Adrian Moretti (theneedtofeed) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-07-16 02:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, aaron, aaron x adrian, adrian |
Who: Aaron & Adrian
Where: Seaview + on the road
When: Tuesday afternoon 12/26
Status: Complete
Adrian's car was a piece of shit and he'd known it when he bought it. There just weren't a whole lot of options available to a man with a limited amount of stolen cash. It had broken down twice now since he'd bought it but it had been minor shit he could fix himself. Breaking into other people's cars to steal parts was smarter than stealing a whole car and while he'd never been a mechanic he knew a thing or two about keeping a car running. Today it was the radiator and that was out of his league. At least he'd made it as far as the damn road into town so he wasn't in the middle of the woods, that made things just a little easier even if it stressed him out to leave the car out where anyone could see it.
Once upon a time he would have gotten it towed to the nearest repair shop and paid a mechanic to spruce it up but that was one of the downsides of living off the grid; he couldn't just call someone for help, it needed to be discreet. Of course Aaron knew he was alive and Aaron had worked as a mechanic so it was a logical next step to ask him for help. Logical didn't equal easy though and the walk to Caden Lucas's place was hard for a variety of reasons. At least it was a clear day and the roads had been cleared for the most part. There was still so much damn snow though and Adrian felt cold and miserable when he finally found his way into Seaview.
He had been here just a couple of days ago when he'd broken into his sister's place. Nobody was using it after she'd stabbed Aaron there so it was a perfect place to hunker down for the night, do some laundry and take a much needed shower. He might have even stayed there longer if the place didn't creep him out. There was still a bloodstain on the floor in the kitchen, faint like someone had unsuccessfully tried to clean it up but very present and he could smell it even when he wasn't in the room. There was a picture of him up too, a long since dead brother, and it filled him with guilt and discomfort he didn't know how to deal with. So he hadn't gone back there. He hadn't wanted to come to Seaview at all but here he was, hovering outside Aaron's window, peering in. Of course he was unlucky and Aaron wasn't in there but he could wait.
Aaron had been trying not to be quite such a useless piece of shit when he was home. He was still drinking here and there and probably taking too many pills, but it was still less, so that was better, right? Now that Mila was back, he wanted to be good enough for her, to be ready for when she was out of the hospital so he could go and support her and maybe help her parents with stuff. Doctor’s appointments and shit. Whatever they needed. He was trying to be more helpful to Caden and Roxy too, aware of just how much he owed them.
All that in mind, he was still sober by the time it was afternoon. He wasn’t in pain, but he wasn’t stoned out of his gourd either. He’d done the dishes and set some laundry to run while the house was empty. Those things done, he ambled back toward his bedroom, thinking about taking a shower before he called Mila to see how she was doing. He couldn’t be there as much as he wanted to be -- which was constantly -- but he could check in with her often, and he liked to do that. She seemed to enjoy hearing from him too, which always made Aaron happy. He flipped the lights on in his room and went to the dresser to grab some fresh boxers for when he was clean.
Adrian felt like he'd stood there forever and he was beginning to question why he didn't just knock on the door. Maybe Aaron had already told his brother about him maybe all this lurking around was pointless. He didn't have the chance to take that risk before the lights turned on and he sighed with some relief, rapping lightly on the window. When the curtain moved aside he gave Aaron a pained little smile and nodded toward the door.
Maybe it shouldn’t have, but the knock on the window startled Aaron. His body jerked and he hissed out a short string of curses as he shut his eyes and shook his head at himself. Had he always been this jumpy? Probably not. Getting stabbed twice by some demon possessing his girlfriend and then being sucker-tackled by her dead brother days later would do that to a person, Aaron guessed. He looked out the window and saw with almost no surprise that it was Adrian. Aaron nodded at the unspoken request and left his bedroom to go and open the door. “Nobody’s home but me,” he told the other man as he made room for Adrian to come inside. It was fucking cold out.
