Two totally inconspicuous kids who are so not causing trouble { { C L O S E D } }

Taleis walked into the courtyard, squinting against the sunlight. It was jarringly bright in comparison to the filtered light he had grown accustomed to over the course of the afternoon, due to spending most of it locked up in his cabin.

Taleis had known that it wouldn't be a good day the second he woke up. His bad mood hung around him like a dark cloud all morning, even after breakfast. Especially after breakfast, he had noticed. Breakfast was just so damn early, which definitely wasn't a good thing for a bad day. He still was feeling horrid after a cup of tea, and he was almost tempted to an energy drink. Almost.

After rubbing his temple a little, Taleis gave in and sat down on the edge of the fountain, which was gurgling happily. It made Taleis want to smash it. He never understood how a fountain could sound happy while he wanted to smash peoples' faces is. It just wasn't fair. The stupid fountain wasn't alive, it had no thoughts, but Taleis just sat there struggling to smile.

All in all, he blamed Kassidy, but he blamed himself for Kassidy, so Taleis guessed it was all his fault. Trust him to screw up the best thing in his life and make her kill herself, and then fall for his best friend. It was getting confusing to keep track of whether Taleis blamed Kassidy or himself, so he decided he'd just blame the Fates. That always seemed to work.

Taleis jumped slightly and turned around, but he relaxed when he saw it was Aidan. His heart didn't start racing because of the way the light shined on Aidan's hair at that specific time of day. His palms were't sweating because he was nervous. No, that was the...heat, yeah, that was it. It was just hot out.

"Hey," Taleis said, attempting to smile at his best (and only) friend. He had a feeling that he was failing pretty badly at it, too. He had found it increasingly difficult to be happy lately, even when he was with Aidan. Especially when he was with Aidan. Well, no, not exactly. He was happy around Aidan, but just...dissatisfied.

Taleis ran a hand through his hair, messing it up a little bit more. He didn't care, though. The girls at camp weren't even that fun to mess with anyways, because there was always the threat of being 'accidentally' injured or something. All in all, Taleis didn't like the camp girls; they were just too different than the girls in London who never did anything back to him. These girls fought back, and Taleis hated it, because he had all these bottled up emotions, and he couldn't even tell Aidan because most of them were about Aidan in the first place, so telling Aidan would be the worst thing he could ever do.

Then there was the simple fact that, well, Aidan was Taleis's only friend. Taleis wasn't exaggerating when he said this. Many people were exaggerating when they said that someone was their only friend, but it was true for Taleis. He had acquaintances, sure, but they weren't friends - not by a long shot. He could hardly trust any of them.

"How have you been?" Taleis asked his friend, despite having seen him just that morning. Taleis didn't care about it that much. It was Aidan, after all. Aidan was his only friend. He had a right to want to know what was happening with his only friend.

Taleis tried to convince himself that it had nothing to do with the fact that he just wanted to hear Aidan's voice. He knew that couldn't be it. Taleis was straight, godsdammit. Why was he suddenly finding himself wanting to curl up into Aidan's side and just run his fingers through his hair?

Well, Taleis knew it wasn't suddenly. He had been feeling that way for a while, ever since everything that had happened with Kassidy. Ever since he found himself needing to talk to Aidan more and more, and, well, then there were these feelings Taleis would get, where he just wanted to be with Aidan. At first he thought it was just that he needed his friend, and he still tried to convince himself that. He knew, though, that it wasn't that. But he'd never admit what it was, because he was straight, for the love of the gods.

Taleis almost groaned aloud, but he knew that Aidan would seriously start to worry then. He didn't want that, not at all. Taleis hated to see that look on someone's face, especially Aidan's, because he knew he didn't deserve it. Taleis made someone kill herself, and he honestly didn't know why anyone even bothered to put up with him anymore; he was a stupid, insensitive jerk who had breaking hearts down to a science. He didn't need people to worry about him or whatever it was that they did. He didn't deserve it.

