The morning sun shone over the marina as it began peaking over the horizon, the streaks of light dancing across the water and forming little diamonds on the surface. Avery watched in amazement as the sky slowly morphed into hues of oranges and pinks, the colors being mirrored on the water before her.
Small ripples formed where her feet slowly circled the water, her ankles submerged. She'd been up most of the night, her thoughts consumed by her fathers wellbeing and the boy who was sleeping just down the hall. When she saw the start of the sunrise through the curtains in her bedroom, she rushed down the stairs and made her way to the water.
She loved watching the beginnings of the day, basking in the relief of her father making it through another night. When the sun was high enough in the sky, when the pinks and oranges dwindled and the blue sky began to come forth she lifted herself up and used the small towel she brought to dry her wet feet.
Avery pushed the home button on her phone, the screen coming to life and indicating that it was well past eight in the morning, realizing she'd been sitting outside for well over two hours. On her walk back to her house she wondered if Aiden was a late sleeper or if he'd be up and sitting in her living room wondering where she was.
Opening the sliding doors to the living room, she quickly glanced around. Not a sound reached her ears as she stepped inside and she sighed, not sure if it was from relief or disappointment. She shook her head and closed the doors behind her, locking them back into place before heading towards the kitchen.
"Morning," a sound between a yelp and a strangled scream escaped her as she turned to face the staircase. Aiden stood there in all his glory, chest on full display and the grey sweatpants she'd given him sitting dangerously low on his hips, the prominent cut of his hip bones giving Avery a warm feeling in her stomach. His green eyes were still sleepy, cheeks a faint shade of pink and his hair a tousled mess that looked unbelievably good. His voice was raspy, clearly he had just woken up.
Avery covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the heat that was tinting her cheeks after the embarrassing sound she made. She peeked through the slits of her fingers to see Aiden making his way down the stairs with a smirk on his lips, she hated that smirk. It did weird things to that stupid organ in her chest called her heart.
"Sorry," she mumbled as she rubbed her hands down her face, "you scared me. I didn't think you'd be up so early." She stood awkwardly in place, watching the way his shoulders moved up and down with every step he took down the stairs. His eyes darted around the room, searching, before a frown pulled at the corners of his lips.
"Where's Autumn?" Avery let out a chuckle as Aiden continued to scour the area for the dog, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she watched him.
"She likes to sleep in my dads room," she said and then called out the dogs name, "just wait for it."
Aiden walked towards the couch but stopped when a crashing sound echoed through the entire house, followed by the heavy paw prints against the wood flooring. Seconds later, Autumn took a sharp turn from the hallway on the other side of the living room, her legs spread out on all sides as she slid across the floor and slammed into the side of the couch. Her tongue was out and made her look like she was smiling as she jumped up on the couch and attacked Aiden with plenty of good morning licks.
His laughter struck something within her, the smoothness of it even though it was so deep had her mesmerized. When Autumn calmed down she hopped off the couch and headed towards the sliding doors that led outside, sitting down and wagging her tail. Avery finally snapped out of her Aiden-trance and her feet began moving towards the doors.
"I'll take her out and then I'll make some breakfast," she said, "if you want any I mean." She heard him get up and his bare feet slap against the wood floor in her direction.
"Or I can take her and you can make me some pancakes?" He had a cheeky grin, reminding Avery of a little boy wanting to do his chores and hoping to get rewarded. She cocked an eyebrow at him and let out a breathy laugh, grabbing the leash that hung on a hook beside the doors and extending it towards him.
"Deal, you might need shoes though since the grass is kind of dewy in the mornings." He nodded and took the stairs two at a time, emerging not even a minute later with his sneakers on and a smile on his face.
"Alright girl, lets go out."
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Avery ended up making pancakes, avocado toast and bacon. The glimmer in Aiden's eyes when he saw the food was enough to make her happy, his cold and brooding demeanor that he showcased around school was nowhere to be found when he was here, and she hoped that maybe it was because of her. Maybe this was the true Aiden, all smiles and corny jokes and not the death-glaring and scowling boy he was around everyone else.
They sat in the living room once again, Friends playing on the television and Autumn laying across the rug on the floor in front of them. They didn't talk much other than making silly comments about the actors on the show or the occasional laugh that sounded from both of them when Joey said something stupid.
