Some rambling thoughts on their relationships:
- Aaron is clearly a dipshit who has fucked up 2 marriages, getting his first one pregnant during the divorce and spiraling the second one to a point where his ex ended up arrested. He should not be respected and admits repeatedly he is a piece of shit.
- I would say this gives me hope he could improve, but admitting you have a problem is only the first step and from what I'm gathering, he's been on that first step for a decade+.
- While he absolutely embellished his stories, I am inclined to believe a lot of what he said, including Kayla's and his love for each other. All of it tracks with my personal experience of junkies, none of what he said sounded that outlandish to me.
- Kayla clearly is the type who finds guys she can fix. If we believe Aaron's stories around Kayla's breakdowns about Nick's drinking problems, she terminally wants to fix Nick. Probably has been this way since the beginning.
- So in comes Aaron, another broken man, but one who can at least admit he is broken. Is he fixable? (X), but the illusion of that possibility is compelling enough for me to believe that there could be some truth to her side of the love.
- Aaron is a scumbag who acts in his best interest, and only his best interest. If he tried to convince Kayla to get sober, it was so he could get her away from nick and get more pusspuss and not out of any true concern.
- For the same reason Kayla appreciates Aaron's candor around things being fucked up, April appreciates Nick's manic refusal of admitting he has a problem. Nick, in his mind and to the drugged minds of his friends, is totally in control, aware of everything, and never slipping. I could see April finding this attractive after being attached to a scumbag who's conscious enough to know he's scum.
So while I definitely don't buy Aaron's story that he's the hero here (he willingly brought his kids to a drug den and invited druggies into his home, he gets the wall too), I can rationalize that there might be some truth to their love dynamic. He's an unfixable retard who has the self-awareness that would seduce a fixer like Kayla into his life. Nick is rampaging lunatic who can't conceive a flawed version of himself, perfect for April who's ex-husband is weak.
However, Nick want's his cake, the ability to eat it too, and your slice as well so he was never going to be satisfied with this arrangement. People think the story of him peeking at Aaron is cuck shit, I am more inclined to think he was testing/watching him while seething about it. He wanted to know what happened so he could use any dirt from that encounter against him later, either to his face or in an argument with Kayla.
Aaron is definitely downplaying Kayla's part in many of these stories because he still thinks he has a chance. But a fixer, especially one in an abusive relationship, will only rarely leave their project and I bet her and Nick will stay together till the bitter end. Aaron will continue to be a reprehensible faggot until he finds God.
The most painful realization I had from Aaron's rants last night was that the kids are all tablet obsessed. Tell me, if your parents were arrested and you knew he was some sort of public figure, wouldn't you google it? There's a non-zero chance those kids have seen the reactions to this and possibly even this thread. It's almost a blessing they were home schooled as I don't know how you could show up to class with this ordeal hanging over you head. Aaron is also completely underestimating how much kids can understand things, they could absolutely piece together that their parents were swingers and drugged up. Hurts to think about, I hope they are getting rightfully spoiled by their grandparents right now.
My hot prediction: we see an April x Ralph love arc in the future. If Nick is her type, wait till she starts partying with the Ralphamale.