"I see the night, it's coming for me, to take you away, it's here as a thief. And I know that I'm scared, and from down on my knees, I'm asking relief, from what if you don't?"
---
"Hey, Nick? Can I come over?"
I frown at the clock on the wall that reads 8pm.
"Don't you need your beauty sleep?"
Aiden scoffs over the phone.
"I'm already beautiful," his voice turns serious, "so can I?"
I sigh and nod, before realising that he can't see it. "Yeah, sure."
"I'll be there in, like, twenty minutes!" He chirps, and from the multitude of voices in the background I guess he's at the pack house.
A single beep sounds as he hangs up.
---
"Nicky! Nicky Nicky Nicky!"
The doorbell rings three more times and I groan as I run down to the door and open it, trying to catch my breath.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Aiden pouts at me, dramatically rubbing his hands together before rubbing at his arms.
"It's cold out here."
I roll my eyes.
---
"So what did you want to talk about?" I ask when we're seated comfortably on my bed, Aiden staring around the room like he hasn't seen it over a hundred times already.
He looks at me hesitantly, the way a child looks when he's about to confess a mistake. He doesn't stop playing with his hands or fidgeting on the bed, and it makes me uneasy to see him out of his comfort zone.
"It's about Sylvia," he finally murmurs, barely loud enough to be audible. This time, he finds a sudden interest in my bedsheets.
I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to carry on and he sighs.
"I love her, Nick. I do. But I can't help feeling guilty because I know what her dad did to you and believe me - I hate him for everything he's done to both you and Chris, but I can't help feeling attracted to her," he pauses in his ramble, turning to face me, "I mean- I understand if you don't like her, I'll try to stay away from her-"
"Aiden-" I try to interrupt, but he continues.
"I mean, family always comes first, right? You're my brother and you'll always come first. I'll reject her if I have to, she won't feel the pain as much because she's human-"
"Aiden!"
He jolts in his seat, blinking at me with wide eyes and I sigh, trying to compose myself. I startled myself with my own scream.
"Look, I don't mind. Sure, Leo is a shitty person and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him, but Sylvia is a different matter altogether. Besides, I'd never object to anything that makes you happy."
He looks back down to where he plays with his hands, and I think his nervousness is starting to affect me as I start fidgeting too.
"You don't hate her?" He asks, his voice quiet and I shake my head.
"I envy her more than anything. She has a complete family, a dorky mate with the mentality of a child," Aiden scoffs at that, "and she loves freely. I'm not going to hate her because she's Leo's daughter. It's not her fault."
I briefly wonder, if Leo had stayed, would I be like her - naive, open, and innocent? Would I wear my heart on my sleeve, look up to Leo as a father figure, would I be happy?
I don't know, but something in me is driving me to protect her innocence from the cruelty of the world. Perhaps I'm already starting to see her as my sister.
Chris always wanted a baby sister. He wanted a sister to spoil, to go shopping with, he wanted the opportunity to scare off her potential boyfriends, like we always see big brothers do on TV.
"So you don't care if we're mates?"
I shake my head, but a thought crosses my mind.
"You can't be my brother anymore, though," I say with a shudder.
He frowns, and his lips start to form a pout as he whines, "why not?"
"Because that would make Sylvia your sister, and I doubt you're into incest."
He pulls a face, confirming my suspicions, before grinning at me.
"I'll just be your brother-in-law!"
I groan. Kill me now.
---
"Hey mom?"
I break the silence during breakfast and mom turns her head to me, offering her undivided attention. She always looks at me like that, as if I'm the centre of her world.
"What is it, sweetie?"
I look back down to my unfinished plate, trying to gather up the courage to speak.
"Kyle's picking me up for school today. I told him you wanted to see him." I say, but it comes out as a mumble.
She smiles. Her smile is sweet, innocent, and offers me comfort in a way nothing else can.
"Does he like you back?"
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"He's my - uh," I trail off. It's not the first time I'm saying it, yet it always feels so difficult with the butterflies in my stomach.
"Boyfriend?" Mom finishes for me and I nod, feeling my cheeks heat up.
Her smile widens in pride and joy, but I can see the slight worry in her eyes. I guess it's part of being a mother - nobody will ever seem to be good enough for your child.
"That's great, sweetie. When is he coming?"
The doorbell rings, answering her question and I rush out of my seat.
"I'll get it!" I yell on the way to the door, stopping in my footsteps when I reach it. I take a deep breath and turn the handle.
"Hey." Kyle greets me with a grin, pulling out a single red rose from behind his back.
I blink at him, eyes going to the rose in his hand and he gives me a soft smile. I take the rose. It smells nice.
Boyfriend, this is what boyfriends do.
I don't know the first thing about taking care of flowers.
"Oh, this must be Kyle!" Mom comes up behind me and beams at him, and he holds out his hand to shake.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am. Aiden has told me many things about you."
"Oh," mom is delightfully surprised as he holds a hand to her chest, "call me Piper, dear. You know Aiden? He's such a sweet boy."
Kyle grins and nods.
"We actually live in the same house."
I leave them to their conversation as I gather my school supplies and put on my shoes. I fill a cup with water and put the stem of the rose inside it before bringing it to my room. Hopefully the lifespan of this rose doesn't represent the lifespan of our relationship, because it'll likely die in days.
Mom is happy, and excited, and I can't remember the last time I've seen her smile so freely. Being with Kyle brings back so many memories, memories from a time when we were oblivious to the harshness of reality.
Back then I was oblivious, but now I find that Kyle is part of my reality, an existence that won't ever fade whether I want it to or not.
I leave my room and tug on Kyle's sleeve, nodding towards the front door and he stands from the couch in the living room.
"I'm sorry ma'am, we have to leave before we're late, but I can come pick Nick up again tomorrow, if that's okay?" Kyle asks, his arm coming to rest over my shoulder.
Mom nods, the smile never leaving her face as she packs her work bag.
"Of course! You should bring Aiden too, it's been too long since I've met the boy. Let's head out together."
Together.
Like a family.
--
A/N
Thank you for reading this far! I kept it on a relatively wrapped-up ending for this version, but if you want to read the last 9 chapters and epilogue, where Nick and Kyle navigate their relationship and follow Nick's progress on his recovery journey, you can find the book here: https://m.webnovel.com/book/purgatory_18253913006054405