Grown ish: Zoey and Aaron's Story (BOOK 1)

Part 23: Positive

Zoey narrates.

The next morning, I lie in bed, cuddled in Aaron's arms, wondering about the decision I have to make. Whether to take up Joey's offer.

'Good morning.' Aaron says to me.

I smile.

'Morning.' I kiss him.

'You're taking Joey's offer, Zoey.'

I look at him surprised.

'How did you know what I was thinking?' I ask.

'I know everything about you. Like I know that if you don't take this job, you're really going to regret it.' He says, stroking my head, and I sigh.

_____

A week had passed and I did accept Joey's job. I was super excited, and so was Aaron, surprisingly.

He promised me we were going to make it work. Long distance. Just for a while.

That day, I'm due to leave for my flight. Aaron is helping me pack, when he notices my worried face.

'Zoey? What's wrong?' He says, coming over to me, as I drape my hands around his neck.

'I don't know. I'm just going to miss everyone so much.' I say, sadly.

'We're all going to miss you too.' He says.

'I think we need to discuss the terms of our separation.' I say, boldly.

He laughs.

'What do you mean?' He asks.

'I mean...like, okay. We're technically still in a relationship, a very secure one, by the way, but I don't want you to feel like you can't...you know...with anyone else....' I say, as he looks at me surprised.

'Zoey...' I interrupt him, before he can speak.

'I don't think we need to talk about this anymore. It's an amicable situation, and I think we should leave it at that.' I say, confidently.

As much as it hurts me to say it, I don't want Aaron to feel pressured whilst I'm gone.

He doesn't say anything else, and neither do I. Instead, he kisses me, deeply, as we fall on the bed together.

_____

I say goodbye to all of my friends, before heading to the airport with Aaron.

Outside the airport, before I have to leave him, Aaron holds my face.

'I'm so proud of you. This is going to be great.' He says, with a smile, as he wipes the single tear from my eye.

I sigh.

'I love you. So much.' I say, as he holds both of my hands.

'I love you too.' He replies, as we lock eyes with each other and stare deeply for the next few minutes.

He leans in and kisses me softly, before deepening his kiss, where he stays for a long time, savouring it.

We finally pull away, when my phone buzzes.

'I...should go.' I say, sadly.

He nods, and embraces me in a hug. As we pull away, I kiss him one last time, and then turn and leave, not looking at him again, and wiping my tears.

_____

4 weeks later.

Joey's tour was going great. I'd styled all his outfits so far, met tons of new people and every show was honestly, amazing.

Of course, I missed Aaron a lot. We would FaceTime everyday, he'd send me flowers every weekend, and it felt like we were really going to make this work.

Obviously, we both felt the distance, and I'd heard from the crew that Aaron had a few drinks with another girl on a drunken night out, but I decided to let it slide. For now.

This particular morning, I was working with Joey, as he was trying on my outfits, ahead of his shows this week.

He comes out of the dressing room.

'What do you think?' He asks, showing me the jacket he put over the outfit.

I raise my eyebrows.

'Sorry, I just thought it looked cool. But, you know, you're the stylist.' He says, as I laugh and go to hand him a different jacket.

Suddenly, as he's talking to me, I clutch my stomach, with my hand over my mouth.

'You good, Zo?' He asks.

I don't reply.

'You look really pale.' He says, as I shake my head, before quickly running off to the bathroom.

I throw up, and it's not great. I've been feeling unwell for the past week, and was starting to worry. I go back to Joey, and ask if we can continue tomorrow.

I head back to my temporary apartment, where I pull out a pregnancy test from the bathroom cabinet.

I really didn't want to do this, and had been putting it off, since, you know, the last fiasco...remember? That time I thought I was pregnant?

I take the test, and pace around the room, waiting for the result. You know what? It's probably just another false alarm. I'm tired, from working hard.

I sit on the edge of the bath, and finally decide to look.

'Okay, Zoey. It's going to be fine. You're going to be fine.' I say, trying to reassure myself.

I take a look.

It's positive.

_____