𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔-𝙀𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏
●●● 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰! 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣
╰┈➤ ❝ [ⁱⁿᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵃⁱⁿ] ❞
JI-SOO FROWNED AS she finished her checkup exam on Aiden as she, Aiden and Kaia were off in the downstairs bathroom. Ji-Soo was the only one out of the group with medical experience and Jessica only allowed Aiden to not go to the hospital as long as he allowed Ji-Soo to give him a checkup exam to make sure nothing more is wrong with him beyond just the concussion that they were all aware he was bound to have.
Ji-Soo let out a sigh as she pulled back, "you seem in a lot better shape than Kaia and Tyler were when they first awoke, not sure why that is but oh well, let's just be happy that's the case." She said as she gently patted his head. "You're good to go though, kiddo. I'll tell your mom you're fine beyond the concussion, but you two can stay here, I know you both need a minute." She tells them gently, pressing a kiss to Aiden's forehead. "I'm really happy you're okay, you're like one of my own."
Aiden's cheeks flushed at the unexpected loving gesture from a woman he's grown to see as a second mother and smiled gently at her. "Thank you, mom two 2.0."
Ji-Soo laughed softly, "you're welcome, sweetie, just avoid doing overly extraneous activities and try to avoid bright places alongside watching your phone or tv. But either way, I'll be keeping a close eye on you for the next couple of days." She tells him as she begins to walk out of the bathroom. "I'll tell everyone to leave you two be for now, take your time." She grinned, winking at the two as she shot her daughter a look that made Kaia's cheeks flushed as she looked away.
Aiden chuckled a bit as he stood up from the closed toilet seat and turned towards Kaia, holding out his hand. "Well, if we're given the chance, follow me."
Kaia raised an eyebrow, though placed her hand in his own, allowing him to lead her out the bathroom and down the hall. "Where are we going?" She questioned, quickly recognizing the way to the back door. Kaia held a frown on her lips as she allowed Aiden to pull her out of the back door but her eyebrows furrow as she tugged back on him upon noticing the pouring rain. "Wait, Aiden, you have a concussion and just died, going outside is a bad idea in general, but going out when it's raining is like above and beyond a bad idea."
Aiden turned back at her, pouting, "Kaiaaaaa" He dragged her name out in a whine as he tugged at her hand, pulling her towards him and towards the porch door. "I promise I'll be fine, I let you do stupid stuff right after you died, let me have this."
Kaia frowned, watching him for a moment as she thought over his words, she hadn't really done anything stupid right after she died, so what was he talking about, "Aiden I didn't run out into pouring rain, the last thing you need right now is to get sick, actually no, that applies to the both of us, we both don't need to get sick."
Aiden groaned, "Kai, please, just five minutes." He begged her, continuing to pull her closer and closer towards the door as he noticed that while she was fighting back against him verbally, her body was allowing him to pull her closer without much fight back. "I need some fresh air, you can stay here-"
"-I'm coming with you." She cuts him off with a frown lining her lips and Aiden grinned, not allowing her to have another moment to take back her words as he pushed the door open and ran out the door, dragging her out behind her. Kaia winced at the sudden pick up in speed, but couldn't help the small laugh that left her lips at the overly excited smile that found its way onto his lips as he led them through his yard and towards the garden his mother had. "This is so stupid!"
Aiden grinned back at her as they found themselves in the middle of his mother's well taken care of garden. "You're still going along with it."
"I don't know why." She shook her head as she turned, looking up at him as the rain soaked through their clothes, Aiden grinned down at her as her hair stuck to her forehead and her cheeks. She looked like a mess, but Aiden had never seen a sight more breathtaking than her in that moment as she was smiling up at him with that beautiful smile of his and he could feel all sensible thoughts leaving his mind as it goes completely blank. "This is hands down the stupidest thing you've ever dragged me into, I mean if we get sick, we're so fucked for the phantom realm-"
"Kaia," Aiden cuts her off and Kaia looks up at him, "we're both going to be just fine." He reassures her with a soft smile, his hand coming up to cup her cheek as he brushes off the hair sticking to her skin. "A little rain's never hurt anyone, unless you're a witch and you're not telling me." He raised a teasing eyebrow and Kaia huffed out an amused breath. "Which I'm guessing you aren't considering you aren't melting away in my arms."
Kaia couldn't formulate a response, her entire mind focused on the feeling of his thumb brushing away at the hair on her cheek and the way that he was looking down at her with a look that no one else had given her before. His eyes were soft and his smile was stomach churningly sweet as he stared down at her. Kaia wanted to tell him he was wrong, she was melting into his arms, though it had absolutely nothing to do with the rain and everything to do with the way he stared at her.
Kaia had known before this that there was no denying she liked Aiden, she truly did. Aiden was everything she's ever needed in a person, not even wanted, no he was a needed in her life at this point. He proved just about everything she once thought true about herself wrong, he's changed her for the better in ways she never once realized were flawed before meeting him. He had come into her life as though he had always been there and Kaia was finding it hard to believe she's only known the boy for a mere few months rather than all her life.
