Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow (Aiden Gallagher x Reader)

III

The second year of your friendship was where you really became close. After the whole Rachael incident, you convinced Aidan to leave her and from that day onwards he lived in your apartment. You had become somewhat of a close-knit pair in the past year, your bond growing as strong as it had ever been.

Unfortunately, Aidan needed to go shoot the newest season of The Umbrella Academy towards the end of the year, meaning he wasn't gonna be able to spend the holidays at home.

You sighed to yourself as you paused the TV. The apartment felt oddly quiet without the awkward vegan around. You understood why people close to him had left. The loneliness eats away at you like maggots to rotting flesh, driving you insane and making your emotions as intense as a hurricane.

You paced around the kitchen, bored and in need of a decent snack. As soon as you'd found the last bag of your favourite candies, your phone chimed. You only stared at the contact name for a brief second before answering, turning the phone sideways so he would take up the whole screen.

"Hey, Aidan," You said, a smile spreading across your lips.

A glitching Aidan cracked an ear-splitting grin at the sound of your voice. "Merry Christmas Peony!" He chuckled.

You pouted at the nickname, blushing slightly as you remembered when Aidan came to see you at work, causing you to trip over your own feet, flowers flying out your hands. A single peony landed atop your head at the same time your ass made contact with the floor, hence the stupid name.

You rolled your eyes, "I swear if you don't stop calling me that I'm going to find you a stupid nickname!"  The two of you could barely hold a straight face and burst into fits of laughter.

"Sure you will, sure you will," Aidan smirked , the laughter dying down. Suddenly, there were various voices asking questions from across the line.

"Aidan, who are you talking to?"

"Oooooh who's this?"

"Is it your little crush?"

"Can we meet them?"

The two of you blushed pink as a couple of Aidan's costars made their way into view, Robert Sheehan pushing up into the foreground. Robert took a deep breath before asking, "When's the wedding?"

You felt your face heat up and the smug looks on the adults' faces were clear on the screen. Aidan was in hysterics, his face pink from the lack of oxygen. "No, no, no, no, no!" He intervened, "We're just friends. I would never date Y/n!"

Ouch. That stung a little. You repressed the sinking feeling of your heart, not sure what caused it.

"Me and that dumbass? Yeah, fat chance," You quipped.

Aidan's jaw dropped. "Dumbass? How dare you! I totally helped you with your chemistry grade," He said pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest. A quiet "ooh" came from his cast mates.

"As if! You distracted me with memes of your own character!" You scoffed, earning another "ooh" from the cast. You couldn't wipe the smug look off your face when Aidan had no response.

You, Aidan and the rest of the cast talked over video time for what felt like hours, until they were being called back on set. Each of Aidan's costars gave you a sympathetic smile and a wave, leaving you and Aidan alone.

The smile unexpectedly disappeared from his face. "Are you alright? I mean- it's just, most people, they... well. I'm sorry you're alone right now..."

A soft smile graced your face after a concerned expression passed. "Aidan, don't worry about it. You're pursuing your dreams and that's important to me. Anyway you'll always come back, I know you wouldn't be able to live without me." You said, winking at the end of your speech.

Aidan chuckled slightly before quickly saying, "I gotta go, but I'll call you back as soon as possible, 'K?" You nodded in response before he muttered a quick, "Bye, love you."

Bye, love you

Love you

Love you

Holy shit. You lost your damn mind. Surely he meant it platonically, right? The two of you were close but, he said it himself, he never wanted to date you. The thoughts twisted your stomach uneasily. Oh no. You didn't, did you?

Holy shit, you...

You liked Aidan!