mila (listentoteeth) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-08-31 20:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, aaron, aaron x mila, mila |
Who: Mila and Aaron
When: Late afternoon, Saturday December 30
Where: Mila’s parents’ house
Status: Complete
Mila was ecstatic to be out of the hospital. In the grand scheme of things it had only been a week, and it hadn’t been that bad, but it had felt longer, especially with the fog. Admittedly she was a little nervous about leaving. She was going to her parents’ house until she was well enough to be on her own again, and even then she wasn’t sure what she would do. She didn’t want to go back to her house in Seaview, but it would need to be packed up and emptied and… she didn’t know where she was going to live just yet. All of that felt daunting so Mila was trying to focus on what was happening now rather than what had to happen later.
Her parents already had her childhood room ready for her when she was discharged from the hospital. It was kind of strange being back there, next door to the Lucas house, across the hall from Adrian’s old room whose door remained shut. Aaron had gone back to Seaview to grab a few remaining things she wanted, some clothes her mom forgot, a couple pictures from her bedroom and some of her bath things. Her parents knew he was coming by, and for the most part, they seemed to be okay with it. Mila figured her mom had seen how often Aaron was at the hospital with her and Mila was hoping that both of her parents would finally accept that Aaron had nothing to do with Mila’s situation, and that he was taking care of her when they couldn’t.
She still had to talk to the Sheriff. Mila knew he wanted to speak with her, and she knew some things needed to be worked out. But thankfully he was giving her the weekend to get settled before reopening those wounds again.
As she sat in her bedroom, her mom downstairs working on some kind of roast for dinner, Mila was focused on breathing in and out, reassuring herself that this was as real as the hospital. No shadows in the corner, no monsters coming for her in the dark. Nothing was hiding in her closet. She would go to sleep in her bed tonight and wake up there in the morning. These were things she had to continually tell herself to keep from panicking. The pills prescribed to her helped too.
As she waited for Aaron, Mila thought about Adrian, wondering where he was, and when she would be able to see him again. She didn’t think he would come here, not wanting to risk their mom or dad catching sight of him. Maybe he was still at Aaron’s house. She hoped so. Mila didn’t like the thought of him sleeping in his car.
Climbing off her bed, Mila walked over to her side window that looked over the Lucas house. The window across from hers had the curtains drawn. There was some green mold along the paneling and the fence below needed repair. Turning her head, she could see the corner of the Lucas porch, with its peeling white paint. And the driveway. Mila’s lips quirked softly. She used to stand there often, watching Aaron come and go, sometimes with a girl from their school, sometimes with friends. Every now and then he would catch sight of her, but she didn’t think he ever realized she was there because she trying to catch a glimpse of him. He usually gave her a grin and a wave and that was that. It had been better than being ignored completely. And now he was in love with her, even though she had tried to kill him, and as much as she loved him, and had for years, Mila sometimes wished she could turn back the clock and start over.
The sound of a car out front caught Mila’s attention and she moved to the two front windows to look down at the front of her house where Aaron’s car had pulled up. Relieved that he was back, Mila left her room and headed downstairs, calling to her mom that Aaron was there, so she didn’t freak out at Mila opening the door. Mila was pretty sure her mother was afraid Mila would leave again and never come back, and since she understood that fear, she didn’t let it annoy her.
Unlocking the door, Mila shivered against the cold, feeling herself smile at the sight of Aaron getting out of the car. Maybe she could talk him into staying for dinner and all that. Her parents were Catholic enough that Mila didn’t think she could get away with Aaron sleeping over but… maybe if they didn’t know.
Mila getting out of the hospital was a mixed bag of emotions for Aaron. He was glad she was well enough to leave, at least physically, but losing the inherent safety -- crazy fog aside -- of a hospital with staff who knew what they were doing and everything was scary. What if Mila got sick again? Or what if her mental state deteriorated once she was out in the world? Aaron knew that worrying about those possibilities would only cause him stress about things that might not even happen, but he couldn’t help it. He loved her fiercely and he wanted her to get all the way better. The fog monster bullshit certainly hadn’t helped things, but he hoped she would still keep improving.
He’d volunteered to go pick up some more stuff from the Seaview house for her, and Aaron had spent a bit of extra time lingering in the space between the living room and kitchen. Where the big bloodstain was from when he’d almost died. He thought he could probably tear up the carpet and replace some of the floorboard and nobody would ever know it happened, but ... Mila would still know. He would know. Plus Seaview was so close to the tunnel, Aaron kind of wanted to move away from it too. He’d made himself focus and got what he came for, then headed over to Mila’s parents’ place in his truck. He still had to fix Adrian’s car, but the parts store wasn’t open yet, so he hoped he could spend some hours with her before he had to leave.
