Chapter Text
Aiden bounced as he walked next to Ben, easily keeping a one-way conversation as they made their way down the street towards the café their group was meeting at. It wasn’t completely one way, by now Aiden was able to make out all Ben’s tells and learnt some simple sign language they could talk through. He liked to say he was fluent in Ben-guage. As he talked, he was mostly met with nods and hums, which may scream uninterested if it were anyone else, but he knew Ben was listening intently no matter how much Aiden rambled.
As they walked past numerous shops, a strange feeling began blooming in Aiden’s chest. It was almost as if his body was trying to tell him something. He felt worried, which was weird because he was excited. He had just been talking about how excited he was to see Ashlyn- and the others too of course. This kept him on his toes as they kept walking and he slowly fell silent, making Ben look over in concern. Aiden shook his head, which translated to, ‘I’m fine, don’t worry’.
It wasn’t until they walked past a dark alley that Aiden saw something in the corner of his eye. At first, he ignored it. But he couldn’t help but keep looking back over towards it as they walked, the feeling in his stomach becoming deeper. It was then he heard a strained sound come from behind. He stopped. “Stay here,” he instructed Ben before running off.
As he jogged back over to the sketchy alleyway, he couldn’t help but think if that was what a gut instinct felt like. He slowed before peering around the wall, making sure he stayed hidden until he observed the scene. His eyes widened as on the ground he saw Logan, lying on his stomach with an arm in front of him. His nose was bleeding and possibly broken, and his glasses were in shards a few feet away from him.
Aiden’s heart ached as he saw the sight, and his first instinct was to rush in and help Logan. That was until he heard a voice that definitely wasn’t Logan’s. He watched as Logan turned to face the owner of the voice, resting backwards on his elbows. As the voice owner moved closer to Logan, into the light, Aiden made out the familiar face of Barron, and was further displeased when he saw his two friends standing behind him, sneering.
As Barron moved closer to Logan with a sadistic grin, Aiden knew he had to do something before the situation got worse. He felt a sense of protectiveness over Logan; something he hasn’t quite felt before unless it was for Ben. It came naturally when it came to Ben, he was like a brother to Aiden. A brother he never had and the one he always wanted. They may have been complete opposites but that’s what made them get along so well. Aiden talked while Ben listened. And the times Ben needed his own space, Aiden happily amused himself with the bits-and-bobs in his bedroom.
But now that he had friends. Real friends- not ones that he would leave in a matter of weeks, he was learning what it truly was to have friends. To have people you know wouldn’t leave you for someone better. To have people to be able to depend on. And also, the instinct to protect. Anger ran through his veins, but he kept a calm demeanour and tight smile as he walked into the scene.
His appearance immediately drew the attention of the group, his arms crossed as he stood behind Logan. He looked down to his friend who shook his head with his eyes wide, mouthing ‘please leave’. Aiden raised an eyebrow at him before looking straight at Barron. As if he was going to leave Logan to be this guy’s punching bag; they were past this.
“C’mon Logan, let’s go,” he demanded, helping Logan up by his arm. Logan stumbled into him slightly as he got up, and Aiden realised he wouldn’t be able to see clearly without his glasses… that were currently in shards. He wrapped his arm around Logan’s shoulder and turned to leave.
He was stupid to think that that was going to be the end of it.
“Not so fast.”
Suddenly Logan was ripped from his side, and he was thrown to the floor. He winced as he hit the rough gravel, opening his eyes to see Barron hovering over him. “Didn’t you learn last time?” Aiden retorted, pushing himself up from the ground only to get punched in the face, sending back down.
“I don’t see the rest of your little friends around here, do you? I’ve got the two weakest in the palm of my hand,” he grinned, voice sharp and spiteful, crouching down in front of Aiden.
As Barron talked, Aiden’s eyes searched for Logan, relieved when he saw him sitting against the wall holding his nose, but otherwise fine and left alone. All the attention was on him. He scanned around the alleyway and noticed the two goons hovering in the dark corner, waiting for if they needed to step in… or escape. This was so not going to end well, but Aiden knew that he had to keep the attention on him and off Logan. Maybe even giving him the chance to escape.
