“It’s not a problem,” she says with a genuine smile.
Noah clears his throat. “Uh, I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would make things worse”—he shifts under everyone’s gaze—“but social media’s blowing up with people wanting to know if you killed Greg or not.”
Aiden exhales sharply and runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I know. Are you guys getting bombarded with questions?”
Everyone makes a noncommittal sound, trying to not make Aiden feel bad but basically confirming his question.
“I’ve just been telling everyone to go fuck themselves,” Julian asserts with a crooked smile.
Aiden breathes out a chuckle, but it’s obvious to everyone that it’s forced. For all his toughness and confidence, knowing that his situation is affecting the people around him bothers him.
Brian sits up straighter. “I have an idea. It’s winter break, you guys don’t have school. Why don’t you all take these two weeks to go away? It doesn’t even have to be far. Just get out of town to take your mind off of it and let this all cool down.”
We look at each other. Can we all just skip town and have fun together? Drama free?
Noah’s the first to speak. “If my mom doesn’t kill me I am so in!”
What seems like a collective sigh of relief escapes us as everyone jumps in, admitting that it’s a good idea. Even Aiden admits it would be good to get away from everything and let the twins have fun, if it doesn’t ruin everything with the social workers checking in with Brian.
Can I go, though? Even if I could convince my mom to let me go, I’d be around everyone 24/7. I’d have to be myself, sleeping pills and closet baseball bats and all. As I glance at Aiden, who looks like his mind is running a mile a minute, a swirl of guilt wraps around my heart and squeezes. I’ll be leaving everyone in just a few weeks. This is my last chance to be with them all, and I don’t think I can pass that up.
Brian claps his hands together once, a huge smile on his face. “Great. Any idea where you’d want to go? Break officially starts tomorrow, so you might be hard-pressed finding a place.”
“Torywood Springs.” Aiden speaks up before anyone can suggest anything else. “It’s a shore town about five hours away. It’ll be too cold to swim, but …”
“Actually, I think a friend from work has a vacation house there,” Brian says. “She’s in Australia right now, so she’s not using it. Let me make a phone call—she’ll probably even let you stay there for free.”
“Wow, that’d be great. Thanks, Dad,” Mason says as Brian stands up.
“It’s not a problem. You kids deserve a break from all of this. I’ll go make a call, and if your parents are all okay with it, you can probably leave as early as tomorrow.”
Brian exits the room, leaving everyone, including his wife, staring after him in admiration. He’s such a great man to have on our side, and it’s moments like these that make me miss my own father.
The oven timer goes off and Natalia runs back up the stairs, leaving everyone to talk excitedly about the trip. Charlotte’s even making a list of stuff we’ll need to bring and calculating how much supplies will cost.
“Actually,” I jump in, “I still have all the money Aiden gave me from winning the race against Ryan. We can use that for food and activities and stuff if we get the house for free.”
“What?” Aiden leans in, speaking in a low voice. “That money is for you to do whatever you want with.”
I meet his steady gaze. “What I want is to spend it on all of us.”
He studies me for a second longer before nodding and leaning back. This can be like a good-bye gift to them; maybe it’ll ease the guilt that’s gnawing at my chest, especially since I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to tell them that I can never see or hear from them again.
“I still can’t believe you gave her four thousand dollars! You never give me anything.” Noah glares at Aiden, then adds in a low tone, “Clearly you gotta be a pretty girl with a nice ass to get anything around here.”
My cheeks turn red but I still burst out laughing with everyone else, while Aiden shoots Noah a glare.
“You have a great ass, Noah,” Annalisa says matter-of-factly while munching on a potato wedge, making Julian look at her quizzically.
“Plus,” adds Mason, “last week Aiden got you an oil change and fixed your exhaust for free.”
“Four grand still would’ve been nice … at least a couple of burgers thrown my way,” Noah mutters while playing with the straw of his now-empty soda.
