Aaron Lucas (thirdandlast) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-12-19 15:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, aaron, aaron x mila, mila |
Who: Aaron and Mila
When: Evening, Wednesday, January 10th
Where: car, Dino's
Status: complete
Anthony D’Onofrio was probably the last person Mila would have expected to find on her doorstep that Wednesday night. But he had been there, smiling at her, and she had let him inside without hesitation, well aware that she didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
She had expected the man to yell at her, or hurt her, for what she had told Caius, but that conversation topic never came up. Instead, he sat himself down on her mother’s sofa and offered her a job. A really, really nice job. One that sounded too good to be true, and probably was, but she needed to work, and she desperately needed the money. Anthony D’Onofrio would know that too. Rent. Utilities. Those things still needed paying, even if she wasn’t living at Seaview anymore. Not to mention the hospital bills. She had received a few already and had been too scared to open them just yet.
Mila had felt some apprehension, aware that this could just be a set up for something terrible, but he had been so nice to her… and when her parents had come home, her mom had fretted over the man, inviting him to stay for dinner, thanking him for helping her daughter. It had been kind of ridiculous and Mila had to bite her tongue on telling her mother she was hugging a man who was part demon in some sense of the word. But it had been so long since she saw her mother smile and look so relieved that Mila hadn’t been able to say a word, and instead she accepted the job and that was that. It was exciting too, because maybe she would be good at this. Maybe. Maybe she could just do enough to get a few paychecks under her belt so if she got fired or wanted to quit, she would have some savings again.
But just like that it felt like something heavy had been lifted from her shoulders. Mila knew she was accepting help from a man who wasn’t fully a man, but what else could she do? Go back to waitressing? Live off of tips? How was she supposed to get her feet underneath her again if she wasn’t making any money?
Despite all of the parts of this that made her feel uneasy, she was also feeling relieved, like maybe things would be okay. And she wanted to share that with Aaron, so she texted him, asking him to come over and pick her up for a drive, or to get a drink or something. She wanted to get out of the house and breathe for a while.
Aaron had been on the schedule to open the bar, so he’d woken up around nine in the morning on Wednesday. He had slept okay all night, and once his alarm went off, he rolled over and groped around for it on the bedside table just like normal. What hadn’t been normal was the pill bottle that his fingers ran into. He knocked it over and it rattled with fullness as it fell to the carpet. Confused, Aaron tossed the covers off of him and sat up. He turned his phone alarm off and leaned down to pick it up. It was orange just like from the pharmacy, but unlabeled. Aaron didn’t need a label to know what those little white pills were, however. He had seen enough of them lately.
He’d sat there with them for a long time, trying to think of where they may have come from. It had taken him a while to get dressed, his gaze drawn back to the pills over and over again. He wanted one. Or three. He really did. But he managed to stash them in his sock and underwear drawer and leave them behind when he went to work. Those little white pills had stayed on his mind through the whole day, and followed him as he drove home.
Aaron had just gotten back to the house when his phone buzzed with Mila’s text. Relieved, he turned right back around and got back in his car. He very suddenly needed to see her, touch her, smell her hair. Her timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Aaron texted back that he was on the way, then headed to Mila’s parents’ house.
Mila got ready to go out as soon as she got Aaron's text, and she was reassuring her parents that she would be home at a reasonable hour - it was just like she was sixteen all over again - when she heard Aaron's car pull up. Pressing a quick kiss to her mom's cheek, Mila grabbed her purse and hurried out of the house before Aaron had a chance to get out of the car. She didn't want him to have to come up to the door and make awkward, idle chit chat with her parents. Mila just wanted to get away for a bit and be with him without any real distractions.
Climbing into the passenger seat, Mila shut the door and turned to Aaron, feeling a bit breathless. "Hi," she greeted with a smile before leaning over to kiss him. "How was the bar today?"
