The Space Between Us

Chapter 24 ~ Here

All day, my mind was only on one thing: I was about to see my brother for the first time in a year.

I told Alice and James during lunch, and they were really excited for me. They didn't know who my brother was, but they knew it had been a while since I'd seen him.

I called Jess and asked her if I could have the day off. When she understandably questioned why I'd ask on such short notice, I told her about Aiden visiting, and she immediately let me off the hook. Jess knew how important this was, too.

The only person who didn't know Aiden was coming was River. River would be gone at practice all afternoon, anyway, so it would never affect him. I'd tell him later, of course, but he didn't need to know now.

At 3:05 p.m., I finally made it back to my apartment complex. My last class ran a little late, and then my professor wanted to speak with me, and then traffic was terrible... Of course, everything piled up when I had a deadline to meet. Good thing I moved River's stuff out from the living room already. I had dumped it into his room on the floor early this morning.

I parked and got out of my car, looking around. Thankfully, I didn't see any signs of Aiden here yet. I looked at my phone but saw no new texts.

That was when I heard a vehicle approaching. I spun around and saw a shiny black SUV pull up to the front of the apartment complex, looking very out of place in this area.

Two big, burly men dressed in all black got out of the SUV first. One of them went around to the side and opened the door. I couldn't quite see, so I made my way over.

Aiden got out of the SUV, wearing a white dress shirt with the top few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up, dark jeans, lots of jewelry, and dark sunglasses. His blonde hair was longer than before, he wore a new necklace, and he boasted a new tattoo on his arm, but it was the same person I knew. He was here.

"Aiden!" I squealed, rushing at him.

"Holls!" he said, hugging me tightly as I practically jumped onto him.

He spun me around in a circle as we hugged. I had almost forgotten how tall he was.

"I can't believe you're here!" I said breathlessly, taking a step back to soak in the moment.

He swept his hair out of his eyes with his ring-filled hand and smiled his brilliant smile. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you. Oh! These are for you," he said, going back to the SUV and leaning inside. He came back out with a bouquet of daisies.

"Your favorite still, right?" he asked as I took them, beaming.

"Yes! You're the best."

"I know." He laughed as I rolled my eyes. "Shall we head upstairs? I'd like to get out of view."

"Of course! This way."

I led the way, practically bouncing up the stairs. The two men from the SUV stayed downstairs, much to my relief, and Aiden followed me up, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head.

I stole a glance at him, still not fully believing that Aiden was actually, physically here. It felt surreal.

Even though I could see the tiredness behind his smile, his happiness was still so radiant that I couldn't help but feel energized by it.

Right when we got to the third floor, I remembered what I'd wanted to do first.

"Oh, right! I need to check mail real quick. Here," I handed him the house key, "this is my place."

I took the stairs two at a time going down, still with the daisies in hand. Standing at the mailbox, I grabbed a letter and a few bills from inside. I flipped through them as I went back up the stairs, a bit slower this time.

I sped up when I saw my front door wide open. Aiden stood just inside with his hands raised, and River was facing him, holding a frying pan with outstretched arms.

River saw me but didn't lower the frying pan. "Why is there a guy in our apartment?!"

Aiden whipped around to look at me as well. "Why is there a guy in your apartment?!"

I sighed. "River, put down the weapon. This is my brother."

River dropped his hands. "Your-?"

"And you," I said, ignoring River's confusion and grabbing Aiden's hand. "Stay outside while I talk to my roommate."

"Your room-?"

I slammed the door on Aiden, took a deep breath, and faced River.

"I thought you'd be at practice."

"That... that can't be your brother..." said River, his mouth barely moving. "Aiden Turner is your brother?"

Ah, so he did recognize Aiden. Great.

I fidgeted with the daisies in front of me. "Please don't tell anyone about him." My voice came out smaller than I thought it would be.

River shook his head. "I'm gonna need some time to process this. I mean... Aiden Turner? Your brother?!"

"I know it's a lot to take in..." I began.

"We literally watched his movie last week!" said River, throwing up his hands. "That's why you had early access, right? And you didn't have a crush on him, you were proud of him... Everything makes sense now..."

"Are you mad at me?"

"What? No, of course not. I understand why you didn't tell me sooner. It's just... a lot."

"It is."

Aiden's voice came through the door. "Can I come in now?"

I opened the door for him.

River didn't take his eyes off Aiden as my brother came back inside. "You're really the actor, Aiden Turner?" he asked.

"Yes. And?" Aiden answered coldly, crossing his tattooed arms in front of his chest. That was strange; he didn't usually act so unfriendly to his fans.

River shook his head. "This is crazy," he muttered.

I decided that enough was enough.

"River, I'll talk to you about this later. Aiden, let's head to dinner and I'll explain everything," I said with a tone of authority.

"Hang on," said Aiden.

He stepped toward River until they were face-to-face. Aiden was slightly taller than him.

"I swear, if you tell anyone that Holly is related to me, I will sue you. And you will lose," said Aiden.

River gulped. "I won't tell."

Aiden looked River up and down a final time before leaving with me, finally. I quickly gave my bouquet of daisies to River along with the letter and bills that I still had.

"Please put the flowers in the vase in my room!" I said, flashing a smile and shutting the door before I could hear River's answer.

In the hallway, Aiden still had his arms crossed.

"You sure have some explaining to do," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah." I waved my hand flippantly. "Let's go get some food!"

Aiden sighed wearily.