Charlotte looks up from the list that she’s making. “Hey, he’s technically buying you all kinds of food now for this trip. You can make all the burgers you want when we get there. Hey, do you think I got everything?” She tosses her list to me and I skim it over.
“Probably.” I nod admiringly and hand it back. Thank goodness for her organizational skills, because I didn’t even think about bringing half of the stuff she put on that list. Who thinks about bringing toilet paper? That stuff always just appears in my bathroom.
“Great news,” Brian says as he appears back in the basement. “Michelle said the house is all yours. You can meet the cleaning lady there tomorrow at three and she’ll let you in and show you where the spare keys are. It’s six bedrooms too.”
Everyone starts talking at once, and even the twins pop in to ask us if Santa will know that they’re there, and we assure them he will. I catch Aiden’s eye and smile when I notice the heaviness around his eyes has eased. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that I have to go, and all that’s left to do is somehow convince my mom.
It’s only eight by the time I walk in the house, and I find my mom on the couch in the family room, with a glass of wine and a book. We haven’t spoken since our fight this morning, and I hadn’t been planning on breaking my silent treatment anytime soon, but I guess now I need to.
“Can we talk?” I ask her, timidly walking into the room and stopping a few feet away from her.
She sits up and takes off her reading glasses. “Of course.”
I take a steady breath for confidence. What will I do if she says no? I don’t even know, but I do know that failure isn’t an option. “We want to go away for the two weeks of Christmas break. Torywood Springs—it’s not far from here. We have a house for free and it’s right on the beach and we have money for food and stuff and it’s break anyway and I’m all caught up on courses.” The words rush out together before I can stop myself.
She frowns. “Who’s we?”
I shift nervously. “Me, Aiden—”
“No.”
I’m taken aback. “What? Mom! You didn’t even let me finish!”
“You’re not going away to some random place with Aiden.”
I huff in annoyance, my tone clipped. “If you had let me finish, then you’d know that it’s not just me and Aiden. It’s me, Aiden, Anna, Chase, Julian, Char, Noah, Mason, and Aiden’s brothers, Jason and Jackson.”
She tilts her head slightly. “And where are you going?”
That’s not a straight up no. Hope builds up in my chest. “Mason’s dad’s friend has a beach house. She’s not there right now so we can use it for break. It’s only five hours away.”
One of her eyebrows draws up. “Mason’s dad set this all up?”
Mentally high-fiving myself for mentioning another adult’s involvement, I steam ahead. “Yeah. We’re all so stressed about”—I pause and pick my words carefully—“school. So Brian suggested we have some fun, and he set up the house for us.”
She takes a sip of her wine, studying me intensely. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. You’re not supposed to be getting close to people and now you want to live with them for two weeks?”
The hopefulness that was bubbling through me deflates. “We’re leaving anyway, might as well let me spend the little time I have left with them before I never see them again. Plus, it’s a completely random town, Tony won’t know I’m there.”
&nb
sp; She sighs and grows serious, setting her wine glass down. “I’ve been thinking about our conversation this morning. I really am trying my best here, Amelia. I know it must be hard for you to go through all of this, and I know that I’m hard on you. I want you to live your life but I just want you to be safe …” She trails off, thinking, and I don’t dare breathe. “You’ll need to check in every morning and night.”
“Ahh!” I squeal, not really believing that she’s agreeing. I wasn’t even completely sure that I wouldn’t have to sneak off.
“And you still have to be responsible. No getting drunk and posting on social media,” she continues, a small smile growing on her face.
I nod vigorously. “Yes, yes. Same rules, etcetera, etcetera. Thanks, Mom!”
I wrap my arms around her, and for the first time in what feels like forever, feel like our relationship isn’t past saving, that she really truly does want me to be happy, and is willing to compromise so that I don’t feel like I’m living out a jail sentence. For the first time in a long time, I feel like my mom gets it.
9
On Monday morning I wake up pretty early, excited about our trip. I do a quick workout then text Aiden, asking if he and the twins want to come by a bit earlier for pancakes. After I shower and get dressed, I smile at Aiden’s reply.
