Wicked Love | √

Eighteen

THE end of October is drawing closer and as I walk through campus I tighten the belt around my waist of my Burberry trench coat.

The campus feels different in the crisp fall air. It's quieter. More focused. The quad is no longer filled with students hanging out and studying or playing a game of pick up. It's practically empty as leaves dance in the wind over the browning grass.

I'm on my way to the library to study before class when I spot my brother across the way. His head is down and he's walking with wary determination as he speeds past students who part for him with wide eyes and not so quiet whispers. He's not an heir but he's the only outside person attached to them, which means the rumor mill runs just as wildly around him. My brother looks intense but I can see the way his eyes flicker around as if he's worried someone is following him...or after him.

I find myself scanning the campus as unease churns within me making nerves scatter down my suddenly stiff spine. I shift without thought and place myself in front of him so he has to pass by me. See me. Acknowledge me even in the slightest.

"Hello," I drag out the word seeing he's going to try and ignore me and walk right by without saying a word. As if I don't exist. As if I don't stupidly still care. But he isn't getting away that easy. Not like last time.

The time I found the note. I still have it in my room and my heart begins to beat quickly in panic just at the thought of it.

Aiden stuffs his hands into his leather bomber jacket as he finally raises his gaze to meet mine. "Hi." His face is hard. His green eyes that match mine have a shield up refusing to let me in.

"Are you doing okay?" I ask him wanting to know the truth even though I know he won't tell me. He hasn't since we were young. He hides everything from me, but especially his emotions and his friends.

His lips press into a thin line as his eyes regard me coldly. "I'm fine, why?"

My shoulders lift as I attempt to keep my face as neutral as possible in the face of his icy dismissal of me. "You just seem different lately," I say, wanting to share more. Wanting him to share more with me.

But both of us are fucked up products of our lives from thus far, which means neither of us are going to give in and open up. Neither of us are going to show weakness. We were taught better than that.

"I'm just busy James. I don't have time to talk," he sneers at the word as if I'm being childish even though I'm the older one here. It makes my heart clench and all my walls I've built up harden to steel. Reinforcing themselves against the world around me.

I shift onto the heels of my boots uncomfortably. "I get it. But I'm always here for you. No matter what," I swear to him but my voice doesn't come out as strong as I want. It's a whisper in the wind. But my quietness isn't frailty. It's honestly.

Aiden pauses to look at me. Really look at me. Not ignoring me. Or pushing me away. His eyes slowly flicker with emotion instead of the harsh exterior he's been wearing lately.

He nods once. "Thanks," he says. It's simple, but it feels earnest and it makes my lips lift with a small smile. It's barely there, but it feels good for even the smallest of moments to have my brother. Even if it's not real I can at least pretend. "Did you have fun at the bonfire?" His question catches me off guard, but for the first time in a long time my brother asked me a question about me and my life. Not trying to get a reaction out of me. Not trying to goad me after a fight with our father. Just about me, and warmth floods my limbs.

"Did Everett tell you?" I ask with a roll of my eyes, but it's lighter than usual. "But I did have lots of fun just so you know. It was the perfect girls night," I tell him with a triumphant smile lifting my lips.