CHAPTER FIFTEEN
TIES

To say Kimmy was taken by surprise to see Aaron waiting for her outside her last class of the day would be an understatement. He wore a look of deep concern on his face as he messed around with the watch on his wrist as he scrunched his face up in thought, his eyes glued to his shoes.

Kimmy was stood directly in front of him with furrowed brows and her arms crossed against her chest, still, Aaron was stuck in his daze.

Kimmy cleared her throat and nudged his shoulder, the boy flinching violently in return and his eyes shooting wide.

"Are you alright?" She questioned hesitantly, taking a step back at his startled expression. "Aaron-"

"Do you think Steve could pass as my dad?" Aaron blurted frantically as he waved his hands from frustration. Kimmy only grew more confused. "I mean- if I forced him, do you think I could get him to go to my meeting on Friday?"

It was only then Kimmy realised in order to make it to her class on time, he must have skipped his own class. This really was no surprise to Kimmy, seeing how upset he was before the bell signalling the end of lunch went.

"Okay, first of all," Kimmy began, more confused than ever. "I don't know Steve that well so I don't know if you could force him or not. Second of all, he can't pass as your dad. And third of all, the school called your parents so they already know about it."

Aaron looked to her blankly for a moment before his face crumpled and he brung his hands to his face before speaking up, his voice frantic. "I'm going to die, this isn't funny, Kimberley."

Kimmy stifled a laugh at the use of her first name, though recollected herself quickly as he dropped his arms to his side. She knew the boy had to have been in some state for him to have addressed her by her full first name.

"Jesus, I can never go home again." His voice cracking with emotion, cheeks pink with a mix of pent up rage and fear while his hair was a mess with running his hands through it repetitively. "I can't believe this, why did I have to talk back to that fucking idiot-"

"Aaron, calm down." Kimmy rushed, trying to calm him down. "You're going to be fine-"

"I'm not going to be fine!" Aaron countered instantly, eyes wide. "You don't know how much trouble I'm in, I've never done anything like this! I don't know why I even did it to begin with I should have kept my mouth shut-"

Kimmy cut him off by grabbing ahold of his arm and pulling him along behind her, ignoring his pathetic pleas as she walked as fast as possible towards the old girls bathroom which was never used anymore. Although, the pair didn't get very far because Aaron ripped his arm from her grasp just as Kimmy went to enter the rundown room.

"Stop- Kimmy, this is a girls bathroom!" He insisted in a whisper, feet rooted in place as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Haven't I broken enough rules today? Do you want to get me expelled?"

Kimmy rolled her eyes. "This bathroom is never used, look at it! The lights don't even work."

Aaron still wouldn't budge, his nose scrunched as he went to shuffle backwards. Kimmy reached out and pulled him into the darkly lit bathroom. "Kimberley! Let go of me! I'm breaking about a thousand school rules let go of my arm-"

"Aaron, seriously shut up, okay?" Kimmy mused, pushing him to sit down on one of the many ledges with peeling paint. "You need to calm down, you're far too stressed, just talk to me okay? What do you have next class?"

Kimmy knew how embarrassing and uncomfortable being upset and vulnerable infront of someone was, especially when seeking some sort of comfort - which Aaron obviously was. How he had come to her expressing his concerns and how desperately he needed them fixed, he had wanted reassurance, comfort.

Whether the embarrassment and heightened emotions would allow him to see this yet, she was unsure.

"Oh, my god, I'm going to be late to my next class." Aaron gushed and going to stand, his eyes widening a fraction if that were even possible.

"No, listen," she replied calmly in the most gentle voice she could muster. "You're not going to that class."

"Stop, stop, stop." Aaron whispered, though more to himself or to her, Kimmy was unsure. "My stress levels are perfectly manageable, but I have a test I should be sitting in about two minutes and if I don't make it then you will see my stress levels at their highest."

"Aaron, you are in no way calm enough to go to class." Kimmy assured, sitting next to him as she watched him press his shaky hands to his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut. Doing his best but failing to hear anything she said. "You're on the verge of bursting a blood vessle, you have to listen to me."

Aaron didn't reply, he didn't look at her either. His eyes were still closed though Kimmy took it as a positive that he wasn't immediately shutting her down.

Despite often having panic attacks herself, she was unsure how to comfort another. She supposed she lacked the experience, never having to do this before, though she had no reference at all seeing as no one had ever been there to comfort herself. She just worked through it herself. Though, the more she thought about it, the more she realised she couldn't really remember what she would tell herself. It was all a blur.

"Why didn't you go to your last class?" Kimmy questioned broadly, hoping he could work through his troubles through talking it out with her while also giving him the option whether or no he would answer.