Aaron had opened the car door to get out to go up to the porch, but then Mila was coming out of the house, so he didn’t have to. He watched her approach with a faint smile and a bittersweet tug in his chest, mixed with some dumb gratitude that she’d texted him at just the right time. He wasn’t sure he would’ve had the willpower not to down a couple of pills if Mila hadn’t accidentally intervened. God, he loved her; she really was his saving grace. “Hey,” he said back once she was in. Aaron leaned to meet her halfway for a kiss hello, then sat up straight again. “It was okay. Kinda slow, but that’s all right. How was your day?”
Slow was all right. That meant Aaron could ease back into working, which was a good thing. She had a feeling he might have been exhausted if he had gone back to work on a busy night. Mila pulled on her seatbelt, feeling flushed and eager to tell him about what had happened. "My day was... strange. Let's just go somewhere and I'll tell you what happened. But the gist of it is, I have a job. You'll never guess who came to the door today." Mila knew she shouldn't be as excited as she was about it. It felt wrong to be excited, to want the money more than anything else. But it was the only way she was going to be able to move into a new place, and pay off her bills. And working might help distract her mind from the dark thoughts that kept surfacing all the time when she was home by herself.
Aaron’s brows raised, though he couldn’t help but smile because she seemed kinda happy, and that was a nice change of pace. “Who was it?” he asked, even though she’d said she would tell him later. He blinked and glanced around, then asked, “And uh, where do you wanna go? I’m good with anything, really.” Mila hadn’t texted him a specific plan, just that she wanted to go out, and Aaron found himself without a single idea in the front of his brain. There weren’t actually many options in this tiny-ass town, but he still couldn’t think of anything but going back to the Porch, and neither of them wanted to do that.
"Oh, uh..." Mila sat there and thought for a moment. She definitely didn't want to go to the Porch. And Moxie's was probably full of teenagers. "Do you want to just go to Dino's? We could get some wings and a beer or something." She probably shouldn't be drinking with her medication, but she had already taken it all that day, so she assumed it would be fine. And she knew Aaron liked that place, so why not? "Unless you've eaten," she added quickly. "Then we can just go park at the marina for a while. I'm really okay with whatever."
Relieved they didn’t get sucked into that whole ‘I dunno, what do you wanna do’ cycle, Aaron gave her a bright smile. “Dino’s sounds perfect, I didn’t eat anything,” he said. Some parking at the marina sounded good anyway, so maybe they could do both. Grab dinner and then go hang out somewhere quiet and private. It sounded like such a teenage plan for the evening, but that was okay by Aaron. It was simple and romantic and with Mila, that was all he wanted. Aaron put the car in reverse and headed out of the driveway. “So besides the big news, did you have a good day?” he asked, glancing over at her once they were on their way. “Mom getting on your nerves?”
Food did sound good, which was a nice change of pace because for a while her appetite had been non-existent... something that made living with her mother even more difficult, given Maria Moretti just wanted to shove food down Mila's mouth all day long. She knew she would put weight back on eventually, but nothing tasted that good anymore. Now that they were on their way to Dino's, Mila rested her hands in her lap and relaxed. "My day was fine. Kind of like every other day." Tedious, but for the visit from Anthony D'Onofrio. "And yeah, I mean my mom is getting on my nerves, but I know she's just trying to help and everything. I think they're both kind of waiting to see if I'll tell them what happened." Mila trailed off, staring out her window. "I think I'm just ready to be in my own space again. Work and... get things back to normal." She tore her gaze away from the window to look at Aaron. "What about you? I know you said the bar was slow, but how was it being back at work?"
Aaron just wanted things back to normal too, whatever that looked like. He felt like they hadn’t even really had a normal for long before everything started to fall apart. That probably should have worried him somehow, but he had faith that their relationship could survive all of this. Maybe it was good they hadn’t had much of a normal, maybe that would make it easier to adjust to this new version of it. Aaron glanced over at Mila when she paused; he couldn’t blame her parents for wanting to know. He didn’t feel like he knew most of it himself, but he wasn’t going to push her for answers. Not now, not ever. As long as it was over, it was best forgotten. “Eh ... it was okay,” Aaron told her, shrugging a bit. “Slow day, so a little boring. My dad’s not allowed in the bar anymore since Caden kicked his ass, but he didn’t try to come around. It was good to be out of the house, I guess. It’ll be even better after my first check, I’m sure.”