The one upside to this damn curse seemed to be that the cold didn't bother Adrian quite as much as it used to, or maybe all the torture shit he'd gone through had just toughened him up, he didn't know. It still bothered him, just not as much, and he huddled up a little as he stepped inside. It wasn't snowing today, small mercy and all, but his jeans were still wet from all the snow he'd trudged through and he really felt like the image of misery. Still, he knew he had nothing on Aaron. At least his own injuries were old. "My car broke down," he muttered, getting straight to the point. "I've been able to fix it so far but it's the radiator and I'm shit out of luck. You used to fix cars for a living." Did he need to ask or was it obvious what he wanted here? He used to be better at people, once upon a blue fucking moon.
Aaron’s brow furrowed at first, not putting the pieces together immediately, but then he realized that Adrian was asking for a favor. Cracked radiators were common this time of year, and depending on the make of the car, they weren’t too difficult to replace if you knew what you were doing, and Aaron did. But it was still kind of surreal and bizarre to be standing there being asked to fix a radiator by a man who tried to kill him a week ago. Life just kept getting fucking weirder. He gave Adrian an unsure stare for a few heartbeats, then nodded a bit. Mila would want him to help her brother. He’d saved her, after all, no matter what he’d done before that. “Where’d it die on you?” he asked.
"About a quarter mile out of town," Adrian said sheepishly. He didn't want anyone near his car and having to ask for help was hard, especially from a guy he'd nearly killed oh so recently. He liked to think they were okay now though, he'd had a good reason and he hadn't actually killed Aaron - instead he'd gone off and done terrible things to save Mila, but Aaron didn't need to know about that. He was just worried the car couldn't be fixed - or that it would be a big deal - and he was so utterly fucked without it. It'd be easier to disappear in some big city but he had promised Mila he wouldn't go away so he needed the damn car to work.
That meant Aaron would have to tow it in to be able to do any work on it. At least it wasn’t snowing out. And it was the day after Christmas, so the part stores should be open. He gave a little sigh and turned to head back toward his room. It made his neck tingle to turn his back on Adrian, but Aaron knew in his head there was no reason for Adrian to attack him again. “Hang on, lemme get my boots on,” he said over his shoulder. “I’ll ride out there with you and take a look.” He almost added ‘don’t touch anything,’ but that was probably unnecessary too.
Adrian didn't need to be told. He felt like being as small as possible right now, not wanting to be there, constantly worried that Caden Lucas or his girlfriend would come home and see him any minute now. He also didn't particularly look forward to sitting in a car with Aaron, wishing he could just meet him out by the car, but that wasn't an option. Even if he was starving enough to lose himself he wouldn't be able to outrun a vehicle. He shuffled awkwardly and stepped back to the door when Aaron looked ready to go, fully aware this was uncomfortable for both of them. "I didn't know where else to go," he mumbled and god damn it, Aaron had used to be a mechanic.
Aaron didn’t linger, though he knew that Caden and Roxy were at the bar and wouldn’t be home anytime soon. He just wanted to get this over with. So he pulled on his thick socks and boots and a hoodie to go under his heavier coat and emerged again. He pulled his coat down from the peg and slipped into it, keys in hand. “It’s fine man, not exactly walking weather this time of year,” he said, offering Adrian a small smile. It felt kind of strained. He knew that Adrian had been back to see Mila, so that meant Aaron didn’t have to kick his ass, but it was still weird to now be doing him a favor. Once they were both out the door, Aaron locked up and led the way to his truck, shivering a bit as he cranked the engine up. “Just uh, point me in the right direction.”
There was food in his backpack and Adrian wanted to eat it but it felt weird to do so in front of Aaron right now so he held back, ignoring that clawing emptiness inside of him. It hadn't been that long since he last ate, he could wait another half an hour. He dropped the bag on the floor at his feet once he was settled in the car, trying not to think about its contents too much and failing. "Oh. Uhm, just head on out of town," he muttered. "You can't miss it, it's sitting off the side of the road." Aaron's car smelled like him and like he'd had a meal or two in here, smell faint enough that not everyone might have picked up on it. Adrian did and it was probably just the strangeness of being inside someone else's car again but he picked up on a lot of detail in the truck, most of them useless to him. "Mila's looking better," he mumbled, the safest topic for him to dwell on, the one thing they seemed to have in common now. "I saw you brought her the narwhal, that was sweet." He cracked a small, crooked smile that faded just as quickly.