Taleis smiled at the face Aidan made, despite it not being funny. He knew that was what Aidan would have wanted him to do, and, well, Taleis didn't want to go over the whole Aidan being his only friend thing again. One time was enough for him.

"I've been okay. Ish. Uh, just kind of...tired." Taleis hated to admit it, but his voice sounded uncharacteristically quiet, losing it's confident edge. He hated it more than anything, because, yeah, he had this huge reputation, but how could he maintain it if he didn't sound confident? Nobody would listen to him. His reputation was all that he had. People only started hanging out with him because he was the foreigner who told awesome stories about his dad, which were fake, too. In fact, Taleis couldn't think of a single thing about his reputation that wasn't fake. Well, minus the fact that he tended to mess around with girls' hearts. That was pretty much the only true thing about his reputation.

Taleis knew that Aidan could tell he wasn't okay, and he knew that the fact that his voice was so quiet wouldn't help him sound any better. Aidan knew him too well, which he guessed was a good thing, but it sucked, too. It made it impossible for Taleis to hide anything from Aidan, and he hated not being able to hide things. He had hid his personality from everyone for so long, but Aidan could see right through him, like his skin was transparent or something. Aidan could see right through his facade, right through his lies, and right to the truth. Taleis just wasn't used to it.

"I'm getting kind of sick of camp," Taleis said after a while. "I've been thinking of busting out. You game?" It felt just like back in London, when they'd go up to the roof of one of their apartment buildings and just talk about anything at all. Taleis would always say that he was thinking of busting out, but he never did. He came close, yeah, he came plenty close. Taleis came close to doing a lot of things, but he never did. He never really could, because he always felt like if he did anything - drugs, drink, run away, self harm - he'd be giving up. He'd end up exactly where his dad probably was at that exact moment, and there was nothing that terrified him more. The thought of spending every day in a dull, grey environment, without a single friendly face. Well, he probably would make a friend, but still. He didn't want it.

A grin spread across Taleis' face. "Well, the camp borders aren't guarded, right? So we just walk up to the borders and walk on out, get a cab, and we're free!" Taleis chuckled slightly, feeling happier than he had in a while. It had been some time since he had broken any rules, and Taleis was growing tired of the bland routine he had started falling into since arriving at camp.

"We could go to some movie or something. The Avengers looks really cool," Taleis said, trying to shut down his thoughts, which were waging war on him with questions like, 'Wouldn't this count as a date?' It was annoying, because he an Aidan had done it so many times before and he hadn't had these thoughts, but all of a sudden they were just there. It pissed him off.

In order to get his mind off of his pestering thoughts that kept reminding him that people tended to go to movies on dates, he told himself he could always attempt to chat some girl up. City girls were way different from camp girls, Taleis had come to realize. Camp girls would try and hurt him physically, and city girls just shot him looks and whispered behind his back. Besides, it would probably be so much easier to mess with a girl if he didn't go to camp with her. He'd tell her he'd meet her at a certain place at a certain time, and he wouldn't be able to show up. It was a brilliant idea, as far as he was concerned.

"Sounds good to me," Taleis said, his grin still stretched across his face. He felt happier than he had in a while, to finally be doing something. It was awesome, he decided. He hadn't done something even remotely rule-breaking, and he was starting to miss the adrenaline rush.

Yeah, he could always just practice sword fighting, but it was nowhere near as fun as doing something he wasn't supposed to do. They were encouraged to practice sword fighting or practicing their powers, which just made it so much less fun. But doing things that weren't encouraged, now, that was fun.

For a fleeting moment, Taleis wondered what was in the box, but then he decided that it probably didn't really matter. Just some stuff for Aidan's mum family, most likely. Aidan and his mum were close, and Taleis envied Aidan for it. Still, he could never hate Aidan; Aidan was the only person who bothered to really put up with Taleis, even after finding out what he was like. Most people didn't take the time.

