And The Pain Was Heaven

part two

a/n SUNDAY'S FINALLY HEREEE so another part of this fic for you guys!

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"So? Where'd you go, hm?" Brynne asked. Aru flinched at the volume of her obnoxiously loud voice. Being interrogated by her sisters was bad enough as it was, especially when one of them was wasted; she didn't need to lose the ability to hear, too.

"Yeah, where were you?" Mini followed up, pressing a glass of water to Brynne's lips as she rubbed her back soothingly. Her sharp, inquisitive eyes bore holes in Aru's skull, and her heart fearfully skipped a beat as she felt the deafening silence settle over them.

"It's not a big deal, guys," she said convincingly. "Aiden ran out of the gym, so I followed him to see if he was okay."

"Liar!" Brynne drawled, pointing at Aru with narrowed bloodshot eyes.

Now, Aru didn't believe she was a liar. She liked to tell herself that she was telling the truth, just not all of it. That way, she wasn't technically lying, right? Besides, what business did her sisters have with the knowledge that her best friend told her she looked 'amazing' last night? That wasn't any of their concern, even if she grinned giddily every time she thought of it, leaving them confused as ever.

"I'm not lying," she protested weakly. "You know how he doesn't like school dances, we basically had to blackmail him into agreeing to go to this one. I don't think he was feeling well, so he ran off."

"No, there's definitely more to it than that," Mini decided after a minute of processing her response. "You're not telling us the entire story."

"You think I'm lying?" Aru's voice rose up in pitch like a toddler's.

Brynne momentarily pushed the glass away from her mouth. "Puh-lease, your lying problem is so bad, you don't even know it."

"Hey! Not true!"

"We just want the whole picture, Aru," Mini interrupted, forcing Brynne into drinking more water. "Just tell us what happened. It's not like you were out to murder someone, so it can't possibly be that bad."

"How would you know?" Aru challenged. "What if I did murder someone last night and hid the evidence?"

"Oh c'mon, Aru."

The room went quiet. Aru's cheeks burned at the thought of how close they were only hours ago, how soft and genuine his voice had been as he'd whispered into her ear.

"Oh. Oh! There it is!" Brynne cackled as she covered her face with both her hands, groaning. Mini smiled knowingly, setting the empty glass on her bedside table.

"Stop it, Bee!"

"Then tell us! What happened after you left?"

"Fine." She peeked at their eager faces through her fingers before dragging her hands down her face exhaustedly. "I followed him to that clearing behind the school. And then..." Her voice dwindled. "He told me– he told me I looked amazing tonight."

Mini squealed while Brynne broke out into a silly beam. They scampered off the bed and sat one either side of her, creating a little circle that reminded her of a kindergarten storytime.

"He's so confusing though!" Aru exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air. "First he says I look 'fine' and then he starts complimenting me? Why are boys so hard to read?"

"I know you're not gonna believe me, Shah, but he's so in love with you, it's almost crazy." Brynne leaned against her for support. "He has his reasons for doing what he does, even if it makes me want to punch him myself."