The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 33

"My dad was a professor. He taught Shakespeare and poetry," I said, thinking of my father's kind dark eyes that always seemed to twinkle with delight when he quoted his favorite poem to my mother. William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116.

I closed my eyes, quoting the words along with my father, remembering how he would look directly at my mother and say them to her, a promise to love her forever. A promise he had taken and put into his wedding vows.

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove—"

Aiden joined me, quoting the sonnet from memory, his words in sync with mine.

"O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd."

We stared at each other for a beat, the silence deafening in the quiet darkness. Aiden looked away first, staring up at the painted ceiling, his eyes distant as he swallowed. "One of the best poems Shakespeare ever wrote."

I looked down at the ground and smiled to myself as I thought of my parents. "It was my father's favorite. He met my mom when he walked into his local library and saw her behind the counter. He went back every day for two months, checking out every type of book imaginable until he gained the courage to ask her out."

"How'd they die?"

I sighed, the memory crashing into the tapestry of happy memories I had woven in my mind moments before and sending the shards flying into the darkness. My words felt too loud in the museum. "A car crash."

I traced a pattern with my boot. "It was instant. They were a block away from home when a guy pulled out of a parking lot, T-boning their car... when my school bus went by the police cars... I had no idea it was them."

I wrapped my arms around myself, "Why are you asking me all these questions?"

Aiden shoved his hands into his dark jean pockets. "I'm not your bodyguard anymore." The words sounded heavy. Final. Full of purpose and promise. A strange energy woven into the sentence. A meaning I couldn't quite grasp.

I raised a brow. "So?"

"So..." he continued. "You mentioned that you didn't like how little I talk to you. And since this is supposed to be a date... I thought I would work on that."

I tried to ignore the happy cheering butterflies that threatened to overtake my body and make me beam. I refused to let them control me even though his words made it very tempting to do so. "If you actually want to work on that, then shouldn't you be the one doing the talking?" I laughed. "You've listened to me talk for the last half hour."

"Okay," Aiden said, his eyes serious, taking on a dark air of mystery and determination. "Ask me anything Laliana Summers."

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Thank you for reading chapter thirty-three! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes! Add this story to know when the next chapter drops!

UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!

So Laliana now gets to ask Aiden anything she wants! What will she ask him? What SHOULD she ask him? (Maybe one of your questions will make it into the next chapter!) ASK HERE-->

Something is different with Aiden? What is up with him? 

Will Laliana listen to Sanders and kiss Aiden?

If she does, how will it go?

Did Aiden actually forget their kiss, or is he just pretending?

CHAPTER QUESTION - If you had to tell someone you loved them, where would be the perfect place to do it?