Aidan's mum was probably the nicest woman Taleis had ever met. She was a lot kinder than Taleis' grandmother, and she was far better than what he heard of his mother. Mrs. Mason was always so kind to Taleis, and she even insisted that he called her Julia, and he did occasionally. Still, it felt kind of odd to walk into your best mate's flat and say to their mum, "Hey, Julia, is Aidan home?" so he didn't do it that often.

Snapping back to the present, Taleis lifted himself off of his seat on the edge of the fountain, stretching slightly. He couldn't remember when he had sat down on the edge of the fountain in the first place, but it seemed like it was a while ago. It probably was, seeing as Taleis was feeling awfully stiff.

He had been more and more absent minded lately, although he had no idea why that could be. He just stopped paying attention to time; it didn't have as much significance to him anymore, especially seeing as he didn't have to put up with his curfew, or waking up in time for school. Yeah, he did have lessons at camp, but he could always just tell Chiron he wasn't feeling well or something. Besides, lessons weren't exactly organized during the winter, despite the sudden rush of campers.

"Yeah, 'm fine," Taleis said, grinning at Aidan. That little fluttery thing his heart just did had no relation to Aidan putting his arm around Taleis' shoulder. No, absolutely nothing at all. There's no way the two could be related.

"So, shall we get going?" Taleis asked, although he wouldn't have minded staying there, with Aidan's arm around his shoulders, for a bit longer. As much as he denied it, he knew it was true. As wrong as it was, Taleis loved the feeling. Aidan just felt so warm, and it did feel really nice. Taleis had to give him credit for that.

Taleis' heart did another one of those little fluttery things when Aidan's hand slipped down to his wrist, and Taleis guessed that, just possibly, he might be able to admit that he liked Aidan just a bit more than he should have. There was just something about his laugh, about the way he grinned at Taleis that made him feel kind of...special, he guessed. Taleis wasn't sure how to explain it, but it was nice; he'd be lying if he said he didn't like it.

"And off we go!" Taleis cheered, if not a little childishly, before running off to go to the hill. His heart was beating awfully fast, but he just had to hope that Taleis didn't know where to put his fingers to check someone's pulse. And if he did, Taleis hoped that Aidan would just assume it had something to do with the fact that they were sneaking out, and not think that it could be because Taleis just possibly fancied him, just a little.

"It's fine," Taleis said. His wrist felt awfully cold without Aidan's hand wrapped around it, and he almost wanted to grab Aidan's hand. Still, he knew that wouldn't be right; friends don't do that. So instead he just shoved his hands into his pockets to stop himself from doing something stupid, like grabbing Aidan's hand, for example.

"Hmmm..." Taleis said, looking around curiously. He didn't know much about New York City; how could he? Taleis had grown up in London. Well, technically, he grew up in San Diego, but he left when he was six and then spent the rest of his life in London, except for the last two years, which were spent in camp. Apparently New York City was laid out like some sort of grid, but he had no idea how he'd figure the grid out.

"Well, there's the movies, or we could see if we could find a music shop or something, I dunno." Taleis shrugged slightly, not exactly sure what to do. There were a lot of choices for stuff to do in the city. Honestly, Taleis wanted to find some chick who he could easily play, someone who he knew would end up injured; he was sick of having to bottle up his feelings about Aidan and just not do anything about it.

"I don't have much of a preference," Taleis said, looking around. Everything was so much bigger than he was used to. The lights were so bright, and the buildings were so tall. It really made him look at things in a different perspective. He felt small, suddenly, and Taleis wasn't sure he liked it that much. It felt kind of scary, and he was taken back to when he first arrived in London, all of the weird accents and funny words. It was so confusing and scary. He remembered trying to grab onto his grandmother's hand, but she ended up pushing him away. He could also remember crying.

Taleis could only hope he didn't look anywhere close to as frightened as he truly was. Yeah, he had always wanted to get away from London, to get away from camp, but he was thinking more along the lines of moving back to San Diego. He knew it would still be confusing, but at least it wouldn't be as confusing as a place he had never been to. At least, he hoped so.

