So here he was again, where he had left his 16 year old self the night he had left with the twins, this time things were different…..everyone was different.
"Aros, this is my husband, his name is Samuel." Jade brightly said, introducing the dark hair male that was with her, everyone trying to act as if it hasn't been almost 2 decades since they saw each other.
"Hello, I've heard a lot of great things about you." Samuel said with a soft smile.
"H-Hello, nice to meet you Samuel." If Aros moved slightly closer to James, it was purely instinct.
"That's my husband Charles and our daughter Charlotte. Our son is currently sleeping, he's been feeling a bit under the weather." Jane said with a soft smile of her own, honestly she still couldn't believe that this was real.
"Hi, nice to finally meet you, Jane talks often about you. Say hi to your uncle, Charlotte." The baby stared at Aros with wide eyes and then let out some goo goo sounds.
"N-Nice to meet you too." Aros softly said, holding on to the hem of James shirt, this all felt surreal.
"So, what has been of your life? The twins look so cute! I still can't believe they are the little babies we used to walk around with." Jane brightly said, it might have sounded slightly force but at least she tried.
"Just….um….just moving around, working as an editor from home." Aros replied, wondering if maybe he could magically disappear to a place that wasn't as awkward.
"I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room." Elizabeth calmly said, staring at her adopted son.
"...Mom…" James almost begged, he didn't want this to be awkward or for Aros to run off.
"N-No, she's right." Aros quietly replied and sighed.
"Errrr, Charles, why don't we go to the garden and play with Charlotte?" Samuel said, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning.
"Yeah, that sounds great, Sammy." Charles quickly said, getting up.
"You don't have to." Jade told them with a frown.
"Babe…..talk things out calmly." Sam kissed his wife's cheek and smiled warmly then Charles, Samuel and Charlotte left.
"Explain everything that you can, Aros…..did we make you feel uncomfortable?" Elizabeth calmly asked.
Aros remained quiet, staring down at the floor and trying not to freak out, he knew that someday he would have to face them and had practiced millions of time what he would say…..but now that was out of the window.
"I…...needed to find myself, to detach myself from everything that was going on here with...Ja….with everyone." He bit his bottom lip hard, sucking on it.
"Why?! Do you have any idea how long we searched for you? How scared we were that something bad happened to the twins and you?" Jane exclaimed, eyes already watering.
"I kept feeling as if I was just being a burden to everyone here and just needed to try and live by myself with the twins…..I thought you guys would be happier without the extra burden." Aros said softly.
"Who are you to decide what we want and what we don't?" Jane asked with a frown, her voice raising just a bit.
"Jane….calm down." Jade warned, letting out a sigh.
"I am sorry…..I never had a family before, at least not one like this and everything became overwhelming. I know what I did might not have been the best thing but I don't regret it, I needed to become more independent." Aros looked at them, forcing himself to look more calm, to dare them to question his choice.
"That's great Aros…..and I think that I understand but my issue is that you didn't stay in contact with any of us, you could have at least called or send us messages letting us know that the twins and you were alive." Jade kept her voice calm as well, not wanting this to turn into an argument, then her eyes landed on her brother.
"Did you leave because of our brother?"
James flinched, he knew very well that was the main reason why Aros had left, but Jade didn't need to be so blunt about it!
Aros looked down, unsure how to reply "...I…"
"James is an idiot, we all know that, but I don't think its fair that we have to pay for the mistakes that he made! Hell, I would have helped you kick his stupid ass for what he did to you." Jane glared at her brother and then at Aros, sighing, running a hand through her hair.
"...I am sorry, I had really thought that I was doing everyone a favor….and then I became scared of what you would say if I came back, if I dared to show my face in front of all of you again after having disappeared." Aros softly said, feeling the guilt bubbling up more.
"What you did is not okay, Aros….but I hope that you know that you will always be welcome in this family. You are as much as a son to me as James is." Elizabeth told him, moving closer to pull him into a hug. "It must have been hard raising them by yourself." She softly told him then Aros began to cry, hugging her back.
"You idiot!" Jane said, moving to hug him as well, James all but kicked out of their little circle. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Elizabeth and Jane pulled away, Aros sniffing and wiping away his tears.
"I am sorry….I really am." Aros knew that this wouldn't fix everything but at least it was a step forward, it was another door that he got to close and open.
"Yeah, well as punishment you better help us cook tomorrow!" Jade exclaimed, grinning.
"Alright." Aros promised, glad that they were at least talking to him. He knew that they all had more to talk about and it would take time….but hopefully everything could be fixed.
"Aris looks just like you, Aros! She's so beautiful and Jamie is so handsome." Jane gushed, moving to wrap her hands around his and tugging him to the kitchen.
"Hey, remember that you promised to cook for us today, Jane!" Jade called out to her little sister, shaking her head.
