Chapter 27:

Daddy hadn't let Lou argue. He'd quickly taken Aaron to the playroom to play with Leo whilst they talked.

  And now both men were down in the living room, with eyes that stared at each other far from contently and air that hung around them thickly, almost like even this lifeless thing dreaded the conversation ahead.

"Lou, seriously now," Daddy said. "Do you notice how Aaron loves you more than any of us?"

Lou sighed, his eyes sweeping across the floor before slowly gliding up to catch his brother's. "No. I don't. He loves us all. End of it."

"You seriously don't notice how he chooses you over me most of the time?"

So what? Lou thought. "I said no."

"Well, then, let me list the times he chose you."

"Why are we even talking about this? Please, just stop this nonsen—"

  "Remember when we were taking the picture? I wanted to hold him, but he didn't let go of you. He wanted you to put the sunscreen for him. In the pool, I told him to swim, but he didn't want to. Two minutes later, he agrees to go in with you. When he wanted to go the backyard, he ignored all of us and asked you to take him. Now, I asked him who he wants to stay with, and he chose you. Don't even try to convince me that you didn't notice all of that!"

  Lou was silent for a moment. He scratched the back of his neck. "Okay, so maybe he's a little more comfortable with me than with you. It doesn't mean that he hates you. Where's the problem if he just likes me a little more?"

  "Where's the problem?" Daddy parroted, his voice spilling with such an incredulous edge and disbelieving undertone that it reached out to contort his face accordingly—his brows slanted, nose scrunched. He shook his head then chuckled dryly, an intimidating low sound that barely managed to rumble past the anger welling in his chest. "I'll tell you where the problem is. He's not supposed to be comfortable with you more than me. He's your nephew, not your son. He's my baby. Mine!"

  "Excuse me?" Lou didn't even believe what Daddy had said for a second. He stared at him for a full minute, but a part of him was hurt by it just as much as shocked. "So if he's my nephew he shouldn't be comfortable with me? That's bullshit."

"No. He should be, he can. But not more than he is with me. He should like me more!"

  It all settled in Lou's brain properly now. He narrowed his eyes. His own brother was fighting him just because Aaron was more comfortable with him. "What the hell am I supposed to do if the kid just likes me more?" Lou said. "Don't be an idiot, you know kids sometimes just prefer someone over the other. You can't control that."

  "Yes you can control that, Lou." The way Daddy talked was calm, at least calmer than he'd sounded just a few seconds ago—an abrupt change that was quick to turn again. Lou sensed the explosion inside his brother; something blew up, and it blew along the buckles around his anger. Something ignited in his eyes. So Lou braced himself for whatever Daddy was about to say; he knew it wouldn't exactly be pleasant. "You can stop trying to take him away from me. I see the way you smile every time he chooses you. You're happy about this. You're happy that he's comfortable with you more and you want it that way!"

  "Taking him away from you?" Lou's lips pulled into a disgusted straight line. His eyes found the ceiling, his chest slowly deflating in a harsh attempt to remain calm. Slowly, his eyelids dropped, and his fist clenched—the scratchy ropes he'd put around his own anger slowly failing. Loosening.

Lou's eyes that altered between amber and brown depending on the light now shone exceptionally dark regardless of the sunshine that streamed into the room through the window. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm your brother, if you remember that. Your brother," he finally said. "I'm not a jerk. I can't believe you'd even think I'd do that to you. I wouldn't take Aaron away from you. And I'm not trying to make him hate you or like me. All I'm doing is trying to make him as relaxed as possible. And yes, I'm very happy he's comfortable with me. If you want him to be like that with you too, work for it!"

  Now, Daddy couldn't control it anymore. He lost his grip on the steering wheel and left off to see where his anger would drive him on its own. His words spilled out in the form of shouts: "Well I'm trying to, Lou, I'm trying! But every time I want to do something with him, he ends up with you. For God's sake, can you stop taking him away and just give me a chance?"

Lou laughed humorlessly. "I'm not taking him away from anyone. He's choosing me. What do you want me to do? Push him away when he wants me? Yeah, hell no. I'm not about to do that. I won't tell him to go to you when he comes to me. It's his choice."

