Aaron is in college, so you'd think high school bullies are long gone. But they followed him even when he went to a different state. The things they do to him are cruel and nearly unbelievable, and he's unable to stop them. Will it ever stop?
The an...
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"Let him sleep, you idiot!"
I grumble, squirming away from the source of the sound. It's mean to wake someone up after tickle-torture.
"Look! Look what you did!" I hear Micah yell. Groaning, I reach behind me and throw a pillow at what I think is his face. It could be something else too, though. I'm too sleepy to lift my head and look.
"Excuse me?"
Micah sounds offended. I whine. "Give me my pillow back! Please?" I add, not hearing anyone shift. None of them are still in the bed, that I can feel, so I spread wide over the whole bed.
"If you want to keep your pillow, then don't throw it at people," Aiden remarks, startling me. He's closer than I'd expected.
I sigh. Open one eye. I jump up when I see Aiden's abs next to the bed. God damn.
A low chuckle sounds from above the abs, but I can't seem the lift my eyes. Jesus. I've never seen such sharp abs. It's like they're cut out of stone.
Two fingers on my chin force my gaze up. I'm met two blazing blue eyes, with a smirk right under them. "Hi baby. Are you enjoying your view?"
I nod without a single thought, breathless by the gorgeous sight. It's not much I see Aiden with a smirk close to a smile and without a brick wall in those eyes, hiding all emotion. His hair is messy, and I completely love it.
"I'm going for a run. Do you want to join?" he asks, joy sparkling in his eyes. I have no idea why he's so happy, but I want more of it.
But running?
"I- um- I'm not—" "See? I told you it'd be a no. Now get out and let him sleep," Micah snaps. When I glance at him, I see he's crossing his arms over his chest and just not tapping his foot on the floor. Gosh, he's such a child.
Aiden nods and stands up from the bed again. "That's okay. I guess I just wanted to offer you the possibility." His smirk/smile is gone and his lips are now only a tight line. If I didn't know better, I'd say he looks upset.
I try to untangle the sheets from my legs as soon as possible to go along with him, but he's already leaving the room. "Wait—" I gasp, but he doesn't hear me and closes the door after him.
Micah turns to me. "Go back to—um, what are you doing?" I'm now out of the bed and running towards the bathroom. "Give me two minutes to brush my teeth and dress up, I'll go with Aiden!"
Micah follows me to the bathroom, but the door locks just in front of him. "Aaron—you're tired! Why on earth would you want to go on a run with him at seven thirty in the morning?"
I hastily put on a sweatshirt and some sweatpants before brushing my teeth. "Because I . . . I like running!" The lie spills out, and it's probably the biggest lie ever. I hate running. Running and Aaron cannot be in the same sentence. But I don't want Aiden to feel like I don't want anything to do with him so I'm making offers right now.
With my teeth brushed, I open the door of my bathroom again and head out, but a confused Micah stops me. I squirm away. "Wait! I want to join Aiden! I'm not running away from any of you, I swear! I just want to go with him!"
With visible reluctance but at least a bit if sense, Micah lets go of me. I storm downstairs, only to be met with an empty living room. Did he go already?
I quickly wander over to the kitchen, where Seb and Ada are talking in a low voice. Seb notices me first and smiles, while Ada frowns at my already panting state. "What's wrong? Oh baby, everything's okay," she soothes me.
"Where is Aiden? Did he leave?" I ask, ignoring her pity. Seb points to the front door. "Like, thirty seconds ago. Don't worry, he'll come back. He goes for a run every morning we're not working, and he's always back around eight forty. He's crazy, but at least he's hot." He playfully shrugs.
I nod and turn to leave too. Ada stops me. "What are you—" "Did he go left or right?" I urge. If I lose too much time, I won't be able to find him anymore. I know the man's fast.
"L-left, but—" "Thank you, bye!" And I'm gone. I step outside the front door and head left, where I see a small figure at the end of the road. Christ, he's that far already?
So I take a sprint. I run until the figure's getting larger and I know for sure it's Aiden. "Aiden! Wait!" I pant, gasping for air. The man slows down before stopping and looking around him with a frown.
I finally reach him. I take his arms in my hands for support while I try to catch my breath. "I'm—I'm joining you," I pant.
His frown turns into a smile. "You're joining me for an eight mile run while you're already panting from running one street?"
I give him a glare. "Um, excuse me? I was sprinting to get to you! Because you, mister, didn't want to wait for me! What else was I supposed to do?"
He shrugs. "Get back in your warm, comfortable bed and sleep until noon? Admit you want it." I suppress a whimper at the thought of losing so much sleep. Damnit, I didn't think this through.
He pats my head. "But I'm happy you're joining me. This way we can work on your fit and when that's alright, we'll start with defending ourselves. Well, you'll start and I'll teach."
I sigh. "Fine. But don't bully me with thoughts about warm beds anymore, or I'm turning right back."
"No, you won't," he cheerfully says, picking up his pace again. Nope. I won't.
I notice he's running slower than he was before I reached him, but I'm not complaining. This is my first time running more than five miles, so I'm kind of curious how I'll do.
