Super Special Ep: Brothers (Part I)
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
The park is beautiful in the late sunset glow. Soft, peachy sunlight spills down through the treetops, which sway and dance in the slow summer breeze.
Aiden keeps his head down, walking as fast as he can, not looking at any of it. He’s just trying to make it out of the park before he falls apart.
High school starts at the end of this summer. Aiden has been homeschooled up until now, since he had to keep away from other kids until he got his powers under control. This means that he’s going into ninth grade with no friends, and the thought has been upsetting him more and more, lately.
Ketterbridge is a tiny town. Everyone else will have friends.
So Aiden has started wandering to the park every day. Kids are always hanging out there, in the summer. It seemed like the place to find himself a friend, at least an acquaintance - something. At least one familiar face he can find in all the others, when high school starts.
And… it’s not just that, truth be told. Aiden is lonely, spending yet another summer by himself. Really, really lonely.
Bored, too. He’s been training nonstop for soccer tryouts, drilling for hours in his aunt’s backyard, but there’s only so long he can spend doing that in a day.
So he keeps going to the park, filled with determination, then losing all of his confidence the moment he gets there. He always ends up standing off to the side, tortured with shyness, too nervous to approach any of the other kids.
The ones in groups are twice as intimidating. They probably don’t need new friends, since they’re already friends with each other. And they all seem to be in groups.
Aiden has gone home frustrated and empty-handed and discouraged every day that he’s done this.
This afternoon was the one time that he actually worked up the courage to actually try, and it was a disaster. He saw some boys kicking around a soccer ball and leapt on the common ground. He asked if he could play, and they said it was cool. They were all having fun, at first, and there were even a few girls sitting nearby watching them.
Aiden was secretly thrilled, amazed that everything was going so well. All of them could be friends, he thought.
“Wow, you’re pretty good,” one of the boys said, slapping his arm, and Aiden blushed happily.
But eventually the girls watching began whispering to each other, staring at Aiden, giggling when he did one of the trick kicks he’d recently taught himself.
The boys all suddenly turned sour, got irritated with him. No one said it, but it was clear that Aiden was no longer welcome. The other boys all turned away, stopped kicking the ball to him or talking to him or answering when he talked to them. They simply pretended he wasn’t there.
“Guys?” Aiden tried uncertainly, one more time, to no response from any of them.
He was left with no choice but to awkwardly and wordlessly walk away.
And now here he is, on the retreat. He strides out of the park at full speed, his cheeks burning with humiliation. He’s hurt and angry and - upset with himself. Where did he go wrong? What even happened?
Aiden just hasn’t spent enough time around other kids to sort it out. He knows that there are probably clues he missed, but he feels helpless to figure out what they were. Obviously he must have fucked up, broken some unspoken rule. But how the hell is he supposed to know about those?
Are there really no second chances?
The laughter of the other kids at the park rings in Aiden’s ears as he walks away, and there he is again, outside. Forever outside. Resentment wells up in his chest, a flood of anger and bitterness towards all those other kids.
He meant to walk home, but he’s ended up wandering down random streets, not picking his path. Storming his way down the sidewalk, his hands fisted at his sides.
He’s pretty much ready to give up. Wishing he’d never even tried in the first place. Slowly but steadily growing closer and closer to frustrated tears.
“Hey!” a loud, urgent voice shouts. “Somebody stop that kid!”
Aiden was keeping his surly stare on the concrete, but now he looks up, just in time for someone to slam right into him.
Aiden was in no way prepared, and the person was going at a full sprint, so they both go down hard onto the sidewalk.
Gasping, Aiden sits up on his elbows, blinks the spots from his vision, and looks up into a pair of startled, grey-green eyes.
They belong to a boy who looks roughly Aiden’s age. A bone-thin kid with thick, sandy blonde hair and a bruise on his jaw. Wearing a faded black Transformers t-shirt and a hoodie with frayed sleeves, a rip in the fabric near his shoulder.
“You two kids, stop!” the voice shouts, its owner instantly lumping Aiden in with this other boy. “Stay right there, both of you!”
