Aiden [Book Two]

33

"Make sure you lace those up properly," Grace instructed, leaning back through the kitchen doorway to watch her son as he prepared. "I don't want you tucking them in like you used to. You nearly broke your ankle last time!"

The woman didn't mean to nag, but she wanted her little boy to stay safe, and not repeat the accident he had back in Croydon when he was fourteen-years-old.

Snorting, the teenager nodded as he crouched down and tightened the bright white laces on his new running trainers.

He told his parents that buying a new pair wasn't necessary because he still had several old but decent pairs from before, but they insisted. They said it was motivational, and they wanted to support him.

When the bullying became so bad in Croydon, Aiden stopped running because he couldn't cope with being out in the world alone. It was too dangerous.

It took a lot to convince the orange-haired boy to run again.

After his admission to Nathan in the bathroom, the brunette became relentless with his questioning and interest. He wanted to know everything about the younger boy, like how far and long he could run.

The interest in his passions was to encourage the younger boy back into it.

Surprisingly, Aiden began preparing to start running again early that morning. He wanted to bite the bullet and finally go outside again. Alone.

It had taken a full hour to cover his face, pull out running bottoms and a t-shirt comfortable enough for running, and get his trainers on. Those mental barriers were the most difficult to break through.

Anxiety poured from the tiny boy who couldn't stop pacing the bedroom for a while, shaking his hands back and forth to prevent picking at the skin.

The whole time, Nathan sat on the bed, watching and waiting. Gauging the smaller boy's reaction to keep him from falling into an agonising pit of despair. He didn't want the teen to become distressed and frighten himself out of going.

Eventually, the couple moved downstairs, hanging around in the hallway, waiting to move to the next step. To pass through the threshold of the door and begin rebuilding.

Nathan said nothing as he sat partway up the stairs, watching Aiden zip up his thin jacket as his mother approached from the kitchen.

Things seemed better between them.

Grace struggled to accept what happened to her child and the sense of crushing failure that hung over them all. It was impossible to forget how he suffered, and that he couldn't speak until it was too late.

In return, the orange-haired boy couldn't manage the constant hen-pecking, the suffocation that came from managing his relationships and hiding the truth; it was too much.

Those conflicting emotions created tension between the mother and son duo. They loved each other. Both parents loved their child and he felt the same towards the adults, but the trauma made him lash out.

The violence burned into his heart made Aiden angry. But since the day of Miss Vance's visit, and the announcement that the thug had been arrested, the rift slowly began healing.

Little by little, they spent more time together again. Sitting around the table to share meals, engaging in mild talks that didn't cause concern, and eventually, they could share minor details.

Aiden could share minor details of what happened to him. The counselling and talking with Nathan opened up that avenue of conversation.

He wouldn't delve into great detail for many years because it was too much to manage, but now, sharing tiny bits of information to help the family grow was enough.