Brilliance - Aruden AU

14 - dreams

It had been 2 days since that had happened and Aru still refused to leave the house. She barely even left her room, except to eat, and talk to her mom, and grab books and movies and tissues. Lots of tissues.

Obviously, she didn't want anyone to see her like this. Things were bad enough and if she was seen looking like this? It would be even worse. Aru wasn't exactly popular, but she'd be even more of an outcast after that.

And besides, she really just needed her own time. She needed to get over this all and she couldn't do that if she had people around. Particularly Aiden.

2 days later and Aru still could hardly wrap her head around what he'd done. It was so, just... Ugh. She would have said "not like him," but clearly she didn't know him that well. Clearly he was just a selfish, rude, horrible-

A light, tinkling sound interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to look next to her. Her ringtone - someone was calling her.

Begrudgingly, Aru climbed out of bed and over to the desk where she kept her phone and checked the notifications.

Missed Call from "Aiden :]"
Missed Call from "Aiden :]"
Missed Call from "Aiden :]"
Missed Call from "Aiden :]"

Rolling her eyes, she scrolled past the older alerts. As if he actually cares. Making a mental note to change Aiden's contact name, she reached the newest notification.

Missed call from "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEEEE (mini)"

Smiling slightly for what felt like the first time in days, she dialed back. The phone vibrated, before Mini answered. Aru switched the phone onto speaker.

"Arundhati Shah! Finally! You know, I was worried you'd gotten a cold or something and died from a chest infection!" Mini spoke rapidly, the relief evident in her voice.

"Can you die from a chest infection?"

"Yeah, pneumonia. You get respiratory failure and lung abscess and... Well that's not the point. Are you okay? I heard about what happened."

Aru sighed, walking back over her bed. "Nah. I'm not okay. I can't believe he did that!"

"Me neither." Mini's tone was sympathetic. "What a doofus."

"Yeah." There was a pause before Aru spoke again. "So, I'm going to change my name and ride up to Seattle. Where do I get a motorbike?"

Mini panicked immediately. "No Aru! The chances of road accidents on motorbikes skyrocket you know!"

"Don't worry, it was a joke," Aru tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a groan. "So, for names, how does Deborah sound?"

"Absolutely not." Mini said quickly. "But you can't stay in your room forever you know..."

"I know," Aru grumbled. "But I can't exactly go out. I had to delete half my socials because of all the messages I was getting - that's just online! In real life... And besides, I could run into him, which is the last thing I want."

"Which I get, and it sucks-"

"It really does." Aru said sharply, before cringing at herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap..."

"It's okay, you're struggling right now. Do you want to talk later?"

"Um, yeah. Thank you for calling." Aru waited for the line to click over, before slogging back over to her bed , sitting down with a long sigh.

She wanted to cry. A lot.

So, she did.

Aru lay back on her bed, sobbing her eyes out. Her eyes burned and her chest felt like it was going to burst, like she'd just been punched in the gut. It was as if the pain in heart was surrounding her and leaking into every part of her before.

Aru couldn't believe she'd trusted him. She couldn't believe she'd trusted him and he'd done that. It wasn't right.

With a groan, she reached across to her bedside table wiping the tears off of her face. She hated feeling like this. She hated that he had done this to her.

She sat up, her expression hard. She was never - ever - going to let Aiden Acharya hurt her again.

And if that meant ignoring his texts? Acting as if she didn't hear him speaking to her? Being spiteful and cold and cutting? Making him think that she hated him because that's all she would let herself do?

Then so be it.

So. Be. It.

She was going to hate Aiden Acharya.

---

Aru woke up from her dream in the tent, rubbing her face. It took her a second to get her bearings; a second longer to notice what was laying on top of her.

A hoodie, dark grey, that smelled of clean laundry.

Aiden, her brain thought instinctively. She shushed her thoughts and looked over to the boy next to her.

Aiden looked peaceful as he slept, his face more relaxed than it ever was when he was awake. A curl of hair flopped on his face and Aru resisted the urge to brush it away. Where had the thought even come from anyways?

It was hard to believe this was the same boy who had hurt her before so badly.

A part of her brain, a small traitorous part whispered to her. What if it wasn't him? What if it was a mistake? What if that was never supposed to happen? What if, what if, what if...

She blocked out the voice. No amount of hypotheticals could change the facts of what happened, even if she wished they could.

...And she'd admit, that she wished they could.

But then again, even if she couldn't change the past, it was possible she could move on. What was it she said to Aiden yesterday? They were friends. Friends.

It was definitely better than enemies. Definitely more comfortable. It felt slightly off but...

But it would do.

Aiden had been a terrible person. She knew what he'd done, everyone knew. She had no reason to forgive him. And yet...

She thought back to the missed calls. To the amount of times he'd tried to speak to her afterwards. To how close they'd been before. She thought about the pain on his face when his nervous smiles had been met my glares.

Someone couldn't fake all of that. Could they?

She scowled at Aiden's sleeping body with an accusatory look. "Why do you have to mess with my head like this?"

He didn't reply. Obviously. Aru hesitated a moment, before a small smile appeared on her lips.

She didn't know if she'd ever be able to forgive Aiden Acharya.

But maybe...

Maybe...

Maybe she wouldn't have to hate him.

A/N
Guess who's back from the dead? Yeah sorry for taking so long, as you can probably tell I'm low on inspo
(Also I can't really tell how many people are actually enjoying reading this so if you are please comment and stuff because it's very appreciated)
Anyways, love you folks, see you next time!

- Bea :)