Mama's Boy

♊14♌

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The next Monday, Knox was holding a bouquet of flowers behind his back as he watched Aiden while standing in the doorway of the art studio. After spending almost the entire weekend painting in Elvis's basement, she was at the gallery earlier than usual due to a rush of inspiration that had yet to slip away. She was on a painting frenzy and had already reached her goal of twelve pieces, but she wanted to keep going in order to choose exactly which ones she wanted in the showcase. The particular piece she was working on at the moment was of a man sitting on a couch as he gazed out of a wall of windows at something that only he could see. The world around him was melting, half of his face was missing, but the man, seemingly calm and collected in a loud suit, sat just looking out of the window.

She looked so focused that Knox almost didn't want to disturb her. Though right at that moment, she paused and peered at her creation to see if she was missing something. Knox took that time to clear his throat. She was reluctant to turn away, but she did. His eyes brightened in surprise to see Knox standing there. He dutifully smiled at her and stepped closer so that he was looking down into her blue eyes.

"Good mornin', Aiden," he greeted.

"Hi, Reid." She noticed that his eyes were a bit sunken in and puffy as if he were sad or exhausted. Fighting the urge to reach out and hug him, she turned away to clean the brushes she'd used. "How was your weekend?" She asked over her shoulder.

"It was a'ight." He answered, turning his attention to the drying canvas. He studied it with gratitude. "I got to spend some time with my younger half before she went back home."

"Your little sister?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's sweet." She smiled, admiring how he cared for the little girl. It was clear to her that they had an amazing bond, one that she had never shared with her own sisters. She was close to Everett, but Everett was closer to Jenna. Aiden believed it was because she was the youngest of the three. Growing up, they had excluded her from so many parties, sleepovers, and other activities that Aiden became used to being alone while taking a greater interest in art. She remained voluntarily isolated until Elvis strutted into her life. With his feminine ways and atrocious relationship advice, he became more of a sisterly figure than Everett and Jenna ever was.

She huffed. And they wondered why she never told them anything...

"These are for you." She turned to see Knox with a nervous smile on his face and flowers in his hands. Aiden gasped and took the bouquet. There were white tulips and other flowers, orchids, with vivid blue and purple hues. The contrast of the white with the cool colors was beautiful and very nearly brought tears to her eyes. But instead of crying, she smiled big and looked up at Knox with elated eyes.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly.

Aiden wasn't even a flower type of girl; she didn't like the way they smelled and she hated watching them die, but she'd never actually received flowers from anyone before, not even on Valentine's Day. Being a hopeless romantic, it was something she'd always wanted, so she was bound to be happy with anyone who thought about her enough to buy them for her. Knox had done an amazing thing without even realizing it.

"They're so pretty! But what are they for?" She asked.

"I wanted to apologize, again, for what I did last week. I was completely out of line; what I did was disrespectful and it shouldn't have happened." He stepped closer. "I also wanted to thank you, for not reporting it or anything. You could've and honestly you should have, but you didn't, and I'm so grateful for that."