"Nicolas."

Nigel rolled his eyes at the chastising to watch his attitude and just plunked into the seat next to his twin, right opposite the woman and her son, Glenn. He'd be willing to believe anything but that he was actually biologically related to this moron, albeit a relationship that was cold from distance. He wanted to throw hands.

"You don't remember me, do you?" she said, a soft, persuasive smile on her lips. At least staring at her face didn't send his nerves spiking. Where his mom was sharp, life-threatening jagged edges, she was softer lines that made her warm eyes look overwhelmed with all the love it held. "I'm Ava, your mom's twin sister. I'm almost sad, you were inseparable from me as a child, always insisting to be held. Now, you don't even remember."

Nigel's lip curled at the thought-provoking image and her teasing smile. Anyway, he didn't remember. All his memories from his childhood post coming home from the orphanage had been locked away in the deep recesses of his mind. They weren't really memories he wanted to remember. Well, except the particular one.

"You've grown so big," she was still gushing, eyes crinkling at the edges until Nigel was sure she'd probably melt if she looked any softer. It was quite the sharp contrast from his mom who had that static frown stiffening her lips and whole expression. "I'm sure you must be turning a lot of heads turning at school."

The memory of Hayley slipping her fingers into his had the tip of his ears tinting lightly. Before he had a chance to refuse abashedly, his mom was rearing her ugly head. . . or mouth.

"Yeah, sure," her tone was clipped. "I'm sure that's a good explanation for the paltry grades he brought back last term."

"My grades were fine," Nigel turned on her, gaze burning with white, hot fury. "You hardly even looked at it."

"I'd seen enough," she said, lip curling at the end in disdain he blinked rapidly in the face off, trying not to let her words get to him. "You failed your AP honors. I didn't want to hurt my eyes any longer."

Nigel had gotten a B+, just short of breaking into the A ranks by a mark but why would she even care about that?

"I'm sure he's trying to do better this time around," Saxon said on seeing his aunt's unwillingness to touch her sister's temper with a ten foot pole, just taking a long drink of her orange juice. "Can we eat? The food would only get colder."

"Oh, sure," Nigel's tone was derisive. "I am trying to do better. Anyway, I'm pretty much satisfied with my results."

"That so?" her voice remained indifferent as she picked up her fork to start her meal.

"Very much so," he said, sneering. "At least my paltry is much better than anything your precious Saxon could ever have hoped to achieve with his grades."

Silence blanketed the atmosphere as Nigel held his mother's annoyed stare, her cheeks flush with slowly growing rage, the charged tension between them one not even Saxon was now willing to diffuse before the whole argument was turned on him instead.

"Okay," it was Ava's dragged out call that broke the silence instead. "I hear you're pretty good at basketball. Glenn says you're the captain of the team?"

Nigel was beaten to it again before he could even formulate a response, much less part his lips to deliver it.

"That's the best you could do?" she asked, turning up her nose at the extracurricular. "I'm not sending you to school to shoot hoops, Nicolas. If you're not going to focus properly on your schoolwork and give me my money's worth, then perhaps you shouldn't be bothering with an education at all."

Nigel's eyes stung as his mouth fell open in a slight gape. Was that something she should say to her child? When the anger finally caught up with the rest of his brain, he felt Saxon's fingers digging into his thigh to stop him before this escalated into something unbearable for them all. Numbly, he lowered his gaze and started poking at his sausages and macaroni.

Ava's lip twitched awkwardly at a corner and Saxon felt sorry for the poor woman who was only trying to break the tension before slowly withdrawing his hand from his brother.

Glenn just shoveled food in his mouth, willing to become one with the scenery if possible. So long as he wasn't brought into any of this. When Nigel had received a call many weeks ago and had to take a leave, he'd overheard bits and pieces of the quick conversation he had with his mom— which, in hindsight, he now realized was more one-sided than anything — and had surmised he had some issues at home.

Apparently his own little brain was too small to think up something of this nature. After all, he'd never thought it would be this bad. He thought his own mother should be grateful he even scraped most subjects with a C- but still she hounded him. In comparison, he almost felt incredibly lucky.

"By the way, Nadine," Ava decided to stop trying to wonder into Nigel's situation since her twin would surely find a way to batter the boy in again, just sending her nephew a sympathetic look over her compassionate expression. "Where's Rob? I thought I'd for sure have seen him around by now."

"Oh, he's rounding up the business negotiations we traveled together for overseas," she replied skillfully, expression softening the bare smidgen at the mention of her husband. "I'd still be there if it wasn't for the company suddenly needing me for it's yearly conference."

"Business negotiations?" Nigel sneered, unable to help himself with this one. He wanted to rip her disgusting façade with wanting to always appear perfect off. "Maybe he just doesn't want to return to the likes of you."

Her chest heaved as she turned her hot gaze away from her sister, her face a bright liver-red with anger.

Nigel ripped himself from his seat before she could come up with a retort that would cut him even deeper, ignoring his twin's long gaze fixated to the side of his face as he stalked out the door.

"I'll just. . ." Saxon fumbled to his feet, jerking a thumb behind him at the door through which Nigel had disappeared.

"You don't have to go after him."

"It's. . . a bit hot," he managed. "I'm going out for air. With Glenn. Yeah, Glenn and I would go for a short walk, Aunt. We'll be back soon."

