Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow (Aiden Gallagher x Reader)

IX

It took the best part of the year for you to recover from the mental dark spots the harassment had left. Aidan wanted to let his fans know he was angry, tell them they should know better, but you advised against it and made sure he didn't loose his cool in too many lives.

You weren't back to how you were before, you still weren't sitting with him on live-streams for hours and you didn't appear on screen as often in his YouTube videos, but you were still much happier than before.

It was much easier to be around Aidan, though. Even if sometimes the way he babied you was irritating, he was always there with positive reinforcement that you hadn't realised you needed. He wouldn't admit it, but the look on your face whenever he complimented you, in any aspect, made his insides turn to marshmallows.

That specific day in December, Aidan was writing in his room and you were in the kitchen, where you were struggling over your mother's mulled wine recipe. The kitchen was steaming as the pot of alcohol on the stove boiled steadily along with a few other things that were cooking for dinner. You wiped the sweat from your brow. You were already stripped down to one of Aidan's shirts and a pair of shorts that were getting too small, you weren't giving in to the ridiculous heat just yet.

You were bent over the stove, sweat beading at your forehead, when Aidan walked in. He paused for a second to gawk at you, biting his lip, before flapping his shirt against his chest as it to fan himself.

"God, I thought it was December?" He smirked, leaning against the counter behind you to get an eyeful before you turned around.

You swatted his chest with the back of your hand. "Oh, shut up, you!" You laughed, taking a few things off the stove, "Pretend like you've done all the hard work why don't you?"

Aidan leant foreward over your shoulder, pouting playfully as he said, "I've been writing, you know how hard it is!" Over-emphasising the 's'.

You pressed shuffle on your Christmas playlist and the My Chemical Romance cover of All I Want For Christmas immediately started playing through the small bluetooth speaker you'd put on the counter earlier. You heard Aidan mutter a small, "The best version of this song," under his breath as if you would be completely offended at the Mariah Carey slander.

"I know," Yo smiled, facing him, "And I support you. But my muscles are bigger than yours and I do absolutely no voluntary exercise." You giggled, "I'm just saying..."

Before you could go back to working over the various pots and pans, he turned you around and pinned you in place, chuckling to himself. It wasn't long before your cheeks heated up. Ridiculous as it sounded, Aidan had this way of making you flustered, even though you'd been together for the best part of two years.

You brought a hand up to cup his cheek and he leaned in to the warmth of your touch. Your forehead rested gently against his, your noses millimetres apart. You could feel his warm breath fanning against your face as you slowly started to close the gap. Just as your lips were a hair's width away, Aidan pulled back, smirking.

"I think that proves that I'm stronger than you," He smirked, eyeing you curiously.

"Seriously?" You groaned, to which he chuckled quietly as you rolled your eyes.

He was about to leave the kitchen when you turned him around by his shoulder and pulled him into a needy kiss. His arms immediately locked around your torso, pulling you closer are your lips moved in synch. You left an arm draped over his shoulder, whilst reaching up to tangle your free hand in his soft brown locks.

You felt his tongue run along your bottom lip, asking permission. Smirking, you denied him access, which was a mistake. He gently caressed your thigh which caused you to moan and create a small opening where he could slip his tongue through your lips. He explored the inside of your mouth for what felt like hours, only braking the kiss for air.

Unfortunately, as soon as Aidan was going to push you against the wall, your timer went off, making you both freeze. Aidan hesitantly stepped to the side, slowly letting his hands slide off your body as you detached yourself from him and made your way over to the stove.

"This is nearly done," you muttered to yourself, out of breath, "I'll finish this up and meet you in your room?"

His eyes glimmered at the proposition. "Alright," He replied, voice husky. Before he left he embraced you quickly from behind, dipping his head to kiss the crook of your neck, which seemed innocent.

Wrapped up in your own business, you didn't realise until after he left and you saw your reflection in the pan. He had left a sizeable purple hickey on your skin. Heat creeped up your neck as you turned off the stove.

You sauntered over to his room, leaning against the door frame when you got there. "Aidan?" You called.

"Yes?"

"Care to explain what this is?" You pointed to the affectionate bruise left on the edge of your collarbone before folding your arms over your chest in a mock form of serious.

He laughed lowly, "I didn't realise you were that innocent, Peony..."

The red shade of your face only deepened as you shut the door, "I'll show you innocent," You scoffed, making your way over to him painfully slowly as he bit his lip, anticipating what could only be the best.