Falling | Mxm (Completed) Chapter 67

Edwin

Aiden had been standing in front of the door for about 5 minutes now. His head was already hurting, and he really didn’t want to ring the bell, but he had to. He had been trying to get in contact with his brother for the past few days, but the boy seemed to be really upset with him this time after he left his birthday party the other day. He hadn’t even gone to any of their friends’ houses, he just seemed to really not want to see the older.

As much as Aiden didn’t like his mother, he still had to fix things with Max cos he simply loved him. So that led him to one solution. He had to go to their house, cos Max, despite being 22 years old, still didn’t have his own place.

Sucking a deep breath in, he collected himself and rang the bell at last. A few seconds passed before the door opened and Aiden couldn’t believe he was actually going to step foot in there by his very own will. As soon as he went inside and closed the door silently behind him, he saw Mr. Evans coming his way with a smile on his face. How this man ended up with his mother, he would never know.

“Son! It’s a surprise to see you here. Come in, come in.” He was welcomed by a strong pat on his back and the very hand held onto his shoulder and led him inside, almost as if the man was scared Aiden would flee at any second.

Going in, he spotted his mother coming out of the kitchen and that was it as he turned his whole body toward Mr. Evans.

“Is Max home?” He knew he would be home at this hour on a Wednesday, studying his butt off, but he still had to ask. He couldn’t go around people’s houses just like that. Yes, it was the house he spent some of his years in, but it was not like he had ever considered it a home. He was really more comfortable at the hospital than at this place. Maybe it was because Edwin was in it?

‘Aaah, let’s not think about your boyfriend for one second, just one freaking second of not thinking about him wouldn’t kill.’

He said in his head, or rather, he heard in his head. Either way, he ignored it. Thinking about the beautiful boy always made him calm down anyway so that voice could go fuck itself.

“Yes, he’s in his room.” Mr. Evans answered, a little bit taken aback by Aiden standing face to face with him. The man was still taller, but there was a look of adoration in his eyes when he looked at the top of Aiden’s head, back to his eyes.

Mr. Evans was secretly cooing over how grown up Aiden had become compared to the first time he saw him. This was really the first time the younger was standing so close, looking at him with an unannoyed face. He had always tried to get close to him, but there had always been this wall separating them, adding to the fact that he was almost never home, and then he ran out as soon as he got the chance. When his wife had become pregnant, he was seriously worried about the way Aiden would react to the news, but he was shocked when the years passed and he witnessed the endless love the boy always showed Max. He would always be there for him, one call away, whenever the kid was in need of help or support of any sort.

“Okay, thank you.” Aiden said politely and turned toward the stairs but as he was going to take the first step up, he felt a hand on his arm, holding him weakly. He turned a bit to see a not-so-clear sight of his mother.

“I’m sorry.” The woman said in a voice that didn’t really have much emotion in it, or that was how Aiden felt.

“No you’re not.” He pulled his arm away from his mother’s grip and ran upstairs.

Knocking on the door with the sign ‘Welcome to my world’ actually carved on it, he didn’t wait for permission before going in.

Max had his headphones on, towering over a pile of books. Deeply concentrated, he didn’t even notice Aiden coming in.

He stood there for a few seconds for the boy to notice him, but he decided he had no choice but to tap on his shoulder, which would probably scare him to death. But on second thought… he took his phone out and typed a message.

Max saw his phone screen lit up from the corner of his eyes. It was a message, a short one, from his brother: ‘ Behind you’

He read confused and looked behind himself, his soul jumping out of his body when he saw the broad figure of the asshole standing there with a wide grin on his face. He took the headphones off and let them fall on his shoulders as he frowned. “What made your grace come to this haunted house?”

Aiden had actually expected a much more sarcastic comment on him being there, so he wasn’t bitter really, cos to him this house really was like a haunted one. Haunted by his past and all the stuff related to it.

“You’ve been ignoring my calls. I had to come to discipline your rude ass a bit.”

Max rolled his eyes and closed the book he had been practically eating, before turning his chair completely in the older’s direction, who was still standing in the middle of the giant room.

“Why would I answer? It’s not like you care.” He said with a deep frown, remembering how his brother had just left after having arrived a mere minute before.

Aiden pursed his lips and stared at him. “I had my own reason.” Taking a few steps to the side to sink down on the chair next to the shelf with the many anime figures, he took a Kakashi one and smiled.

“You still have this!”

