Chapter 2
"Aidan!" Ron said sharply to his young son. "You need to go to your room right now! I need you out of my sight!...Go!...Now!"
Aidan runs up the stairs to his room and flops himself on the bed. He had never seen his dad so angry before. He knew he was really in trouble. A moment later he is thinking about his actions today. "How did I get this so wrong? I was certain that Connor had hit me on purpose and was just using the excuse that 'it was just an accident' to get away with it. He didn't hit me, I ran into his fist and then I…" Now Aidan felt a pain in his stomach. "I have never hit Connor before. Sure we would play wrestle and stuff, and sometimes it would get a little out of hand, but nothing like this." He thought to himself.
After sending the older twin to his room, Ron came over to check on Connor. Connor got up to meet his father and melted into his arms. Ron hugged him back, but not too hard because he didn't want to hurt him. He kissed him on top of his head and told him that he loved him. The room was silent until Logan joined his younger brother and father in a group hug. Actually, Logan just put one arm around his dad and the other around Connor. He then rested his head on top of Connor's and told him that the video proved that he did nothing wrong.
Logan said, "Aidan moved his head the wrong direction and hit your fist with his head. Then he blamed it on you. I know you felt bad for hitting him, but you don't need to because it was all on him."
Connor eases up on the hug so he could look into Logan's eyes. "No Logan, I do feel bad for causing Aidan pain whether it was my fault or his. I have never hurt Aidan like this in my life. It was the worse pain I have ever felt. The pain from getting socked in the gut is already starting to go away, but the pain in my heart is the worst. I don't think you get it, Logan. Aidan is more than my brother, he is my twin. My identical twin. He is part of me and I am part of him. We came from the same egg. I know we are separate individuals and have our own personalities, but I am one half of Aidan and Connor. I love him more than anything. Hating him would be like hating myself."
Barbara speaks up. "I think I know what you are saying Connor. None of you will ever fully understand what it is to be a mother. Every one of you kids are a part of me. I carried you all in my body for nine months. You ate when I ate. You breathed when I breathed. We shared everything. Then I cared for you, along with your father, ever since then. We love you with all our hearts. We may not be happy with Aidan right now, but our love for him is unchanged.
Logan puts his arm around Connor and guides him back to the couch. "So what I don't understand, is if what you say is true, how could Aidan punch you like that? Wouldn't it be devastating to him?"
"It is." Connor says. "Now that he is alone with his thoughts, it is going to hit him like a ton of bricks. When he hit me, I couldn't believe that he could ever do this to me his own brother and twin. It hurts terribly in my heart. I know him better than anyone and I know these actions are not really him. He has been going through something recently and I don't know what it is. I just hope that he has gotten it out of his system."
In his bedroom, Aidan is reviewing his recent behavior. "Having a twin has many perks like you always have someone to talk to or play with. You can have him try on an outfit and you can see how it looks on you and stuff. But it can also have some drawbacks. People are always comparing us. Who is taller? Who is smarter? Who is more thoughtful? Who is better at math or science. It's like I am always being compared to Connor. I hate it when people say, 'Which one are you?' I think my family tries not to do that to us, but many times they do and I get the short end of the stick. Logan is always putting his arm around Connor and only does it to me if there is a camera on. Once the camera is off, so is his arm. Even Dad said that Connor gives him more hugs and tells him that he loves him more than any of the other kids. When he says 'kids', I know he is mostly talking about me."
A tear drops from one of his eyes, he wipes it off with his hand and then looks at it. He is feeling sorry for himself. He wants to talk to Aidan about it because he always has talked with him anytime he had a problem. Now who can he turn to? Connor probably hates him right now, Logan is angry with him and his parents are disappointed in him. That only leaves Sam and she isn't there much unless they are doing a video or something. She has always been easy to talk to, so he decides to give her a call.
"Hey Aidan! So what's going on, little brother?" Sam says as she answers the phone.
"Hi, uh… um..ah, I just needed someone to talk to. Everyone hates me right now and I don't know what to do?" Aidan says with a shaky voice to his only sister.
"Actually," Sam says, "I'm already on my way over to the house right now. I'll be there in about 5 minutes and I will come in and go straight to you so we can talk. Okay?"
"Thank you, Sam. I'll be waiting for you in my room." Aidan then hangs up his phone.
A few moments later, Sam is knocking on his door. "It's me, Aidan." She said." I'm coming in." She opens the door and Aidan runs to her with open arms. She accepts him into her arms and just holds him. Aidan gives in to his emotions and just lets loose. Several tears fall and is getting Sam's shirt wet. She doesn't care and just holds him a little snugger and kisses his head.
