Aiden pulled his jacket around him as they stepped out of the hotel and onto the street. It was a chilly night, the wind pushing between the buildings around them. Aiden had found that he usually liked the bustling atmosphere of the streets of New York, but tonight he wasn't in the mood for it. He stood close to the building, motioning for Oliver to follow him. He stood with his back pressed against the wall.

"Where is this restaurant?" Aiden asked. 

Oliver reached out and linked their hands. "Some place downtown, Eden said she would send a car for us." 

Aiden unconsciously squashed his lip between his teeth until it started to hurt. He quickly released it and sighed. He didn't want to go to dinner. He briefly considered faking an illness but he knew Oliver would see straight through that. It was seeing Pierce that had him on edge. He still hadn't received the photo back from Brian and his stress level was at an all-time high. He wasn't sure if he would be able to act normal around them all. He wondered if he would look at Eden and just break. He hated that this knowledge hung over his shoulders. 

Aiden attempted to distract himself by watching the masses of people as they wandered down the street under the bright streetlights. He wished that he and Oliver would just disappear into the crowd and go explore the city together. He just wanted to be with Oliver, where he could be himself and not have to worry about the knowledge inside his head. 

"I'm so exhausted after today," Oliver admitted. He squeezed Aiden's hand. "Thanks for organising it." 

Aiden felt tired too. He had spent the day with Oliver and Rosie, exploring all that New York had to offer. His legs were only half as tired as his mind was however, the stress of the photos that were hidden in his suitcase was weighing heavy on his mind. 

"Do you think Rosie had a good time?" Aiden asked. 

Oliver's smile gave away his answer. "I haven't seen her that happy in a long time." He thought for a second. "I think she really likes you." 

I'm keeping her secrets, maybe that's why, he thought but wouldn't dare say out loud. "I like her, too."

"Did we buy too many souvenirs?" Oliver wondered out loud. "I think I now have five shirts that say that I heart New York." 

"Probably," Aiden laughed out. "Five may be a little overboard." 

"I might give one to Robert," Oliver said. 

"Only one?" Aiden asked with a cheeky smile in Oliver's direction.

"Mr Fletcher?" The two of them turned and saw a man standing next to a black town car. 

Oliver nodded. "That's me." 

They got in the back of the town car. Aiden rested his head against Oliver's shoulder. Tiredness washed over him and he closed his eyes. He was sure that he had fallen asleep. It was the beeping of his phone that pulled his eyes open. He scooted away from Oliver so that he could check his phone. He noticed that Oliver too was on his phone. 

He saw that he had one message. It was from Brian. I'm sorry, it read.  

Aiden squinted at his phone. He wondered if Brian couldn't get anyone to enhance the photo. What's going on? He sent in reply. 

"Aiden," Oliver said, "look at this." 

Aiden could tell that something was wrong just by Oliver's tone. He didn't expect to see tears in his boyfriend's eyes when he turned to him. 

"What's wrong?" he asked. A feeling of dread formed in his gut. 

Oliver handed him his phone. Aiden gasped when he saw the headline. 

Pierce Fletcher Cheats on Pregnant Wife. 

Aiden's fingers started to shake as he scrolled down the page. It was on the online homepage of Celebrity Today. He scrolled past the paragraphs to a singular photo. It was the same photo that he had sent Brian, the crease in the middle and all. He didn't know what to do. His eyes looked at the photo while his brain searched for an answer. He wanted to think that the photo might have been leaked some other way, but that tell-tale crease in the middle reassured him that he was at fault.

His eyes flickered for a moment between his boyfriend and the phone. This was his opportunity to tell Oliver what had happened. He decided that he had to. "Oliver-" He started to speak but Oliver's expression stopped him. 

The tears in Oliver's eyes were still there but there was anger now. "I can't believe he did this," Oliver spat out. His anger was so sudden that it caught Aiden off guard. "Oh, for the love of God." 

Aiden placed his hand on Oliver's arm. "I'm sorry," he said and he wasn't sure if he was apologising for what he had done or what Pierce had done. 

"He is so stupid," Oliver muttered angrily. He huffed between words, "My parents are going to kill him for this. Eden is going to be heartbroken." 

"Do we know if they've seen it yet?" Aiden asked timidly. 

Oliver shrugged quickly. "It they haven't seen it already, they will soon." 

Oliver looked out the window as he tried to calm down. Aiden watched his chest rise and fall at a rapid pace. This dinner is going to be a disaster, Aiden thought. "Do we have to go for dinner?" he asked. 

Oliver took a few moments to decide. He nodded. "I have to be there. I don't know what will go down, and I need to be there for Rosie and my mother." 

Aiden nodded. "Oliver, I-" he didn't know how to say the words. Oliver was going to hate him after this. He knew it already. He just had to hope that Oliver would forgive him. He had forgiven Oliver for a lot, and he had faith that Oliver could do the same for him. "I have-"

Oliver interrupted him, "You can't work for that magazine anymore."

"What?" 

"I'll help you find another job, okay. My family won't look at you the same after this. They hate these kinds of magazines anyway, and this just makes it worse." 

"Since when do you care what your family thinks?" Aiden asked. He was deflecting, avoiding the eventual conflict. He knew that but the words came from his mouth anyway. "I'm sure your family has been in their fair share of gossip articles." He wasn't sure why he was defending the magazine. He was going to quit now anyway.