The other boy looks down at Aiden, panting, then scrambles back to his feet and yanks Aiden up with him. He had dropped something when they crashed into each other. Before Aiden can see what it is, he snatches it up again, then gives Aiden a hard shove.
“Run!” he shouts, and Aiden does.
They sprint together down the sidewalk like they’re being chased, and Aiden glances over his shoulder to find that they are being chased. An angry man is running after them, waving his arms and shouting for them to stop.
Aiden twists to face forward again, his heart thrumming in his chest. The noise level in his head had been rising to a painful, headache-inducing degree as he walked away from the park with his concentration only half there, but now -
Aiden almost forgets to hear it. The powerful feelings rushing through him distract him completely. The shock of the impact, and then the thrill of escaping, the familiar exhilarating burst of a runner’s high, his feet pounding the pavement, big gulps of air in his lungs… It feels good, to run. It sweeps his head clear, lets him take a real, deep breath.
Aiden could go faster, but he doesn’t want to leave the other boy behind. It’s hard not to feel an instant sense of comradery with him, when they’re both running from the same threat.
They’re faster than the man chasing them. They outrun him, and eventually come to a stop a few streets down. They both lean against the brick wall of the nearest apartment building, gasping for air.
“Oh, shit,” the boy laughs, trying to catch his breath. “You’re fast, huh?”
Without waiting for an answer, he twists around to check the street, double-checking that they’ve lost their pursuer.
“Fucker!” the boy pants, dragging the back of his hand over his nose. “All I took was one carton!”
He turns back to Aiden, right as Aiden gets his breath back and lifts his head to look at him. Their gazes lock together, and Aiden stops still. The other boy stops, too, staring back at Aiden.
Aiden sees a piece of himself deep within the other boy’s eyes, and he can tell that the other boy sees a piece of himself in Aiden’s. They recognize it in each other instantly, because it’s something they both have. Aiden knows it well, sees it in the mirror every day. A very specific, intense look of starvation that can only mean one thing.
Lonely.
They stare at each other for a moment. Eyes wide with recognition, even though they’ve never met before now.
The other boy holds out his hand. “Ralph.”
Aiden gives it a slap, nodding at him. “Aiden.”
Ralph arches an eyebrow. “You slowed me down, Aiden.”
Aiden blinks at him, taken aback.
“I - what?” he sputters, too indignant to be shy. “You knocked me over!”
“Whatever.” Ralph flaps a hand at him, then gestures to the box he’s holding. “Still got the goods, so it doesn’t matter.”
Aiden drops his gaze to the carton of cigarettes in Ralph’s hands. “You smoke? How old are you?”
Ralph hesitates. “How old are you?”
“Thirteen, but not for much longer.”
“Me, too. I’m thirteen. And nah, I don’t really smoke.” Ralph holds up the carton. “My mom’s ex-boyfriend has two kids in high school. Them and their friends are willing to pay me for these, at a ridiculous upcharge. Got myself a little business going.”
He turns to check the street again, sage green eyes scanning the road.
“That’s the first time I’ve almost gotten caught,” he murmurs thoughtfully. “Have to be more careful, next time.”
“You just took that?” Aiden asks, startled.
Ralph furrows his eyebrows, shrugs at Aiden. “Yeah. You’ve never done that?”
“No.” Aiden hesitates, curious. “Is it hard?”
Ralph cracks a grin. “Why, you want to try?”
~~~~
They walk together to a different street, one with a strip of stores and a gas station. They tuck the carton of cigarettes away beneath a bush, leaving it hidden. The sun is sinking beneath the horizon, dusk falling rapidly, but the neon glow of the convenience store cuts through the gloom as Aiden and Ralph silently slip through the doors.
“I’ll distract him,” Ralph murmurs to Aiden. “Whole place is yours. Get whatever you want. Just make sure it fits in your sleeve.”
Aiden stands there, frozen, his heart hammering anxiously as Ralph crosses over towards the counter where the store employee is looking down at a book. Ralph pulls up his hood, stuffs his hands into his pockets, and slowly lurks around the back of the store, keeping his head down. The employee immediately turns to keep a suspicious eye on him, leaving Aiden unwatched.
