AJ sighed as he threw another twig into the fire. They had settled down for the night. Conner was looking at the stars, Slade was on his phone texting his boyfriend, which AJ hated, and AJ, he was just watching the fire, bored out of his mind.
Because he was doing nothing, it gave him some time to think. Of course, however, his thoughts instantly turned against him. Pulling up his legs, AJ then buried his head, trying not to let anyone see the tears starting to come down his cheeks.
Looking over, Conner then noticed how depressed his twin was and grunted. Getting up, he then walked over to Slade, who was chuckling at his phone.
With his arms crossed, Conner roughly pulled the phone out of Slade's hands.
"Hey! Conner, give it back."
Holding his hand out, Slade glared at his son.
"No," Conner shook his head, then pointed at AJ. "Go talk to him."
"And why should I?"
You don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?"
"You hurt AJ once you left. You hurt me, and you hurt Daddy. We all loved you, and you just left us, forgetting everything we had. So you and Daddy had one little fight. You guys always work things out. What was so different this time? Daddy just wanted to spend time with you. By leaving, Dad, you broke everyone's heart, and right now, you need to fix AJ."
Sighing, Slade took a small glance at AJ, who was now curled up on his side, still trying to hide tears that were now threatening to come out.
"Alright, alright."
Getting up, Slade slowly made his way towards his crumpled son. When he sat down, that was the first time Slade had noticed how truly broken AJ was. It became clear to Slade that by leaving, part of AJ's world had suddenly just... disappeared. Something his son was not used to.
AJ was always the more sensitive one of the twins. Something Slade just didn't understand how one twin could be courageous and bold, while the other had no self confidence in him whatsoever. It was all very confusing to him.
Resting his hand on AJ's back, Slade just watched his son in total guilt, now realizing what he had truly done to his family. He didn't think that by moving on, he would leave them in this ditch of emotions. They really did need him, and right now, AJ needed his father. And that was what Slade was going to give him.
Scooping him up in his arms, Slade held AJ close to his chest, the boy shaking and whimpering in emotional pain as he did so.
Feeling small hands grip his hoodie, Slade looked down at AJ, who spoke softly.
"P-Please come b-back home with u-us, D-Dad..."