The way Aiden seemed aloof and skeptical of Will wasnāt simply because of the BC-BU rivalry. It was way more than that. Aiden knows his little brother better than anyone else. He knows Mack can be a little too much sometimes; too loving, too giving, too trusting.
So when Mack first introduced Will to him, Aiden sized the boy up. Aside from being the BC hockey player who scored four fucking goals against them at the Hockey East, he somehow managed to completely enrapture Mack on the very first day they met, and that unsettled Aiden.
There had to be a catch, right?
Because Mack is the 1OA. Heās undeniably going to be the Sharksā franchise player, the center, the superstar. So Will must want something else. The BC-BU rivalry runs deep, and Aiden knows just how much Mack hated the Eagles. He witnessed his brother cursing and slamming sticks in the locker room every single time BU got beaten by BC. Thereās no way Will didnāt hate them back. Aiden has spent his whole life watching people look at his little brother and see potential, talent, and fame before they ever see Mack himself. People gravitate toward him all the time because of who heās going to become.
So naturally, he was skeptical.
Aiden, the protective older brother, simply smiled stiffly when Will offered his hand for a handshake, his distrust so obvious that he was sure Will could feel it. Then he had to spend months listening to Mack ramble about Will, sometimes even more than he used to ramble about Sid, and there were days he wished he could cut his ears off.
Smitty brought me here. Smitty baked me this. Smitty was so nice. Smitty took me golfing the other day. Smitty, Smitty, Smitty.
At first, it was annoying. Then it became impossible to ignore that Mack sounded different whenever he talked about him. Despite the pressure of going pro, despite being only a teenager forced to carry the weight of an entire franchise on his back, Mack never seemed to break under it. Of course, he gets frustrated. Sad. Angry. Heās competitive and loves winning more than anything else. But there are moments when they talk over the phone after a tough loss and Mack simply shrugs it off. Says theyāll get it next time. That theyāll work harder. That itās okay. And then he says goodbye because he has plans with Will to try the new coffee shop two blocks down, that he can feel his brother smiling over the phone. It still surprises Aiden sometimes.
When Mack told them over family dinner that Will would be visiting Vancouver to train with him, he wasnāt even asking for permission for Will to stay with them. He was simply stating a fact. Of course Will would stay with them. Of course heād be welcomed into the house filled with years of their family's memories, milestones, and moments they keep closest to their hearts.
So when Will finally arrives, Aiden canāt help but observe.
The way RJās face lights up as he fist-bumps Will. The way Charlie smiles shyly when Will pats her shoulder. The way Rick and Robyn immediately pull him into a warm hug, welcoming him as if heād been there a hundred times before.
And then there's Mack.
Mack, who had been grinning since the moment he left for the airport to pick up Will, looks even happier now. His eyes never seem to leave Will as he watches him settle so naturally among the people Mack loves most. Aiden has seen Mack fall in love with many things in his life; hockey most of all, the thrill of winning, and the players whose posters once hung on his bedroom walls.
Heās never seen him look at someone quite like this.
So Aiden tries. Because if his little brother looks at someone like they hung the moon for him, then thatās got to mean something, right? After all, Aiden has known Mack his entire life. He knows his little brother doesnāt let people into his world so easily, not like this. If Will matters that much to Mack, then the least Aiden could do is try.
When he invites Will to his anniversary dinner with Acacia, he almost misses the surprise on his face. Will blinks at him for a moment before smiling and agreeing to come.
By the time dinner comes around, Aiden finds himself wondering why it took him so long to figure things out.
Mack orders Willās food before the poor guy can even open the menu, and somehow Will doesnāt seem to mind in the slightest. When Acacia laughs and asks if thatās normal, Will grins and explains that Mack is too indecisive to choose just one thing anyway and that heāll probably steal half of Willās food before the nightās over.
He watches his little brother ramble animatedly about training, the places they should to visit together, and honestly, the thing about Mack is that he never shuts up once heās excited about something. But Will listens to him with the patience of a saint, grinning the entire time.
And Mack looks so, so happy.
It sent an ache through Aidenās chest because he knows that the version of Mack sitting across from him, the one leaning into Willās side and laughing so freely, is his brother at his most unguarded form. The purest version of himself that he doesnāt always show the rest of the world.
He watches Will quietly take Mackās drink away after one too many glasses and whisper something that makes his brother laugh before nudging their shoulders together. Itās such a small gesture, but itās so familiar and natural that Aiden almost forgets theyāve only been in each other's lives for two years. The same duration he and his girlfriend have been together.
Later in the evening, Will offers to take pictures of him and Acacia, the same ones she eventually posts on Instagram, even adjusting the lighting and angles until sheās delighted with them. When she compliments him on it, Will laughs and says he has years of training from his sister, so heās basically a professional by now.
Somewhere between dessert and their conversations, Acacia and Will slip into easy banter despite having only met that day. The two of them hit it off almost immediately, joking like theyāve known each other for years. At some point during dinner, Aiden and Mack catch each otherās eyes while watching Will and Acacia laugh together. Their eyes meet across the table, and some quiet understanding passes between them.
Yeah. This is it.
Aiden finally gets it.
