2 8
A d a m a n t i n e
/a-də-ˈman-ˌtēn, -ˌtīn/
(adj.) unbreakable.
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I didn't plan it, but you're the best thing that has ever happened to me.
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N o t e
Happy Valentines Day everyone! (It's like 1 am here, so it is V-Day ;) )
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I kind of admit, it is a filler so I am sorry if you don't like it.
And I am also really sorry about how long it took me to update this chapter (I wanted to update on V-Day because I'm corny like that) but school has been stressing me out like no other and I can't believe I am this stressed like I literally have no time for anything and it kills me that I don't have as much time for writing as I used to.
PS - Unedited because Mechanics gives me dark under eye circles.
PPS - What are you V-day plans? I have a super hot date with my husband William Herondale, so tell me yours! :)
PPPS - There is like a lil scene here that people have been asking in previous chapters, but it is here now. :D ;)
Enjoy xx
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"Okay people, we all know about the new drinks we need to make and –Aaron are you even listening?"
The blue eyed boy spared Steve a glance, shrugging. "Does it matter?"
Steve let out a helpless sigh. "We are in the middle of a meeting and you're asking me if it matters–"
"We're holding this meeting only because you were the only one not aware of our new beverages and secret menu items," Aaron said warily. "So don't start with me."
Claire snorted, biting on her bottom lip as she tried to control her giggle. "Aaron is right–"
"I'm not hearing it right now," Steve said, his lips pursed as his green eyes shot Aaron a look. "And it was just one time alright people, one time."
Aaron nodded weakly. "And we're holding a meeting because of it."
Steve muttered under his breath. "Can we all just proceed to the topic at hand here?"
Aaron smiled lightly, letting a small chuckle brew his chest. "Can I be excused?"
"Did you deliberately divert the topic of this meeting and publicly humiliate me because you wanted to be excused?"
Aaron shrugged. "I tried telling you before, it wasn't working."
"So you embarrass your boss?"
"You're not my boss,"
"You're fired."
"You're still not my boss."
"For Christ's sake," Steve muttered. "Go. Leave."
Aaron sent him a sickly sweet smile. "Thank you."
"That's half your salary deducted Aaron."
"You're still not my boss Steve,"
"Don't make me force you to work overtime."
"Oh for fuck's sake."
➳➳➳
It was always so easy to have a house wasn't it?
A kitchen, a bathroom, perhaps two bedrooms if you will, and a dining room was always enough to make a house. A meter or two of wallpaper, a couple of chairs and a table along with a sofa.
It was always easy to have a house.
But you see, it was always harder to have a home.
A home where his Mom's homemade pancakes wafted through the morning air; a home where Aaron was able to smell his Dad's cologne even if he was miles away from him. To recollect the memory of that stain on that chair; of that scratch on that table. To be able to compare his Mother's smile to the early sunrise; to be reminded of his Father's sparkly blue eyes whenever he saw the sky at dawn.
You see, a home was something Aaron never had. He had a bed to sleep on, and he had a table to eat on, but there was nothing that made it feel like he belonged. Like it was his to cherish or remember; that even though all those things were for the DeGarner family, it never felt like they truly made it their own.
Even after years of use, the chairs were still brand new and the tables were spotless; the wallpapers were as clear and unwrinkled just like the first time they bought it.
The house seemed like nobody ever lived in it; that children were never a bit too reckless to spill some spaghetti sauce on the chair, or that toddlers were never a bit too excited to peel off some of the wallpaper, or that the parents were never a bit too confused on how they were going to cover up the juice stain on the couch.
It seemed as though the house was always just a house –it was never a home.
A home where stains and peels were something normal; where it was okay if dust and dirt were on the edges of old chairs and tables. A home where it was a place with its very own scent; a place where Aaron could sleep in and feel like he belonged.
A home where everything was normal.
"Aaron you okay there?" Rose nudged his shoulder with her own, her caramel eyes dotted with specks of concern.
"Yeah," He breathed, letting out a tired breath of his own. "Just thinking."
Rose exhaled. "Thinking about what?"
"Stuff that doesn't matter."
She smiled softly at him. "It matters if it got you thinking so hard about it."