Just as they were about to finish eating, Avery's phone began to vibrate on the glass counter of the coffee table. She reached over and swiped across the screen without even glancing at the caller ID.
"Hello?" She said leaning back into the couch. "Ms. Mitchell? It's nurse Rhonda calling from Savannah Regional." Avery's body tensed visibly and Aiden turned to look at her, using the TV remote to lower the volume of the TV.
"Hi, Rhonda. Is everything okay?" A lump was forming in her throat and her words came out choked, her eyes beginning to glaze over with tears. She felt Aiden put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him.
Everything okay? He mouthed.
I don't know, she said back and he used his thumb to draw circles on her skin. She fought off the shiver that threatened to run down her spine, but for some reason she found comfort in his touch.
"Everything's fine sweetie, don't worry. Doctor Matthews wanted me to reach out and let you know that your dad is cleared to go home today."
Her shoulders sagged forward in relief, her free hand coming up so she could rest her forehead on it while a shaky breath escaping her lips. "Okay, thank you Rhonda. I'll see you soon." Rhonda bid her goodbyes and the line clicked, Avery's hold on her phone was so tight her knuckles were almost white.
"Hey, what did they say?" Aiden's voice was soft and it sounded far away, but she could hear the slight concern that was laced in his tone. She turned to him, the smallest of smiles taking over her face as she looked at him.
"I can bring him home today," she lowly whispered but she knew he heard her. A full-toothed grin spread across his lips and she marveled at how perfect his smile was.
"That's great Avery," he said and her breath caught in her throat as he tucked a piece of hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear. As fast as lightening striking a tree, he pulled his arm back and cleared his throat. "I'll go get dressed and then you can drop me off at home," Avery just nodded and watched him disappear up the stairs.
Her heart was thundering in her chest the whole way to her bedroom. Once she closed the door, she leaned against it and stared at the marina across from where she stood. The sun was up and shining over the water now and she could see people out with kayaks and paddle boards enjoying the sunny day.
Her smile returned full force then. Her dad was coming home and she couldn't wait. She dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of light wash denim jeans and an oversized burgundy sweater that fell off one shoulder. She put on her white slip on Vans and vanished through her bedroom door.
Aiden was waiting downstairs in the clothes he'd worn the night before, his face a mask that hid away all of the warmth it had shown not even fifteen minutes ago. Avery gave him a smile as she reached the bottom floor but all she received was a blank stare before he turned away and started heading towards the front door.
"I called Kaleb," he said as she closed the front door behind her and Avery's steps faltered. She cursed under her breath and glared at the welcome mat she'd tripped on before looking back at Aiden, a why lingering on the tip of her tongue. "You have to go get your dad and I've spent more time around you than I want to."
She froze, hazel eyes wide. Tried to ignore the pain that had engulfed her chest, a sickening burning feeling that made bile rise up in her throat. She reeled back from the gut wrenching comment he'd made and stared at him.
"Then why'd you stay last night?" She whispered and heard her voice crack slightly. Avery cleared her throat and glared at him instead. "If you didn't want to stay then why did you?" Her voice held more anger than anything and for a moment she thought she saw surprise flicker in his eyes but it was gone so fast she believed she imagined it.
Aiden just shrugged nonchalantly, hands finding their was into the pockets of his black ripped jeans. "I felt bad for you, you were practically begging me," he wouldn't look her in the eyes. She didn't want him to, afraid of the emotionless pits of green she knew she'd see.
"I don't need your fucking pity, okay?" Her voice was so heart-wrenchingly soft but it was as powerful as a clap of thunder booming through the sky. "I get enough of that from everybody else in this fucking place. 'Look at poor little Avery, who's father is dying and no mother to care for her.' I get that every day. I don't and never will want your goddamn pity. If you didn't want to stay, you didn't have to. I thought that maybe-" she shook her head with an emotionless laugh, "well my mistake for stupidly thinking you might be different."
Neither one of them noticed the black Jeep that had pulled into her driveway. Her cheeks were wet with tears she hadn't even known were falling, until her vision blurred and she had to blink them away. Aiden watched her silently, his eyes wide and somewhat sad. The tension in the air was thick and when Aiden reached his hand out, murmuring her name in a whisper she flinched away.
