CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
MEETINGS

It was the first week of December, and Aaron was a nervous wreck on the car ride to the middle school that Friday. 

The week had passed quite quickly for the boy, seeing as he'd been quite busy. He'd been in and out of the hospital with his friends visiting Will, while also stressing over the return of his parents.

They'd gotten home the night before, positively furious with Aaron for having taken away from his fathers work time which was apparently crucial.

Now, Aaron sat in the backseat of the family car as both his parents sat in the front. Not one of them spoke the entire ride to the school, in fact it was as if they refused to.

Because his parents were back home, Aaron was dressed presentably with his hair looking like he'd actually brushed it, even if it were just for a few days.

Aaron was embarrassed as he got out the car with his parents and walked towards the school building, glad no one was there to see him.

His mother and father were always dressed glamorously, both of their hair always done so even the smallest of hairs were in tact, his father embarrassingly dressed in a suit as his mother was dressed in some designer dress with shoes Aaron was sure were way too expensive for what they actually were.

Much to Aaron's distaste, he was wearing a knitted dark green sweater and his mother had forced him out of his worn out sneakers, insisting that they made him look dirty.

Aaron trailed behind his parents as the three made their way into the school building. Aaron actually felt as if he could throw up as he caught sight of the door of the principle's office.

Aaron sat on his hands to hide the fact that they were shaking so bad due to fear.

To say the meeting went bad would be putting it lightly, it had gone awfully. The principle had not gone easy on him, describing in detail every second of his encounter with his teacher.

His parents were furious, they'd yelled at him the entire way home, how much of an embarrassment he was to the family while lecturing him on respecting adults.

Aaron didn't try defend himself, he'd done so before years ago and now knew better, knowing it would only land him in more trouble, he was already grounded for two weeks.

That night, his parents didn't talk to him at all, they just ignored him, as if to make a point.

Steve wasn't speaking to him either, but Steve never really spoke to him, so Aaron didn't read too much into it.

However, if Aaron could go back in time and stop himself from eating dinner with his family that night he would.

It had started as he'd expected, with no one talking to him. Aaron didn't mind, well, he did, but he was good at acting like he didn't.

His dad making a huge fuss over Steve's past few basketball games, and yet despite the fact that Steve wasn't necessarily interested in speaking to his parents, simply supplying them with one word answers or nods of acknowledgement, his parents didn't seem to care one bit.

One thing that was never mentioned though, was the purple bruise circling Steve's eye. It was clear as day, yet his parents avoided even looking at it as if it were the plague.

"I see you've kept the house clean, Steven." His mom gushed while laughing, causing Aaron to lift his head and watch Steve's reaction to her words. "I was almost worried we'd come home to mess everywhere."

Steve shrugged, sending his mom a strained smile from across the table as he ate his food. Muttering his response "Yeah, thanks-"

"That's such bullshit, Steve," Aaron murmured bitterly, the twos parents snapping their gazes onto him, Steve widening his eyes.

It was no secret that Aaron used a couple curses in his sentences than not. He certainly swore more than any of his friends put together. But he couldn't help it, it was as if it just came naturally to him, like he didn't even have to think about it.

His parents hated curses, especially if either of the two Harrington brothers used any sort of swears.

"Excuse you, Aaron." His mother scolded him, glaring down at him.

Aaron hesitated as he looked over to his parents, almost wincing under the twos gaze.

"Apologise to your brother, Aaron." His mother continued practically demanding in a harsh voice, tilting her head over to where Steve sat.

Aaron debated it, almost opening his mouth to blurt the endless apologies. However he quickly stopped himself, biting the inside of his cheek.

Why should he have to apologise, he'd cleaned the house top to bottom almost everyday, he'd done most of the runs to get food so the two literally didn't waste away while left alone for weeks at a time. He was the one who had kept everything running, doing his parents jobs for them while they were off out of state.

Aaron's parents discredited almost everything he did, it wouldn't have mattered if he'd gotten that detention or not, it happened always.

Aaron refused to apologise and allow Steve to take credit for the only thing Aaron had going for himself in his parents eyes.