"Then how in the world am I supposed to make him choose me too?"

  "Here's a tip. Maybe if you stop scaring him shitless, maybe if you stop threatening him every three seconds, he'll be a little more comfortable with you. It's not about spending so much time with him, it's about how you treat him when you are with him, even if it's just a minute!"

"This stuff is called discipline. And if I don't do it, trust me he wouldn't be the way he is right now!"

  "You don't even make sense anymore. What does this have to do with me? Why the hell are you blaming me for what you have to do? Leo's closer to you than he is to me, but you don't see me fighting you for it. Because I use my brain and tell myself it's normal. Why don't you try using yours?"

  For a fraction of a second, pain flashed through Daddy's eyes, took down the anger and replaced it with a sad glistening hue instead. He opened his mouth to speak, and even as the words tumbled out with the same sharpness, Lou could hear the pain threaded between the anger.

"You don't know how much it hurts, Lou! You don't know how painful it is that my own baby likes his uncle more than me." The exasperation in Daddy's voice almost rendered him breathless. Lou could see how the veins in his neck were prominent and protruding like sickly chords, but what popped them out so harshly was pain. Not just anger. "He should like me more. Aaron's my baby. A baby can't like his uncle more. He can like him too, but not more. That's not right!"

  Lou wanted to empathize now that the pain was apparent, but something about what he'd just spoken annoyed him. Something frustrated him. His temples pounded. His chest still swarmed with fury even though he'd expected it to have calmed down by now. But it hadn't.

There was a plethora of words in him to say now. An opinion, an idea that'd been snatched away because he was young and didn't know. He battled himself. Or maybe he battled two other people or his subconscious mind. Don't say it, Lou thought. Don't say it. But he wanted to.

And then, he did.

"Maybe because he's not a baby!"

Silence.

  There were a few moments of silence during which Daddy slowly soaked in the words and Lou partly regretted them. First came the confusion; Daddy's brows tugged closer to each other, eyes narrowing. Then the confusion settled in, and the disbelief stepped foot for a fraction of a second before retreating and allowing anger to consume Daddy all over again.

Daddy's frown deepened, multiple more creases settling between his brows as he thought of the words again. The squint of his eyes was no longer uncertain, instead furious. He slowly walked forwards. Closer to Lou.

  Lou's eyes had subconsciously attached themselves to the ground, and when they glanced up at Daddy they found his hand landing to grasp his shoulder.

Daddy forced Lou to walk back until he hit the wall, and there he kept him pinned against it with just a hand on his shoulder. "Lou, don't ever say something like that again." His grip tightened progressively as he spoke, his knuckles popping out more prominently against his tan skin. It didn't exactly pain Lou, but the strong pressure was enough to speak for the anger he'd triggered and tell him that he'd messed up. "Ever. Aaron's my baby boy. That's it. Don't even try saying something stupid like that again. Understand?"

Daddy caught Lou's chin when he refused to talk, forcing his head up. "Understand, Lou?"

Lou nodded this time.

  Mommy pushed the door open and peered inside, the green of her eyes dark with worry at the noises both men had been emitting; they'd been muffled by the distance, but she'd heard some shouting through. And as she came closer, she managed to make out the problem.

Now, she took in how Daddy towered over Lou against the wall, how his jaw was clenched and how a vein traced his temple. Her eyes trailed down Daddy's arm until she caught sight of his hand clamped over Lou's shoulder.

  "What in the world is going on here!" Mommy moved from where she'd been merely watching at the threshold, and hurried towards them, one hand quickly extending to tug Daddy's hand off Lou's shoulder. "Leave your brother. Now." She stood between them and watched as they glared at each other right over her head They were still upset and ready to fight, but she saw the first crack in Lou's eyes and some sort of shame peeked through. "Did you even hear yourselves? Your voices were all over the place. We have two little boys up and we don't want to traumatize them, have you thought about that? You're brothers, stop fighting for God's sake!"

Daddy finally looked at her. "Did you hear what Lou just said? Did you?"

