Last night, Aiden explained everything to Marley like he promised he would.
That Eli's mother had been his father's secretary at the time of the affair, which lasted a couple months. When she got pregnant, he had to fire her, but gave her a good recommendation to find another receptionist job somewhere else.
Eli and his mother moved to a small town in Nevada to start over, where she met his now 'step-father'. They've been together for about seven years now, and Dallas has been Eli's little sister figure ever since. His father has been sending child support cheque's until Eli turns 18, to Eli's mother.
Aiden and Eli found out about each other when Aiden was eight and Eli was ten, when Aiden's mother found out about the affair. She wanted to meet the 'other woman' and her son, so his father flew them down and the boys met. Surprisingly, no fight broke out between the adults but nobody wanted to reconnect again.
Aiden had always known about Eli, and his general whereabouts but when he and his mother flew back to California when his grandmother was sick, they ended up seeing each other at a party four months ago. Said party where Dallas was introduced and that story obviously didn't end well.
When Eli found out that Aiden had been...well, Dallas' first time, and then told her he wasn't interested in anything else but goodbye, he drove to Aiden's house and they brawled on the front lawn. Dallas split them up and they hadn't seen each other since.
Aiden told her he assumes that Eli knew he was here because he keeps in touch with some of their father's relatives.
Marley doesn't hold it against him for not telling her. He said he would have in the future but it's not something he's exactly proud of doing. It was consensual and Aiden promised her that he didn't know Dallas hadn't been with anyone else until it was too late.
Which, Marley didn't ask him to elaborate any further on that.
Ian already knew everything so at the simple names he was pinching the bridge of his nose before dropping his hand, "Why would he make the trip all the way from Nevada?"
As soon as school ended for the day Marley and Aiden took an Uber to Ian's hotel to meet with him. So that they could spend time together before driving to the rink to meet with the rest of camp - which was rented out specifically for the 190 students going.
They were sitting in the restaurant by the lobby, Aiden's left arm over Marley's chair as she tackled her club sandwich across from Ian, who had ordered tortellini and was already halfway done.
Aiden had an avocado salmon salad in front of him, but he was shifting it around with his fork and eating it slowly. Marley already knew the answer to Ian's question.
"Supposedly Eli's been trying to contact our father for the last month or so. He's dodging so Eli thinks I can somehow help him with that."
Ian popped some more pasta in his mouth and spoke through his mouthful, "Did you tell him that the last time you spoke to our dad he left on a stretcher?"
Marley bit down on her sandwich to hide her smile while Aiden shrugged, "I told him our father's an asshole and he's better off. Eli said he wants to decide for himself. He wants to meet you too but I shut him down. He doesn't know you're here and we're keeping it that way."
Marley frowned, her chewing slowing as she watched Ian drop his fork and narrow his eyes at his brother.
"Like its Eli's decision to contact Dad it's mine to contact him. He's my brother, too."
She dropped her sandwich and took a sip of her chocolate milk, "He's right, Aiden."
He didn't spare her a glance, continuing to stare down his brother blankly, "He dropped out of high school in junior year and has been hopping jobs ever since doing god knows what else. He nearly ran us over driving into camp and was a dick and a half every second of my time with him. I would've told Marley the truth myself in the future, but I would never have introduced them if he hadn't blasted in unannounced. When you're eighteen, you can do what you want, but until then it's my responsibility to keep you out of his life."
Aiden took a causal bite from his salad and as much as she could see where he was coming from, and it was a very good place, Ian was still right in saying that it's his choice to meet his other brother. But, with Aiden being so protective that wasn't going to happen easy, or anytime soon.
"You don't know the real him, because I don't blame the guy for being an asshole around you."
Aiden raised an eyebrow and took another bite, his chewing halting at Ian's next words.
"You took his sisters' virginity in a drunk one night stand and then never spoke to her again. I'd be angry with you too," Ian deadpanned calmly.
Marley sighed and wiped her hands on her napkin before placing her right one on Aiden's knee, after he lowered his fork. His expression scrunched in guilt.
"It was a dick move and something I never would've done if I knew it was....if I knew it was her first time. But that's no excuse anyway. I apologized to him a long time ago. And last night, I told her that what happened shouldn't have but it upset her. I'm not going to say what she wants to hear so no matter what I can't win."
Marley's hand slid from his knee as she crossed her arms and turned to stare Aiden down, "What did she want to hear?"
His eyes locked on hers and he looked extremely uneasy, "Take a guess, spitfire."
She should've known. Marley turned back towards her plate and grabbed a handful of fries, now stress eating more than anything.
Ian scrunched up his nose, "You're not related but it's still weird. You and Dallas share a brother and she wants to..."
"Hook up? Date? Yeah," Aiden replied tentatively, his eyes on the side of Marley's head as she focused on dipping her fries into ketchup, "But I told her multiple times, Marley, that I'm not interested."
She felt her cheeks redden at what she was going to say next, staring down at the crumbled napkin in her hands, "I don't think she's going to let it go that easy, Aiden. You were...you were her first and that means a lot. She probably thought that if she," Marley finally looked up to meet Aiden's eyes, "if she gave you that, you would stay."