"Let them go," Ava urged. "We still have some catching up to do."

Nadine just pursed her lips like that was the last thing she'd be looking forward to.

He hurried around the table to bring his gluttonous cousin to his feet and then led them out the house.

"I don't think he'd want any company," Glenn muttered, still mourning the loss of his remaining bowl of mac and cheese and sausages.

"Trust me," Saxon said, gaze narrowed as he forced his cousin to hasten his steps along with his. "He's better off with company."

He looked right ahead and soon caught sight of the blue shirt fluttering in the wind minutes later as its owner walked ahead quietly. He hesitated, considering if he'd be better off leaving him alone, finally mustering up his courage before the other's longer legs could take him away farther and calling out, "Nic!"

Nigel's steps paused, expression slightly complicated as Saxon used the intermission to hurry over, tugging Glenn along still. "Go back," he said, gaze cold as he stared at his twin who was already perspiring slightly with the distance he'd hurried over.

"I wasn't looking for you," he said, knowing he'd adamantly turn him away if not. "Glenn and I are on a walk. We just happened to bump into you."

Nigel looked hardly amused as he took a short glance at Alfie's seatmate who'd suddenly taken it upon himself to ponder how attractive the cobblestone looked. "Go on, then," he said with a sneer, gaze glittering as he folded his arms. "Walk."

"Don't be like that, Nic," Saxon plowed ahead, ignoring his repellent attitude and tugging him into the empty booth of the roadside night stall where they'd stopped with his free hand. "You've been walking so long. Just take a breather?"

Nigel narrowed his eyes, sure he was really the one in need of a breather, out of breath and all but still pulled out the short stool a bit so he'd have proper space to fold his legs. He took his seat without another word, much to Saxon's relief as he took the other one, Glenn having to pull one from another table to join them as he quietly watched Nigel.

Saxon mulled over his words a long time and when he finally opened his mouth, was only met with his twin's cold, "I don't want to talk about any of it."

"Alright," he was quick to cater to his wishes. "You hardly touched your food. Do you want me to order something?"

Nigel held his stare a long minute and shrugged a shoulder. "I could eat," he said. "So long as you're paying."

Saxon was merely amused before waving over the boss' daughter to order a plateful of steaming pasta that was soon delivered to his twin, Glenn's nose twitching at the sight as he recalled his unfinished meal. Saxon noticed him then.

"Should I call for another plate?" he asked.

Glenn was just about to nod when Nigel interrupted them.

"He can have mine," he muttered, sliding the plate over after a forkful.

"What's wrong?" Saxon asked after Glenn had happily accepted the plate and promptly dug in.

"Too dry," was all he said, casting a glance over at the less busy streets in disinterest.

"Would you prefer something else?" he pressed on noticing him shutting himself off.

"Sure," Nigel brought his gaze back before lazily adding, "if you're cooking it."

"It'd be pretty late by the time we get back," Saxon looked somewhat hesitant.

Nigel's gaze darkened abruptly. "Then keep your stupid questions to yourself," he hissed, irritated.

Saxon pursed his lips at his short temper rearing its ugly head. "Alright, pasta," he compromised in light of all the barbs their mom had shot his way that evening.

"Carbonara?" he pushed, eyes lighting up.

Saxon was speechless at the sight of him switching faces so easily as though he was a different person. "Sure," he agreed anyway. It wasn't like it would take anything out of him.

"Would you make a salad?" he asked.

"Keep pushing your luck and all you'll have is cereal," he snorted. "Maybe some cold cheese."

Nigel smiled but he left this heckled person alone before his food supply could be cut off as well and turned to Glenn who had more or less inhaled eighty percent of his pasta already. "Why exactly did you guys even relocate?"

Glenn glanced up, cheeks stuffed until he resembled the distant relative of some hamster. He couldn't believe he was willing to talk to him someplace off the court but still chewed a couple times and forced down a swallow. "Mom filed for a divorce," he said.

Nigel didn't push any more than that, turning his gaze back to the road at the chaos that had ensued right across the stall and was currently causing a din. Some drunk teenagers had stumbled to a stop by a house with a steel cylindrical can just in front of it for storing trash.

One of them staggered, hands pressing the rim as he emptied half a bottle of the liquor still hanging loosely from his hand by the neck inside. Another tossed the rest of his still lit cigarette in it before wrapping a hand around a girl by his side and leaving with his friends amidst more racuous laughter as the house owner rushed out with a pail of water to put out the fire that hadn't wasted any time in rising up like it had been set to dry thatch.

Nigel couldn't tear his gaze from there even long after and the old man, hobbling, had managed to put out the fire after some three or four trips into his house. He felt hot all over too, like he'd been the one being burnt to smithereens in that can. That he had, minus the can. Just not in this timeline.

His body jerked slightly when Saxon's hand came to wrap around his wrist. His palm was slightly cool against his skin and it seemed to bring him some form of relief as he stared into his twin's knowing ink black eyes.

"Let's go back," he said. "I'll make you some carbonara and a salad."

Nigel took the unsaid comfort and rose to his feet, numbly following his twin who walked alongside him with his short, faltering steps, leaving Glenn to walk on ahead of them.

The cool touch lingered, bringing much needed comfort to his heart that still felt like it had the roaring flames licking at.

And for that slight comfort, he was grateful.

—

she and her husband came really close to not getting any names at all xD