Aaron was grateful that Mila opened the door before he even got all the way out. He grabbed the couple of trash bags he’d used to carry her things in and gave her a smile as he crunched through the snow up the walk. “Hey babe,” he greeted once he reached her. Aaron leaned in to steal a quick kiss before he stomped his feet to get the snow off and stepped inside. “Doing okay?”
"I'm fine," she said, closing the door behind him to cut the cold out. She shivered and then reached for one of the trash bags to carry upstairs. "Do you want something hot to drink? I can make you some coffee if you want." She did feel bad that he had gone back to her house to get her things. Mila couldn't imagine being there was anymore fun for him than it would be for her. And he had spent so much time with her in the hospital, surely he had put things off, like his job. When she was better, and knew she could, Mila planned on making it up to him somehow.
‘I’m fine’ always seemed like not a good answer, but Aaron wasn’t going to push her for a more detailed response. He knew there were going to be good days and bad days, and he just had to support her as best he could through all of it. He let her take the lighter of the two bags and gave her a tiny smile. “Coffee would be great, yeah,” he murmured. It felt a little weird to be in her parents’ house -- Aaron hadn’t spent a lot of time in girlfriend-parental homes where he was actually welcome, especially not those who had previously accused him of murdering their daughter -- and he felt like he ought to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. Not easy for him, but he would try. “Should I take this ... to your room?”
Mila nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yes. It's upstairs, the first door on the right. I'll be up in a second." She reached out to squeeze his hand before letting go. If his relationship with her parents had been warmer she would have just tugged him into the kitchen to say hello, but Mila knew this was a process. It was enough right now that her mom and dad accepted that Mila wanted Aaron around. That was all she could ask for at the moment. While Aaron headed upstairs, Mila went into the kitchen to make his coffee. Her mom was still working on dinner, but asked politely about Aaron, for which Mila was grateful. It didn't take her long to get a cup ready for him, and she carried it upstairs to her bedroom. The sight of him there made her smile a little as she walked over to hand him the coffee. "It's so weird seeing you in my bedroom. I think the fifteen year old inside of me is about to just die from excitement."
He got his boots off before he left the foyer, and as Aaron padded up the steps in his socks, he realized that he hadn’t ever been this far into the Morettis’ house. He’d maybe been in the living room as a kid at some point, but he couldn’t remember. He’d definitely never been up to Mila’s room. It smelled so fresh and girly when he walked in, Aaron got a nostalgic sort of pang in his chest. He set the trash bag full of clothes onto the bed and peered around at the details. It looked like Mila’s parents hadn’t done much to the room since she’d moved out, there were still old pictures of Mila and friends stuck to the walls and some ribbons from high school and everything was nice and pretty in blue and white. It was a far cry from what his own room had looked like as a teenager. The one he’d shared with Caden, because Gavin was the oldest and Kat was a girl.
Aaron was studying a picture of some girls he thought he remembered and Mila when the latter walked into the room. He gave her a soft smile back and carefully accepted the coffee mug. He kind of felt like a bull in a china shop, like he might break all of her good childhood memories or something. “Tell her dying is not allowed,” he answered with a soft huff. “I think fifteen year old me would’ve creamed his jeans to be in here with fifteen year old you.”
Mila huffed out a laugh and set the trash bag she carried on the bed beside the other. "I don't think fifteen year old you ever paid any attention to fifteen year old me unless we saw each other in our yards." Opening the bag, Mila began to pull her things out, happy to have something to do and focus on. "Which is okay, by the way. You probably would have been weirded out by my crush on you. My journals are probably still in here somewhere... some pages may or may not have your name written in them with tiny hearts drawn all around." She smiled at Aaron then. "What's your bedroom like next door? Do your parents still have all your stuff there?"
“Aw man, now I wanna see,” Aaron said with a lopsided grin. Mila was probably right that finding out the neighbor girl -- who he’d always thought was cute and fun, but too good for him and not interested and maybe a tiny bit mousy -- was obsessed with him would’ve freaked him out at fifteen. But all fifteen year olds were idiots, that was like a universal rule. Aaron squinted a bit at her question and glanced out the window toward his former home. It was a little weird to see it from this angle. “They’ve got some stuff, yeah. Shit me and Caden left behind. But it’s kinda just a storage room now, it was the smallest bedroom.” He shrugged; he almost never went in there when he visited, he couldn’t imagine having to go back to live there. Aaron sipped on his coffee and glanced around. “Can I help with anything, or ... anything?”