Jane led Aros to the kitchen, smiling warmly at him "You can help me cook tonight."
Aros did just that, Jade coming along to help while James was dragged away by his mother, something about work.
They ended up making pasta with some mashed potatoes, Aros made some food for the twins as well, following their rather strict diet then helped set the table. Jane offered to go and get the teens.
JJ was starting to become quite familiar with the world of Dragonball Z, so far his favorite character was Vegeta even though he always seem so royally pissed.
"Well, he used to be a prince of this warrior planet…...and then had to see it destroyed, his whole family gone and stuck working for the enemy, he then had to live in a whole different world with a different culture from his own only to find out that there was one warrior that survived from his planet but knows nothing about their culture…..wouldn't you be royally pissed off all the time as well?" Harry asked then shrugged "Or well, at least that's how I see it but he probably just have a naturally shitty personality."
He stopped when there was a knock on the door and then his aunt opened it, smiling brightly at them, her eyes lingering more on JJ "Hey, food is ready. Come down for dinner and make sure to wash your hands!" Then she left, doing the same with the other room.
"Guess it's time to eat." Harry grinned, getting up and helping JJ, he wrapped his arm around the smaller male's shoulder as if they've been best friends for a long time. "JJ, my man, I have much to teach you in the art of anime but no worries, we got plenty of time."
JJ actually managed to smile, trying not to think about the arm in his shoulder, it felt strong and warm "Do we now?" He asked sounding amused.
They went down, heading toward the kitchen where everyone was already seated, Harry leading JJ to the seat next to him. His sister and Alexis arrived a minute or so after they did and then a younger version of Alexis James.
Both Aris and JJ stared in shock at the younger version of Alexis James, he had the same bright hair, if the smaller version had been slightly older, they could have been identical twin brothers.
"Jaden, you are finally awake, are you feeling better, sweetie?" Jane asked the smaller redhead.
Jaden yawned and nodded, moving toward where his sister was seated and kissed her cheek, the baby holding on to his finger and talking in her own language before letting go of it.
Charles got up, moving to check Jaden's forehead "Fever seem to be gone, that's good." He said with a relieved smile on his face.
"I am fine….oh big brother." He stared at Alexis and gave a small smile, before turning to look at Aris, cheeks turning bright red, he ended up sitting next to his dad and mom.
The twins couldn't stop staring, those two really looked eerily similar.
"You….have a brother, Alexis James?" Aris softly asked, staring between the two of them.
Jane laughed, finding their expression to be priceless "They do look alike, don't they? Their personalities are also really similar." She brightly said.
"That's yet to be determined." Harriet grumbled.
"Ah….we are something like that." He suppose technically they were brothers since he did come out of his aunt's womb but it was far too complicated to explain.
After that, everyone began to eat, the twins taking all of their pills.
"Holy shit, man! Now that's what I call getting ready to fight an army." Harry said when he saw all of the pills, his mother giving him a hard kick under the table "Ow, what?! This is why you are an old hag." Harry whined, rubbing the leg that got kicked.
"...Did you just call your mother dearest an old hag?" Jade sweetly asked, his father shaking his head, this was far too normal.
"...What you gonna do about it?" Harry asked, trying to sound brave.
"Huh….I wonder what will happen if one of your precious figures just accidentally falls and crashes…..or disappear." Jade sweetly said.
"...You wouldn't dare!"Harry exclaimed, turning pale.
"Oh, try me." She shot back with a smirk.
"Alright, no need to get violent with some innocent bystanders! Leave the children alone, mother! They have nothing to do….ahahaha, you are really beautiful, you know that? Mom? Nah, you are more like my really hot sister!" Harry tried quickly to fix the damage he had done.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Jade smugly said, everyone laughing. Their bickering was usually quite amusing to watch.
"Make sure to do your exercise, Jamie." Aros quietly told his son, who simply nodded.
The dinner ended up being quite fun, especially with Jade and her son bickering.
When they were done, everyone helped clean up the table until the teens were told to go away, Jaden thrown out too.
They ended up outside in the garden, where there was some swings, a mini park and lots of open space, as well as a few chairs.
"Brother?" Aris quietly asked but JJ was already being dragged away by an excited Harry. She was left with Jaden and Alexis. "Do...you think he's upset with me, Misha?" She asked with a small frown.
"No, Harry can just be…..overwhelming, Jamie is going to get dragged around these next few days." Alexis James replied, then turned to look at Jaden "I am glad you are not sick anymore."
Jaden stared at Aris and frowned "Is that your girlfriend?" He bluntly asked, both Aris and Alexis blushing brightly and remaining quiet.
"I am going back to the room, this is boring." Jaden calmly said, glaring at Aris before leaving.
"Does he not like me?" Aris worriedly asked.
