Only Angel//Aiden Hall

Chapter Six

hey loves! i know this chapter is kinda boring but the next one is going to be good :) i know i said updates might be sparse just cause school is like... crazy lmao, but i've had a shitty week so i needed an outlet 😂 well anyways enjoy!

"There you go! You're doing great for your first time."

Y/n grins, gliding across the ice into Aiden's arms. For the past half hour, she's been tossed back and forth from Aiden to Mia to Richard like a rag doll. When she gets to Mia again, the younger girl whispers something in her ear, and the next thing Aiden sees is two shapes obscuring his vision of the white landscape.

"Get youuuuu!" the smaller of the two shrieks.

A second later, he feels the frigid snow seep through his jacket and hat. He struggles to get up, but is stymied by the bodies pinning him down. One of them vibrates from giggling so hard... Y/n, who rolls away with a body weakened by laughter. Her boyfriend is not shy to miss the opportunity, so he's now the one tackling her, and then the three of them start tackling each other. Y/n's heart swells with amusement for a minute, but then it falls to her stomach. She hasn't laughed this hard in months.

Sour... something is going to go sour.

"How's it going?"

The only one to pick up Richard's voice, she looks over to see what's going on. It's Grace, using a couple sticks to help her balance on the slippery surface.

"Good."

"Do you need a hand?"

"Yeah," she chuckles.

"Hey, kids, give Grace a hand."

The other two look up, and Aiden instantly goes silent. Mia, however, pushes him playfully towards her. "Go, go, go!"

Y/n trails behind them, unsure what to do. The siblings stand in silence for a moment in front of their soon-to-be stepmother.

"That's our mom's hat."

His voice is low, seething. It doesn't shake or stutter; it's just cold.

Blood rushes to Y/n's cheeks as Grace pulls off the red hat, holding it out to Mia. The secondhand embarrassment is exacerbated by Mia snatching it like a thief.

"I'm sorry..." her voice fades into the wind. "I didn't know."

Scoffing, the siblings turn around and leave. Y/n bites the inside of her cheeks before reluctantly following. She watches Mia put the hat over her own but then decides to turn back around, in curiosity.

"What happened?" Richard asks, skating towards Grace.

"I didn't know it was their mom's hat," she whispers.

"It's okay. Here, take mine."

Enthralled, she keeps staring as he gives her the fuzzy hat and a kiss. "Come on! Pull you?"

Picking up a snow shovel, Richard offers it, to which she grabs it and laughs, "Yeah. That's way better!"

"This is the way to do it."

"Y/n?" In her peripheral, she notices Aiden skating up to her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Come on. Mia's making her doll snowboard."

She nods and follows him to a homemade snow throne. Relaxing onto the cold seat, she unclenches her jaw and lets her tensed shoulders drop.

"Go, Mia!" she cheers for the girl wearing two hats, one identical to the one on her doll. Y/n and Aiden always muse on where she gets the outfits that match Laura's.

Pushing her doll further and further, she begins to slip away from the group, but the two teens still have an eye on her, but Grace doesn't seem to think that's enough.

"Mia? Mia! Mia!"

Aiden and Y/n roll their eyes at Grace's call.

"Be careful; there's a fishing hole!"

It's too late. She pushes the doll right into the water.

"Shit," Aiden whispers as his sister belly crawls to the pool.

"Stop!" Grace cries. "Stop! Stop! Stop. Move back. You have to be careful. Stay here; I'll get it. Let me do-"

The ice below her crumbles, interrupting her protesting and sending her straight into the abyss.

"Oh my God!"

"Dad!"

"Mia?"

"Dad!"

"Mia, get back!"

Stumbling across the ice, Y/n and Aiden witness her trying to pull herself out, only for more ice to break beneath her weight. Y/n can't even fathom how fucking freezing that must feel, and she isn't a stranger to the cold water.

"Come here! Give me your hand!" Richard is the first to reach the scene, and he drops down to his own girlfriend. Give me your hand! I got you. I got you."

"My doll!"

"I got you. Come on. You're okay."

Aiden latches onto his father's leg to help with the pulling, and Y/n sticks her hand in the icy water to grab the doll.

"Holy fucking shit," she mutters after her brief contact with the water.

"You're okay. You're okay," Richard tells Grace, before turning to the kids. "Get back... get back in the house."

Mia is too busy brushing the snow off of her newly returned doll to care, but Y/n finds herself staring at the adults again. Richard is on top of Grace, desperately trying to warm her up. "You're okay. You're okay."

"Are you okay?" Aiden pulls her out of her reverie.

"Oh yeah! I'm fine."

Her gloved fingers twisting around themselves speak differently, but she again represses her true feelings. There's something about Grace and the whole trip that makes her want to gnaw at her nails and hide under the covers.

But it's just paranoia.