KnT AU: Aiden the Babysitter

Chapter 2, Absolutely Not

Aiden shook his head and wiped his tears away, sniffling a bit. Chris was quiet, looking at him. Aiden looked down at him and smiled. "No, we'll see her soon. She's just gone away for some time." He watched Chris start to relax and smile again. "I just miss her, that's all. Let's go in." Chris nodded and the two walked into the cruddy building.

The woman at the front desk honestly looked like a crackhead. Aiden gulped and tried to relax.

"Heyo frea- uh, friend..." He cleared his throat. 'Didn't think I'd go back to that old habit so soon...' the woman looked up at him. "The hell you want, pretty boy?" Aiden made a fist with his free hand. "Just an apartment key. We already filled out the paperwork and got the first six months of rent in as well as the deposit." The lady smiled a bit. "Ah, I remember you from over the phone. Sure sure." She opened a drawer and began rummaging through it.

Chris opened his mouth to speak but Aiden slapped a hand over it quickly.

The woman tossed a key over the desk before looking up. Aiden reached down and picked up the key at his feet. "You only get one so don't lose it."

He nodded and quickly took Chris up the stairs. Second floor. Room 2. He unlocked the door and walked in. Sure enough, it was the room with the broken window. A baseball was in the corner of the room. The apartment had an odd smell to it as well. Chris wrinkled his nose in disgust before pinching it closed and breathing through his mouth instead.

Aiden let go of Chris and set the bags down. He stretched after and rolled his shoulders. He wandered around the empty living room, taking notes of the various stains on the carpet-- wait was that blood?

He groaned in disgust and walked into the bedroom. It was just as trashed. Great. He took a deep breath which he regretted after.

"Bleh." He walked out and shut the door. 'Oh mom, are you seeing this shit?' He was looking at the ceiling. He then checked the bathroom but slammed the door shut immediately. He looked to the side, eyes wide. He didn't think roaches could get that big.

He laughed out loud, a true broken spirit in only a few minutes. Chris still stood at the door, sheepishly watching his brother lose it.

"Uhmm.." He had finally calmed down after a whole 10 minutes of laughing and dying inside. "So Chris... how about, we takeawalkintoaforestandnevercomeback?" He clasped his hands together and leaned to the side, looking at his little brother with an awkward smile.

"I have no idea what you said but I wanna go play with the kids outside," Chris said as various gunshots went off just outside. Aiden mentally screamed. "Not on your life." He replied right after. "Well I'm bored," Chris replied, glancing towards the window curiously.

"Go count the stains or something while I think about certain life choices. Stay away from the window." With a sigh, Chris walked off. Aiden started to sink to the floor but stopped halfway and stood back up.

"Don't touch anything either!" He called out.

"Alright Aiden, let's get a game plan going. Cheap apartments are definitely NOT the way to go." He rubbed his temples and thought a bit. 'Job, school for both of us, maybe just Chris...'

Chris came out of the bedroom a few moments later, seeming confused. "Brother, some smelly guy with a bag over his head is in the closet sleeping." Aiden looked over his shoulder at him. He walked past his younger brother and into the bedroom. Upon going into the closet, he saw a swarm of flies around the body.

That was it.

Moments later the two were back in the lobby. Aiden was disgusted and furious. The lady looked at him as if she didn't see the problem when he tried to explain. "Well, You aren't getting any money back if you leave now, so wither suck it up or move along."

"But there was a dead body for heck's sake!" Aiden shouted, censoring himself for Chris.

In the end, they stood on the street with their belongings in tow. "What now brother?" Chris asked, glancing back at the building. Aiden seethed but took a deep breath. "Find some other place to stay I suppose." With that, the two started walking until they were out of the worst part of town ever.

Chris smiled as a certain boy caught his eye. He bolted full speed, leaving Aiden behind as he wasn't holding the harness. He ran after him, but not before Chris was in the boy's face. "I saw a dead body!" He shouted, startling the gloomy boy who fell backward.

"My name is Chris, what's yours?" He giggled, holding out a hand for the boy to take. He didn't however, standing up on his own. "Ted." He mumbled, taking a step back. Aiden caught up just as Ted's parents showed up. "Lil' potato! Time to go home." Ted ignored his mother, looking at Chris. "Where's the body? I wanna see."

Ted's father perked up. "Body you say? Was it fresh?" Ted's mother smacked his father on the arm, shooting him a side glare. She then looked at Aiden. "Right, you two were on the same plane as us. How fascinating we've bumped into one another again!" Aiden just gave a small nod, looking around. The woman tilted her head slightly, a gentle smile on her face.

"Pardon for being intrusive, but you look a little lost. Is this your first time here? The hotels are further behind us." Aiden's eyes fell back to her. "Well, there were some... complications, so we had to move out of our old place."

Her smile seemed to crinkle slightly. "You mean you moved here without finding a place first?" The teen lifted his hands defensively, shaking his head. !No, I did! But... the deal fell through, so now I'm looking for something else." The couple glanced at each other, both nodding to one another.

"You can stay with us, dear."

Aiden declined immediately. "I don't want to intrude. I'll figure something out." He half laughed, avoiding eye contact. "Nonsense! Come stay with us, until you get settled." The woman smiled sweetly, holding Aiden's hands in hers. Chris cheered as Aiden sighed. "I'll make sure to pay rent..." He mumbled. "Not necessary, just help out around the house a bit if you want."

"You'd really take complete strangers into your house?" Aiden asked skeptically. The woman nodded. "You two don't look like trouble."

---------------------

It was a nice house, Chris was already following Ted around, who seemed irritated. Aiden thanked the woman, who had introduced herself as Jane, and her husband, Michael. Aiden was shown the spare bedroom, which had a bed big enough to easily fit him, and Chris liked to move around a lot in his sleep.

"I honestly can't thank you enough for helping us out." Aiden smiled. Jane nodded and returned the smile. "Always a pleasure."

Aiden blinked a bit at her words. 'Always?'

"Do... do you do this kind of thing often..?" He asked carefully.

"Nope," Jane replied quickly. "I'll let you get settled in, Aiden was it?" He nodded slowly and watched as the couple walked away. He kind of had a bad feeling but he supposed it could wait. He walked into the room and set the backpacks on the bed. "Is this our new home?" Chris asked from behind him, sheepishly looking around the neat but bland room.

"Well, not forever, no. But don't worry." Aiden replied, turning around and patting his brother on the head. Chris just nodded, wandering about the room. "I thought you were following Ted around, what happened?"

"He tripped me and ran into his room."

"I see. Well I'll go check if I can help out hosts out in any way." He suddenly looked at the door, having sworn he saw Ted out of the corner of his eye.

He shrugged and walked out of the room, looking for Jane. He found her in the kitchen, slicing a watermelon. "Um, thank you for letting us stay, ma'am."

"You can just call me Jane, dear. And it's no problem at all." Aided nodded, looking around. "If you really want to help, can you put these watermelon slices in the fridge for me?" Jane asked as if reading his mind.

"Yes, of course!" He responded quickly, a bit startled.