Learning to live and love (For MR AZ)
 

Daniel nodded his head to the sounds of the radio, in tune to the soothing beats of blues. He was on his way to pick up his twelve year old niece from school, and often changed the radio to whatever station he thought appealed to young girls of her age-group. Embarrassingly so, Daniel had not the slightest idea what little girls liked..but he cared for his niece. His friends often asked the twenty-six year old if he knew what he was getting into, and truthfully, he didn't.

But after seeing the sadness in her young eyes time and time again, the neglect and loneliness her selfish parents (including his arrogant brother) had instilled in her..

Daniel had to take her in. His own home had become quite empty after the passing of his fiance, and the two would often hope for children. In his eyes, he was keeping a promise to her; by taking care of a child that needed as much love as he did.

Yet, he knew it wouldn't be easy, and these few days weren't exactly filled with joy. But the young writer would be damned to not try. After waiting in traffic for a few minutes, the brown haired male finally reached the school parking lot, waiting for his niece to come outside. Humming a tune to himself, he checked his face curiously in the mirror, adjusting his thin frames against his slender face. He looked rather young for his age, lanky yet strong in both will and power after years of working in landscaping to make a few extra bucks on the side.

His niece was a tomboy, he knew that much. And Danny wasn't into sports..not as much as he was into literature or comfy clothing from H&M. Still, he'd try to be into what she liked, just so they could come to an understanding. Hell, he was certainly trying hard! Maybe he should get her something to eat after school?

"Oh damn..I should've gotten her something before I arrived.." Inwardly sighing at his own indecisiveness, Daniel's grey eyes looked inquisitively towards the group of kids beginning to walk out. He half hoped his niece walked out with a friend.

Aidan was a 12 years old little tomboy, she had shortish brunnete-reddish hair and amber eyes, it was not really needed to say that she wasn't like all the other girls, specially the ones she had grown up near, with her parents.

Her father was a high businessman and had wanted everything to be perfect, his wife was perfect, his house was perfect, his work was perfect, everything was according to his plans, except one thing; his daughter, she had not grown up as he had wanted her to nor how her mother had wanted her to, they both wanted a trophy kid, a girl whom to dress in frilly dresses, who to show about and say that she was perfect in ballet, in piano and on school, who would be very popular and normal... instead they had gotten her, a tomboy kid, who liked rock and other music genders, who liked to play videogames and go on skateboard, who didn't like bikes for she had scarred her knee on one, who was not popular at all, nor a good dancer and much less a good pianist, she was not even that good at sports.

As soon as he parents had noticed that they began to ignore her completely, this was a rest, for they stopped getting her to their parties or forcing her to wear things she didn't want, or forcing her to behave like she didn't want, but it also made her life entirely more lonely, she had no friends in school, she had no one to talk to, no pets, nothing. That was until her uncle had come and taken her away.

She had been happy to feel wanted again, her uncle had proposed to get the "burden" away from her parents and they had been more than willing to pass her to him, they would give her certain money, now it seemed more like money to keep her away from them than money for her safekeeping.

But well, at least she was in a place where she was wanted this time, she still have no friends in school, she was too weird it seemed, but apart of that she was doing well, she wasn't a troublemaker... not in school at least, also her grades had gone up, not A+ but Bs, Cs and A- where there.

As the bell rang she went out, not without facing many mocking stares from the popular girl though, and some bullying from the "normal" ones too, but well, that was normal for her now, she guessed that was how things would be for the next long while, she came out alone after managing to get herself out of the girls' rank. She was about to get on her way to her uncle's home when she noticed his car parked there, she smiled slightly and went to him, it wasn't usual for her to get picked up, her parents were forever too busy to do that, so right now the gesture seemed more big than it actually was.

"Oh my God, the girl looks like such a little boy...doesn't she Court?"

A tall, thirteen year old girl glanced up from her phone as one of her friends addressed. Tucking her long, dark brown tresses behind her ear, Courtney looked at who her little popular clique were speaking about. "Ah, her." Out of all those girls she considered her friends, Courtney was hardly a fan of poking fun at others. Especially at that girl. If anything, she'd offer a kind smile when she passed Aidan, her bright blue eyes warm and filled with sympathy. The other girl was clearly lonely.

One day, she wanted to reach out to Aidan.

Daniel hummed the tune to his radio for a bit, not realizing his niece was beginning to head to the car. In fact, he hadn't noticed until she had made his way towards him. Danny was sure he saw a ghost of a smile on Aidan's face, and that warmed his heart quite a bit. Getting out of the car, Daniel opened the passenger seat for his niece, smiling jovially.

"Your chariot awaits!" He joked with a grin. "How was school? You hungry sweetie?"

Aidan tried to always ignore the bullies, girls or boys, but she usually found the girls' bullying to be more hurting, as it was usually to play with her mind, not like the boys' that was mostly to make her give them her lunch money, also, because a boy bullying her was extremely rare as she didn't mess with them.

She never noticed the other girl's smile for her head was often down when she passed near them, just hearing their mockery.

As she got closer to her uncle's car she was smiling lightly at him, said smile widened as he came out and opened the passenger's seat, she looked at him like if he was a superhero from her comics, he was, in her mind, amazing, just for doing what he did, just by not being like her parents.

"School was ok" She told him nearly quietly as they got in. "Got a B today" She told him, handing him the Chemistry test, chemistry was her worse subject. "And... yes, kind of" she muttered then, referring that she was hungry.

