Aiden x Reader (but you're Ashlyn)

Episode 26

>>>>><Ben's backstory><<<<<

~~~~AT LUNCH~~~~

I showed everybody my shadow
Thank goodness they see it too... I thought i was going crazy.

Suddenly Aiden picked up one of my braids.
If looks could kill. I end up glaring at him with a threat.

"Woah, that's pretty rad-"
"Let go before I break your arm."
"Ha... another mystery..." Taylor mumbled with a sighLogan looked deep in thought.
"This might have something to do with why injuries from the phantom dimension don't transfer over to our dimension."
"Speaking of injuries, how are you holding up?" I asked him, slightly interrupting
"Oh, um... it kinda feels like I have a rash and it's pretty sore. Like I've been doing sit-ups or something. But it's nowhere near as painful as it was last night."It's the same as me...I turn to Aiden with a serious face, but genuinely curious why they just ran off like that, "And what happened to you guys?"

"ah- right.... that." He turns to Ben before asking, "Ya sure you wanna tell them?"

Ben typed a message and paired it with an audio on his phone, it read-
"It's best to have these types of things out in the open if we're going to be a team."

"These type of things?" Taylor asked, interrupting Ben's audio. "But I'm putting my earbuds in until Aiden's done."

"Ight, well. That's that then. He is right though, it's probably best to let you guys know before you accidentally set him off or somethin."
"Set him off?"
"Yup. But... this conversation doesn't go outside this group. Understood?"Aiden looked serious, which was unusual enough on its own. Sure, he had that annoying smile plastered across his face like always, but there was something different about it this time—something unsettling...

"I don't think any of you have realized this yet, but Ben has anger issues. Like- extreme haha."" Much worse than the half-wit over there.
And... the reason also has to do with why he doesn't speak. Ben was in sixth grade when the incident happened. Or was it seventh?"

"Anyway- he's always been a big guy for his age, and his size tended to intimidate people. Despite his appearance though, Ben was pretty timid. And more than anything, he loved singing. It was everything to him.
However, because his appearance didn't match his personality, he started to get bullied for it. It didn't start out as bullying. The group of idiots offered to 'fix' him first. Offering for him to join their group and they would teach him how to fight. Once Ben refused though, that's when it started. They started to beat him nearly every day."

I was so caught up in Ben's story that I barely noticed my fists had clenched under the table. Aiden, of course, noticed. He always does. 

His warm hand wrapped around mine, trying to calm me down.
I hesitated, unsure why he was always so pushy about being close to me, but I ended up uncurling my fist, letting our fingers intertwine.
The familiarity of his touch confused me, leaving me with an unsettling mix of emotions I couldn't quite shake off.

What is he doing to me? He annoys me—severely—but then he does something like this, and I can't help but feel...I don't even know. It's like he's always pushing to be closer, and I'm not sure if I want to push him away or just give in.

Why is he always in my head?

"Afterwards the leader, Shane, would ask Ben to join his group, and every time, Ben told him no. Then one day, Shane decided to take things to a drastic level." 

All of a sudden, everything felt even more intense than it already was. It was like the air around us thickened, and I could almost feel the tension creeping in.

614 word count

A/N: AAAHAHHAHAHHH!! GUYS RED JUST UPDATED SBG, I READ IT BEFORE WRITING THIS CHAPTER.
GO READ EPISODE 81, NOWW!!

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