Basic Instinct [stranger things]

83. Frustrations

CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
FRUSTRATIONS

Another four weeks had passed since Aaron had tried out for the hockey team, and two weeks had passed since the results had been posted.

Much to Aaron's surprise, he'd actually ended up making it. In fact he was so surprised that he'd had to triple check the sheet in case he'd somehow mistaken his name for someone else's.

The second the realisation set in, he rushed off to find Kimmy, confident in what her response would be. At least he definitely knew she'd be happy for him - that she'd be proud of him.

And of course she was. She'd even reached up and given him a tight hug without even thinking about it, if anything she looked almost more excited about it than Aaron did.

Her reaction almost made Aaron uncomfortable. Not because he didn't appreciate it or because he was embarrassed, because that wasn't the case at all.

He liked when Kimmy would do stuff like that. No one else would treat him like she did and he knew it, he also knew that she didn't treat anyone else the same way she treated him.

But that was exactly it, no one had ever treated him like that before. So when she would do something unexpectedly, he would find himself briefly panicking and trying to think about how he was supposed to react to it.

To put it simply he just wasn't used to that sort of affection. He hadn't really gotten hugs before he and Kimmy started dating, and even after they had started dating he only ever got them from her.

It was weird, because he knew Kimmy was the exact same. That she hadn't been one to receive any sort of loving hugs from her parents either, but they just seemed to have different reactions to it.

Still, Aaron didn't like getting hugs anyway, he didn't like people touching him what so ever. But for some reason he didn't mind when Kimmy did it, he didn't mind when she would give him a hug, or when she'd hold his hand, he didn't even care when she'd kiss him.

Well, it wasn't that he didn't mind or didn't care - he liked when she'd do it.

But it was different when Kimmy did it.

Aaron sometimes puzzled himself with how different he was when he was with her.

He was still the same as he'd always been. He still made her lunch as well as his own because he didn't trust the school food would be up to safety standards, he still cleaned the house until it was spotless, he still couldn't handle germs to any sort of extent. The list went on.

But it was so different when he was with her. The weird thing was that Aaron didn't even realise how much he'd changed over the years he'd known her until he looked back on it.

Aaron wouldn't even touch her hand when they'd first become friends and now he had no issue sleeping next to her in the same bed more nights than he slept in his own.

Sure, Aaron probably didn't need to come down and check on her anymore. But it was a good excuse to go downstairs to see her and Aaron decided he would use that excuse until he didn't need one anymore.

However Aaron could still remember how his almost bashful expression was completely wiped away the second he was with the rest of the party the day he'd made the team. Just like what had happened to Lucas, there were some strained smiles and nods but he could tell they didn't care. If anything they were probably a little annoyed at him the same way everyone had been annoyed at Lucas.