Nonconformity

Chapter 8

a/n: two updates in one day????

tw// physical abuse, mentions of child abuse, mentions of alcoholism 

Aaron not only came back from his parents' house with pie but also a nasty black eye that spreads down to his cheekbone. He shows up at my door as if nothing was wrong, his usual smirk on his lips.

My eyes widen when I see the injury and he frowns when he notices my concern.

"Is it that bad?" he asks.

"What the hell happened to you?" I ask

I usher him inside my dorm and put the pie on the counter. I tell him to sit down on the stool and I stand between his open legs to get a closer look at his face. Around his eye socket, his skin is shades of blue and purple, and underneath his eye is puffy. There is a scabbed cut on his brow bone and he winces when I brush my finger over it.

"You should see the other guy," he tries to joke, but there's no humor in his voice.

I step back to look at him, my hand cupping his jaw gently. His eyes are slightly glassy when he looks up at me, and I can see the hurt written across his face clearly.

"What happened?" I ask again, more firmly this time.

Aaron sighs, looking defeated before he finally answers. "My dad and I got into a fight."

"He did this to you?" I ask in disbelief. He nods with a tight-lipped smile.

"According to him, he's wasting his money sending me to college because all I do is get high and go to parties," he scoffs. "Then he told me he could smell the alcohol on me, and he wasn't too pleased when I pointed out that it was actually him who smelled like that."

"Oh Aaron, I'm sorry," I sigh as I sit down in his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck and he does the same around my waist.

"It's not your fault, Y/n."

"How was the rest of your visit?" I ask.

"It was good. Sean plays the guitar now and he played me the song he wrote to impress the girl next door," he smiles fondly.

"I guess he takes after his big brother," I tease with the poke to his ribs that makes him squirm.

"I hope he doesn't get stuck with his own version of you," he teases.

"Shut up, Hotchner. You'd have no idea what to do without me."

We sit in comfortable silence for a while until I speak up. "Do you want to go out to dinner tonight? I heard there's a new bar and restaurant that opened down the street from the movie theater."

"Um..." he hesitates, "I already have plans for tonight."

"Oh, that's okay. What are you doing?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"I ran into an old friend when I was back home and I'm meeting them for dinner tonight," he says, but he seems slightly uncomfortable with the question.

"Mm, sounds fun. I'll be here, all alone, with nothing but your mother's delicious pie to comfort me," I sigh dramatically.

Aaron laughs quietly at my damsel in distress act, but it is short-lived. Before I know it, he is standing up from the stool and gently lowering me down to the ground.

He presses a soft kiss to my hair, then he walks towards the door. He offers me a soft goodbye before he leaves. His mood change was clearly noticeable, but I chalked it up to his fight he had with his father.