Aiden looked over to where she pointed and smiled. "Didn't notice them until now." He said and continued eating. "Need any help?" He asked after finishing the last of his soup.

She shook her head,"Nah I'm not going to do the tree until tomorrow I think." She said,"I might wait for a day when your off or something so we could do it together so your not all worn out."

"I uh...I don't think I'll be getting days off. I never ask for any since I enjoy working." He admitted. It was really sweet of her to be so considerate of his feelings though. Huge difference from Allison. "If I'm given the option, I'll ask for a day off so that I can help you out though. I would be more than happy to help you with the tree." Aiden commented.

Erin smiled and nodded,"I'd like that... It would give me more time to see you too with school over for winter break." She admitted. She knew he didn't want to go too fast, but part of her hurt a little bit because she loved him so much and knowing he wasn't feeling the same was didn't help. She wasn't going to push him though, didn't want to in the first place.

"Do you have any plans for winter break?" Aiden asked. He had to get her Christmas gifts of course which he knew would be easy to do. She wasn't exactly hard to please. He happily ate his grilled cheese, and ran a hand through his hair. Grilled cheese had to be his favorite thing to eat, he was surprised that she remembered.

She shook her head,"No not really. I plan to relax and try to spend some time with you since it's been hard to with school." She said, finishing off her sandwich and soup.

"Aww, I feel special." Aiden answered and smiled. "I hope we can spend more time together, like we used to you know?" He said and finished off his grilled cheese. He knew that they weren't spending much time together because of his work and her school, and it was obviously getting to Erin.

She nodded,"Yeah... I miss those times. A lot." She said, starting to clean up from cooking.

Aiden frowned slightly but knew they'd spend time together. He wasn't going to let her spend Christmas alone. Getting up, he walked over to the sink and began to help with the dishes quietly.

She smiled,"Thanks." She said. She looked over at him,"Look..I'm not trying to rush things, but I'm having a hard time not giving you a hug or kissing your cheek every now and then. I try not to, because I know your uncomfortable, but it's getting hard to not hug you at least."

Aiden listened to her in silence as he continued washing the dishes. When he was done, he washed his hands and dried them off before looking at her. "I know." he said softly and smiled. "Hugs are welcome, kisses aren't though. It's just because I'm not comfortable or ready to get into a relationship right now. I've spent years living in a hell and I'm finally free of that. I just want to enjoy my freedom for a while before I even think about getting into another relationship." he started and frowned as he took her hands in his. "I just don't want to keep you waiting either, I hope you understand." Aiden commented.

She hugged him back gently,"Hugs I can live with." She said quietly,"And as I said, don't feel rushed, I don't mean that in the slightest way whatsoever. In the end, I want you to be happy. Even if you never marry again."

Aiden hugged her back and chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I'll get married again. I just have to give myself some time." he explained and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear gently.

She nodded, realizing that she was going to have to let him take his time.

"Well then, anything you wanna do before we each get some sleep?" he asked curiously. They could always go out and spend time together, or probably watch a movie at home. Or just talk, that was also nice.

She shook her head,"No, not really. I'm really sleepy actually." She said, stifling a large yawn back,"School was rough today so I think I'll feel better after some sleep."

"Understandable. Goodnight and sweet dreams Erin." he said and smiled warmly. He was pretty tired too, and he had work tomorrow so he needed to get as much sleep as possible. "I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow." he said and headed up to his room.

Erin went to her room and closed the door, before changing into her pajamas and crawling into bed. She let out another yawn, curling up tighter in her bed. She really wished things would move faster but knew it would just take time.

What do I do? She obviously doesn't want to wait...but I do. I'm afraid she might get tired of waiting though, but I don't want to rush into anything... Aiden texted his friend. After a while of nothing, his friend texted back with, Then don't rush into anything man. I'd be happy to hear some girl can't wait to kiss me or whatever. Look, just take it slow and steady that way both of you are comfortable. You don't have to push yourself to do something you don't want to, but I'm pretty sure kissing is something you can handle. Aiden blushed because he knew it was true. Thanks man, I'll talk to you later. Goodnight. he texted and shut off his phone before getting ready for bed, climbing in and falling to sleep.

The next morning, Erin was up early, wanting to get a shower in before making breakfast. She took a fast one, washing her hair and afterwords headed into the kitchen wearing clean clothes. She made Adien's lunch and set it in the fridge for him before working on breakfast.

Waking up, Aiden yawned softly as he got out of bed and attached out then headed to shower. He had to go to work today which meant he wouldn't be home for lunch. It was okay by him though, he loved work since it gave him some time to not have to worry or think about his Erin situation. Finishing his shower, he dried off and got dressed before heading down to the kitchen tiredly, his hair a mess.

She handed him his breakfast,"Your lunch is in the fridge." She said quietly, before heading upstairs herself to take a shower.

"Alright, thanks Erin." Aiden said and sat down to eat his breakfast. As he ate, he remembered what he and his friend talked about and wondered what would happen if he went through with it. Erin would probably think he was ready to move on, and in a way he was. Wouldn't I be moving to fast though? he thought to himself as he took a few more bites of his food.

Erin came back down a little while later, her hair wrapped in a towel to dry. She went to grab her plate of breakfast and started to eat as well,"This evening, maybe we could go see a movie or something?" She asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah sure, if you want to." Aiden agreed with a nod of his head. He wanted to do some Christmas shopping but he wanted to wait until the tree was put up first. "Any plans while I'm at work?" He asked curiously.