A Different Kind Of Love Triangle

Chapter 7: Story.

Nathan: Aiden! Aiden..
Aiden!
(I was screeching his name as I ran through the dark campus, But the only thing I could hear back was the sound of my shoes hitting the cemented pavement.
I checked our dorm, the library, the gym, the water fountain and the football stadium but couldn't find him..
I was running out of breath and patience.
Soon I saw a bench and sat to catch my breath,
Something felt familiar.. Trying to figure out why it feels like that I looked around, I was sitting next to the new basketball court..
Through the nets I could see a figure sitting on the stands, I stood up immediately.
"Could it be?" I questioned as I ran into the court)
Aiden?
(Lucky for me, it was him..
His eyes flicked up and back down immediately)
Aiden I was worried sick! I-
(I Panted, I was clearly out of breath and needed rest)
I ran through the whole campus! And-

Aiden: Sit. (He said calmly)

Nathan: Huh? (I was taken aback by the calmness of his words)

Aiden: Sit with me?
(With a sigh I sat next to him..
When I looked back at him my heart skipped a beat, he was so close.. The moonlight was highlighting his features perfectly, He looked like a painting.. a gorgeous painting
I shook the feeling off and broke the silence)

Nathan: Sorry for screaming, I was just really worried. Are you okay?
(He chuckled, clearly not okay)
What happened? Back at the party..
(I asked curiously)

Aiden: What do you think happened?

Nathan: I don't know.. No idea.
(He looked at me)

Aiden: Would you believe me?

Nathan: Of course I would..
(He looked back at his fidgeting fingers)

Aiden: Then let me tell you a story.
(He took a deep breath)
Did I ever tell you why my parents got divorced?
(I shook my head)
Sounds like me.. I never open up..
My dad.. he was controlling.. very controlling.
My mom couldn't take it anymore and filed for divorce.
My Dad was financially and professionally better than my Mom so even though I wanted to be with my Mom, the court decided the opposite..
Not really caring about who was emotionally better..
To be fair the first few years went without any problems..
Until I was.. thirteen.
I was kinda emo (he chuckled)
and I really liked the look of black nail polish, so when I was in school I asked my friend to paint my nails. I came home, my dad comes home..
Nothing happens until I start doing my homework. He notices my hands and says
"What's that?" I say, "Oh, that's nail polish"
"I know" he said "It looks disgusting, why did you do it?"
I stayed silent.. didn't know how to answer.
"Since it's your first time I'm letting you go, if I see you do something wrong the next time I'll fix you myself" Me being naive, I asked "Wrong?"
"You are a man, you can't do this, if you do this.. you are a.. faggot, a stain on my name..
And I'll clear that stain."
Somehow I didn't really process what he meant..
Maybe I was naive or I just didn't think he would actually hurt me.. but it happened.
A few weeks later I get home wearing my friend's eyeliner, yeah she helped me.. It was really thin yet so big in his eyes.
He comes home and.. *bang!*
(He slapped his hand on his thigh, making a loud sound that startled me)
That's the first thing I heard after I saw him..
The next thing I knew, I was on the ground..
Pain coursing through my face..
After that things became clear to me..
All the microaggressions..
All the "Don't cry".. "don't walk like that", "don't talk like that", "real men don't get scared"
All of it hit me at once, maybe even harder than that slap.
I learned to hide, I lived like he wanted me to, just dreaming of escaping that hell.
And I did, but it had an effect on me..
I became like that, you call me brave..
I'm not Nathan.. I'm a coward. I get scared really easily, but I'm just good at pretending I'm not because "a man doesn't get scared"
I was scared of acting vulnerable, I was scared of crying, because my father made me believe people would make fun of me for it.. and to be fair the society is like that. So in love with the idea of toxic masculinity. (He took a deep breath again)
And I saw someone who was scared.
I heard Leah's dad was very similar to mine.
But when I saw it, it just broke me..
She was so much like me..
And that's what made me connect to her..
It was going really well.
I thought she wanted comfort, she wanted affection.
But she didn't want love, she wanted control.. as did I when I was going through it.
I played along thinking it would help her..
But her control grew more and more around my neck until I told her I couldn't breathe..
Her response?
Well she doctored some screenshots making it seem like I sent her nude pictures of myself without her consent.
"I would complain if you break up with me"
It would ruin my life Nate..
Ruin it..
(He finally looked at me again)
Do you believe it?

Nathan: Believe what?

Aiden: That Leah is blackmailing me.

Nathan: Aiden.. I would believe you even if you said I had 12 fingers on my right hand.

Aiden: You have thirteen actually.
(I laughed as he smiled)

Nathan: Just so you know you're not a coward.
(I take his hands in mine)
You're so much more!
You are.. my... hope.
You are my.. dream.
You are my.. plumber. (He chuckled)
Aiden I'm so lucky.. to have you by my side..
Lucky that you are my.. friend..
Friend. (I just realized how tightly we both were holding each others hands)

Aiden: Thank you..
I'm very lucky to have you as my.. friend as well.

"Aiden! Nathan!"
(N comes in, huffing loudly)

N: Finally found you!
Are you okay..?
(We both stood up)

Aiden: N I have to tell you something..

N: Go on..

. . .

Zoe: She's blackmailing you?!
(Zoe exclaims after N tells her about the Leah situation)

Titli: That's so wrong..
(Both me and N didn't tell them about Aiden's dad which he seemed grateful about.
Did he really think we would tell people about his trauma without his consent? Or maybe he was smiling because a different reason)

N: Yes it is and she needs to go down!

Aiden: Let's not do that.

Nathan: Aiden?

Aiden: Hear me out, I know Leah is doing something very wrong.. but she is going through something. I don't wanna give her more trauma..
(Zoe looks at him raising an eyebrow, clearly confused by his sympathy)

Nathan: As much as I hate it.. Aiden is right and even IF we get our hands on the fake screenshots we can't prove that she faked it.
We just need to get rid of it.
(N gasps)

N: So let's get rid of it!
Operation Phonebooth.

Zoe: Phonebooth?

N: It sounds fancy..

Zoe: Seriously? Phonebooth sounds fancy?

N: Anyway, we need to get our hands on her phone and delete them!

Aiden: Are you sure?

Nathan: Yes, we are doing it.

Titli: I am in!

Zoe: Fine I'm in.

N: Great! Because you're the main attraction.

Zoe: I'm the what?

Nathan: Then let's begin Operation Phonebooth.
Can't believe we are actually calling it that.

N: I can't believe it either! (He says enthusiastically)

Aiden: Let's do this..
.
.
.