Three Alphas, Three Mates

Chapter 31 part 2 - How to Talk to Each Other

Author's Note (2/15/18) - This is the second half of Chapter 31. 31.1 will be posted on Sunday :D Have a great day. Thanks for reading and commenting, and enjoy the Olympics if that's your thing :D

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I roll down the car window, feeling a little too smug for my own good. I mean, it's not every day that I get Aiden to do, well, anything really.

I'd like to thank my mom and dad for raising me right, Michael for pushing me to be all that I could be in my moment of need, and Ethel for speaking the truth even when he might've died for it. He still might be killed by tomorrow.

I look up at Aiden through the window with a smile on my face, ready to receive my Grammy, but it doesn't look like that's the case. After my eyes adjust to the glaring sunlight, I see his eyes glaring at me. What's that look for?

"Get out of the car already," he says coldly.

Hmmm... I don't break eye contact with him as I press the button to lift the window back up. Yeah, nevermind. I don't wanna get into that right now.

"What are you doing?" He knocks again.

"I'll see you later, Aiden," I say as I shield my eyes from the sun. "Whenever you've cooled down." I say it as more of a joke, but the expression on his face is anything but.

I wish I meant that in a funny way, but I don't.

He looks genuinely... I don't know. I don't know how to describe it. Upset? Over it? Fed up? I guess I kind of forgot the whole "get off my hospital bed" thing I did an hour or two ago. Maybe now's not the time for jokes. I don't think it ever is with him. But what am I supposed to do with him glaring at me like that? He looks like he wants to kill me! Not literally, but still. It's not exactly a warm welcome.

I step out of the car before Michael can stop me. I ignore his warnings of "bad news" and "I thought it was Carson I had to worry about, but I've changed my mind." I put one foot down onto the concrete, then the other. Then I close the door behind me, slowly. I stand in front of Aiden, and I'm overwhelmed with that same awkwardness that can't seem to leave us.

It's like it's stuck in the air between us. Every time I sigh. Every time he breathes in and out only to do it again. It's in the tension every time our eyes accidentally meet, every movement of his body under that grey hoodie and my own beating heart. It's what makes the two steps between us feel like a cliffs edge instead of something so close I could almost touch it.

He's right there, and we've held each other before, so why does his body still feel like uncharted territory? Completely off limits? Untouchable despite the fact that it's his warmth I'm most familiar with?

With Axel I can just walk up to him and start talking. With Carson, he just gives me all the affection I could ever ask for (and then some...) without me ever having to ask for it. But Aiden...

What do I do an Aiden? Do I walk it lol? What's it's primary diet? Am I ready for this kind of responsibility?

I can't just hug him. I can't even talk to him, let alone physically move towards him and initiate full on frontal contact... right? I mean, it's Aiden. His number one rule is don't touch me or it's all your fault and blah blah blah encouraging behavior.

One part of me knows that it's just his defense mechanism. Just like Onai avoids main roads to stay away from people who are mean to him. And Axel lies to keep a false sense of security. And Carson constantly needs to be the center of attention or he feels unwanted. Even Michael feels the need to be in change and in control, so that he can protect all of us.