Mila shook her head and kept pulling things out from the garbage bags. "Even if I knew where my journals were at the moment, there's no way I could invite you into my teenage brain. There is probably some terrible poetry in there too." She took the small stack of photographs Aaron had brought her and set them to the side. "Why don't you sit," she suggested, motioning to the desk chair across the room. "I appreciate you making the trip for me to get all of this. Sit and relax for a bit. I'm just going to put this stuff away. Did you see... is..." Mila paused, not wanting to mention Adrian or say "my brother" out loud, just in case. "Is he still staying at your place?"
Aaron wanted to protest that teenage stuff didn’t matter and he wanted to peek into young Mila’s brain, but he did get how invasive that probably was, so he didn’t insist. Maybe someday she would let him read them, when they were old married people. It was strange, how comfortable he was thinking about them being together forever now. Or maybe that was just hazy daydreaming about better times to come. Aaron went to sit down where Mila told him too, trying not to feel awkward and useless without a task to do too. He sipped on the coffee and watched her instead. “I didn’t see him,” he said, quietly in case there was a parent in the hall or something. “His car’s still here, I haven’t fixed it yet. But I didn’t go check, either, so ... he mighta been there.” Aaron got the impression that Adrian only got seen when he wanted to be seen. He wasn’t worried.
She knew he would have probably wanted something to do, but Mila was still acutely aware of his injuries and she felt like maybe he had been doing enough running around and caring for her this week. Aaron still needed to heal, just as she did. She folded a couple of shirts, glancing at Aaron as he spoke. Mila was trying not to worry too much about her brother. Adrian had been on his own for years now, and had taken care of himself. At least, that's how it sounded. But it bothered her that she couldn't just call or text him when she wanted to. She pulled a sweater from the bag, the material soft in between her fingers. It suddenly felt insanely strange to be standing in her bedroom with the familiar smell of home, and her mom's cooking downstairs, and Aaron sitting at her desk, looking tired, but alive. It was too good to be true, wasn't it? Her chest seemed to seize for a moment and she closed her eyes, her breathing escalating. "This is real, right?" she murmured, clutching the sweater more tightly in her hand in case it disappeared. "This is real."
Aaron’s gears had been turning -- maybe rustily, but still -- over where they could set Adrian up to live. It was like he and Amelia both needed a safehouse where they couldn’t be recognized or found or whatever. He hadn’t come up with much when Mila drew his thoughts straight back to her. It was the breathing that was the scariest, how it suddenly sounded like she couldn’t get enough oxygen. Concerned, Aaron stood up from the desk chair, his grip tightening on his coffee mug. He didn’t know what to do at first, whether he should try to touch her or not, whether she would even believe his reassurances. He moved in a little closer, his brow furrowing deeply. “It’s real, Mila,” he murmured. Aaron reached out to lightly touch the back of her arm, giving her plenty of room to pull away. Re-grounding in reality was probably something she would have to learn to do for herself, but he couldn’t just sit there silently and let her struggle without trying to help.
The touch of his fingers against her arm prompted her to open her eyes and she looked over at him, still gripping the sweater tightly. He still looked like himself. His eyes were still blue, not black. He wasn't grinning at her discomfort. He felt real to her, and maybe that was all she really needed. Mila took a deep breath in and focused on him instead, trying to let that tether her to this reality. There was nothing frightening about her room, or Aaron. No ominous feeling in her gut like before. Mila swallowed and then relaxed her grip on her sweater, releasing it where it fell to the bed before she turned to slip her arms around Aaron. She was mindful of his chest, not wanting to press against his injury, if it was still hurting him, but she rested her forehead against him, wanting the comfort.
Aaron gazed back at her while she stared at him, a tiny unsure smile briefly crossing his face. He could be patient through however much time she needed to feel better, he just wished he knew what she was thinking, how exactly to help her. Aaron knew in his head that this wasn’t something he could fix, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to. He draped his own arms around Mila’s shoulders and pulled her in, close but gentle. He was still sore a lot of the time, especially if he exerted himself, but that tended to be deeper more than on the surface now. He would take any pain for Mila, in any case. Aaron rested his cheek against her head and didn’t try to say anything. If she wanted to talk, she would. He would just hold onto her and love her until then.
