''You have got to be kidding me''
''What, are you not happy to see me?'' he said making me turn around to look at him, noticing how close to me he was standing. He had his signature smirk on, looking down at me.
''Cut the BS, Aiden, why the hell are you in my house and how did you get here in the first place?'' I asked taking a few steps back to find my phone and create some space between us. I was angry. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if steam was starting to come out of my ears. I didn't say anything at the party but there was no way in hell I was going to stay quiet this time.
''Let's just say I remembered hearing your mum once say that you had a second key somewhere in the garden and thought I'd give it a shot. Turns out three years later the key's still there. I mean, you guys need to find a safer place to keep your keys. You wouldn't want any, I don't know, intruders'' he said, his voice turning deeper as he walked towards me.
My breathing turned uneven and my hands felt unsteady. It's a trick to make you forget I kept telling myself, hoping I wouldn't give in. ''You're the one giving me advice on intruders? You're the intruder here!'' I said with a shaky voice, taking another step back, making him take another step forward. ''I didn't see you complain, though, did you now, Evelyn?" he rasped, moving even closer. I looked up at him, his grey eyes darkening, unveiling a storm behind them.
I looked at him, squinted my eyes and looked away, still being able to feel him looking at me. How dare he? ''Seriously, you have every right to be mad at me'' he said, suddenly turning serious. I looked at him, remembering everything that had happened tonight, also reminding myself he had a lot of explaining to do. ''You think?'' I said, moving away from him and leaving the room and heading towards the kitchen as he followed me. ''You come back after three years and the only thing you have to say for yourself is that you're sorry and I appreciate that you at least say that, but 'sorry' can't fix shit, Aiden ''
I hated being so abrupt to him, thinking that maybe just maybe something out of everything I had told him had hurt him. I shook my head and put that thought aside. Three years of me constantly worrying, three years of me feeling rejected and hurt. If I could take that, he can take whatever I have to say.
He ran a hand through his hair, sighing ''You have no fucking idea of how hard I tried to make things work so that they wouldn't've led to this, but I couldn't'' he paused and tugged at his hair, looking away from me ''they wouldn't let me'' he said with a shaky voice
''They? As in the guys?'' I said, making him laugh, bitterly before sitting in the chair on the other side of the counter which we were sitting by. ''The guys? No, no, no. The people I'm talking about could only wish they had even a third of the guys' hearts. Maybe then they'd actually see what it's like to have a heart'' he said, locking his jaw and looking away, his words emitting hatred.
I could tell he was hurt, I just didn't know why. It was obvious that he wasn't given a choice when he left our hometown but the reason behind it stayed unknown and I could already tell that there was no way he'd tell me even if I asked. ''What did they do to you, Aiden?'' I said with a quiet voice, looking at him with worried eyes. I was angry, yes; but that didn't mean I stopped caring about him nor that I was less worried now.
He turned to look at me, a frown taking over his features. He opened his mouth to say something but then decided against it and closed it. ''Why are you asking this now?'' he asked, getting up to get a glass of water. ''Like, why would you think they did something to me?'' he said. All of the sudden the atmosphere had changed and though he didn't say it, through he way he was acting I could tell that there was something dark he was hiding and trying to help me find, just without admitting it himself.
''You've changed, Aiden. I'm not talking looks here, you changed. The way you talk, the way you do things'' I said, looking down, not daring to look at him. I had been with him for less than an hour after three years of not seeing him at all and I could already tell something was wrong. The way he talked, the way he moved, the way he didn't show any emotion other than anger and coldness. No matter what he had told me that night I could still see that through all of his words was someone hurt who was constantly trying to find ways to hide his pain.
''So what? I don't qualify to be your friend anymore? What? Am I not good enough to be your friend? Do I need to change for you too? Tell me, Evelyn, do I?'' he almost yelled while slamming his hands on the counter in front of me, his eyes dark ''No!'' I tried to yell back, my voice coming out shakier than I wanted it to as I got up to meet him. ''No. No you don't. Where is this even coming from, Aiden? It's me you're talking to, not anyone else, me'' I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, looking at him. This time I wasn't trying to understand if something was wrong, I already knew. What it was didn't matter, the only thing certain was that no matter what it was, I'd make sure to be there for him this time, regardless of how he couldn't be there for me when I needed him.
He slowly looked up at me, weakness showing in his eyes. He turned his head and briefly looked at my hand that was laying on his shoulder before sighing. The little emotion shown in those actions of him was quickly covered by the emotionless mask he put on. He moved away from me, grabbed his phone and headed towards the door.
''Are you leaving?'' I said from where I was. Had I made him want to leave?
