When Aiden and I arrived at the library for our last period, my friends are already there. Turning to face Aiden, I pull him to a halt.
"I'm going to try and convince Bells to have a walk with me so we can talk. I don't know if you want to stay here with Justin and Jordan, or go somewhere else?"
He glances at a table behind me before locking eyes with mine.
"I think I'm going to catch up with the boys."
Turning around I see he's looking at the table filled with the football players.
I nod. "Okay, I'll see you later then."
I'm about to walk past him, when he pulls me back. My body slams with his as he wraps his arms around me. My eyes widen at the contact, and my cheeks begin to blush.
"I'll see you later." He kisses my cheek and walks away.
Okay breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
I take one final breath and walk over to Bella, who's reading along with Liz.
"Hey."
Bella looks up.
"Oh hey!" Liz says looking happy to see me.
She gets up from her seat and pulls me in for a hug.
Once she sits back down, I tun to face Bella. "Can we talk?"
She nods standing up.
"You two are leaving me?" Liz pouts.
"Sorry Lizzy, Bells and I have things to discuss. We'll try to come back to you as soon as possible. In the mean time, why don't you go with Justin and Jordan."
She glances over at them, and as soon as she does, her eyes connect with Jordan who gives her a smile.
"Y-Yeah, O-Okay."
Bella hugs her.
"Bye Eli." Bella smirks.
A blush adorns Liz's face.
We walk out the library and simultaneously head for the soccer field. When we reach outside, we both kick a rock at the same time. Looking up at each other we smile, before running towards the field.
I find a soccer ball lying on the field and immediately run towards it. Turning to face Bella, I aim my foot and kick the ball towards her. She catches it with her foot and kicks it back.
"So, can I ask what's been up with you this morning?" Is the first thing I say, as we kick the ball back and forth.
She bites the inside of her lip. "It's not my place to tell."
I nod, understanding.
"I don't want you to think, I'm not happy for you. I really am, I just had someone in mind."
"Justin."
"W-What?" She says looking startled.
"You were thinking of Justin, weren't you."
She sighs. "I was."
"Why haven't you tried making any moves on him?"
"Because, he's stuck on another girl." She looks away.
I gasp. "No way!"
She nods. "And there's no way I can compete with her!"
She sighs as she walks to the bleachers to take a seat.
"And why the hell not!"
"Because! She's like the definition of perfection!"
I walk over to her and sit down next to her.
"Bells, no one is perfect." I say softly.
"You are!"
I stand up. "Woah, don't put me and perfect in the same sentence."
"And why the hell not?" She stands up. "I'm not even going to mention your natural beauty because everyone knows it, except you apparently. You always put others needs before yours and you try to help as much people as possible. Like the monthly things we do. No one has a big of a heart as you!"
I fan my eyes. "I think something got in my eyes."
"You're normally a good liar, but that was just terrible." Bella laughs.
"You were saying?"
"Oh right, well you two have a lot in common."
I frown. "We do?"
She nods. "Oh yeah, definitely."
"How do you know who she is, but I don't." I pout.
"He hasn't told anyone, well maybe with the exception of Jordan since you know their cousins, but I found out on my own."
"Tell me! I want to know who my best friend likes!"
She shakes her head. "It's not my secret to tell."
"I still think you should go for it." I tell her, sitting back down.
"You mean tell him and lose the friendship we have? Yeah no thanks." She sits down.
"I didn't mean tell him, what I meant was try getting close to him. Form a bond of your own, and go on from there."
She frowns. "I don't understand."
"Well for starters it's no lie that we're all super close friends. But each of us has a bond. Justin and Jordan have a sibling bond, since Jordan has lived with Justin and his family for the past 10 years. Justin and I have a best friend bond, just like you, Liz and I. But you and Justin don't. You two don't really talk unless you have to. You need to have a closer connection with him."
"Justin and Liz don't have a bond either." She says as we head back.
"Liz doesn't like Justin, does she? She likes Jordan, and by the looks of it, he likes her back."
We stop walking. As we look across the library, we watch as Jordan lays his chin on Liz's shoulder as he tries to read her book. Liz blushes as she tries to concentrate on her reading.
When I glance to the side, Justin is trying to focus on his homework. He frowns and the sighs, dropping his pencil.
He needs help.
I take a step in his direction but stop.
Turning to face Bella, I tell her, "Justin is having trouble with whatever homework he's doing, go help him."
I push her in his direction.
"How do you know?" She asks.
I roll my eyes. "I think I know my best friend well enough to know when he needs help with something."
I continue to push her.