His arms around her helped Mila relax some and she breathed in his scent as she clung. This was real. The vice in her chest loosened, but she didn't move away from him. How long had she gone, thinking he was dead? Maybe having him here felt too good to be true. "I'm sorry. I keep hoping those... moments will pass. I hope they will eventually." Mila didn't expect anyone to know how to handle them. She barely knew. But she felt like she had made progress from her first couple of days in the hospital.
“Don’t apologize to me,” Aaron murmured, his arms still solidly around her. “It’s gonna take time, like the doctors said. We’ll get through the moments, and it’ll get easier.” He wasn’t sure that her trauma would ever fully go away, because that didn’t seem to happen to most people. But Aaron felt more than willing to be patient with it, be gentle with her, be whatever she needed him to be. He pulled his face back enough to kiss her forehead, and started swaying them slightly, like the tiniest dance. “Does this help?” he asked softly. Aaron knew that Mila couldn’t tell him exactly what to do in these situations, but he would try to remember what helped and what didn’t.
"Yes," she murmured. It was comforting because he felt solid in her arms, and loving. Feelings she hadn't experienced for very long in the tunnel. Mila knew she needed to just rewire her brain to realize she was home now. She didn't know how or why, but she was home. She just needed to find something that would keep her grounded when those bad memories seized her. Mila licked her lips and looked up at Aaron, still clinging to him even as he swayed them back and forth. "Do you think you could sneak in later tonight?" she whispered. "Sleep with me?" It was her first night out of the hospital, and she knew if she woke up in the middle of the night and panicked at her surroundings, having Aaron there would help her.
Aaron was relieved for a moment that what he was doing wasn’t making anything worse for Mila, and then he had to smile softly at her questions. If she hadn’t been so hurt and scared in general, he might’ve made some jokes about how fifteen year old Aaron would’ve responded, but Aaron was sure there were zero sexual motivations to the invitation. He didn’t know when that part of their relationship would heal, if ever, but he certainly wasn’t going to rush it. Mila deserved all the time she needed. “If you can unlock a door for me, yeah I think I can do that,” he told her, one hand moving to stroke the side of her hair. Aaron had been pretty good at sneaking when he was a teenager, he thought those skills probably still existed. He would make it work for Mila. “I’ll even sleep on the floor if you want, your bed’s pretty little,” he added, glancing at it.
"I'll leave the door unlocked," she promised. Unless something had changed, her parents were not night owls. And their room was at the end of the hall, so she wasn't worried about them hearing Aaron as long as he was somewhat light on his feet. Mila looked down at her bed and felt her lips quirk into a small smile. "We'll make it work. It just feels like it's been a long time since I slept beside you." He had laid in her hospital bed with her a couple of times, but Mila didn't really count that. She looked back at him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "You'll be the first boy I've ever had sleep over in my room, for what it's worth."
It would be way more embarrassing to get caught sneaking into a girl’s parents’ house as a grown man, but Aaron thought he could pull it off. The Morettis weren’t as young as they used to be, and with a door already open, he could be quiet enough moving through the house. It made Aaron feel warm that she wanted to sleep in bed with him no matter what, and he had a tiny smile on his face as Mila kissed him. It had been a long time since they’d slept together, and even longer for her. Which was still weird to think about, but he was trying to keep it in mind. Aaron chuckled faintly. “That would’ve gotten fifteen year old me real excited,” he murmured. He really wanted to take her somewhere else, someplace they could be alone, but Aaron didn’t want to rush that either. She was home now, she needed to settle for a while, get better. Aaron stole another gentle kiss. “Twenty-seven year old me too. I miss sleepin’ with you.”
Mila knew her mom was strictly against premarital anything and hadn't approved of Mila and Aaron living together before Mila went missing, but she had a feeling that her mom might let it slide if she actually caught Aaron sleeping in Mila's bed in the morning. It wasn't like they were going to be having sex and Aaron would have clothes on. Mila was willing to risk her mom's potential wrath if it meant having Aaron beside her that night. Mila grinned at Aaron. "I think fifteen year old Aaron probably got excited over a lot of stuff," she teased. "But I missed sleeping with you too." She had missed everything about Aaron, even if that was hard to explain. It still confused her that she hadn't been gone more than two weeks to him, and everyone else. Mila lifted her hands to cup his face and kiss him properly, just because it felt like she could now.
