All the Broken Pieces

0.9

ARIA

"Come on, babe, please? It won't be that bad, I promise." Archer said. I immediately swooned at the word 'babe'. I couldn't help it. Archer had been trying to convince me to go on a double date with him, Damien, and Joanna, but I refused.

Until now that is. He won't stop bugging me about it and he's been really sweet lately, so I agreed warily.

"Oh my God! Finally! I knew I could break you with 'babe'! Ha!" He exclaimed happily while jumping around my bedroom. My jaw dropped in shock, he did it on purpose! That little shit, I will make him pay for that.

"Fine. Whatever." I pout and cross my arms over my chest. His eyes widen and he laughs nervously.

"Don't do that. Don't get mad and pretend to pout. I know you. You aren't mad." He says matter of factly.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's just go get this over with." I say with defeat. He nods and gives me a grateful smile while holding out his hand for me to take. I stand up and he leads me out of the door of my house to the car. I hope this night doesn't end too badly.

•••••••••••••

We've only been at this posh restaurant with a name I could only hope to remember for over an hour and it's already a disaster. Joanna has been subtly making fun of me while receiving the most hateful glares from Damien. The hateful glares didn't stop Joanna from telling me the truth though.

"Aria, did you know Prince Charming over here made me promise not to bother you at school, let alone anywhere else?" She said with such venom in her eyes only I could notice. This wouldn't be such a big deal if Archer had just told me about this. She aimed her blow low and it freaking hurt like hell. Archer treated me like a fragile child and I was tired of it. I stood up and walked out of the restaurant without looking back.

I started walking in the direction of my house when I heard heavy footsteps behind me. It was Archer. I spun on my heels to face him and came face to face with his rapidly rising and falling chest. I backed up so I wasn't too close but he reached out for my arm and pulled me to him.

"I'm so sorry, Aria. I did it to protect you. I was trying to help you. I'm so sorry." He whispered while holding me tight. I wriggled out of his grip and stared at him with disbelief.

"I don't need your protection. I can take care of myself. I'm not some fragile little girl that can break from the smallest thing. I'm stronger than that. You of all people should know that." I yelled with so much sadness and anger that tears were rolling down my face. It hurt like hell to know he thought of me like a little girl who needed someone else's protection. But I didn't need protection, I needed love. I turned to walk away and heard him yelling after me.

"I'm an idiot. I should've known better. I'm so sorry. But I'll give you space if that's what you want. I'll do anything for you. Just let me get you a cab home. I just want to make sure you get home safe." He says. He sounds upset but I couldn't do anything about it. I had to stand my ground. I wasn't weak. But I nodded in agreement to him getting me a cab.

On the way home, I was no longer sad. I was fine. I'll always just be fine. Never bad, never good. Just fine.