But upon almost losing him merely less than a couple hours ago made her realize that just maybe, her feelings stemmed a lot further than a mere crush, no Kaia had never felt such gut wrenching feelings flow through her as she did in that moment watching as the roof fell in on him. She had never felt so heartbroken at the sight of his crumbled form, she had never felt such fear than when blue had met black only moments before they came back to the real world.
Good grief, Kaia cried in front of everyone in his arms because she thought she lost him. It was the first time she's genuinely cried in front of someone, let alone a group of people, over something other than pain. She cried out of pure heartbreak, fear and relief at the fact he was alive and okay.
Kaia hadn't realized just how much she needed him until she almost lost him and she wasn't sure she could handle losing him, or almost losing him. Blue meeting black was more than enough to shake any previous doubt she once had in her feelings for him, Kaia could no longer deny it, she was in love with Aiden Clark and it was a terrifying realization to come to when she knew that tomorrow was not promised for them and it was a mere luxury to think about as each and every one of them were slowly dying off within the phantom realm day by day and Kaia was terrified that the next time one of them died, they wouldn't be so lucky to wake up like she, Tyler and Aiden had. She was terrified that if one of the three of them got hurt like that again, they wouldn't wake up again.
Kaia couldn't lose Aiden, she couldn't lose any of them, but most of all she couldn't lose Aiden. He's completely changed her entire life and Kaia didn't want to revert to the shell of a person she had once been before he helped her finally become her own person and give her a life she previously had been wasting. She couldn't do it, almost losing him was bad enough, but actually losing him? Kaia thinks she'd lose her mind if she was torn away from him now.
With everything going on, Aiden was her tether to her own sanity that she was just barely grasping onto. Without him, without the rest of the group, she wasn't so sure she could handle him or any of the others being taken away from her. She couldn't lose them, she couldn't lose him.
"Aiden..." Kaia whispered out, the loud rain pouring down on the two of them almost drowning her voice out
Aiden hummed, hearing her as clear as day, staring down at her, his face softening impossibly further at the whisper of his name leaving her lips. "Yeah?"
"Can you promise me something?" She questioned him as she leaned into his hand, her eyes fluttering shut as she allowed herself this moment to pretend like everything was okay, like neither of them had died, like they didn't go through hell and back every night, like they were normal teenagers.
"Anything." He tells her without an ounce of hesitation in his response. Aiden would do just about anything for the girl in front of him, scratch that, he'd do anything. Aiden would do anything for her, he truly would.
"Can you promise that I'm not going to have to worry about you leaving?" She breathed out and she knew it was a foolish ask, she knew it something neither of them could truly promise each other, but she wanted him to lie to her in that moment. She wanted him to tell her he'd stay, that he'd never leave her. She selfishly wanted him to tell her everything she needed to hear in that moment.
Aiden's eyes softened, "I promise you that I will do everything I can to stay by your side." He promises as his hand caressed her cheek, leaning down as he pressed his forehead against her own, "only if you promise you'll do the same."
"I do, I promise." Kaia muttered out as her eyes fluttered open, blue meeting red and Kaia allowed herself to believe her words. She'd do anything in her power to stay by his side, Kaia knew she'd go above and beyond to stick with him, Aiden meant far more to her than she previously liked admitting, but now she couldn't not think about it. There was no chance of her denying what she felt for him any longer, no hope of concealing her overwhelming feelings for him. "Can you promise me you promise?"
Aiden smiled down at her, letting out a chuckle. "Yeah, I promise that I promise." He tells her as their noses brush together, his eyes subconsciously flickering between her eyes and her lips.
Kaia noticed his gaze and she felt her breath hitch in her throat, her stomach churning as she knew exactly what was going to happen if she didn't pull away in that moment. Kaia knew she wasn't going to pull away, she knew this was what she wanted more than anything. She couldn't do it any more, she couldn't act like she didn't care about him more than anyone else in the world. She couldn't pretend like she hated the way he would constantly be touching her. She couldn't pretend like she didn't cherish the long looks they'd shoot each other from across rooms during the few times they'd be apart. She couldn't act like she wasn't aware of the constantly flirting that was casually tossed between them. She couldn't pretend like she didn't want more out of him, out of them. She wanted more than just friendship and she knew it made her selfish, she knew that she shouldn't, but at this point, Kaia was starting to care less about being selfish, she wanted to put her feelings first, she wanted to put her feelings for him first.
"Kai... I-" Aiden stuttered out and Kaia just smiled and he knew instantly that she was on the same page as him. "Kaia-"
"Just shut up and kiss me already." Kaia muttered and that was all it took before their lips pressed together and they kissed each other like every fiber of their beings were dying and the only cure was the way their lips moved together in perfect sync. Kaia smiled as her arms wrapped around his neck, her hands entangled in his hair as she pressed her lips closer to his and she felt like everything just clicked within her head as she kissed him.
