The cafeteria is buzzing with the usual chaos—trays clattering, voices colliding, laughter spilling across the room. You and Kim sit at a corner table, leaning close as she fills you in on the latest drama.

“Apparently, Jessica tried to flirt with one of the Horsemen this morning. Can you believe that?” Kim whispers, eyes wide.

You smirk, stabbing your fork into your salad. “Bold. Or stupid.”

Before Kim can reply, the atmosphere shifts. It’s subtle at first, like the temperature dropping, but then the crowd parts without being asked. The Horsemen stride in, their presence impossible to ignore. Ronan is already grinning at someone across the room, Xander stalks beside him with his trademark scowl, and Cole trails behind, sharp and unreadable.

And then there’s Aiden.

Your Aiden.

Even across the cafeteria, his gaze zeroes in on you like a laser. He doesn’t glance at the whispers, doesn’t acknowledge the stares. He heads straight for your table, the others falling into step around him.

Kim mutters under her breath, “Here we go again.”

Aiden stops at your side, his shadow cutting across the table. He doesn’t ask—he simply slides your tray away, replacing it with a different one that one of the cafeteria staff had carried in behind him. Heart-friendly food, carefully arranged. His arm drops to the back of your chair, his fingers brushing the bare skin at your neck.

“Eat,” he says, clipped and certain.

You look up at him, lips twitching. “Bossy.”

Ronan drops into the seat across from you with a grin. “That’s an understatement.”

Xander mutters, “It’s a miracle she puts up with him.”

Cole smirks knowingly. “It’s not putting up with him. It’s choosing him.”

Aiden ignores them all. His eyes are locked on you, sharp and unreadable to everyone else, but you recognize the undercurrent there—the concern, the care he’ll never voice out loud.

You take a bite, deliberately slow. “Happy?”

His lips twitch, just barely. “Almost.”

And before you can tease him again, he leans down, catching your mouth in a kiss—firm, deliberate, and very public. Gasps ripple through the cafeteria, whispers igniting like wildfire, but Aiden doesn’t care. His hand cups the side of your jaw, possessive, as if he’s branding you in front of everyone.

When he finally pulls back, his gaze flicks to your lips, then back to your eyes. His words are low, calculated, just for you.

“Now I’m happy.”

Kim groans, throwing a napkin at you both. “Some of us are trying to eat.”

Ronan bursts out laughing, Xander mutters something about pathetic displays, and Cole just smirks like he’s seen this coming all along.

But you don’t care about any of them. Not when Aiden’s hand stays on you, his presence wrapped around you like armor, daring anyone to look at you the wrong way.