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Gray: dude i thought you died...

Gray: you good?

Aiden: I might as well have

Aiden: I'm not one to ditch town *cough cough* but I'm highly considering it right now

thepoppykingston‌:

“But didn’t they hook up in the movie already? I rested my case there.” She gave a one-sided shrug and a nonchalant grin, thinking if she should hold such a long conversation about Disney shows. One would tell her to grow up, and that one would probably be her sister. “Normally I don’t, but call me a jack of all trades──” especially now that she had quite some free time in her hand that she didn’t know what to do with it. Poppy would hold onto anything that would keep her mind occupied. “Not to brag, but Poppies are one of the few flowers that grown on barren grounds.” She mentioned, picking from mind the stories her Pops told about the flower that grew after the war destruction. It wasn’t the reason why she was named after that flower, but it definitely felt cool when she heard about it ─ although, not a lot of people knew. “Mmmm, and preschoolers are like… full on sugar, so I guess you have to settle for what you get.”

“I mean he kissed her. I don’t think Disney would allow for them to be hooking up, but that is true. However, we don’t know if they’re still together. I mean people kiss and sometimes it might not mean anything for the other party,” he rebutted. “But you definitely are a jack of all trades. Who knows what other talents you might have up your sleeve. You’re probably a baby whisperer too or something. A baby cries, then it sees you, and it automatically cheers up,” he joked. “Oh wow, that’s actually a pretty cool fact. To be honest, I’m not very familiar with anything floral related, or even wedding dress related, as you could see,” he laughed. “Yeah, preschoolers are just cute, but extremely scary. They’re so fragile and small. I’m scared that I’ll just accidentally knock them all over or something.”

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Aiden: You won't believe what the fuck I've gone through the past couple of weeks dude

clairckim‌:

@wilmingtonstarters​

Knuckles rapped upon the door before she poked her head through with a large smile pressed to her lips. “We’re going out for lunch.” She spoke expectantly, as if the decision had already been made, when in fact, her presence was a surprise — no call or forewarning. Frankly, she was in the area and had just walked in like she owned the place, which was perhaps why no one had attempted to stop her. “I’ve decided you’ve worked hard enough and I’m starving. But if you need anymore convincing, I’m willing to pay for your meal.” Of course, next time she’d be certain that they got hers because as much as she worked — money wasn’t any reason to be a social worker. “Come on, grab your jacket. It’s nippy out there.”

The first week back at the school and Aiden was dreading it. Of course, he was met with a bunch of students not wanting to listen or begging him to allow them to turn in their assignments late. Although Aiden wanted to be a pushover, he couldn’t, and he told his students that they would still be docked points for any late assignments with no valid excuse. Aiden didn’t want to be there as much as those students, but it was his job and he had already spent his winter break doing a bunch of nothing anyway. He was surprised to see Claire at his job, not even sure she figured out where he worked or his classroom, but nothing was surprising to him anymore. His own half-brother came knocking on his door two weeks ago. Anything seemed possible at this point.

“You really don’t have to pay for my meal, Claire. I am fully capable of paying for my own. I appreciate you dragging me off campus for once though. The teachers’ break room is starting to become boring the longer I work here,” he admitted, feeling like those four walls were going to close in on him. Aiden grabbed his jacket and followed the brunette out the door. “So, what are you thinking for lunch?”

jamesoncastello‌:

    I’m mad at her, too. The words never made it out of Jaime’s throat. Giving Aiden that little peek into the troubles he endured as a kid, trying to grow up alone and neglected; all of it, the whole night so far… it had been enough to make Jaime wish he’d never spoken a word. Those pieces of himself were not offered up freely, they weren’t a sample to pick at and discard. 

   Which is how Jaime felt right then. 

   Discarded. 

   The worst part about it? Jaime was sickeningly aware that Aiden felt the exact same, by Priscilla, thrown aside like he never mattered. It was a shared bitterness, but one that neither of them could mend at the moment. Jaime was resilient. He never gave up. Nothing could sway him when he decided he wanted something, and oh, he wanted this. He wanted a brother, and if Aiden was his only shot? 

   “Well… I’m sticking around for awhile,” Jaime said finally, voice gruff, holding back emotion. It had been so apparent moments before, but now a door had closed. “She’s not my mother, she’s ours.” Though, at this point, after such a… polite but staggeringly painful motivational speech, Jaime was just as suspicious as Aiden had been about their actual relation. The two couldn’t be more different, that was obvious. The younger sibling could feel the anger beginning to surge, threatening to crack the cool, barely collected surface. He knew the consequences of losing his shit at that moment, especially when Aiden had been so- well, whatever. Jaime certainly wasn’t going to think of the word gracious, despite it’s accuracy. 