Mila couldn't say she really knew what normal looked like with Aaron, but she knew it included happiness. She hoped so, anyway. Mila knew he was still healing, and she occasionally wondered if he would look at her one day and realize he couldn't handle being with her. Not only because of her own issues, but because of his. Sometimes when she was alone she tried to imagine their roles reversed, that he had tried to kill her and then disappeared. Even knowing what they knew about the thing from the tunnel, could Mila still lay in bed beside him every night and remain unafraid? She liked to think so, but... she just couldn't say without actually going through what he went through. "How are you feeling?" Mila asked, since she wasn't terribly surprised to hear his dad was banned from the bar. She doubted that would last long though, because it seemed like his father and brothers were all masochists.
Considering Aaron hadn’t gotten to spend the night alone with Mila since she’d been back, he didn’t know for sure how it would feel to wake up next to her. Small naps were different, and he’d been lucky not to have any bad dreams during the few times they’d squeezed those in. Aaron still had them though, alone in Caden’s guest room, waking up in a cold sweat with his heart beating hard and pain in his chest and that dead look in Mila’s eyes echoing in his mind. He didn’t know how it would go when they lived together again, but Aaron had the vague sense that they would figure it out as they went. He wanted to try, anyway, more than anything. “I’m okay,” Aaron answered, glancing over at her with a little smile. There was no easy answer to that question anymore, but he didn’t want to get into all the bad stuff tonight. “How are you?”
I'm okay was akin to I'm fine in Mila's mind, and I'm fine was generally just a cover up for I'm NOT fine but I don't want to talk about it. She understood it, because she had been giving that same answer to a lot of people over the last few days. "I'm doing okay," she said, wishing she could find the right balance of knowing what she could tell him, and what she should let go of. Mila knew he would listen and be there for her, but she kept remembering that dull, glazed look in his eyes when he had been high on medication, and she still felt guilty about it. Adrian and Aaron both might have denied it, but piling her issues on top of Aaron when he was dealing with his own seemed unhealthy for both of them. "Have you been back to a doctor to check how you're healing and everything? Are you still in pain?"
Aaron had a similar thought about Mila probably not really being okay. He never knew if he should push for a more detailed answer or leave her alone about it. He couldn’t even really imagine what she’d been through, but he wanted to give her support if he could. That was what he was supposed to do, right? Plus, when Aaron was thinking about Mila, he wasn’t thinking about himself, and he preferred it that way. It just all seemed so overwhelming sometimes, too many things he was too stupid to help her with. He twisted both hands on the steering wheel for a second when she asked him about the doctors, clearing his throat softly. “I’ve got a follow-up next week,” he told her, leaving out the part where he’d skipped the first one. “Sometimes it hurts, yeah. But it’s okay.” It hurt more than a little, more than sometimes, but Aaron was white-knuckling it through without pills. Just some weed, but he didn’t mention that either.
Mila knew what pain felt like. A lot of the wounds she had returned home with had healed, but sometimes the scars left behind throbbed and ached, reminding her of everything that had happened. Aaron had gone through his own trauma. He might tell her it was okay, but Mila knew it had to still be hurting. And he didn't have any medication to help ease the pain either... because of her. "I'm sorry," Mila murmured. "I shouldn't have taken your pills. I should have just talked to you about it instead of running off the way I did." She had apologized already, but the longer Mila had to think about it, the worse she felt about her behavior. "Maybe they can prescribe you some more pain medication if you tell them. I can go with you, if you want."
He thought of the pill bottle that had appeared next to his bed. There had been no label on it, he knew it hadn’t come from Caden or Roxy or Adrian, and it made his stomach nervous to think about who had left it. Because Aaron knew. There weren’t any other options. He still didn’t know what Westin had been, but he was obviously reminding Aaron of his presence, and Aaron’s promise. As much as he wanted to numb out and get high, he didn’t want to be led down the path that would make him lose Mila, and that’s where those pills would lead. That had been made pretty damn clear to him. He squeezed the wheel again. “No, no pills,” he said quietly. He wasn’t going to comment on what she should or shouldn’t have done, that part was over now. “I can go on my own.”