Trying to buy the twins’ happiness through fluffy, sugar-loaded clouds of joy? I always knew you were smart. Be there in 15
Just as I finish mixing the batter, the loud purr of an engine alerts me to Aiden’s arrival. Smiling, I rush to let them in before anyone rings the doorbell and wakes up my mom.
There are two adorable, mini-Aidens standing on my porch. They have some telling features that mark them apart, but I have difficulty remembering which features belong to which child. The difference between them and Aiden is striking. They’re so young and carefree, whereas you can tell that Aiden’s been forced to grow up, and has carried more than one type of burden for too long.
“Boys, where are your manners?” Aiden scolds them as he walks in and catches them throwing their shoes and jackets on the floor.
I close the door behind Aiden and tell the boys it’s okay, watching their faces turn bright red in the most adorable way.
Aiden wraps his arms around me and gives me a quick, chaste kiss that still manages to fry my brain and leave me smiling at him like an airhead.
“Ewwww!” The twins grimace at the same time.
Aiden chuckles and lets go of me. “Come on, boys. Go wash your hands so we can have breakfast.”
I point out the bathroom and as they walk away, the boy I now undoubtedly know is Jason mumbles to his brother, “Well, now we know why Aiden’s in such a good mood all the time.” I muffle a laugh but Aiden just smiles unabashedly.
After breakfast, Aiden grabs my giant, slightly overstuffed duffel bag from upstairs and shoves it in the trunk of the Challenger. I make coffee for my mom as a piece offering for when she wakes up, and we jump in the car, heading to the designated meeting spot.
We pull into Noah’s driveway, the first ones there. Charlotte opens the door for us, red faced and clearly embarrassed. I wonder what’s wrong with her. She closes the door behind us and as we walk in, I discover why she looked like that. She met Noah’s mom, Judy Adams.
“Noah, really. I’m just trying to help!” a motherly voice exclaims from the kitchen.
The three of us sit on the couch in the living room where we see Chase, who’s desperately trying not to laugh.
“Mom! You can’t just do that!” Noah argues, clearly annoyed.
“What’s going on?” I whisper to Charlotte when Noah’s agitated voice answers the question for me.
“You can’t just barge in my room and throw, like, a dozen different boxes of condoms at me!”
I slap my hands over my mouth so that a surprised laugh doesn’t escape. What did we just walk into?
“STDs are a thing, Noah! You’re going on vacation with your friends, you need to be safe,” Judy explains, and I’m so glad we got here in time for the entertainment.
“God, Mom! What is your deal? You’re so embarrassing!” Noah groans.
“I’m not ignorant, Noah. I know what goes on—”
“Jesus, Mom!” He cuts her off. “I don’t need my mommy buying me condoms! And eight boxes? Really? I’m going away for twelve days.”
“Well, I didn’t know which brand or size you—”
“This conversation is over! Canceled! I am officially canceling this conversation,” he states with finality.
My hands are still over my mouth, trapping the giggles just begging to escape. He storms out of the kitchen and into the living room so we can see him for the first time. He looks like he can’t decide whether to be extremely grossed out or super-annoyed and angry.
“Monkeys!” he exclaims, and the twins run and jump on him, tackling him to the ground. They fall to the floor in a laughing heap.
Judy walks into the room a few seconds later. “Oh, it’s so nice to see you, Aiden. I didn’t hear you come in.”
She’s a tiny woman. She must be a whole foot shorter than Noah. She has the same smiling, pale-green eyes as him, and the same bright, white smile. Her straight brown hair is cut just above her shoulders, and I’m struck that this is the woman Noah always describes. She doesn’t look scary in the least.
After Aiden says hi to her I introduce myself and we talk for a bit. She’s honestly one of the nicest women I’ve ever met, and it’s clear that Noah gets at least some of his sense of humor from her. When the doorbell rings again, I’m the one who goes to answer it. Julian, Mason, and Annalisa walk in, and before I can say anything, Annalisa hits me with the back of her hand.
