Admission: A TFLC Short

Atlanta, GA

United States of America

February 2017

When Aether had invited him out for coffee that day, he had expected for the rest of Squad A to be there as well. To his surprise, it was only her; Aether sheepishly explained that she wanted some time alone with him, which he was happy to give. After all, they hadn’t been able to have a one-on-one bonding time like that for quite a long time. If anything, Tadashi had to admit that he missed it. 

That was how both of them ended up there, Aether with her coffee and Tadashi with his tea. They talked of other matters aside from work. He asked if Mathieu was doing okay, and she asked if he had seen his sisters lately. After he told her how he and his two sisters had gone out, he noticed that Aether was only smiling into her cup, letting it sit in her grip as if to warm her hands. 

She didn’t look nervous, didn’t look scared or afraid or anything of the sort. Instead, the dark-haired female looked deep in thought. “Earth to Aether,” Tadashi joked. “You look a little out of it there. Are you alright?”

“I am, I am. Sorry,” she gave a short laugh, “I got lost there for a moment. Do you mind if I buy another slice of cake?” She gestured to her plate, indicating that she wanted more than a single slice. Tadashi nodded and she went off, returning a couple of moments later with yet another slice. 

The conversation between them went on from there. Before they knew it, the two of them were laughing about a movie they had spotted recently, talking about Aether possibly visiting England in the coming months and going back home. “Will you bring Mathieu along?” he asked after. Both of them were on their third slice of cake and second round of caffeinated drinks. “Take him to the orphanage and show him where you lived—all of that.”


“I want to? I just hope he isn’t busy.” She reached for a sugar packet and poured half into her coffee, pausing before she mixed it in. She gave a small sigh. “It must be nice, I guess. To have that kind of adventure with someone you really do love.”

And Tadashi couldn’t help but smile at that. “Love takes on different forms, you know. Not quite just non-platonic.”

“I do. But you know what I mean, right?” He nodded, and both of them stayed in their seats merely taking drinks from their respective cups and bites from their own food. “I want that. To do something like that eventually.” 

“You will.”

“I hope so.” And silence came once more at that point; comfortable silence where they managed to eat in peace. As Tadashi took a sip from his water, Aether cleared her throat. He looked at her. There was a hint of a blush on her cheeks, mild apprehension in her eyes that he hadn’t quite seen for a while. 

“Are you—”

“I had some sort of feelings for you, you know?”

Tadashi blinked once, then twice. “I—sorry, you what?”

“I had feelings for you.” she stirred her coffee idly, smiling a little bit. “After I broke up with…you know, during sophomore year? For the longest time I was confused with whether I was feeling something for you or if it was just because I came out of a relationship. Though I didn’t really feel anything for him during the breakup.” she looked at Tadashi, whose eyes were slightly wider than usual. “You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t suspect anything. I…oh goodness,” Tadashi managed. His head raced a bit, felt like he was unable to take in what she had just said. “I’m sorry.”

“What? No—no, don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything. Not really. I should be sorry for not opening up to you about it any sooner.”

“I’m glad you’re telling me now, I’m just…I can’t wrap my head around it. You had feelings for me?” Tadashi clarified. “Are you sure it wasn’t Peters?” 

“Positive. You know me, Tad…I have a tendency to quickly get attached to people. At the time, you were my closest friend and you treated me far better than how he did, so…I ended up confused about my own feelings for a while until I could confirm that something was there.” 

“How long did they last?”

“A few months, I suppose? I didn’t want you to find out.” she glanced away, “I knew you were still recovering from losing your other team. The last thing you needed was a girl who couldn’t figure out her emotions very well, so I decided to keep it to myself.”

“Did you tell Lysette? Or Peters?”

“I didn’t tell anyone.” 

“Oh.” Silence fell between the two of them until Tadashi cleared his throat. “If I may ask, Aether…why me? Why exactly did you end up having those feelings for me?”

“It isn’t too hard to answer, actually.” she fidgeted lightly in her seat before speaking, “You were treating me better than he did. You—you’re always there for me, you’re my closest friend in Atlanta, you’ve never left my side. You’ve got certain traits that I like in an ideal partner, you know? And you’re not exactly too harsh on the eyes.” Tadashi couldn’t help but laugh at this good-naturedly, ears reddening. “I get easily attached…you’ve been there for me since day one. And it sounds weird, but—you’re one of the few people I genuinely feel safe with.”

“Safe…?”

“Like—I can be comfortable with and can openly be vulnerable to you and very few others. Lysette for one, all the way in England. Mathieu. You.”

Tadashi thought on that. “I noticed that they’re people you ended up feeling for as well.” Aether nodded. 

“I like feeling safe, Tad…I like knowing that I’m with someone who I can be myself around. No need for masks, no need for walls.” 

“And I’m one of those people?” 

“You are.” she reached out, took his hand. She couldn’t help but smile a bit more. “I—I know it might be weird to hear, but I consider you as one of my best friends. Even with our age gap and everything. I don’t feel like I have to hide. And—and that’s something I appreciate. I don’t like to hide. You—you know that.”

He nodded slowly. The shock had worn off as did his doubt; come to think of it, Aether had been acting a little odd during that time back in college. Tadashi, though, never quite brought it up for personal reasons. And thinking about it in the present, it might have been the best to let Aether deal with her feelings on her own. 

But still—

“It’s a little hard for me to believe,” he admitted, squeezing her hand. Aether grinned a little bit at that. “I know that it happens, I’m not judging you—but I’m finding it hard to believe that it was me and not really anyone else.”

“I gave you my reasons, didn’t I?” Tadashi nodded and Aether took a look at their linked hands on the table. “You’re my best friend,” she repeated. “I don’t—don’t really like keeping secrets. And I felt that this was something I had to come clean about eventually. I don’t like keeping things from you. And…there’s a lot in you that you don’t see, but others do. I saw something in you,” she offered a quiet, shy smile, “so there’s the chance that others see what I did. Come on, Tad.” 

He couldn’t help it. Tadashi released a laugh, making her laugh in turn. “Are you sure that you aren’t the older one between the two of us?”

“Definitely not. You’re still the squad dad.” They let go of the other’s hand but kept smiling at each other, “Another round of cake?”

“Another round of tea for me,” he corrected. She nodded and began to stand up, but Tadashi stood first and gently pushed her back down on the chair. “And let me. Really, Aether.” Instead of protesting, she nodded. 

“Alright.”