Title: Binding Hearts
Author: Pixiestyxs
Fandom: Original
Pairing: Several, main Heath/Aiden
Summary: A lonely shifter gets more than he bargained for one night.
Archive: sure I don’t care as long as you let me know
Rating: FRT
Parts: 8
Status: Complete
Series/Sequel: The Inbetween Universe
Website: Valley of the Pixies
Disclaimer: These are all characters of my own creation. If you want to play with them let me know.
Author’s notes & Warnings: This used to be the story The Inbetween but I have changed the name since it has expanded beyond the one story with another in the works. I recommend visiting the page that details the history of the universe these stories are played in.Part 3
Aiden dialed a number he knew by heart and smiled widely while he waited for the call to connect. The person he was calling was Hunter Malar. Hunter was his best friend and had been since they had been kits.
The phone rang three times and then Hunter's answering machine picked up: "You've reached my answering machine. Leave a message or I won't get back to you."
"Hey Hunter, it's Aiden. I need your help," Aiden said to the machine. "This guy is convinced that I'm the one for him and thinks I'll just fall to his feet. I like him, but I want him to work for it. Do you think you can help? Call me back."
He hung up the phone and lay down on the couch again. He smiled at the thought of Heath and Hunter meeting. Aiden knew his friend would show Heath whom he was messing with.
~
"So you're saying that if I just let him be his own person he'd consider mating with me?" Heath inquired frowning quizzically.
Brendan nodded hoping that his kit was finally starting to understand. "He just wants to be his own person. From what you have told me, he seemed interested in you. I think if you treated him like an equal and got to know him he would have no qualms about going out with you."
Heath pursed his lips in thought. "He said that he never wanted to see me again. How am I going to find him to ask him out?"
"That's easy. You made a claiming and that connects you spiritually," a gruff voice said from the doorway that led to the kitchen.
Heath turned around in his seat and then rushed off the couch the minute he saw his father. He pulled his father into a hug and asked, "How long have you been here? You weren't here when I came."
The short, bulky man smiled at his only kit. His son's 6'1" frame towered over his own 5'5" figure. He and everyone else knew that Heath got his height from his mate. His verdant eyes shone with a quiet wisdom as he starred at Heath. "Since just after you got here. I came in right behind you. You never even knew I was there."
Heath nodded grinning down at him and noticed that his father was starting to go gray. It was odd given that his father wasn't that old. He was only forty-eight, Heath having been born when he was twenty-three.
Brendan gracefully stood to his feet and ambled over to his mate. Cody pulled him towards him and kissed the life out of him. They hadn't seen each all day and they hungered for each other as if they were teenagers. Heath looked away from them, embarrassed by his parents' exaggerated display of affection.
Cody let go of Brendan and snickered when he saw that his son was turned away from them. "How about we go out and get a late dinner. I'm starved you know," Cody suggested while still grinning at his red-faced son.
Heath shook his head in exasperation. "That's all you really care about Dad. Every time I come over here you always want to eat."
Brendan laughed, and it sounded like bells twinkling. "That's just the way your dad is."
Cody scowled at the both of them. He was supposed to tease them not the other way around. "Let's just go," he said as he turned away brusquely.
The other two nodded and they left the house. As they were walking down the porch steps Heath felt a tug at his stomach but thought nothing of it.
~
While Heath was talking to his fathers, Aiden was waiting for Hunter to call him back. He was reading his favorite book, which he had read over a dozen times and it was starting to fall apart, when the phone rang. Knowing it was probably Hunter, he placed a bookmark in the book to save his page, setting it down on the end table by the couch he was lying on, and reached over to pick up the phone.
He clicked the talk button, "Talk to me."
"Hey Aiden, I just got your message. Tell me about this guy and what your plan is." Hunter's smooth voice came over the line. Hunter was only a year older than Aiden and was the only family Aiden had left.
"Why don't you meet me at Kristoff's for dinner and I'll tell you what's going on." Aiden suggested with wry grin.
"Sure." Hunter agreed easily. "I'll see you in a half hour."
"Great." Aiden said and then they both hung up.
Aiden stood from the couch. He needed to hurry if he wanted to meet Hunter on time. He went to his bedroom and pulled on a pair of clean jeans. He stuffed his socked feet into a pair of boots and shrugged into Heath's jacket. He smiled at the feel of the leather and wondered if he should keep it. Then he thought that he should return it in the morning.
He walked out of his apartment locking the door behind him. Kristoff's was a little family owned Italian restaurant that Aiden and Hunter often got together at to have lunch. It wasn't far from Aiden's apartment thus it didn't take him long to get there.
He walked in the front door and went to the host stand where Bobby, a friend of his, was on duty. The man gave him a friendly greeting and then took him to his and Hunter's usual table. He had just sat down and was taking a sip of his water when Hunter came strutting through the door.
