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●ARIA POV●
When I finally arrived home on Friday , all I wanted to do was just relax . The whole weekend , I just wanted to relax. Sonja was at work tonight so it was pretty quiet . The drive tired me out so I had no desire to cook anything .
I opened up the app to order dinner . I think I deserve a little cheat after the week I had , so I got myself a nice big pepperoni pizza with coke . I can run it off later, although the wedding activities will probably make me lose the calories from stress .
Wanting to start my relaxation for the weekend , I ran a nice warm bath . Once I got the right temperature and my bath salts in there, I slowly submerged my body in a much needed soak. Within 20 minutes I heard a buzz from the front . Assuming it was the pizza guy, I let him up .
I should have asked who it was , but sometimes those things slip your mind when you're trying to escape reality . Shaking off the water from my body, I slipped my robe on and answered the door.
My jaw dropped as I saw who was standing there, "Dylan, what the hell are you doing here?"
His eyes were red rimmed and you smell the alcohol off of him, "Aria," he croaked out with a hoarse voice .
"Can we please talk?" He begged . I didn't know what to do and I was uncomfortable with Dylan being here . I held onto my phone and hit send on whatever number was last in my call log .
Dylan didn't wait for me to invite him in , he just barged through the front door, surprising me . He has never been this aggressive before . The phone call finally picked up and I held it to my ear , "please come help me," I didn't hang up right away .
"Who's that on the phone? Is it your damn boyfriend ALEX?" Dylan slurred .
"Dylan, I think you should go home to Brittany, you shouldn't be here," I say firmly.
He begins to laugh, "Brittany? Ha, we're not together anymore ."
"Well that isn't my problem, whatever happened between you two, is between you two. I want you to leave."
He stepped in closer to me grabbing one of my hands , "I ended things with her. I want you, it has always been you . That ring, was supposed to be yours ."
"Let go of me , whatever the reason, no one told you to stick your dick in her . That was a conscious decision you made," my voice began to waiver as the images flashed in my head .
"You didn't let me explain," he said as he cornered me .
"What is there to explain ? I caught you in the act !" Maybe we should have this out . I did shut him out but what kind of explanation would be even remotely good enough for me to forgive?
"She had something over my head ," he begins , "and I couldn't let her-"
"Whatever it is , it's done . You did let her," I cut him off .
He cried out , "why won't you hear me out?"
"Because you cut up my heart into a million pieces Dylan. I gave you EVERYTHING . I loved you so much that what you did killed me!!" I screamed at him .
He knelt down and grabbed my hands , "Aria, I didn't even want her. She didn't even want me either . It was just a game," he said sobbing into my robe .
"What the hell does that mean?"
"She was going to try to ruin your family," he finally said it.
"What?" I couldn't actually believe what he was saying .
"Your mother and her father...." he begins to spill everything.
"No no no no," I cover my ears , "she's not related to me. Hell no!"
"No, but your mother had an affair with her father . It ruined him . Her mother ran away and her father became a shell of a person . She found out about it later on and tracked you down . She became obsessed . She wanted to expose your mom but she made a deal with me to not completely ruin your life , if I indulged her."
The flames of anger rose inside of me . Brittany was the spawn of satan , I know it. And , how could my mother do this to my dad, to us? Dylan tried to protect us but the way he did it was not the right way . So many emotions began to flood me and my hands began to shake .
"Dylan, I need you to leave."
"Aria , please!" He screamed.
"She told you to leave ," a deep and commanding voice ordered him , snapping me to attention . Warren .
"Who the hell are you?" Dylan asked as he got up off the floor.
"You're worse nightmare if you keep clinging onto Aria, now for the sake of both of you, I suggest you leave before I call the police," he said again .
Dylan turned to me , "I'll be back and I will find my way to you again . We belong together Ar. Remember the fireflies?" And then he left .
The fireflies.
As soon as Dylan was out the door , Warren watched him . When everything was clear he closed it and I ran right into his arms . He cradled me while I cried into his shirt . In his embrace I felt safe and secure .
"I'm here, sorry I took so long, I had to wait for someone to let me in," he soothes while stroking my hair.