Right, he’d said as much already, hadn’t he? Aaron hadn’t started out bright, but all of the stress and depression and booze and pills were making him feel even stupider lately. At least when he was alone. He backed out of the drive and started down the road, turning the heat up as they went. It was cold, and he was just now realizing that Adrian had walked from wherever he’d broken down to Caden’s place. He would try to remember to give him his phone number, just in case something happened again. Or if they needed to talk about Mila or something. He nodded absently, thinking about how she’d clung to the stuffed narwhal before breaking down into a panic attack while talking to Amelia. She’d gotten over it, but it had still been upsetting for everyone. “She loves that thing, I took her some clothes and her own toothbrush and everything,” he said, glancing over at Adrian’s profile. He could see the family resemblance. “I’m glad you went to see her,” Aaron added, quieter. “She needs all the support she can get.”
Adrian nodded and swallowed thickly when he thought about the reasons why she needed all that support. She'd felt so frail and cold when he found her, bruised and battered and cold, like a tiny frozen bird. He didn't know where she'd been but it had been some cold and rough approximation of hell, he was sure. "I'm only staying 'cause I can't leave her," he admitted though he didn't want to get into why he wanted to leave in the first place. "I brought her a caramel macchiato from Joyland," he added then with a small smile. It was better than talking about where he had been or what had happened to Mila. "That was all she wanted, a fucking espresso. Said mom wouldn't let her have that much sugar." He had a feeling she hadn't even wanted it that badly but he'd brought it anyway and it had made him feel good doing that, such a small gesture and yet so human.
Aaron gave a fond chuckle through the sharp pang he suddenly felt in his chest. “Sounds right, she loves those things,” he said, his throat feeling a little thick. He wished she was there with him, both to dispel some of the awkwardness and so Aaron could hug her tight. Aaron was tempted to tell Adrian how much he loved Mila, how he wanted to marry her and that they were going to have a baby together, but it felt like too much of a blurt, so he held back on it and just drove in silence for a moment or two. That just made the questions start to weigh on his mind again, and he cleared his throat. “Has she, uh ... has she told you much? About where she was?” he asked hesitantly.
"She doesn't talk about it," Adrian said and they did have that in common, didn't they. He knew though, not the specifics but enough that he understood why she was so messed up. He'd watched two men fade into darkness, screaming for their lives and that was what had happened to Mila. Guilt rose up like bile in his throat and he looked out at all the snow, trying to swallow it down. "She was at the tunnel, like you said, but it was not here. It's as if there's a veil between- Like there's another layer of existence right below this one. That's where she was." He could smell her in there, hear people screaming and yet he'd been alone in that tunnel. This was the best way he could explain what he thought was going on.
What Adrian said confirmed what little Aaron had been able to piece together. Mila had been in the tunnel, but not. In some other dimension, like Amelia had been, but not that same place. It had been hell, wherever it actually was. He also wasn’t surprised to hear that Mila hadn’t talked about it to her brother yet. He was hoping she would be ready to open up to someone soon, if that would even help. Aaron wanted so badly for it to help. He chewed on that silently for another minute or two, then glanced over again. “When you got her out ... did you see ... anybody else nearby? Like ... a man?” he asked hesitantly. “White guy, real average looking?” He’d questioned himself a dozen times on whether the angel-demon named Westin had been real. The lack of a wound in his stomach said yes, but Aaron felt like things were so crazy, maybe he was wrong. He’d made a deal to free Mila, but if Westin hadn’t actually had anything to do with that, Aaron didn’t know what to think.