Seeing Mila smile like that always did wonders to Aaron’s mood. He smiled broadly back and nodded a bit -- his fifteen year old self had been an absolute horn dog, and would’ve gladly spent the night in Mila’s room if the invitation had been there. He would’ve fucked it up back then though, so he was kind of glad nothing had happened when they were teenagers. Aaron was still a horn dog, but it was more under control with maturity, and he thought he could be a good boyfriend to her now. Aaron stopped thinking about it when Mila’s mouth pressed against his. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feel of it, his hands moving to rest lightly on her waist. He resisted the urge to deepen it to taste her more, not sure how much was welcome now; Aaron was just following Mila’s lead. It felt good and warm to kiss her at all though, adding some extra pressure in his chest that made the wound ache more sharply.
It felt as though there were two halves of her in that moment. One that wanted to pull him closer and kiss him until she ached everywhere, and one that wanted to start weeping, not necessarily out of sadness, but relief that Aaron was really there, alive and still wanting her. And maybe Mila was relieved that she felt something deeper when he kissed her. She had been feeling so numb since Adrian found her outside the tunnel and every now and then Mila had wondered if she would ever feel anything pleasurable again. But his lips were making her skin tingle, just like they always did and she wanted to cling tightly to the feeling. She wasn't ready to rush into deeper physical intimacy just yet - not that they could there, with her mom right downstairs - but Mila parted her lips to deepen their kiss a little, hoping he wouldn't mind it.
Aaron was far from minding it. He inhaled deeper through his nose, one hand sliding around to Mila’s lower back, subtly pressing her more tightly against him. He had missed her so much, and because Aaron was Aaron, part of that was missing their physical relationship. He’d always gotten a lot of validation through sex, and sex with Mila had been on a whole different level, and then it was suddenly gone. How could he not have missed it? As his tongue gently teased the tip of hers, he remembered that night before she’d disappeared, the aggressive sex in the kitchen, and a bit of disquiet ran through him. Aaron tried to dismiss it -- that hadn’t been her, it had been her demon or whatever. And it was gone. He knew they should probably stop kissing before getting too worked up, but he wanted so badly to cling to it before something went wrong again, he couldn’t make himself stop yet.
Mila told herself not to get too deep into what they were doing, and not to let it go on for too long, just in case. But it was hard to pull away. It was so nice feeling something warm again, the way her pulse quickened and how her body urged her to get closer to Aaron, even though they were already pressed together. She didn't want him to think she was teasing him, or promising something she couldn't deliver just yet, but the way he was kissing her made her feel like melting into him. If this wasn't real, then she didn't care, as long as she could have it for a few more minutes. For a moment she could pretend nothing bad had ever happened, and they were right back where they started - happy. Mila's arms curled around his shoulders and neck and when she finally broke off the kiss, she was breathing a bit heavier, just from the arousal that had snuck in. Mila nuzzled her nose to his. "I missed you so much," she whispered.
By the time Mila pulled back, Aaron’s groin felt hot and his throat felt tight and it was so weird to feel emotional and horny at the same time, but there he was. He swallowed thickly, licking his lips, eyes still closed. It wasn’t the first time they’d said those soft words to each other, and it surely wouldn’t be the last, but at the moment they made his nose sting a bit. “I missed you too,” he murmured quietly back. He didn’t have the words for how much he’d missed her, and Aaron had already decided not to tell her how much of an absolute wreck he’d been, to avoid putting even more guilt on her shoulders. She was already carrying too much. And as much as Aaron had suffered, he knew Mila had suffered tons more. More than he could even imagine. He brushed their lips together again softly, then pressed his against her cheek. “I can’t even tell you how happy I am that you’re home, baby. I love you.”
Mila didn't necessarily need to be told about Aaron's mental and physical state when she had disappeared. She knew if she had been in his shoes she would have been distraught in a way she couldn't explain. And she hated that she had put him through any trauma at all, because he hadn't deserved what she'd done. Mila knew she had been influenced and taken over by something dark and evil, but the guilt remained heavy on her shoulders. Aaron had said he'd forgiven her, but those moments would leave scars, and she doubted he would ever truly forget. "I love you too," she whispered. "Things will get better, I promise. I'm already feeling... more like myself." For whatever that was worth.
