This Time

|17| IKALABING-PITONG KABANATA

- AIDEN -

"Who is it?" I groaned, eyes still half closed. Like, who the heck calls at literally 2 am in the morning?

"A-Aiden," A sob from a very familiar voice broke me out of my sleepy state. I immediately stood up, now worried and panicking.

"Miss? What's wrong? Why are you crying? Is everything okay? What happened?"

"I-I didn't want to bother you, but A-Aaron run away and I...I don't know here he is," I could hear her breathing rapidly, probably in the midst of a panic attack. "W-We've been looking for 3 h-hours already and the police haven't found him yet."

"Miss-"

"T-Tristan and I were-"

"Professor-"

"-fighting a-and I didn't know-"

"Amayah," I said more firmly. She finally stopped talking, but her rapid breathing and sobs still broke through. "I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay?"

"I-I can't-"

"Try for me please?" I whispered softly as I struggled to put on sweats and a jacket. "I need you to close your eyes and take a deep breath in with me, okay?"

A small broken murmur of 'okay' was heard from the other line. I took a breath in as she did too.

1...2...3...

"Okay, now hold your breath," 1...2...3... "and exhale slowly. Do it again, alright?."

I felt a bit of relief when she did so. Moving as fast as I could, I went down the stairs, still holding onto my phone and keys to my bike while my focus on listening to her rapid breathing gradually slow down.

"Concentrate on your breathing, okay? Stay with me on the line and just breathe."

I put my earphones on and place my phone on the holder attached to the bike and quickly started pedaling. Why the heck don't I have a freaking car? I should've said yes when mom and dad offered to buy me one.

"That's good, I'm proud of you," I tried to say without sounding out of breath when I noticed she's finally calm and her breathing went back to its normal pace. "Take your time calming down. I'm here."

"This is all my fault, Aiden. I didn't know he was awake when his dad and I were fighting and I just- I should've made sure he was asleep."

"Hey, stop blaming yourself. This isn't your fault, okay? I know Aaron, he's probably just upset and he wants to be alone, so I'm going to look for him. Don't beat yourself up for something you couldn't have known would happen."

"But it is my fault," Professor Peterson sniffed. "I was the one who confronted Tristan first, Aiden."

"But Aaron missing wasn't a part of that, right?" I didn't wait for an answer. "You waited until he was asleep before you confronted your husband. You two didn't fight in front of Aaron. You couldn't have known he was eavesdropping, so no, it's not your fault."

When she didn't say anything back, I continued, hoping she was actually convinced because what I'm saying is true. It's not her fault.

"Stay with me on the line, okay? You can talk if you want or you can just stay quiet. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay..."

I went to two destinations Aaron mentioned to be his favorites spots, the park where he and his parents usually go to and the playground. Unfortunately, he wasn't there. Amayah also mentioned that they've already look for Aaron at still opened stores and fast food chains.