You were leaning against the railing, arms crossed. “Don’t call me ‘trouble’ again. I’m not in the mood.”
Alaric smirked. His blue eyes flicked over your face, unreadable. “You’re always in the mood to fight with me. Don’t act new.”
You rolled your eyes and pushed off the railing, brushing past him.
Behind you, Alaric watched for a second — not amused, not angry. Just thoughtful. Then he heard footsteps behind him.
“Who’s that?”
“She’s nobody,” Alaric muttered.
“Doesn’t look like nobody.”
Alaric turned.
His mirror image stood there — brown hair tousled in identical waves, the same glacier-blue eyes, the same mouth that curled into a knowing smirk. But where Alaric was all sharp edges and silence, this one was softer.
Aiden.
“You weren’t supposed to be back until the end of the semester,” Alaric said, narrowing his eyes.
“I got bored. Studying in Berlin was fine, but…” Aiden’s gaze followed the direction you’d walked. “You didn’t tell me you had a girl like that hanging around.”
Alaric scoffed. “She’s not my girl. She’s just a pain.”
Aiden smiled. “Maybe I like trouble.”
It started subtly.
You’d bumped into him again near the library, and something was off. The same jacket. The same swagger. The same eyes. But he didn’t look at you with disdain this time.
He looked at you like he saw something new... like you weren’t a nuisance, but a secret.
“Hey,” he said. “You alright?”
You’d blinked, surprised. “Since when do you care?”
He shrugged, smile playing on his lips. “Maybe I just never looked close enough.”
You stared at him. His voice was different, lacking the quiet coldness that usually laced his words. But the eyes... they were his. So you pushed the thought aside.
The change confused you, but also… intrigued you. And whenever doubt crept in, he’d do something so perfectly Alaric — a cocky smirk, a comment about your attitude — that it silenced your instincts.
“You’re different when it’s just me,” you said once.
“Maybe you bring out something better in me,” he replied.
And you believed him.
You kissed him for the first time outside the dorms. You tasted danger and something sweeter underneath. He touched you like he meant it, like he’d been waiting a long time. And when you whispered his name — Alaric — he smiled against your lips.
But you didn’t know.
It was the kind of night that hummed with too much feeling.
You were in his room... your shirt unbuttoned, his hands skimming your skin, your breath caught in your throat.
He was everywhere.
But then...
“Alaric…” you gasped, the name slipping out like a prayer.
And everything stopped.
His hands froze.
His mouth lifted from your skin.
He pulled back slightly, his eyes darker now. “Don’t,” he growled. “Don’t call my brother’s name when I’m touching you.”
Your heart stopped.
“Your… brother?” you whispered, staring up at him.
He pulled back just slightly. The softness in his eyes didn’t match Alaric’s sharpness. The smirk on his lips was too genuine.
And in that moment, everything snapped into place.
“You’re not Alaric,” you whispered. “You’re Aiden.”
He didn’t deny it. Just looked at you, his jaw clenched.
“I didn’t plan it,” Aiden said. “But I couldn’t stop once I started. You looked at me like I was someone you hated… and somehow, that made me want you even more.”