Aiden realizes that this is supposed to be his opportunity.
He looks around wildly, panicking. Ralph said to get something he wants. He takes a quick glance at the nearest shelf, finds something that meets the description, and hastily snatches it up. He tucks it into the sleeve of his shirt, nestled against the inside of his wrist.
He gets it hidden right as the employee turns to glance at him. The employee didn’t see anything, Aiden doesn’t think - but Ralph saw him take something. Aiden could feel his sea-green eyes watching.
Ralph feels around in his pockets, then walks back over to Aiden, nods at the door.
“C’mon, let’s go,” he says, just loud enough for the employee to hear. “I forgot my money.”
Aiden follows Ralph towards the exit. They step out through the doors, and Aiden waits for alarms to go off, for sirens to descend on them - but nothing happens. They go outside unstopped.
“Holy shit,” Aiden says in amazement, as Ralph rescues the carton from the bush where they hid it.
“Told you,” Ralph answers, straightening up and tossing his hair out of his eyes. “What’d you get?”
Aiden slides it out of his sleeve and holds it up. Ralph stops, staring at it with his eyebrows arched.
“That’s what you took?” he asks, incredulous. “A fucking bottle of hot sauce?”
Aiden shrugs defensively. “You said to get what I wanted.”
Ralph’s eyes widen in disbelief.
“The whole store full of beer and booze and cigarettes and everything that’s off-limits to you normally, and you took a bottle of hot sauce? That’s what you wanted, more than all the rest?”
Aiden looks down at the hot sauce, presses his lips together, and looks back up at Ralph.
“Yeah,” he says, then winces when he hears how unconvincing it sounded. He tips his head back, lets out a helpless groan. “I panicked, okay?”
Ralph stares at him, slowly breaking into a smile, and Aiden stares back, finding himself doing the same, and then both of them burst into laughter.
They laugh so hard that they have to hold each other up, neither of them able to catch their breath. They laugh until their stomachs are aching, until they have to stop, to breathe.
“I feel stupid,” Aiden groans, when he can finally speak again.
Ralph shakes his head, grinning. “Better luck next time, A.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Ralph zips the carton back into his hoodie, hesitates, then blurts out - “Should we get some sandwiches, or somethin’? Try out the hot sauce? There’s a deli around here.”
Aiden definitely doesn’t want to split up yet. He’s usually in a constant rotation between deep rage and deep sadness, and it felt really fucking good to laugh like that. He’s never laughed like that before with another kid.
He badly wants to take Ralph up on his offer, but there are a few problems with the plan.
“I don’t have any money.” He turns out the pockets of his knee-length soccer shorts to show Ralph. “And it’s getting dark, my aunt probably wants me to come home s-”
“No,” Ralph cuts in, suddenly and forcefully. His hand flashes out like he’s about to seize Aiden’s arm, but he stops himself short, drops it back to his side. And then, much more calmly and casually - “Nah, don’t - don’t go yet.”
Ralph quickly slips something out of the pocket of his jeans and holds it up. A slim fold of dollar bills.
“Food’s on me,” he says. “Like I said, I’ve got a little business going.”
Aiden is a little startled, but more relieved. He really didn’t want them to part ways, not yet.
He nods, and they set off together for the deli. They each get a cold chicken sandwich, a frosty can of root beer, and a bag of chips.
Aiden blinks at Ralph when he hands over the full fold of cash that he had, and gets only some coins as his change.
“Was that the last of your money?” he asks, as they step out of the deli together, each holding the brown paper bag with their food.
“Yeah. Told you my business is small.” Ralph leads the way across the darkening street, Aiden following after him. “But I’ve got plans for expansion.”
“But - you spent it all on food for me - I wouldn’t have gotten-”
“I’ll have more cash soon.” Ralph points to the carton in his hoodie as they step up onto the sidewalk together. “Just restocked my inventory, remember? And I’ve got more money than what’s in my pockets. I don’t carry it all around with me. Don’t want to spend it. I’m saving up.”
Aiden is actually saving up, too, stowing away the bigger part of every allowance. But he doesn’t know of too many other kids doing that, so this makes him curious.
“Saving up for what?”