  Lou slowly moved away, eyes on the ground and brows furrowed. He looked disoriented, like he'd just woken up from deep sleep and was far too consumed in whatever went on in his brain to even pay attention to the situation anymore. "I-I don't know what I was thinking. I don't know what I was even saying—I'm going up. My head hurts. I wanna sleep."

  Mommy watched Lou trudge out then looked back at Daddy, her eyes scolding him before she even spoke. "Is that how you treat your little brother?" she asked. "You raised him. You did so much to protect him, and you can't just fight and shout at him like you're enemies." There was silence for a second, one during which Daddy began to feel increasingly worried about Lou. "I don't care about what he said. I don't care if you're mad at him. Because I am too. But that doesn't mean you can do that to him. If he's upset now, you better make it up for him."

"I just— I don't know what happened. I was so angry. I couldn't even control it. Did I hurt him? Oh my God. I just messed everything up, didn't I?"

"Your anger always ruins everything. You promised you'd control your temper, remember?" Mommy's eyes lingered on him, and through the disappointment shading the green of her irises, Daddy saw flashes of what she was hinting about. And he understood.

She moved towards the door, but just as she was about to step over the threshold, she stopped and waited for a moment. Then, she glanced at Daddy over her shoulder. Her lips parted slowly for the words to come out, as if she was rethinking for the last time. "I heard what you were arguing about. And I've been thinking about it. Do you really think Lou would do that to us? Lou. Maybe we should stop thinking of him as a competitor and think of him as your brother again. This isn't a competition, and Aaron isn't a prize. Maybe it's not that he's taking him away from us. Maybe it's just that we're too jealous. Think about it."

His brother. Not a competitor. This wasn't a competition.

Daddy just fought his own little brother, the same person he had done everything to protect before. Like fog suddenly clearing from his brain and like a blur leaving the front of his vision that it had been obscuring, Daddy could think properly again and everything clicked in. Lou wouldn't do that to him. His own brother wouldn't do that; he'd raised him, and he was sure he didn't raise a selfish jerk. Anger was so blinding. He looked past the door with sadness in his eyes.

Oh, Lou, he thought. I'm so sorry.

  Up in the playroom, Aaron sat leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed as he rubbed his left temple and wished with passion that the sound of the keynotes in the air would cease. When he'd first heard the distant shouting, he realized they could trigger Leo and he'd quickly given him a toy piano to play with, which, to his dismay, emitted the most inaccurate, horrible and torturous notes as Leo went on playing with it happily, completely unaware that the noises were tearing Aaron's eardrums. Aaron liked silence. He couldn't stand too much noise.

  Aaron slowly drowned out the sound of the piano with the voices of his thoughts. A part of him was scared; Daddy hadn't sounded particularly happy when he'd come to Lou's room, and now all the shouting made it clear that they'd fought. He really hoped nothing serious happened.

  The only good thing he could think of was that he had his escaping route figured out. He was so dangerously close to finally doing it, finally getting out of this place. He just needed some finishing touches; he needed more trust, and a little more time figuring things out completely. He'd checked the key in the dice, and it was still safely there. The only thing missing was a weapon, or anything he could at least protect himself with if he'd get exposed while trying to escape.

If he could get his hands on the injection...

"Aar? Hello?"

  Aaron opened his eyes, and the first things they fell upon was the blue of the eyes opposing them. Leo tilted his head, waited for a reaction from Aaron perhaps, but when that didn't happen he just slumped disappointedly in his spot where he sat on his knees directly in front of Aaron.

  "Smile, Aar. You always look sad," Leo said, reaching his hands toward Aaron's face. His indexes clumsily pressed against the edges of his lips and pulled them up, then he observed the smile he created on Aaron's face for a little while. It didn't seem like he was quite content with the outcome, because he soon retreated, huffing like his hard work had gone to waste. "Be happy. Please?"

  "Leo. Stop." Aaron gently swatted Leo's hand away when he tried to make him smile again. But Leo looked like he was in a playful mood, and Aaron knew from the strong determination that settled deep in his eyes that it was far from ending there. He prepared himself for any unpredictable move from Leo, who surprisingly stayed still, one eyebrow arched slightly as he looked at the ceiling. "Please don't start nagging."