"No," Aaron shrugged, much to his parents surprise. "Why should I? I have to do everything, he just sits in his room all day or leaves to go out with his friends. He doesn't even talk to me, it is such bullshit-"

"Aaron!" His father boomed, slamming his fist on the table to shut up him, this worked. Aaron flinched violently, shutting his mouth as he prepared himself for the backlash. "Up to your room now-"

Aaron held back a frown. "I'm not even half way done my dinner-"

"And that is how it will stay." Mr Harrington snapped, causing Aaron to cower back slightly. "If you think you can get off with speaking to your brother and mother like that at dinner, then you will not be allowed dinner. Up to your room, now!"

Aaron scrunched his face up, biting his lip before pushing his seat back harshly as he stood. "Fine! I don't want to sit with any of you anyway-"

"Aaron!" His mother spoke, just off of yelling. "Watch your mouth-"

"Well I don't." He shrugged, suddenly pissed off to a point past return. "Why would I want to spend any time with any of you? You all hate me, you don't even talk to me-"

"Aaron!" His dad yelled, he too standing from his seat at the head of the table. "Up to your room, now!"

Aaron stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind him before climbing the stairs harsher than usual.

Aaron was absolutely sick of being treated like shit in his own house, he'd tried and he'd tried to help he was shut down.

If he knew one thing it was that he was absolutely not speaking to his brother. If Steve didn't like him or didn't want to even be civil towards him, then that was it. Aaron wasn't going to embarrass himself any further by attempting to get on the older boys good side.

Aaron slammed his bedroom door behind him as if to make a point, suddenly wishing tomorrow morning would come faster where his parents would be gone.

He didn't know why it annoyed him so much that Steve had simply thanked his mom for praising him for cleaning the house while she was gone, perhaps it was the way Steve had treated Aaron when not in the presence of the two adults, or maybe it was the way the older boy relentlessly made fun of him for his cleaning habits.

Aaron grabbed his walkie trying to get through to any of his friends, Dustin didn't answer, causing Aaron to mutter annoyed profanities under his breath.

He tried Lucas next, this time the boy did answer, but he wasn't up for going out that night. Saying he still hadn't had his dinner and it was far too cold outside.

Aaron went to try Mike, but he hesitated and stopped himself. The boy hadn't even spoken to the party since the girl went missing, it seemed as if he was shutting down.

That just left Kimmy, Aaron wasn't sure if he wanted to call her, although not for reasons you may think. He didn't want to have to bite the bullet and walk out to the hall to use the phone where his family members could possibly see or hear him.

Aaron rolled his eyes at himself, deciding he had to get out of the house and away from all awkwardness that came along with it.

...

Kimmy was sat on her bed that night, reading some book she had found in the depths of her closet. For the past while, things had actually been okay for the girl. And for the past while, she meant the last week.

Her parents hadn't caused her any bother, but that was because she had been avoiding the two. Kimmy didn't mind having to go the extra mile to avoid her parents in exchange for not getting hurt, she'd much rather be alone in her house than to be slapped and punched until she either bled or could hardly stand herself.

Kimmy was actually delighted to hear that her parents would be away for Christmas. They didn't tell her where they were going for the day, and it wasn't exactly like they had any money to spare, so Kimmy presumed they'd be off to a bar or something of the sort.

Kimmy now found herself counting down the days for Christmas, excited that she'd have the house to herself. Even, if it meant she wouldn't have Christmas the same way many others would. No presents, no Christmas dinner, but none of that mattered to the girl, because she'd have an entire day to herself where she wouldn't have to worry about accidentally stepping out of line.

The phone began to ring, but Kimmy didn't make any attempt to make the phone before the end of the rings, assuming it was for one of her parents.

However it looked as if neither of her parents were going to actually pick the phone off the ringer, causing Kimmy to sigh as she stood up from her bed and slowly made her way to the phone in the hall.

"Hello?" She muttered, sounding a mix of bored and tired as she spoke.

"It's Aaron," the voice whispered at a rapid, taking Kimmy by surprise. "Do you want to do something?"

Kimmy didn't understand why he was whispering, despite being dark, it wasn't late, there was no one he would wake.

"Like what?" She asked carefully, almost cringing at how loud she sounded in comparison to his whispers.

"I don't know," he muttered, sounding unsure with himself. "We could get ice cream or something? I haven't had dinner."

Kimmy subconsciously began frowning, it was way past the time most would have their dinner, she found herself wondering why Aaron had yet to have his.

True, Kimmy hadn't had dinner either, but that wasn't a surprise, she was used to that. What she wasn't used to was the idea of Aaron not having dinner.

"Yeah, okay," Kimmy found herself replying after a few moments.

