Close Behind || Aaron Minyard

34

The next morning Naomi wakes up not in her bed with a wall behind her but on a couch with her brother pressed against her.

It feels so much like old times she almost chokes.

Naomi can't pull herself together yet and by the looks of it Neil doesn't want to, one of those is easier to get over though so he sighs and slips away through the apartment.

She falls back against the couch and forces herself to breathe again. All she can think of is the impending consequences with Kevin, the questions Andrew may ask her.

For a second she forgets that apparently Neil has told Andrew something she didn't know about.

Maybe it's hypocritical seeing as she mostly told the truth to Aaron about how their mother died but if it's something to do with their father it's another issue.

The Butcher of Baltimore is alive and has been looking for them for nearly a decade. It's one thing to talk about Mary, admit she's dead at the least, but it's another thing to give something that close to who they are supposed to be.

Naomi wouldn't have given that to Aaron. Even if she wanted to. She wouldn't have put him in danger that way. It's sort of selfish to her.

She pushes herself up because she can't put off the day any longer and wanders her way towards Wymacks kitchen where he's with Neil.

"He says you're a pathological liar," Wymack is telling him. "I'm starting to believe it."

"It's what I was raised to be," Neil says simply.

"Attempt to tell the truth at least once," Wymack tells him. "Tell me why someone who came here early to get away from his parents and flinched away from me can go so far out of his way to provoke someone like Riko Moriyama. I would have thought you'd have better survival instincts."

She sees for a few seconds as Neil seems to stall mentally so Naomi sighs and leans against the door. It seems it's up to her again. "Riko is our age. If you knew our parents you'd understand the fear of men our father's age. It's instinctive to react."

"You're real pieces of work, you know that?" Wymack asks, he'd turned around to listen to her half truths. "Your parents must really be something."

"So must yours if you spend so much time on all of us," Neil says with a shrug.

"They were," Wymack agrees.

"Are they both dead?" Naomi asks outright.

"Mom OD'd nearly ten years ago and my dad lost a prison fight the year I started at Palmetto. I hadn't spoken to either of them since I left D.C."

"You lived in D.C.?" Naomi asks, her eyes flickering over to Neil's in a panic.

"Interesting that's the part you're hung up on."

"We were born in Alexandria, our mother worked in D.C. for a while," Neil lies easily. It's funny how quickly they can flip. "It's just funny you started there, too. Sometimes the world feels so big but it's so small really."

"Big or small," Wymack says. "Just remember neither of you are alone in it. You have your team. They're here any time you need them but your actions have consequences. The more you antagonize Riko, the harder it'll be for them."

"Like with Seth," Neil says.

"We know," Naomi adds, trying to pull attention away from what he's just said. She doesn't want to go into this ever but her brother opened his big mouth.

It doesn't work. Wymack stares between the two of them for a long second. "The fuck did you just say?"

"He just means it's convenient timing," Naomi says urgently. "He insults Riko, says our small size is an advantage, then hours later Seth is dead and Neil is on the starting line."