Max’s frown didn’t disappear, it only deepened. He stood up and closed the distance between them, stopping a step away and taking the figure out of Aiden’s hand, putting it back in its place before crossing his arms on his chest and looking down at him.

“Of course I do. You bought it for me with your first paycheck. What is the reason for you abandoning your own brother on the very day of his birth?”

Aiden wanted to punch himself for not having thought of a logical reason and he hated lying so he couldn’t come up with some stupid story either, so he decided to say a part of the truth.

“Mom invited someone she knew I didn’t wanna be around.”

“You don’t wanna be around so many people. I wonder if you end up dying alone in some faraway land.” He sighed and went back to sit in his chair.

“Hey! That was harsh! And also not true! I don’t hate that many people. I just don’t wanna be around the ones I do hate.” He shrugged.

“Like you don’t wanna be around mom?”

Aiden looked at him for a moment. He never really talked about the reasons why they didn’t get along with the younger. He didn’t want to give him any reason not to like her. He was having a good family life and Aiden wanted to keep it that way.

“I don’t hate her, I just… We just always end up fighting and I don’t wanna fight cos I don’t wanna disrespect her. And when we do fight, Mr. Evans and you end up getting hurt as well, which is also something I don’t want.” He sighed and got up by putting his hands on his thighs for help. His knee hurt a bit from the day before when he had fallen during the dance practice, but no one needed to know that.

“Do you have a test or an assignment tomorrow?”

Max shook his head.

“Good, cos we’re having a small party for you at ki’s place. Get ready and let’s go have some fun. I wanted to reserve you a stripper but in all honesty, I don’t know whether my own brother is into girls or boys or what, so I left it for you to decide.”

“A stripper?! No freaking way! I’m a dedicated Christian, you sinful giant!”

Aiden laughed as his attempt at changing the mood had indeed worked. He knew there was no way Max would agree to have a stripper give him a lap dance. But he really did want to know what his sexual preferences were. The younger just never seemed to want to talk about it.

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“Heeeey! I’ve missed our little wolfie~” Edwin said as soon as they step foot in Finn’s apartment with a bottle in his hand and hugged the ‘little wolfie’ as tight as possible which actually made Max cough and struggle to breathe.

“I’ve missed you too, bro, but I really can’t breathe!” Max tapped on Edwin’s forearm in hopes of getting released.

The taller did let go of him and hanged himself around Aiden’s neck instead as he looked into the older’s eyes with his half-lidded ones. He was smiling like a fool and that smile made Aiden feel butterflies in his stomach. He pinched Edwin’s cheek and kissed the tip of his nose.

“When did he manage to get this drunk, and why did you let him?” He asked, looking past his boyfriend at Brad and others who were waiting for them to come inside.

“You know he’s a lightweight, and he has clearly learned some sassiness from you cos we honestly weren’t able to stop him from drinking.”

Edwin giggled in his embrace as he hid his face in the crook of Aiden’s neck, looking like a 2-year-old kid who just wanted to be safe in his mother’s arms. He knew there was no way he could detach his boyfriend from himself — and he didn’t want to — so he just grabbed his thighs and made him jump up as he held him and went inside to sit on the couch with Edwin on his lap, head still hidden in his neck as he held the older tightly. Aiden reached out and grabbed the bottle behind his head from Edwin’s hand and put it on the coffee table.

“Where are the touchy couple?” He asked, looking around for Joe and Ian.

Max who was busy eating grapes, only noticed his favorite bro wasn’t even there. “Did you make me come here when dimples isn’t even around???” He whined.

Finn flicked his forehead lightly. “They’re in that room. Ian was tired to death when he arrived a couple of hours ago and just collapsed on my bed. Joe’s been trying to wake him up for about 15 minutes now.” He paused and looked in the direction of his bedroom. “Or at least that’s what I’m hoping is happening. If they make my sheets dirty, I WILL skin them both.”

“I’ll check on them.” Max said as he jumped up and ran to the room. He put his ear on the door first and then knocked quietly, but then opened the door with force, going in.

He looked out of the room, craning his neck. “They’re both asleep. Should I jump on them?”

Aiden smirked, and Brad giggled while Finn encouraged him to do it. Soon there was the sound of shouting and yelping in pain and surprise at the sudden attack, and they all cracked up. Even Edwin lifted his head up to see what they were laughing about and chuckled upon seeing an annoyed Joe tripping out of the bedroom.

“I’m gonna kill you. Just wait till I’m fully awake.” Ian groaned as he let himself sink onto the couch next to Aiden and threw his arm over his eyes.

