Teenage Baby

Bonus Chapter

Bonus Chapter:

Aaron slowly let the straightener his fingers gripped slide down along the length of the soft brown strand of Erika's hair; there was a low sizzle, and the wavy tuft caught between the heated edges of the tool was ironed down until it was left smooth and straight.

It had been several months now after Leo and Aaron had reunited, and things had been working out relatively well; Aaron's mom and step-dad had reached out to adopt Leo from the foster care system, which took lots of paperwork and time to happen. But it had. Now Leo lived with Aaron and his family, content with the presence of his brother that was enough to drown out the still-fresh unease of being around new people in a new place, yet again.

And now the boys and Erika had been invited over to a friend's birthday party which Leo's therapist had insisted he should try to attend; she'd explained how he needed to get used to such gatherings to help lift off the particular dislike he had for social events. So, they were all gathered at Erika's, where they'd all agreed to go to the party from, putting on the finishing touches before they'd leave.

"Here, I think they're done," Aaron mumbled as he plugged out the straightener after he'd been helping her work on the strands she couldn't reach. "Um... I'm not sure I did it right."

"No, you did great, thanks," Erika assured and turned to Aaron, her lips that were coated a soft pink curling up into a smile as she reached her hand to the back of his head and pulled him closer. "I love this, but I think we shouldn't with..."

"Uh, guys? Do you know how to tie a bow—"

Leo had absently walked in as he stared down confusedly at the strip of fabric that looked so insignificant and simple for it to have required such struggle just to tie into a bow around his neck; he'd tried so much but failed. He stopped in his tracks as soon as he took in Aaron and Erika, groaning to himself as he squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.

"Are you kidding me? Can you not do this when I'm around?"

Aaron and Erika had sprung back away from each other, both with a slight flush claiming their cheeks in a small, bashful splotch.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry," Aaron mumbled and hurried over to Leo, an embarrassed chuckle rumbling softly from his throat as he reached for the black strip of fabric and helped him tie it around his neck.

"Nah, it's okay. It's just that you and Erika could've been me and Carly." Leo scowled at the memory that invaded his mind. "But no. She had to kiss Freddie."

"Get over it, you'll find your special girl at one point," Aaron said with a playful smile as he gave Leo's shoulder a gentle pat. He turned back to Erika and gestured her over, watching as she stood, the silk of the creamy beige dress she wore rippling and flopping softly against her legs with each graceful step she took. "Should we go now?"

Erika opened her mouth to affirm, but her eyes set themselves on Leo; he looked he was just a thought away from turning back. "Uh, Leo, are you sure you want to to go? You don't have to if you don't want to. We can just cancel it and stay here."

Leo shook his head. "Honestly, no. I don't want to. But my therapist said it'll be good for me. Otherwise, I would've really liked to stay here and sleep."

"Don't worry, if it gets too overwhelming for you, we'll leave." Aaron looked at Leo and smiled; the curve of lips cradled within comforting assurance, and Leo nodded as he took it in, sighing nervously. "Now let's go."

*_*_*_*_*_*

It was odd how Aaron was almost suffering more so than Leo.