"If you are the same age as the twins why are you still in high school?" I blurted out breaking the dead silence between us. I had just managed to swing my heavy backpack onto my back and made my way out of the driveway.

Aaron and I were walking to school together since my brothers were yet again out working or staying on campus over the weekend. That meant that I was stuck at home with Aaron.

He mostly kept to himself when we were in the house and I could often hear his music playing from his room whenever I was up late at night.

I would often wonder how he ended up living in our guest room. Didn't he have a family or was he just going to school in another city? The questions were many but I didn't have the feeling that he was a very open person, that I could just ask a question straight up.

Except for the moments we spent eating breakfast together, we weren't spending a lot of time together. Maybe it was my lack of social skills or his obvious dislike of me that made out encounters so awkward, I am not sure about.

Looking away from Aaron I had made quite the progress on the friend front and I felt like I had finally made some friends at school.

I had my little friend group consisting of me and the twins and I was happy that I got to join them. Until recently I had been meeting up with them before school, but unfortunately, both Eli and Cristina had to go back to Italy to deal with some kind of family emergency.

It really surprised me why I found out that they were twins because they acted like the best of friends and I dumbly assumed that might be dating and let me tell you the look on their faces when I asked...

While they were both pretty outgoing, Eli often preferred to stay in the background while Cristina was literally born to be a star.

It didn't take me long before I realized how well-liked my new friends were at school, but in big contrast to the other seemingly popular kids, I have had the sore pleasure of meeting, they were really nice to their fellow students.

The silence between us was thick with tension and I dammed myself for asking such a stupid question when it was none of my business. I was in no position to judge someone, considering the fact that I crashed on two scary boxers' couches for months on end.

The temperature outside was on the chillier side and I cursed myself for not putting on a jacket. I knew I should have gotten my driver's license but when you live in New York City it's just easier taking the subway or catch a cab. The seat warmer would have been greatly appreciated right now.

Aaron stayed silent, keeping his eyes trained at the road before us. This seemingly mysterious boy had made me very curious on what he was trying to hide from me.

I knew that I could just ask the twins if they knew anything since it seemed that they could probably give me the answers I was searching for. But to me, it seemed wrong for someone else to tell his story, so I just asked him.

That was one of the things that the talk I had with Mason made me realize. You need to ask the questions you have to get them answered and only then you can put them behind you.

Seconds went by and my question was still left unanswered and I realized that he was probably not going to tell me. I sighed and put in my beloved ear pods so the time would go by quicker. Just as the sweet sound of the Beatles started blasting in my ears another sound caught my attention.

"My mother was sick and I had to take care of her, you could say school wasn't exactly the thing I was worrying the most about." He said, his eyes still refusing to meet mine.

I tried to think of something to say, but I couldn't seem to find the words I was looking for. I never knew my mother but judging from the way my brothers described her she was a great mother. They told me that she was so excited to be having a girl that she could spoil, but unfortunately she never even got to hold me in her arms before she passed away.

I unconsciously grabbed a hold of his hand that was nervously scratched the skin on his forearm. Tiny drops of blood trickled down his fingers before falling onto the ground.

"I am sorry you had to go through that Aaron." I gave him a sad smile.

He lightly squeezed my hand in response and even the small gesture made my heart flutter a bit. I couldn't even imagine the weight he had been carrying on his shoulders, and at such a young age as well.

I could see the blurry silhouette of my school becoming bigger and bigger the closer I got. Even the ones dark cloudy skies were starting to clear up and revealed a bright blue color underneath.

Aarons hand still held a tight grasp on mine and I wondered if he knew that he was still holding on to me.

"Stop overthinking Alex." He said.

What? How did he...

"Come on, I have to get you to your English class, or your brothers are going to kill me if you are late." He said, taking long strides which resulted in me being dragged after him. Damn his long legs.

••••••

English went surprisingly well considering the fact that I had to sit next to this girl that was pissed because she didn't get to sit next to her best friend. So she kept trying to talk or rather yell to her over my desk so the teacher's voice was completely overshadowed by their loud conversation about shoes. Yes, shoes.

When the dreaded 45 minutes was finally over I quickly scattered together my stuff and headed to my next class where I could hopefully find a better seat.

Mr. Jenkins's classroom was located on the newer side of the school so it was a bit of a struggle to get there in the small-time you had between classes, but to my surprise, the classroom was pretty much empty except for a few seats that were already taken.

I spotted a window seat in the very back and hesitantly decided to take a seat despite the pink backpack that was hung on the chair next to mine.

I decided to just start on some homework since the teacher hadn't shown up yet. My trusted red notebook was placed on the desk in front of me like it always has. Mason bought it for me when I was starting middle school and it has followed me ever since. I think he was concerned that I at the time didn't have many friends and that I could write to "get out my emotions". I'm mean he wasn't wrong.

Completely lost in my world I didn't even notice that someone had occupied the seat next to mine. To my big surprise the bright pink backpack belonged to the girl that I spilled my coffee on, Hanna I think her name was.

I followed her with my eyes as she looked through her notes for the class. Her brown hair perfectly styled in waves just like the last couple of times I had seen her. Her glasses were pushed a little bit too high up on her nose. Just as I thought that of it she adjusted her glasses bringing them down a little.

I remembered the gift I had gotten her as an apology for ruining her shirt and reached for my bag to get it. It might have been a bit much but Mason didn't hesitate to get it for me when I asked.

I didn't know if I should have tried looking for the same one I ruined but decided that I would get her a gift card instead so she could choose the one she liked the best.

I finally found the black and white envelope I was looking for and handed it over to Hanna with a smile.

She looked confused as to why I was giving her an envelope and I gestured for her to open it.

She slowly opened it and let out a small gasp when she noticed the black and white card inside. Her green eyes scanned the paper before looking up at me again.

"I can't accept-ttt this. It's too much." She stuttered closing the envelope.

It was a 500$ gift card for Chanel and I now realized that I might have gone a little overboard with that, but to my defense, Mason assured me that it was only pocket money compared to my brother's miraculous spending.

I remember being the one that got her lunch dumped over her clothes and that just makes me more determined to be the person I wish I had back then.

"This is yours. I don't care if you give it away or whatever, but it's yours and it would make me really happy if you accepted it." I said.

I could clearly see the internal struggle she was having on whether or not she should accept my gift, but to my big joy, she carefully placed the envelope in her backpack before closing it.

"Can I perhaps give you a hug?" Hanna said, barely above a whisper.

"Of course!" I said, pulling her into a tight hug.

I wanted to be the friend for Hanna that I needed when I was younger and eventually found in my guys.

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