“Rough day?” He asked.

“Rough week, month, year, ugh, I’m thinking about selling it all and traveling the world instead.” A tired and upset Ian was a very moody one, and you had to be extra careful when talking, or else he would snap.

Aiden let go of Edwin’s waist and put his hand on Ian’s thigh, squeezing gently. “I can always help in whatever way I can, you know. I know I no longer have any shares, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help.”

Ian raised his arm from his eyes, looked at him from the side, and then at a koala Edwin attached to him before letting his arm fall on his eyes again, head resting on the couch.

“No, you can’t. You have your own work and when you’re free, you have to spend time with that koala kitten or whatever he is. I’m not sure anymore.” He sighed as if it was a real struggle to know what animal Edwin represented. “I’ll be fine. It’s just that I have accepted so many projects at once and now I’m going insane.”

Aiden hummed and forgot that his hand was still on the guy’s thigh as they all turned around when they heard a scream from somewhere in the hallway, indicating Joe had taken their revenge on Max at last. And then they both walked into the living room with messy hair and clothes.

“I swear to god all of you are just a bunch of 5-year-olds mentally and I’ll end up having to teach you the basics of human ways of interaction and you’ll never learn.” Finn said with a smile he was trying so hard to hide.

Joe ended up with his head on Ian’s lap and legs hanging off the armrest, and Max moved on to annoying Brad, while the guy didn’t seem bothered by it one bit as they all started talking about this and that. Not long after, Aiden felt how Edwin’s hand let go of his neck and traveled down, following the arm that wasn’t holding him. He grabbed his hand and took it off of Ian’s thigh, leading him to circle it back around him before he hugged his neck again.

Aiden’s eyes widened a bit as he questioned in his head whether Edwin was bothered by the fact that his hand was on Ian’s body or he had just wanted it back around him. Looking around to see if anyone had seen it, he only found Brad looking at him with an unreadable expression and back at Max, who still had no plan of stopping pinching his skin. Finally, he placed his palm on the youngest’s forehead and pushed him away from his now quite-red bicep, and took a beer can from the table.

Aiden felt how Edwin’s body shivered a bit. He let his hand travel under the younger’s shirt to see if he was cold, and yes, Edwin was freezing. It wasn’t that cold, but Aiden’s body temperature had always been higher, so maybe it was after all. Either way, he let Edwin fall off his lap next to him on the couch as he stood up to go get a blanket. When he came back, Edwin was sitting there with his knees to his chest. He must have been really cold then. Aiden covered him in the blanket and made an Edwin burrito, snapping a picture of him right after as he kept on smiling sheepishly at how cute he was with his messy hair and his cute puffy face being the only part of his body on display.

“What happened to the stripper?” Edwin asked, not noticing the photo his boyfriend had just taken.

“Max has made a vow to die a virgin apparently, so he declines even the innocent strippers.” He answered, glaring at his brother and sticking his tongue out at him.

“But why? Sex is sooo good! You don’t even know what you’re missing! Even Jesus is pitying you right now. Just get someone and fuck already.” His boyfriend said, and everyone went quiet. An Edwin, who talked about sex as open as that, was indeed a drunk one cos a sober version was still shy talking about the topic. His little burrito didn’t stop there and graced everyone with the unnecessary information about their sex life while pointing at him with his long bony index finger that he managed to bring out of the blanket. “I’ve made him fuck me countless times the past few days cos I have to save up for when he’s away.” He pouted right after saying that and blinked cutely with a light frown several times.

Everyone’s eyes landed on Aiden and back at the many hickeys on Edwin’s neck in sync, like they were part of an orchestra.

“Wow, I do NoT know what to do with this information.” Joe said, fixing his shirt just for the sake of having done something.

Edwin turned toward him and laughed, showing his beautiful set of teeth.

“You’re going somewhere?” Ian asked.

“Yeah,” He replied while going to Edwin’s side and squishing his face between both palms, moving his head, and laughing at the cute boy that was now annoyed. “The single will be out tomorrow and then we’ll immediately go to Japan for a few days. I don’t know why exactly, but we’ll be promoting there first before here.”

“Huh! So that’s why he drank and went all koala on you again.” Finn giggled, taking a sip of his drink.

“He always gets drunk when you’re leaving and then over-works himself at the dance school.” Brad added, patting Max’s head, that was now lying on his shoulder.