He smiled slightly. "I was just thinking about my family."
Rose's lips tightened, her fingers already finding his own as she let out a breath. Her room was slightly chilly today –We need to go under the blankets Aaron– and Rose even did the effort of setting up her fairy lights across her room –I need a little help Aaron– with Aaron's help of course, but not without his crooked smile and mischievious eyes –Aw you need help there shorty?
The yellow of the lights caught the specks of green in Rose's eyes, and illuminated the curve of her neck and the dips of her collarbones. Even her eyelashes looked like they were bathed in gold and sprinkled with stars before God left Aaron to hyperventilate on his own –Jesus Christ I am losing my fucking mind like how can someone even be so beautiful Christ I can't fucking breathe–
"You want to talk about it?" Rose whispered quietly, her eyes flashing to his as she tried to smile.
"There's nothing to talk about," Aaron replied, leaving her a small kiss on her forehead. "I'm okay, I promise."
Rose snuggled further into Aaron until her blonde locks tickled the back of his neck. "It's okay not to be okay."
He let out a light chuckle, already feeling the stiffness of his chest soothe away. "I know, I trust you Rose."
"Good," She said quietly, giving Aaron one of her lazy smile, and the fact that she smiled that damn smile while she was illuminated by the yellow lights almost made Aaron pass out over how ethereal she looked like.
He needed to calm the fuck down.
But how could he calm down when Rose's legs were tangled with his own that he had no idea where his began or hers ended? And that the warm breaths she left on his chest and collarbones were like secrets his skin was absorbing like some insane drug addict with heroine; and that her lips somehow always managed to brush against the side of his neck and she'd look up at him as though she didn't have the first clue on what it did to Aaron?
How could he keep calm when she was giving him a million and a half reasons not to?
"Since my parents are gone and the house is all to ourselves, can I interest you in a cup of hot chocolate?"
And when he looked down at her and saw the most stunning smile painted on her lips along with the luminous glint of amber in her eyes, he would say Yes even if she asked him to rob the banks of every single country on the face on this Earth.
He shut his eyes –Jesus Christ get a fucking grip on yourself– "Sure, I'd love that."
She beamed before she practically peeled the blankets off her and waltzed out of the room, yelling a See you downstairs loser! as she ran down the stairs, which obviously made Aaron roll his eyes and shout back a Don't run down the stairs you Moron!
After getting his breathing back to normal, Aaron eventually got out of bed and headed downstairs to join Rose, smiling at all the cracks in her room's wallpaper and the stains of baby pink on the marble floor of the kitchen. It made him excited to know how in the world it got there.
"Okay, so which mug?"
Aaron glanced at the two mugs Rose held up; squinting his eyes at her as his lips pursed. "They look exactly the same you Moron,"
Rose's lips thinned into a line. "But this one has an Always on it with Severus Snape on the side and the other one has Harry saying Espresso Patronum." She grinned. "Get it? Like Expectro–"
"Jesus Christ Rose, you drive me insane."
"But there is nothing Ron with me."
"Rose–"
"I know you can Neville get enough of these jokes."
"You seriously need to stop?"
"Do you Siriusly want me to stop?"
"Jesus Christ," Aaron cracked a huge grin, letting the chuckle slip through his lips as he shook his head.
She was beaming though; all her teeth on display as she leaned her head back and let out a giggly laugh. He didn't even know how someone could giggle and laugh at the same time, but he did know that when Rose did it, he thought he was seeing stars and that he was just going to drop dead on her kitchen floor.
"You're awful at this," Aaron remarked, grinning goofily. "You're such an idiot."
Rose shrugged, still smiling. "But I got you to laugh." She glanced at him as she stirred their cups, the smile turning warmer and warmer. "So I'm satisfied."
He smiled at her as she handed him his cup, whispering a quiet Thank you before he took a huge gulp of the warm chocolate. And Rose smiled at that, letting out a little laugh as she sat beside him, tracing the rim of her mug with her fingertips –a habit that Aaron found out Rose only did when she was thinking of something rather determinedly.
"Something on your mind?" Aaron asked, taking another sip of his hot beverage.
"I want to build a fort," Rose said, looking up to him after her trance. "What about you?"