"Okay, I'm going! I can walk on my own, you know." She scolds but walks in his direction. When she reaches his table he looks up and smiles. Bella looks the slightest bit nervous as she sits down next to him. She says something to him and points at his homework. He nods and says something back. I'm assuming she offers to help him based on his smile. He nods and says what's looks like a thank you.
Bella looks up and catches my eyes.
"Thank you." She mouths.
I nod. "Anytime," I mouth back.
I look around the library for a specific black haired, grey eyed specimen. When I finally spot him, I head over in his direction. The football boys see me before he does.
"Hey my man-" Ricky starts but then stops.
"Hey my woman!" He says.
Aiden finally looks up.
"Hey Ricky." I laugh doing that handshake guys do.
Apparently when you handshake one of the guys you have to do it with all of them.
"Who the f|ck are you calling your woman?" Aiden asks Ricky.
I can tell he's joking, but Ricky apparently can't.
"I-I didn't mean it like that, honestly! The whole team knows she's yours man. I didn't mean anything by it, I swear!" Ricky raises his hands in surrender.
Aiden and I look at each other before we burst into laughter.
"I know man." Aiden pats his shoulder as he stands up.
"You're leaving us," Leo feigns a pout.
"Depends on what she wants." Aiden says wrapping an arm around me.
"M-Me?" I glance up at him.
He nods, "I'll follow you wherever you go."
"Awww," The guys all says together.
I hide my face in Aiden chest, feeling my cheeks flush.
"I hate you." I murmur, still hiding my face.
"No you don't." He states wrapping his arms around me.
My heart flutters. I pull away slightly, so he can't hear my heart pound loudly.
"I was going to go back with the gang, but you can stay here if you want." I tell him, looking up.
He shakes his head, "I can only stay so long with the guys."
"Hey!" They all exclaim.
Aiden chuckles, glancing up at them. "Sorry boys. I'll see you all in a bit for practice."
Aiden places his hand on the lower half of my back and steers us away. We walk back to where my friends as sit down, just as everyone looks up.
"Hey, you're done with your homework." I say noticing the complete homework sheet on Justin's folder.
"Yeah, I was going to ask you, but Belle offered to help and well now I get it." He says looking up.
He's the only person to call her Belle, other than her stupid ex.
Instead of tensing like I would have done if Aiden had called me Annie, she smiles.
Then again her ex cheated on her, while your kidnapper was the one who called you that name and physically, mentally, verbally and emotionally hurt you.
"A-bear"
I look up, startled.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?" He asks looking worried.
I nearly jump when a warm hand gently lands on my thigh. Looking to the side, my eyes lock with Aiden's concerned ones, as he rubs my thigh with his thumb.
"A-bear?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
I nod, not able to form words with Aiden's hand on my leg. I grab his hand in an attempt to pull it away from my leg, but instead he interlaces our fingers. Tingles shoot up my arm. Despite the both of us having lots of homework, neither one of us pull away. Instead we talk with everyone as they do their homework.
When the bell rings, we stand up. Bella glances at our hands and then looks up at me.
She winks, before steering Justin away. She tells him something which makes him laugh. He throws his arm loosely around her shoulder and I don't need to look at her to know Bella is blushing.
I look up at Aiden who's already looking at me and hold back a squeal. He shakes his head, a smile present.
"I'll see you after practice." Aiden says.
I nod my head and smile. He smiles back and kisses my forehead. My eyes simultaneously close and open when he pulls away. When I turn around, I see Bella is trying to distract Justin, while Jordan is chatting with Liz. I walk over just as the two of them say bye.
"Enjoy practice." I say to them.
Justin smiles kissing the side of my head, and brings me in for a hug. "You too A-bear."
When he pulls away, I give Jordan a quick hug before they walk to the football field. Turning back around I see my teammates are all looking at me.
"What?" I ask them, setting down my bag.
"Damn Cap, why didn't you tell us you had a thing with Aiden?" Gaby asks.
"We don't have a thing." I deny.
"You sure about that?" She asks not believing me.
I nod.
"So you're saying, if one of us started talking to him, it would be okay, because there's nothing going between you two."
"Exactly." I say through gritted teeth.
Leslie grins. "Cap, do you like him?"
"N-No." I stutter.
"I think you do," Gaby teases.
"Don't worry Cap, we know he's off limits."
"I don't see any practicing going on." Coach shouts.
The team freezes.
"Sorry coach! I was just telling them what we were going to be doing today!" I say loud enough for her to hear me.
"Very well then!"
"Thanks Cap." The team says looking relieved.
"Come on we have to practice. Our first game is coming up."
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~ THIA ♥️✨