"But I want you to smile."

Aaron forced a wide smile. "Look. Better?"

"You're smiling..." Leo trailed off, frowning as he tilted his head unsurely. "But you still look sad."

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "That's deep."

Leo just smiled a little, but Aaron wasn't sure he understood what he meant with that. "What makes you happy, Aar?"

  Freedom. Getting away from these psychos, Aaron thought. But he knew very well that he wasn't about to tell Leo that, and instead settled on humoring him. "Puppies make me happy," he said. "I love them."

  "Oh." Leo slumped again, his gaze landing upon the rug. He stayed like that for a little, thinking, calculating. Then something sparked in his eyes, and he suddenly perked up, his shoulders straightening from the uncertain slouch they'd dropped down to. He adjusted, leaning forward so he could stare straight into Aaron's eyes, small lips parting until his crooked teeth were shone. Aaron found himself smiling too without meaning it. "Then imagine a lot, a lot of puppies and be happy, Aar."

  Just a few innocent words, but they had Aaron's eyes turning into amused crescents. Through his parted pink lips spilled down a soft string of melodic laughter. As it began to petter down, he looked at Leo with remnants of the laugh still hanging to his face: a smile and eyes that twinkled. "You're so... simple. I wish it's that easy to be happy."

"It's easy. Just choose it. That's all you have to do."

  Aaron shook his head, then he opened his arm. Leo immediately crawled closer and nestled beneath it, turning so his back leant against Aaron's side.  Aaron closed his arm around Leo's front, letting him relax there against him wordlessly.

Leo tipped his chin up until he could glance up at Aaron, blue eyes that were trapped between two framing rows of thick lashes staring right at him. Maybe it was the protection, or maybe the heat from Aaron that Leo liked, but Aaron just either way smiled as he took in how he depended on him—how his eyes spoke for how much he seemed to trust him, how his relaxed breaths and small grins told Aaron that he was emotionally attached to him.

  Aaron was partly proud he could make Leo get attached to him. He needed it for the escape. But he'd be lying if he said he was only smiling because of that. It was weirdly heartwarming to have someone as fragile as Leo depend on him.

  Leo reached for a Rubik's cube from his position and messed around with it. Both boys stayed like that for a while, until Mommy came in, smiling as she watched them. The scene alone made her heart melt. It was working out perfectly, bond strengthening. She knew her babies would get along. She'd always known.

She stepped in. "Leo, baby, why don't you get off Aaron. He's getting tired I think."

"No." Leo shrugged, remaining right in his position.

"Come on, I know you love your big brother, but seriously now, he must be getting tired."

When Mommy reached for his hand to pull him away, Leo jerked away from her, repositioning his arms so that they curled around Aaron's neck tightly. "Want to stay with my brother!"

Aaron grunted, because now Leo's weight was all pulling onto his neck, and it was undeniably painful. Leo had the exact same aura of a child, emanated with their innocence, yet he weighed quite a little more.

"Leo, you're hanging down his neck. You're hurting him, baby."

  Leo huffed at her, then slowly moved away and played by himself aside. Aaron's neck throbbed with a tiny ache that Leo's weight hanging onto him for dear life had brought to him, yet just as he reached his hand towards it, he felt two warm, soft fingertips press gently into his skin, moving in sync with slow yet firm motions. His muscles tensed then slowly relaxed again contently beneath her touch. Usually, his neck was sensitive and ticklish, and he'd twitch if anyone touched it, but she just did it... right.

  Aaron's first raw instinct was to sigh quietly and say please don't stop because she caught him right in the tense spot: his upper neck, a little below the base of his skull, and the gentle pressure she created against the tiny ache was just so precise.

Mommy watched for a reaction, innerly hoping he wouldn't push her off. Even as his lips remained closed, she caught the soft, low hum that came from the back of his throat, and she smiled to herself when she realized that she was being helpful for once.

  But then came Aaron's second instinct, the one that followed connecting the feeling to the person causing it. It was a hard thing, wanting her to continue because she was good at it but also not wanting her to continue because he didn't like being touched. He wasn't sure that made sense.