Aaron could feel his cheeks burn as he cleared his throat awkwardly. He let out a small breath as he settled his cup down and licked his lips. "I've never actually built a fort before."
Rose eyes widened. "Really?" Her fingers were back on the rim of her mug. "Why not?"
"It never really crossed my mind," Aaron shrugged, trying to look away from her curious golden gaze. He cleared his throat. "And the mess was always a lot to handle for me."
Rose smiled warmly. "Well there's a first time for everything!"
And then she whizzed out of the kitchen and back into her room, yelling a We're making a fort Aaron! and he could hear her knock out every single comforter, blanket and pillow she had in her room.
He smiled when he glanced at her untouched hot chocolate, letting out a nervous breath as he took her mug along with his own up to her room. He could hear her push over tables and chairs and even heard her huffs of annoyance before he strolled into the room and placed their mugs on the table –where he hoped it would be safe.
"What in God's name is that?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "It's still in the process of making, just calm down."
"I am calm."
"No you're not, you're just as excited as I am."
He grinned sheepishly. "Alright I'll calm down."
She smiled at him; the lights catching the locks of gold in Rose's hair. She looked like an angel.
And he thought he was going to die.
When Rose called him over to help, he was hesitant, but the confident sparkle in her eyes and the softness in her smile, it told him that it wouldn't hurt to try. They pushed her table against the wall –Careful Rose, the mugs, the mugs, the MUGS! – and even stacked a few of her books on top of the table to add a little more volume and height when they draped the blanket over it.
They took her comforter and placed it under the table, Rose's smile almost as smooth as her blanket when they draped the blanket over the stacked books and the table –This doesn't look quite right Rose– and she was persistent with her tongue slightly poking out of the corner of her mouth –We're still in the process of making it flawless Aaron, beauty takes patience.
They spent fifteen minutes layering blankets over blankets, Rose even yelling at some point –Aaron I thought you were holding onto it! – and it was Aaron with his sheepish smile and long legs that he thought were going to tangle together –Well I thought you were going to put this one on first!
It was a lanky 6'3 boy whose black shirt was starting to wrinkle by how much force he was using to balance the blankets in his arms –Rose I swear I am not cut out for this– and a beaming blonde who couldn't stop giggling whenever Aaron's legs coiled with the long comforters; her blonde locks always swaying as she leaned her head back and laughed –You look a little stuck, want some help with that?
After that, Rose was looking at their fort like it was her proudest accomplishment she has ever completed while Aaron was looking at how beautiful Rose looked like when the light caught the lines of her throat and the curl of her eyelashes.
"We did it!" Rose said excitedly, her smile almost as warm as her eyes. "It looks awesome!"
He glanced at their fort and he could feel a small smile climb up his lips. "It's the first one I ever made, so I really have nothing I can compare it to."
She gave him a look. "Well I know it might not be the best, but hey, it could've ended up worse."
"Yeah, like if I didn't help you."
She rolled her eyes. "Narcotic much?"
He grinned. "Aren't I always?"
She then gave him one last flat look before her eyes sparkled at the fort again. "Come on, we didn't do that hard work for nothing!"
He watched as she crawled under the table, even listening as she let out an excited giggle –Jesus Christ she is so fucking cute like I am losing my fucking mind– and saw how she patted the spot next to her. "Come on, I will be closing up soon." She said, holding up the blankets as she peeked at him from inside.
He smiled, rolling his eyes before he crawled next to her; watching as the blankets and multiple pillows encompassing them, including Rose's snuggle bear Fred –Come on Aaron, please? He'll listen to us talk about Harry Potter, right Fred? – and Rose even insisted on lighting up a scented candle –We really don't need a fire right now Rose– but he let her anyway.
The fairy lights from outside were like specks of gold peeking through the multiple blankets; and even though they were too dim to notice, they were bright enough to catch the Arcadian glow on Rose's cheeks and the effulgent brown of her eyes.
"This is really comfortable," Aaron found himself mumbling as his eyes drank every corner of the little fort; noticing how it felt so cozy and warm in here even though it was only layers of blankets along with Rose's warm gaze.
"Do you like it?"
