Page 26 of We May Be Fractured

Just Another Day on the Calendar

[Now playing ? Deep End—Ruelle]

A aron’s birthdays had never been a big deal. Just another day on the calendar.

His parents didn’t see the point in celebrating—no parties, no gifts, not even a slice of cake or candles to blow out. The only exception was the secret blueberry muffin from the supermarket he and Tori would sneakily share, their own little birthday tradition.

But when he moved in with Aunt Olivia three years ago, it all changed.

“ Birthdays are for celebrating, Aarie .” she’d say every year, making sure he woke up to the smell of her special pancakes and a carrot cake in the oven. A gift always waited for him too.

“ I don’t care about birthdays ,” Aaron would tell her. But on a mission to make every birthday count, Aunt Olivia wouldn’t have any of that.

Then came Cliff, who added another layer to the celebrations. Suddenly, they were about loud music, belly laughs, and maybe too much to drink. Aaron’s eighteenth had been a blast, the first time he bought his own booze.

But this year, Aaron stepped back into the background.

Entering the kitchen, he found no special breakfast, no carrot cake, no muffins, no Cliff. His nineteenth birthday was like any other regular day—uncelebrated by anyone, including himself.

*

T hat Thursday at RPM felt heavier than usual, not because of a rush of customers—few and far between—but because of his own restless, sleep-deprived mind. The weather didn’t help either, raining non-stop since morning.

Aaron skipped the usual lunch with Landon and Fell. Instead, he made a quick dash to the supermarket, grabbed a sandwich, a blueberry muffin, and spent the rest of his break holed up in the shop, zoning out to Netflix.

Fell must have sensed something was off because he blasted “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes in the afternoon, trying to cheer Aaron up. It worked, sort of, but the lift in spirits was short-lived.

As the shift ended, Aaron rubbed his eyes, still feeling the sting of sleeplessness. He considered asking Fell and Landon out for drinks, but Ria showed up, Landon tagging along behind her. It struck him then. It wasn’t just any day—it was Thursday.

“Where are you two off to?” Fell asked, leaning against a shelf.

“I’m dragging Landon to a veggie burger place,” Ria replied.

Fell made a face. “Vegetarian and burger shouldn’t be in the same sentence.”

Ria laughed and dived into one of her classic debates with Fell, who wasn’t one to back down easily. After their back and forth ended without any clear winner, Ria waved a quick goodbye and turned to leave.

Landon, about to follow her, paused abruptly on the threshold. Following his gaze, Aaron noticed the same dishevelled guy from a few days before standing on the pavement across the street.

“Is he also invited to your date?” Fell joked.

Landon gave a grunted sigh. Ignoring Ian, who had moved towards him, he hurried out of the shop with Ria.

Aaron watched them leave, then focused back on Ian, now fading into the crowd. Something about the guy gave him the creeps. “What’s his deal with Landon, you reckon?”

“Who knows?” Fell said, packing up, ready to leave as well. “Must be desperate for cash.”

Aaron seized the moment. “Hey, fancy a drink at the pub?”

“Tempting, but I’ve got a date tonight.”

“Oh, good luck,” Aaron replied, trying to mask his disappointment. “Catch you tomorrow then.”

He walked for a while around the area, ending up at Camden Lock.

He sat by the canal and scrolled through his phone, realising he didn’t have any friends to call; the only one he got hated his guts.

On a whim, he texted Nyle, who was often free on Thursdays after the shift at the museum.

It didn’t take long for him to send a positive reply.

*

“…A nd then he left with his girlfriend.” Nyle sighed, nursing his second beer. Throughout the evening, he’d fixated on his unrequited crush on a straight colleague. “I don’t understand why I always fall for the wrong guys.”

“Maybe you’re unknowingly sabotaging yourself.”

“You’re starting to sound like a therapist.”

Aaron grimaced. He never liked the therapy sessions Aunt Olivia convinced him to have after the accident. He’d found them useless.

Despite Nyle’s romantic troubles, time flew by. Before Aaron knew it, his birthday was close to ending, almost forgotten once again.

His phone suddenly buzzed on the wooden table, startling them both.

He’d been anticipating a call or message from Aunt Olivia that morning, but it hadn’t arrived. Aaron figured she must have miscalculated the time difference again, thinking it was now morning in Australia.

As the unanswered call ended, a text message popped up on his screen, clearly visible to Nyle—a big ‘Happy Birthday’ message, filled with celebratory emojis.

Nyle stared at him, surprised. “Honey, it’s your birthday, and you didn’t think to mention it? I could’ve baked you a cake or thrown you a party!”

Aaron shook his head. “Nah, I don’t celebrate.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Just another year in this fucked up world. There’s absolutely nothing worth marking.”

“Maybe you feel that way because you’ve never done it with the right people. Let me throw you a nice party this weekend. Fell can bring beers, Ria and Landon can make cocktails, and—”

“Nyle, please, don’t.” Aaron’s response was sharper than he intended, but it did the trick.

“All right, all right,” Nyle conceded, raising his hands in surrender. “But I’m getting you another beer, birthday boy!”

*

T he few beers soon turned into five.

Neither Aaron nor Nyle were heavy drinkers, and by the third beer, Nyle’s words started to blur into a tipsy ramble.

Getting home turned into its own adventure. They somehow managed to catch the right Tube line but in the wrong direction. It took Aaron five stops to realise it.