She didn't want Aaron to have to go on his own. Mila wanted to be there for him the way he was there for her, but she didn't want to push him into letting her go if he didn't want her there. Maybe she could talk to Adrian and find something that would help his discomfort that wasn't addictive. If anything like that existed. Mila held back the sigh and wished she could reach over and take his hand in hers for a while. "If you decide you want someone with you... I can go," she said finally, just so he knew she would do it. Hospitals could be stressful, and while she didn't always want her mom there for her appointments, she was ultimately grateful that she wasn't alone. "Just for, you know, support, and everything."
Some instinct, however misguided, said Aaron should keep Mila as far away from what had happened as possible. It hadn’t been her fault, but he knew she still felt guilty for it. He didn’t need her sitting in an exam room with him while a doctor talked about how deep the wound was or the risks of infection and all that shit they’d told him in the hospital. She didn’t need the reminder. Or to see him nervous and uncomfortable and in pain while they poked and prodded at him. “Thanks,” he murmured, glancing over at her again. Aaron appreciated the sentiment, at least. They arrived at Dino’s, and he pulled into the parking lot and shut the engine off. “Do you wanna ... eat here? Or get something to go?” Aaron could feel that he’d dragged the vibe down, and he didn’t want to make them sit in discomfort if Mila didn’t want to.
Mila was well aware that the people in her life would want to shield her from unpleasantness. But she couldn't hide from things forever, and she didn't want to keep pretending the bad things hadn't happened. But she didn't want Aaron to be uncomfortable with her presence, so she would leave it up to him if he wanted her to go or not. "We can eat here," Mila said with a smile, reaching out to touch his arm. "I'm starving. I could use a drink too, and I'm pretty sure open containers aren't allowed." She didn't want to have to wait on a bunch of stuff to go park and eat in his car like she was hiding or something. "Is that okay?"
Oh right, drinks. Aaron hadn’t thought about that. “Sure, it’s okay,” he answered, giving her a smile. It didn’t feel completely right on his face, but it was all Aaron had at the moment. He leaned over to kiss her arm and then climbed out of the car. It was still cold as hell out, but Aaron kind of liked it lately. It was grounding, like a shock to the system to remind him he was still in his body and he needed to stay there. It was probably stupid, but that’s how he felt. He held the door to the restaurant for Mila, his hand moving to rest lightly on her back as they waited to get seated.
It smelled good inside, which was a good sign for her appetite, and Mila waited until they had been seated in a corner booth and had ordered their drinks before she spoke again. "So, about earlier... Anthony D'Onofrio offered me a job at his company by the marina. I guess their receptionist is retiring and they need someone to fill the position. It's a really good salary," Mila explained, tugging idly at the sleeves of her sweater. "Like, really good. If I can manage the job, we could probably move into a place of our own in about a month. Maybe less."
Aaron had almost forgotten about her news just on the drive over, and he looked surprised when she launched right into it. “D’Onofrio? Wow,” he said, genuinely impressed. “Reception work, you could totally do that. You’re so smart, you’ll have it down in no time.” Aaron smiled at her. They definitely needed money, and D’Onofrio seemed to have plenty to spare, so that was good news. It would be easier on her body than waitressing, too, and she would have a reason to get up every morning and look nice. On first blush, Aaron thought it would be good for her. “That’s awesome, babe! ... so he like, just showed up at your house to hire you?” he asked, because that part was a little weird. “You hadn’t applied or anything?”
Mila shook her head. That was the part where it got a bit weird and unsettling. But she had been trying to ignore that part for the last few hours, focused on how badly she needed the money. "Remember how I told you Caius D'Onofrio came by the other day, and... looked inside to make sure that thing was gone?" Even talking about it in such a nondescript way had anxiety prickling along her skin. But she did her best to ignore it, her gaze locked on Aaron's face, just to keep herself tethered to this reality. "I think he probably told his dad about what happened. Maybe he felt like he could help me somehow." Or maybe Caius told Anthony that Mila had been able to suss out what he was without much effort, and Anthony thought having her around could benefit him somehow. That was probably more accurate for a man like Anthony D'Onofrio, but Mila supposed she would have to take the bad with the good.
