He's Back

24 - Broken

Τhings had escalated so quickly with Aiden's relationship, Catherine had felt more left out than ever. She knew almost nothing about this girl and the fact that her son didn't seem willing to change that put her in thought. Their lives had changed so much ever since they were chased out of their home and Aiden's stanse towards the situation worried her. Whenever they talked about it- well, she talked, he dodged questions- he insisted he wasn't affected a bit. It's like vacation, right? He always said but she knew, she could see it in his eyes that he didn't mean it. Apart from that, her memory told her otherwise, as she couldn't forget how he reacted that evenful night. 

January 1st 2015
Catherine's POV 

Ι hit the horn once more, stress getting the best of me as I knew that the obstacles I had put in front of the door weren't going to last long with him pushing against it with all he had. I only hoped it would last long enough for us to have escaped. "Aiden!" I called for him once more. What is taking him so long! I looked back to the house I had raised him, my son, all the memories flooding me. I wiped my tears, I had to be strong for him now. 

Finally, I spotted him as he ran outside and inside the car, and with the corner of my eye I saw Evelyn, standing with tears streaming down her cheeks, shock plastered all over her face. Poor girl. "Mom! Mom go faster!" Aiden yelled from beside me, looking back. Once we hit the main road, I was no longer worried. There was no way he'd find us in this sea of cars. Aiden's eyes were locked on the window and he watching the scenery change around us. 

"Mom" he quietly spoke, not turning to face me. "Yes, honey?" I kept my eyes on the road, looking around as the New Year's atmosphere helped calm me down. "Will we ever go back?" I was shocked at my son's tone, he had handled this whole situation incredibly well, seeming much older than 15. So seeing his stanse, body defensive, voice weak, barely audible make my heart ache. It brought to my attention something I had forgotten. He was fifteen. He was mature, but he was fifteen. A boy, a teenager that shouldn't have to go through all this. Losing his home, his school, his friends. The realization hit me that we were going somewhere far away, where he'd have to completely restart his life, go into a new school, possibly with a new identity and forget everything he knew as his life. 

"I don't know" I answered honestly. I hoped that we would, but no one could know for sure how things would play out in our new life. He didn't respond, instead he took out his phone and went through his gallery, his finger stopping on a picture of him and Evelyn- Eve, as he always said.  We stopped at a red light and I caught the opportunity to reach over and put my hand in his. "Did you get to say what you wanted?" I asked him, remembering how he insisted that he at least got to tell her we were leaving before she found out from someone else. "No" he whispered. "We'll find a way for you to contact her, okay?" I tried to reassure him but I knew I was lying.

"I just don't want her to forget about me" he muttered. "She won't, baby, plus we won't be gone for that long." I started the car again, taking my hand from his. "But you said you don't know if we'll go back". Silence fell upon us as neither of us knew what to say. "Whatever I don't care"

Present time
Narrator's POV 

"Honey, how's Evelyn?" Catherine asked him, remembering how heartbroken he was to have to say goodbye. Aiden nearly chocked on his words when he heard her, as he didn't know what to say. "She's alright" he answered anyway. "Does she know Lindsay?" Oh, she knows Lindsay, he thought. "They've met" his answer was short. "And what do they think of each other?" hearing his mother's question, Aiden sighed and dropped his fork. "Mom is there a reason why we're playing twenty questions this morning?" he tried to avoid the subject while also being suspicious as to where all these questions were coming from. Regardless, he knew he'd have to give an answer. 

Next door, things were much different. The table was quiet, as no one knew what to say. Jason was the only one talking to his mom, telling her about school and how good his grades were while she just smiled and patted his head, telling him she was proud of him. She then turned to Cole "How's college going, Cole? You didn't tell me how they let you come home". Now that sentence caught Evelyn's attention. "Yeah, Cole. Why are you home?" she chimed in, spiteful. Cole just smiled and turned to his sister "I attend the classes from home, so that I can be closer to my family" Michelled laughed and looked at him, proud. "Oh, what a thoughtful son I have! But how nice of your school to let you do that". Evelyn played with her cereal, not amused. "Yeah. How. Nice" 

Michelle continued eating her breakfast, not paying much attention "Everything okay, Evelyn?" she asked, not looking at her. "Yeah" she muttered back. "Hey, I just remembered. How's Aiden doing?" Cole muttered something under his breath, but she didn't catch it. "He's alright" Evelyn answered, getting up to put her bowl in the sink, and cutting the conversation short. Without another word, she headed upstairs. No one stopped her, not that she expected them to. Plus, she was glad they didn't pay attention, she didn't want to have to spend another moment with them.

"Guys, if you'll excuse me, I had a long night so I'll head back to my room for a little while. I'll see you in a bit?" Michelle spoke, and the boys both nodded. "Cole, honey, could you please do me a huge favor and go get some things from the store?" she asked him, putting her tired mother act on, as she was too bored to go get them herself. "Sure thing mom" Cole responded. Truth was he didn't want to leave Evelyn unsupervised with 'you-know-who' next door, but he had to do it.

Evelyn went to her room and turned on her laptop, checking her music gallery to take her mind off of reality. Aiden on the other hand, had no time for that as his reality wasn't something he could escape from anytime soon. Breakfast was finished and Catherine had left for work, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He walked to his room as well, his eyes falling on her shirt that he still hadn't given her. He had made up his mind, he knew what he had to do. 

He opened his phone and found her name in his contacts, tapping on it before he could give it a second thought. Before Evelyn got the chance to play her music, her screen lit up and she saw his name. Hesitant, she picked it u. A thought crossed her mind to not pick up, but she was curious to see why he was calling her. "Hello?" she spoke, finally answering. "Took you long enough" his voice was laced with an uncalled for hostility. She wondered why that was. "What do you want?" she asked him, not wanting to deal with him anymore. "Let's get this over with, I want my shirt back. Come over."

Let's get this over with? What the hell has gotten into him this time? She wondered. "Now?" she asked, ignoring it. "Yes, the quicker the better". She thought about it for a second, she couldn't go with Cole being in the house, there was no way he'd let her. "Cole's here, let me find an excuse first" she explained. "Try not to be late" was the last thing she heard before he hung up. 

She didn't know what was wrong this time, well she never did all the other times either, but this one was just so uncalled for. She sighed and hit her head against the desk. This boy was driving her insane. Aiden threw his phone somewhere in the room, he didn't care if he had broken it, just as the universe, God, or whoever was out there didn't care that they'd broken him. 

***

Merry Christmas everyone *o*

I hope you all are healthy and happy during these difficult times, and if not, have patience, 2020 is almost over! (bye b*tch). Excuse the shortness of the chapter, I wasn't planning on posting it right now, but I wanted to give y'all a present somehow and I knew that it would take longer for me to get the chapter ready so *drumroll please* I present to you the first half! 

That's all from me, please don't forget to Vote as it really helps me! *in Phoebe Buffay's voice* Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! (it's 2am here, yikes)