Shopping with Derek

In the final week of January, the teacher reminded all of the students that the class trip would immediately follow the midterm exams. Exams would be held on Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week and they would meet at the school early Thursday morning to load the buses and head to the ski resort. The trip would last till Sunday evening when they would return to the school.

Since that week would be hectic, it was recommended that in addition to studying for exams, the students should also prepare everything they needed for the trip in advance. The problem for Aiden was that he had never been skiing before, unlike most of the other students, so he didn't have a single thing he would need. Luckily, ski's, snowboards, boots, and helmets would be available at the resort but everything else Aiden would have to go out and buy.

On Friday evening, while eating dinner together, Derek asked Aiden what his plans were for the next day.

"I have to go shopping," Aiden replied.

"For what?"

"The ski trip next week. I've never gone skiing before so I don't have the right clothes. I'm just glad the resort offers the actual ski's."

"Hm." Derek was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I'll go with you."

"Huh? Are you sure? It'll probably be boring for you."

"It's fine. We can go out to eat after you get what you need." Derek's tone was very nonchalant. Aiden smiled playfully and leaned closer to Derek to whisper so he wouldn't be overheard.

"Is this your way of asking me out on a date?" After Aiden asked him that, Derek froze and had to think about it. He hadn't even realized himself that that's what he was doing.

"...I guess I am." Aiden laughed. Really, he thought Derek was just too cute.

The following day after breakfast, Derek called his car and he and Aiden left the house. They arrived at the first store a little while later and Aiden started looking around for what he needed. Although he wasn't too happy with the options.

"Why does everything have ugly patterns and colors? Also, won't I look like a gumball if I wear something like this?" Aiden held up a multi-colored neon ski coat. It was extremely puffy and, with Aiden's small stature, he would look very round in that particular coat. Derek tried to imagine what Aiden would look like with it on and, when the image appeared in his head, he had to stifle a laugh.

"Pfft!" Aiden spun around and glared at him.

"Don't imagine that! It's not funny!" Aiden aggressively hung the coat back up. When Derek managed to stop chuckling, he patted Aiden on the back.

"Alright, relax. We'll try a more high-end shop. They're more likely to have less 'gumball' like designs. Pfft!" Remembering the previous image, Derek laughed again. Then, they left the store and drove to another one.

The next shop was clearly more expensive than the last but it was true that their designs were more sleek and modern. Aiden walked around looking at the different clothing racks. He found a red and black coat that wasn't too bad and tried it on. Looking in the mirror, he thought it fit okay and if he put a belt around the middle, it would look better. It also had fake black fur around the collar, which he liked.

After that, he took a look at the snow pants and gloves. Derek just watched from the side but he was far from bored. He didn't know how it was possible to be content just looking at Aiden. He could stand there and watch him for hours and never get tired of it. He really was getting stranger by the day.

About twenty minutes later, Aiden had everything he needed and went to checkout. While the cashier was bagging up the clothes, Derek got a phone call and had to step outside. He pointed to the door and Aiden nodded, letting Derek know he understood.

Outside on the other end of the phone, Derek heard his father's voice.

"Derek! What are you up to today?"

"...Why? What do you want? And I'll just say this now but if it has anything to do with that old man, I decline."

"No, no, it's not him this time. Come have lunch with me."

"I can't. I'm out shopping with Aiden." Derek heard a cough and spluttering before Silas yelled at the phone.

"What?! You, shopping?! When have you ever willingly gone out shopping before? Even when you were younger, I had to practically drag you to get new clothes whenever you got taller. It was a nightmare!"

"Stop being dramatic. Anyway, I can't," Derek said flatly.

"Just bring him along. We've met before so it's not like we're complete strangers."

"That's…" Just then, Aiden walked out of the store carrying two bags of clothing. Derek moved the phone away from his ear and asked Aiden what he wanted to do. "My dad has invited us to lunch. Feel free to refuse but do you want to go?"

"Sure," Aiden nodded. "It should be fun." Then, Aiden whispered, "Besides, we'll get to be by ourselves later for our dinner date." Derek brought the phone back up to his ear and told Silas they'd go. After being told the location, he hung up. Aiden and Derek got back in the car and told the driver the new destination. It only took a few minutes to get there from where they were.

The restaurant was one Aiden hadn't been to before. It wasn't too crowded but the amount of people still showed the place's popularity. The two of them went inside and a waiter led them to where Silas was already sitting. He had ordered his drink and an appetizer while waiting for them. Derek ordered iced tea for himself and Aiden as they both sat down.

"Hey kiddo, thanks for coming." Silas turned to Aiden and added, "It's nice to see you again too." They were talking for a little while before the waiter came back, took their orders, and left again. Right after that, Silas got a phone call and had to leave the table to answer it. However, when he came back, his mood had taken a drastic downturn. It didn't seem like Derek was going to ask but Aiden felt it'd be too weird to just pretend they hadn't noticed.

"Is something wrong?" Aiden asked. Silas sighed and shook his head.

"Nothing I can't handle. Just some business issues. Ah, here comes the food so let's talk about something more pleasant while we eat." Just as he said, the waiter arrived with their food, set all the plates down on the table, and left again. The food smelled delicious and Silas's mood improved a bit after he took a bite. They all continued chatting casually as they ate and soon finished their meal.

Once outside the restaurant, Silas hugged Derek and then Aiden while saying goodbye. Since they had a lot of time until dinner, Derek asked Aiden what he wanted to do in the meantime.

"Anything's fine, really. It's just nice to be out together." In the end, they took a walk in the park, bought bird seed to feed the pigeons, and stopped by an arcade. Derek obviously had never set foot in an arcade before and he epically failed at every single game. Aiden couldn't help but laugh at his perplexed expression every time something didn't work the way he expected it to.

When it was finally time for dinner, Derek took Aiden to a quiet little place with a view of the river. The quiet atmosphere and the glow from the setting sun made it the perfect date. Derek took care of ordering everything including dessert and Aiden had no complaints. The only low point was that it couldn't last forever.

All too soon, they finished eating and had to make their way back home. Derek could tell that Aiden didn't want the night to end. Before they reached the car, he covertly held Aiden's hand and whispered into his ear.

"Don't worry, we'll have countless opportunities for things like this in the future." Aiden smiled and squeezed his hand in return.

"You're right. You'll have to take me on so many dates in the future that you'll get sick of it."

"Even if every day was a date, I'd never get sick of it." Aiden stopped walking and his face flushed red. He glanced around and pulled Derek over to a spot hidden from view. Derek had no time to react before he was pulled down into a passionate kiss. When they eventually pulled apart from one another, Aiden looked up at him with a pout.

"That's not fair. You're not allowed to say things like that until after my birthday!" Then, Aiden rushed off to the car by himself. Derek had to wait for a while until he could follow after him.