As his eyes drew back to Barron, he flinched, suddenly realising how much closer he had gotten in the few seconds Aiden was looking away. He could feel his breath on his neck. It was hot and made Aiden tense. He felt trapped. Aiden took a deep breath and closed his eyes; he needed to use the combat skills he had been learning with Ashlyn’s parents.
His eyes opened to meet the eyes before him, and he smirked. This was going to be fun. “Yeah… I don’t think so,” Aiden replied before using his legs to wrap around Barron’s waist. This manoeuvre wasn’t necessarily one he was strong with, but seemed to do the trick, nonetheless. Within a moment, Aiden had the upper hand. His body was pressing down on Barron’s stomach as he hit his head on the concrete. The man scowled. The scowl slowly turning into a grin as his eyes wondered behind Aiden.
Before Aiden could see what was behind him, he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and flung right of the narrow alleyway and into a wall. As his eyes opened, he felt his head begin to ache from the harsh impact. But that didn’t stop him. He quickly got to his feet, and it wasn’t long until the fight was between himself and three other guys. Aiden’s smile never dulled, in fact, it got bigger. It was the perfect time to try out some different skills and techniques he learnt.
He wiped the blood from his mouth before motioning for them to come at him. The first guy came from his left with a punch that Aiden easily blocked, twisting his arm back. Just like that, Aiden was in the middle of a possible blood bath. As attacks were sent to his body by Barron’s two friends, he blocked and dodged every single one, narrowly avoiding every punch sent towards his head or stomach. He even managed to land a few of his own.
His heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing was erratic. Still, he fought hard and skilfully. He had trained his endurance with Ashlyn’s parents, making him last longer without becoming weak and/or tired in a fight. Aiden was becoming more and more confident by the minute that he and Logan would make it out okay… or at least mostly.
In the midst of fighting guy one and two, Aiden came to the realisation he hadn’t been paying attention to Barron. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as a familiar breath landed on his neck. Not even a second later, a sharp object entered his side, delivering a bursting pain that made Aiden gasp. It was then quickly and messily removed from his side.
“AIDEN!”
He heard someone, he assumed Logan, scream his name. He stumbled slightly to the left, his feet becoming unsteady beneath him. A hand instinctively went to cover his side, and as Aiden peered down, he saw nothing but blood. It covered his hand and dripped onto the floor.
Aiden’s heart pounded against his chest as he gritted his teeth, arm falling to his side as he looked Barron dead in the eye. Aiden laughed. He laughed, a wide smile pulling at his lips. He laughed again. And again. And again. It seemed to take everyone by surprise by the way they looked at each other. Aiden wasn’t sure if he was becoming delirious, but he did know one thing, he was mad.
His laughter suddenly came to a stop, so did his smile. The pain from his side was nothing but a faint ache. Unexpectedly, he ran towards Barron and shoved him to the ground, delivering hits to his face until he was unresponsive. There was blood everywhere, and Aiden couldn’t tell whether it was from the man beneath him or himself. But he didn’t care.
His eyes held a dangerous look in them as he slowly drew his attention towards the two goons. He smiled before rising from the floor and moving slowly towards them. It didn’t take long for them to run away. Cowards, he thought. Aiden looked down towards Barron, his chest was still heaving, so he wasn’t dead to Aiden’s annoyance. Aiden spat on him before making his way towards where he assumed Logan was.
Or at least he tried.
As he moved, he stumbled. The pain from his wound began to flourish as the adrenaline wore off. The world began to tilt before him. Aiden staggered side-ways, his legs tripping beneath him. His eyelids felt heavy as he felt himself losing balance completely and falling backwards. He wasn’t aware enough to brace himself for impact, luckily, before he could hit the floor, strong arms grabbed and lowered him slowly to the ground.
That’s the last thing he felt before his world went dark.