   It wasn’t a no. Aiden said process. But… he also asked a question, again, that Jaime did not want to answer. After spewing such intimate details of his own trauma, it felt wrong to bring up the whole super perfect step-dad who had ‘saved’ the family. Not that Jaime wanted anything to do with it, but… he could see how that would go over with Aiden, already feeling unwanted. “I’m a fuckin’ super spy, dude, what do you want me to say? Anyone can be found if they’re wanted enough.” Subtle dig, but intentional nonetheless. Jaime held Aiden’s gaze for a moment, secretly hoping the words sunk in. “See ya ‘round, brother.” 

Aiden tried to examine the other body’s language, wondering how weird it was for the other person as well. Aiden of course had to give the brunette credit for even willing to show up to someone’s door to announce that the two were half-siblings. He wasn’t going to admit it, but part of him felt slightly okay, to know that there was still family. Then the other part of him knew that it was different, to know that the two shared the same bloodline, but that was the extent of their relationship. Although Aiden and Grayson were only best friends, Aiden felt more of a sibling relationship toward his friend than he did to his stranger who just showed up a couple hours ago. 

Aiden didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t force the other to leave town. It wasn’t his right. He didn’t know if Jaime had just come to visit for a week or if Jaime had found a place to stay and was making a living for himself already in Wilmington. Aiden knew he was bound to run into the other sooner or later and part of him was nervous about that. If this was how their first interaction was going to be, he didn’t know how things would be down the line if the two bumped into each other again. Of course, Aiden would be cordial, but that was just something he knew he had to be. He felt obligated to be nice to this stranger.

Aiden didn’t know what to say every time that Jaime kept referring to Priscilla as their mother. “Look, I get that you’re trying to get me to acknowledge that we’re brothers, which I do. I acknowledge that we’re biological brothers, but your mother isn’t mine. My mother was the person who chose to keep me, to love me, to make me feel wanted every second of the day. Sure, she gave me half my DNA, but that’s the extent of my relationship to that woman, so please don’t say she’s our mother when I don’t even know anything about her except for her first name.” Aiden had never been curious enough like some other adoptees to try to find his biological family. He didn’t have a desire to after hearing about what Priscilla had done to him.

Aiden understood that Jaime wanted to find him, but he just wasn’t ready. It was a lot of information at once for the 27 year-old. Sure, of course, part of him wished he could invite Jaime inside so that the two could get to know each other, but this was just how Aiden dealt with things. He needed time. He didn’t want the situation to only get worse from here. “I highly doubt you’re a spy. I just want to know the answer to how you found me, but it’s obvious that you’re avoiding it so I don’t know why I’m going to keep pushing it. Like how I don’t know why you would push me to say that Priscilla is our mother,” he spat out, unsure of where that comment even came from. He didn’t want to feel the pain he was feeling, but how could he help it? “Bye,” Aiden muttered, giving Jaime one final look before walking back into his apartment, unsure of where he stood in his emotions.

THE END

carmenpts‌:

“That’s fair…” With his words, Carmen figured that he hadn’t grown up in Wilmington the way that she had. “Yes, born and raised.” She laughed. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t really see many of the people that I went to elementary school with either. Wilmington has a lot of new people, cause like half the people that used to live here tried and succeeded in getting out.” The brunette was supposed to have been one of those people, living somewhere like Los Angeles or New York but she simply could not do that to her grandfather. As he posed, Carmen raised the camera and took the picture. “Perfect.” She said, although considering that it was a film camera she would not know until it was developed. “Thanks for doing this, by the way. I know it isn’t the most normal thing to do. Or what you’d really want to be doing with your time.” 

“Oh, that’s awesome. I guess our perspectives are different. As you can probably tell, I’m not a native and I moved here when I was eighteen so Wilmington seemed fun and exciting and away from the tourists and advancement of technology and science in San Francisco. Wilmington just has more of a home feel to me,” he admitted, mainly because there was no home left for him in San Francisco, though it seemed that biological family would follow him to Wilmington somehow. Aiden released the smile, hoping that the photo turned out okay, but didn’t want to bother the photographer. “Thanks for asking me to take a photo. You didn’t bother me, don’t worry. Plus, I’m glad to be of help for someone. You better make sure to send me the photo when it’s printed or at least send me a print of the photo,” he joked. “Do you have any other hobbies?”