He's Back

7 - Intruder

''You've changed, Aiden. I'm not talking looks here, you changed. The way you talk, the way you do things'' I said, looking down, not daring to look at him. I had been with him for less than an hour after three years of not seeing him at all and I could already tell something was wrong. The way he talked, the way he moved, the way he didn't show any emotion other than anger and coldness. No matter what he had told me that night I could still see that through all of his words was someone hurt who was constantly trying to find ways to hide his pain.

''So what? I don't qualify to be your friend anymore? What? Am I not good enough to be your friend? Do I need to change for you too? Tell me, Evelyn, do I?'' he almost yelled while slamming his hands on the counter in front of me, his eyes dark ''No!'' I tried to yell back, my voice coming out shakier than I wanted it to as I got up to meet him. ''No. No you don't. Where is this even coming from, Aiden? It's me you're talking to, not anyone else, me'' I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, looking at him. This time I wasn't trying to understand if something was wrong, I already knew. What it was didn't matter, the only thing certain was that no matter what it was, I'd make sure to be there for him this time, regardless of how he couldn't be there for me when I needed him.

He slowly looked up at me, weakness showing in his eyes. He turned his head and briefly looked at my hand that was laying on his shoulder before sighing. The little emotion shown in those actions of him was quickly covered by the emotionless mask he put on. He moved away from me, grabbed his phone and headed towards the door.

''Are you leaving?'' I said from where I was. Had I made him want to leave?

''It was a mistake coming here in the first place. I should get home, it's late anyway.'' He said coldly, before opening the door to leave. I muttered an 'okay' and went to my couch without looking at him. I didn't want to see him leave again, probably because I didn't know when I was going to see him again. I moved towards my couch and cuddled myself with the blanket I had left here before I left for the party since I had spent all day -except for the part when I had to get ready, watching TV in my blanket on the couch. I opened the TV and buried myself In there. I heard the door close just as my eyes did too. I didn't want to cry, he just went home, but for some reason it still felt painful.

''Alright, move over''

My eyes widened and I screamed, turning around to look at Aiden? Hadn't he left?

''No, I didn't leave now move over before I change my mind.''

Oh, okay so he's a mind reader now. I moved over and made room for him to sit in the couch -yes, I had taken up and entire couch, now get over it, cuddling my blanket even more. I had no idea what made him stay, but I wasn't going to complain about it. Truth to be told, I had to spend the entire night alone and let's just say I wasn't really looking forward to it.

He sat next to me, looking at the tv, an emotionless expression on his face. It seemed as if he was trying to process something but I couldn't tell what It was. Definitely not The Fresh Prince Of Bell Air that was playing on TV. His face was relaxed but also seemed as if he was trying to keep himself composed. That's when I decided to ask-

''Why did you stay?"

That made him turn around in an instant, a frown now replacing his calm face. For some seconds he didn't respond, he just looked at me, as if trying to find the right answer.

''What do you mean?'' he said, his voice more raspy than usual. ''I mean, you said coming here was a mistake and then almost left so why did you stay?'' I said seeing how he was a little uncomfortable now, as if he didn't want to tell me the reason why. Seems like a running theme, doesn't it? ''I, uh, I guess I didn't want to leave you alone tonight'' he said and added a small smile before looking at the TV again.