Adrian knew exactly who Aaron was talking about and a chill crawled up his back. He didn't want to talk about Westin to anyone because it was too intimately linked to what he had done to get Mila out. Westin had told him what he needed to do, to bring someone else, alive but bleeding. "There was nobody else there," he muttered and he wasn't technically lying. Westin had been there a couple of nights earlier, he was nowhere to be seen when Mila came out. "Did he have something to do with her going missing?" he asked since it was a logical thing to ask but it wasn't just to sound oblivious about the whole thing. Westin had known how to get her out, maybe he'd had a hand in putting her in there in the first place.
Aaron couldn’t tell if Adrian knew who he meant, if nobody had been there, nobody had been there. He didn’t know what that meant, if Westin had somehow made it possible for Adrian to get Mila out from behind the scenes, or if he actually had nothing to do with it. “No,” Aaron answered, flexing his hands on the steering wheel a bit. “He just ... I dunno what he was.” He wanted to confide in somebody about it, Aaron hadn’t tried to tell anyone yet. He’d tried to tell Caden about Adrian and his brother said he was crazy, so if he’d had an even more bizarre encounter, he knew nobody would believe him. The healing should’ve been convincing, but Aaron didn’t really know where to start. If anybody could believe him, maybe it would be Adrian, but Aaron didn’t know how much he could trust him.
"What do you mean?" Adrian asked softly and the fact he knew exactly what Aaron meant made him feel pretty shitty about asking. It hadn't really been a lie at first, just a small rearrangement of the truth, but now it was growing into an ugly one and he could already feel it biting him in the ass later. Westin definitely was a mystery and Adrian didn't know what he was either but he wanted more information before he confided anything in Aaron, he just hoped his tone invited the confidence because it did sound like Aaron wanted to talk about it.
Defensiveness rushed forward in Aaron, and he had to bite his tongue on blurting out that he wasn’t crazy, even though Adrian had said nothing of the sort. He licked his lips and didn’t say anything for another long pause, still driving them toward the road out of town. “You can’t tell Mila,” he murmured finally, glancing over at Adrian again. “I want your word. She’ll just worry too much, and you owe me for sending me back to the fucking hospital, asshole. Promise.” The words came out a bit more aggressive than he’d meant them too, and Aaron’s jaw flexed before he added a low, “Please.”
"You have my word," Adrian muttered, guilt slithering through him again and he squirmed a little in his seat before glancing at Aaron again. He'd gone back to the hospital? Adrian hadn't actually cut him but he'd smelled blood. Fuck. "Sorry," he added belatedly but he'd thought Aaron had murdered his little sister so Aaron really was lucky he was alive. He wouldn't tell Mila so Aaron could trust that at least, he didn't need his sister to be worrying about any more shit than she already was.
Aaron didn’t want an apology, he understood why Adrian had done it. He would’ve had knives to people’s throats too, thinking they’d done something to his sister. Or guns to their heads. He just wanted Adrian to know that he owed him. If the factor of wanting to protect Mila hadn’t been there, he might not have believed that promise, but if Adrian really had her best interests at heart, he knew that the last thing they needed to do was stress Mila out more. “I just ... woke up one night and he was in my room. This guy, totally average looking dude. He said he could help me get Mila back. This was like ... a day or two after you, I dunno anymore,” he muttered. “But to make me believe that he could ... he healed me. One of my stab wounds, the one I had to get re-stitched. It’s just gone.” A bit of awe had crept into Aaron’s tone, because how could he not be in awe over that? “He didn’t tell me how, but he said he could bring Mila home. And now she is, so ... I was just wondering if you saw him.”
Adrian was staring at Aaron openly now, not because he didn't believe him but because he did. If Westin knew things he shouldn't know and could heal people - what else could he do? There was a sickening hint of hope he didn't manage to smother quick enough and he curled his lip as he looked out the window again. It wasn't something he could hope for, a powerful witch hadn't been able to stop what was happening to him and at the price he'd had to pay for Mila, what kind of a cost would a cure come at for him? "He told me where to find her," he muttered. "His name is Westin. I don't know what he is." That was all he was willing to tell Aaron and it was still partially a lie. Westin hadn't told him where to find her, he'd told him how to get her out.
