4 Town x Reader Imagines

"He Must Have Really Hurt You" - Aaron Z x Reader

"He must have really hurt you, to make those pretty eyes look so blue." - 'Heal The Pain', George Michael.

Rocking on his heels, Aaron patiently waits for you to answer the front door. Although it's been just seconds since he rang the bell, each moment that passes feels like it'll never end.

One day of unanswered texts, that's what's bought him here. You always, always reply to his texts, usually within minutes. After expressing his concerns in a string of ignored messages, he took matters into his own hands.

Come on, Y/N, don't shut me out...

Aaron's been your best friend for long enough to know what you're doing. The pattern of behaviour is always the same. Whenever you get upset, you shut the world out. Even him. He knows how much you hate being vulnerable in front of people, even those closest to you. Although he's much the same, he wishes you'd let him help you, nonetheless.

When the familiar click of the catch finally draws Aaron out of his thoughts, he needs only one guess as to what's happened. Anxiously eyeing your face, which is somehow flushed yet sallow all at once, and your glassy eyes, he can see you've been crying.

And who's made you cry? Well, he's pretty sure of that too.

"A-aron..."

Offering you a small smile, your friend steps up onto the porch. "I was getting worried."

"I'm okay, really..." Sniffling a bit, you clumsily wipe your nose with the tissue in your clasp.

"Really?" Aaron's skeptical look makes you tear up that bit more, and he gently lets himself inside.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a mess." Allowing Aaron to wipe your eyes, you dare to meet his own concerned ones.

"Don't be silly, you're all good. Was it..."

"...Luke."

Ah, Luke. The famous Luke. The Luke that Aaron simultaneously despises yet aspires to be. The Luke that gets to call you his. That Luke.

Trying to push thoughts of the guys out of his mind, Aaron guides you into your living room as if it were his own. After helping you sit on the couch, his touch gentler than ever, he takes a seat beside you. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

No response. He figured as much, especially when he hears those tiny sobs that slip past your lips. Head in hands, you manage to sputter out something, at least, "He's a jerk."

It takes everything in Aaron and all his undisclosed love for you to refrain from murmuring a childish 'I told you so'. Instead, he pulls you into his arms, cradling you gently. Unsure of what to say, he simply whispers, "I'm sorry."

"D-don't be...I'm better off without him."

If the sound of your trembling voice hadn't broken his heart in two, Aaron would feel relieved, hopeful, excited. But, those emotions are near-on impossible for him to experience when you're in such a state.

He murmurs out a small sound conveying agreement, and holds you tighter. With your head on his chest and your legs slung over his thighs, he reckons he could stay like this with you for the rest of his life. And when he happens upon your face all squished against him? He's sure of it.

It's only the sound of your sniffly snores that tears him away from his thoughts. He repositions the tiniest bit so that he can see your face, your complexion now evened out and settled back to its usual hue. Lips parted, hair a mess, Aaron can't believe how imperfectly perfect you look right now.

Remembering the way you looked up at him when he first arrived, he can't help murmuring under his breath in the softest, most velvety of voices;

"He must have really hurt you, to make those pretty eyes look so (Y/E/C)..."

With a small, semi-contented sigh, he goes back to holding you securely. As he's about to shut his own eyes, he feels you stir.

"W-what did you...say?"

Shit.

Daring to gaze down at your perplexed expression, Aaron mentally slaps himself for being such a dummy. Why did he say anything? How could he be such a fool?

"Aaron?"

Licking his lips in an anxious frenzy, Aaron brings one of his hands to nervously scratch the back of his neck. "I said...he must have really hurt you..."

You give him a bit of a look, non-verbally reminding him that you're not stupid. He sighs.

"And that your...your eyes-"

Before he can clumsily relay his sentiment, his lips are ambushed- in the best possible way- by your own. Feeling the soft skin for the first time, kissing you right back is the most natural instinct he's ever felt.

Eyes popping from their sockets, he can't believe that you're doing this. Friends don't do this, at least not those with a healthy relationship. But, when you pull away and his eyes happen upon your lovestruck gaze, he realises that you're not friends anymore.

Together, you're now so much more.