The River Speaks

Chapter Twenty Two: Speech

Chapter Twenty Two: Speech

It was kind of difficult for me to watch Aiden beg his Mom to come with us to his Dad's house so he doesn't have to be alone with him and Olivia.
She flat out refused and said she wasn't going to see his Dad unless it was for the wedding.
She went to the hotel in her rental car and Aiden rented a car and we're sitting in the driveway of a very nice beach house.
"Lily, we should just go back to Boston. It's not like my sister actually wants me here-"
"You want a relationship with your sister, right?" I ask. "And your Dad?"
"Yes." He grumbles.
"Then suck it up." I unbuckle my seatbelt. "It's hot and I'm going inside."
I get out of the car and shut the door, pushing my sunglasses up on my head.
He gets out too, muttering cuss words as he stomps after me.
"Stop acting like a scolded child." I say to him. "You're going to be fine. I'll be with you the whole time. Besides, how do you know Olivia is here?"
"Because Olivia lives in San Francisco but the wedding is in Malibu. When she comes to Malibu, she stays with my Dad."
"Alright. Listen, if you're really uncomfortable, we can go to a hotel, but I'm not telling your Dad and sister that you were too afraid to go inside-"
He glares at me as he stomps up the steps to the front door.
Halfway there, I grab the back of his shirt to stop him.
"Wait." I say. He turns to me. "I'm saying this as your friend. You need to stop acting like that, okay? You have to act normal, okay? Act like how you act around me."
"Lily, I'm really nervous." He whispers.
"I know." I say. "You're going to be fine, okay?"
"Alright." He says. "Oh, at the wedding, don't be surprised if everybody judges me...and you for coming to the wedding with me. They kind of think I'm a bad person, so they're going to treat me like one."
With that, he makes his way up the rest of the stairs and rings the doorbell.
He shoves his hands in his pockets then, bouncing slightly, and then he shakes his head.
"It's not too late to run. Let's just-"
The door unlocks and a man with blue-grey eyes and dirty blonde hair opens the door. He's wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that this man is Aiden's father.
"Aiden." His Dad says. He steps forward to give him a guy hug.
"Hi Dad." Aiden says after they pull away.
"You look good. You got taller."
"Thanks. You look the same." Aiden replies. His Dad looks at me then. "Dad, this is my friend Lily. Lily, this is my Dad."
"It's nice to meet you, Lily. You can call me Michael." He shakes my hand and smiles and I can see where Aiden gets his looks.
"It's nice to meet you, too." I say.
"Well come inside. It's hot out here."
He opens the door wider and ushers us inside.
His house is nice with wood floors and white walls. There's a giant window with a view to the ocean.
"Olivia!" Michael yells.
There's a weird atmosphere here, almost like Aiden doesn't belong here.
They're acting like he's a son of their friend.
A blonde walks into the living room. She's beautiful with bright blue eyes and flowing blonde hair. She's wearing a red sundress.
"You guys are here." She says. She hugs Aiden awkwardly. "And you must be Lily." She says.
I nod, and she hugs me, too.
"Well Owen is sleeping right now so you guys can meet him later. I'm going to go in there, but my phone is charging on the counter." She points at Aiden. "If it goes missing, I know why."
What the actual fuck?

*****

Owen was nice to me. They all were really nice to me.
But I noticed and I know Aiden noticed, that they kept taking their stuff and hiding it, from something as small as a pen to something as big as their laptops. His Dad took the rack of car keys and locked it in his bedroom.
Aiden was talking for a while but I would watch his eyes wander around the room as they hid more and more stuff and he would slowly start saying less until he just sat on his phone and said nothing.
Right after dinner he said he was going to bed.
After only a half hour, I stand up.
"I'm going to bed. It was a long flight." I lie.
"Okay, see you in the morning." Michael says.
Aiden and I are sharing a room and my instincts are telling me that he's not sleeping.
I walk down the hall to our shared room and open the door, slipping inside.
His hair is damp from the shower he must have taken and he's laying in bed in sweatpants staring at the ceiling.
He isn't even using his phone.
Silently, I set my phone down and sit down on the bed.
"Please don't say anything." He whispers. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Aiden," I say softly.
"Please." He looks at me. "Don't."
"Okay." I drop it. "I'm going to take a shower."
He doesn't respond, so I drag my suitcase to the bathroom.