''It was a mistake coming here in the first place. I should get home, it's late anyway.'' He said coldly, before opening the door to leave. I muttered an 'okay' and went to my couch without looking at him. I didn't want to see him leave again, probably because I didn't know when I was going to see him again. I moved towards my couch and cuddled myself with the blanket I had left here before I left for the party since I had spent all day -except for the part when I had to get ready, watching TV in my blanket on the couch. I opened the TV and buried myself In there. I heard the door close just as my eyes did too. I didn't want to cry, he just went home, but for some reason it still felt painful.
''Alright, move over''
My eyes widened and I screamed, turning around to look at Aiden? Hadn't he left?
''No, I didn't leave now move over before I change my mind.''
Oh, okay so he's a mind reader now. I moved over and made room for him to sit in the couch -yes, I had taken up and entire couch, now get over it, cuddling my blanket even more. I had no idea what made him stay, but I wasn't going to complain about it. Truth to be told, I had to spend the entire night alone and let's just say I wasn't really looking forward to it.
He sat next to me, looking at the tv, an emotionless expression on his face. It seemed as if he was trying to process something but I couldn't tell what It was. Definitely not The Fresh Prince Of Bell Air that was playing on TV. His face was relaxed but also seemed as if he was trying to keep himself composed. That's when I decided to ask-
''Why did you stay?"
That made him turn around in an instant, a frown now replacing his calm face. For some seconds he didn't respond, he just looked at me, as if trying to find the right answer.
''What do you mean?'' he said, his voice more raspy than usual. ''I mean, you said coming here was a mistake and then almost left so why did you stay?'' I said seeing how he was a little uncomfortable now, as if he didn't want to tell me the reason why. Seems like a running theme, doesn't it? ''I, uh, I guess I didn't want to leave you alone tonight'' he said and added a small smile before looking at the TV again.
''But you need to promise me one thing''
''What is it?''
''You can't tell anyone about this; me being in your house'' he said, turning to look at me again, more serious this time. What? Did he not want people to know we were hanging out? He had literally sneaked in my house just to spend a little more time with me and now he wanted me to hide the fact that we were together after three years?
''I don't know if it slipped your mind but some moments ago you were asking me if you weren't good enough to be my friend. I think it's time I asked you the same.'' I said, turning to look at him, keeping my voice as serious as I could, trying to hide how disappointed I was.
He sighed and closed the TV, turning his whole body towards me. He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it a little bit before looking down. I tugged on my blanket and waited for his response. He bit his lip and frowned, as if trying to find the right thing to say.
''Listen, Eve, I-'' he paused and sighed again ''I'm not ashamed of you, if that's what you think. I know what this looks like and I know it's hard to believe me but trust me, I have no control over what's happening. '' he said, looking me dead in the eye.
''Then why did you tell me not to tell anyone that you're here? Tell me. If you're not ashamed of me then why do you want to keep our friendship a secret already? It's been an hour, Aiden. An hour since I got you back and you're already trying to keep this a secret?'' I said, my voice cracking a little bit.
He opened his mouth to reply but I cut him off ''-At least tell me why. If you're going to ask me to keep this a secret you should at least tell me why.'' The minute I finished my sentence I saw him get tense. ''That's the thing!'' he said, frustrated. ''I can't tell you why, because it doesn't depend on me to tell you! Trust me, if I could, I would'' he said, his eyes pleading me to believe him. I did, I really did, but the chances of me getting hurt through this were already skyrocketing.
I mean, he wouldn't just want to keep me hidden if there wasn't a good reason, would he? In my mind there was no good reason since I couldn't seem to be able to put the pieces together no matter what I did. I had spent hours and hours trying and the things that came to mind always seemed like they were taken from a movie.
''I want to believe you, I really do. But you need to help me do so. You know that I know nothing about what happened, what's happening and why there are so many people involved. If things are as serious as they seem to be, I want to help you but you need to help me too because I don't know if you can tell but I am going a little crazy here and staying sane really isn't my forte with everything that's happening''
''You know what, why don't we talk about this tomorrow? I think it's been a long day for both of us, especially you, so I say, let's finish the episode and then go to sleep. We'll sort the rest in the morning'' I sighed and looked down. As much as I wanted to do what he said, I was scared to my bones that when the morning came, not only would he not be here, but we'd also lose our chance to talk and I still would know nothing and let him think everything was okay. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally and I needed some hours to relax and not think about the potential serial killer that's after Aiden and his family.
When I said my scenarios seemed to come out of a movie, I meant it.
After some hours of watching TV and laughing around with my conscious constantly telling me how wrong this was since we had so much left to talk about, we ended up almost falling asleep on the couch which meant it was time to sleep considering Aiden didn't want to bump into Jason in the morning since there was no way he'd keep his mouth shut about seeing him.
He loves him way too much not to get excited and tell the entire state.
I closed the TV and followed him to my room's window which faced his house. It was now five am and the sun was coming out, so he insisted that he left through the window, a plan that I was one hundred percent against of, and the entire time I screamed, hoping he didn't fall and break his head, fact that made him laugh so hard I actually thought he would fall because of me.