Aaron’s head snapped over to give Adrian a quick look. He did know who he’d been talking about. “Westin, yeah,” he said quickly, his brow flexing a bit. “When did you talk to him? Did he -- ... did he make you promise him a favor too?” It seemed like such a deal-with-the-devil scenario, it had nagged at the back of Aaron’s mind off and on. He’d mostly been preoccupied with Mila, of course, and drunk or high a lot of the time, but the worry was still there. Westin could come to cash in, and what would somebody like that possibly want? Especially from him? Aaron could see it more with Adrian -- he was willing to break into people’s houses and attack them, at the very least -- but what could Aaron give? “Was it him that got her out? Or did you do something?” He knew he was asking a lot of questions, but he couldn’t help it, he had so few answers.
It was too many questions, or really just uncomfortable questions and Adrian didn't answer, just stared at the snowy streets as they drove by. "I owe him a favor," he said quietly and really, what could Westin want that he hadn't already given? If there was a hell, Adrian was going there, it didn't really matter what he did from here on out. "I'm guessing you do too now." Was that even fair? Charging two people for the same thing? He didn't think someone - or something - like Westin gave a shit about fair.
The lack of thorough answers was frustrating, but Aaron knew it would be foolish to ask again. Adrian obviously wasn’t going to share details. His jaw flexed again and he let go of the wheel with one hand to rub at his eye. “Yeah,” he answered flatly. “I would do anything for her. So I promised a favor.” And if that was what had done it, Aaron would do it again. Anything Westin could ask for -- his life, his soul -- was worth rescuing Mila from that place. He was willing to bet that Adrian felt the same. So they had that binding them together.
Adrian looked at him again and since Aaron didn't press him for answers it felt safe to do so. "You're good to her," he said. "Good for her. I'm glad she's with you and not some asshole who doesn't deserve her." He'd often wondered what had happened to his little sister when he was away. Losing a loved one could fuck a person up but Mila hadn't thrown everything away like some people might have, he was proud of her and worried about her and seeing how much Aaron cared about her eased some of that worry a little.
Those words were unexpected, and pulled at something deep in Aaron’s chest. He’d been naturally over-emotional for the past few weeks, and it hadn’t let up much since Mila had been back. Hearing that, the kind of sentiment he’d needed to hear from a brother for so long, especially after all the guilt he’d been carrying on his shoulders, made his throat close up and his eyes prickle again. Granted, Adrian hadn’t been around for years, but it still meant a lot. Aaron cleared his throat and sat up a bit straighter, glancing over at his passenger very briefly. “I’m lucky she chose me, that’s all,” he murmured thickly, and left it at that.
Adrian looked away again because he didn't miss how Aaron was affected by the words and he knew he wouldn't want to be stared at if he was in his place. "Yeah well-" he started but left it at that, going quiet again for a beat, unsure how to conclude that sentence. "She can never know we did that," he said quietly. "Whatever Westin wants, she just, she can't handle that too." He knew Aaron knew it but it still felt necessary to make it clear, to come to an agreement that they'd both bear this burden alone.
Aaron was more than fine with a subject change. Expressing his feelings had never been a strong suit, especially to other men, for obvious reasons. He nodded solemnly. “Agreed. I’m not gonna tell her.” Aaron wasn’t sure how he would manage that if Westin came around wanting something big, but they would deal with that bridge when they came to it. They were getting closer to the edge of town, and Aaron marveled a little that Adrian had walked this far in the snow. Who the hell knew how he’d been surviving though, maybe it was no big deal. “I know you’re ... keepin’ a low profile and all,” he said. “So once Mila’s out of the hospital and back at your parents’ place ... maybe I can help you two see each other, you know? She doesn’t want to go back to Seaview and I don’t blame her, but I can take her out sometimes, meet you somewhere.”
