I Miss You - McLennon AU

19.

Paul's theory had worked. As soon as Jim had eaten the food, he had felt sick. Upon acting on that, he soon felt fine, though not the best. Paul helped the man back into bed and settled him, and he was asleep by 6pm.

Paul and Mike had been watching a movie in the living room that evening, eating pot noodles, when a knock on the door echoed through the hall. Both Mike and Paul stared at each other in confusion.

"I'll get it." The younger boy suddenly spoke up.

Before Paul could intervene, Mike's pot noodle had been discarded on the table and he was heading towards the door.

The first thing Paul had thought was that it was John at the door. He had of course considered that John didn't actually know where he lived and that John wasn't even really friends with Paul yet, but somehow Paul had managed to convince himself that John was at the other side of the door, waiting for it to open.

Paul almost instantly shot to his feet at that thought, also discarding his pot noodle and rushing towards the door. As he turned onto the corridor, he still pictured John being there. Deep down he knew there was a very very little chance, but he didn't care.

He glanced towards the door, somehow expecting to see the face of his long long lost lover, only to be faced with something much more different.

"A-Aunty Gin?" Mike stuttered out, mouth wide open in shock. His hand gripped the door, as he stared at the 6 foot tall woman in front of him.

She had brown hair, bright and all natural, with added golden streaks. Her eyebrows were thick and a dark brown, contrasting well with her dark and smudged eyeliner. The middle aged woman was dressed formal, as she always was, wearing a white blouse along with a black skirt and blazer two piece. She wore black heels to go along with it.

The woman towered over Mike, even though there was a three foot step into the house that she had not yet climbed.

"Michael... Gosh, you look so tall now..." A shocker yet fond smile plastered over her face, her red lipgloss shining.

Anger rose up in Paul at the sight of her gawping over his younger brother. He had grown... Of course he had grown in three years. Three fucking years.

"Where have you been?" Paul piped up, betrayed, from still stood far back in the hallway. With furrowed eyebrows and his lips in a firm straight line, he slowly stepped forward, trying to keep his fury contained. "What have you been doing for three years?"

Both Gin and Mike were staring at Paul, now. Mike with a saddened and confused frown on his face, and Gin looking sad and awkward.

She cleared her throat, looking down.

"I... Can I come inside?" The woman asked, hesitantly, looking back up to Paul with a small glint of plea in her eyes.

"Why?" Paul stated, simply, stopping in his tracks at the end of the banister and folding his arms. His tone displayed annoyance, which wasn't far from the truth.

"Because I want to talk, Paul..." She explained, matter-o-factly.

"What makes you think I want to hear?" Paul added, finding it hard to contain himself. He broke his stance, his hands flailing around as he continued to speak. "You left, Gin. You left as soon as mother got sick, without a care in the world. Your brother was suffering, his wife in pain, two children under his wing and you just left?! Ran away instead of supporting him. You were all he had left!"

"Paul I just- Please, I just want to explain." She begged, a large frown on her face.

Paul stared at her for a few seconds, lips pursed and trying not to glare. He had to hear her out, right? He couldn't just send her home after the journey she had taken.