Watching Over Him (m/m)

Prologue

The river looked different from the bridge. It still looked like it was dancing, but the darkness made the water look like an abyss. Aiden didn't know the real reason why he'd chosen that place to put an end to his miserable existence. His father's gun or the rope in his attic would have sufficed, and he had considered both options before leaving the house. Maybe it was the fact that it would probably hurt less to jump into the water and drown, but that wasn't quite right. That bridge was where the few good things in Aiden's life had happened: his first kiss, or finding his dog Skipper after looking for him for nearly two months. It was where he'd met his biological parents for the first time, although that hadn't ended well either. Perhaps the memory all those things made Aiden want the river to be the last thing he saw. 

He sighed and sat on one of the metal structures that supported the bridge. This is easy enough, he thought, it's just a jump. However, the more Aiden looked down, the bigger and scarier the fall appeared to be. Slowly leaning forward, he felt his heart rate increase and his palms become sweaty. Aiden was just about to do it when he heard an ambulance behind him, and that was enough to kill what little courage he'd gathered. I'll do it some other time, he told himself, jumping not off the bridge but to the other side, to safety. Moving quickly away from the border, Aiden walked carefully towards the people who were gathered around what appeared to be a car accident. Approaching the scene, he saw the body of a young man, probably older than himself, lying in front of a car. Aiden could hear the driver mumbling nervously, claiming it wasn't her fault and that the boy had crossed the road without looking. 

I didn't die, but someone else did, Aiden thought, and they didn't even want to. He took one last look at the older boy before the paramedics covered his body and turned to walk away. Thoughts of how coincidental the timing of that accident had been haunted him all the way home. Aiden felt sorry for a guy he'd never met because he felt like the wrong person had died that night.

***

It wasn't until the following afternoon that Aiden woke up. It hadn't been an easy sleep. He'd dreamt of the night before, the memories of what he'd attempted to do and nightmares of following it through. It was a Saturday, and his adoptive parents were out, as usual. They'd told Aiden countless times how hard and busy their lives were, going on about how lawyers always had full agendas and barely half an hour for a lunch break. Aiden knew that wasn't the whole truth, though. They'd never tucked him in, never asked how he was doing at school. They'd never noticed he spent most of his nights at a club, hiding behind fake smiles and one night stands with men that were twice his age. An unusual form of self-harm good parents would probably have something against. His parents probably regretted adopting him. Aiden had never met, and would never meet, their expectations. Disappointed, that's the word, he thought.

Aiden got up slowly, feeling a bit dizzy and sporting an annoying headache. He walked on unsteady feet towards the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Aiden wasn't bad looking, and he'd used that fact to get his way more than once. His hair was always just on the right side of messy, its color a mixture of chocolate and caramel tones. His eyes were almost a reflection of the river he'd been looking at the night before, blue or stormy gray, depending on the light. As the boy stared at the reflective surface, he caught a glimpse of the dead guy from the day before standing right next to him.

Aiden's first thought was that he was hallucinating. He tried to remember if he'd taken any drugs or had alcohol before attempting to kill himself, but he was sure he hadn't. Aiden had been sober for months, making an actual effort to do right by his liver. Maybe his drink had been spiked, it wouldn't have been the first time. The ghostly being walked into Aiden's bedroom and sat on the bed, as if it were a person, as if it were alive. Walking out of the bathroom, Aiden followed the apparition, stopped near the bed at a distance he deemed safe enough and stared. Whatever the thing was turned his head towards him.

"Could you please check on my little brother?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper. "You're 18, yes? He's about your age."

Aiden's eyes widened as he heard the ghost talk. He was confused, there was even a fleeting thought about how this stranger could've guessed his age right. He'd never seen a ghost before, but he was pretty sure it couldn't be anything else. Deciding he was probably still in one of the many nightmares he had had about the night before, Aiden tried pinching himself. Nope, totally real, he thought.

"Please, I beg of you, we're orphans," the ghost continued. "I am, or was, 25 and I was the one taking care of him. His name is Eli, mine was Tobias. Here's the address." 

The ghost, Tobias, extended his hand. Resting on his palm was a piece of paper, slightly crumbled, with a short address written on it. Hesitant but curious, Aiden grabbed it, and then the ghost promptly disappeared. 

Well, I might not have died yesterday, he thought, but now I'm going crazy.

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Edited August 8th, 2026