Aaron nodded at the first part, holding Mila’s gaze. He made an ‘oooh’ sound of understanding when she kept talking, then nodded again. “Yeah, he probably just wanted to help you out, since ... y’know, everything,” Aaron agreed. That made enough sense to Aaron. He didn’t really know the D’Onofrios, just that they had a reputation as rich and powerful people. Sometimes those people could be nice, so maybe this was them being nice. Or maybe Mr. D’Onofrio wanted Mila close to them for some reason, maybe so she could be monitored or something. Aaron didn’t know, it was all over his head. He smiled at her. “I mean, it will help, you’ll make way more there than you can as a waitress, so ... you said yes, right? And is it like, as Anthony’s assistant, or Caius’s?”
It was hard for Mila to believe the D'Onofrio's would reach out to help her out of the kindness of their hearts. The demonic blood she knew they had probably colored her view of them a bit. But she didn't feel in danger around them. If she had, she wouldn't have taken the job no matter how desperately she needed the money. They were intimidating, yes. But dangerous? Okay, probably. But none of that seemed directed toward Mila. "I don't know," she admitted. "Both, maybe. I'm going to go in on Friday and meet the woman I'm replacing so she can begin training me on things. Do you think you could drive me?" She had her car, but Mila still felt fidgety about being out by herself, especially driving. Some small part of feared that she would end up driving into Seaview, and even if it was an irrational fear, she didn't want to have any opportunity to help it come to fruition. “If you can’t, that’s okay, I just thought I would ask. You might be able to help me calm my nerves on the way.”
“Of course, yeah,” Aaron said immediately. Mila would probably be going in before the bar even opened -- offices started work early -- so even if he was on shift that day, he could drive her. “I’ll pick you up too, if you want.” Already he was thinking about bringing her coffee and a yummy breakfast sandwich or something to start her day off right. If some lady had been an assistant for the D’Onofrios for long enough to retire from there, it couldn’t be a super dangerous job or anything, right? Maybe they were nice to work for. He gave her a little grin. “So like, next year you can take me as your date to their fancy Christmas party or something,” he said. It didn’t hurt to be optimistic! “I’ll totally put on a tux for you.”
He seemed happy for her and as enthusiastic about the job as her mom had been. It helped Mila relax quite a bit because it was just one more step to something resembling normal. If Aaron drove her there and picked her up at the end of the day, that would certainly give her something to look forward to if the first few days at the job were stressful. She hadn't given it a lot of thought, but Mila was wondering how she would handle things if she had a panic attack there, or got sick? That black sludge still came up every now and then, and she didn't want Anthony D'Onofrio to think she was unreliable or too much of a hassle. Mila inhaled deep through her nose and then exhaled softly through her lips to calm her nerves. She wouldn't worry about any of that until she needed to. So Mila smiled, letting herself picture Aaron in formal wear instead. "I bet you look sexy as hell in a tux," she said. "I don't know if they have fancy parties, but even if they don't, you should rent one and wear it anyway just so I can tear it off of you."
Mila looked a little worried or unsure or something, but that was pretty normal for her now, so it didn’t worry Aaron. It had to be scary, getting back out in the world after something like she’d been through -- and for so long, to her perception. That aspect of it still blew his mind when he tried to think about it. To him it had only been a couple of weeks, to her it had been ... who knew how long. Years. It was crazy. She was smiling now though, and that made Aaron feel happier and more secure himself. “Isn’t their whole deal fancy parties? You’re gonna be like, mingling and charming all the rich people in town,” Aaron said, amused and pleased for her. Part of him knew he would never fit into that world, but that didn’t matter as long as Mila was happy. He grinned wider at the big about the tux. “That’s a surefire way to lose my deposit,” he said with teasing disapproval. “But you’re worth it, babe.”