It didn't feel like how the cheesy romantic books that Taylor had been forcing her to read recently, it didn't feel like the way it was told in the songs Aiden made her listen to. It felt like everything was clicking within her mind and she had never felt more sure of herself in that moment. She felt like she was finally whole, like a piece of her puzzle that she thought she long since lost was finally being placed back, making her whole again, a feeling she had long since forgotten as it had been years upon years since she felt this happy.
Aiden's hands held her cheeks, pulling her in closer. Her lips were unsurprisingly smooth and she tasted like strawberries from her lipgloss. He knew that his lips were probably not nearly as sweet nor smooth, but she didn't seem to care as she pulled him closer to her just as he did. He didn't care though as he moved his lips slowly against her as he knew there was no other place he wanted to be more in that moment then right there, kissing her with everything he had in him because there wasn't anything more he could do.
Kaia smiled as they pulled away slowly, their eyes staying fluttered close as she didn't want to lose that moment, she didn't want to be reminded that whatever they came out as after this was not guaranteed to continue peacefully. She wanted to keep this moment theirs and theirs only, she wanted to keep this moment pure, unbridled with the harsh and hellish reality of theirs. But even if she did flutter her eyes open, she knew she couldnt' form any coherent thoughts.
Aiden had overtaken every thought in her mind, anything and everything she could think of was just him and the feeling of his lips pressed against her own. The way he held her cheeks in his slightly rough hands. Her brain was complete stripped of any and all thoughts that didn't revolve solely on him and she couldn't do anything more than pulling him back down to kiss him again as no words were exchanged as all the two of them could focus on was the feeling of their lips pressing together.
Kaia and Aiden knew both of them failed at telling their feelings with actual words, so they allowed their passion and love for each other to be exchanged and told through their kiss. Kaia knew that she'd never be the same after this, she never realized how much she adored the feeling of human contact until his lips met hers and it was like the world faded away and Kaia couldn't focus on anything but him.
This kiss was much shorter than the first one they shared as they pulled back merely seconds later yet it felt like minutes. Kaia breathed out heavily, not having realized he had stolen the breath from her lungs as their foreheads pressed together. Kaia wasn't sure she'd ever been more happy than she was in that moment, she had never felt more secure and safe than she did in his arms in that moment. It felt like the world had stopped around them as they stood in the freezing cold pouring rain soaking through their clothes yet neither of of them had ever felt more warm in each others hold.
"We are so going to get sick after this..." Kaia muttered out with a smile on her lips as her eyes fluttered open and Aiden let out a breathless laugh as his eyes fluttered open.
"I think this was worth getting sick over." He chuckled as he stared down at her, blue meeting red and never before had so much love been shared between one gaze than it had been in that moment.
Kaia chuckled a bit as well, not pulling away as she stared up at him, her hands coming up to hold his wrists as his hands were still cupping her face as her thumb brushed over the back of his palm. "I don't really know if I'm supposed to clarify it, but I just wanted you to know I... I really like you." She wasn't sure if she should say she loved him right off the bat, would that be too soon? She wasn't sure, Kaia's never done anything like this, she's never confessed like this, she's never even liked anyone romantically prior to him. But still, she knew that she needed to tell him something, she wasn't sure she could live with herself if she went another day with him not knowing how much she absolutely adored him. "Though I think that's pretty obvious right about now."
Aiden grinned down at her, his cheeks flushed red and he was beyond grateful for the midnight darkness and the pouring rain that most likely covered up the full extent of the color that flooded his cheeks. "I think I've made my feelings pretty clear from the start, but just in case you haven't caught on, I also really, really like you, pretty girl." Kaia's cheeks lit aflame under his hands and she knew he could feel it, but she didn't care at that point. Kaia couldn't care about anything but him in that moment. "So uh... does this mean you're my girlfriend or...?"
Kaia laughed breathlessly, tugging him down as she pressed her lips against his for another moment, "yeah, it does mean that." She tells him softly as she pulled away slowly. She smiled up at him, Aiden grinning happily down at her with such a ecstatic look in his eyes that she feels like she's melting all over again.
If someone told Kaia Campbell a couple of months ago that she'd happily be kissing and accepting to be the girlfriend of Aiden Clark, she would have punched you, but now, Kaia couldn't find it in her to stop smiling as he grinned down at her.
♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ : author's note
i. well it took thirty-eight chapters but here we are finally... how are we feeling guys? does this make up for the short amount of plot in last chapter? i hope it does, also hopes for how everything goes down hill from here, sorry about the next few chapters btw
ii. BUT OMG THEY KISSED AND THEY FINALLY GOT TOGETHER I CANT EVEN OMG
iii. what was your guys favorite moment this chapter?
iiii. ANYWAYS i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter nearly as much as i did!! please remember to vote, comment and to have a wonderful day <33