TPQ One Shots

What We Could've Been (Aiden Version)

A/N - so my ass has not done this is a good WHILE but WE HIT 30K VIEWS ON THIS BOOK AND I HAD TOOOO p.s my exams are officially DONE (thank the gods) and IM ALIVE and i can write more! 

Thank you to @Oabi_flamboyant and @joyjus9877 for requesting this!

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If you told Aiden that he'd came back to Atlanta 10 years ago, he would've laughed in your face. 

Afterall, it was the place where his heart had been broken beyond repair. 

But here he was, 10 years later, in the same Walmart that the Potatoes had gotten kicked out of multiple times. 

The memory made his heart clench painfully in his chest, but Aiden was here for one reason: to see Rudy and Mini's daughter because he'd missed her first birthday and then he'd go straight back to California. 

He shook off the feelings and turned to the aisle labelled "Pantry" to find a particular strawberry jam that their daughter adored. 

Kalyani was a bright little girl; energetic like Rudy and disgustingly educated like Mini. 

Makes for a killer combo if you asked him. 

"Strawbella, strawbella, strawbella," Aiden muttered, running his finger across the assortment of strawberry jams until he found the one he was looking for. 

"Found you,"  he thought as he reached out to grab the jam. 

Unfortunately, someone got to him first. 

"I'm sorry-" 

Aiden could no longer breathe. 

He thought he was dreaming for a few moments. 

The woman standing in front of him had smooth, dark skin, akin to mahogany, thick dark brown hair and bright, all-too-familiar eyes. 

Arundhati Shah.

She seemed to be in the same amount of shock as him, as she shamelessly stared at him, gaping. 

The shatter of glass snapped him out of his trance, as he looked at the broken jar of Strawbella strawberry jam that now lay hopelessly on the  white tiles. 

She could get hurt, his mind warned him. 

"Move," said Aiden immediately, taking Aru's hand and shifting her away from the mess on the floor. "Excuse me!" he called towards an employee emptying boxes. "Can we get some help?"

The employee rolled her eyes, sighed and pulled out her walkie-talkie, "Clean up on aisle three." 

Before long, another employee came towards them with a mop and a broom. 

"Y'all need to pay for that, eh?" said the walkie-talkie employee. 

"I'll pay," said Aiden, before Aru could protest. 

"No!" she exclaimed. 

That seemed to bring her back.