“For when school starts. Gonna need to get a laptop, and a new backpack, since mine is broken, a mad expensive calculator - all that stupid shit they make you buy. It adds up.”
Aiden finds himself more confused than he was before. “Doesn’t your mom buy you that stuff, dude?”
Ralph lets out a snort of humorless laughter.
“I’d be amazed if she even noticed that I-” Ralph breaks off abruptly, then suddenly glares at Aiden, his eyes blazing. “What the hell are you digging for? Quit interrogating me. Shithead.”
Aiden can see that he’s unknowingly touched a nerve, but it doesn’t matter. Ralph’s surge of anger immediately ignites Aiden’s own, which is never too far beneath the surface.
“I wasn’t,” he answers sharply, instantly furious. “I was just asking a fucking question.”
The rage in Ralph’s eyes flares up dangerously. “Well, I’ve had enough of your goddamn questions!”
Aiden’s anger is quiet compared to Ralph’s, but no less forceful.
“Watch yourself,” he hisses warningly, in a low, seething voice.
“Fuck you, man,” Ralph snaps, his eyes full of venom. “Nobody fucking tells me what to do!”
Aiden’s own eyes flash with fury. “Fuck you!”
They’ve stopped walking. They’re standing there staring daggers at each other, hands fisted at their sides and around the bags of food. There’s a charged, tense silence.
Through the depths of Aiden’s rage, he feels something else. Something - crestfallen.
He knew that his anger was eventually going to drive off any friend he might have made, anyways. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he knew.
Aiden stands there and waits for Ralph to storm off, but Ralph doesn't. The two of them stay rooted to the spot, glaring each other down. It takes Aiden a minute to figure out what’s going on.
Ralph is waiting for Aiden to storm away, too.
Ralph seems to come to the same realization at the same time. He blinks, then narrows his eyes, clearly taken aback.
The anger burns off abruptly, and suddenly Aiden and Ralph are looking at each other uncertainly, like - wait, really? I didn’t just scare you off?
Ralph hesitates, then nods in the direction they had been walking. He takes a tentative step, then looks back at Aiden.
Aiden swiftly moves to walk at Ralph’s side. Ralph lets out a little exhale, then starts to walk, too.
All of Aiden’s remaining fury melts into an immense wave of relief, mixed up with gratitude. He steals a nervous glance at Ralph, and senses the same mixture of feelings in him when their eyes meet.
Ralph bites the inside of his cheek, casts Aiden a fleeting look before he turns his face away.
They walk a little closer together, silent for a while.
He gets it, Aiden thinks, stealing a sidelong glance at Ralph. He understands. He’s angry, too.
The park is fully swept up in night by now, thick with darkness, shadows spilling down from every tree. But Ralph strides out into it without slowing down, leading Aiden along with him. They go to a stone outcrop on a hill near the playground, sit together with their legs dangling over the ledge. They crack open the cold cans of root beer they bought. Ralph hands Aiden the hot sauce, which he opens up. They add splashes of it to their sandwiches.
They eat in silence for a minute, looking out at the dark landscape, the fiery stars overhead. Watching as the moon slowly rises.
Ralph takes a bite of his sandwich, then picks up the hot sauce bottle and looks down at it thoughtfully.
“You know what?” He turns to Aiden, holding up the bottle. “I take back what I said. This was totally worth stealing.”
Aiden laughs, and Ralph does, too, and the last of the leftover tension falls away.
“So,” Ralph says, opening his bag of chips. “What are you, some kind of loser? Why were you walking around all by yourself?”
Aiden makes a face at him. “Why were you walking around all by yourself?”
“Dunno.” Ralph glares out at the park. “I piss people off, I guess. They get tired of it.”
“Of what?”
“Just - of m…” Ralph fades off for a second. “Mmm. Nothing. I don’t know. Who gives a fuck, anyways? I don’t have time to run around the park with all the babies. I’ve got shit to do.”
Aiden pauses, looking at Ralph. His aunt is always telling him that he had to grow up fast. Because of who he is, as a Guardian, but also because of everything that happened when he was so little.
