Can't Live a Lie [cyn only]

At five in the morning, Aidan was asleep. Every time that things looked up just a little bit, something happened again. It felt like the clock was setting back a little bit each time something bad happened. He didn't feel safe. And he never really knew exactly what it was like to feel that way until now. He was restless tonight, and had woken up several times in the night. But, this time, he woke up to the sound of a knock on his bedroom door.

Confused, he stood up and rubbed his eyes. He didn't feel too tired, maybe because he hadn't been sleeping all that well anyway. When he opened the door and peeked out, he saw Megan. "I'm not a vampire, you know." He said in a half-hearted joke. It was way too early-- Or late even, depending on how you looked at it. Aidan liked to see 5 in the morning as a part of the night.

Understandably, Aidan nodded. Since she asked, he only nodded again, "Yeah, sure. I'm up now anyway." He probably wouldn't even get back to sleep for a while. He had been having that problem all night, so he might as well embrace being awake. He left the door open and walked back into his bedroom and plopped back down on the bed. He really didn't know why she chose to come to his room, but he didn't mind it. He could use the company right now.

Aidan shook his head, despite how she had woken him up. It didn't bother him. Sometimes, it would, but not today. It wasn't as if he was getting much sleep himself and if she couldn't sleep then he was happy she came to him. What were siblings for, right? They had grown closer recently, more than they had in the past. And he liked that a lot more than he did the arguing that used to follow them whenever they were together. "Are you okay?" He asked, figuring that nightmares could be difficult. He had his own set of nightmares following all of the violent events of the past few months.

Kevin? The first word that came to mind whenever he heard Kevin's name was: Psycho. So, when she told him what Kevin's advice had been, he cringed. "Kevin?" He couldn't understand why she would want to talk to him. The boy was a complete freak! And Aidan was afraid of him. But, Kevin gave him every right to, so he wasn't going to think that his hatred for him was anything strange or out of the ordinary. It was necessary. "Since when do you talk to Kevin?" He asked, knowing that wasn't the topic, but he couldn't help but be stuck there.

Aidan just went silent, his eyes had gone to the floor, but then back to her again. Did he get it? He didn't really know, because he couldn't judge her feelings and he only knew his own. He took a breath and when she asked about him not going to school, he shrugged. "I feel like no one's safe. Like at any minute, something's going to happen. It could be the cashier at a grocery store, or a kid at school. I barely feel safe here, it's like I can't escape it, no matter what I do."

Aidan didn't know that he had the answer to that. Instead, he frowned a little and looked at her. It felt like they were both in such a similar place. "I don't know-- I want to think that telling someone will make it better. Would it help you? If there was someone to keep you safe?" He asked. It was a concept that he really had never dealt with before. Sure, Aidan scared easily and was quick to be drawn to fear. But, this was something significantly different than those fears. It was more or less terror.

"I know," Aidan wasn't offended in the least. He wasn't somebody that was tough or somebody that could keep anybody safe. "I can't even keep myself safe, I don't know I could help anyone else." He said softly, but the fact that he couldn't ever save himself scared him as much as not being able to help others. He was helpless. Always helpless. When she mentioned telling their parents, he frowned. "You wouldn't be. They don't see things like that." He explained. "They would do what they could to protect you."