Sally whooshed into the large, old hospital room in her usual ghostly fashion. Last night she had had a small talk with Aidan while he waited for Josh's transformation to be completed. Sally had promised she would return, and she was not one to break a promise. But, as she spun a full circle searching the room for her corporeal roommates, she found no one.

Sally had heard Josh say many times that it takes exactly 42 minutes to get home from the hospital, and Aidan and Josh always got back from their monthly cage visit at 9:15. It was only 6:30, so Sally suspected something was afoot. With another small gust of wind, she was gone from the cage.

"Aidan," Josh protested as he was led swiftly down the corridors of the hospital, "where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. You'll like it, I promise." It took what little restraint he had left to keep from grabbing Josh's hand and dragging him out of the hospital because he was going too slow. Aidan didn't get excited about things very often, but this was something he had been looking forward to: two days with his best friend to do normal people stuff.

Josh could see the excitement on Aidan's face, the other man's euphoric expressions making him smile. "Okay," Josh said, smirking, defeated by Aidan's enormous charm and exuberance. They reached the car and Aidan opened Josh's door as if to speed the process along.

After a short drive, Aidan came to a stop in front of IHOP. "Seriously?" Josh said. "This is the big surprise you've been so excited about?"

"Not entirely," Aidan said, a slight look of defeat glazing his face. "This is just part one. Besides, for the day we're going to have, you're going to need your morning coffee."

Aidan opened the door and ushered Josh inside. "But, Aidan, you don't even eat. Why don't we just go home?"

"It's fine. Besides, I know you are always hungry after your time of the month rolls around."

The hostess showed up at the front counter. "Just the two of you?" she asked politely.

"Yes," Aidan answered. She showed them to a small table and they sat down. She handed Josh a menu, and as she started to hand Aidan a menu Josh opened his mouth to protest. "Thank you," Aidan said, taking the menu before Josh could get a word out. Josh knew that it was uncomfortable for Aidan to eat because his vampire stomach wouldn't digest the food; but, he also knew that Aidan would probably eat food to encourage the perception of the pair's normalcy.

"Aidan, don't," Josh pleaded. "We both know that you'll just end up puking your guts out, and nobody wants that."

"Relax, Josh. I was just being nice."

The hostess returned with a pot of coffee. "I'll be your waitress today, too. It's never really that busy in here this early. What are you two up to?"

"Well," Aidan said, "we've both got the day off work so I planned a bit of fun for the day."

"Yep," Josh remarked almost spitefully, "And he won't even tell me what his plans are."

"Oh, that is so cute!" remarked the young lady. "Is it your guys' anniversary or something?"

Again Josh opened his mouth to correct the hostess, but Aidan spoke faster, "Nope, just some time to hang out together."

"Still, super cute! Anyway, what can I get you guys?"

"I'll just take some coffee and he'll have the T-bone steak and eggs with two stacks of pancakes and a double order of bacon."

The server left without Josh protesting, but after she was out of ear-shot, Josh set in, "What the hell was that?"

"What? That's what you wanted isn't it?"

It was, but that wasn't why Josh was angry. "Look, I'm not some child you can just make decisions for, Aidan. You're a great friend, but sometimes you're just too overbearing."

"I wasn't making your order because I think you're a child, Josh."

"Then why did you do it?"

That one got him. Aidan didn't really know why he had ordered for Josh, but as he looked back, he was beginning to see a pattern in his actions: he thinks about Josh all the time, he puts a great deal of effort into planning time where they can be together, he put his coat on Josh when he saw he was cold, he opened the car and restaurant doors for Josh, he placed Josh's order. All in all, Aidan was being quite chivalrous.

"I-I don't know. Sorry, it won't happen again."

Josh could see the confusion on Aidan's face and now he felt bad for making his friend lose all his excitement. "Look, I didn't mean for you to get upset. I just… I don't know."

After a long silence the hostess returned to check on the pair. "How's everybody doing? Need any more coffee?"

Aidan began to speak but stopped to let Josh answer. "No, thank you. We're fine for now." The young lady smiled and walked away. "So… what's next on the agenda?" Josh said with strained enthusiasm.

Aidan looked up, searching for some sign that the day was going to be salvaged. When he saw the effort Josh was putting forth, he began to regain some of his excitement. "Okay, so, after we finish here we're going to head over to Hungry Hippo's 18 Hole Putt-a-Rama."

"Miniature golf?"

"Yeah. Why not? It's something that normal people do on their days off, right?"

"I guess so."

The hostess came back and interrupted their conversation. "Okay, cutie, so you've got the steak and eggs, two stacks of pancakes, and a double order of bacon. Anything else you need?"

Aidan held his tongue again and Josh, after a short pause, responded, "Nope. Thanks."

Aidan held the warm mug of coffee in his cold hands while he watched Josh begin eating. Josh always felt a little uncomfortable when he ate in a room with Aidan because he was always being watched. It wasn't meant to make him uncomfortable, and he knew that, but Josh couldn't help but feel strange.

Aidan had liked living with Josh for many reasons, but one of the one's that he was more aware of was that he like watching Josh eat. Aidan could not eat without some drastic consequences, but Josh cooked nice meals and Aidan could experience them vicariously through him. Most mornings, Josh would drink his coffee while Aidan drank his bagged blood - which Josh often warmed before waking him up. Josh probably thought Aidan considered the warm blood his "morning coffee," but the thing that really allowed him to get energized was watching Josh get ready. Now that they were finishing the morning coffee ritual at the restaurant, Aidan was getting even more excited for his day.

Just like Aidan had said earlier, Josh was unbelievably hungry the morning after his transformation. He shoveled the food into his mouth and even, if only for a moment, forgot he was being watched. After about seven minutes, the food was gone and the coffee pot was empty. "Well then," Aidan asked excitedly, "ready to go?"

"Yeah, but there's no way the miniature golf place is open at 7:00 in the morning."

"That's already taken care of. Come on, I'll get the check." Aidan waved his hand in the air to get the hostess's attention and got the check from her. At first Josh said he wanted to pay; of course, Aidan was not going to let that happen, even if he was trying to be less chivalrous towards his male friend.

The day ahead of them was going to be long and exciting. Luckily they had both had their morning coffee.