You Saved Me.

20

*Aiden's POV*

I sat up in bed. Out of everyone I could be sharing a room with, it has to be Bradley.

"Hey!" He said, almost whispering it. He weakly smiled at me before walking to his bed.

I watched him as he unpacked his things. He hardly noticed I was here, which I found odd. I knew he knew I was watching him. I'm just expecting him to be all badboy on me. Once he had finished unpacking, he sat on his bed and faced me.

"The odds of being your room mate hey?" He said. It feels different looking at him; he doesn't seem like the Bradley I knew in school.

"You've changed!" I told him. I didn't really know what to say to him but that was the only thing that came to mind.

"Yeah well, a lot's changed recently." He sat there for a moment and looked to his feet.

"What's up?" I asked, not really sure if I want to know the answer.

"Erm.. When I was eleven, my mum died and I moved in with my dad, he was a cage fighter and he wanted me to pressure this career but because I was always a shy person who wasn't hench or didn't have any muscles then he pushed me. He wouldn't allow me to grieve and in the end I ended hitting out at people, that's why I ended up bullying you. I didn't mean to but I did, and I'm sorry. But you see, my dad's always been a bit of a bully too, making me do what he wanted him to do. But my dad passed away a few months, he was ill. Him dying kind of made me feel slightly safer! I thought you might wanna know! Considering we're going to be roommates, I just don't want it to be awkward!" He was holding back tears, I know because I know the look on your face when you are!

There was a silence between us for a moment. He looked up to me.

"I really am truly sorry for what I did to you in school. I just didn't' really know what I was doing if I'm honest."

*3 and a half months later*

I come back from uni today. I'm coming home a day early because all my classes had finished for Christmas.

I walked up the driveway and opened the door.

"Hello?" I shouted. There was movement in the kitchen. The door to it quickly opened, mum and dad appeared and came rushing to me.

"You're back early, did something happen?" Mum asked curiously.

I laughed at the look on her face "No mum, it's just I had no more classes so I decided to come back earlier!"

I walked in the living room with dad while mum dad us all tea. When she came in with them she asked how it went.

"Erm, yeah it was pretty good actually!" I replied. I can't deny that it wasn't. I never thought I'd say that after sharing a room with Bradley for that long.

"How did you settle in with your room mate? What's he like?" dad asked.

I didn't want to tell them who it was because I know how they would react. I looked down "My roommate is Bradley!"

There was a silence for a moment; I didn't really know what was going to happen next.

"Bradley? As in the one from school?" Dad asked, I nodded.

"And you stayed there with him? After what he did to you? Aiden, he destroyed your life. He put you through hell and you stayed with him!" Mum said getting pretty angry.

"But mum.."

"No Aiden, don't 'but mum' me. I don't want you going back to university. I don't want you being anywhere near him."

"Mum, you don't understand thoug-"

"Aiden, I don't care what you've got to say, you're not going back to uni if you have to spend time with that thing."

I got up and walked out, grabbing my suitcase along the way, and made my way to my bedroom.

I know what happened in school was bad, but spending just under four months with him actually changed my view on him. It changed my view on a lot of things actually.

*

I walked downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat. Dad was sitting at the table reading his paper "You alright son?" he asked "Fine!"

He laid his paper down on the table "Aiden, what happened while you were at uni? Because that lad destroyed your life and you're acting like it never happened!"

"Well people change dad. Not all of us hold grudges and maybe some of us can actually move on from what happened! I just don't see why I should hate him for the rest of my life and hold this grudge against him when I've moved on from it so I don't see why you and mum should too."

"Aiden, you've got to understand that you're our only child. We both care so much about you and seeing what you went through hurt us both. For you to say that you've spent the past few months with him is a bit shocking, you can't expect us to be happy about us!" I sat opposite him. I know it must be hard for them.

"But dad, spending time with him, it just made me realise that I can't keep dwelling on the past, I've got to move forward and except things for what they are."

He weakly smiled at me; he knew there was nothing he could do.

"So you've forgiven him for what he did to you?" He asked.

"Yes I have. He explained to me why he was the person he was in school. I just want you and mum to except that I'm going back to uni and that I'm still going to be in the same room as him."

"Well, that's that then. But first's things first, you better talk to Leigh."

I haven't spoken to Leigh in about a month. I was really hard on her because she missed me and I snapped saying there was nothing I could do about it until I came back.