Chapter 3: Be on my side!

"Son of a b*tch!" Aiden sneered, throwing an even harder punch at Tristan before he could retaliate. Tristan shot him a deadly glare, struggling to keep his anger in check.

At this moment, he couldn't care less about being the older one. He had been holding back for months, trying to stay calm, but it wasn’t working anymore. For too long, he had let Aiden do whatever he wanted, trying to act mature, but he was done with that now.

As Aiden swung at him again, Tristan caught his fist mid-air, using his free hand to throw a brutal punch that split Aiden’s lip instantly.

But Aiden wasn't about to back down. The fight escalated, filling the dorm room with the sound of shattering glass, bodies slamming against walls, and labored breaths. Yet, no one stepped in to stop the madness.

Aiden suddenly landed a hard punch, knocking Tristan to the ground, blood trickling from his lips. Aiden wasted no time, grabbing Tristan’s shirt, his fist clenched tightly.

"If you ever drag my dad into this again, I’ll kill you, you bastard," Aiden shouted, the memory of his past flickering in his eyes. His knuckles pressed even harder into Tristan's jaw, making him cough up blood.

Tristan winced, searching for a chance to fight back—and he found one. He kicked Aiden hard in the ribs, sending him crashing to the floor.

Tristan stood and stormed toward Aiden. Without hesitation, he hovered over him and began landing punches to Aiden’s face, one after another, no longer caring about the consequences.

He pulled his hands back, ready to strike again, this time clenching his fists tighter than before—one that could easily knock Aiden unconscious. Just as his fist was about to connect with Aiden’s face again, the door suddenly flew open.

"Tristan!" his mother’s voice cut through the room, filled with shock. He froze, fist still in the air, fury boiling inside him at the interruption. Taking advantage of the moment, Aiden shoved Tristan off, and both brothers staggered to their feet.

Brittany, Tristan’s mother, stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes darting between her two bruised and breathless sons. Her face turned pale instantly.

Without wasting another moment, she strode toward Tristan, her expression full of disappointment and anger.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled. Before Tristan could answer, she slapped him hard across the face, intensifying the pain he already felt. His jaw clenched, his eyes brimming with tears as he bit down hard on his lip, struggling to hold back his frustration.

The slap didn’t hurt as much as the truth behind it. What stung the most was knowing she always took Aiden’s side, even though she knew how much Aiden despised them both.

"How could you, Tristan? Fighting with your younger brother like this? What’s gotten into you? This isn't how I raised you. I’m so disappointed."

Tristan's face flushed with anger. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but no words came. He knew it wouldn’t matter what he said—his mom had already made up her mind. To her, he was supposed to stay calm and take Aiden’s nonsense just because he was two years older.

He watched as his mom shifted her attention to Aiden, whose lip was busted, blood trickling down his chin from a bleeding nose.

"Aiden, I’m so sorry," she said, reaching out to touch his injured lip. "Are you okay? Let me help—"

"Don’t touch me!" Aiden snapped, jerking her hand away. His voice was sharp with anger, his eyes dangerously intense as he took a step back, his breathing becoming heavier, as if her concern only fueled his rage.

"Aiden, I didn't mean—"

"I don’t need your pity!" Aiden shouted, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Without another word, he stormed out of the dorm, slamming the door behind him with a loud bang.

Brittany sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping as she turned to face Tristan. Only now did she seem to notice the bruises on his face. She reached out, but Tristan turned his head away, stepping back.

"Don't," he said softly before leaving the room and heading to the bathroom. He heard his mother sigh again, but it didn’t matter to him right now.

In the bathroom, he stripped off his shirt and stepped under the shower. Shouldn’t his mom care about him too? Why was it always Aiden, even when he treated her so cruelly? He hated it.

He couldn’t understand why their parents had gone through with the marriage, despite knowing how much they hated to be forced into this makeshift brotherhood. Nothing about it made sense.

And before he could stop himself, tears slid down his face, mixing with the water from the shower.

*****

"Whoever aces this test is banging that hottie from the cheerleading club" Troy sniggered, glancing between Jefferson and Kai. They were closer to Aiden than Sam and Colby, and all were teammates on the basketball team, currently hanging out at the court.