Mila huffed out an amused laugh. She couldn't even see herself being able to speak to those people, let alone charm them. It was different when she was serving them drinks, although not many of the wealthier residents frequented the Porch much when she worked there. The Boathouse, sure, but Mila hadn't worked there terribly long before everything went to shit. "I just want things to get back to normal," Mila said after a moment of contemplation. "Or... something that resembles normal. I may end up hating the job, you know? Sometimes I think it would be easier if we could just move away and never come back. I think about it a lot now, but I don't think we'll ever be able to do it." She paused and then winced a bit before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I don't want to be a downer. I think my medication puts me on these rapid highs and lows sometimes. It's a pain."
Talking about tues made Aaron think of weddings, which made him think of their wedding, and that was nice for a minute. He thought she would look like a perfect angel in a long white dress, and Aaron really hoped he got to see it some day. Her words pulled him back into reality though, and he got a hollow pang in his chest at how she sounded. He gave her a little smile back at the end. “It’s okay,” he told her, and reached across the table for her hand. “Let’s just give it a month or two and see how it goes, yeah? I’m working again too, we can start saving, and then see where we want to go.” Maybe they should move away and never come back. That thought was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. He’d never been away from his family before for more than a few days, living somewhere completely separate felt daunting. But he would have Mila, and if that was what was best for her ... Aaron would figure it out. He hoped, anyway. She deserved that kind of partner. “I love you,” he tacked on in a quick murmur.
She took his hand and clung to it, trying not to squeeze too tightly. Being out of her parents house was helping, and she was with Aaron, so she felt safe. But sometimes it was difficult, at least mentally, and Mila didn't want to lose it in a pizza shop. Aaron was going through a lot too, and she didn't want to become a problem. They should be able to get dinner together like a normal couple. But she also knew they would probably never get out of Point Pleasant. Mila couldn't leave her parents, and she didn't think Aaron would be able to move away from his brothers, no matter how much they fought or hurt each other. "I love you too," Mila said. Then she smiled softly and rubbed her thumb against his hand. "I'm sorry. We can talk about something else. Have you seen Adrian lately?"
Aaron wished she would stop apologizing all the time, but he’d already told her that and telling her again wouldn’t help anything, it would just make her feel bad. So he tried to focus on her question instead, shaking his head. “Not since Sunday when we all hung out,” he said. He wasn’t too worried, because they had not seen Adrian for longer stretches than that, but there was always the possibility he would disappear again, and he knew Mila worried about that. “Have you?”
"No," Mila said. "I mean, I paged him Monday night and he called. But I haven't seen him since Sunday either. I guess I just keep worrying that one day I'll page him and he won't call." That he'll be gone. The uncertainty of his life was concerning for her, and she was terrified of losing him again. And of losing Aaron. Of losing herself. Mila didn't know what she had to do to get past everything, but she was getting to the point where she would try just about anything. "I wish I could just get him set up someplace permanent, so I didn't have to wonder if he's sleeping in his car every night, or if he's eating, and all of that. When he's gone, sometimes I wonder if he's even real, or if I'm just hallucinating everything."
Aaron gave her hand a sympathetic little squeeze. He hated that she was still questioning the reality around her, but he understood it enough. It would just take time, something she hadn’t had a lot of yet, objectively speaking. “I keep offering to let him stay at my place, especially since it’s so fuckin’ cold out,” he said with a bit of chagrin. “He keeps saying no. Pretty sure he’s like ... got to eat though, so don’t worry about that. And he’s totally real, so if you have any doubts again ... I can reassure you. I’ve seen him, touched him, smelled him before he used my shower.” Aaron gave her a little smile, hoping to lighten her thoughts just a little. “He survived this long unsupervised, I think he’ll be okay.” He hoped so, anyway. Mila didn’t need any more loss or heartache in her life, not anytime soon. “I get it, though. I worry about him too, he’s like one of my brothers now.”