Hunter was average height for a man and while being brawny he wasn't too muscular. His light sepia hair was styled into unruly spikes and his black eyes shown thanks to the tight black shirt he was wearing. Aiden thought Hunter might have even dressed up to meet with him.
Aiden waved him over and watched as he walked towards him. He stood up and drew Hunter into a hug as he reached the table.
"I'm glad you could make it, Hunter. Do I have a lot to tell you," Aiden said smiling at his friend. As they started to talk about the events from earlier in the night, he didn't notice the jealous eyes that watched him and Hunter - especially Hunter.
~
Heath and his fathers entered the restaurant that Cody had picked. He said that he had heard about it from one of his co-workers. Heath didn't notice that Aiden was there until the family had been seated. When he saw Aiden, he tugged on Brendan’s sleeve and pointed out Aiden to him. He wondered who the man with his mate was. "That's him."
They watched as Aiden threw back his head in laughter at something Hunter said. Heath scowled at them in annoyance.
"He's cute," Brendan said grinning playfully at his kit. "How old is he?"
Heath got a dopey look on his face as he watched his beautiful Aiden. "He's eighteen."
"Eighteen?" Brendan exclaimed, spitting out his water in shock. Heath had never told him that his mate was only eighteen. "That's way too young for you."
Cody looked at his mate in disgust as he wiped the water off his face with his napkin. "Hush, Brendan," Cody said, settling the napkin back in his lap and then placing his hand on his mate's arm. "You're that much younger than I am."
Brendan swatted Cody’s hand away stubbornly. "I know that Cody. I'm just trying to look out for my only kit."
Heath really hadn't been paying much attention to his parents. He frowned in thought, and then got up from the table. He walked over to Aiden's table and stood behind his chair.
He cleared his throat and Aiden turned around. "Heath?" he uttered, surprise showing on his face. He hadn't expected to see Heath so soon.
Heath shrugged nervously. "Hey there Aiden."
"What are you doing here?" Aiden asked. He thought for a minute and then his face hardened in suspicion and anger. "Are you stalking me?"
"No!" Heath exclaimed, hurt that Aiden would even think that. He nodded towards his parents, who were still bickering. "I'm here with my fathers. I just happened to see you over here and thought I'd say hi. So hi," he said quickly and then turned to leave.
"Wait Heath," Aiden said softly. Heath turned around, a hopeful expression on his face, and saw Aiden shrugging out of his jacket. "Here," he handed the jacket over to Heath, "this is yours. Now I don't have to hunt you down to give it back to you.”
The hopeful expression fell off Heath's face and he nodded sadly. He took the jacket and walked back to his table. He heard a loud laugh and saw the mysterious man snickering and pointing at him. He sniffed miserably in hurt, tears coming to his eyes and sat down.
"Hey, what happened?" Brendan asked, frowning softly. He had just realized that Heath had left the table.
Heath looked up at his papa sorrowfully. "He rejected me."
"Oh baby," Brendan said sadly. His son looked so young right then that Brendan just wanted to tuck him into his arms and comfort him. He looked over at Aiden and glared hatefully at the boy that had hurt his son.
Heath just shook his head sadly and wiped away the tears that hadn't fallen. Their waiter came over and put their food down in front of them. Heath nodded thankfully to the man and started to eat. He wasn't particularly hungry now, but he needed to take his mind off everything.
~
Aiden looked at Heath as he sat down. Heath looked so sad and Aiden felt bad that Hunter had laughed at him.
"So, that was him?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. Aiden nodded and took a bite of his dinner. "He looked like someone shot his puppy."
"I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't put that note in his pocket. He looked so sad. I feel so bad now," Aiden admitted to his friend.
Hunter smirked at him in amusement. "Forget about him tonight. He'll call you tomorrow and you'll be together by tomorrow evening."
Aiden pursed his lips in thought. "If you say so, hopefully he'll understand. I'm not too sure about this plan you came up with."
"Everything will work out, Aiden. You wait and see," Hunter assured him as he took another bite of his food.
They finished their late dinner and split the bill like usual. When they stepped outside of the restaurant, they decided to let their animal forms get some exercise so they shifted into their animal forms and ran all the way to Aiden's apartment. It was exhilarating to run free in the night with no worries. Their fur coats kept them warmer than the actual coats they had been wearing.
Aiden's animal form was that of an artic fox. He was two and a half feet long and stood one and a quarter feet tall. His coat was a gray that had ice blue streaks running through it. His eyes were the same enchanting orchid.
Hunter, on the other hand, was a prairie hyena. His coat was a golden yellow with white and black splotches decorating it. He had eyes of granite that watched the world wearily for trouble.