"I think its quite the opposite." Alexis replied with a chuckle, moving to sit in one of the swings, Aris soon following. They looked up at the sky, which was starting to shift from that daylight color into the nighttime, an almost purple-ish color.
Harriet dragged JJ deeper into the garden until they stopped where a large fountain was and some bench, he sat down in the bench, patting the spot next to him until JJ sat down.
"I love this spot, its the most peaceful and far away from the house where I don't feel like I need to punch someone." Harry said, staring at the fountain, it was of two fairies who were holding hands, looking as if they were about to kiss.
"Its really beautiful." JJ softly said, staring at the fountain as well, then he bit his bottom lip "Aren't….you curious?" He softly asked.
"Mmm?" Harry asked, tilting his head.
"About my mask…..and all the pills?" JJ looked down at his hand "Why I am full of...decay."
"Its none of my business, if ya wanna talk about it then I am all ears but its not something you have to tell me, we all got shit going on, right?" Harry said, frowning "Decay? Did Alexis say that crap? Don't pay attention to him, ever since his other old man died, he's been pretty messed up, talking about decay and all that stuff."
"I think he's right about me….I might just be filled with it." JJ quietly admitted.
"That's bull if I ever heard it, do I gotta beat your ass up as well?" He rose an eyebrow.
"Sorry." JJ didn't know why he was acting like this. "I….have Cystic Fibrosis, the doctors don't know how much longer I'll get to live. It could be weeks….months, a year, a decade." He admitted.
Harry stayed quiet for a minute or two "Isn't that life? None of us know when we'll die, it doesn't mean you are filled with decay."
JJ turned to look at Harry, his eyes wide and then he smiled and nodded "Yeah….I guess so." He was glad not to get the pity stares or the disgusted one.
"So, serious question…..do you need to have that breathing mask on you every single second?" Harry asked, tilting his head.
"I….can take it off for a bit, but for the most part I need to have it, why?" JJ asked confused.
Harry grinned, quickly moving to take off the mask, before JJ could ask what the hell he was doing, he felt lips against him, they were slightly rougher and warm. His eyes remained wide open, staring at Harry's before the raven pulled away, putting the breathing mask back on for JJ.
"Good, I've been wanting to do that ever since I first saw you." Harry brightly said, watching the shocked expression on JJ's face, when after a minute or two it didn't change, he got worried "Err….JJ? You alright there? Did my awesome kissing skills fry your brains?" He asked.
JJ shook his head, blushing brightly "Why did you want to kiss me?" He asked with a frown? "Curious about what it was like to kiss a sick guy?" He calmly asked.
"Naahhh, I just thought that you were cute and wondered what it would feel like to kiss you, I still think you are cute." Harry winked at JJ, moving closer "Want another one?" He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
JJ got up suddenly, face bright red "You don't even know me." His mother would have freaked out if he knew about JJ getting kissed, saying something about germs and who knows what else but…..JJ hadn't minded that kiss.
"So? Its just a kiss." Harry replied.
"Just a kiss…..yeah." If only it was that simple "Do you kiss every random guy that comes here?" JJ calmly asked then moved to walk away "I am not someone's toy…..and I won't be yours."
"JJ, fucking chill!" Harry called out, moving to follow him "I am sorry, alright? I am not asking you to be some toy or something…..but I don't want to date either, its not my style."
"Yeah well….its not my style to go around kissing random people. Forget it, I am going to bed" Why was he so upset? Shouldn't he be glad that someone wanted to kiss him? Even if it was something casual, it was much more then Alexis James offered….the thought of the redhead made him feel empty and angry at the same time.
"I am sorry, I won't do it aga-" Harry was stopped when JJ pulled him down into a kiss, a rather rough and awkward kiss at that.
"Forget what I just said….no strings attached, right?" JJ said with a smirk on his face, maybe this was what he needed, something to distract his mind. He put his breathing mask back on, thinking about his sister and Alexis James. Harry would be a wonderful distraction.
"Yeah, no strings attached." Harry replied, looking slightly dazed.
A.N:/ Hello everyone, sooo I am going on a cruise tomorrow and will be gone until September 2nd, I don't know if I'll be able to update the story while I am gone. This chapter was almost 20 pages! Woot. I am honestly surprised how long this story has become and nope, I have no idea when it will end, it feels like every time I go "Alright, time to end this baby!" One of the characters go "Yeah, no, that's not happening." Lots of fun stuff coming now. I love Harry, he's going to be around for a while, someone needs to show Alexis James what he's missing out on, right? XD We are finally gonna be moving a bit more into the yaoi part of this story, thank Harry for it.
Thanks to everyone who has been reading, favoriting, following and reviewing, it means a lot to me!
P.S:/ I don't think I need to say it but yeah, Dragonball Z does not belong to me, if it did, we would have more Trunk and more Vegeta in every single episode.