Mila wished Adrian would just use Aaron's place to stay. It was cold outside, and she worried about him sleeping in his car and freezing to death. But like Aaron said, Adrian had been on his own for five years now and had been all right. Still, he was her brother and she would worry. Having Aaron reassure her that Adrian was real was helpful and helped calm some of her anxiety though. Mila did her best to ignore the tiny voice in the back of her head questioning whether or not Aaron was real. Or any of this. Everyone looked and sounded and smelled real, yes, but they had before. But if this was a horrible illusion, it had lasted much longer than any of the others. That was really the only thing that she could cling to at the moment. It warmed her a bit to hear Aaron thought of Adrian as one of his brothers now, so at least Adrian had someone else looking out for him. "Thank you," Mila murmured with a soft smile. "I'm glad he has someone looking out for him. And he seems to care about you a lot too."
Aaron gave her a bashful little smile and shrugged a bit. “He just wants someone to be good to and for you,” he said. He liked Adrian and he was sure the feeling was somewhat mutual, but Mila was top priority for both of them, and Aaron was okay with that being the basis for their brotherly relationship. Mila needed all the support she could get, and it wasn’t like he and Adrian could go out to the bar to have a few or go fishing together or something else bonding. He leaned over the table, pulling Mila’s hand up to kiss the back of it. “We both love you a lot,” he murmured, pressing her knuckles to his cheek for a second. “And we’ll keep loving you through all this. And beyond.” Despite his own issues, Aaron was in this for the long haul, he felt.
Mila was okay with it, if she was the only thing the two of them had in common. As long as they got along and helped one another, she was happy. She was terrified of losing them both, so knowing they had each other too... it helped her a little. Mila didn't think Aaron could, or would, turn to Gavin or Caden with his problems, but maybe he would look to Adrian if he needed someone... someone besides Mila, anyway. She wanted to be there for him too, if he would let her. The way he kissed her hand warmed her and she kind of hoped they could go somewhere and just be together for awhile when they were finished eating. "I love you both a lot too," she told him. Mila smiled, her thumb brushing along his hand, a playful smile on her lips. "Maybe when we finish here we can go somewhere and make out."
Aaron still wasn’t used to having people around who were vocal about wanting to support him and assist with his emotions and all that. That just wasn’t how the Lucas family worked. But he had it now, in a wonderfully sweet and amazing girlfriend, and her ... complicated brother. Aaron was okay with complicated, even if certain things were above his head, it was a familiar place to be. He just knew he loved Mila with all his heart and he wanted all of them to get better and have normal, happy lives. As much as was possible in Point Pleasant, anyway. Her suggestion made him smile brightly and a hint of color came into his cheeks. They had had sex again once, but hadn’t done much fooling around beyond that, and he missed that intimacy with her. But soon their living situations would be worked out and they could settle into really being together again. “That sounds good,” he murmured warmly. “And makes me glad we didn’t get onions on the pizza.”
Mila was finding she was missing physical intimacy with Aaron too. She had before they'd had sex at her parents house, but there had always been a bit of apprehension and fear that it would upset her, or trigger bad memories. But it had been wonderful and amazing and she wished they were together, alone, more often so they could be together again. She didn't really expect to have sex in his car or anything, but even if they parked out near the marina and just kissed for a while, Mila would be okay with that. Aaron had been there for her since she found her way back home, and she knew how much physical intimacy was important to him. It was important to her too, and she felt like she was at a place now where she could provide it. "I would love kissing you, even with onion breath," she teased. "If you don't mind staying out a bit later, anyway. I don't want you to feel overtired or anything."
Aaron looked at his wrist like he was checking a watch even though he never wore one. “It’s still early,” he told Mila with a little grin. “I would make out with you even if I was falling-over tired. ... which I’m not at all, so don’t fret.” Aaron would pump his veins full of coffee or do a bunch of jumping jacks or whatever it took to stay awake if it meant giving Mila what she wanted. What he wanted too, really. He craved being close to her in any fashion. Maybe that was pathetic or codependent or something, but Aaron didn’t care. He barely knew what codependent meant anyway. He just needed Mila, end of story. He snuck one more kiss onto her hand and then sat back as their pizza arrived. He was hungry and ready for it, but even more ready to get done and out of Dino’s.