call snapped.

Jasper looked affronted. "I am not! I know everything about romance! I'm an expert. Next time I'm at your place, I'll give you guys some tips."

Call snorted. "Aaron, would you date me if I acted like Jasper?"

Aaron looked horrified.

"There's your answer, Jasper." Call went back to his food.

Jasper looked like he wanted to say something, but bit his tongue in what he clearly considered to be dignified silence.

"Whatever," said Tamara. "I'm super happy for you two. To be honest, I saw it coming since Iron Year. Am I right, guys?" She glanced around the table.

The rest of their table nodded in unison.

"Alright, fine. So what? We're dating now. That's all that counts," Aaron smiled, reaching for Call's hand under the table. Call grabbed Aaron's hand and squeezed it tightly.

Aaron was right. That was all that counted.

And maybe, just this once, Jasper was right too.

When you were in love, it was like living in the clouds.

Callum Hunt was thrilled to be in the clouds.

THE END