"Okay, um, meet me at the old movie theatre in the town centre in ten minutes." Admittedly,  it took Kimmy a minute to register what he had said, seeing how fast and quietly he was talking.

"Yeah, alright," Kimmy nodded thoughtfully to herself. "I'll see you in ten, bye."

Aaron also muttered a quick goodbye, the line going dead in a matter of seconds.

Kimmy sighed, making her way back to her room to retrieve her jacket, shoes and since it was cold outside, her hat.

Kimmy slid her creaky bedroom window open, following her usual routine of climbing down the tree by her window to leave the house she hated so much.

It didn't take Kimmy long to make it to the old movie theatre - or maybe it did? She had zoned out most of the walk, and seeing that Aaron was already stood there muttering to himself she began to doubt her initial thought.

"Hi," Kimmy waved to her friend, sticking her hands back into her pockets due to the cold.

"Hi," he replied, mimicking her wave but Kimmy couldn't help but presume he regretted his action because he was clearly cringing at himself the second his hand dropped. "Do you want to get pizza? I'm starving."

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek at the question. She didn't have any money on her, she couldn't help but let her face drop the slightest amount at the question.

"Please, I haven't had anything since before lunch?" Aaron asked, seemingly noticing the way she tensed, however Kimmy assumed he really hadn't realised why her face had dropped. "Please, Kimmy, I'll pay."

Kimmy let out a breath at his words, scratching the back of her neck as she nodded. "Alright-"

"Okay, come on." He interrupted, already walking in the direction of the pizza place, Kimmy having to practically chase after him.

"I'm just getting plain cheese, what about you?" Aaron asked, still walking rather briskly to the pizza place which was now in sight.

Kimmy's eyes widened and she turned to look to him with a perplexed expression. "What- you're having an entire pizza? I thought we were just sharing."

Kimmy should have probably known better than this, seeing his personal issues with germs and such.

"Of course I'm getting an entire pizza." Aaron rolled his eyes, turning to face her as he spoke, pushing the door of the pizza place open, letting her walk in before he continued. "Did you not hear me, I haven't had any food in hours?"

Kimmy shrugged, supposing he was right. "Okay, don't get me any, I don't want a whole pizza, I won't finish it-"

"Okay, we'll you can have a slice of my pizza if you don't want much." Aaron replied, sounding distant as he looked up at the board with all the prices written.

Kimmy didn't answer, simply watching him quietly as he went up to the counter to ask for his plain cheese pizza. Kimmy opting to take a few steps back as to not give the impression to the people behind her that she was waiting in the queue.

Kimmy began to nervously pick on her nails as she stood in the corner, taken by surprise as Aaron was back next to her a second later, holding a pizza box in his hands.

"What- you've got your food already?" Kimmy asked him as Aaron led her out of the small building.

"Yeah, I know," Aaron mumbled, peaking into the box with a look of distaste on his features. "It's obviously just been reheated but I don't care for once, if I don't have any food I think I'll die."

"I thought you liked to make your own food?" Kimmy frowned, taking a seat beside him as he sat down on a bench near by.

She watched as Aaron stilled, looking panicked for a second before he quickly covered it. "Yeah, but... I just decided I wanted to eat something quick."

Kimmy let it go, interlocking her hands together awkwardly as she looked around.

"Here," Aaron handed the box to her, placing it on her lap as he spoke. "Pick what piece you want."

Kimmy could tell Aaron was desperate to get some food in him, so she simply picked the first slice she could see. Muttering a thanks as she did so.

Aaron shrugged and grabbed the box again, instantly stuffing his face with a piece.

"So," Kimmy began as she took a few bites of her own slice. "How did the meeting go?"

Aaron paused on what he was doing, shaking his head as he looked to her. "You don't even want to know."

The pair sat on that bench for several hours, mainly in a comfortable silence as they ate the food the both of them desperately needed.

Kimmy actually didn't mind that the two were sat in a comfortable silence, she truly thought the two needed it. She certainly did, and she was almost entirely sure that Aaron did too judging by his reaction to her question about his meeting earlier that day.

...

This chapter just made me absolutely starving as I wrote it😭😭

anyway I actually prefer writing chapters where half is in Aaron's pov and half in Kimmy's so I might start to do that more often

have a good day/night, hope you're enjoying the story so far, please don't hesitate to comment!!!!

- AJ :)