jamesoncastello:
aidenjcarter
How the tables have turned that now Aiden was the one looking for his brother in town. Of course, he wasn’t a spy and it was pretty easy to find Jameson. To be honest, he wasn’t ready for another confrontation. One was more than enough for Aiden’s lifetime. He wasn’t exactly one to confront people and he didn’t see this as a confrontation. He saw it as an olive branch, a peace offering. He hoped that seeing his half-brother in the flesh once again would bring up different feelings rather than feelings of hurt and anger.
“No, I don’t do tattoos, I think you took all those genes,” he said, making a joke, hoping that this would lighten up the mood. “I just - I wanted to talk. Is there any way we could step outside or something?” Aiden walked outside, finding a bench and just sat down on it. He was hoping that this conversation wouldn’t be heard by all of Jameson’s coworkers. Having a deep conversation in public wasn’t Aiden’s forte, but there wasn’t many places he could go to.
“I - I apologize for how I reacted when you came to see me. Truth be told, I grew up a lone wolf. You already know the whole deal with my parents and stuff. I kind of never knew what it was like to have family up until I moved here. I guess it’s different, having a chosen family versus having a family you can’t pick. What I’m saying is that, it was a lot for me to handle and I didn’t handle it in the best way possible,” he took a deep breath. “I know that we barely know each other besides both our shitty pasts and each other’s names. Shit, I don’t even know your last name. I figured you know mine since you came to spy on me or whatever.”
“It’s overwhelming, that’s for sure, when someone waltz into your life and make themselves known as your half-brother. I can’t say that we’re going to be best friends, but I’m willing to give you a shot of being my brother, whatever that entails.”
Nodding, Jaime grabbed his jacket from just inside his studio room, and joined Aiden right outside the doors, settling down next to him on the bench. His heart raced in his ears, but he kept his expression and demeanor calm. Jaime was good at hiding things when he wanted to - that sting of rejection still burned hot, making him quick not to trust Aiden or that this could end well at all. Absently, he picked at a hangnail, watching his hands for a moment as he allowed Aiden to speak first… waiting.
“I wasn’t spying on you,” Jaime quickly defended, though he could sort of understand why Aiden would feel that way. After all, here he was, living and working right there in his town, complete with friends and even a few sexual escapades under his belt. He’d been careful to stay out of Aiden’s way, mostly, but still — it must be weird having your surprise half-brother suddenly sharing the same city as you. “Just didn’t wanna give up.”
Aiden, in a way, had just agreed to give their odd relation a chance, and Jaime was surprised by that. He’d seemed so against it, against him, that Jaime had all but given up hope. For so long, he’d just wanted someone like a brother. Somehow, he’d ended up with a few people, surprisingly enough, in his life that could almost be molded after family; but Aiden was the real deal. Jaime wasn’t even sure what to say, exactly. Definitely not ‘thanks’.
“I don’t get the whole family thing either,” He admitted finally, looking up from his hands and fiddling to give Aiden a very guarded look. Sure, Jaime appreciated the olive branch, but he wasn’t going to tear down every carefully placed wall just yet. “Shit, you probably freak me out more than I do to you,” He added, genuinely believing it. Aiden looked… so well-off. Nothing like Jaime, who felt his life barely hang on by threads usually, and his alternative appearance spoke for himself. “We’re obviously not the same, at all. Maybe we won’t even like each other. I just think it’s worth a shot though, like you said. Maybe being brothers.”
How could Aiden expect for Jameson to say that he didn’t spy on him. “Look, I’m not here trying to start an argument of whether or not you spied on me, but if you think about it, you came from wherever you’re from to come find me. I guess spying is a harsh word, but it really is just - odd for me. I told you before, I just thought that my biological family didn’t care about me and I failed to realize that you were a product of my biological family, that you were now a part of my bloodline whether I had a say in it or not,” he sighed, trying to backtrack and explain himself. “You have a lot more resilience than I do,” Aiden complimented the other.
Was Aiden still hurt by the whole situation? Of course he was, but at the same time, how could he selfishly give up the opportunity to know what it feels like to have a sibling. Of course, he had his group of friends who were his chosen family, but this, this was different. He would be able to hear about his biological mother whom he had no recollection of, hearing about who she was as a person despite all the things that she had put the brothers through. He was greatful that Jameson was giving him a chance - hearing him out.
“My idea of a family shattered when I was a kid and I finally reached a point where I got to pick my own family, but it still always felt like something was missing - that there was a void in my heart,” Aiden openly admitted. Aiden took a sip of his water, coating his throat considering how dry it’s been getting since he first started talking. “There is no way. You look like you could beat up a bunch of people and I’d be the person getting beat up,” Aiden tried to joke. Of course, this was based off his judgment of how Jameson looked. He knew barely anything about the other’s personality. “We’ve both been through a lot of hardships and unfortunately, that’s a thing that others might not be able to relate to,” he sighed. “Look - I don’t need to like you to love you, okay?”