𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜(𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚎)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢

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song of the chapter: daddy issues(remix) by the neighbourhood feat syd

"daddy stuck around but he wasn't present. cheated on your mom but she never left him. first i didn't get it, now i understand. he broke her heart, left money in her hands. so everything got paid for. she made sure you and your brother had way more than she ever had growing up. but when you told me the whole story i felt like throwing up."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

          Aaron and Adam were sitting on opposite corners of the room, both of them having asked to be alone. Both of them were staring at James, who was fast asleep.

         Eventually, I stood up and fled over to Aaron, sitting down next to him. I was nervous that he was upset with me.

"You should've told me," he whispered, staring at the wall in front of us.

"I wanted to," I repeated, inspecting his blank expression. He was quiet for a few seconds.

"You should've told me," he said again.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled with a sigh. "I am, okay?"

"How long have you known?" he wondered. I glanced down at my lap, guilt feeding at my stomach.

"The day we brought you back to Omega Point," I confessed.

"Jesus," he muttered. I nodded. "I have two brothers. And I almost killed one of them. I suppose I should've known. He can touch Juliette. He lives in the same sector. And his eyes have always been oddly familiar to me. I realize now that they're the shaped just like our father's. This is so unbearably inconvenient. I was prepared to hate him for the rest of my life."

"You don't hate him anymore?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.

"How can I hate his anger?" he asked. "When I know so well where it comes from?" I looked at him sadly. "I can imagine well the extend of his relationship with our father. And that he has managed to survive it at all, and with more humanity than I did? I cannot hate him. And I would be lying if I said I didn't admire him."

I stared at him, feeling my heart aching a bit. He did a better job than I did at hiding the damage our father did to us, but I knew it affected him greatly.

"Come on," Juliette breathed, taking Aaron's hand. "Let's go to bed."

          Aaron nodded, getting to his feet. He stopped and observed Adam. They stared at each other for a long time.

"Please excuse me," Aaron said.

          He crossed the room, going over to Adam. The two began to speak, and I watched as Aaron nodded and turned, leaving the room.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"I want one," Juliette gasped, staring at the guns with wide eyes. "Which one is the best one?" I picked up my own gun, finding her excitement amusing.

"You don't need a gun," Aaron pointed out. "You can certainly have one, but I don't think you need one."

"I want two," she decided with a nod.

"All right," he laughed, his dimples showing.

         Everyone else in the room seemed terrified, frozen in fear. I would've been lying if I said I wasn't also scared.

"What if he just bombs everyone again?" Ian quizzed. "Just like he did with Omega Point?"

"He won't," I promised, shaking my head.