April's POV
"Have you booked your flight?"
I looked up from my meal and shook my head in silence. My attention had strayed back to the green peas rolling around my plate and I took aim with my fork, stabbing at one.
"Honey, you need to make a decision."
"I have, mum. I'm going back to England with you." I snapped, my eyes flashing. "I'm leaving. That's final."
"April, I don't think you've gotten over your first heartbreak. Moving away from it isn't going to help you heal; especially since moving means moving to another continent. You can't leave without sorting things out here first. It's not right, no matter how much that boy hurt you." She said softly, brushing her curls behind her ear as she reached out to squeeze my hand reassuringly.
I frowned and drew back, instantly conflicted. "One minute you want to me to come back to England with you and the next you want me to stay here. Mum, I don't know what you want from me."
Her lips pursed at my tone and she removed her hand. "April Evans, I realize you have gone through your first break up, but use that tone with me again and I'm not going to be as understanding. Capiche?"
I pinched the place between my nose and shut my eyes, willing myself not to leave this table in this stupidly pretentious restaurant right away. She looked at me again and held her forehead as though the addition of her eldest daughter had put back unnecessary stress in her life. "Look, I just want to spend some time with you. I thought you'd enjoy this restaurant."
"You mean you wanted to get my mind off 'other things.'"
"Those 'other things' being Aiden."
"Precisely."
"I see living here has improved your sarcasm."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I grew up."
"Yes, well, I can see that."
Silence passed between us, tension oppressing the air around us – I felt like my patience was stretched so thin it would snap. My mind veered towards that strange man at the club a few weeks ago – Slap. We'd spoken for a short while before his boyfriend arrived and whisked him away.
I'm certain I spilled my guts out about Aiden to him, but everything seemed slightly hazy that night, even though I hadn't even taken a sip of an alcohol. I guess Slap was a welcome excuse. He was just someone who didn't know anything about Aiden and that made it all the more easy for me. Plus, I'd seen him various times again in different scenes – one of them being the fruit aisle in the supermarket.
"Aiden was a complicated boy, April." My mother shook her head at her food, "he sat by your bedside those 6 months you were in a coma. He comforted me when I cried for you – when I thought you were going to die." I paused the process of mutilating my peas. "But he had an alcohol problem. He had had problems of his own and he bought you into them as well – he broke your heart." I couldn't help but prevent the blow I felt to my stomach from hearing my own mother say this to me. "I admit it was a nice surprise finding out you had a boyfriend this dedicated. So was your dad. And he treated you well and us too – even Olivia. But it was clear that his problems were going to get the better of him. I know I said to sort things out first. But I mean maybe call him – say goodbye like that."
"Why are you only telling me this now?"
"Because I've had enough of watching you beat yourself up. You pretend you're okay and I know you're not. I know my daughter well enough to know you're waiting for him. And will continue to do so. Leaving is the only way to mend what he broke. And at the end of the day, you are 17-"
"Nearly 18," I interrupted.
She carried on, "as I was saying. You're only 17 – it's natural to go through break ups – you won't always meet the 'one' on your first go. You still have your life ahead of you to make mistakes." I clutched my napkin in my hand. She didn't understand. We were mates; even if I wanted to hate him, cry about it or move on, I would never be able to. Not whilst we were both still in this world. We would always be pulled together. But she wouldn't understand and I didn't really want to break the news to her that Aiden was a werewolf in the middle of a restaurant.
I looked her in the eyes, frowning. "Did you ever like him?"
"Yeah. But what kind of a mum would I be if I didn't tell you what was good for you."
I sniffed. "I'm going to the bathroom." She looked up at me, raising a brow.
I smiled. "Mum, I'm not going to do weed or anything, don't worry." She scowled at me and shot me a stern look, but I couldn't help but smile slightly at the welcome presence of my mother again, already enjoying the perks of being able to tease her and argue with her.
I guess I missed that whilst I was here and she was there.
Aiden's POV
"Is she here?" I asked much too quickly.
Diego grimaced at me and nodded to Nina, who turned away from the window. "Look Nina, I don't need this right now. Can you just answer the question?"
"What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't kick your ass?" She stepped forward menacingly but I didn't flinch. Diego lunged forward and grabbed her. "You bastard! You broke her heart and left her! You come back after nearly a month and expect her to run back to you! You absolute bastard!"
I stood patiently whilst she yelled and leaned against the door frame, mainly because I felt too weak to stand on my own. Crossing my arms over my chest I raised my eyebrows at her after 5 minutes of banshee hell. "Now that that's off your chest, can we talk?"
"Why should I tell you where she is? Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you." Nina retorted, struggling in Diego's arms.
I took a deep breath. "Because I want to make things right. I want to explain myself.
