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“You should come over tomorrow,” Lambert blurted out over lunch. “Chaos just had another litter of kittens. Leo’s all kinds of excited about the babies, so dad’s gonna let him pick one to keep, but we’ll be giving the rest of ‘em away once they’re old enough.”
He had no idea why it was so hard to talk to Aiden lately. Every conversation led to sweaty palms and a racing heart, and Lambert had no idea what to do about it except pretend it wasn't happening and ignore the nervous fluttering feeling he got whenever Aiden looked his way.
"You sure it was Chaos?" Aiden asked, oblivious to Lambert’s jitters. "Ain't she almost as old as you?"
Lambert shrugged. "Just about, but I saw her," he replied. "She's still as ornery as ever. Dumped the kittens all in a pile in the old barn and trotted off happy as a clam like she didn't just give us all a whole lot more work."
Aiden chuckled, and Lambert felt his heart stutter. He'd never thought much about it before, but Aiden’s laugh was one of his favourite sounds in the whole damn world. It was a ridiculous thought to have, but Lambert couldn’t help but think it anyway.
"If I'm comin' around tomorrow, I'll get Dragonfly to give me a ride," Aiden said, pulling Lambert from his thoughts. "She wanted to pick up some of Eskel’s cheese and eggs this weekend anyways."
Lambert grinned. "You can stay all weekend, if you wanna," he said, feeling his ears heat up.
God, he was pathetic. He needed to figure out what was wrong with him.
Sitting on the rough wooden floor, huddled shoulder to shoulder with Aiden under the dirty window - still broken from a disastrous attempt at playing baseball last summer - Lambert watched Aiden feeding one of the tiny, mewling kittens. Lambert couldn’t believe he’d taken so long to realise what the fluttery, jittery nerves were. Good goddamn, he was gone on Aiden, wasn’t he? He was in love with his best friend, and he was hurtling headfirst toward heartbreak if he wasn’t careful.
Aiden caught his eye and grinned, cradling the little tabby like it was the most precious thing in the world, and Lambert’s heart stuttered.
He didn’t want to be careful. He wanted to hand over his heart on a silver platter, knowing Aiden would treat it just as gently as he did the helpless kittens.
The kitten pulled away from the bottle to squeak imperiously, and the moment was broken, Lambert’s reckless resolve slipping through his fingers like sand.
“You alright?” Aiden asked, looking up from the fussy kitten to examine Lambert’s face. “Look like Li’l Bleater just got you in the gut.”
Lambert shook himself, drawing in a deep breath. Could he really leave it unspoken? What would his brothers say if they caught him being such a coward over something like feelings? He’d known Aiden his whole life, and the worst he’d do was turn him down.
He wouldn’t lose his best friend just because he had a crush.
Probably.
Screwing up his nerves, Lambert scooted around so he was facing Aiden head on.
“I got something I wanted to say, and I figure I should probably do it now while Dragonfly’s still here, so if you wanna leave after you don’t gotta wait for a ride,” he said, fighting the urge to chew his nail.
Aiden gave him a baffled smile. “Why would I wanna leave? You’re not makin’ a lick of sense.”
God, Lambert wanted to kiss that look off his face so bad.
“I think I realised I’m in love with you, an’ I don’t know what to do about it,” Lambert said, his words tumbling out in a jumbled rush. “I think I’ve been in love with you for half our lives, and I don’t know what made me realise it, but when I look at you, all I can think is how much I wanna kiss you.” It felt like his lungs stopped working and his heart seized in his chest as the words spilled out of him. He was sure he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life.
Aiden blinked at him, mouth falling open in surprise. He didn’t look angry, at least, but that didn’t mean Lambert hadn’t still ruined things. Gently, Aiden set the kitten he was still holding down in the squirming pile of its siblings. Lambert could see the gears turning in his head as he thought over the confession, and sweat broke out on the back of Lambert’s neck.
Why in the hell had he thought confessing was a good idea? He was a damn idiot, and his brothers were never gonna let him live this down, even if Aiden forgave him for being so stupid.
“Lemme just…” Aiden started, seemingly caught entirely off guard by Lambert’s words. “You’re… You like me.”
Lambert slapped his knee out of sheer reflex. “‘Course I like you, dipshit, we wouldn’t be friends otherwise!” he squawked. “I just… I…”
“Yeah…”
Well, Lambert thought, at least I’m not the only one that doesn’t know what to say.
The only sound for a long time was the shuffling and squeaking of the kittens.
“What if I like you too?”
The words came so unexpectedly that Lambert almost didn’t realise that Aiden had spoken.
“I guess I never really thought about it,” Aiden explained, shrugging. “You were always my best friend, so of course I felt different about you. But… Yeah, I think I know what you mean about bein’ in love half our lives.”
Lambert’s heart was pounding fit to burst. It sounded like…
“So… I guess we both wanna kiss each other,” Aiden added, obviously fighting a nervous giggle.
It only seemed natural to shuffle forward until their knees were touching. Lambert had moved before he could even think about it, and then Aiden was leaning in and… Kissing Aiden was like nothing else. It felt like his heart might burst right out of his chest with how full it was. There wasn’t just fireworks, it was a whole damn Fourth of July display, and they hadn’t done any more than just press their lips together.
Lambert’s eyes fluttered open as they drew apart, and the red flush on Aiden’s cheeks made his own face flush with pride. He’d done that. He’d made Aiden blush.
Aiden licked his lower lip, and Lambert couldn’t help but dive back in for another kiss. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of kissing him.
They might have spent the whole day trading soft kisses in the run down old barn if the kittens hadn’t decided they were tired of not getting enough attention. The little white one that Leo had already claimed as his favourite crawled over to them, squeaking and mewling until Lambert picked it up, laughing.
Aiden settled in beside him again, grinning as he rested his weight against Lambert’s shoulder.
“I’m glad you said something,” he said, sounding as content as Lambert had ever heard him.
Lambert was glad too.