But Aaron's touch aversion would always outweigh. His brain quickly blared with disapproval when it settled in that Mommy herself was doing it. Slowly, the joy of the feeling began dying, and was replaced instead by a rapidly expanding repulsion from her that reached over to mess with his reflexes.

That creep always wanted to touch him. Even if it were in a chaste, motherly way, Aaron didn't like the idea.

"I'd really appreciate if you— " take your hand off my neck, you creep, Aaron thought. But then he was glad he hadn't let the entire statement slip out; he couldn't let her down like that at this point, because he needed to maintain his act and keep her content. He was too far in this now to ruin it for such a small thing.  " —don't stop. Because that actually feels good."

  He looked up at her and offered an appreciative smile—or at least he hoped that it looked appreciative, and that the tight, forced purse of his lips was even remotely convincing. And it apparently worked, because Mommy dipped her head lower and kissed his temple, her blonde hair brushing lightly against Aaron's cheek. It felt rich and soft, like sheets of soft silk and velvet all combined together to form the smoothest strands of hair he'd ever seen.

"Anything you want, baby."

  "You have nice hair," Aaron mumbled, flicking a small glance at her. He wanted to get closer to her, to mend his relation with her as much as possible. Trust was an important element in the entire equation, and acting like he was comfortable around her was all he had to achieve it.  He reached his hand towards the strand close to him, then let it slip gracefully between his fingers as he probed it all around.

"Thank you, baby. But there's no nicer hair than yours." She smiled at him, ruffling his hair affectionately.

Leo looked at them with an offended frown. "My hair."

"Your hair is beautiful too, baby."

"Come, Aar. Play with me," Leo said, eyes desperately pleading for approval. Mommy gestured Aaron to go to him just because she couldn't let down that sparkling gaze he had on both. She settled on the beanbag as Aaron went over to Leo and sat beside him. Leo pointed to the top shelf. "Want to color with you, Aar. Get the crayons for me, please?"

  Aaron glanced back at Mommy, only to find her just beginning to read the book she'd gotten from somewhere. He nodded, then pulled himself to his feet and went to the shelves, standing on tiptoes as he barely reached his arm for the top one and blindly patted the space for the pencil holder that he'd seen all the crayons were in.

He felt it, and just as he made a move to grasp it, he accidentally knocked it until all the crayons inside began spilling down right against his face; some went past him, some merely hit his cheek with the edge, but one particular crayon whacked square in his nose.

  "Shit," he mumbled to himself as he squinted and held the bridge of his nose. He shook his head, and just as he bent to gather all the fallen crayons, a finger tapped his shoulder impatiently. First, he thought it must be Leo, but as he turned he took in arched blonde brows just above green eyes that glimmered with disapproval, and pursed pink lips.

"First of all. That must've been painful, I'm sorry baby." She leant forwards and kissed his nose, then returned to the solemn expression that somehow had some sort of playfulness weaved through. "But more importantly, was that a bad word?"

  Aaron squinted when he realized that he'd cursed in front of her. "Um, really now, it's not a bad word. It's like saying poop. In another way." He let out a short chuckle and gave an imploring smile, but Mommy only quirked an eyebrow. "I mean, seriously, why do we even count it as a bad word—"

"Baby, stop talking." She placed a finger just beneath his chin and gently forced his jaw to move up until his lips closed together. "You're just making it worse."

  Aaron nodded defeatedly, his eyes shamefully dropping to the floor. At this point, he knew the potential punishment wouldn't be as painful as it would be humiliating—that was what he was scared about: his poor, mangled dignity that screamed every time he had to do something stupid. Aaron would rather do anything than undergo another spanking, because by far, that was the most humiliating thing that had happened, and he wasn't ready for another round. "Please don't tell me another spanking."

"No, baby. Not that." Mommy smiled assuringly. "But I really think we should do something about that potty mouth of yours."

Aaron realized that he could be a real jerk right now and try to pull himself out of trouble by telling her that Lou had cursed in front of him before; that he caught the word from him. It might not work, but he could try.

*_*_*_*_*

what do you think about the conversation(half fight?) between the captors?

Thank you for reading/voting/commenting, it keeps me motivated <33