Playing With The Devil

Chapter 26

(TW Reminder - More of Aidan's Backstory)

I felt my chest heaving when we shared the shower. I eventually relaxed enough to have him in there the entire time, and I found I didn't mind it entirely. It was a step forward at least and I was proud of myself for it. I'd had Irene in here a couple of times with me. The first time I had to ask her to leave instantly.

Aidan behaved himself. He kept his hands to his chest. His eyes always looked over me as we showered. I think he was trying to figure out if I was still comfortable. With every flinch or shake. I just reminded myself it was Aidan with me. When we had stepped out and dressed for the night, Aidan snaked his arms around my body and held me close to him. We weren't even in bed yet. We just stood beside it, holding each other.

"You did so well," he said quietly into my chest.

"What?" I asked, looking down at him.

"With the shower," he said, his eyes were peered up at mine. "You did amazing."

I smiled at his kind words. Even though it was the smallest step in the right direction, he was giving me praise for it, showing me that I did well. I helped him into the bed and slipped in beside him.

"Oh, really?" I said.

We were face to face now. I could see the concern behind his eyes. I knew I was deflecting and ignoring the pain it had caused me. It wasn't as bad as I normally felt but the feelings still lingered.

"Gabe," he said sternly.

"I'm sorry, I just... It's different." I didn't know how to explain but words garbled out.

"Take the praise," he smiled.

"Okay, okay, thank you, baby," I said.

I moved in as close as possible to him. I could feel his breath on my lips. I bet he could feel mine. Our eyes were still kept to each other, kind of intense yet relaxing. We eventually fell asleep in each other's arms. I think I was the first to fall. He had started playing with my hair and I slowly closed my eyes. I couldn't keep them open any longer.

The morning came too soon as well. We couldn't stay in bed. Imagine just sleeping in here all day in each other's arms. Warm. Ignoring the world. I was falling hard and fast for this young man. Screams from outside woke me. It stirred Aidan but he didn't wake until I pushed myself out of his clutches to check outside. I pulled the blind back to look at the street. I could barely see with the sun shining through, but there were quite a few people around anyway. Aidan sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Fear was what I saw on his face. Worry, dread.

"It's okay, baby," I said soothingly from the window. "I'll get you to the car, no problem."

"What are they yelling about?"

"I can only really hear your name and 'we have questions' on repeat, more of what happened yesterday," I examined.

"I'm worried that if I see him, I'll want to hurt him," he whispered. "What if I go nonverbal? What if he tries something again? What if-?"

I rushed to the bed and wrapped my arms around him. "No, stop it. No more 'what if', I'll be there."

"Yeah, yeah," he repeated.

We took our time getting ready. I'd received a text message soon after we decided to get out of bed and our warm embrace. My father notified me that Jesse had arrived at the warehouse. He was earlier than expected, probably receiving just as much harassment as we were.

I managed to get Aidan to the car quickly before people started forcing their way over each other to get to us. I locked the doors and drove without wavering. People were smart enough to get out of the way - to my surprise.