3 weeks later, Johnson Residence, Hilversum
***Aiden Sullivan POV***
I stirred the thick contents in the pot, turning the white sauce pasta up and down as I occasionally turned around to put in more seasoning. The sounds of the TV coming from the living room down the hall were low, drawing my attention as I listened to the dialogue.
Paige sat on the couch, watching a show whilst Dexter and Adriana were out, getting groceries. Hermione was up in the guest bedroom, where she had been for the past 3 weeks. The NPD had seized Hermione and Jenna's house, claiming it as a major crime scene and that no one was to go near it over the next few months.
I couldn't help but feel miserable for Hermione. She barely ate or came out of the room. The silence was there in her room. It felt like it was empty, not a single noise coming from the area. But there was one distinct sound that I heard; a soft sniffling in the middle of the night, the day Jenna died.
Since then, Adriana, Dexter and I would visit Paige and Hermione once a day, sometimes crashing at their place before leaving once again. Paige was there for Hermione day and night, begging to be let in the room but in vain. Hermione wouldn't let anyone inside, partly because of the spell she had cast around the room, the door jammed shut tight as no magic could open it.
I was worried about Hermione. She hadn't said a word about Jenna. She had gone numb after that night. She wouldn't even let Adriana get anywhere near her, and had turned down the invitation from Adriana's uncle to the masquerade.
"Hi." Adriana enthusiastically greeted, walking into through the front door
I turned around to see Adriana hastily taking off her coat, setting the grocery bags down on the counter as Dexter slammed the door shut behind her. Both of them looked drained, their eyes baggy and red as they barely had any sleep since the incident.
I was tired too from the lack of sleep. I didn't know when Josephine was going to jump out from a bush and rip my neck open, or bash my head, or kill me. I didn't know anything about her, and that's what made her so scary. Without me knowing how powerful she really was and was capable of, my magic was useless.
"Hey, babe." I greeted, muttering quietly as Adriana stood a couple of feet away from me
She looked up at me bewildered, her lips slightly parted as a crease rested on her brows. Without wasting another second, I placed my hand on her lower back, pulling her body towards mine as I gave her a peck on her soft lips.
I slid my hand from her back, shoving it back in my pocket as I went back to stirring the contents in the pot. But, I could feel Dexter's piercing glare on my back, his heavy breathing like music to my ears once he realised his sister and I were together. It was satisfaction at its finest.
I heard a rhythm of heavy footsteps across the floor behind me, my chest rising as I took in a mouth full of air. For a second, I thought Dexter was going to do something, but luckily he left the kitchen for his own girlfriend who was in the living room, leaving me and Ana alone.
"What was that?" Adriana asked, her brows raised in surprise
"What?" I asked, turning to face her, a smile creeping its way onto my face as her gorgeous green orbs looked up at me
"Someone had to tell him."
I shrugged my shoulders, smiling as I saw a smirk crawl its way onto Adriana's lips. I fought back the urge to kiss her once again, and not just give her a peck, but one where I kissed her lips, her entire body, touching her soul as she moaned out my name.
But, this wasn't the right time. Hermione needed us, all of us. And I didn't want to be selfish and keep Ana to myself, even though my lips craved for her touch, to feel her on my skin as she left her marks on my back. Those were the sole reminder that she and I were together, as one.
"How's Hermione?" Adriana asked, speaking quietly as she leaned against the counter, her hair falling by her sides
"Quiet. She hasn't said a word, or stepped out the room." I answered, dimming the gas as I turned to face her
This restless grew inside me, threatening to consume me whole whenever I was away from Ana. What if she ended up like Jenna? What if I came home to her one day and found her dead? I had only been with her for a few weeks, and the thought of her being murdered was imprinted in my mind.
"Ana?" I murmured, looking down at her as my tall body towered over her short one
She stood tall on her feet, straightening her posture as her head went up to my shoulder because of her heels, her hands folded behind her back as she looked at me with confusion dripping from her beautiful face.
"I love you." I confessed once again
A small smile appeared on her pink lips, her eyes sparkling like the bright stars in the black sky. I couldn't lose her. I didn't want to. I was going to do everything I could to keep her alive, even if it meant me dying.
"You've already told me that." She laughed, stepping forward on her feet until we were inches apart
I slightly bent down, sliding my hands to the sides of her neck, the pad of my thumb caressing her smooth, soft skin as I brushed my lips against her ones. Her strong scent of vanilla engulfed my senses, my hand in her hair and the other now around her waist, my body moving on its own as I pushed her against the counter.
It was gone. The feeling was gone. The urge to rip off her clothes, making love to her was gone, buried deep inside. It wasn't just about having sex with her or making her scream out loud, it was about love. I wanted to love her.
Her fingers slid to the nape of my neck, her chest glued to mine as her breath stopped, my senses mixing up as I passionately kissed her, the heat between us growing. A current ran up and down my body, a tingling sensation forming beneath her soft touch as I savoured her.
"Aiden." She panted, moaning out my name in between the deep breaths she took
I refused to kiss her his time, resting my forehead against her one, her sweet breath hitting my lips as we shut our eyes tight, letting all our other senses heighten. I felt her fingers grasping the collar of my cotton jacket, the other hand on my forearm, on my skin revealed from my rolled-up sleeve.
