A Friend Of A Friend

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Tonight, You're Perfect

~POV: Jaiden~

I woke up, and rolled over to see a pair of honey eyes staring at me. I flew up from my bed in fright. I looked over again to see a laughing Aaron. I got up and walked over him out to the kitchen. Mom sat at the table on her iPad, watching Friends.

"You let him in, didn't you?" I demanded.

"Yep. Why? What happened?" She asked, drawing her attention away from the funny people.

"I wake up with him trying to scare me!" I complained. About that time, I felt arms around my waist, and I was picked up and thrown over somebody's shoulder. "Aaron Pauley! Put me down!" I demanded. He laughed and set me on the floor.

"So, what do you want to do today?" He asked me.

"I don't know. It's pretty hot out today." I said.

"How about we get the others and go swim?" He suggested. I agreed and ran to get ready.

He called the guys while I put in my contacts and put on my swimsuit. When I came back out, my mom stood by the door in her swimsuit, too. I had on my purple two piece tankeenie swim suit with my shorts on. My mom stood with her "Summer Fun" beach bag in her blue two piece with her black swim skirt on. Aaron stood with her, still fully clothed.

"Ready?" She asked me. "I got towels and all already." I shook my head, grabbed my sunglasses and ran down the stairs, slipping on my flip flops. Aaron and I got in his car while Mom got in her's.

The ride to the guy's apartment was filled with Aaron and I talking and listening to Linkin Park. He stopped the car in front of the building. Phil and Tino came running out and dived into my Mom's car. We heard them yelling, "Mama Rutabaga!" We laughed and started driving again.

We arrived at the pool twenty minutes later. I got out and immediately saw two very familiar faces, Sydney and Mariah. I jumped out of the car and ran to them, hugging them. They laughed and hugged back.

"FRANKIE! BRENDON!" I screamed. They laughed. Then, I was pulled away by Aaron. I pouted and jumped on his back.

"ABUSE!" He yelled. I laughed at him. Mariah and Phil were having a conversation, while Tino and Sydney were being all shy-flirty with one another. Mama walked over to Aaron and myself.

"Boy, where's your swim stuff?" She asked him.

"Phil got it." Aaron said.

"Then stop flirting with my daughter and go get changed!" She told him. I got off Aaron's back, and he went over to Phil.

We all paid to get in, got our wrist bands, and went in the changing rooms. I ran straight through, almost slipped, (luckily Mariah caught me.), and ran out to the other side. I found a picnic table and set my stuff down, threw off my shirt, and sat down.

Mariah and Sydney came, followed by Mama, then the boys. Tino and Phil paired up with the girls, got sunscreened, and ran into the water. A second later, Aaron walked out. He wore simple black swim shorts. He took off his shirt and picked up the sunscreen.

"Help?" He asked me. I nodded, not trusting my voice to say what honestly was running through my head. I took the sunscreen from him and sprayed his back and front. In turn, he sprayed me. I then got Tino to spray Mom's back.

"Lego!" I screamed, briskly walking to the diving board. Aaron followed me.

I got on the diving board, and jumped, doing a simple dive. He followed me in, but went under longer. I swam over to the side to wait for him. He didn't come back up. I started to panic. Then, I felt somebody grab my waist and pull me under. I got away, and went above the water. A laughing Aaron soon followed.

"Aaron!" I whined. I smack his chest. "Why'd you do that?! You scared me!" He wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm sorry, Jaid." He apologized. I felt my heart flutter like it did every time he used one of those stupid little nicknames. I continued to pout, but started to trace the tattoo on his arm. He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "I'm sowwy." He said again.

"I forgive you." I mumbled. I pulled away from him, and pulled myself out of the pool. He followed me. We went down the slide and swam around.

Mom eventually came in and joined us. After an hour of swimming, we got out and ran to the playground beside the pool.

Aaron and I sat together on the two person swing, like you'd see on a porch. I pulled my legs up and put my head on Aaron's shoulder. He slipped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked me.

"Sleeping." I joked.

"How about we go out to dinner?" He purposed.

"Sounds nice." I smiled, and got up. "Race you back to the pool!" I yelled.

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~POV: AARON~

I nervously fixed my shirt. I had gotten through asking her out, now the harder part. I knocked on the door. Mama Rutabaga opened the door frowning.

"You hurt her, I hurt you." She threatened me. I nodded. I looked past her.

Jaiden stood wearing a plain black shirt and a floral mid-thigh skirt. Her brown hair was curled down her back. She had a simple black clutch around her wrist, and her phone in hand.

"Mama, are you trying to scare him?" She asked, moving down the stairs gracefully.

"Me?! No!" Mama Rutabaga said dramatically.

"I'll see you later, Ma." Jaiden smiled at her mother, and stepped out the door.

"Be home before eleven!" She yelled as we walked down the front steps.

"okay!" Jaiden yelled back. We got in the car, and Jaiden sighed. "Thank you! She was driving me up a wall!"

"I'm happy to oblige." I laughed. I started backing down her driveway. We drove to the restaurant. We got out and walked into the restaurant.

After we ordered, Jaiden brought up an interesting question.

"Aren't you engaged to Amanda?" I looked into Jaiden's bright green eyes.

"Uh-yeah." I confirmed.

"Are you still engaged?" She asked, keeping her eyes on me. I shook my head. "What happened?" She asked, putting her hand on mine.

"I-uh. I caught her cheating on me. I came home from tour a day early to find her in bed with some guy." I chocked out. Jaiden got out of her seat and slid in the booth beside me. She put her arm around my shoulders and laced my fingers with her fingers.

"I'm sorry, Aaron. You deserve so much better than her." She told me. She gently rubbed my shoulder. "You deserve so much better. So, so much better." She gently kissed my cheek and went back over to her side. After a bit of small talk, our food came.

We ate quickly, talking while we ate. After we were finished, we argued about who pays, I won out, then we left. After a quick drive, we were parked at the canal. We got out and walked over. The moon glistened on the water as we walked beside it. I carefully took her hand. She looked over at me and smiled. I stopped her and turned her to face me.

"What?" She asked me. I put my arms around her waist and pulled her body against mine. She put her one arm around my neck, and her hand on my chest.

"Thank you for coming out with me, tonight." I said, leaning closer.

"My pleasure." She smiled. I looked into her eyes. We both leaned in more, our eyes never leaving each other's. Our lips gently touched, but it quickly deepened. It was absolutely perfect. We both pulled away. "Tonight you're perfect. I wanna fall in love with stars in your eyes. Tonight you're perfect. I wanna fall in love..." Jaiden sang. I smiled and leaned my forehead against hers.

"God, you are perfect." I whispered to her. I gently kissed her again.

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Chapter Title Credit:

New Politics;
Tonight You're Perfect