My Soldier. My Hero. (Completed)

Chapter 21

I go home and sob my heart out into my pillow. I fall asleep.

Morning..

I hear a knock at the door. I peel myself off of my bed and walk down the hallway. I have a massive stress headache.

I open the door and Sophia rushes in and hugs me. "Wow, you look like shit. What happened last night? I saw Aiden run after you."

I roll my eyes, "I started having a panic attack on stage because the song triggered some flashbacks."

She squints her eyes at me, "and Aiden?"

I take a deep breathing, knowing this isn't going to be good. "He hugged me, I pushed him away and told him I hated him."

"YOU DID WHAT! What the fuck is wrong with you?" She yells.

"Look Sophia, I was already dreading being there and I was still mad at Aiden and then his ex walks up and starts flirting with him. I was just so fucking angry."

She shakes her head, now pissed. "You know Mia, the only person you can blame for
your unhappiness right now, is you. He wrote you a million letters when he was away and you sent them back. He wants you, he's begging you to talk to him. Before you argue back...I know he fucked up. He fucked up big....but so did you. You lied and you were fucking married, Mia. You're not innocent in all of this either. I love you, but I'm not going to baby you. It's been two months since the incident. I think it's time you guys talk at least. Even if you decide you can't forgive him, your heart needs closure."

Sophia goes to walk out of my apartment, "Mia, I hope you stop running before it's too late. Good things aren't going to wait around forever."

She shuts the door and leaves.

I stand in my living room, tears streaming down my face. How does my life come down to this big fucking mess?

I decide I need some fresh air to clear my head. I walk into my bedroom and throw on some jogging gear.

I'm jogging down Main Street, taking in all of its historic beauty. I turn and look inside of a cafe and I see Aiden and Emily sitting at a table. She has her hands on top of his and it looks like they are in a deep conversation. I didn't think my heart could brake anymore...but it did.

I wipe a tear away and start jogging back home. 

I spend the rest of the weekend in my pjs, eating ice cream and watching movies. I can't help but replay Sophia's words in my brain...if you would just give Aiden a chance. Good things don't wait forever.

But I can't get over how reactive Aiden was. Would he hurt me if he ever got really angry?

Sunday....

I'm sitting on my couch eating a sandwich in my sweats. I hear a knock at my door and go to open it. Caleb steps in...

I roll my eyes, "if you're here to lecture me about yelling at Aiden, save it. I've already heard it."

Caleb closes the door behind him, "wow ice queen, you look like shit. Here I thought I was going to see the bubbly, beautiful Mia."

I huff, "fuck off Caleb. This world isn't filled with rainbows and sunshine. So...if you've come here to insult me, you can fucking leave."

He goes into the kitchen and helps himself to a sandwich and sits at the kitchen table. I look at him puzzled.

"Look, you're ignoring everyone's phone calls. Sophia had to help her mom today and she's worried about you. I told her I would come and check on you. I know you two aren't exactly on speaking terms right now because she yelled at you. I told her, she should have smacked you."

I clench my teeth, Caleb has a way of getting under everyone's skin. I know he does it on purpose because he does it to Aiden all of the time.

I shake my head, "well, you've seen me, I'm not dead. You've graced me with your presence, you can leave now. Thanks for stopping by." Sarcasm oozing from my mouth.

He stands up, "okay princess. Go get your bathing suit on. We are going surfing."

I scrunch my nose, "Don't call me princess and I'm not going."

He walks towards me, "why? Because Aiden wouldn't like me calling you princess?"

"Why the fuck would Aiden care? He was out yesterday with Emily." I spat.

His eyes widen, "ahh...so there is more of a reason your mopey. Go get your bathing suit on, or I will drag you out of here in your sweats and make you surf."

I huff at him and walk into my bedroom, throwing my bathing suit on.

We walk out to his SUV and Caleb opens my door and I get in. He walks around to his side and starts the car. "When did you become a gentleman?" I say sarcastically.

He grins, "well, I had to get Sophia to pay attention to me somehow."

I shake my head, as we make our way to the beach. Caleb takes the surf boards off the SUV and we head into the water.

"Caleb, I've never surfed before." I nervously look at him.

He grins over at me, "you know how to swim right?" I nod. "You'll be fine then. I'll teach you."

Caleb shows me how to paddle quickly and get into a wave. I follow suit and I can hear Caleb telling me to paddle faster - so I do. Caleb is yelling at me to stand up - I quickly jump up on the board and loose my balance and fall face first in the water. I come right back up and get on my board, straddling it.

He paddles over, "you good?" I nod, blowing water out of my nose.

He chuckles, "your crash wasn't too bad. Next time, balance your weight evenly across the board. You flipped because most of your weight was on your right leg. You'll get the hang of it."

We swim back out and Caleb signals to me to start to paddle. I paddle faster and faster. I jump up quickly, as I enter the wave. I run my hand along the water. My adrenaline is pumping, yet there is a calming effect with being inside the wave. All of a sudden, the wave crashes on top of me, knocking me under the water. Shit...I got too cocky.

I resurface and paddle close to Caleb. "That was pretty good, Mia. It looks like your having fun." He says.

I give a small smile, "I am, thank you Caleb."

My feet dangle in the water. "You know Mia, Aiden just had breakfast with Emily. It wasn't anything. She just wanted to know if he was okay from the incident overseas. They contacted her because he forgot to take her off of his emergency contact sheet. I think it's part of the reason she's in town, but I can't quite figure out why she's sticking around."

I take a deep breath, "does he care for her?"

Caleb looks in my eyes, knowing I'm searching for certain answers. "Aiden cares for a lot of people. So yes, he cares for her. But, he's not in love with her anymore. He's madly in love with one woman, who just told him she hated him."

Tears start to well in my eyes, thinking about how horrible I was to him. "I don't hate him. I hate how he made me feel."

Caleb gives me a sadden look. "I know you don't Mia. But, Aiden has a lot going on. We had shit go down overseas that we really can't discuss. The woman he is in love with won't talk to him and the woman that he hated for a while and hurt him severely, is back and is trying to fuck with his head. He's also been seeing a therapist for anger management. He's trying Mia....maybe you should too."

We make our way back to shore and head to my apartment. I turn to take my seatbelt off, "thanks for today Caleb and thanks for treating Sophia the way she needs."

He grins, "she's something else. Fucking feisty as hell...but I love every bit of it. Especially when she starts to take charge, if you know what I'm mean." He winks at me.

I roll my eyes, "you two are so pervy. Bye Caleb."

He chuckles, "bye Mia."