"What and you couldn't do that a month ago. Or through a call? No. You left her hanging, didn't you? And you broke up with her. I don't think you deserve for her to listen."
"Nina, do you think I was going to call her whilst I was vomiting my guts up? Or whilst I couldn't distinguish one reality from the next? Or whilst I collapsed because I couldn't function without a bottle?" She fell silent, still glaring. "You think I want to drag April into my problems? Do you honestly think I was going to let her deal with something that wasn't hers to deal with or fair for her to deal with? She deserved better." I pushed myself off the wall, turning away, pinching the place between my eyes.
"She's at dinner with her mom." Nina hissed, pulling out of Diego's grasp. "I'm going to Emma's." I was dumbfounded for a moment before I remembered that it had been a month; Emma and Carlos had probably returned from their honeymoon and were already filled in on the latest situation. I thanked her retreating back and turned to leave.
"Aiden!" Diego called my name once and I paused.
"I missed you man," he strode over to me and embraced me. He pulled away and examined me worriedly. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming back?"
"I wanted to see April first. It was only fair." I explained at his fallen expression.
He nodded, pressing his lips together. "That wasn't cool of you to do, breaking up with her in a letter like that. It wasn't fair. It broke her, man." I shut my eyes, feeling thoroughly empty, like all of his words were striking me but not one reached the last shred of dignity I had left in me. "It broke me dude. You're my best friend."
"I'm sorry." I said, feeling guilt. "But telling you would have put you in a difficult position - if Nina or Ap ever found out you knew and didn't tell them..."
"I get it. You had my back, bro. I'll always have yours." He man-hugged me again, punching me playfully in the shoulder and examining me once more.
Whilst he was speaking, my wretched thoughts veered back to April and a pang of guilt rang through me. I needed to see her, to explain. What I did wasn't fair and I didn't expect her to run to me as soon as I walked through those doors – I knew that. And Kaden reminded me of that too. All I wanted was a chance to explain – and if she still didn't forgive me, then I understood that and I'd let her move on properly this time. I would force myself to steer clear of her and let her live her life.
I just needed one chance.
One chance to say I loved her, to kiss her, to explain myself, to apologize, to spend my entity in her presence... not leaving her again.
"I guess it's only fair for April to be the first one to talk to you – to get an explanation." He finished, smiling forlornly. "Go Aiden. They're at the Tofu Lounge. They'll probably be leaving –" he craned his head to look at the clock on the wall – "now."
April's POV
"Slap," I greeted.
Slap looked up from where he was wiping down a podium stand and raised his dusty-coloured eyebrows at me knowingly. "Still sulking around about lover-boy?"
"Mother problems," I replied dryly, shooting him a sickly sweet smile and then pretending to wring my neck to make him laugh.
"Trust me, I have problems with my mom all day, every day. She doesn't believe I'm gay. She thinks I'm 'confused' and keeps spraying me with holy water every time I visit her, as though it would 'cure' me."
"Damn. That's horrible."
"Eh, it's alright now. She's changing a bit - she even acknowledges Jared now. Before, she'd treat him like dry wall."
I grinned at him. Recently, I'd been sitting in on his youth club meetings for the past two weeks after seeing him so much around town that I begun to wonder if he was a stalker. I didn't sit in his sessions because I thought it was helpful, but just for the hell of passing time.
"You know, I'm beginning to think we're becoming friends." He said, looking up.
"I don't think I'm going to become friends with a 25 year old, creepy shrink."
"I'm not a shrink."
"Fine. Therapist."
He smiled. "Ditto." He turned to arrange the chairs in a circle. "So, just sitting in again today. Or will you join in with our discussions?"
"Sitting in if you don't mind. I won't bother you." I assured.
He turned to look at me, squinting as the very minimal sunlight pouring into the room allocated for 'helping teens through life' club that met up every Tuesday afternoons blasted him in the face. "Maybe sitting in our meeting and talking about 'the boy' will help you move on."
"Everyone breaks up with 'a boy' sometime in their life. I'm no different and anyway, my problem isn't even that big of a deal." I shrugged, feigning normality.
"I still think you should speak about it. Or talk to him, whoever 'him' is. I'm a therapist – it's the ideal opportunity."
"I met you in a club. I don't think I'll ever be able to view you as a young adult's therapist."
He scowled at me."Then why sit in our meetings every Tuesday?"
I smiled widely, "because we're friends." I drawled. To be perfectly honest, I don't actually know why I did sit in these sessions with this man I hardly knew and suddenly trusted and spoke to like he was someone I'd known for a long time. But he didn't come across as threatening; and I enjoyed a distraction and the sense of rebellion that came with pursuing this man I'd met a club, as weird and unnatural as that may sound.
"Ha! Friends with a creepy, 25 year old therapist! Didn't your parents ever teach you not to trust strangers?" He snapped me out of my stupor.
