Back To You

Chapter 8

Aidan awoke early in the morning to the sweet and enticing smell of pancakes. It was the only thing that could potentially lure him out from under the warm covers in one of the bedrooms of the safe house. After what felt like ages, his body and mind finally felt refreshed, turbocharged and ready to go. The much-needed sleep had done him good, especially after the whirlwind events of the past few nights.

He lazily stretched in bed before slowly getting up and heading to the bathroom to wash up and get ready. Just as he finished changing, he heard a knock on the door. Gavin called anxiously, "Aidan?"

After his little misadventure with the vampires three days ago, Gavin was adamant about not letting Aidan out of his sight, not even for one second. As much as he appreciated his brother's protectiveness, it bordered on the point of absurdity when, on the first night, he had to chase his brother out of the bathroom for some much-needed privacy.

"No one's gonna kidnap me off the toilet bowl!" Aidan had yelled through the locked door, to which Gavin replied, "With your crappy luck, how can you be so sure?"

On the second night, when Gavin had come into his room, he'd sat his big brother down on the dressing table stool, firmly telling him that he would be sleeping alone in his room from now on. Gavin had not been a happy camper.

Third day in and still forced to deal with the overprotective werewolf standing outside his bedroom, Aidan sighed before calling out, "I'm almost ready. I'll be out in a sec."

He found Gavin in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Hailey and Tyler were seated at the little breakfast table in the kitchen, already munching on pancakes. Hailey was dressed in simple jeans and a long-sleeved blouse, her long black hair pulled into a braid. Looking at her plate, Aidan bit his lip to hide a knowing smile. It didn't escape his notice that Hailey's stack of pancakes was the only one that came with sliced strawberries and a large dollop of whipped cream.

Tyler, in his usual sweatpants and matching sweatshirt, was engrossed in drowning his pancake in maple syrup. "Gross," Hailey said, making a face. Tyler smirked and added another large dollop of the golden liquid to his plate in response.

Aidan liked Tyler Smith. The man's nickname was the Gentle Giant, and he perfectly embodied its meaning, always playing the peacemaker amongst the various members of his clan, likewise being the first to offer a helping hand to anyone in need.

Aidan had made it a point to personally thank Tyler for what he'd done back at the cottage, but the big man had merely brushed it off, saying, "Unnecessary fighting benefits no one, right?" Aidan was glad at least someone other than him thought that way too.

Gavin brought another tall stack of freshly made pancakes to the table for his brother. 'No strawberries or whipped cream. Damn, Gavin! I now know where I stand in your priorities list!', Aidan thought with sly humour.

"This reminds me of old times," he remarked, earning a chuckle from Gavin. When they were younger, his brother always made the best weekend breakfasts. It was his way of getting the younger boy out of bed early. But as he grew older, Aidan realised that the incredible breakfasts always preceded being assigned mundane chores around the house.

Gavin joined Aidan at the table, opting for chocolate sauce over maple syrup for his topping. While munching, he asked his younger brother, "Have you packed?"

"Yeah, it's not like I have much to pack to begin with."

Gavin nodded before looking at Hailey. She rolled her eyes and answered before he could ask, "Yeah, yeah, I've packed my ridiculously small number of belongings already. How long did you think it'd take to throw my toothbrush into a bag?"