"I know," he murmured, and she could tell he genuinely felt bad for what he did, grabbing her hand to intertwine their fingers.
And that guilt, is the reason why Marley doesn't hold any grudge for his behaviour. Aiden is no white knight. He's made more than his fair share of mistakes, said and done things he shouldn't have in the past.
He isn't Superman, but he's her kind of hero. The one who redeems himself, changes for the better, and learns from his mistakes. Owns up to them, and strives to be a better version of himself.
Her Aiden isn't the one who slept with Dallas. Her Aiden isn't a stupid kid anymore.
Well, most of the time, anyway.
"She deserved better, but she was never going to find that with me. Marley, you've always been the only girl I would ever want to commit to. I was an asshole. Still am sometimes," his soft lips tilted up at the corners, "But even before we met, in a way, I was your asshole."
"It's true," Ian added, smiling widely at his brother, "he believed that he'd turn purple sooner than commit to one girl. Remember Jessica? Doorbell girl?"
Aiden let go of her hand to grab his fork and Marley turned back to her food too, considerably more content now than a few minutes ago.
Her boyfriend cringed in disgust, "Please don't remind me."
Marley's interest peaked, "Do remind him."
Ian laughed, and it became more and more hysterical as he told the story.
"Aiden had Jessica around the house for a week. Record time by a landslide. She's on the girls soccer team in your grade and was really milking the idea that she's the girl Aiden kept around for longest, at school-"
"Wait, why? Why her?" Marley asked, "If you dated her I won't be upset."
"He didn't," Ian clarified while Aiden actively avoided her gaze, "he kept her around that long because-"
"Can you not?" Aiden demanded, shooting his head up from his bowl to glare down his brother, "Talking about a girl I hooked up with around my girlfriend is enough without the details."
"Details?!" Marley squeaked, glancing between them while Aiden looked back to his bowl and took another big bite, once again refusing to acknowledge her.
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Well now you have to tell me."
"I'm not going to say it because Aiden doesn't want me to but make an educated guess and let's move on."
Ian gave her a second.
Why would Aiden keep a girl around if he didn't want to date her?
What would be in it for him?
What he wanted from her is obvious, so she would have to be really good-.
Marley blushed dark red, "Oh."
"So, this girl is milking it for all it's worth and everybody at school thinks they're dating because she was posting photos of his bedroom on her Snapchat all the time to...authenticate that she was there a lot. Jessica comes over about a week later and I answer the door. Aiden tells her to go home and she doesn't listen, one of our cleaners demanding that she leave."
"She kept ringing the doorbell," Aiden finally contributed to the story, a soft humorous smile on his lips, "Over and over. After five minutes, we thought she'd leave. Ten, the cleaner once again told her to go. Twenty and I whipped open the door and smashed the doorbell to pieces with a bat and said-"
"Ding dong the fuck off my porch you witch." Ian added, now laughing manically, "And he was in nothing but a pair of his Calvin's, so picture that."
Marley laughed too, imagining Aiden in his underwear with a baseball bat in his hand, expression annoyed and infuriated. Well, the view wouldn't be too bad, anyway.
"After I explained what happened to the repairman, he replaced it free of charge," Ian snickered.
"I swear," Aiden put his arm back over Marley's chair, "I swear I actually went crazy."
"Referencing The Wizard of Oz when ordering a one night stand off your porch isn't something I could see a sane Aiden doing." Marley agreed.
"Alright," Ian held his hands up, "Even I'll admit that I've told enough Aiden stories for a while. Your turn, Marley."
"About what?" She asked casually, "I mean, I can tell you about my first date."
Aiden choked on his food, coughing as it went down the wrong pipe to the point where his face turned red, "First date?!"
"You haven't told him?" Ian asked, rubbing his hands together manically, "Well this is gonna be fun."
Aiden took a sip of his water as he cleared his throat, his arm off her shoulders now and his whole body stiff with tension.
"Why didn't I know about this?" He asked tightly, his jaw clenched.
"You had a whole brother that you didn't tell me about and you're mad I didn't tell you about one date which resulted in nothing actually happening?" She said incredulously, shooting her hypocritical boyfriend a sharp look before turning to Ian.
"It wasn't that big of a deal. I was a sophomore and I tutored a junior guy-"
"He was a year older?!"
Marley smacked Aiden's bicep, "You don't see me flipping out over the million girls you've slept with. So you better not say one peep about one guy I went on one date with one time."
She glared Aiden into ash. Though he still looked highly peeved, he broke their stare to go back to his salad and push it around with his fork a bit too harshly.
Marley rolled her eyes and turned back to a smirking Ian, who was enjoying a front row seat to the Caveman Aiden Show immensely, "Anyway, he made a bet with me that if he got a B on his Calculus test he could take me on a date-"
"Did he touch you?" Aiden demanded, his head snapping to look at her, "Anywhere? Ever?"
Marley sighed, "He definitely flirted, but I always kept our sessions at the library on busy hours of the day instead of at his house like he suggested-"
"Who."
"Seriously Aiden?"
