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Why doesn't Aaron let the Foxes in?

Why doesn't Aaron let the Foxes into his life?

The short of it: Aaron doesn't let them in because Aaron despises everything about them.

The long of it.. well, let me see if I can make this coherent. My first attempt at answering this just went 'round and 'round in circles trying to explain his thought process. Chances are I'll still get lost along the way. ((SORRY?))

Aaron had plans, see? Aaron was going to be a doctor. He was going to stick with Andrew until graudation & then go his own way. He'd pick up more shifts at Eden's Twilight, scratch together as much federal assistance as he could, and take classes around his job. He had no desire to play Exy after high school – he'd only learned it because the rigorous practice schedule kept him out of Tilda's reach.

Aaron was insulted when Wymack approached them in Columbia, because Aaron knew all about the Foxes' reputation and he was not at all fond of the concept. He meant what he said that day: the Foxes are a team of rejects going nowhere. They are the bottoms of the barrel, a publicity stunt gone wrong, kids offered more than they deserve who are now embarrassing themselves with these supposed second chances. Aaron didn't want to get lumped in with them – in part because he was sure he wasn't like them, and in part because he was sure he was. Aaron wasn't willing to be a public failure. Saying "I play for Palmetto State" meant always having to tack on a quick "But I'm nothing like the other Foxes!" on the end.

If Andrew hadn't had the final say on the matter, Aaron would have spit on Wymack's scholarship and gone his own path. An uphill climb to his future had to be better than becoming a public spectacle. But then Andrew said "Are you in it for five more?" and Aaron hadn't been expecting that, hadn't thought Andrew would be at all interested in or willing to extend their promise to stick with each other. Aaron made sure "The same rules apply?" before agreeing, because if Andrew gave him an excuse to stay away from the Foxes, he could maybe avoid their stain through disassociation.

The reality of the team up close was pretty much what Aaron was expecting, full of in-fighting and hateful comments and every manner of prejudice possible, with the women holding the team together by the skins of their teeth and the men dabbling in drugs Aaron had just gotten over and a haunted ache in Matt's stare that said he was too close to an edge Aaron could still feel under his skin. Fixing Matt only fixed part of the problem, and although Andrew got that out of the way as quickly as he could, the damage was done.

Once Aaron decided the Foxes really were as terrible and useless as he'd expected, there was no quick way back to his good graces. ((Is it really that easy for any of us to change our negative opinion of a person?)) It was easy to keep them at arm's length, with Andrew & Andrew's promise as a buffer in-between. He gave the team a minimal effort and put the rest of his energy into his classwork. ((Fact: Aaron has the second-best grades on the team after Kevin))

The trauma of his sophomore year will help put a little chink in that armor, because the team can't go through so much and not pull a little closer, but it'll be years before Aaron can admit he might be fond of these reckless jerks he calls teammates.