They raced through the streets playing tag and Aiden almost forgot about Heath. They approached his apartment building and still running he morphed back into his two-legged form. Hunter shifted beside him and they walked the rest of the way to his apartment.
At Aiden's door, they parted. Hunter jogged away down the stairs towards his own home with a wave. Aiden opened the door after searching through his pockets for his keys.
He flicked on the lights and went to his answering machine to see if anyone had called in the hour he had been gone. The red light was blinking so he hit the play button. He walked into the kitchen and opened one of the wooden cabinets, pulling out a glass, as the automated voice told him he had three new messages.
He was filling his glass with water from the faucet when he heard the first message start to play.
"Aiden, this is Merta. You're fired. Come pick your shit up."
Aiden made a face and walked over to the answering machine, hitting the delete button. He had known that he was done for since he had been pulled out of the club earlier. He couldn't believe that it had only been a few hours since he had a steady job.
"Aiden, please come back to me. I need you. You're my mate; you can't do this to me!" Merta's gruff voice sounded so young. Aiden could hear the tears in his ex-boss' voice. Aiden deleted the message with a scowl.
He waited for the last message to play and only heard heavy breathing. Frustrated, Aiden deleted the message. He walked to the bathroom and turned on the lights. After filling the bathtub full of water, he took off his clothes and relaxed into the warm liquid.
~
After dinner, Heath said goodbye to his fathers and left. From the restaurant, he walked toward his apartment in silence. He resolved to forget about Aiden and stuck his hands in his pockets to ward off the chill in the air. He felt a napkin in his left pocket and pulled it out. It had his name written on the front. He unfolded it and read it.
'Heath,
I am willing to forgive you and I want to get to know you. My number is xxx-xxxx. Call me and we'll talk. I hope to hear from you.
Aiden'
Heath crumpled up the note and shoved it back into his pocket. He didn't know what game Aiden was playing at, but he would call him in the morning and find out. Aiden had a lot of explaining to do for what he had caused Heath that night.
He entered his apartment, flicked on the lights, and hung up his jacket. His apartment was spacious but Spartan. He had never really bothered to fill it with his personal items since he was normally at his parents' home all the time.
He went into the bedroom, shrugged off his clothes and then collapsed into bed.
Part 4
The next morning Aiden pushed back the covers and hopped out of bed, dressed only in his comfortable light blue pajama pants. Then he went into his tiny kitchen to get something to eat. He pulled his favorite cup out of the dishwasher, the one that was bright blue and had a sunny smiley face on it, and poured himself a cup of coffee. He set the cup on the counter top and rummaged through his refrigerator for some milk. He pulled it out when he found it and poured some in his coffee cup. He couldn't drink his coffee with no milk. It just tasted too strong.
He picked the cup up after placing the milk back into the fridge and inhaled the heavenly smell. Coffee could always wake him up in the morning and put him in a good mood. He blew on it lightly to cool it down some and took a cautious sip. He sighed in happiness at the heavenly taste and walked into his living room.
He immediately noticed the red light blinking on his answering machine that signified he had a message. He frowned wonderingly at the little light and stepped outside his door to pick up the newspaper. He strode back inside, pushed the button on the machine as he passed, and settled down onto the living room couch. He took another sip of his coffee and spit it back out comically when the machine told him he had twenty-five new messages.
The machine clicked and the first one played. 'Aidennn! Love bunny come back to me-!' Aiden cut Merta's voice off with a snort of disgust. The next twenty-four messages played pretty much the same way. Finally, in disgust and horror at his former boss's antics, he pulled the plug on his answering machine and telephone. He would have to see about getting his number changed to get Merta to stop calling him.
In addition, he would have to go back to Wonder to get the things he had left there, but he didn't want to go without any backup to keep Merta far away from him.
He gulped the rest of his coffee and rose to take a shower. He went into his spotlessly clean bathroom and turned on the shower.
The bathroom was a bright yellow that woke him up if the coffee didn't and it cheered him up when he was down. It looked like a typical bathroom with a light grey porcelain toilet and sink, and white tile floor.
He took his pajama bottoms off, pulled back the mellow yellow shower curtain, and stepped in. When he finished with his shower, Aiden stepped out and toweled himself off with a soft, blue towel from the towel rack. He slung it around his hips and walked back into his bedroom. He went to the closet, pulled out a green sweater- which he had bought only a few days previous, and a pair of black jeans, and tugged them on.
He went into the living room to plug the phone back in to call Hunter and talk him into going to Wonder with him. As soon as the phone was plugged in, it rang. Aiden jumped in surprise and cautiously picked it up. He hoped it wasn't Merta calling again.
"Hello?" Aiden asked hesitantly.
