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Jackson
We had gotten to the train station just as the train was ready to pull away. Nate and I hopped aboard the first-class section right as the doors were closing.
We had assigned seats, but I walked the aisles searching for Aiden. First the top level, knowing that he loved the views. My eyes scanned the rows until I saw his head. I recognized his haircut and knew it was him. There was an empty seat beside him so I strolled over and sat down. It took him a second to look over at me, but once he did, he pulled out his AirPods and started in on me.
“What are you doing here, Jackson?”
“I came to apologize,” I said. “I know, I should have done it sooner, but I was a drunken idiot. I realize now that I was wrong about Dad, and the way I talked to you… well, it was unacceptable.”
Nate sat in the row beside us, just close enough to overhear, but still giving us some space. Aiden’s eyes looked over at him in surprise. “You too?”
“Yep. I figured someone needed to be here in case this didn’t go well.”
Aiden looked back and forth between the two of us.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” I replied, clasping my hands in my lap. “I just wanted to make sure you knew that I was sorry.”
“You came all this way, left early just to say you’re sorry?”
“And to help you, yes,” I added.
“Help me?”
“To clear your name.”
Aiden’s eyes grew wide for a second. I think I truly surprised him, but at least we weren’t at each other’s throats. The fact that we weren’t arguing or shouting at each other was a good sign.
Aiden shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re apologizing,” he said with a low chuckle.
“There’s a first time for everything,” I said, cracking a smile. “And I am trying to be a better person. I might suck at it sometimes, but I’m trying to unlearn Dad’s toxic bullshit.”
“I appreciate that,” Aiden said. He was quiet for a moment, as if mulling over everything. I gave him the time and space to process it all. He spoke up a few moments later. “I forgive you, Jackson. I know we were raised with a shitty role model, and that we’re all trying to unlearn that behavior. I appreciate that you came all this way just to apologize and that you’re going to help me.”
I caught a glimpse of Nate from the corner of my eye, and he was grinning, clearly happy that Aiden and I were talking amicably for the first time in a long time.
“I found out as I was boarding the train that my partner found some solid evidence that might clear my name, so I was thinking I might not hurry back home. I booked a hotel in Paris until New Years, figured I might spend some time away recovering from everything.”
“Mind if we tag along and hang out?” Nate asked.
“Sure, the suite has a couple bedrooms, so there’s plenty of room. Might be good to have some brotherly bonding time. But I have to ask… how was Harper when you left?”
Nate and I shared a look. That was a curious question to ask.
“She seemed fine… why?”
“Well, I just felt better leaving knowing that you two were there with her. I know Kat is busy with her lover boy and Mom has Charles. I just worry about Harper being there all alone, after everything she’s been through.”
“Wait, Kat has a boyfriend? Since when?” I asked.
Nate and Aiden both laughed.
“I don’t think it’s a boyfriend, but she’s hooking up with someone in Chamonix. Harper won’t tell me who.”
“Okay, well, I guess I missed a lot being drunk half the damn time…”
“She’s trying to be really secretive about the whole thing,” Aiden said. “But that does mean that Harper could end up being the third wheel…”
