Chapter Two- "Inconvenience"

Aaron took his time soaking June's appearance with his eyes. It'd been three years since he last saw him, and the changes were immense. June's short, curly Afro now grew past his shoulders and over his eyes. He'd lost weight, which shouldn't have been much of a surprise with the passing time; yet Aaron worried about the way, June's golden-brown skin clung to his bone structure so tightly with no fat in between (very different from the soft, rounded body he previously knew). Most of all Aaron noticed the white band on his wrist, assumingly a hospital band, but from his distance, he wasn't sure. 

June was just as guilty of observing Aaron; his short, dark brown hair shaped neatly on his head, his tall height, his physic. He was fit, arm muscles defined, yet slim and lanky, likely because of that basketball sport he played, which never did capture June's interest. He felt ashamed thinking this, but Aaron's skin was the literal definition of sunkissed, a term straight out of a corny romance book; though he didn't gain a summer tan, their shared race (Dominican) allowed his tan skin to glow, naturally.

June also felt ashamed to admit (in his head) that Aaron was quite handsome, especially in the eyes. It was hard not to notice Aaron's light brown eyes gazing upon him, seemingly pondering about something.

In reality, their observations only lasted for about ten seconds, but the thick tension in the air made it last a lifetime. Aaron squinted his eyes, "What?" he sputtered because his entire being prayed that he heard his Mother wrong.

Julia stepped forward, her facade of a smile fading when she looked up at her sons, her eldest in particular. "June isn't in his Aunt's care anymore, so it was decided that June would stay with us temporarily–" "Decided by who?" Aaron interrupted his mother, earning a sharp change in her tone.

"By child protective services and I decided it if you must know. Your father set up a space for June, so you'll temporarily share a room with June." Said, Julia.

"This is bullshit," Aaron muttered under his breath, though everyone heard it.

The annoyance in his voice shot daggers into June's chest. Just as he imagined, his presence in Aaron's space was an inconvenience, but it felt much worse when it was verbally implied. He felt unwanted, a familiar feeling he hoped to escape by now.

"The hell did you just say?" Marshall spoke up from the front of June, and he would've stepped to Aaron if his younger brother wasn't clutching the back of his leather jacket, holding him back.

 Julia gritted her teeth, "Boys go to your room so I can speak with your brother. June, honey, you can start unpacking if you'd like." With zero hesitation, the twins rushed to their rooms, and June slowly entered Aaron's, which felt unfitting for the moment. Marshall followed behind June and closed the door softly, cautious not to startle him with loud noises.

June held his hands over his head and breathed deeply, unable to stop the anxious tears from rolling down his cheek. "I, d-don't want to be here, I want to leave!" He spoke to Marshall between sobs. "Please, I can stay with you at your college dorm or something, I won't cause you trouble Marshall.." June struggled to catch his breath in between his endless crying, prompting Marshall to gently pull June into a hug and hold him tightly.

He had specific doctor's orders to avoid sudden movements that could spark June's anxiety, but he knew words didn't always provide comfort, especially since there was no way June could live in Marshall's dorm. He released June and brushed his hair away from his face, once again revealing June's pretty green eyes, tinted red from the sting of his tears. 

"June, do you still like candy?" Marshall asked. Strangely the question was enough for the tears to cease. June nodded his head, his eyebrows furrowed. He felt slightly embarrassed for breaking down in front of his calm brother. "In the past, Mom and Dad used to buy you candy whenever you got upset. I have a stale gummy bear in my pocket that you might–" "Shuddup, Marshall!" He pushed his brother away, breaking his frown with an unserious grin.

Marshall stumbled back laughing, "You stopped crying didn't you?"

He rested his hand on June's shoulders, "Listen, you're wanted June. A while back, Julia fought for custody over you because she saw how unstable Vivian was after…Mom. She begged the system to let her have you, but Vivian got you because she's blood. Julia loves you almost as much as our parents, there isn't a bone in my body that believes otherwise. It doesn't matter whatever the hell Aaron thinks, what matters is that you are safe now. So if he disrespects you again, punch him in his shit. Got it?" Said, Marshall.

June nodded, but truthfully, he couldn't shake Aaron's reaction out of his mind. His twin brothers were probably thinking the same thing, but why did it hurt coming from him the most? Marshall's phone rang abruptly from his jacket pocket, then he pulled out his phone. June glanced down at the cellular device, causing Marshall to press his phone up against his chest, concealing the name of the 'Brooklyn Police Station' caller ID. 

 "One second, Junebug." he put his finger up and stepped towards the balcony. June eyed him suspiciously, but quickly brought his attention to whatever Aaron and Julia spoke about in the kitchen. He pressed his ear against the door.

Aaron rested his hands on his face, wiping away the panic sweat that settled between his eyebrows. 

"Baby, I know it's sudden but right now June needs this, stability," said Julia. A crease formed between her eyebrows and her lips pursed. Aaron leaned against the tan wall, his arms folding. "Stability? What about his Aunt Vivian, I thought she won his custody over you back then."

Julia sighed and pulled out the dark brown, wooden chair from their kitchen table. "Take a seat." She commanded, and so he did. She gestured her hands in front of her as she spoke, telling Aaron the truth of what went on at Vivian's house.

Julia revealed how after Rose's death, Vivian's mental and physical health dropped; the grief of her late sister caused emotional outbursts and bipolar tendencies. She explained the physical abuse, and verbal abuse that June was a victim of, up until the day Marshall visited home for the first time in four years and found June half alive on the kitchen floor, bleeding on the back of his head. This led to June's second recovery in the hospital for two months, while he underwent numerous EEG tests and special care.

Julia explained everything Marshall told her from start to finish, and by the end of it, guilt and anger had eaten Aaron from the inside out.

He hadn't felt such an intense amount of anger before in his life, angry at his Aunt, the woman who abused him instead of loving him. His mother wasn't off the hook either, because she knew of June's recovery for those two months and didn't think to tell until Aaron the day June moved into his bedroom. It wasn't fair, him being the last to know everything.

"Sweetheart," she grasped his hands from across the table, "You're not the best at handling…big news." Aaron snatched his hands away and stood up from the table, grabbing his basketball from the floor. "You could have told me before you moved him into my room, Mom." He said behind gritted teeth before walking out the front door. Julia rested her hands above her head and sighed, Luca came out of his room to comfort her. 

Like Luca, June also overheard the entire conversation. Embarrassment seeped into his body, he felt shameful knowing that everyone overheard the truth of his dramatic return. He wanted to crawl into a hole and hide away forever, away from his past, present, and future. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly do that. 

…But there was something else he could do.