"It doesn't matter, you're here now," I sighed into him.
《FLASHBACK》
●DYLAN POV●
(I know Dylan isn't anybody's favorite right now but he definitely has a story and his had a lot to do with Aria. )
The summer was just beginning , the final weeks of school was approaching and I had one more assignment to complete before school ended. I knew of this place by the lake . Fireflies come out in the evening and it's a sight to be seen . I know that photographs won't be able to capture its beauty, but I'd try anyway .
As the sun was setting I could see some of those critters flitting about . Before long it was dark and everything was lit up , like magic . I remember coming to this area when I used to go to camp . I was always amazed by those beautiful creatures.
I remember one summer, during the first night when we all were introducing ourselves to everyone else , I had sat across from this pretty girl with large curious eyes . At the tender age of 14, I instantly was enamored by her . After that evening, I did everything I can to get close to her .
Unfortunately I never got a chance to even say hello , but my best memory was of her watching the fireflies . She was so overcome by its splendor that even I felt her awe . That night left an imprint of the innocent girl reveling in the natural beauty of the earth . I thought that I was always going to prefer to this girl as my summer crush until one of her friends yelled out for her to get back to their cabin ; Aria.
I never did forget her but as the years went by I didn't think of her nearly as much as I did that summer . My family decided to send me away to yearbook camp the following years to which I couldn't be mad at since I learned many valuable skills .
It was my junior year at university and one of my last projects of the semester was to capture nature. And it fired up old memories from that year at camp. I knew , I knew that that's where I wanted to go for this assignment.
When I got to the spot of my fond memories I looked around and noticed I wasn't alone . There were other people there, either couples or groups of friends . I was happy to get a spot near where the old camp fire used to be .
As the night continued the groups of people began to disperse , until there was only myself and one girl. A girl with long flowy brown hair and beautiful curious eyes . I couldn't believe it. What were the chances that I'd run into Aria , here at the same time?
Deciding that I had taken enough photos of the lake, the lightning bugs and the surrounding aesthetics, I began to snap photos of this beautiful woman. She had grown up but she still held the same innocence in her eyes. The click of my camera must've signaled her attention to me because she turned around and our eyes connected .
Quickly I stood up and let my camera hang from my neck and she smiled at me . I didn't know what to do . I've had other girlfriends in the past, but there was something about her that made me nervous . She didn't want for me to come over as she made her way to the old fire pit.
"Hi, I'm Aria," she says with the sweetest voice while holding her hand out.
"I'm Dylan-" I begin to introduce myself.
"I know who you are! You're Henry's brother!" She exclaims .
"You know my brother?" I ask.
"Duh, your brother and my sister have been together since high school," she says to me.
"Your sister is Delilah?"
"I know, we look nothing alike . She takes after my mom and I take after my dad. She graduated high school by the time I was entering," she was like an open book and it drew me in closer to her.
"Why didn't you ever talk to me at camp?" She asks.
She remembers me , "you remember?"
She nods, "I've seen you around the house when I would come with my mom to pick yo my sister at your house. But you always had your nose in a book."
Embarrassment began to creep on me , "I'm so sorry, I never meant to ignore you."
"I'm not offended . I thought maybe you didn't like me because your brother spent all his time with my sister," she continued on. I could listen to her talk all night if she'd let me .
"I was nervous , I didn't know if you'd reject me," I nervously tell her.
"My sister would kill me if I was mean to the love of her life's little brother," she laughed, "fancy running into you here."
I held up my camera, "last assignment before the school year's up, you?"
She looked into the lit up space over the lake , "I come here every year to watch them and maybe catch some in a jar."
After that night I knew it was fate bringing us together . I found out that we went to the same university and needless to say we were attached by the hip our senior year . It was during graduation that I built up the courage to finally ask her to officially be my girlfriend . When she said yes, it was the happiest I had ever been.
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I had to tell Dylan's story for the next few chapters to really make an impact . The next chapter will start off with Dylan's POV again and if you couldn't tell, that means he is a love interest . I promise you won't hate the ending.