When Aidan regains his composure, he looks up and says, "Thanks for coming, Sam. I feel better now that you are here. I just hope you won't hate me too when you hear what I've done." He then sits on the side of his bed and looks at the floor.
Sam is perplexed but is determined to get to the bottom of this. She sits next to him and guides his face so that he is looking at her. "Listen to me, Aidan, and listen good. I will never, ever hate you. No matter what you think that is so horrible you have done, I can guarantee you that neither I, nor any member of this family hates you. You hear me? Nobody! Ever!"
"But...but Sam? You don't even know…"
She cuts him off. "I don't need to know Aidan. I don't need to know what you have done to assure you that Nobody hates you. I'll go one further. Mom, Dad and Abuela love you. Logan and I love you and Connor definitely loves you. Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me what this is about."
Aidan tells his sister how he has been feeling about being compared to Connor. It seamed that his little brother was getting more attention and praise or whatever then he was and this hurt his feelings. He then went on telling her about the events of the day.
"I guess it all started today when Connor and I were playing a video game. The first game, he kicked my butt and rubbed it in. I wanted to get him back the next game. I was winning that game and half way through, Logan called for us to do the skit. With Connor losing, he said, 'We gotta go' and shut off the game and went down stairs. I'm sure that if he were winning, he would have told Logan that we'd be there in five minutes. Connor gets greeted with a hug while I get yelled at for taking a minute. Anyway Logan messes up my hair which made me even madder. He knows I don't like people to mess up my hair. I thought I would give him a piece of his own medicine and I messed up his hair with both hands. He didn't like it and put me in a headlock and wouldn't let me go. I know that Connor got a good laugh at my expense. Logan used to be so cool, and now, sometimes he can be a real jerk."
"So, things just escalated?" Sam said. "I have a feeling that things didn't stop there. What happened next?"
"We started practicing the skit for the video. As you know it was about me and Connor going 'Mortal Combat' on each other to see who was the tough twin. Probably not the best choice when you are annoyed with your brother. Anyway, our perfectionist brother the director, wanted it to look more real and had us hit closer together. Aidan got a little too close and punched me in the face. Right here!" Pointing to the puffy spot on his chin.
"Wow!" Sam said as she inspected his chin. "That must have hurt."
"It did!" Aidan said as he feels his chin. "It hurt like hell and really ticked my off too. I even thought that Connor had done this on purpose pretending that it was an accident. I lost it, and I punched him in the gut. I felt justified in my actions, but then Logan got all up in my face. He started yelling and cussing at me and looked like he wanted to punch me. I put up my fist to defend myself and that is when Mom and Dad came in. Conner really acted it all up too. He even acted like I had hit him harder than I did. Everyone was more worried about him and didn't care that I got punched in the face."
"Aidan, you and Connor have been so close for the last 15 years." Samantha said. "I never thought either of you would ever try to hurt the other. I'm in shock. You two love each other so much that I never thought this was possible. Are you sure that it wasn't an accident?"
Aidan is looking at the floor shaking his head a little. "I thought for sure that he did it on purpose. Me, his own brother. Then I saw the video. I had to watch it twice because it wasn't what I remembered. I jerked the wrong way and my face collided with Connor's fist. It was my fault! I'm the one that messed up and then I punished Connor. I punched my own brother my twin and my best friend. I hit him a lot harder out of the heat of the moment than I thought. Sam? I really hurt him."
Tears start flowing down Aidan's cheek and he covers his face with his hands. "I'm so sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry. Do you hate me like everyone else does now too?"
Sam wasn't pleased of Aidan's actions, but understood that things escalated and got out of control really fast. Her brother was sobbing and showed true remorse. She didn't like him suffering like this, especially if he thinks that everyone hates him. She puts her arm around her little brother and pulls him in close.
"I could never hate you, little brother." Sam kisses the top of his head. "Never! No matter what. You both have brought so much love and joy into our home that I know we will get over this. No one in this house gets to hate anyone, ever. This is no exception. Family first. Family forever."
Aidan looks up and meets his sister's eyes. "I hope you are right. I don't know how I'm going to face them. How am I going to face Connor? I blamed him for something I did and I… I….. I feel so ashamed. I don't know what to do. What can I do Sam?"
Sam lets him go and turns so she can talk to him face to face. "First things first. You say that you don't want to be compared to Connor and then you get upset when people treat you differently. You have to decide if you want to be Aidan Sharpe that has a twin brother or you are one half of Aidan/Connor. If you are an individual, then you can have your own friends and your own relationships with, Me, Logan or Mom and Dad. I think I am closer to you than Connor and Logan is closer to Connor than you. It doesn't mean that we love you any differently, it's just that you two are different. If you want a more loving relationship with Logan, Mom or Dad, that be more loving to them. They won't turn you away any more than I would. Another thing, Aidan. You are the luckiest person I know. You have two brothers and I am the only girl. I don't have a sister and my best friend lives in another state. Your best friend sleeps next to you every night. You are never alone. You don't know what it is like to have a bad dream and wake up all alone and scared. Just think about that."