Adrian had wondered how he was going to be able to visit Mila once she was out of the hospital. Their parents were already hard to dodge and they'd probably hover a lot more when Mila was staying with them. Aaron's words gave him a little hope and he cracked a small smile. "Yeah? I'd like that," he murmured, though it would still be a bit of a puzzle game since he didn't have a phone. They would figure it out. "I was kinda picturing sneaking in through the window late at night but mom would definitely wake up," he said with bitter sweet amusement. "That woman would wake up if a mouse got into the pantry." It had made being a teenager with a thirst for adventure really hard.
Aaron didn’t even think about Adrian not having a phone, because everybody had a phone, right? At least a prepaid burner type deal. But he knew that seeing Adrian more would make Mila happy, and he would go to any lengths to make her happy, especially now. She needed as much love around her as she could get, even if it came from her weird undead brother. So Aaron would help make it happen if he could. “You and your windows,” he said with a chuckle. “Sneaking into your parents’ house in the middle of the night is all ass-backwards.” The two of them hadn’t really been friends growing up, even though they’d been neighbors, but if Adrian had been anything like him, sneaking out had been the goal. Aaron turned onto the road that led out of town and started looking for Adrian’s car.
"Yeah it is," Adrian said and the smile came easier this time because it was funny - even if it was also a little sad. "Unless you already snuck out, then you have to be just as sneaky getting back in." He'd gotten into trouble plenty of times as a teenager but his parents had never been as strict with him as they had been with Mila and he'd heard plenty about how unfair that was growing up. "There it is," he murmured then when he spotted the dark car in the snow. Again he felt weirdly exposed bringing someone else to the vehicle but he'd cleared out the back seat some and stuffed the blankets and duffel bag in the trunk. It was both so nobody would steal it and so nobody would see it, the last thing he needed was for people to know he was sleeping in his car. They'd made it just in time, it would be dark soon.
“Okay then,” Aaron murmured absently as he pulled off to the side of the road and parked in front of Adrian’s car. His mind was already running over possible radiator problems and what he could do to get Adrian moving tonight. If Aaron couldn’t throw a fix together from just the tools he had in his truck, he would have to tow him to the part store or something. He definitely couldn’t do any major work out there by the side of the main road. He grabbed a flashlight from the center console and opened his door to get out. “Pop the hood for me?” he said to Adrian.
Adrian grabbed his bag and got out as well, unlocking the driver's side door and slipping on in. He popped the hood and dumped his backpack in the back seat before joining Aaron outside. Of course his car had to break down when it was cold outside. At least it hadn't snowed more while he left it there so he supposed that was a small mercy. "I've managed to keep it running for a while now but I'm out of my depth here," he mumbled, huddling his shoulders against the cold and peering down at the engine.
Aaron clicked the flashlight on so he could see in the engine compartment easier, and he started checking things, leaning over and peering around metal and hoses. He asked Adrian a couple of questions about how the car acted right before it died, then got down on his back to scoot under the car and take a peek from the bottom. It didn’t take him long to find where the problem was. Adrian’s radiator had cracked and was leaking everywhere. It was a big enough crack that the radiator was fucked, in Aaron’s professional opinion. Aaron called the parts store as soon as he was up off the ground again, told them what he needed and for what car, ‘uh huh’d with disappointment a few times, then hung up. “Well, bad news is, they don’t have one in stock. They can get it from another place tomorrow. So ... we can tow this to wherever you’re stayin’ and I can do it tomorrow afternoon? Won’t take but a couple hours once I got the part.”
Adrian gave him a pained look, glancing between him and the engine, whatever words he wanted to say dying in his throat which he cleared awkwardly. Nobody knew he was living in his car. Of course very few people knew he was living at all but out of the few, nobody was ever supposed to know he was living in his car. He was doing the math in his head, how much would the part cost, could he sell the damn thing for scraps, would that even get him in the green to buy another piece of junk to sleep in. As the gears turned and churned in his head, his body language was very obvious; this wasn't a good thing and he was completely and utterly screwed.
