Ian knocked on the door twice before entering the study. He saw Aiden standing by the window looking at the outside view with his jaw clenched and palms tightened into fists by his side. He went closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder giving him a light squeeze. Aiden still didn't look at him nor said anything so Ian finally decided to break the silence,"Penny for your thoughts?" Aiden totally ignored him so he continued," Come on Aiden! Tell me what's going on your mind. I already know it but I wanna hear from you. Open up to me, will you?"
Aiden let out a sigh and relaxed a bit. He said, still not looking at him,"It's nothing Ian. You may leave." He was about to walk towards his desk but Ian stopped him by grabbing his wrist tightly and turning him around to face him.
"You know very well that you are in denial and I just don't understand why. You are not so oblivious to not know that she feels the same way that you feel for her. Why don't you confess already, Huh? What's pulling you back? and you keep getting jealous of me, seriously Aiden? Me, of all people? I won't ever hit on my brother's girl! We made a pact, remember?" Ian said the last two sentences with a laugh.
"It's- it's not like that and stop pestering me regarding that thing. She and I are just friends, like you two", Aiden said avoiding his gaze. Ian laughed and let go of his arm. Aiden got confused and questioned,"What? Why are you laughing?"
Ian kept on laughing for a whole minute then said,"This is just too funny, sorry. Friends! like me and her. Yeah, sure. I don't believe you." He laughed again then continued,"Also she just agreed to me that you are not 'just a friend'",he quoted," to her. You are more than that Aiden. Stop denying those feelings and embrace it, you imbecile." He mockingly added,"If you don't then somebody else will come and sweep her off her feet."
"She said that? For real?" Aiden questioned.
"What?"
"That- that she doesn't just see me as a f-friend?"
" Stop stuttering and she did. Yes. Now take your elder brother's advice and go get your girl."
Aiden snorted saying,"Elder, my foot!"
"Yaah! I'm elder than you, brat!" Ian playfully smacked the back of his head.
"Just by a few minutes", Aiden said rolling his eyes.
"Still... that counts."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Now will you go or not?" Ian asked pointing towards the door.
Aiden sighed and went towards his desk and sat on his chair with his head down, kept on the desk. He said in a low voice as Ian sat in front of him,"I don't know."
"What is it Aiden? Talk to me. Let me in, then only can I help you. What keeps bothering you? Trust me and open up", Ian said encouragingly. "Tell me everything that's going on in your head. The good, the bad, everything."
Aiden took a deep breath then said,"She-.. I-.." but he couldn't say much so he again took a deep breath and let it out, starting again,"... I'm afraid of my own feelings. It makes me feel vulnerable. I- I really like the way her eyes sparkle when she talks about something she likes. I want to share every piece of me with her. These past few days when we've started talking... like friends ...have been .. really great.I like this better than before. I like how she's neither angry on me all the time nor scared of me, the way we get along well. She's.... one curious girl and I like a lot that about her. There are far many reasons why I like her. I like the weird feelings which I get when she's close to me or when her smiles are directed towards me. I wanna make her smile like that all the times but... all this aside, there's a part of me which is scared ...."
"Am I thinking the right thing ... why you are scared?"
"I guess", Aiden shrugged.
"It's because of her, isn't it?" Ian said rubbing his temples.
"Maybe...."
"Jesus! You are such an idiot." Aiden looked at him with a monotonous face then looked away as he continued,"That was past Aiden. People gotta move on! Don't let that effect you, your decisions, your present and future. Life is full of ups and downs and you gotta keep moving with the flow. You can't always have ups in your life neither can you always stay still. Don't stop moving if things turn out bad sometimes. Life is hard brother, you just can't let it affect your pace. Also, her and Adina are two different individuals. Adina is not fake like she was. She's smart, lovely, headstrong, not to mention beautiful, caring, loving, sweet ... and the list goes on and on. She even stands up for herself in front of 'THE' Aiden Simmons, you know that very well with the number of times you've had arguments with her." He chuckled then continued,"Give this feeling a chance. You can't always stay inside your shell only because you're afraid of getting hurt. I know Adina, she would never hurt you .... not intentionally.
Aiden kept mum for some time but then spoke,"You know Ian, how possessive I am. It's like I want her all to myself. Her every smile, laugh, giggle, all, only for me. I don't wanna cage her but I'm afraid I will. She doesn't like being caged, you know that! All that you said earlier... ok, let's pretend I do give it a chance but then what about this!? I can't help but be possessive. I don't wanna be jealous of you but the truth is I do get jealous of you. If she and I get together.. this will only get worse."
"You are insecure", Ian simply commented.
"Huh?"
"You are insecure about her, Aiden. As I said earlier, all you need to do is give this a chance. Time will make everything okay. Everything is gonna be fine. All this possessiveness of yours is a result of your insecurities and I believe Adina will help you overcome it. It's gonna be really hard but you can do it... with her. She's one of a kind, don't let her go. She's a woman of her words."
Aiden clutched his head with both hands and said,"Can you leave me alone for a while Ian. I need some time to think."
"Sure... but I have a request. Don't keep her waiting for long, please?"
Aiden looked up at Ian's hopeful eyes then nodded saying,"Yes, I won't."
Ian gave him a smile and left the study. That day, time seemed to slow down all of a sudden.
After completing her work, Adina retired to her room and took a long relaxing shower. She very much needed it and thinking in the shower is what normal people mostly tend to do. She kept tossing and turning in her bed uncomfortably,thinking what will tomorrow have in store for her. She was happy to know about Aiden's feelings for her but nervous as much.
Ian, on the other hand, wanted his brother to make the right decision and forget about the past incidents though today, when he mentioned her, he himself thought of the memories of the past which he had buried deep down.
Aiden too was busy in his own thoughts. He had to decide what he wanted more than anything else. He had to think of the pros and cons of his decision and how it will effect him and the others but Ian's words helped him a lot. He kept thinking about all Ian had said. That night was a sleepless one for all three of them.