He couldn't trust Brian. He felt it like a dagger in his back that had gone straight through to his heart. Brian had sold him out. One of his best friends had betrayed his trust and possibly destroyed his relationship. His hand formed a fist on his lap. He wanted to punch Brian. He wanted to scream at him. Brian had been by his side for years, and the idea of Brian destroying his boyfriend's family was enough to make his face red. Aiden tried to slow his heart rate. He needed to tell Oliver that it was him. He would deal with Brian as soon as he could. 

"This magazine has just destroyed my family," Oliver retorted. Anger radiated from him. "They have a right to be angry."

Aiden took a deep breath. Oliver was too upset. He couldn't tell him now. He had to support him through this dinner, he would explain it all after. "Okay, I'll quit." 

The anger in Oliver's eyes dimmed. "I'm sorry," he calmed down as he spoke, "I don't mean to sound upset with you. You don't have to-"

"I'll quit tonight. I don't trust them anymore, either." Aiden grabbed his boyfriends hand. "It's okay." He understood where Oliver was coming from. Even if he had nothing to do with the photo, he could understand what Oliver was afraid of.  

"Eden is going to give birth any day now," Oliver whispered. The resentment was clear in his words. "Aiden, how could he do this to her?" 

"I don't know." Aiden squeezed his hand. "I honestly don't know." 

"Can you ask your friend to take down the photo?" 

Aiden nodded. He was going to have to call Brian anyway. Thinking of Brian sent a white, hot rage through him again. "I will call Brian. The photo will be all over the web now, though. I can't stop it from getting out, it's probably been screenshotted hundreds of times by now." 

Oliver nodded. "Just see if he can get them off the site. I don't want my parents knowing that it was the magazine you work for that published the story, if it can be avoided." 

Aiden nodded. He tried to keep his face blank. He didn't want to know what Adelaide and Orson would think of him once they knew it was he who let the photo out. Another realisation hit Aiden. Oliver hadn't thought, even for a second, that he was the one responsible. The knowledge was supposed to be positive, but instead it just made Aiden feel even more guilty. He felt like he was directly deceiving Oliver. It was a double edged sword, he had to protect Oliver right now. Telling him the truth tonight would only make it worse.

The car pulled up. They got out of the car. Aiden didn't follow Oliver went he headed towards the entrance. 

"You coming?" Oliver asked. 

Aiden held up his phone. "I'll call Brian now. I'll meet you in there." 

Oliver nodded. "Don't be too long." His expression changed. "I have a feeling that I'm going to need you in there." 

Aiden stepped forward and pressed his lips to Oliver's. "I'll be quick." Aiden watched Oliver turn towards the door at the same time as someone ran straight into Oliver. Aiden's breath caught in his throat. "Pierce?"

Pierce's eyes were red. He pushed Oliver away from him. "Get away from me," he screamed. 

Oliver's eyes widened and shock covered his face. Aiden watched Pierce run down the street. He narrowly avoided running into pedestrians before jumping into a cab. 

Aiden turned back to Oliver. "He knows," Aiden whispered. 

Oliver's expression was hard to read. "I need to go in there," he said. 

Aiden watched him walk through the double doors. He wasted no time and ran around the side of the building. He angrily pressed his fingers into his phone until he found Brian's number.

"I'm sorry, Aiden," Brian said when he picked up. 

"Lose my number," Aiden said angrily into the phone. 

"Aiden-" Brian started to say something but was interrupted. 

"I quit. I quit working for your stupid magazine and I quit this fake ass friendship," Aiden told him. It broke his heart. Every single word crushed something inside of him that he didn't know was there. Brian had been like a brother to him for years. 

"I didn't want to publish the article!" Brian tried to reason with him. He sounded desperate. "My boss is riding me so hard right now, I had to give him the story." 

"I don't care!" Aiden screamed. He tried to keep his voice down but the anger in his words kept pushing his volume up. "I don't care if someone had a gun to your head. You betrayed me! You ruined my boyfriend's family!" 

"Pierce ruined his own family," Brian replied. "I didn't create the lies, I only exposed them." 

"Get off of your high horse, Brian," Aiden spat out. "You betrayed me! I can't ever trust you again." 

"I had to, Aiden, I wouldn't have done it if I had another choice." 

"It's always a choice," Aiden replied.

"His family isn't going to find out that you gave me the photo."

Aiden hoped that he was right. "They better never find out." 

"I won't let your name get out there. The article only says that the photo is from an anonymous source."

Aiden huffed into the phone. It was a small relief, but it did nothing to slow his racing heart. "I can't believe that you did this to me." 

"Aiden-"

"Take it off the site now," Aiden spat out as he hung up the phone. 

Aiden pressed his back against the bricks of the building. He let his head fall back against the wall. He felt like he couldn't breathe. His brain was a fog and the feeling of light-headedness overwhelmed him.  He pushed his phone to his ear and tried to call Chase. He hung up after a couple of rings. He needed to get inside. Oliver was alone with his family and he didn't know what kind of state they would be in. 

After a few deep breaths, he practically ran inside the building. A waiter directed him to a back room and as he stood at the door, he hoped and prayed that he would be able to handle whatever lay in wait on the other side.

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