Making her way over to where Aaron was stood amongst Jack and a few other guys, Sophie wrapped her arms around his chest from behind. Resting her head against his back, she waited for him to turn around.
"Babe." She mumbled when he didn't make any effort to move.
She knew exactly what he was doing and knew he would play this out for as long as he possibly could.
"Stop being a stroppy arse."
After their argument earlier that night Sophie was trying to bring things back to a mellow tone and hoped that he would be over the previous frustration. Whenever they usually argued, it was always quickly solved with a make up session that Aaron refused to turn down however, this time he was standing his ground and being extremely stubborn.
"Hey!" Sophie pulled back at this point and made her way around to stand in front of him.
"I'm talking, just wait." He glimpsed back at her for a split second, speaking to her as though she was a child before looking back to the guys.
They were fully aware of what was going on and were trying to refrain from making any mocking comments. Aaron had spent the past hour letting his frustrations out on them so they were just waiting for this whole thing to blow up more. He didn't get angry often, especially not with Sophie but it was clear that the honeymoon period in their relationship was gaining its cracks and the Aaron that got teased for being pathetically love struck by Sophie was breaking out.
When Aaron was trying his hardest to ignore Sophie and engage back into the conversation that the guys were caught up in, she decided to play him at his own game.
Standing beside him, she ran her hand up the back of his shirt and let her fingers skim gently against his skin. Her touch moved repetitively up his back in a way that she knew he loved and he was finding it extremely difficult to look unfazed.
One of the guys had caught on with what she was trying to do and was trying to prevent Aaron from seeing that he was in fact, laughing along with Sophie's cunning grin as she caught his eye.
As Sophie then grazed the waistband of his jeans, she made a move to press her lips to the side of his neck before hovering by his ear.
"I love you." She whispered so only he could hear and with that, he turned his face to look at her.
It was killing him just standing there and trying to pretend that his body wasn't reacting to her touch, so closing the gap between them he pressed his lips to hers.
Winding her hands around his neck, Sophie then kept him close as the kiss became more heated however, it was quickly cut short when Aaron pulled back.
Instantly jumping straight back into his previous way, Sophie realised that he had been playing her that whole time. While she was stood there breathless and in a fluster over what had just happened, he had managed to instantly calm himself down.
He had just stolen the pleasure moment he wanted, clinging onto the benefits before instantly shutting her out again and engrossing back into the conversation with the guys.
Sophie stood there stunned, just looking at the side of his face while he was giving her zero attention.
"Dick." She bit before walking away.
*
"You might as well just go home if you're going to sit there like that all night." Juliet threw her arms out when she approached Dylan.
He was sat in the corner of the room on his phone while the three children played around him.
Looking up at Juliet once he finally took notice of her presence, he began shaking his head.
"I'm looking after the kids." He shrugged as though it was obvious but it wasn't obvious to Juliet.
If looking after the kids meant sitting engrossed in your phone, then she had a lot to learn about parenthood.
"You're shutting yourself out of everything that's going on here."
Dylan had already been acting weird enough since he came home but he was making it even worse now. All Juliet wanted was for him to engage in the party and show her that she had nothing to worry about after the suspicions she had built but he wasn't doing that.
Their relationship felt like it was slowly crumbling and it was breaking her heart watching it happen. She didn't want to blame Dylan without fully knowing what went on when he was home but she had nowhere else to place the blame.
Things had only changed since he had been gone and had come back acting like a completely different person. Just as she finally thought they were moving forward, with not only Grace but with the engagement too, things came to a sudden halt.
"I'm just exhausted, Juliet." That's all." Dylan sat back in his chair as he looked up at her.
When she just stood still on the spot for a few seconds, looking back at him while not knowing what to say, he reached his hand out towards her.
"Come here." He spoke tiredly.
Debating with herself if to comply, she finally did and took a seat down beside him.
"I just want to know that we're okay." Juliet spoke sadly, genuinely getting worried for the relationship.
"We are." Dylan insisted as he kissed her palm. "I promise."