Aaron had been a mechanic for quite a while, and he’d seen that look and foot-shuffle on more than a few people. It usually meant they knew they couldn’t afford a repair, but they also couldn’t afford a new car, so it was like watching them get squished between their rock-and-hard-place. It always hurt his heart, and it did so even more this time, because it was Adrian Moretti, and he looked even more downtrodden and distraught. “I can front you the money for it,” he offered quietly. “It’s only a couple hundred, I got it.” He didn’t have a lot more than that to spare, but Gavin and Caden hadn’t completely cut him off from his share of the bar’s profits, so he wasn’t totally broke. He had enough to help, and he would obviously do the work for free.
"Nah, I can pay," Adrian said but he still looked miserable about it. He guessed he could break into Mila's old place again though it felt weird being there with the smell of Aaron's blood and the constant fear his parents might for some reason come by to gather more of her things. The problem was that Aaron had offered to drive him wherever he was staying and they were obviously already there. His brain was trying to do the mental gymnastics of how to get his things out of the car without Aaron figuring out that all his things were in the car. He could tell him he didn't want him to know where he was staying because he was secretive and it was safer if he didn't know but that still meant sneaking around and Adrian just felt very tired suddenly. It was just one night but it wasn't like he was going to rent a room at Juniper Inn. "It's fucking cold," he sighed. "Let's just get it to the shop." And hope nobody saw him, and figure it out once they were there. That wasn't a great plan but it was a plan.
Aaron gave him a rueful smile. “No shop to go to anymore, man,” he said. “I mean, not of mine, anyway. It’s somethin’ I can do in a driveway, I’ve got the tools and everything ... but it’ll have to be your driveway, ‘cause my brother’ll ask a bunch of questions if I take it back to Seaview to work on.” As he spoke, he went to get the tow chain and hookups out of the back of his truck, his boots crunching on the snow. It was going to be more work than he’d done since he’d gotten stabbed, and he was sure leaning over an engine and crawling around on the ground was going to hurt, but Aaron would deal with it. Already the prospect of being useful like this was making him feel kind of good, like he was needed instead of a burden to everybody. “So where’re you staying?” he asked as he approached the front of Adrian’s car.
Adrian used that short time when Aaron's back was turned on him to let himself feel the utter frustration and despair he was feeling, eyes shut tight and fists balled at his sides. Three seconds, then let go and try to smooth it all back into calmness. It didn't work. He might have opened his eyes and unclenched his fists but the anxiety was still there, making his heart beat too fast. He was hungry too, nearing his limit, so that didn't help. "You're looking at it," he said under his breath and realized as soon as he did that there was no way Aaron could have heard that so he cleared his throat again and gestured at the car. "You can't tell Mila," he said and that seemed to be becoming their catchphrase lately, like a twisted, sad inside joke.
It took Aaron a second to catch his meaning, and when he did his eyes widened a bit, his mouth falling open to ask some dumb question -- in this weather? In this piece of shit? -- but he shut it again. Aaron looked at the car, then back to Adrian. He huffed a little sigh through his nose and scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “You can stay at my place,” he said, making it more of a statement than a question. “I was mostly stayin’ with Mila, so it’s kinda a mess, but the electricity’s still on, so you can get a hot shower and all that. I won’t tell her anything.” It wasn’t an offer he thought he would ever make to a guy who’d threatened to kill him, but a lot of things had happened he never would have dreamed of. Aaron crouched to start hooking the tow chain up under Adrian’s front bumper. “We can park this there too, nobody goes over there anymore.”
Adrian's brows drew together and he watched Aaron as he spoke, uncertain and a little surprised. It wasn't safe staying with people but Aaron had just said his place was vacant so it wasn't the same. "Just until the car's fixed," he said hesitantly. It was safer to hide out in the car somewhere in the woods than it was to stay somewhere the people who were after him might actually think to look. But one night... It had to be okay because he had nowhere else to go. "You sure?" he asked anyway because it felt wrong, especially considering their first encounter in five years.