Sam stands up. "Now about the other thing, let me go talk to everybody first and then you can come out and apologize. What you did was wrong and there will be consequences. I love you little brother and I am glad you could come to me so we could talk this out. But understand, I am not happy with your actions today. It is probably the worst thing you have ever done in your life, and I expect that this will never happen again, right?"
Aidan sniffed and a tear fell. It hurt that he had disappointed his sister. Sam said what had to be said and saw how it hit him. She again took him into her arms and told him that she would always love him and even though things looked dim now, it would get better. Sam told Aidan that she would be going downstairs now to talk to the family and for him to come down in about 10 minutes.
Sam met the rest of the family in the kitchen. "So I just had a talk with Aidan. He actually reached out to me and I was already on my way over. First thing I want to say is that he feels remorse for his actions today. He is really sorry, but there is more behind his behavior that I want to address."
"I could tell that he was going through some stuff." Barbara said. "He's not as easy to talk to as Connor is."
"That's just it, Mom. Aidan feels that everyone is comparing him to Connor. He is fifteen and teenagers want to be individuals. I do it too. It's always 'The Twins' or 'Aidan and Connor.' I'm sure Logan felt the same way when everyone would ask him, 'Why can't you be more like your sister Sam?' 'Don't you wish you had perfect pitch like you sister?' 'I bet you wish you were as smart as Sam?'"
"Hey! Wait a minute." Logan said, "Who said you were smarter than me?"
"Ask anybody." Sam said. "Ha ha. Just kidding. But you see my point, right? Furthermore, the skit we did, 'Who is the tougher twin' didn't make it easier on him. How many people ask, 'Who is the taller twin?' Or 'Who is stronger, who is smarter, who is sweeter?' I don't know if you feel the same way, Connor, but it does bother Aidan. Everything seams like a competition to him and he feels he is losing."
Ron speaks. "Well, he shouldn't feel this way. I think that we have really tried to be fair with everyone of you kids."
Sam cuts right back in. '"Out of all my kids, Connor gives me the most hugs.' Do you remember saying that Dad?"
"Well it's true Sam," says Ron. "It's not like I love Connor more than any of you. I wish all of you gave me more hugs. He tells me he loves me more than anyone else does. That's just Connor and I hope he never changes."
"I know Dad." Sam says. "Aidan sees it differently. Things like that makes Aidan feel like you're disappointed in him or that he has to act like Connor to get any praise. We just need to be sensitive to his feelings right now."
At this time, Aidan comes out of his room and stops at the top of the stairs. He can hear what his family is saying about him.
"I'm confused." Logan says. "Are you saying that he wants to be treated the same way as Connor does, yet he doesn't like to be compared to him and is his own individual self? It doesn't make sense."
Sam says, "That's the mind of a teenager. It doesn't need to make sense."
"Hey now!" Connor says. "I also have the mind of a teenager and I can relate to this. Aidan can sing higher than I do, he dances better than I do and you all know he is better at sports than I am. Every time we play a sport, you guys will pick him over me. Every time! I am always on the losing team because of it. You know that every time I get the ball, I'm going to mess it up. Every time! How do you think that makes me feel?"
Connor's voice quivers and Logan quickly puts his arm around him. "I had no idea." Logan says as he kisses the top of Connor's head and holds him tighter. Ron, Barbara and Sam all felt bad that they didn't realize this.
Aidan hears this and feels empathy for his twin. He never realized that maybe Connor might be going through things like this too. He felt a pain in his chest that went down to his tummy. At that moment, he wished he was the one comforting Connor.
Barbara says to her children, "We never really know what other's might be going through. But I want you three and Aidan too to know that I love each and every one of you with all my heart. You've all been a true joy to me personally."
"That's right." Ron says. "Your mother and I hoped that at least a couple of you would have a love for music. Having all of you together with us doing what we do, is more than we could have imagined. I get to spend everyday with my kids. We are 'The Sharpe Family Singers' but don't let us forget that we are also Mom, Dad, Sam, Logan, Aidan and Connor. All individuals with our own fears and desires. But what Aidan did cannot be justified no matter what he was thinking. This has to be delt….."
Aidan goes to the bottom of the stairs so he can hear better. When he gets to the last step, it makes a slight creek. He freezes in place hoping that no one heard this. Just then, Connor had heard the creek and knew Aidan was there.