Partner In Crime, Aaron Warner

09. Control

Partner In Crime
Control (Chpt. 9)
———

It had been several days since the incident with Warner, and several more since the one with Kenji. Both of them had healed well, yet guilt still pooled in the brunette's gut. Each day Vivian was walked to a meal beside Kenji, she was reminded of the day she had hurt him.

Though the boy hid it well, she could still see the fear in his eyes and the worry in his voice with each word. If the brunette raised her voice in the slightest, Kenji would cower. And it hurt her to know she was the reason he was so afraid.

The bright smile he had on his face when they met was gone and replaced with a solemn expression. He couldn't even look her in the eyes. He swore up and down he was fine- that she didn't bother him, but the way his voice shook with the lie gave it away.

But with Warner, it was never that way. He still treated her the same, his smug smirk always on his face. His green eyes still had a wisdom to it that showed he'd seen things he'd rather forget, but that wasn't from her. They'd been like that since they met. She can only imagine how long they'd been like that before hand.

And his voice wasn't laced with worry as he spoke. It was still warm and smooth with every word, if anything getting more seductive since their last interaction.

But it wasn't Warner beside her as she made her way down the hall. Instead, it was the scared boy that kept a several feet gap between them. It was Kenji who sent her nervous glances with each step.

Vivian yearned to say something and break the tension, yet the words refused to make it past her tongue. She knew hearing even the slightest word come out of her mouth would cause the boy to tense, and she just wanted him to be at ease around her.

Or at least as much as he could.

As the two walked forward in silence, they took unusual turns. Rather than going the direction of the large dining wall they'd been going to for ages now, they took the turns to take her down to the two glass doors leading outside.

They reached the bottom floor, light flooding into the large hall as the two doors came into view.  "Where are we going?" Vivian finally asks, breaking the silence but worsening the tension.

She watches out if the corner of her eye as Kenji lets out a soft sigh, squeezing his eyes shut and biting his lip. He stayed quiet for just a moment then finally spoke. "For a walk." He says, his voice uneasy. Vivian decides to take what she can get. "Warner says it's what I need. That we need to talk."

"Yeah, 'cause that's going so well." Vivian remarks, annoyance growing in her tone. Kenji looks at her with a weary tone, as if waiting for her to snap. She sighs, her shoulders slumping.

"Kenji I- I'm sorry about-"

"Don't." He says. He stops in his tracks, turning to face the girl as she slows. "I'm fine."

"Kenji, no you're not." She says, trying not to raise her voice too much and worsen the fear in the boy. "And you have every right not to be. I see you flinch and I hear your voice shake. I'm not an idiot- you're scared of me." She sighs, dropping her gaze. "And I'm scared of myself too."

Kenji's lips part as he lets out an inaudible gasp. He's suddenly washed over with a feeling of guilt. It pools in his gut as she offers him a soft smile. But he can't bring himself to return it. Not yet.

So instead, the boy picked their walk back up and relied on the girl to follow on her own. However, as they continued forward, she's stopped as a hand is placed roughly against her shoulder.

She jumps, but spins around to see who it had been. She furrows her brows when the eyes looking back at her are unfamiliar.

"Who are you?" She asks, glancing nervously to Kenji.