The ride back to his apartment was quiet, and a quiet Aaron was the scariest Aaron. It meant something was lurking under the surface, a ticking time bomb about to go off but also one that there was no escape from. One I knew I was on the unlucky receiving end of.

The dreadful anticipation didn't last long. As soon as the door to his apartment closed, he exploded.

"What did I tell you Sam? Stay here. I told you to stay here! And what did you do? You left!"

"But Da—"

"You had to do one thing. Stay here! Was that so fucking hard. You just had to stay here."

"I—"

He was in my face screaming now. "And then you where—with them—him—fucking bastard—all you had to do was stay here!"

"I needed to send Dad's paperwork," I argued. "So I went to fax it and then I ran into Nat and—"

"Don't fucking say their names." He snarled. "You just had to stay here. One thing, the only thing I asked, and you couldn't even do that!"

This wasn't fair. Why did he get to scream and yell at me and not let me give one word to defend myself? It wasn't fair at all.

I felt like crying.

It was my fault. He obviously didn't want me here or around his friends. He didn't want his family apart of his life anymore. While I knew that, hearing him yell at me just reconfirmed the notion and hit me harder then expected. Rejection never got easier, no matter how often you experienced it.

"I'm sorry." I tried not to let the stupid tears fall but it was impossible. Aaron always made me feel weak, emotional and I hated proving him right, but it was as if everything that happened the past few weeks came bubbling up and his words were the final straw.

"You should be, I—" his voice instantly cut off when he looked at me and my tear stricken face that I was still trying unsuccessfully to hide. He swallowed and tugged his fingers in his hair. "I—shit Sam—it's okay. For fucks sake stop crying!"

Obviously his screaming at me to stop didn't help and perhaps for the first time in my life, I saw Aaron flustered. If I wasn't a complete mess I might have laughed at his rotating switches from scowling and grimacing.

"Stop crying." He took a step towards me and I flinched instinctively, the image of him pummeling Collins flashing through my head.

He froze.

"I—fuck—Sam, I'm not going to hit you." His tone sounded distress, almost upset that I could think such a thing.

"You just jumped your own friend, why would your brother be any different? Especially since you hate me so much."

He eyes widened at my words. "I don't hate you."

Liar." Then why won't you let me leave the apartment or hang out with your friends? I can't just stay locked in here all day. That's cruel."

He assessed me silently before sighing and running his hands through his hair.  "You're right. You can't stay in here all day. It's just—you were gone. You can't just wander out without me knowing. I didn't like it."

"So if I let you know I'm allowed to leave?" My tears had died down now and I sloppy wiped my face.

He grimaced, clenching and unclenching his hand, but nodding.

It was a shaky truce, but a truce nonetheless.

"I'm sorry," I apologized and meant it. "I didn't think you'd be upset. I just wanted to send Dad's forms."

"Did you send them?" I startled at his question. It was the first interest he took in anything I did, understandable though as it was about Dad.

"Yes. The doctor said he should have his surgery in no time." I'd have to start looking for a ticket home soon. It would still be a few weeks, but Dad would need someone to look after him while he recovered.

"Good." Another lull. "Get up."

"Where are we going?" I asked when I noticed Aaron grabbing his keys.

He quirked an eyebrow. "We're getting ice cream. Didn't you just say you hated being cooped up?"

Me and Aaron? Getting ice cream? Like civil brothers? This had to be a dream.

I was okay if it was.

When we got to the shop Aaron surprised me by ordering and paying for us. I tried to offer to pay for my share but he seemed so insulted that I dropped it as quickly as I offered. We had finally reached a somewhat pleasant relationship that I did not want to poke the bear.

"How did you know?" I asked as we sat down with our respective cones.

"Lucky guess. Cookie dough's always been your favorite."

The notion that he remembered my favorite ice cream flavor all this time made me smile.

It was that warmth that gave me the courage to ask the question on my mind since earlier. "Did you mean what you said earlier? That you don't hate me? I just always assumed you did."

He tools a bite of his ice cream and swallowed before he spoke. "I could never hate you. Situations, things—sure. But you? Never."

"I see."

"Do you hate me?"

I shook my head. "No."

I could be upset at Aaron. I could be angry at him, but after all this time I could never bring myself to fully hate him. Sure, we had some stuff to clear out, but that didn't translate to hate.

"I missed this. Fuck I missed this," Aaron admitted quietly under his breath.

He didn't elaborate on what 'this' was, but I knew. 'This' was how it was when Aaron and I use to hang out all the time, before he ignored me and before he left for good. 'This' was when we were best friends who where attached at the hip and did everything. 'This' was back when everything felt right in the world.

"Yeah, I missed this too."