There were another few minutes of silence while neither of them said anything and just looked out to everyone socialising around the room.
There was so much Juliet wanted to say and so much that she wanted to ask but she didn't know where to start.
"So that text..." She then began as Dylan was frowning at her by this point, confused at what she was talking about.
"I saw it on your phone... from that girl in the photos and it was a little over the top for an innocent friend."
Not even daring to look at Dylan, Juliet had just done the one thing she promised herself she wouldn't do and that was to basically accuse him instantly of doing something wrong. She didn't want to push him away before she had even heard his side of the story but it had been digging at her for too long to act like it was nothing.
"What text?" Dylan then asked, continuing to act confused.
"The one claiming she missed you. There were plenty of kisses on it too. I'm not accusing you of anything here; I'm just curious about who she is." Juliet tried to save her previous comment as Dylan began to laugh.
"Her name is Afrika. She's an old friend... a family friend. That's all Juliet." He began to laugh as if Juliet had been crazy to even think it could be anything but innocent.
Juliet was stunned quiet for a few moments, as she couldn't quite figure out what to say next. Part of her felt stupid for accusing him of doing something shady but at the same time, she found it hard to believe it was at all innocent.
Dylan had never mentioned her before and added to the fact that she never got an invite to join him at home too, made it all too sceptical.
"So there is nothing between you? No past or anything?" Juliet then probed to get some clarification and when Dylan began shaking his head, genuinely shocked that she was asking, she knew she had to drop it.
"I'm sorry for not taking you with me. I just needed a break away with my family; it had been a long time since I'd spent time alone with them."
Juliet knew how much family meant to Dylan and also knew how much it killed him not getting to see them much. Juliet lived around her family so seeing them could be a daily occurrence if she wanted it to be and it usually was. However, for Dylan it was quite the opposite and he was lucky to see them every few months.
"No, no it's fine. I understand. I'm sorry for doubting you... I was just being insecure about it all and-" Juliet was cut short when Erika appeared in front of them.
"Juliet Lloyd, my future sister, we need to dance!" She held out her hand in Juliet's direction and she knew exactly what Erika was doing.
"Just one second." Juliet chuckled, trying to stall it but the brunette was having none of it.
"Nah ah. Romeo can wait."
With that, Erika pulled Juliet up onto her feet before wrapping her arm over her shoulder and practically dragging her to the dance floor.
"Don't give him too much. Make him suffer to win over you attention." Erika looked at her warningly before Juliet began shaking her head.
"No, everything is fine now. I know the truth, we've made up."
"By truth you mean bullshit. Don't believe it like a muppet Juliet. You need to keep your guard up until he shows you how much he loves you."
When Juliet didn't respond but just moved to the music with her brothers fiancée, Erika continued.
"I'm just looking out for you and I know a bad egg when I see one. Just be careful. Don't throw yourself back at him too quickly."
*
"Where are you going?" Sophie asked the moment Aaron got off the phone.
After Sophie had walked off earlier, she had been going crazy when she hadn't seen anymore of Aaron for the rest of the night. She was not only mad that he wouldn't seem to forgive and forget but also because he had left her in charge of keeping an eye on Phoebe alone, just adding to previous issues.
"Out, with a few friends." Was Aaron's shrugged response acting as though it was no big deal.
He was doing exactly what Sophie had previously done and going ahead with his own selfish plans without running them by her. As much as she was angered by what he was doing, she wasn't going to back down and admit that what she had done was just as bad.
"You can't just ditch the party, Aaron!"
"Yeah, I can. He's your friend, not mine. I have nothing to do with anyone here."
When Aaron had bumped into an old school friend at this party that he hadn't seen in years, the friend had persuaded him into joining him and a few others on a night out. This guy was here with his girlfriend who knew Erika and was feeling just as bored as Aaron was, therefore, he wasn't going to turn it down especially as he knew it would get back at Sophie.
They were now waiting outside the venue for the other friends they had invited causing Sophie to fill with aggravation that he was just ditching her.