Aaron removed his pressed hands from his lips and instead leaned forward to bury his head in his hands, muffled protests ripping past his lips in a way which made Kimmy sure he was doing anything but calming down. 

"I can't," he said breathlessly, his voice shaky while he took deep breaths. "I can't, my dad will kill me. You don't get it, he hates me."

Something told Kimmy she wasn't supposed to hear that. As if it had slipped out accidentally.

Kimmy hesitated, debating on whether or not to speak up when she had no idea who the person at topic was. "I'm sure you're overthinking it-"

She cut herself off as Aaron removed his hands from his face, sitting up straight with a defeated expression as he turned to her. "You remember what I told you about my broken arm? How Steve had broken it accidentally and how I was more upset about the dirt on my clothes?"

Kimmy nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. Aaron went to continue his point but stopped himself, as if he just realised what he was saying.

"Okay," he nodded in a faux look of thought, going to continue but stopping himself, shaking his head as if to remind himself of something before talking once more. "I'm thankful for the help, but I'm going to be murdered for the scene I just held." The boy groaned in frustration. "I need to learn to keep my mouth shut."

Kimmy stilled, a vast feeling of uncomfort washing over her as she watched him turn away and sniffle slightly, wiping his face. "Whatever, it's stupid." He mumbled after a moment of silence. "Just forget it, I don't know why I said that."

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek, unsure what to do seeing as it looked as if she was making things worse.

After a brief silence, she decided on distraction.

"It's weird isn't it, this whole thing with Eleven?" She blurted, almost flinching at the look Aaron sent her.

"What?" Aaron questioned roughly, his brows drawn together as the look of uncertainty and frustration. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Kimmy felt her eyes widen and almost backtracked and apologised before she realised he hadn't meant his words to be taken to heart, he was upset and wasn't  in his right state of mind.

"What happened at Mike's after I went home the other day?" She tried once again, deciding a different approach would be best. One that would actually get him talking and thinking about something else. "I thought you wanted to talk to me about it?"

She watched him still, as if the gears in his head had only begun turning. His hands were still shaking, but at least he was partially thinking of something other than what his dad would do when he next saw him.

"You remember how Eleven flipped the D&D board over when talking about where Will was?" Aaron blurted abruptly, his voice still shaky as he struggled to meet her eye. "Or how Will kept talking about how dark and cold Hawkin's was?"

Kimmy nodded, unable to stop the feeling of unwanted fear as she waited for what he wanted to say with deep anticipation.

"Well, what if when she took us to Will's house he was there," despite the fact he was still in a slight distress, Kimmy could tell Aaron wasn't fully sure on what he was telling her. "What if he was just in the upside down?"

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek as well as sucking on her teeth as she thought over what he had said. And all she could think about was how the situation dumped on her made no sense what so ever.

"Right," she began, unable to hide the sound of disbelief in her voice. "And how exactly does this make any sense?"

Aaron scrunched his nose and turned away from her, tilting his head while scratching his neck. "Because- because- I don't know, it just does. I don't really get it either, I'll have to ask Mike. We're going to see if Mr Clarke knows anything about it tomorrow."

Clasping her hands together, Kimmy let out a sigh, completely unsure as to what he had meant by the last part. "Oh you have his class tomorrow?"

Aaron stilled, a look of uncomfort washing over his features. "No, it's Will's funeral tomorrow."

To say Kimmy felt horrible would be an understatement. His friends funeral was tomorrow and she had no idea about it, she just had to go and blurt out her first thoughts.

Kimmy felt as if Aaron noticed what she was thinking, seeing how soon he was to rush to put her at ease.

"It's fine though," Aaron insisted with a shrug of his shoulders. "Will's fine remember? We heard him yesterday, so it's not really his funeral."

Kimmy didn't know what to say in response, truth be told the day before was still kind of a touchy subject when she thought back. Simply, she only smiled and nodded in return.

"Yeah," she nodded again, ignoring the way her voice cracked. "Of course."

...

A day later, and Aaron was struggling to tie his tie.

His already pent up frustrations only taking a deeper hit and pushing him further.

He sighed, dropping his hands to his sides as he stared back at himself in the mirror, his defeated reflection only irking him further.

He was dressed in his black suit as well as his burgundy tie - funeral attire.

Despite the fact he knew Will wasn't really dead, he couldn't ignore the smallest part of him which was constantly picking at him and reminding him what he was doing, that he was going out and choosing to believe the fact his dead body had been a fake just on a limb that had no true facts to back it up.

Quickly, he shook his head, pushing those thoughts down as he forced himself to remember that he had heard him himself two days prior.