He looked at her, smiling at how phenomenal her hair looked like tangled between her pillow as she lied down; locks of gold and brown sprawled together in such a delicate labyrinth that he thought he was going to go into a cardiac arrest. Rose caused cardiac arrests too –the worst cases usually to Aaron.
"It's awesome," He told her, grinning, his eyes still taking in how comforting the fort felt. "Thank you for making it."
"Well technically, we both made it." Rose said, smiling too. Her eyes became so gentle, almost as though if Aaron stared into them long enough, he would feel every single muscle in his body relax. He smiled at that.
She took a sip from her hot chocolate, and judging from how she grimaced after she gulped it down, it became cold and bland. Aaron laughed. "You should've finished it first before we made the fort."
Rose shrugged. "I was so excited."
"I could tell."
He could see her bite back a comment, watching in amusement as she pursed her lips and let out a breath. "I think you're more bitter than my cold hot chocolate."
"And I think you're more beautiful than this fort."
She rolled her eyes. "Smooth Aaron –every time I offend you, you shower me with compliments so that I will feel bad about offending you." Rose fired back, grinning. "Well those reverse psychology crumbs doesn't work on me."
He grinned at her, impressed. "Not bad for a noob."
She quirked an eyebrow. "You mean a professional who was just acting as an amateur to deceive you into thinking she was weak and helpless?"
He smiled at her. "I never thought you were weak and helpless," His fingers unconsciously traced her knuckles. "You proved that a long time ago."
She smiled shyly; her cheeks tinting pink. "Stop it, God damn it, it won't work."
He laughed quietly. "I mean you punched Emette in the fucking face, what more can you not do?"
"Dance," She replied. "I can't dance for my life."
"I'll teach you," He said. "I promise."
"I might cut off one of your toes."
"Without shoes."
"I might dislocate your arms or your shoulders."
"I was thinking that a few trips to the hospital won't be that bad."
She grinned at him, exhaling as she embraced him. "Thank you," She whispered.
"For what?"
"For being her with me. For being you. For liking me. For everything."
"Rose," He sighed, letting his arms go around her. "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't like you anymore, I love you." He was smiling, his blue eyes gleaming in the dimness of the fairy lights. "And for you, anything."
"I'm still not used to this stuff," Rose said quietly, as though she was ashamed. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me–"
"Hey hey hey," Aaron hugged her to assure her it was alright. "Don't stress on it. It's alright if you don't love me –God you shouldn't think about stuff like that Rose." His fingers were tracing circles on her shoulder blades. "It doesn't matter if you don't love me, maybe in time you will, but you should know that even if you just like me, Christ, that is plenty enough."
"I'm pretty sure I passed like Aaron," Rose said.
He smiled at her. "Then when you're ready sweetheart."
"I don't know how you do it," She said. "You're so patient with me that I'm starting to feel bad."
He kissed her forehead. "Waiting for you isn't something bad Rose, I waited before I could court you and I will wait for you until I can marry you."
She turned beet root red. "Aaron–"
He grinned. "Calm down, I was just saying my mind."
Her fingers came on his chest, the softness of her eyes almost seeming like an oil painting; effortless and precise. "I'll drop the L word when you least expect it."
"Do we still come off as cliché to you?"
And she kissed him that night like he was the only thing that ever mattered.
➳➳➳
"You both are sickening."
Aaron glanced at Aiden, grumbling. "I was literally just wiping some of the ketchup that you smeared off her hair."
Aiden shrugged. "Not my fault someone decided to push me off while I was squeezing on the packet."
Tristan rolled his eyes. "How many times do you want me to apologise?"
Rose smiled. "It really isn't a problem Tris, I don't mind."
"Of course you don't, you're Rose," Luke interjected.
"Don't say it like it's a bad thing, Christ," Chase said warily, rubbing his eyes. "I'm tired." He added, with a yawn.
"Then sleep," Andrew said, letting out a breath. "Alegebra has been a pain to me and Lana lately."
Lana weakly nodded her head. "I only slept for 2 hours yesterday." Aiden glanced at her disarrayed hair and dark under eye circles. "I can see that."
She pursed her lips. "Shut up."
Aiden just snickered.
"We need the Goblet of Fire," Rose said quietly, giving Aaron a small smile as her eyes twinkled.