Once he landed and I made sure nothing was broken by asking him around eleven times, I closed the window and lied down on my bed, looking at the picture I had on my bedtime table, the one of the first day we met.
The things that happened the last three years don't stop crossing my mind. I felt like I could move on from what happened but right now I see why that wasn't possible. To know that my best friend was possibly somewhere getting hurt made my hurt clench. I didn't know what had happened or why he left but if there was one thing I was certain about, it was that he wasn't having a good time wherever he was, and the things he told me today made me even more sure.
~~~
''Εveee!''
''Evelyyyn''
''Evelyn, wake up, I'm hungryy''
After getting Pikachu thrown at me more times than a tired human can handle, I decided to get up, quickly remembering that there is no one more persistent in this world than my little brother when he's hungry.
He definitely got that from me.
''Okay, okay, I'm up'' I said, sitting up and throwing my hands up in surrender. Jason gave me one of his adorable little smiles and ran towards the kitchen. I put my hair in a bun before checking my phone. 9am. Well, that's four hours of sleep for me. I walked towards the kitchen, hugged my little brother and started making a sandwich for him.
''Is mommy here?'' Jason suddenly asked, making me freeze. Through this whole thing, Jay had no idea that mum hadn't been home for days, therefore I had no idea of what I should tell him.
''Yes, yes she is'' My eyes widened and I nearly dropped the things I was holding when I heard my mum's voice respond. Slowly putting the bread down, I turned around to see my mum, standing there, looking like a new person. She had a big smile on her face as she looked at Jason. She looked happy¸ which is something I haven't seen on her for years.
She turned her look on me and started walking towards me. I looked down, waiting for an insult to come. Instead, I felt her hand on my shoulder. Surprised, I looked at her, only to see something I hadn't seen in her eyes since the picture I had on my nightstand was taken. Love. Her green eyes looked at mine, a smile still on her beautiful face.
''How are you, baby?'' she asked me, her face glowing. On that moment, I could feel tears coming back in my eyes. For the first time in years, my mum was showing interest In my well being. Actual interest. Not hatred. Her hand was on me, not hurting me but comforting me and the entire situation just made my heart melt. All those years, the thing I wanted the most was for her to show me her love the way she used to, while not even being sure If she felt any love for me at all. Now that she was doing that exact thing, I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn't form a single syllable.
''I'm good, mum'' I managed to say, now smiling too. ''Are you making breakfast?'' she said, looking around in the kitchen. ''Yeah, Jason was a bit hungry''
''I can make him something, you should go get some rest, you look tired, honey'' she said, concern evident in her voice. I took a good look at her, frowning. I hadn't seen her since our argument and I don't know what happened during those days but I honestly think there's a higher chance that I am now communicating with an alien who took my mum's form than talking to my mum who suddenly decided to act like a mother to me.
''Uh, no, you don't have to, I-I mean I'm okay'' I said, still obviously confused. ''No, no, I insist'' she said putting her hand on my shoulder once again. ''You need to rest, don't worry about me. You know, I'll spend some lost time with Jason too, it'll be great'' she smiled and looked at Jay. ''Now, go to bed, it's still morning'' she said and shooed me away.
Some hours later, I had woken up and was now talking to Bailey and Maya about what had happened the night before, skipping the part about Aiden being in my house. Once again, Bailey was acting weird though and I couldn't help but notice the change in her behavior since last night. Her cheeks were red, her voice weak and whenever she talked to me she didn't look my way at all. Maya hung up because she had to go help her sister with her homework and the moment she did, Bailey broke down sobbing.
''Hey, hey, what's wrong?'' I asked her, concerned, but got no response as her sobs got louder. ''Are you alone in the house?" I asked and got back a single nod as an answer. ''Okay, hang in there I'm coming over'' I told her and hang up. I obviously knew something was wrong but I felt so much more scared when I saw her reaction to whatever it was. Bailey wasn't the girl to show her emotion in a way that made her as vulnerable as this did, which was something that made my mind think of all sorts of possible scenarios and in all of them she was getting hurt.
I quickly got dressed, found my keys, grabbed my phone and ran downstairs. I told my now confused mum that Bailey needed me and I needed to be there quick so I gave Jay a brief hug, waved to my mum and left. I started walking towards her house when I realized that her house was blocks away and I had no way to get there. I looked around, hoping to see my mum's car in our driveway but It was nowhere to be found. Great. I thought about walking to her house but it'd take me at least half an hour of walking. Why do all my friends live so far away from me?
Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms holding my shoulders down as if trying to stop me from moving ''Boo!'' I screamed and turned around, only to see Aiden, who was laughing his head off while I was having a freaking heart attack. I put a hand on my heart which was beating like crazy while trying to stabilize my breathing. ''That was so not funny!'' I said, slapping his shoulder semi-hard. ''Seriously, is this going to become a habit of yours? Scaring the crap of out me?" I said, making him laugh even more. ''You-'' he laughed again ''-You should've seen your face!" he said, his face turning as red as the jacket I was wearing.
''Whatever it was not funny'' I said, trying to hide the small smile that was forming on my lips but rolled my eyes anyway. ''I'm going to pretend I believe you when you say that and change the topic around; now. So, where were you going before you almost had a heart attack?'' he said with a chuckle.
''Well, I was heading to Bailey's house to, uh, hang out'' I said with a tight smile while fiddling with my keys a little. Okay, listen here brain, I don't care that he's turned into a Greek god now, we need to pretend not to be affected, play hard and get answers!
He raised his eyebrows and looked at me surprised ''You're going to walk to Bailey's house? Without passing out? It's at least 90 degrees out and it's going to take you at least 30 minutes to get there by foot, are you kidding me?'' he said and laughed.
''Well, I guess it didn't sound as bad in my head?'' I said, making a face. Aiden rolled his eyes. ''Yeah, I can tell'' he said with a smirk ''Anyway, If you'll excuse me, I have to get going, I have a thirty-minute walk ahead of me so I should-''
''-There's no way you think I'm actually going to let you go through a thirty-minute walk when I can just give you a ride, do you?" he said, his smirk growing by the minute.
Wait, hold up. He has a car too?
''Yes, I do'' he said, as if reading my mind, probably noticing my surprise. ''Come on, follow me'' he said, walking towards the other side of his house, to where their garage was. ''Hold up, I didn't say I was coming with you'' I said, trying to convince him as well as myself that I didn't need or want him to give me a ride. Truth to be told though, I was just looking for chances to spend more time with him. Plus, a ride to Bailey seemed very convenient considering my ass had no intention or will to walk for thirty minutes in the scorching sun, no thank you.
Aiden turned around, his smirk deepening. He stood In front of the closed garage door, looking at me. ''So, just to be clear, you want to walk thirty minutes, alone, In the sun, to a not so friendly neighborhood, instead of coming with me''
Okay, yeah, once again, the plan seemed better in my head.
I opened my mouth to say something but quickly closed it, realizing I had nothing to say back. He shrugged his shoulders and threw his hands up in surrender, still smirking. ''Okay, if you want to walk alone, walk alone'' he said and moved into the dark garage, where I couldn't see him anymore. Dumbass. Well, to be fair I had told him I wasn't going anywhere with him, but that is not a reason to let a girl do it alone. Especially a girl that hasn't eaten chocolate in two days. I was basically silently dying.
I decided to start walking if I ever wanted to be there since I was already late and Bailey needed me. Maybe I should've just told him to give me a ride. All of the sudden, again, while I was minding my own business not bothering anyone, I heard a car roar and bam! I was staring right in the face of death since I almost got run over by a black, absolutely gorgeous Alfa Romeo Giulia qv.
''What the-'' Oh My Nutella sandwiches. Aiden owned this? The fastest version too? Racing out of the garage, he brought the car to the street, nearly dragging me with him. I stepped back and before I knew it I was falling in love with his car. The beautiful details, the shiny but at the same time, a bit matte black color that added an edge to the whole look just made it so freaking gorgeous.
''Are you going to keep staring at my car or get in already?'' he said, rolling his window down. ''I think I'll keep staring at the car'' I said, my mouth still wide open, matching my eyeballs that were bigger than my future will ever be. Wait, hold up, what did I tell him.
Oh, good job self, do you want a cookie?
Yeah, a cookie would be great, thanks.
''I-I mean, I'll get in'' I said with a face redder than the ketchup I oh so loved, while he had turned equally as red from laughing his ass off. Prick. I very carefully opened the door, trying to mentally prepare myself for the fact that I was about to sit in one of my favorite cars ever, driven by the guy who I used to call my favorite person ever. But he doesn't know that, so shhh!
''Do you plan on getting inside today?'' he said, laughing at my shocked face. ''Yes, you impatient idiot'' I said smacking his arm. Oh, would you look at that, he didn't even budge. Awesome. Aiden started the car and we moved in a comfortable/slightly awkward silence for a while as I stared at everything, trying to take in the fact that I was sitting in the car of my dreams with a guy I thought was dead until basically some hours ago. Okay, yeah, things are going well, someone give me a cookie.
''Eve?" spoke the king of idiots himself, breaking my oh so beautiful silence that lasted for 20 minutes aka the time we had spent in his car ''Yeah?'' I replied, turning to look at him.
''Where does Bailey live again?"
~~~
I hope y'all are liking it so far. im not sure if i like it or nah but if you are don't forget to vote, comment and share (shameless self promo there oops)
-Who's your favorite character so far?
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