"Just leave me alone, Aiden." She wrapped her arms around herself and turned, hurrying down the porch steps with her head down.
"Hey Avery," she snapped her head up at the cheery sound of Kalebs voice and stopped in her driveway. "Shit, what's wrong? Is it your dad?" He hurried up the driveway and stood in front of her, his hands on her shoulders and worry swimming in his eyes.
"He's fine, I have to go pick him up." Her voice was thick and full of emotion, her head turning to watch Aiden slowly walk down the steps of her porch, his eyes focused only on her. "Get him off my property," she seethed with gritted teeth, "and keep him the hell away from me."
She pushed past Kaleb and unlocked her car, slamming the door closed once she slid inside. She couldn't hear them over the roar of her engine, but Kaleb was yelling and Aiden just kept staring at her the whole time. She saw Kaleb forcefully shove Aiden towards the Jeep, his eyes hard and lips in a thin line as he said something else to Aiden that made his head drop.
The last thing she saw before she peeled out of the driveway, was the mournful glance that Aiden shot her way, before disappearing from her sight inside the car.
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"What's on your mind, pumpkin?" Her fathers voice broke through the haze in her mind, his eyes watching her with warmth as they sat on the deck in the back of their house, the setting sun casting a beautiful glow over the sky above them. Avery slowly peeled her eyes away from the water of the koi pond beneath them and smiled slightly at him.
"Nothing, I'm just tired." The lie left her lips smoothly and she felt bad about not confiding in her dad about what was running through her head, but she doubted he wanted to listen to her frustrations about a boy she hardly even knew. He gave her a narrowed gaze, his eyes darting all over her face but she turned back to look at the fish swimming just a few feet away.
She hated the fact that Aiden's words from earlier today were raining on the happiness she should have felt for having her father home. She hated that he'd seen her vulnerable twice in the time span of a mere twelve hours. And she absolutely despised the way her skin prickled when she'd remember the way her name left his lips in a whisper.
"Amoureux," her father speaking his mother tongue meant that he wasn't going to let this go. He only ever addressed her in French when he meant business. "Something is bothering you and I want to know what it is, dîtes-moi."
"Rien, papa," she said softly and he smiled when he heard her speak so fluently, "the first week of school was just a lot more exhausting than I expected."
He nodded his head and continued to ask her questions about her classes and teachers, along with any important dates he needed to be aware of. Relieved with the change in subject, Avery filled her dad in on everything that had happened the past week, albeit leaving out the parts where she punched a fellow student and Aiden as a whole.
Their conversation soon turned into light banter and it wasn't long before Mark was complaining that he was hungry. They both decided to order Chinese and so Avery headed inside to grab the take-out menu. As she closed the sliding door she felt her phone vibrate in the back pocket of her jeans. She slid it out without a care in the world but her eyes narrowed as her gaze landed on the unfamiliar number across her screen.
Unknown Number: I'm sorry.
That was all it said. Her heart started pounding in her chest, an idea forming in her mind about who the sender was. Even still she typed out a who is this and sent it without hesitation. She walked further into the room and plucked the menu that sat on the kitchen counter and skimmed through it quickly. Her phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number: It's Aiden, don't play dumb.
She huffed out in annoyance, rolling her eyes as she made her way back outside. She sat down in her chair and handed the menu to her dad, who had a book in his hands, reading glasses perched high on his nose.
She nervously chewed on her bottom lip, sliding her hands across her phone trying to figure out what to say. She settled on keeping her distance, tired of the way the nerves seemed to creep in whenever she thought of Aiden. I told you to leave me alone, she typed and hit send. His response was immediate, a simple I know. She kept worrying her lip between her teeth, her fingers hovering over the message.
"Sweet and Sour chicken?" Her dad asked and she mumbled an agreement. Her fingers were about to type some sort of dismissal before another message came through, her heart jumping into her throat as a gasp escaped her lips.
Unknown number: But what if I don't want to?
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☼ it's me hello yes, I'm updating even though this may not be the best chapter it could be but I'll be out of the country starting tomorrow until the 23rd of September and so I wanted to give you guys something :(
☼ this ending is probably not the best type of ending, a cliffhanger like this with no updates until at least 10 days from now is kind of nerve-wracking and evil but I couldn't help it.
☼ anyways enjoy and see you guys in 8 days 💛