He could feel a small smile sew his lips open. "Yours or mine?" He glanced at Andrew, smiling lightly when he found a discussion brewing among the table.
Rose squinted her eyes as she thought, smiling a small smile. "I think we'll read from my copy."
He nodded. "When you're ready boss."
She grinned. "It's in my bag as we speak."
"..."
"...."
"Well that was quicker than I have expected."
She shrugged. Took a glance at Chase. "Well I planned this through."
Aaron smiled lightly. "Sounds dangerous."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh you wish–"
"Hey Rose," Aiden said, smirking. "Did you and Aaron reach third base yet?"
Lana's eyes instantly widened in betrayal. "And you didn't tell me–"
Aaron clenched his jaw. "For fuck's sake–"
Aiden smiled innocently. "Just making sure ya'll are using protection."
"See," Tristan added grimly. "This is why we can never evolve into a more striving species."
"Please," Aiden quirked an eyebrow. "I already am a striving species of my own."
➳➳➳
He never wanted her to get involved in this.
He never wanted Rose, his sweet Rose, to get entangled in this vicious cycle of bleeding hearts and splintered fingertips; never wanted her to experience the jagged edges of his life that he couldn't correct, the chipped corners of a masterpiece that he hoped no one could detect.
He didn't want her to think any differently of him, or to feel intimidated by the history of his family. He didn't want her to see the things he grew up seeing.
It was the love in him speaking; whispering to Aaron to protect her, to not allow her warm eyes to witness a world of such cold and ice.
Rose wasn't just some girl to Aaron, she wasn't someone he was willing to get hurt. She was the love of his life. The sun to his universe. His everything in just one thing. His Rose.
She was his priority; the only one that mattered, that ever will matter.
And Rose might not know, good God she might not even notice, but Aaron always thought somewhere in her, she did.
And he was always so happy about it.
➳➳➳
He wasn't happy.
No matter how much he tried to be, or how much he thought he was, he never was. Because everything told him that. It wasn't just the sleepless nights or the quiet mornings.
It was everything else.
Aaron might not know a lot about happy people, but he knew happy people wouldn't think about dying their hair green and running away from home with a different last name.
He knew that happy people wouldn't be lying on their beds wishing they were somewhere else.
But most of all, he knew happy people wouldn't stare at their ceilings every night, while his parents were sound asleep, praying for a miracle.
Sometimes it wasn't just the obvious signs, sometimes it was just the quiet whispers of untold thoughts and feelings.
And Aaron knew it before anyone else did.
➳➳➳
"I feel as though the more I read Harry Potter, the more I fall in love with it." Rose smiled, flipping yet another page through her copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as she snuggled further into Aaron. "Or maybe I'm just weird."
"No," He told her. "Same goes with me."
It's been almost a month and a half since Aaron last saw James and a month since Aaron told Rose he loved her. In the course of those 45 days, Aaron and Rose have been catching up on quite a lot of homework –See because you always make us miss school– while simultaneously reading as much of Harry as they possibly could –But admit it Rose, you love it.
And in the midst of Rose reading a few pages and eventually taking a huge gulp of water –Reading makes you thirsty, you can actually die of dehydration– she would then hand the book to Aaron and snuggle herself into the blankets of his room as she closed her eyes and listened to him read.
When Aaron was taking a small vocal break –At least I don't chunk down water like an amateur okay– Rose turned to him with the gentlest eyes he has seen on her; two swirls of caramel chocolate that sucked the breath right out of him.
"Why do you love me?"
He thought he heard her wrong.
Aaron looked at her bewildered; the shock of his eyes and the parting of his lips almost immediate when he snapped his cerulean gaze at her.
"What?"
"Why do you love me?" She repeated just as calmly, that smile on her lips –Oh my God just take me now Jesus Christ I think I will drop dead on my fucking bed–
Aaron took in a small breathe –Christ I am going to die– before his fingers brushed gently against her upper arm as he laid down on his back. "Everything," He told her simply. "I love everything about you, every single thing about you has love of its own in me."
"When did you realise you loved me?" She asked, the earnest curiousity lightening her eyes.