“The pattern is like deja-vu to me.” Max simply stated and then went quiet right after at the realization of what he had just implied.

“Max, it’s your fault this supposed party is so boring. There were supposed to be some strippers around, giving us all lap dances and twerking and everything. You’re such a party pooper nerd.” Aiden huffed after a few moments of silence.

“It’s not my fault you all are perverts and know no other way to spend your time joyfully. Besides, it’s not like Edwin would watch and let anyone give you a lap dance! He would murder the person who dares to even get near you!” He snorted, and everyone seemed to force themselves to hide the giggles and smirks that wanted to appear on their faces.

“We have two very creepy couples in our circle of friends. Seeing y’all, I don’t even dare think about a relationship!” Finn said while shaking his head.

“Hey! What’s wrong with us?!” Joe protested, looking offended.

“You two are even more creepy than those two! I don’t even wanna know the kind of stuff you do and yes, I saw you picking up some random boy at the club the other night.” Finn snapped back and raised his eyebrow, knowing they would back down.

Joe looked panicked as he turned his head upward to look at Ian, who seemed pretty unbothered.

“Well, we love experiencing new things. Not everyone has a stick up their ass like you do.” Ian said, and Joe looked even more panicked now that his boyfriend had openly confirmed everything.

“You guys do threesomes with total strangers?!” Edwin squealed and made Aiden jump cos he thought the younger had fallen asleep. He didn’t wait for an answer though as he pointed that same index finger at him again. This time it poked Aiden’s cheek.

“He won’t do it. He has done it already, but won’t agree to do a threesome with me.” His pronunciation was funny with how he was talking half-asleep and being totally wasted. It seemed that they were the ones making this party fun, after all.

“Let the boy have a threesome, Aiden.” Ian said with a smirk.

“Yeah, why don’t you?” Brad joined the teasing squad.

“Not you too, Brad!” Aiden groaned and everyone burst out laughing.

“You all will have a lot to answer for at the gates of the underworld.” Max said, sighing roughly.

“Please! Your spiritual attitude is nothing but a mask. You are the most creepy out of all of us! Finn is the most saint one around here.” Joe said nonchalantly.

“Oh wow! I! Am! Offended!” Max held his hand to his chest dramatically and let his mouth hang open.

The night went on with them teasing each other endlessly and laughing and then eventually someone started a game on TV and the usual game squad, including everyone except for Brad and Aiden, joined it. Edwin was a bit sober, so he did his very best, trying to focus on the game console and the moves he had to do.

Aiden and Brad were now talking to each other at the kitchen island, eating the instant noodle they had made for the two of them.

“Did you talk to him about joining the backup dancers?” Brad asked.

“Hmm, he said he would think about it. I wasn’t expecting him to be hesitant, to be honest. I thought he would be all happy and jumping around or something.” Aiden said while chewing and glancing at his lover.

“He should have his own reasons. Actually, from what I saw tonight, the way he moved your hand from Ian and the other times I’ve witnessed similar situations, I think he’ll be pretty annoyed with your fans at the events and such.”

“I know… I was pretty shocked tonight, too. I mean, he literally did say he’s a jealous person right in my face, but— I didn’t think this much. Not that I’m complaining, though. I kinda like it!” He smiled to himself, remembering the whole thing. “But, it could be a serious problem if he does join the dance crew.” He ran his finger through his hair. “I don’t know, man. I just really want him by my side 24/7, I can’t even dare think about leaving him for days starting tomorrow. I just miss him too much.”

Brad chuckled under his breath.

“What?!” Aiden asked, confused.

“Nothing, just that it really is like deja-vu like Max said.”

“It’s not, okay? I know I’ve said all this stuff about Ian before and he even did the same things, getting drunk and over-working, but the feelings are totally different. I’ve never felt as strong as I feel about Edwin for anyone else. And he may do those things, but he’s really much stronger than you guys think.”

They were interrupted by a new voice talking. “We know he’s strong. He went through all that stuff about his sister and you being you and everything. It’s just that neither one of us wants the past to repeat itself, Den. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. He is too innocent. Take very good care of him and give him all the attention in the world. Don’t let him break the way I did.” Ian said as he poured himself a glass of water. On his way out of the kitchen, he placed a hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “I’m really happy with Joe now, but that was just me being lucky. We both found the very right person for us. Don’t let him slip out of your hands just like I’m trying my best at spending every second of my free time with Joe.” He patted his shoulder and walked out, leaving them in thoughtful silence.