Aaron made a bit of a face, but he didn’t argue out loud. It wasn’t right for Adrian to be sleeping in his car, especially not in the dead of winter like this. But it wasn’t his place to try and tell the guy what to do, just to offer help when it was needed, like now. “Yeah I’m sure,” he said as he got up off the ground again. Aaron brushed the snow off of himself and headed for the truck’s driver side door. “It’s just sittin’ empty right now, I’m still at Caden’s for a while, so ... might as well make use of the bills I’m still payin’, right?” He shot Adrian a wan smile, then climbed into the truck to turn it around. Aaron wasn’t going to hear any more protests -- Adrian needed a place, he had one, it was settled. He got out again with the truck still idling to hook the chain up to the back of it. “Put it into neutral, then we can roll,” he instructed.
"Right behind you," Adrian said in an attempt at lightheartedness since obviously he had nowhere else to be with the car being tethered to Aaron's truck. This all felt so normal, fixing a car, having someone to chat with but normal had become strange to Adrian and he could feel that pang of fucked up loneliness getting more painful when he got in his own car. It wasn't normal, being alone all the time, he'd never even been much of an introvert and the part of him that wanted to live in denial wanted nothing more than to just go home now. The ride was easy at least, he just had to steer and brake, with Aaron's truck in charge he didn't even have to really worry about getting the car stuck. He munched on some beef jerky as they traveled back to Seaview, his hands numb from the cold by the time they reached Aaron's old place.
Getting them both there safely was something to focus on at least, and Aaron let it distract him thoroughly as he got them both Seaview. Caden wasn’t home to see him arrive back in the neighborhood with a strange car and an even stranger man inside, which was a relief. He also never went to Aaron’s trailer, so he felt safe as he pulled up to the driveway. Aaron got everything unhooked and with Adrian’s help pushed the dead car into the drive where it could rest until he got the part and could work on it. Once that was done, he pulled his key ring out and started twisting off the house key that he hadn’t used in quite a while. “Sorry about the mess, and I’ve got the temperature set low, but you can turn it up, the place warms up fast,” he said as he offered it out to Adrian. “And there’s hot water. So help yourself to anything. Clean sheets are in the hall closet.”
Driving into town again had Adrian feeling paranoid and exposed. He'd pulled his hood up and kept a close eye out for anyone who might be paying attention but nobody was around. That was probably the upside to it not being summer; people preferred staying inside.
When Aaron offered him the key he took it and stared at it dumbly for a beat as he tried to find the words to say. It meant a lot, he didn't know how he could repay him, all those words and he could hear his mother in his head telling him she raised him better than this. "Thanks," he said finally, his voice quiet. "Do you need the money upfront for the radiator?" That wasn't where his mind was though. It would be so strange staying in Aaron's house, where he was allowed to be, where he didn't really have to worry about anyone stumbling in there and finding him by accident.
Even though Adrian had said it was only until the car was fixed, Aaron already planned to offer him to stay there whenever he needed to. He had a spare key at Mila’s. It was a safe enough place, and Adrian could park somewhere else so it wouldn’t look so occupied. Aaron just hated to think of him out there in this kind of cold, sleeping in a shitty car. At least a shitty trailer was more insulated and had a bed and a fridge to put beer and snacks in. “Nope, don’t worry about it,” he said. “I gotta get some new hoses too, I’ll just let you know what it all ends up bein’.” He eyed Adrian for a second, then gave him a nod. “Sleep well, all right? I’ll see you in the morning.” Aaron turned to head back to his truck.
It wasn't very late but Adrian was pretty sure he'd fall asleep before too long. A safe place - a warm place - after the kind of day he'd had? He'd be out like a light. "Thanks," he said again before turning to head to his car to get the things he'd need out of the trunk. He was already wondering what he could do to make it up to Aaron, if the place was a mess maybe he could tidy it up - or was it better if it was like he'd never even been there? He didn't know. Right now he just wanted to get inside, take a shower and sleep.