Taleis had to resist the urge to grab Aidan's hand even more now. He wasn't used to all of the lights, all of the voices and the noise. He definitely wasn't used to the tall buildings. "I feel so stupid saying this, but everything is just so...big," Taleis said, and it felt like his voice had gotten lost in the crowd. He was almost afraid that Aidan might get pulled away from him in the current of people, and the idea frightened him. In London, they could always find eachother in crowds because they knew their way around. But in a city like New York, well, neither had been there before. It was new to both of them.

And as exhilarating as it was, Taleis would be lying if he said it wasn't frightening. Terrifying, actually. Positively terrifying. The pull of the people was too strong, and personal space was completely ignored. If someone walked into him, it was his fault, not theirs. No wonder Americans were known for rudeness.

"I think we should go somewhere where there aren't as many people," Taleis said to Aidan. "Maybe a coffee shop or something, I dunno." Taleis knew Aidan would understand his need to be in a less crowded area. Aidan usually understood that he sometimes just needed space to breath, that Taleis needed to be away from the crowd, because sometimes he got scared.

It had been happening more and more since Kassidy. At first he just didn't want to go out all that much, and then he didn't really want to go out at all, and when he did, he spent a lot of time in the least crowded area possible. It was like someone had come and given Taleis a whole new personality, because Taleis was almost positive he wasn't the same person; none of his friends back in London would recognize the sullen, quiet teen as the Taleis they grew up knowing. He knew that his past self wouldn't recognize him.

Taleis nodded, his heart thudding in his chest. It wasn't fair, the effect Aidan had on him.

Over the course of the taxi ride, Taleis had gotten into this huge mental fight on whether or not he had any romantic feelings for Aidan or not. Pretty much all signs pointed to yes, Taleis did, but he didn't know why it was so bad all of a sudden. His feelings were never as strong as they were then, and you were supposed to stop fancying someone if it had been over two years and they obviously showed no romantic interest. Even if you never tried to make a move.

Right?

Taleis nodded, saying to Aidan, "Yeah, that sounds great." He forced himself to smile, despite his sudden shift in mood. He didn't want Aidan to feel like they had gone to the city for no reason.

When Taleis looked at the Starbucks, though, he saw how crowded it was inside, and the idea of going in there made his skin crawl. "But, um, could we find one that's maybe a bit less crowded?" Taleis asked timidly, as if it was some kind of absurd question to ask. It used to be something Taleis would never ask, but he was almost, well, he was almost shy now. He had always been shy, yeah, he was just good at hiding it. And now, well, now he wasn't.

Taleis almost felt like a child now, despite being an inch taller than Aidan. It didn't feel right to Taleis, having to rely on Aidan so much, but it had become routine for him lately. Sometimes, just a smile from Aidan would be enough for him, or just a laugh. Most of the time it wasn't, and he knew what he wanted, but he obviously couldn't have what he wanted, so he just made do with smiles and laughs and the sunlight reflecting off of Aidan's hair the way it did, and that shine in his eyes, and he'd just imagine in his head that things were the way he always wanted it to be. But he always felt ashamed after, because he knew it could never happen, and it never would happen, and Taleis never admitted to himself that he had done it afterwards.

So Taleis lived in this constant in between state of admitting he liked Aidan and completely denying it, of wishing and plotting to do things, but never doing them and not knowing how he'd ever do them, or what the outcome would be, or just anything, and it killed him. It killed Taleis inside, because he knew that not only did he not know, but he'd never know. He'd never know how it felt, to hold Aidan and know that they both did it for romantic purposes, to finally confess his feelings, to do any of it. He would just never know.

"Thanks," Taleis said, but his voice came out kind of whispery. He felt like such a child then, relying on Aidan save him like a child would rely on their mother. He and Aidan were supposed to be having fun, not spending the entire day away from everyone, hiding away in a coffee shop. If that was all they'd be doing, then they should have just stayed at camp.