Ah, a genuine smile from his niece seemed to make his efforts seem perfect! Daniel waited for the girl to get in before closing the door with a gentle slam. Heading back to his side of the car, he slid inside before closing his own door. Daniel took pride in helping Aidan in any way he could, helping her live, and love...what her parents should've been doing. Instead, they regarded their own daughter as a nuisance. It made him sick how his brother became so cold, and his trophy wife was no different. If their father were still alive, may his soul rest in peace, he wouldn't stand for any of this.

Turning the radio station to something a bit more mainstream pop for Aidan, Danny turned to acknowledge her grades. Her voice could be so paper thin, but it was adorable in his eyes.

"A B!? Wow Aidan, I'm seriously proud of you!" Danny smiled, beginning to pull out of the lot. "On Chemistry no less!" Looking at the paper, he handed it back to the girl. "I wish I could help you with those subjects, but I'm not so great at them either. But look at you, proving to be a little genius. I always knew you were." Danny began to drive, rolling down the window just a little to enjoy the brisk breeze.

"This calls for a celebration. We can either grab some lunch at McDonalds or something you'd like, or I can make you the best pasta you'll ever taste back at my place! I'll also throw in some dessert. Whaddya say kiddo?"

Aidan really looked up to her uncle, he was everything her father was not and he really seemed to care for her, to like her being around. From her father she would have expected a grunt and a "it's not an A, so why are you showing it?" comment, from her mother maybe even some punishment for that B, which was partially why she had given up on that, all her efforts were just never enough, she always got punished, so why bother?

But with her uncle every effort seemed to count, so she really put herself to study, forgetting about her videogames or her skateboard when tests came, she wanted him, the only person who really seemed to care, to be proud, to see that she was grateful.

She just nodded quietly to his comment, chuckling slightly as he called her genius, she wasn't one, she knew, if she was her parents wouldn't want her away, but was grateful for his comment.

The messy haired child seemed to think about this before looking up at him.

"would pasta be ok?" She asked him, she really liked his cooking and was not picky on anything, even if she liked hamburgers, she preferred to eat what he cooked.

As he put some pop music she half grimaced.

"Could I change it?" She asked quietly, not liking pop all that much, which made her weird too, for she didn't like those "pretty" boys singing, she liked something more moved, rock, old rock or alternative, or anything else. But if her uncle liked it she would stand it, for him.

"Pasta would be A okay! Would you mind if I stopped at the store to pick up some sauce? I'll just run in there really quickly if you'd like, and you can just chill in the car. Or you can go inside with me. Super-markets can be boring, I use to hate it when my mother dragged me into one." Daniel chuckled, delighted Aidan's choice was his cooking over Mikki Ds. Honestly, he loved to cook, it was moreso a great hobby than something he saw himself doing. He was more into writing and literature after all. His late fiance was the one who taught him much about cooking.

Lost in his own thoughts, Daniel admittedly only half-heard his soft spoken little niece talk about the radio. "Oh, yes of course!" They were only just getting to know each other, and Daniel was trying to learn as much about her as possible. Learning through trial and error always seemed to work. "Change it to whatever you like Aidan! I wasn't sure what girls your age listen to..music seems to be changing with each passing generation." Danny laughed at this, driving towards the nearest supermarket.

"I...I'd rather go with you" Aiden confessed gently, her voice as quiet as always. She hated to be alone, she had been alone everyday of her life after her parents had given up on her, but she would never confess this to anyone, she didn't want to look weak, she wanted to look strong and capable.

Aidan looked at her uncle as he accepted her changing from station on the radio and she half smiled as she got to do this.

Classical... no, it was not a good one, it was way too slow. Country... not really. "Pop", more like a teen screeching, NO. Then she found it, it was Scorpions, it was in the middle of one of their guitar solos.

"It's that ok?" She asked him, she liked that kind of music but she was unsure if he did.

Daniel glanced at Aidan as she spoke, her voice so soft, it could almost be lost in the wind. He smiled faintly, realizing his mistake a little. Of course she'd probably want to come, the poor girl probably never had an opportunity to do any of these things with her own parents. Another flaw in which he cursed his brother and his wife for. Some people just shouldn't have children. Danny wasn't sure how Aidan felt, as she never conveyed any of these feelings to him..or probably anyone for that matter. He could only hope that one day she would, or that perhaps she'll find a friend to help her through it as well.

"That's fine sweetie, of course I'll enjoy your company in there too."

Daniel watched as she tinkered with the radio, only to stop at something completely..well..different than most girls her age would pink. And you know what?

"Its perfect. I love a good guitar solo."

The drive wasn't very far, and it didn't take long for the two to pull up into a parking space. "Well, you ready kiddo? Or do you wanna finish the song first?" He smiled, listening to the music curiously. "Always wish I had some sort of musical genius to me. Guitars were one of my favorite instruments next to pianos and violins."

Aidan wasn't making it sound like if he was at fault for anything, if anything she looked at him as great, she just didn't know it was that normal to go with others to do shopping and such.

She half smiled at him as he stated that he enjoyed her company, she enjoyed his more than he could guess.

Once he stated his approbation for the music she nodded and relaxed a bit, she loved that kind of music and harder one, but she wasn't sure he would like others, she half closed her eyes and just enjoyed, hearing how Scorpions kept singing "There's no one like you", in the last chorus they arrived to the supermarket and she turned the radio off, undoing her safety belt and shaking her head to his proposal, she really wanted to go and she had that song on her computer anyway.

As he spoke she listened to him. "Can you play the guitar?" She asked, maybe he was not a genius but he could play, right?

They soon were on the supermarket, and she was following him while looking around, interested on mostly everything.