Opposites - An Aru Shah Fanfiction

Why me? (2)

Aiden Acharya's life was, to but it simply, horrible. He was a young man that worked as some IT dude.

Needless to say, it was boring.

He would much rather do something that interested him. Maybe he could be a photographer, and he could take pictures all day with his favorite camera, Shadowfax. 

Aiden would quit his job in a second if it wasn't for his mother.

His mother was a hard-working, independent woman. Malini stood up for what she thought was right. But years ago, before Aiden was born, she made a mistake.

She ran away with Aiden's father, giving up all her family's riches and fame to live with that man.

And what did he do?

He cheated on her.

Jerk.

And so Aiden found himself doing ultimately anything to keep his mother happy. He knew that every time he wasn't home, his mother would lock herself in her room and weep.

But it was better to have her break down in private instead of in front of him, as he never would have been able to see her dealing with the pain.

__

Malini Acharya did the one thing that Aiden didn't expect her to do, not in a million years: She bought home a proposal. For a wedding.

After what happened between Malini and her husband, Aiden thought that Malini would want to protect her son from love.

Guess he was wrong, then.

Malini had decided that Aiden would get married to Aru Shah.

The weird girl who worked in the same office as him. The one who always carried around a bag of Swedish Fish for whatever reason. The girl who seemed to be slightly crazed and distracted all the time, yet somehow always managed to finish her work properly.

Heck, Aiden barely even knew her other than that. Aru always put her hair in a neat braid. Her eyes were brown, and somehow seemed to be dark and bright at the same time.

Aiden didn't want to get married. If he was being honest, love scared him. Aiden had seen what his father had done to Malini, and he didn't want that to happen to him.

Or maybe he would be the one to ruin a girl's life.

So, Aiden was talking about it with his very annoying cousin, Rudy, and his best friend, Brynne. Brynne was studying a picture of Aru that was given to Aiden, listening to him rant at the same time. Rudy, however, seemed to be sorting his rock collection, which Aiden thought was a pretty stupid hobby to have an adult. But honestly, who was he to judge?

"... And I don't even want to marry her, 'cause I barely even know her, and I can't believe my mom would even do something like this! And what if Aru does something to me? Or I end up doing something to her? What if we ruin each other's lives? I can't trust her!" Aiden paused mid-rant to see if Brynne and Rudy had anything to say.

Rudy looked up from his rock collection, Brynne put the picture of Aru back on the table. Aiden had to admit, she was pretty. And Rudy, of course, had starting drooling all over her as soon as Aiden had showed him the picture.

"You know what, Cuz? Maybe we can talk to her about this, and I can be the one to take the chick on a date instead," Rudy said with a smirk on his face.

Brynne and Aiden were, needless to say, horrified. 

"Chick?" They repeated, shocked.

"She's not a bird, you stupid reptile!" Brynne scolded. Rudy just rolled his eyes.

"I said chick, as in a girl. Not a bird. I hate birds. Anyway, maybe I could impress the chick with my infinite charm. Problem solved."

This time, Aiden rolled his eyes.

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means," Brynne muttered.

"Forget it," Aiden said, "We need a better plan."

A smirk appeared on Brynne's face.

"I have a plan."

__

Aiden neatly, but quickly, folded his clothes and put them into a bag. He still wasn't sure about the plan. As soon as Brynne had proposed it, he had thought of Malini. How would she react?

His mother would be mad. Very mad. Aiden was the only person she had left. Without him, she would be very lonely. She would struggle a lot to make money. And worst of all, how would she deal with Rudy?

Aiden laughed at the thought of Malini struggling to keep up with Rudy's antics.

Rudy had come from a rich family, and his parents had decided that he needed to spend some time away from luxuries. So he was staying over at Aiden's house for the year. Rudy didn't know how to do anything on his own. (Once, he asked Aiden what a light switch was. Apparently rich people have lights that turn on by themselves.) A/N IDK I made this up lol

Back to the point, Malini would not be happy without Aiden. And Aiden wouldn't be able to live without Malini. 

Aiden sighed.

I'll come back when the wedding is cancelled.

Because Aiden Acharya was running away.