"Aiden? I hope you don't mind me calling so early," It was Heath and he sounded nervous. "I just wanted to see if you had anything to do today."
"Actually, yeah I do. I need to go to Wonder and pick up the things I left there," Aiden said, playing with the phone cord. "Why?"
"Oh," Heath sighed. "I just thought maybe if you weren't busy, that we could talk. Together, that is."
Aiden thought about it for a moment and then made his decision. "You can come along with me to Wonder and then we could go do something. What did you have in mind?"
"Um, well, there's this fair going on in Elton and I thought it might be fun to go."
Aiden smiled in amusement. "That sounds like fun. How about we meet outside Wonder in an hour and a half?"
"I've got a better idea. How about I come to your place and we'll go get breakfast?"
"Okay," Aiden said slowly. "That sounds like fun, Heath. Can you come over in half an hour?"
Heath sounded excited to Aiden. "Yeah, I can make it, no problem. Where do you live?"
Aiden gave him directions to his apartment, said goodbye, and hung up. Maybe Heath wasn't so bad after all, he thought. He was definitely looking forward to this date. He had never been to a fair before.
Aiden then looked at the clock and swore; he didn't have much time to get ready. He cleaned up his living room, dumped what was left of his cold coffee in the sink, and went to the bathroom. After brushing his teeth quickly, he washed his face. While looking into the mirror he rummaged around on the counter top for his brush and swept his long hair up into a ponytail. He sprayed some cologne on his neck and wrists. Then he gave himself one last inspection before he was able to deem himself ready. He went into the living room and looked at the clock. It would only be a couple of minutes before Heath was to arrive.
Just as he thought that, there was a knock at the door. Aiden walked calmly to the door, opened it, and gasped at the sight before him. Heath looked very handsome in a blue cashmere sweater and tight fitting black jeans. He laughed at the sight of Aiden's fish impression and leaned against the door.
"Are you ready to go?" Heath asked, smiling widely.
Aiden nodded, grabbed his wallet and keys, and beckoned Heath out into the hallway. He watched Heath's ass as he walked ahead for a minute and then shut and locked the door.
"You look great, Aiden," Heath said as he waited for the other, blushing slightly.
Aiden smiled at him happily. "Thank you. You don't look too shabby yourself. So, where are we going for breakfast?"
"Well, there's this place downtown, called the Sunshine Café, which I thought we could go to. I've heard they have great food," Heath answered as they walked down the stairs to the lobby. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah," Aiden answered. "That sounds great. Do we need to take the subway?"
"Yeah, it would take too long to walk there. Moments like right now make me wish I had a car. It would be so much easier to get around," Heath said despondently.
"It's okay. You really don't need one to get around in Verona City. It's too congested with Shifters. And the subway, tram and train aren't that bad," Aiden said reassuringly. He personally thought it a waste of money to have a car in the city.
They walked to the closest subway stop and Aiden was delighted when Heath held the door open for him. They found the train they needed to take and waited for it. It was only a five-minute wait before the train pulled into the stop and they boarded it with no problems.
They sat in silence for a few minutes unsure of what to talk about. When Aiden rode the subway, he liked to watch the people who rode with him.
Heath sat there and watched Aiden. He studied the way Aiden chewed on his bottom lip without realizing it, the way Aiden's eyes lit up when he saw something interesting. He watched the way a piece of loose hair fell into Aiden's eyes and how he absently pushed it away.
From the corner of his eye, Heath noticed someone sit down next to him at the next stop, but paid no attention to it. Nevertheless, when the Shifter cleared his throat, both Heath and Aiden turned to face him.
The man smiled at them. He scooted closer to Heath and purred. "Hello there handsome, what's your name?"
Heath smiled tightly. He thought the Shifter was talking to Aiden. He noticed the Shifter staring at him expectantly and blushed. He was asking him! "Um," Heath said nervously. "It's Heath, Heath Celsia." Aiden scowled and the mysterious Shifter smirked at him.
"That's a nice name. Mine is Thane, Thane Breckett," he introduced himself, grabbed Heath's hand, and kissed it. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Aiden glared daggers at the forward beta and grabbed Heath's hand back from Thane. "Get your paws off him. He's spoken for."
"Oh, really?" Thane asked dangerously. He glared right back at Aiden. "He doesn't have a claiming mark so he's unattached."
"That doesn't matter," Aiden said wrapping his arm around Heath's waist and pulling him towards him. Heath looked back and forth between the two betas confused. Were they fighting over him?
"We'll see dear," Thane said to Aiden with a grin. He turned to Heath. "I'll see you again. You can count on it." He got up as the train came to a stop. He blew Heath a kiss and walked off.
Heath turned to Aiden and looked down at the arm around his waist. "What was that all about?"