Taleis sighed a bit, feeling kind of guilty. He didn't want to ruin the day, and while he knew Aidan would insist that he wasn't ruining it, Taleis still felt like he was. Yeah, he knew that all of those stupid anxieties he had weren't his fault, but he could trace their origins back to himself. He hurt Kassidy, who killed herself, which caused Taleis to get a ton of anxieties, and made him fancy his best friend.

Taleis could tell it would be a long day. He had already contemplated whether or not he blamed Kassidy or himself for his anxieties, or if he blamed the fates, and then he had a war with himself on whether or not he liked Aidan maybe kinda a little bit too much, and now he was somewhat freaking out in New York City, which he shouldn't have even been in in the first place, and caused Aidan to find some random coffee shop because Taleis was afraid of the huge crowd or something stupid like that. Quite frankly, Taleis thought it was just dumb.

"Yeah, this one's good," Taleis said, staring down at his feet. He felt somewhat embarrassed, and he knew it was obvious, which he didn't want it to be.

When Taleis was standing still, he realized just how cold it was outside and shivered slightly. Not wanting to stay outside any longer than necessary, he opened the door to the coffee shop and stepped in, not caring that he was kind of dragging Aidan behind him. At least it was warm in there.

Still, Taleis didn't want to let go of Aidan's hand. Even though he knew that Aidan probably only held his hand because he didn't want Taleis to look like such an idiot, just standing there with his eyes all huge. He didn't think that Aidan would actually want to hold his hand or anything, he seriously doubted it, actually.

Which was exactly why he slipped his hand out of Aidan's. Slowly, of course; he didn't think he'd be able to do it quickly. He just slowly loosened his hand from Taleis', just a bit at a time, until it was hanging by his side.

"Sorry," Taleis said, his voice quiet. "Um, for out there. I don't-I don't know what happened." Taleis hated the softness of his voice, the way it seemed to shake a bit. It just wasn't him.

Taleis almost found himself grabbing hold of Aidan's hand again, but he shoved his hand closest to Aidan's into his pocket and waved with the other. "Hey," Taleis found himself saying, his voice containing far more confidence than he actually had. A casual smirk fell comfortably into place, and it made it look like Taleis knew something they didn't; as if he was in on some joke. He walked more confidently, and he felt more in his territory than he had in months; he felt cool and collected, like he was finally in control of himself again.

And even though he knew it was all just a facade, Taleis felt great; he felt the best he had in months. It was great to finally hide back under his Mr. Popularity cover, to act like he couldn't be bothered by anything. It was better than great, it was perfect. Taleis didn't have to think about making sure he was cool, he just was. That's how he always was around his friends.

"So, what's up with you guys? How's America?" Joe asked, looking between the Taleis and Aidan. Taleis guessed they had changed a bit since they left London, but not much. They were more or less the same.

Taleis chuckled and said, "It kind of sucks here," although they knew he said that about everywhere. Taleis was never content with where he was. It was well known to anyone he spent time around; he could never be satisfied.

"What about the girls?" Elliott asked, leaning forward slightly. Taleis couldn't help but roll his eyes; Elliott was almost always thinking about girls.

"The girls there are...weird," Taleis said. It took him a moment to find the right word, but he decided that his friends might understand weird the best. "I mean, dam*, can those girls fight. You don't want to mess with them. Believe me, I've tried."

Taleis couldn't help but find himself glancing sideways at Aidan as he said this. His heart fluttered a bit, and he felt ashamed for a second, thinking that they all knew what had just happened. But they didn't, he reminded himself, so he kept his gaze steadily on the others, his smirk staying in place.

If Taleis were to be truthful, he actually did think that Aidan would make a very attractive girl. He did look awfully feminine already. Taleis thought (hoped is more like it) that the reason why he seemed to be showing an interest in Aidan could be because he actually did look kind of feminine...Not in a bad way, he just did. Taleis decided he would think about that later.