It was worth a lot, as was hearing that Mila loved him. Aaron didn’t think he would ever get tired of that, especially when he’d been so afraid he would never hear it again. “I know they will,” he whispered back, giving her a tiny smile. “You’re strong as hell.” He’d been saying the same thing, of course, trying to encourage Mila to be patient with herself and get better ... but that had mostly been whistling in the dark, because what the hell did he know? If she was really already starting to feel better, that put some hope in his chest. Aaron gave her another soft kiss and rubbed her lower back, then pulled away a tiny bit. “Do uh, do you think I should clear out before supper? I don’t wanna like, be in the way of your parents’ first night having you back.” He also still wasn’t sure if they wanted to talk to him much, but Aaron left that part unsaid.
There were times she felt good... like maybe she could just pretend everything that had happened had been nothing more than a nightmare. But then there were moments that the fear seized her and she didn't think she would ever truly be happy again. She would spend the rest of her life doubting where she was, who she was, and who she was with. Mila would always be wondering if this was still some form of hell that was simply biding its time until it was ready to torment her again. But she wanted to get better, and she wanted to prove to Aaron and her family that it could be done. Mila didn't think she could bear the thought that Aaron might one day realize that he couldn't handle her trauma, especially when he had enough of his own to deal with. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone. Mila lowered her hands from his face to hold his waist gently. "Would you stay for dinner? I know things are weird, but they know how I feel about you, and... I just want the three of you to get along. I understand if you don't want to stay, but I wish you would."
Aaron vaguely knew they still had a long road ahead of them. There had been the fear and despair of Mila being missing, all that misery to wallow in, then the relief and elation of her return, compounded with worry and all the guilt he was carrying himself. And then all the fog bullshit had struck while she was trying to recover in the hospital ... it was a lot. There would probably be big feelings to deal with once everything calmed down -- if it calmed down -- but he had to have faith they would get through it all. They had to, all of this couldn’t be for nothing. The invitation to dinner surprised him a little and his brows lifted a bit with his smile. “I mean, if that’s okay with them ... yeah, I’ll stay,” he said, rubbing at Mila’s arms a bit. “Then I’ll leave at a decent hour like a good upstanding young man, go hang out with my parents a while, then sneak back in.” Aaron grinned faintly.
"It'll be okay," Mila told him. If Mila wanted him there, her mom would allow it. She had a feeling her dad already liked Aaron, or at least liked him enough to tolerate him now. It was her mom she needed to get on board with the whole thing. She smiled and pressed another soft kiss to his lips. "Are you sure you want to hang out at your parents? I don't want you to have to do that if it'll be... unpleasant." She knew his dad wasn't exactly the nicest person, having served him at the bar for years. Not to mention growing up next door. She knew exactly the kind of household Aaron grew up in.
It had been a long time since Aaron had had dinner with a woman’s parents, and he found himself wishing he’d put on a nicer shirt. Not that they didn’t know what he generally looked like, and they’d seen him look much worse at the hospital, but still. He just hoped he wouldn’t be too awkward and stuck his foot in his mouth somehow. Aaron tossed a glance toward the window that looked out on his parents’ place and gave Mila a little shrug. “It’ll be okay. I need to see Joseph anyway, he got scratched by one of those things. Mama said he’s sleeping a lot so far, but ...” he trailed off. If nothing else, he could keep her company, and make sure Joseph wasn’t giving her too much trouble.
Mila always found it odd that Aaron and his brothers rarely said "dad". She had called her own dad by his name a couple of times when she was younger and he had always been offended by it. She frowned at the news that his dad had been hurt by whatever had been out in the fog, but hopefully it wasn't serious. It probably wasn't if Joseph was already home. "Okay, if you're sure. Maybe if there are leftovers from dinner you can take her something to eat." Mila knew that when people were taking care of others, sometimes they forgot to take care of themselves. Mila cupped his face and kissed Aaron again, softly. Then she smiled. "I'll finish putting this stuff away then we can go downstairs. Dad is probably watching college football or something. We can kind of break the ice until dinner is ready. Is that okay?"
Aaron wasn’t sure if he would take his mom leftovers or not ... he didn’t want to answer a bunch of questions about Mila and how it was all going and everything. He just wanted to let her rant about Joseph and nod and maybe take out the trash for her and the like. He wouldn’t be surprised if Mila and Mrs. Moretti insisted, though. They were just kind like that. “Yeah, that sounds perfect,” he said with a half-smile. It was going to be awkward no matter what, Aaron thought he might as well rip the band aid off. He could definitely make small talk about football, that was easy enough. The rest would fall into place. Aaron hoped, anyway.