He growled in the base of his throat and shoved a bite of salad in his mouth, chomping angrily as she continued after being interrupted, again.
"He was a D student. I wanted him to do well on the test so I said yes. He got a B+ and showed me the paper for proof."
"Tool," Aiden snarked in the background.
"Where'd he take you?" Ian asked, after he chuckled at Aiden's reaction.
"Well," Marley tensed in preparation for Aiden's explosion, "he picked me up and took me to a movie early in the afternoon. Afterwards he headed for Lowry's Point-"
"Oh fuck off," Aiden snapped, tossing his fork onto the table. It clattered noisily. "Lowry's Point? Tell me who it was. I'll fly home right now to beat his ass."
Lowry's Point is a parking lot overlooking a small cliff and a waterfall back in their hometown, about ten minutes away from Kingston High. It's universally known as a spot where teenagers park and hook up in their cars.
Even Marley knows about it.
She placed a hand on Aiden's bicep but kept her eyes on Ian, "I suspected that's where he was going so I asked. When he said it was a surprise I knew once we turned down the main road. I was shy I guess? I didn't know what to say. How to tell him I wanted to go home."
Aiden was about two seconds away from standing up from his chair and flipping out, his fists balled, "You better tell me a name, Marley. I swear to god."
She dropped her hand from Aiden's bicep, "Look nothing happened. We didn't even make it there. I told him I had to go to the bathroom and we stopped at a McDonalds. I went into the ladies room and called Gabby's Dad. They live around the corner. He came to pick me up and was right there so the guy couldn't approach me about it. Went home. Never spoke to him again. The movie theatre was packed that day because it was a grand opening. He tried to hold my hand but-"
"What?"
"-but I pulled mine away before he could. That's it. That's all that happened."
"All that happened?" Aiden repeated harshly, "Your first date was a guy who wanted to fuck you in the backseat of his car at some parking lot when you were fifteen. I'll kill him."
Marley winced while Ian responded, "I'm sorry, Marley. You deserved better."
"And Aiden gave me that," Marley said, grabbing Aiden's hand, intertwining their fingers and leaning up to kiss his cheek. His body softened at her touch. "Our first date was amazing. He took me to Dalton's house, cooked me dinner, and we ate it in a gazebo under twinkly lights. The same gazebo where we confessed our feelings and kissed for the first time a week prior. We talked for at least two hours straight."
And it's true. In the car on the way there, while he cooked dinner, while they ate, while they cleaned up, and while they drove back to camp. About anything and everything. Personal stuff, opinions, ideas, memories and football. They never run out of conversation, never tire of each other. Marley could sit across a table from Aiden and talk to him forever.
"He bought me red roses, too. He knew they were my favourite flower," she added gently, trying to divert Aiden's attention, but his blue eyes were still hard and angry.
"I know," Ian cut in, and Marley turned to him with surprise, "Aiden called me and asked for advice."
Her eyebrows shot to the ceiling, her mouth falling open in surprise as she faced her boyfriend, everything else forgotten, "You...you called Ian about...about this?"
Aiden let out a loud sigh, and she watched as his body deflated and it appeared that he was going to let it go for now, resting an arm over her chair again and staring into her eyes, "I did, yes."
"He needed the expertise of someone who'd gone on a few before. Don't worry," Ian pointed his fork at his brother, "the ideas were his but he wanted someone to bounce them off of that knows you, too. Give him the thumbs up and all that. He was also soooo nervous."
Marley's eyes were all on Aiden as she smiled softly, lovingly, "You were nervous? You, Aiden Matthews? You're not nervous about anything."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead while Ian continued, "He kind of spent three hours at the grocery store that day after school because he kept changing his mind about what to cook for you."
Aiden's eyes narrowed on his brother, "We get it. I was nervous. Can we move on?"
Marley rested her head on his bicep, "I was nervous," she admitted, "I went to the mall with Gabby and she had to pick a dress for me. I kept changing my mind, too."
Aiden tilted her chin up with a warm hand, his blue eyes boring into hers, "You would've taken my breath away in a garbage bag, spitfire."
She exhaled shakily, maintaining eye contact bravely, "And I would've been the happiest girlfriend in the world if we were eating cheeseburgers in a booth at McDonalds."
He smiled, dropping his hand with a tsk, "I don't eat cheeseburgers at McDonalds. And I'm a better boyfriend than that."
"You are," Marley confirmed, "And I'm a better girlfriend than a garbage bag on the first date."
"And I'm the best brother in the world," Ian broke their bubble with a wide smile of his own, reaching for something on the floor beside him, "You're welcome, by the way."
Marley frowned in confusion while Aiden grabbed a large brown paper bag over the table, placing it on the floor between their chairs. It was so tall that whatever was it in could still be reached easily.
"Thanks, Ian. Open it."
Marley pointed to herself, "Me?"
He rolled his eyes, "No. The other hot as hell brunette I call spitfire."
She flushed and smacked his arm, "Aiden Matthews!"
He laughed and grabbed her wrist, holding her hand over the cardboard box in the bag before letting it go. She shot her excited boyfriend a last, suspicious look before reaching in for the bags contents.
***