I know it's been a while since I updated, but here is chapter three!

Chapter 3

Bastion POV

A week later, we'd made some physical process. We hadn't officially kissed yet, but Atticus would kiss me on my cheek or on the top of my head occasionally when we met, but my first kiss was still to be had.

I was still trying to get used to the idea that Atticus and I were in a relationship. After four years of just longing for this, I had never once imagined that he would actually return my feelings. He promised me that he'd move at the pace I was comfortable moving at and he'd held true to that promise. The first time he'd kissed my cheek before he left for work, he asked. An odd request, but he really was looking out for me. And honestly, I quite enjoyed it.

The only thing we hadn't really talked about was whether or not we were going to tell the rest of our friends. I honestly wasn't sure if we should or not.

My thoughts were interrupted by the phone. "Hello."

"Hey Bastion! It's Jesse. Jaden and I wanted to invite you to a dinner party tonight. He just learned that he could host dinner parties without there being a holiday and he's gotten too excited to not have one. Nothing formal. Humor him for me, please?"

"Of course we'll come. I'll tell Atticus when he gets off of work. He should actually be back soon. What time do you want us there?"

"Seven is when Jaden plans to serve dinner so maybe a little bit before."

"Will do, Jesse. See you then." We said goodbye and hung up the phone. And just as I had expected, Bastion unlocked the door. I knew he'd be home soon. I went to greet him.

He pulled his shoes off his feet. "Hello, Bastion." As he undid his tie, he placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head. "Anything new?"

He unbuttoned his vest and shirt leaving him in just his pants and undershirt. That wasn't anything to be uncomfortable over. He did this routine everytime he came home. "Actually, Jesse and Jaden invited us over for a dinner party per request of Jaden."

"What time?"

"Seven."

"Great. So I can take a shower and change into something more comfortable." He made his way to the bathroom while I made my way to my bedroom. Atticus and I still had separate bedrooms. I looked through my closet to find something to wear. Jesse said nothing formal, which was hard for me considering I was a college professor. The only other thing I owned were holiday sweaters Dana got for me. I managed to find a simple grey long sleeved shirt and some more casual pants. I got dressed and made my way out to read my book in the living room.

It had been about a half hour before Atticus came out of his bedroom wearing only his dark jeans and holding two shirts in his hands. I could feel the blood rush to my face at the sight. Sure I had seen Atticus shirtless before, but not in a situation like this. "Bastion, which shirt is better?" Then he saw my face. For whatever reason I expected him to get apologetic, but he smiled. "Bastion, this isn't the first time you've seen me like this, and, if things go well," he looked hopeful, "it won't be the last."

He was right. "You have a point. I guess I just wasn't expecting it." We were silent for a moment. "I like the black one more." He slipped it on while I marked my place in my book and stood up. We looked at each other for a moment before we both got the same idea and crossed the room to hug each other. "I'm sorry. I'm still new at this whole relationship thing."

He laughed quietly. "I understand. Somethings take some getting used to."

I broke away from him. "Speaking of which . . ."

"Something wrong? Am I being too forward, moving too fast, just tell me."

"No, no, you are doing nothing wrong, it's just that because I'm still new to this, if we could wait some time until we told our friends. I don't want to give them any ideas until we know for sure this is going to work out, not that I'm saying it won't, I just want to be sure."

He seemed relieved. "Is that all. I completely understand. Yeah, we can wait to tell them. I won't say a word about it at the dinner party tonight."

Oh, right, that. "We should probably get going."

The drive to Jesse and Jaden's place wasn't a long one. I should have known that. Instead we ended up getting there thirty minutes early. I guess it was just my need to be on time everywhere that most days I ended up being early.

We knocked on the door and it was opened by Jesse. "Oh, Bastion, Atticus, we weren't expecting you for another fifteen minutes."

"I hope we aren't causing a problem."

"No, not at all. Please come in, hang your coats on the coat rack and make yourself comfortable in the dining room."

We did as he asked and navigated our way through their home. The entire apartment was decorated to the nines with Christmas decorations. They always went full out with decorations on holidays. I knew Jesse was the mastermind behind all the decorations. Quite big for just an apartment, but the dining room wasn't far from where we heard Jaden in the kitchen making the final preparations.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Thanks Jaden. "Then we found some seats around their table. They hosted every party we had so they were the only ones who could justify having a dining table for eight people.

Not too long after we sat down we heard another knock on the door then soon after, Dana and Hassleberry joined us. I stood up to met Dana. I hugged her while Atticus greeted Hassleberry.

I remembered that Dana had told me about her rehearsals for her upcoming ballet. "How are rehearsals going."

"They're going great. We're approaching the first show so I've had very little down time. But it's worth it."

We all sat down, Dana and Hassleberry seated across from us. Hassleberry pulled out her chair so she could sit down. I glanced at Atticus. The look on his face told me he wanted to do that for me, but he settled for just pulling out his own chair and sitting down.

Right then, Aster and Zane entered the dining room. Dana was the first to greet them. "Hello Zane, Aster."

Zane sat down next to Atticus, Aster next to Zane. Then Jaden came in. "So, who's hungry?"

We voiced our agreement and he and Jesse brought us our food. Seafood alfredo. Seafood was one of my favorite foods. Plus Jaden was the best cook I knew so he wasn't going to disappoint. Before we started eating, Jaden offered us some wine. Aster accepted the offer and I decided I might as well too. Atticus drove here.

We settled into a groove and we told each other what was going on in our lives. Jesse told us a story about this little girl he'd worked with at his social work office and Dana shared that she'd gotten her director to give her free tickets to one of her Nutcracker shows to give to us.

I smiled as I remembered back to when we were little and she first started ballet. She'd come over to my house and show me the things she'd been working on in her ballet class. And now she was a major dancer in the biggest ballet troupe of the surrounding area. It's amazing to think where we end up from when we are children.

The dinner continued and I watched my friends openly embrace their relationships. Dana and Hassleberry thought they were being sneaky when they were holding hands under the table, but I could tell what they were doing. Jaden kissed Jesse once about halfway through dinner. And Zane and Aster were less subtle about their hand holding.

It pained me that Atticus and I couldn't be as public yet. It was necessary that we restrained ourselves. If this didn't work out, then I don't know how we could deal with our friends. They'd ask questions that I couldn't answer. I wasn't ready to deal with that. So I refrained.

We finished our dinner and when all our plates were cleared we moved into the living room to start our tradition of playing trivial pursuit. Dana tended to win, but we played anyway.

she answered a question correctly that we were sure she wasn't going to be able to. "Dana, how do you know all this?" Jaden asked in shock.

She shrugged. "Ten years in home school." I smiled. That was her answer every time we asked her a question like that.

Dana won, and by extension so did Hassleberry because we play on teams, so we decided to call it a night. We grabbed our coats, said goodbye to everyone, and went on our way.

"Well that was fun." Atticus turned on the car. I didn't say anything to him. I thought back to how we still aren't public about our relationship. "Bastion?"

I said something to put his mind at ease. "Sorry, must be the alcohol in my system. I just need to get some sleep."

He saw through me, but he didn't say anything. "Then we'd better get you home."