Aru Shah Short Stories and Oneshots

A love that never was

Aiden Acharya had once dreamed of love. 'Love is magical', people would say, 'Love is the joining of heartbeats, the connection of souls'. And for a while, he'd believed them. 

But he was naive back then, he realized. Love didn't exist. And even if it did, it brought nothing but sorrow.

He'd learned this at the age of twelve when his parents started fighting. For six months, Aiden had believed that they were fighting because of him. 'If they hadn't had me,' he thought, 'they'd be much happier'. So, he tried his best not to ask for anything. He left the house as often as possible, so they wouldn't have to deal with him. He wore the plainest, most basic clothes, so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. 

But even with his best efforts, they continued fighting. He didn't know what to do. 'Maybe this will blow over soon,' he hoped.

 It didn't blow over.

 When he found out that his father had been cheating on his mother, he hadn't believed it for a while. Sure, they'd been fighting, but they still loved each other, right? And all families fight. He finally accepted it when his parents told him they were getting a divorce, and that they were moving to Atlanta, just his mother and him.

Aiden was shocked, especially because he knew what they could have been. They could've been a family that laughed together, played scrabble on the dining room floor, that watched silly movies. In short, they could've loved each other. He hated his dad, but he also hated himself. He should've tried harder. He should've fixed this.

He was never going to fall in love, he decided. Love would never find its way to him, and it wouldn't last. 

 One day, when he was walking home from school, a girl bumped into him. 'I know where you live' she'd said, and run away.

A/N- So, this was it. If you have any ideas or suggestions please comment below! I hope you liked this one!