Kai scoffed and waved Troy off, unimpressed. "Colby had her in his bed last week. Trust me, she's nothing special, so you don’t have to try so hard to ace that test. Not that you could anyway" he added, causing Jefferson, Colby and Sam to stifle their laughter.

Troy shot them both a glare but quickly brushed it off, grabbing a basketball from the rack. He effortlessly tossed it into the net.

"Where’s Aiden, by the way?" Colby asked, glancing around the empty court. "He said he'd be here." The rest of the boys shrugged. Just as Troy was about to resume practicing, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and frowned at the screen. Another blank text from Aiden, something that only happened when Aiden was off sulking somewhere.

"He’s doing it again," Troy muttered, holding up his phone to show the others.

"What’s the deal this time?" Kai groaned.

"Isn’t it obvious? It’s probably about Tristan. Again," Sam replied, stressing the word "again." "Why is he still living with him when he hates the guy so much? I can’t figure out what’s going on in his head." A thought struck him, and he shot Troy and Kai a suspicious look. "You two know something, don’t you?"

"What makes you think he’s opened up to us about that?" Troy scoffed, holding the basketball under his arm as he walked over. "The guy doesn’t even want to talk about it. If he did, maybe we could help him figure something out." He shrugged.

"He’s probably sulking and drinking himself stupid," Troy sighed. "Let’s go find him." He took the lead, knowing nearly every spot Aiden might go to clear his head. As they left, Troy tried calling Aiden, but the call went unanswered.

*****

After 20 minutes of checking various clubs, both on and off campus, they still hadn’t found Aiden. Troy decided to head to the last place he thought Aiden might be.

It took them fifteen minutes to reach their final stop. When they entered the slightly secluded frat house, they spotted Aiden in a corner, drinking heavily, a lit cigarette in his free hand.

As they approached, Jefferson took the cigarette from Aiden and dropped it in the ashtray, then pushed aside the three empty vodka bottles before sitting next to him.

"What happened to you?" Jefferson asked when he noticed the bruises on Aiden’s face. "Is this about Tristan again?"

"That bastard..." Aiden slurred, a tear slipping from his eye. "Why would he mention that woman? Why would he call her my mom?"

His voice cracked, and the sight of Aiden crying left his friends stunned. It was the first time they had ever seen him like this, drunk and emotional.

"Should we take him home?" Troy suggested, looking between Sam and Jefferson, not sure if it was the right thing to do.

"I'll kill him... I swear, I really will," Aiden mumbled, his words filled with drunken rage. His friends exchanged shocked glances.

"Take him home? When he's literally talking about killing Tristan? How can you suggest that when they just had a fight?" Colby finally said.

"So what should we do with him, then?" Jefferson asked, equally at a loss.

******

"Tristan..." Brittany called softly, her voice cautious. She knew her earlier words had hurt him, and she didn’t want to make him angrier.

Tristan shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds, then pushed his glasses down to the bridge of his nose as he looked away from his laptop, where he had been focused on studying.

His mother’s worried expression made him sigh softly, already knowing the reason behind her concern.

"You didn’t tell you were planning to stay the night," he said, turning his gaze away from her and back to his screen.

"I'm waiting for Aiden..." she said, causing his fingers to freeze on the keyboard. The mention of Aiden’s name always got on Tristan's nerves especially when it came from his mother, but he decided to let it slide. Just this once.

"He’ll come home. No matter how he leaves, he always comes back... It’s nothing new. It's just how he is," he muttered, picking up one of the many textbooks piled on his study desk.

Brittany, though still unconvinced, slowly nodded. As the hours passed and it was 1 a.m., she stirred awake after having slept off while waiting. She glanced around, but there was still no sign of Aiden, just Tristan, still engrossed in his studies.

"He’s not back yet?" she asked, sitting upright. Tristan inhaled deeply, his patience wearing thin.

"Can you please stop?" he snapped. "All you ever talk about is him. Why do you keep supporting someone who isn’t even your real son?"

"But... he—"

"Mom, please," he cut her off softly, but firmly. "Stop. I’m trying to study here."

"Tristan..." she called his name again, and this time, he slammed the textbook down on his desk, his gaze darkening with frustration.

"Can’t you, for once, be on my side? Stop making everything about him!" he shouted, finally losing control of his temper. Brittany flinched, shocked by the intensity of his outburst. She had never expected him to get so furious.