“What the hell?!” she exclaims, narrowing her eyes at me.
“Ow!” I flinch away from her, even though the hit wasn’t hard.
“You and Aiden have been swapping spit this whole time and no one felt the need to tell me?!”
My face heats up. “It wasn’t this whole time, Anna.”
“If it makes you feel better, they didn’t tell anyone,” Noah offers, and I shoot him a look. Not helping, Noah.
After I promise that I’ll tell her everything once we get to the beach house, we say good-bye to Judy and head out the door, ready to embark on a five-hour drive to a place that will be our escape from all the drama.
Last night, Annalisa, Julian, Mason, and Charlotte went shopping for the trip, so most of the supplies are already loaded in the back of Julian’s pickup truck. We decided we’d all get the food together once we got there. Julian, Noah, and Aiden are the volunteer drivers, so everyone divides up into the three cars, and I end up riding shotgun in Aiden’s car, with the twins in the back.
About an hour and a half into our drive, Aiden shuts off the radio when another one of those annoying political ads runs. We play some road-trip games for a bit, but after a while the twins drift off. Aiden assures me it’s better they sleep for the five-hour drive than ask us if we’re there yet every five minutes.
We’re almost at the two hour mark when I realize I’ve screwed up.
“What’s wrong?” Aiden asks when he sees me frantically turning my purse inside out.
I look at him, prepared to lie, but then I remember I don’t have to. “I forgot my sleeping pills.” I sigh and throw my stuff back into my purse.
His gray eyes shift from the road to me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I took one last night then put the bottle on my nightstand so that I’d remember to pack it when I woke up this morning.” I sigh again, annoyed at my own dumbness. “Guess I’m not sleeping for two weeks.”
Aiden’s head tilts slightly, and I can tell that beautiful brain of his is trying to work out a solution. “Can you get them there? Or somewhere along the way?”
I lay my head back against the headrest in defeat. “Not the ones I like. I need a prescription, and I don’t have one.”
“Okay.”
Very ca
lmly, he signals to the right and pulls onto the gravel shoulder of the deserted country road, the two cars behind us following suit.
“What are you doing?” I ask as he takes off his seat belt and turns around to wake his brothers up.
“Fixing it.”
“What do you—”
“Are we finally there?!” I’m interrupted by Jason, who’s just woken up.
“Not yet, buddy,” Aiden tells him, getting out of the car and moving his seat up so Jason and Jackson can get out of the back. “Get your stuff and your brother, you guys are going to ride in Noah’s car the rest of the way.”
“Why?” Jackson asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“I forgot to do something at home. Either you guys spend an extra four hours in the car with us, on top of the remaining three, or you go ride with Uncle Noah.”
Jackson and Jason look at each other for a moment before practically jumping over each other trying to get out of the car.
“That’s what I thought.” Aiden chuckles and closes the car door behind them.
I undo my seat belt and get out of the car, turning to see Aiden walk to the back of the car.
“Aiden, we don’t need to turn back, really. It’s okay.” I don’t want him to think of me as some burden, making him waste all that extra gas and time because my dumb ass couldn’t even remember to grab the most essential part of my nightly routine.
Aiden shoots me a look that says, Don’t be ridiculous, which is one part disbelief, and one part annoyance. He opens the trunk and hands his brothers their bags, then closes it again.
“What’s going on?” Julian asks as he and Noah walk toward us, everyone else waiting patiently in their respective cars but looking at us curiously.
Noah notices that the twins are holding their bags. “What did you monkeys do? You annoyed Aiden so bad that he’s decided to leave you here, didn’t you?”
“We only annoyed him for the first hour!” Jason defends himself.
Noah shakes his head, almost disapprovingly. “Only an hour? Clearly I haven’t taught you well enough.”
Stay With Me (A Wattpad Novel) Page 10