I shrugged nonchalantly. "If you wanted to murder me, you would have done so by now. And I don't suspect the smell of rotting corpses around." I sniffed the air. "So I think I'm safe. Plus, I'd be able to kick your ass any day." I added on, grinning.
He laughed. "And Jared would kick yours." Jared was his boyfriend – the one who'd stood him up at the club, but was actually stuck in the police station for trying to flirt his way out of a parking ticket.
I watched with mild amusement as the session began, ignoring the few curious glances thrown behind to me from those wondering what this strange girl was doing sitting in their session for the third time in a row now.
Why am I here again? The thought ran through my mind and my brain responded to my mind for the umpteenth time.
Because you feel like you belong in a place where no-one asks you the questions – you listen, observe, learn – and that's all.
Aiden's POV
"I don't think it's a good thing, you turning up like this and wanting to speak with her. You were AWOL for nearly one month, Aiden. Jeez, I should be furious at you. And I am. You broke my daughter's heart!" April's mother, Melissa, had a curious way of showing she was angry.
Her voice was calm; her volume neither lowered nor rose. Her tone didn't stray from its usual pattern either; it was the raw emotion that tinged her voice that me feel ashamed. There was nothing but sheer disappointment. I listened to her intently, propping myself up against the wall as she spoke.
I'd skipped breakfast and lunch and my entire body felt weak. I felt as though I was on the verge of shattering into a thousand pieces – I wanted to turn so badly. I wanted to turn and stay turned; being a werewolf eliminated these feelings. Being a werewolf stopped me from feeling like I hadn't messed everything up. It stopped me from feeling like this disenchanted world I'd created for April hadn't just been destroyed by me again single-handedly. Being a werewolf made me feel stronger, less vacillating – something my mother would be proud of.
I was snapped out my stupor by something Melissa said. "I don't know if she wants to speak to you, Aiden. She is leaving. And I don't want her mind changed by love; it's fickle for her to throw away her future for one matter – a matter that may seem irrelevant in the future. She is leaving and I don't want you changing her mind."
My mouth opened and closed. Leaving? Leaving for where? "L-leaving? What do you mean?" I spluttered, lurching forward in my seat. We were in April's apartment where her mother was also currently residing; when they weren't at the restaurant, I figured they would have gone straight home, but April has 'disappeared' again as her mother so kindly put it.
She thinned her lips at me disapprovingly. "She is coming back to England – home."
"What about her student visa? School?"
"We can find her a place in school in England. And her visa is nearing its expiry data; she could either apply for a Green card or come back home, where she belongs. I think she's had enough of an adventure in America by now. She's gained her independence, but her place is in England, with her family."
No. No. No. Please, no.
April's POV
The session broke up and I watched the group dissipate lethargically; some moved to grab a cookie quickly before leaving from the small table set up in the corner, others shot for the door and others lingered, checking their phones slyly for updates on their ride home.
I approached Slap and raised my eyebrows, "good talk."
"Thanks. Want to talk about your problems now?" He persisted, quirking an eyebrow hopefully.
I scowled, "you already picked on me during the session when I specifically asked you not to."
"I warned you. I mean, c'mon, sitting in a therapy session for teenagers so they can talk out their problems and you just sit there in one corner listening. People feel uncomfortable! And anyway, you shot me down and avoided the question in the coldest way possible."
I smiled sweetly and pushed myself off the stool. "Well, I would say this has been fun, but I can't say it has been. So – bye." I waved my hand to him jokingly, but he made a noise of protest, stopping me.
"Look. Stop sulking and hanging around a strange man you met when he discovered you as an underage teen in a club. It's creepy."
I scowled at him. "You're creepy."
He scraped chairs back on their hind legs resulting in a whining noise of discontent. I winced at the sound. "Maybe it's time to find out why you're avoiding people you know. Or avoiding talking about something that has quite clearly affected you severely."
"Geez, it's a breakup Slap. You're getting more emotional about it than I am."
"Well April, I am a teenage therapist. It's my job to piss you off."
"Nice job description," I said dryly.
He stuck his tongue out childishly. Then, he straightened up and cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed. "Cat gotcha tongue?" I teased roguishly, turning back with him to see what the disturbance was.
Standing in the doorway, draped with shadows and the ghosts of previous members who quite clearly died of boredom in this damn therapy room, stood a familiar figure. Tall, lean, dark. My jaw slackened as my glasses aided eyes found a visage amongst the darkness. Glints of eyes that captivated me, the familiar brush of golden-brown hair, the square of its jaw, the bow-shaped curve of its lips.
The figure stepped forwardly cautiously. "April?"
I couldn't quite get my mouth to work or my sass together again to reply, Aiden?
A.N. Non-edited. Thank you to FreeVirtualKisses for the awesome banner - I love it!