He smiled down at her, giving her a small kiss on the cheek before he murmured. "I began loving you more when I realized I couldn't bear to love you silently anymore." He kissed her temple. "I loved you the moment I laid my eyes on you," His voice was delicate, quiet. "I might have loved you even before that."
He could feel her give his bicep a small squeeze, and no art or photograph or dictionary could describe the smile that graced her lips; it looked too immaculate to be true that Aaron had to blink once more before leaning down and giving her forehead a kiss. "I love you," He reminded her as he always did.
And she always smiled back.
And the first time she said it was when they were sitting on one of the mattresses on the floor; rearranging some of Aaron's books on his bottom shelf –Dear God this is even messier than my closet– in their little room with a few lighted candles and a couple of abandoned blankets on the side.
"I love you."
She said it so quietly Aaron was afraid the flipping of the pages were messing with his head, that the colours of the spines on his bottom shelf was somehow affecting his hearing. But he froze; stopping midway as though it was the most important thing in the world.
"Say it again," He whispered to her, feeling his hands go jelly as he looked down at her.
"I love you," She repeated quietly, gently smiling.
And there was something in the way she said it; the octaves of her voice and the trembles of her knees and the quivers of her bottom lip that made Aaron want to drown in her forever.
He smiled like he wanted to smile for the rest of time. "Really?"
She pushed her reading glassed further up her nose, the usual tint of rose tickling her cheeks. "Really."
He could feel his chest rip apart and get stuffed with sunshine.
And he took her face between his hands and kissed her like she was the only thing he was ever going to love like that.
Rose responded just as quickly, smiling a little into the kiss (Which obviously made Aaron a smiling mess but he was too focused on her lips to care) as her fingers made their way to his hair. "I love you," She repeated when they pulled away for breath. "I have for a while now."
Aaron could feel his chest crack open, and it felt beautiful. "You have?"
Rose nodded. "I might have loved you for a long time actually."
He was beaming now, he couldn't help it really. "I don't think you understand how happy this makes me."
She kissed the side of his face. Ran her shaky fingers across his chest and he could've sworn he saw flecks of shock twinkle her eyes when her palms felt how fast his heart was pounding. "Really?"
"I am so happy I think I can explode," He told her sheepishly, letting out a small laugh.
"Then I guess I could try that."
And she kissed him more passionately than she ever did before that self control was becoming something Aaron found painful.
"Rose..." He mumbled, feeling his face go hot. "I don't want you to think that just because you love me, we have to..." He gulped down a harsh swallow when he heard his own voice crack –Good God just take me now.
Pink kissed her cheeks too. "Really?" –Jesus Christ was she always this fucking cute I can't breathe–
"Of course," He reassured her, giving her a small smile. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I would love to...you know," He was getting sick of how pathetic he was sounding, so he cleared his throat. "I would love to make love to you." He whispered, and he could feel his heartbeat sour up to the ceiling. "But I want to be married to you first."
"Christ," She said, leaning her forehead against his collarbone. "You are wonderful."
He smiled lightly at her, watching as gentleness embedded her eyes and wonder tickle her eyelashes. "I'm just giving you what you deserve Rose," He whispered, kissing her forehead. "I love you."
She smiled up at him. "I love you too."
And when he leaned down to kiss her, he didn't ask her permission.
➳➳➳
He never wanted to stop.
He wanted to keep running his fingers down her neck, wanted to tickle the skin of her waist and caress the curve of her hips. He wanted his hands to wrap around her back and over her stomach. He wanted his lips to go down as they possibly could from her neck to the collar of her sweater.
He just hoped Luke wouldn't barge in now.
Because with Aaron's knee resting in between Rose's legs, and his hands a moving mess against her body and her arms all over him, he knew Luke would flip. But there were many parts in him that didn't care.
His fingers were brushing her collarbones. "Okay?"
Her hands were on his belly. "Okay." She whispered smiling. Aaron was pretty sure he somehow disintegrated.
Because every inch of Rose's skin was skin worth memorizing; skin that seemed unworthy to the human brain. Immaculate. Alluring. Perfect. And Aaron was already blown away.
There was sacredness in the curves of her waist and delicacy in the shape of her hips. There was always something miraculous in Rose.