"I'm just scared." I confessed, my voice shaky as I spoke quietly, careful to not let the others hear
"I don't want to come home and find you dead."
She drew her breath, her eyes opening and meeting with mine as I felt myself get lost in them. I couldn't lose her. I couldn't lose the person who saved me. I couldn't lose the person who I loved the most in the world.
"Is this what this is about?" She smirked, much to my disbelief
"Because I'm a lot stronger than I look, Mr Sullivan."
Her smile was bright, full of happiness as I stood there admiring, adoring the woman standing in front of me as I held her in my embrace. I didn't want this to end. I didn't want us to end up like Hermione and Jenna.
"Aiden?" She called out
"The pasta."
I blinked, taking a peek at the pot as I smelled a burning stench enveloping us. The pasta had burnt. I quickly took my hands off of Ana, grabbing the wooden spoon before cursing under my breath, struggling to scrape the burnt bits off the pot.
I heard Ana laughing behind me as she shuffled around, putting away the groceries in the pantry as I struggled hard to get the burnt pasta off the pot. I wasn't bad at cooking. If anything, I was good at it. But it seemed like Ana's horrible cooking skills were catching onto me, this was the third time I had burnt a dish.
"This is not funny." I smiled, gazing at her as I set the pot in the sink
"This is the third time this has happened."
She didn't respond, instead, she laughed quietly as I felt her body press against my back. She rested the box of pasta in front of me, along with the other items needed to make the sauce.
"Let's do it together." She stated
I examined her, my lips slightly parted as she put her long hair in a bun, a couple of her curtain bang strands falling by her sides as she tucked in her loose shirt into the waistband of her jeans. Everything she did was mesmerising, I couldn't take my eyes off her.
I took in a sharp breath, turning around before putting another pot on the stove. Within a couple of minutes, the pasta was cooked and in the pot along with my homemade sauce, the green garnishes decorating the thick, white dish as a sweet aroma made my mouth water.
"Here, try some."
I swirled the pasta on the wooden spoon, Adriana's rhythmic footsteps coming up from behind as I turned around, letting her get a taste of the creamy dish. She began nodding her head, her eyes stuck on the counter behind as she took in the flavourful strands of the pasta, her eyes glimmering with excitement.
"It's always better when I make it." She commented, her eyes meeting my gaze
"You?" I laughed, putting down the cutlery
"You just boiled the pasta. I did all the hard work."
She bit her lip, refraining from laughing as she looked up at me. This day was going surprisingly better. Ana and I were closer than ever. I liked this a lot - this feeling that rose from my chest and took over my mind - I loved it.
"So, when am I going to get a taste?" I asked, raising a brow
She smiled in return, tilting her head back slightly as she brought her lips closer to mine, her breath giving off the sweet smell of the pasta. Her sweet breath hit my skin, consuming me in its coldness as our faces were inches apart from touching.
The soft footsteps coming down the stairs made Ana swiftly pull away, standing beside me as our eyes landed on a dishevelled Hermione who had finally stepped out of her room after 4 days.
Hermione was a mess. Her previously well-kept hair was put in a messy braid, her eyes half-closed from the lack of sleep as she cried at night, her cheeks puffy and red as she displayed little to no emotion in her.
"Sorry, just wanted some water." She spoke slowly, her gaze landing on me and Adriana
Before Hermione could walk into the kitchen I grabbed a glass out of the draw, filling it up with water as I handed it to her. She took it from my hand, clutching it tight to her chest with both hands as her loose sleeves fell down to her elbows.
"You know you guys don't have to be here anymore, right?" She said, her monotonous voice sending chills down my spine as her piercing gaze constantly switched between me and Ana
"What happened to Jenna was horrible. You need us-" Adriana spoke, before being cut off by Hermione
"What happened to Jenna was horrible. But you guys being here, sympathising with me isn't going to bring her back." She spoke sternly, glaring at the brunette behind me
"I just want to be alone."
Without another word Hermione turned on her feet, her footsteps receding before the door thudded shut loudly, the silence falling on us as we were at a loss for words. I let out a deep sigh, shutting my tired eyes for a couple of seconds as Hermione's words were left ringing in my ear.
As horrible as it sounded, Hermione was acting ungrateful. But I didn't think much of it, she was mourning. She needed the time and space, which we could have given to her if she had told us from the beginning.
"What was that about?" Dexter's deep voice cut through the tense atmosphere as he entered the kitchen
"Hermione wants to be alone." Adriana informed, breathing heavily as she dropped the cutlery into the sink
"Then let her be alone. You guys get ready for the masquerade next weekend, and I'll stay with her."
I turned around to see Dexter looking back and forth between Ana and me, seeming to be having some sort of inner conflict as he tried to figure out what was happening between us two. Jenna's death and Hermione's mourning just added more to the stress of the masquerade. I wasn't ready to go there, and neither was Ana.
"Fine. Aiden and I will go back today?" Adriana said, her statement coming out as a question
I reluctantly nodded my head, my body going stiff as I breathed heavily. Could this day get any worse? Not only did we have the stress of getting the amulet, but the fear of being killed by The Karlsten's. That was the role fear played in our lives, holding us back.