This Was Never Gonna Be Simple

"Are you sure we can trust this kid?" Shay asked, pacing back and forth in the living room, giving himself a bit of a harsh carpet burn, but he was beyond caring about that. He was more worried about the fact that there was some... kid upstairs (wait, wasn't he older than both Aled and himself? Ah well) who was claiming to be someone who... wait for it... didn't exist! Why was Aled so ready to accept this?

"Shay?" I asked tentatively. "Shay, calm down please."

"For God's sake, Aled, he can't be Ian's 'Sean', he doesn't even exist!" Shay exclaimed, slumping down onto one of the sofas and rubbing his temple.

I sighed. I know this kid might not be who he said he was, but damn, his entire story seemed so convincing. And he was so nice too! Even if he wasn't who he said he was - which was hard for me to believe because really, just look at him - I didn't mind. He was nice, he was funny, he seemed genuine and he even looked nervous when he met us, I mean how cute can you get? That's the way it should be. Guys being nervous when they finally meet the parents of the sweet little girl they're dating. Except we're not Ian's parents... And he's not a girl... Uh, moving on..

"...I believe him," I murmured, trying not to give Shay any ammunition, nothing that would get him worked up. I'd had enough experiences with his 'episodes' in the past, and trust me, they weren't pretty.

He looked up at me, surveying my expression. "Are you sure we can trust him?" he questioned.

I nodded and kept my expression sincere. "I firmly believe he's telling the truth."

Shay smiled weakly at me. "As long as you're sure."

He sat and watched me for a moment, his lips tugging up a little more at the corners. "C'mere, Al," he muttered, patting his knee, and I gladly obeyed. It was much nicer to see him calm like this. The couch was a two seater, but we were squashed so close together that we were barely taking up the space of one seat. I preferred being closer, though, and I'm sure Shay did too. If he didn't, he was doing a fine job of hiding it, especially as his arms were now wrapped tightly around my waist.

"You wanna to watch a movie?" he suggested, putting his puppy dog eyes into full effect. He really does that well... almost better than me, and let's face it, I'm amazing at that.

I didn't bother responding with words. I just kind of mewled at him, and hoped he'd take it as a yes, which he did. I yawned a little, and turned my head to face him, smiling. It probably looked like I was going to kiss him, but I didn't. Instead, I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck, and giggled softly. I loved it when we had these moments to ourselves, when I could be as cute as I liked with him and not care who was going to judge me for it.

He laughed at me, but it wasn't cruel. "You do realise you're going to have to move in a minute, don't you?" he asked. "I need to get the movie. I'll maybe get you a blanket too if you're lucky." I stuck my tongue out at him and made a depreciative noise.

He laughed again, and shifted me over a tad, just enough for him to get up without dropping me painfully. Well, as painful as it can be falling onto a reasonably soft sofa, which I guess wouldn't be too painful. He didn't take long, returning with a DVD and a snuggie a couple of minutes later. He tossed the snuggie to me and it landed on my head, which did nothing but make me giggle. Obviously. Everything makes me giggle. Especially Shay.

The DVD he'd chosen was one of those superhero-y ones. We have hundreds of them upstairs. I peered at the case he was holding, trying to figure out which film it was. It looked like an X-Men one, but I couldn't be sure until he put it on. I didn't have to wait long for that, though, because he put it in almost immediately, and I squealed as the screen flashed up. It turns out I was right in my assumption.

Shay slid down next to me "Ta da?" he offered, grinning cheesily. I beamed at him, and threw the snuggie over us both, before settling down to watch the movie. I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice an arm being thrown 'discreetly' around my shoulders, but I didn't mind, and only cuddled up to Shay further. I feel like I don't say this enough, but I really love him.