Aaron still never wanted to stop. If he could, he would do this all day. Brush away the blonde curls away from her eyelids, kiss every single one of her 46 freckles, whisper how beautiful she was –You're absolutely stunning Rose, believe me. And he'd do it again. And again. And again. And again for the rest of his life.
And maybe one day he could, with a change in her last name and a ring on his finger.
He even wondered if Rose had fairy dust and sugar flowing through her veins; illuminating through her honeyed skin. If her skin was made of sunshine and swirls of cotton candy. Even her kisses tasted like maple syrup –Jesus Christ– and Aaron was pretty sure if he didn't die then, he would now, that he felt her hands snake underneath his shirt.
And it caught him so off guard, so offhandedly, because his hands were already caressing the skin of her hips, his mouth memorizing the crevices of her lips. Aaron felt like a different person when Rose was being like this; someone kinder, stronger, beautiful.
Her hands were tugging on the hem of his shirt, and it was then that reality hit him hard across the face.
He remembered.
He remembered that under this black shirt was his sickly pale chest, his think shoulders, his intoned stomach. His terrible figure. And that was all it took for him to stop.
Because it was always on Aaron's mind; how a beautiful girl like Rose only deserved the best. He couldn't help but think about it really, because Rose she –she always was an adjective of her own.
Nothing could describe the starlight Aaron feels when her fingers are on his arm, and nothing could even compare to the universes that flash through his eyes when they kissed or the meterioric explosions that bombarded his entire being when she nuzzles her face into the crook of his neck.
And he always thought he lost all his sanity. Or that he never had any regarding Rose.
His eyes were on Rose's lap and he didn't didn't didn't want to look up to her. But he did anyway. And instead of seeing the disgust he saw in Grace's eyes and the awkwardness with any other girl he has ever been with before, all he saw was the softness of encouragement in hers.
Rose smiled a small, shy smile, nudging her nose playfully with the skin of his jaw. They were both sitting up on his bed now, and she looked like she was about to giggle, and that alone soothed the knots in Aaron's shoulders.
Rose didn't say anything, yet she managed to untangle the cobwebs of insecurity in Aaron. Her fingers were so delicate, touching his belly first before she took the hem of the shirt and yanked it off in one go.
Aaron flinched. Not from the cold, but from how exposed he was to her. And he knew Rose was different, but he waited. He waited for her to gasp, or to shriek at how –how undefined he was. He waited to see the uneasiness settle in her eyes, waited for her to fidget in surprise.
But she didn't.
She didn't flinch, nor did she sneer or frown. She just smiled. The simplest curve of her lips that did the most dynamic, spine tingling thing to Aaron.
She still didn't say anything.
Her fingers went straight to his chest, her eyes marveling at the sight of him. Aaron didn't want to believe it was true. The tips of her fingers were smooth, encircling his chest in such delicacy that Aaron was forgetting how to breathe –Oh my God I can't even function–
She peeked at him through her lashes, that stunning smile curled onto her lips. She had that twinkle in her eyes again; the twinkle that Aaron noticed she had when she was looking at something beautiful.
Rose guarded his stare, reassuring him that he was beautiful. Still holding his blue stare, she lowered her head to the tips of his collarbones; eyes fluttering close as she placed a chaste kiss there. Aaron couldn't breathe.
He marveled at how she made his chest feel strong and steady; toned and upright. He marveled at how she made him feel beautiful.
She kissed his shoulders next. Then his jaw. His neck. Then she was back on his chest.
And when she looked up to him, she grinned.
"You look so much more muscular without your shirt on," She told him. That made Aaron chuckle.
"That's nice to hear." He replied, smiling.
"You're just as beautiful without the shirt too," She whispered against his skin, her fingers gliding against his back. "Absolutely beautiful," She murmured, pulling him closer to her.
And he believed her.
He believed he was beautiful. Even if it was just for that single moment, but dear God did those couple of seconds change everything. Because it was then that he thought that perhaps even after all this time, there might be the slightest sliver of beauty in him. And that sliver was more than enough.
And he couldn't help but pull her mouth to his own.
➳➳➳
They were toxic for each other.