They scrambled off, only to find they’d missed the last train back.

“Let’s get a cab,” Nyle suggested, surprisingly lucid. Luckily, they didn’t have to shiver in the cold too long before their car pulled up.

During the ride, Nyle shared the trip status with Landon and launched into a loud rumble about potentially dangerous rides. That earned them amused smiles from their driver, who happily chatted away with Nyle.

Aaron, though, stayed quiet the whole time, watching the city lights blur past the window.

When they finally arrived home, Aaron only wanted to crash in his bed and forget about the day. But he pushed the door open to Landon, waiting in the shadows of the corridor, arms crossed, with an expression Aaron couldn’t quite read.

Landon zeroed in on Nyle. “Are you drunk?”

“No, no,” Nyle slurred. “I know my limits.”

“Knowing them and respecting them are two different things.”

“I’m totally fine,” Nyle insisted, though his rushed trip to the bathroom suggested otherwise.

Turning his attention to Aaron, Landon’s eyes flashed with irritation. “Why’d you let him drink so much?”

Feeling somewhat foggy himself, Aaron retorted, “Let him? Nyle’s a grown-up. He makes his own choices.”

“But making sensible choices isn’t easy when you’re not in your right mind.”

“In fact, he decided to get drunk when he was still sober.”

“I’m talking about the consequences.”

“So, what? You never drink because you’re afraid of losing control?”

Landon grumbled, “Minus two.”

Despite the haze of alcohol, Aaron remembered that odd countdown. “Why so tense? This is stupid.”

“And I can’t stand stupidity. The last time Nyle got wasted, we ended up doing community service.”

“I heard that was on you.”

Landon’s eyes widened. “Nyle told you that?”

Just then, Nyle reemerged. “Relax, Lanny. We were just having a few drinks for Aaron’s birthday.”

“Birthday?” Landon looked even more confused.

“Yeah, shocking, isn’t it? He didn’t tell anyone. Says it’s just another year down the drain.”

“He’s not wrong.”

Nyle made a face. “You guys are such downers. No wonder you’re friends.”

“We’re not friends,” Landon stated bluntly, causing an odd twinge in Aaron’s stomach. He chalked it up to the alcohol.

“Good night,” Landon bid them, heading up the stairs.

“Hey, Lanny, wait. Help me to my room. I can’t stand.”

Landon paused, scrutinising Nyle’s hunched form at the base of the stairs. “That sounds like a you problem.”

“Oh, come on, don’t meme me.”

“Get Aaron to help you,” Landon said, his tone as flat as his gaze.

Landon disappeared upstairs, the only sound the creak of his steps.

“All right, let’s get you up there,” Aaron offered, wrapping an arm around Nyle’s waist for support. They made their way, with Nyle stumbling and Aaron trying to keep them both steady. At Nyle’s door, Aaron finally released his grip.

“You can make it to your bed from here, right?”

But before Aaron could turn to leave, Nyle grabbed his arm, pulling him into the room. Aaron, caught off-guard, bumped into the door frame. Nyle was right there, too close, pinning him against the wood.

“Whoa, what’s happening here?” Aaron asked.

“Shh.” Nyle pressed a finger to his lips. “Your lips…they’re so soft… But wait, I gotta tell you something.”

Feeling trapped and uncomfortable, Aaron attempted to create some space. “Nyle, maybe we should talk about this tomorrow, yeah?”

Nyle paused, then took a step back, giving Aaron some breathing room. “No, it has to be now. I might not have the guts later.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just…promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“Nyle, you’re freaking me out. What’s going on?”

Nyle took a deep breath. “It’s about Landon.”

“What about him?”

“Well, the whole community service thing… It wasn’t Landon’s fault. He got dragged into it because of me.”

Aaron leaned against the door frame, trying to make sense of this new piece of information.

“Landon, he…he took the fall for something stupid I did when I was plastered. He wanted to keep me out of trouble. With his jail record and all, I didn’t want to make it worse for him, but I did. So, end of the story, we both got community service.”

Aaron began to understand, piecing together Landon’s earlier mood. “Okay, but what did you do?”

Nyle grimaced. “Smashed my ex’s car windows, then egged his house.”

It was hard not to burst out laughing. “And they sentenced you for that?”

“Yeah, vandalism,” Nyle said with a half-hearted shrug. “Landon tried to cover for me, but it didn’t work out. So now, a few more months of community service for both of us.”

Aaron groaned, massaging his forehead. His headache, which had been nagging at him for a while, now felt like it was splitting his head in two. The only silver lining was that he probably wouldn’t struggle to fall asleep. “Right, I’m off to bed. Goodnight.”

“Hold up. Crash here tonight?” Nyle suggested.

Aaron scanned the room, which held only one bed. “You mean, like, sleeping together?”

“Yeah, just to sleep, you know? Not like sleep sleep.”

The idea only made his headache worse. Sharing a bed, even just for sleep, was a step too far for him. “Sorry, Nyle, I can’t do that.”

“Just a sleepover, nothing more. Ever had one?”

Aaron grabbed the door handle. “No, and I’m not about to start. Goodnight, Nyle.”

Halfway up the stairs, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He braced himself for another message or call from Aunt Olivia, but to his surprise, it was Tom.

Just had a word with the folks at the wildlife park. They’ve agreed to wait for you through the winter season. Happy birthday, little man!