He knew Will wasn't really dead, but it didn't make it any easier. Having to show up to his friends funeral and act as if it didn't bother him.

Will wasn't dead, but that brung no sort of comfort to the boy. All he knew was that Will was alive, but Aaron didn't know where he was, no one did. For all he knew, wherever he was could be worse than dead.

It seemed that because the group of friends had heard their missing friends voice, that all was well, but Aaron couldn't shake the idea of where the boy was. He was still missing.

While Aaron was angry for his missing friend, he was also angry for himself. As far as the public and his family were concerned, his friend was dead. His friend was dead and neither his mom or dad had even called to check in on him.

They hadn't called when his friend had died, yet they had called in a fit of rage that morning upon receiving a call from the school regarding his detention the day prior.

Aaron sighed, looking down at the burgundy colored tie in his hands as he made one more attempt at tying it together.

Twenty seconds hadn't passed and he was already groaning in frustration and throwing his head back in anger, ripping his tie from around his neck and leaving his bedroom with a frustrated look burning into his features. Making sure to slam the door behind him.

Aaron stopped outside the bedroom of his older brother, hesitating as he raised his hand and went to knock on the closed door, but stopped himself.

The younger boy felt his face fall without his consent while he bit his cheek, unsure if he should bother the older boy for something as stupid as a tie.

Swiftly, he pulled up the sleeve of his suit and checked his watch, only to find he only had ten minutes before he had to leave.

Before he could second guess himself, he reached his hand up and knocked on the large door. Rustling could be heard from behind the door before it was swung open and the older boy was stood directly infront of the younger boy.

"Can you tie my tie?" Aaron blurted, his voice cracking slightly. "I can't do it myself."

Aaron took a breath, blinking violently as he subconsciously took a small step back while his chest automatically filled up with feelings of intimidation.

Aaron didn't know why he was so scared of his older brother at times, he had always been like that. With Steve, Aaron was either arguing with him or avoiding him due to the pent up fear he felt when his brother got mad. There was never an in between.

"Yeah," Steve mumbled, stepping outside to the hallway where Aaron stood while scratching his neck in discomfort.

Aaron passed him the piece of dark material with shaky hands, avoiding the older boys gaze as Steve tied his tie for him.

Aaron didn't know what to say, and he was sure Steve didn't either. The two had never done this, not that Aaron could remember. Just stood in silence, a silence which wasn't brought on by an angry outburst between the two or one which the pair had been forced into thanks to the unsettling circumstances of family meet ups or dinner, which truth be told wasn't that often.

Despite fighting it, Aaron couldn't help but feel an intense feeling of resentment towards the boy. Sure, the pair of brothers didn't have the best parents in the world, but Steve hadn't made it any easier on the boy. The twos parents were always away, whether it be due to work or simply a vacation for the two amongst school time it didn't matter. The two had been doing that for as long as Aaron could remember. All that mattered to him was how Steve had handled it. Sure, it wasn't fair that Steve had to go through the same as Aaron, but the older boy hadn't acted like he'd cared, whether he did or he didn't.

Aaron was left himself all the time. Left alone for dinner while his brother went out with friends, left alone over night while his brother was out, the boy was alone most of his childhood and still was. It wasn't Steve's responsibility to make sure Aaron was looked after, but he didn't have to freeze him out.

Truth be told, Aaron was lonely. All his friends lived on the other side of town and whenever he would go out with them, he'd be forced to make the long venture home by himself while being greeted with nothing but a cold, empty house in return.

Steve hadn't even spoken to Aaron after hearing about Will, and Aaron knew he had heard about it. The older boy was more concerned in covering up a party he had held with his friends the night prior.

Really, this was the first time he was forced to confront the topic.

"I can drive you if you want?" Steve offered uncomfortably, obviously unsure how to approach the situation and his evidently upset brother.

Aaron nodded and messed around with the bottom of the tie. "Thanks."

The two were left in an uncomfortable silence before Aaron broke it, his voice scratchy from a mix of both suprise and emotion. "We better get going," he murmured, watching as Steve sent a small nod. "Don't want to be late."

"Aaron?" Steve called, catching his shoulder as he went to walk towards the stairs. "How are you... holding up?"

The question was awkward, but it usually was between the two. Aaron was appreciative that he was at least trying with the boy.

"I'll be fine," Aaron nodded quietly, though the look on his face said other wise.

Steve simply nodded in response, letting go of the twelve year olds arm before trailing after him as the pair walked down the stairs and left the house in silence.

...

New chapter coming in a few days😛.
FINALLY got Aaron's pov lol, much more of that to come btw.
Have a good day/night!!!!

-AJ :)