They were 2 different chemicals; chemicals if reacted together would set the entire world on fire, allowing the universes to behold their flaming explosion.
It was just in their natural states; it was in their melting points and boiling points and just their different thermal capacity and electrical conductivity–
They were immiscible.
At least, that's what it seemed like at first.
Aaron was oil and Rose was water and no matter how hard she tried to dissolve with him, there was always this layer of hostility that Aaron insisted on.
But with time, they blended into each other.
They transformed really; from lethal solutes that could mess up the atomic structure of elements into the accepting air that mingled together and provided Earth their calming presence.
And it blows Aaron's mind on how in the world –Jesus Christ how how how– did they go from being mephitic venoms to harmless electrons that always circled one another.
And it wasn't that Rose was vicious and intolerable, good God it was never about that. It was just the simple obvious.
Rose was the kind of girl whom stars would twinkle for, whom parents would love more than their own kids. She had delicacy swirling through her hands, the universe in her eyes, the sun in her smile and music in her voice.
But not Aaron.
Aaron was the dark smoke infused with toxins that lingered after a lighted cigarette. He was the rubble littering the world after a nuclear explosion. He was a disaster. He had turmoil running through his fingers and hurricanes flashing through his eyes. He was a tornado that couldn't help but demolish everything in its path.
He was everything malignant while Rose was the kind of person who could resurrect the dead with her sunlit smile.
But yet, they melted into each other. It was like a combustion of such force and fever that it sent galaxies into shards.
Because somehow, they found their own personal safe havens in one another; saw a light that no one took a glance at.
They found a home in each other even though their touches burnt both of them at first –her warmth burnt his cold hands while his iciness melted hers.
It was blisters and scratches at first; the white scrapes of heat against a frozen ice cube as well as the unsteady flicker of a flame.
But they found a way. They always did.
Aaron somehow managed to fit his broken pieces of ice into her gaps of light; just as she managed to shine her rays through the blisters of his coldness.
It was something so impossible, but they both managed to make it look like a 2 second Math question.
Because it was absolute insanity on how a burning star and a mist of ice could even remotely meet; let alone find peace in one another.
There were galaxies between them, temperature changes that neither of them could withstand–
But they did it.
Even though Aaron had her flaming fingertips on his icy skin and Rose had his clusters of ice around her shoulders, they did it.
They became indestructible.
Author's Note:
OH MY GOD THIS WAS LONG HOPE YOU DON'T MIND YAYAYAYAY! Anywho, hi loves! How are you all doing? I hope you're all good, and I also hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope I gave some feels. ^^ And sorry for such a late update, it's just that school and homework are stressing me out and I literally have no time to do anything and I hate the fact that Mechanics exist. (But I hope this chapter made up for it, right? :D)
Vote - I fell in love with the way you voted, slowly and then all at once.
Comment - That's the thing about euphoria, it demands to be felt.
Share - Everything is unstable to Nadia.
And this chapter is dedicated to Shaheera_07 for leaving me such a beautiful comment in the last chapter! Thank you for all the kind words sweetheart, and I'm glad you enjoyed Hers! Hope you liked this chapter too and ilysm! <3 :D xoxo
Of course, more dedications on the way because you all are fab af and deserve more than dedications I swear. <3 :)
This new image thing is going to be really fun to use like yAAAASSSS.
And you guys, HERS REACHED 351+ K AND I EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE AND LIKE BLEEDING ON THE FLOOR LIKE OH MY GOD I CANT HANDLE THIS DKFMNKDSF
Thank you all so much, like you all have no idea how much this all means to me. I mean I wrote this story thinking I would be lucky if it hit 100K and yet here we are entering 352K. It is absolutely insane on how people seem to enjoy this story even though the first few chapters were like utter crap, but thank you all so much for joining Aaron and Rose's journey.
(Zac Efron because I mean why not)
Thank you for making me believe in myself, it is something that I can never forget. :)
And you all need to go and subscribe to TaintedRain's YouTube channel, because I can tell you all right now, it is going to be absolute bomb. AND SHE IS ADORBS LIKE YES KFMDSKLFMD. ^_^
That's all for now loves, until next time.
I love you beautiful, remember that. :)
-Nadia <3 :D xoxo