Theory of relativity | Headcanon
In which Aaron and Dylan reunite after twelve years apart and realize they never really were.
It had been ten, no wait -- twelve years since he had seen him.
Everyone’s eyes were on the casket, but Aaron’s were on Dylan, and the crows feet at the corners of his eyes, the hair that was shorter than it ever had been in his life (or the part Aaron had been in it) and the tie that was most likely irritating the heck out of him. He had always looked nice in tux. Aaron felt his mother’s hand grip his shoulder, and his thoughts immediately jumped to how many hands she had shaken today, how many germs had she come into contact with, and that hangnail he had seen on her finger earlier, and he had to shrug her hand away before he lost it. He knew she wouldn’t be hurt though, she had long stopped trying to exorcize the crazy out of him, and then there was also the fact it was his wife’s funeral and she couldn’t exactly be upset at him, when he was the one meant to be upset today.
Emma had never wanted a big funeral, so Aaron had tried to keep the numbers to at least under fifty, but in the end he just couldn’t help it that so many people had loved her. He would know. She had been an easy person to fall in love with. Once the priest was finished and he had given Aaron a small and most likely understanding smile, Aaron had turned back away and started making his way through the crowd where he could escape from people’s germ filled hands that were bound to be anxious to shake his own and offer their deepest sympathies along with the contact. It was flu season after all.
In the end he hadn’t been quick enough and they had caught up to him.
With his hands in his pockets, Aaron allowed Bella to lean in and hug him, but his eyes could never seem to leave Dylan’s. Was he still worried that he was going to kiss Bella again? She stayed close, rambling off about how the kids -- he forgot there were kids now, wanted to express their condolences; which Aaron had thought was weird, because weren’t they only just three? But held his tongue, because he thought it was one of those things where someone was just trying to be empathic or something like that and he was meant to be equally nice back, even if his wife had just died and all. He kept looking over at Dylan, not really sure why, because he was positive he would have just ended up saying something really stupid anyway, but regardless wanting him to say something, anything anyway. He didn’t. Instead Bella said something about finally seeing this house he had built; not really, Emma had done most of the designing/building, and how she wouldn’t be surprised if he had installed some type of bunker in the back yard.
A Zombie Apocalypse was no joke, of course he had a bunker.
There was something about meeting him back there, before Bella was leaning in again (she still smelled exactly the same, and Aaron found himself wondering if Dylan did too) and reminding him she would see him again soon. He figured, she must have thought he was still just as fragile as he had been in high school, and maybe he was, but he didn’t like that she still thought she was the only one to keep him together anymore. He had found Emma to do that for him when she hadn’t been there and he was sure he would be able to find someone else to keep him together now that Emma wasn’t around anymore to do the job. He didn’t need Bella anymore.
Or so he told himself.
Aaron watched, just before he climbed back into his car, as Bella leaned against Dylan’s chest, while Dylan wiped back her hair and kissed her forehead. And honestly, he couldn’t decide who he was more jealous of.
---
Only fifteen minutes in, Aaron needed to get outside, his head was spinning, he had never had so many people in his house before. He had walked outside and let out a breath, his hands finding his hair and running through it once as he looked up at the sky and wondered if Emma was as concerned about their hardwood floors as he was right now.
“You actually got a bunker.”
Aaron spun around, his eyes widening as he looked over and took in the image of his best friend leaning against the tree outside, had he really just missed something?
“Uh-- We always said we would.” His hands found his pockets again, as he relaxed and he took step forward towards Dylan. “You look old.”
A laugh followed, a laugh that had been absent from Aaron’s ears for nearly twelve years now, and he couldn’t even tell why, but he wanted to step forward and hug him and never let go. Which wasn’t very Aaron-like at all, because it was completely impractical and besides he didn’t do physical contact much, but he couldn’t stop wanting to do it either.
“How are the kids?” Aaron remembered that ‘Socializing for Dummies’ book he had read one summer. Questions about kids and family were always a good start. But before Dylan could answer, or find his wallet where a stereotypical picture of Bella and his kids would certainly be in, Aaron took another step forward, “Did you watch the Red Dwarf marathon last week?”
Of course he had.
The next thirty minutes, was spent going over The Cat and his color coordinated internal organs, and Aaron loved it so much, that he didn’t even mind when Dylan started talking about Bella, or the kids, or the labradoodle they named ‘Aaron’. He even talked about Emma and how he loved her because she reminded him of Dylan, just with breasts and a womb. He smiled, and Dylan smiled, and he leaned in closer.
He couldn’t tell how it had happened, or why exactly, but the space (that wasn’t really space, because there was oxygen, and there nitrogen, and there was--) had closed and Aaron was kissing his best friend, or his best friend was kissing him and it was kind of something that made sense when it shouldn’t. Aaron had his hand tightly wrapped around Dylan’s tie; finally loosening it for him, and he could feel Dylan’s hand somewhere through his hair, and then they were both pulling away with exasperated breaths.
At first Aaron had thought, Dylan was going to be upset and walk away from him again, but when his eyes finally met Dylan’s he realized he was thinking the same thing he was; that he missed him.
“We should watch next week’s Firefly marathon together? I could drive up and meet the kids and--” And Bella’s voice made him spin around, she said something about James? Wanting to say goodnight to his dad and Dylan was shuffling away, but not before he turned around and left Aaron with a smile that he knew so well, his ‘not even a Russian invasion would stop me’ smile.
So Aaron was okay, with watching him talk on the phone with his kid, he was even okay watching Bella lean in and kiss his cheek, because deep down he knew Dylan loved him too. Even if they weren’t together the way he was with Bella, he loved him and that was all that had ever mattered.
Turning his face back up towards the sky, Aaron decided if Emma was watching him now, she would have been happy, because for the first time he wasn’t overanalyzing a single thing. For the first time, in a long time, everything made sense.