hey it's april.  hope you like this chapter despite the suffering aiden goes through oops,,

Aiden's eyes fluttered slowly open,blinking a couple times. He sat up immediately,noting with confusion he...was wearing different clothes.

Oh no.

Oh no.

That's just wonderful. Jesse had literally changed his clothes while he was asleep. He wanted to roll over and die now,but settled for groaning and burying his practically burning face in the covers. Before he could die too much,he looked out of the window. It was morning,from what he could tell. He sat up once more,brushing a loose strand of hair out of his face.

Where was Jesse?

That thought struck his mind,as he realized Jesse was nowhere to be seen. They'd probably gone to do something,but,it still unsettled him. What if they had trapped him in here?

He shook off that thought. No,they could've killed him earlier in the snow,or just locked the chest and left him there. They could've killed him at any moment; they were clearly more powerful than he was. Maybe they just wanted to imprison him again. Another thought caused his heart to drop into his stomach; what if they wanted to execute him publicly? It would make sense- he'd heard Lukas talk about torturing and killing him,for Pete's sake.

He didn't even notice the door cracking open,until it completely opened. He quickly rose to his feet,balancing himself on the table with his hand. "J-..Jesse? Is that you?" He blinked a couple times,his vision clearing up.

That was not Jesse.

He stared,before literally diving for the floor and rolling under the bed. Lukas was there,and he was furious.

"You maniac-! Where's Jesse? D-did..you hurt them?!You did,didn't you?! I'll kill you,I swear to Notch.." Lukas growled those last words. He would've pulled out his sword,but he had left it in his room. Aiden was breathing heavily,panic quickly overtaking his train of thought. He was going to die here. Had Jesse planned this,so they didn't have to deal with him? He didn't have time to think of that,as Lukas yanked his arm,pulling him out,onto the floor. He attempted to get up,only to be punched in the jaw. Dazed,he staggered backwards.

"W-wait...plea-" He attempted to explain,only to be kicked in the back of the leg. He dropped to the floor,his head knocking the bedside table on the way down. He let out a groan of pain,tears welling back in his eyes. Not now. He reached up to wipe his eyes,only to be kicked directly in the face.

His hands dropped down again,and he weakly attempted to speak,only letting out small gasps for air. Lukas reached to the bedside table,and pulled the lamp from its spot,holding it above the brunette's head,prepared to swing. Aiden was visibly panicked,his hands frantically trying to pull it from his grasp.

"Lukas! What are you doing?!" Jesse's voice rang out,the door slamming shut.

"Jesse! Are you okay? What did this creep do to you?" Lukas kept the lamp raised,still ready to completely knock poor Aiden out,who was still laying on the floor,desperately trying to reason with him.

"Lukas,put my lamp back. He didn't do anything." Jesse demanded,their voice dangerously low. Their hand was balled up in a fist,and they approached the two,fuming.

Lukas sent a final glare at the weeping boy on the floor,before setting Jesse's lamp back down. He grunted as he got up,brushing off his arms,"Why is he here?"

"Stop trying to murder him and I'll explain." Jesse demanded,exasperated,kneeling down hurriedly by Aiden's side,setting down another bag they were carrying on the table. They slid one hand under his legs,and another on his back,lifting him up with a grunt of effort,almost dropping him on the covers when they set him on the bed. They examined his wounds closely,which consisted mostly of bruises,and a black eye. "God,what'd you do to him,Lukas?"

"...He got what he deserved." Lukas claimed.

Jesse looked at him, a disgusted look placed on their face. "Go get some ice for him. I'll explain after you help fixing what you caused." They rubbed Aiden's back in an attempt of comfort,muttering out an apology.

Aiden was breathing heavily,shaking slightly. . Jesse then decided that Lukas was acting horrible. They glanced back at Lukas,who had scoffed,but listened to them,walking out of the room.

"It'll be okay,don't worry. Lukas didn't mean it,he,uh,got in over his head. " Jesse attempted to comfort him,reaching for his shoulder. To their relief,he slowly turned to them. His face looked..well,horrible,probably because of the black eye that only seemed to be swelling more. They winced,putting a hand on his shoulder. He stared blankly at them,. They looked at him as he sat up,knees to his chest,his arms wrapped around his legs. They sighed,and weakly smiled,"It's okay,uh,don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you."

He blinked,searching for something to say,before looking down and hesitantly muttering,"..t-thanks?" It sounded like more of a question. He wasn't used to thanking people.

Jesse nodded,"No problem. But,geez,what did he do to you?"

He wiped his eyes."I'll be fin-"

"Nope.Just tell me."

Aiden sighed in defeat,"Uh,well,he punched me in the mouth,knocked me over,kicked me in the face,tried to beat me to death with a la-"

"Yeah,I can see that last part."

"I...I think something else happened,but,u-uh- I don't remember much."

"Well,you need to rest. If Lukas listened to me,we'll have some ice for that eye of yours."

"Does...does it look bad..?" He asked hesitantly,twiddling his thumbs.

They shrugged,"It could be worse. Then again,it could be a lot better."

"That's...reassuring. " He quirked a brow,a frown placed on his face.

Jesse glanced up as Lukas entered the room,yawning,holding an ice pack. "Alright,gimme." They got up and reached out for the item. Lukas tossed it to them,sitting in a chair nearby.

They caught it,handing it to the short boy,who had flopped back on his back. He pressed it to his eye,blurting out 'thanks' as quickly as he could. Jesse nodded again,unfazed by his embarrassment with thanking them.

"So- care to explain?" Lukas butted in.

"Yeah,yeah,okay." They sighed,and handed the bag they'd set on the table to Aiden,who raised a brow,looking up,and opening his mouth to ask what it was for. Before he could,they said, "It's some food. I knew you'd be hungry,so.."

He nodded eagerly,his face brightening faintly,"Yes. Definitely. Thank you."

"Okay,so,I'm gonna talk to him about it in a different room. You shout if you need any help,okay?"

Aiden faltered,before shrugging,"Will do."

Lukas sighed,walking into the large closet. Jesse shrugged at the weird choice of a room,but followed nonetheless.

"So,why is he here?" Lukas immediately asked when Jesse closed the door and turned the lights on.

"Wait a second,Lukas. Geez,you're real impatient today."

"Yeah,it's not like I saw my mortal enemy who tried to kill us. Multiple times. Still don't know why you took that jerk with you anyways."

"Give him a chance,he's younger than both of us. You can't expect someone as young as him to know what he's doing all the time."

"Nope,he's over 18,mature enough to know that."

"He barely got out of college a few years ago,Lukas. I thought you would know this." Jesse said tiredly.

"Look,just explain,or I'm going out there right now and shoving him through that portal."

"Okay,okay,so.."