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For all they’d been through, maybe because of what they’d been through, and despite being in university now, too, Dawn was young for her age. That was just one of the reasons Aled had waited until Dawn was ready for uni to enroll himself. The two of them being enrolled at the same university, both as freshmen, at the same time, was not an accident.
But suddenly Aled realized that it could become a problem.
“I think I’m going to like my Victorian Literature survey course,” Dawn said as they walked, looking down at what appeared to be a book list on her phone. She was focused on that instead of where she was going. But then, she didn’t need to look where she was going when she had Aled to guide her. “This term is just early Victorian authors, of course. Brontes, Dickens, things like that. Should be interesting.”
“You always did like to read,” Aled said, frowning a bit as he plotted how to say what he needed to Dawn.
“I’m a little worried about writing all the papers,” Dawn said, lowering her phone and glancing up at him. “You’ll help me, though, won’t you?”
“Of course,” Aled said, then went on with, “Dawn, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Oh?”
Aled stopped and let go of her hand as he turned to face her. He hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder, cleared his throat, then said, “I was thinking that I’d like to start dating.”
Dawn’s immediate reaction was fear, but she hid that emotion quickly behind a strained smile. “That’s brilliant. Of course, you should date. I’ve been saying for ages that you should find yourself a boyfriend.”
Aled arched one eyebrow at her. “Have you been saying that?”
“Well, if I haven’t been saying it, I’ve been thinking it,” Dawn said, looking a tiny bit guilty. “And Jeremy keeps trying to tell me that you definitely need to find someone to shag, and that it’s my fault you’ve turned into a monk.” She lowered her head and peeked up at him through her thick lashes.
Aled took a breath. That was the real story. Jeremy had probably been giving her a hard time and blaming her for his lack of a social life. Aled did have a social life, he just didn’t necessarily want his younger siblings, the ones he’d been supporting and carrying for the last few years, to know what that social life consisted of.
He wondered if they would figure things out if he and Jamie started dating officially. It turned out Dawnhadbeen joking when she’d teased him about his kinky sex weekend during that phone call, but she was definitely smart enough to figure out the truth if he brought Jamie around and he had any visible marks on him.
“You’d really be alright with things if I started seeing someone?” he asked, feeling the depths of the divide between living his own life and making sure his siblings were safe and happy more than ever.
“Yes, Aled,” Dawn said, as if she were exasperated with him. “You can’t miss out on things just because I have the occasional complete mental breakdown.”
She said it like it was funny, but Dawn’s mental health was serious. It was also one of Aled’s primary concerns. She was so much better now than she had been right after the trauma, but things like they’d been through and everything they’d seen left you with scars that didn’t go away.
“Alright,” Aled said with a smile, holding out his hand to her like she was still twelve years old. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Good,” she said, grasping his hand as they walked on together. She sent him a mischievous smile and said, “Do you have someone you fancy already?”
“I might,” Aled said, being deliberately cagey to play with her.
“Oooh!” Dawn teased him with the sound.
Aled laughed, but he wasn’t sure if things were actually okay. Dawn could change her mind in a moment and did most of the time. He and Jamie could start seeing each other, but there were legitimate ethical dilemmas involved with that. And who knew what else might come along to complicate things? Starting in on a new chapter in life was wonderful, but Aled doubted it would be as simple as all that.
ELEVEN
There wasa joke out there that said those who taught ended up adopting the mentality of their students, because they were around that sort of energy all the time. Jamie didn’t really go in for that sort of thing, and it applied to secondary school anyhow. But as he strode across campus to the university’s main administrative building the day after his surprise run-in with Sir, Aled, he felt like all of the incoming students buzzing and chattering in the square around him.
Aled. Jamie hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. He was here, at RUL, and he’d been assigned as one of Jamie’s advisees. Granted, there were still massive problems to work out on that end, but it hardly mattered. The Universe had done him a colossal favor. He could have never seen Aled again, never known who the man he’d spent the weekend of his life with and fallen a little bit in love with was. Aled could have turned into one of those legends that he would tell on cold winter’s nights, when he was old and gray and propped in front of the fire at The Chameleon Club, nattering away to the newer, younger members of the Brotherhood.
He'd been saved from that pitiable future. Aled had returned to his life, and already, Jamie was contemplating ways to keep him there as long as possible.
He’d nearly reached the administration building when his mobile rang in his pocket. He stopped and adjusted his satchel, then pulled his phone out to see Kit’s name on the screen. With a smile, he answered the call.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” he said right off, already guessing the reasons.
“A little birdie told me that a certain protégé of mine has ended up as a protégé of yours,” Kit said, gloating in his voice. Jamie heard sheep bleating in the background and guessed that Kit was in his barn and had just found out and had considered the news too good not to call him immediately.
“I would never dare to call someone like Aled my protégé,” Jamie said, keeping his voice down, as he was still outside in the crowded, grassy square.
“No, I believe you are more inclined to call him something else entirely,” Kit said, clearly enjoying the situation.
