I Think He Knows

𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘀 pt. 3

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞
☀︎︎

It struck me as odd when Aiden walked up to me with his lips pressed tightly together looking the most uncomfortable he had ever been but when he asked, "can I talk to you?" I became worried. This wasn't how our relationship was, we had never talked about anything privately since he had to babysit me when I was five so a part of me was concerned while a small part of me was excited.

Growing up with an older brother like Aiden was like living with your idol and never once getting close to him, no one could crack him really. The only emotions he had ever shown were anger and the only time I had seen him cry was at Olive's funeral. I still remember how he couldn't breathe from how hard he was crying. I think that was how Aiden lived his whole life though, holding back everything he felt until it all comes out at once.

I wasn't sure how he dealt with his divorce by himself other than becoming defensive as soon as it's brought up, I briefly wondered if today I'd find out. In a selfish way, I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to give my big brother a real hug that fixed all of the unspoken wounds between us. "Yes of course," I said with an assuring smile. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me away from Asher in the kitchen, his amber eyes wide as I left him alone with my family clearly panicking.

Aiden led me all the way to his room and locked the door before sitting at his desk with a sigh. He ran his hands down his face before sighing again. "Was there something specific you wanted to discuss?" I wondered in a soft tone that inflicted a look of annoyance from him.

"Obviously," He scoffed. "How did you... You know," He waved his hand haphazardly around and my brows furrowed with confusion because I had know idea what I was supposed to know.

"No... I don't know."

"How did you know that you," He groaned as if this question was a vomit he'd rather not let out. "Like other people."

"Oh," I said in realization. He just wants tips on moving on. I took a step towards his bed before settling onto the mattress, grabbing a pillow, and placing it in my lap with a shrug. "I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask about this since what I did wasn't the healthiest way to move one from someone but... I hooked up with someone else I guess and it just sort of happened."

He stared at me for a moment without a word, a line formed between his brows from the tension that grew within him and I couldn't tell what part of my words bothered him. "What happened to you?" He snapped and my brows rose in surprise. "Mason we get it, you were a virgin for a long time but just because you are having sex doesn't mean that's all you have to talk about now. God, I can't believe you became such a perve-"

"I-" I stopped for a moment shaking my head in complete perplexity by this wild accusation. I didn't want to bring up my sex life with anyone who wasn't the one person I was having sex with but he wanted to know how I moved on and that was what happened. I couldn't just make up another story when that was exactly what happened. "You asked me how to move on and that's how I did!"

Before he could say anything I added in a mumbling tone, "and I was a virgin for nineteen years which is a very normal amount of time."

"There you go again about your fucking sex life," He said. "And I didn't ask you how to move on from someone Mason. I asked how did you know you liked other people."

I couldn't for the life of me understand what  else other people meant because the other explanation made absolutely no sense. "Aiden I'm not sure what you mean," I told him.