"I'd like to think my boyfriend would be decent enough to stay with me, especially as we have a daughter to look after too." Sophie bit back, throwing her arms across her chest.
"You've got help, you'll be alright." Aaron replied emotionless as he placed his hands either side of her face before kissing her head.
She knew he was doing this on purpose and she knew he was currently being filled with satisfaction at how angry she was getting but she couldn't help but continue to act in that way.
She knew that if she walked away now and didn't make a scene, she would have won but that wasn't going to happen.
"Do you want one, man?" The friend then held out a pack of cigarettes towards Aaron as he happily pulled one out. Lighting it up he then laid it between his lips as Sophie looked at him wide eyed.
"What?! No." She bit as she knocked it from his mouth and watched as it fell to the floor.
"What the fuck, Soph?" Aaron looked back at her in shock as he reached to pick it up before she stood on it.
"You told me you had stopped."
"It's just one and it's not like you haven't done it before. I don't understand the big deal." He shrugged his shoulders.
Smoking was one of Aaron's habits Sophie had always hated. It was something they didn't really speak about in front of anyone else because it was a habit he had worked so hard to break. No one realised he still did it anymore, including Sophie but it was clear he hadn't quite given up like she thought he had.
"In the past yeah, when I was stupid but not now. You can't smoke around Phoebe."
"I'm not smoking around her?" Aaron opened his arms in argument to gesture to her not being around.
Not saying a word as she just looked back at Aaron for a few moments, Sophie finally turned her attention to his friend.
"Don't give him anymore." She instructed and he looked back like a naughty child whom had just been told off by a teacher.
"It won't hurt. Drunk smoking isn't a habit, it's occasional." The friend retorted back jokingly yet Sophie wasn't laughing.
"Oh really? Cool. Let's have one then." She replied before holding out her hand.
The friend then glimpsed over to Aaron as conformation of what was happening. He couldn't understand if she was joking around or not but he finally put the pack in her hand.
He should have known it was the wrong decision instantly because walking over to the side of the road; Sophie threw them across before waiting to watch a car drive over and crush them.
Turning back around, she was faced with a very confused looking friend and a pissed off Aaron.
"Shame. You better make the most of that one." Sophie said signalling to the one Aaron's friend currently had between his lips.
Pulling Sophie over to the side, Aaron gripped onto his cap with frustration.
"For fuck sake, Sophie! Just fucking stop. You're acting crazy."
"Me? Crazy?" Her mouth fell open. "You told me you had quit yet you happily take one from his hand like its fucking normal."
"I have quit. It was just one."
"Just one? Yeah just one that turns into another one. It's disgusting, Aaron."
"You can't control what I do. What don't you understand about that?"
He was not only angry about her telling him he couldn't smoke but also for making a scene in front of his friend whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
He had always been a typical lad at school and, much like Jack, had girls falling at his feet allowing him to act as he pleased. However, the scene that was currently playing out was not showing him in that same light and was instead showing the new Aaron, that in roles reversed, would fall at the girl's feet he was head over heels for and that was Sophie.
"I'm not controlling what you do, I'm helping you! You wanted to give up just as much but now you're acting like an idiot just to get back at me!"
"Oh fuck off, Soph. Give it a fucking rest." Aaron threw his hand out as a gesture that he was over this conversation. "Go and find someone else to boss around, will you?"
As Aaron took the silence from Sophie as his opportunity to walk away, he headed back over to his friend who was no longer alone. Instead, the group that they had invited were now there and ready to head off into town.
Watching as they welcomed Aaron back into the group, with pats on the back and a fresh pack of cigarettes being handed about, Sophie waited for Aaron to turn around. It took around a minute before he did so, just as the group were heading off to leave. He held back for a moment and let his gaze catch Sophie's.
Waiting for that exact moment when his eyes met hers, Sophie did the one thing to sum up every single feeling inside of her right now and held her middle finger up in his direction.
"Fuck you." She mouthed before flicking her hair off her shoulder and walking back inside.
**
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