“The world just hasn’t been very gentle with you, sweetheart,” she said to him once, her blue eyes filled with sadness.
Aiden gets the same kind of sense from Ralph.
“Are you really thirteen?” he asks, and Ralph looks up at him, startled.
“I’m - yeah, ‘course I am. Why?”
Aiden isn’t sure how to ask the question. Has the world never really been gentle with you, either?
“Because - you talk like you’re older than that,” he says instead, knocking the backs of his sneakers against the rock ledge. “You super smart, or something?”
Ralph briefly looks relieved, then shrugs his shoulders. “Well, it’s my birthday soon. Couple of weeks. Not even. Maybe that’s why.”
Aiden hesitates, then blurts out - “Having a birthday party?”
He just wants a reason for them to hang out together again.
Ralph lets out a snort of dismissive laughter, then stops, looking over at Aiden searchingly.
“No. Why, you - wanna do something?”
“Yes,” Aiden says instantly.
Ralph blinks at him, then cracks a tiny smile.
“Cool,” he answers slowly, and then, much faster, “No reason we have to wait until then, though. What’re you doing tomorrow?”
“Nothing,” Aiden says quickly, thinking to himself that if there is something he was supposed to do, he’ll just do it later. “Should we - meet up here?”
Ralph nibbles his lip, the corners of his mouth turned up.
He turns away from Aiden, shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah, okay. Whatever.”
Aiden bites down on a smile. “Guess I’ll have to think of something to get you for your birthday, huh?”
Ralph laughs, holds up the bottle of hot sauce. “I already know what I should get you for yours.”
Aiden laughs, too, then falls silent, trying not to look as elated as he feels. This is the best night he’s had in a long, long time. This almost feels like he actually has a -
Ralph suddenly grips Aiden’s wrist tightly. So hard that it hurts. Aiden twists to look at him, startled, and Ralph looks fiercely into his eyes.
“We’re friends,” he tells Aiden, ferociously, like he’s daring Aiden to argue with him. Clutching his wrist like he’s holding on for dear life. “You and me.”
This is the first thing Ralph has said that actually sounds like it came from a little kid, and it instantly turns Aiden back into the little kid that he actually is, too.
And this is exactly what he wanted.
“Okay,” he says eagerly, looking back at Ralph. “We’re friends. Best friends.”
Ralph blinks hard and fast, caught by surprise. Aiden realizes a second too late that he probably just took it too far, but before his cheeks can even begin to heat up, Ralph nods, just as eager.
“Brothers,” he says, holding Aiden’s wrist so tightly that his knuckles are turning white.
“Brothers,” Aiden agrees, earnestly and instantly, feeling it true with all his heart.
Ralph stares closely at Aiden, holding his breath like he’s waiting for him to take it back. Then he lets out a little exhale and turns away, hiding his face. He doesn’t release Aiden’s wrist, doesn’t even relax his grip on him.
After a moment he seems to realize what he’s doing, and abruptly lets Aiden go. He left a span of fingerprints on Aiden’s wrist, but Aiden could honestly care less.
They say nothing to each other for a while. Aiden is dazed and relieved, deeply grateful to Ralph.
Happy, which is a rare and precious thing for him.
He can’t say for sure why Ralph has gone quiet. He’s sunk into his own thoughts, his expression impossible to read. But Aiden can sense the same kind of stunned disbelief and excitement from Ralph that he’s feeling, too.
“Hey,” Aiden says, realizing all at once. “You’re turning fourteen soon, right? Since it’s about to be your birthday?”
Ralph nods, not looking at Aiden. “Yeah.”
“Dude!” Aiden nudges Ralph with his elbow, smiling eagerly at him. “Me, too! We’ll be going into high school together! We can hang out all the time. Every day.”
Ralph blinks, then fidgets with the hem of his thin, torn Transformers t-shirt.
“Yeah,” he says, after a second or two, then grins at Aiden. “Duh, of course we will. Brothers, right?”
Aiden smiles back at him, and they look away from each other again. Ralph stares out over the dark, shadowy park, and Aiden closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath, then slowly exhales.
Finally. Finally, he’s not alone. He has a friend. More than that.
He has a brother.
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