A Summer Fling (Aris x Reader AU)

26) Sensitive

“How was the trip? It's a long way from here,”my aunt asked when we walked in. She didn't even look up from Brutus as she scratched behind his ears while he was on the couch with her.

Because she didn't need to. Even she knows. She knows, and I didn't.

The bags seemed to become enough to drag my arms down, weights that wanted me to sink into the ground. My phone seemed even worse, butting in with opinions that held at least a little bit of truth to them. I am sensitive. Way more than other people. I was born defective.

Before I could drop everything, I set the shopping spree on the counter. Y/N stood beside me, looking in bags to separate them. It was a reminder that they still had this weird way of separating me from them, making it clear I grew up differently.

Normal people wouldn't think like that.

“Hey,”She whispered, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. Her eyes filled with the kind of concern that makes your stomach churn when you realize she means it. She’s soft like that, a light breeze in heavy storms, new silk over scratchy fabric, pain relief from headaches that leave you nauseous. All the while, she wastes it on me, my problems that aren't actually problems, my busy head that leaves my vision black, my shaky hands that I never know what to do with.

“I’m fine,”I assured her before she could ask if I was okay.

“Are you-”
“I said I’m fine,”I snapped, the overwhelming feelings spilling out in just four words.

Her face dropped, her comforting smile being replaced with a confused frown. I felt my cheeks flush at the apparent inability to talk like a normal person. To understand everything I feel and communicate it without this guilt that it was a burden or the belief that nobody actually cared.

I should apologize. I want to apologize.

As my throat closed up, leaving me barely able to breathe, I walked past her, making sure not to brush my hands against her skin for once as I did. Before I could suffocate, I opened the doors. With a heavy heart that I don't know what to do with, I closed it, taking a seat on the porch.

The air was thicker than it should be, a tension in the atmosphere that couldn't be outran. The sun was setting past the trees her and I bike through daily, a soft orange glow that requested instead of demanding attention. Everyone that passed by paid attention not because it had so much to say it didn't even know where to start, but because it's beautiful.

☆ ☆ ⁠☆

I regretted not bringing some kind of jacket before I stormed out. To be fair, that would be pretty weird. ‘Hey, I know I was a jerk, but I’m going to make sure I can comfortably ignore you. Love you’.

Right. How genius.

The night air was cold. I’m not sure what time it is, but I think I’ve been here for at least an hour seeing as the sky is sparkling with diamonds that I haven't truly seen since before I was forced from my actual home.

Maybe if I hadn't been I wouldn't be such a screw up. Not to my parents. I was always going to be too different for them to like.

Other people would like and love me every day though.

Pulling my knees to my chest, I rested my face in my knees as I wrapped myself in a pathetic hug. My arms were covered in goosebumps as I shivered, breath slightly visible in the air. Chills ran up my spine as my teeth threatened to chatter.

It's warm inside. There's two of my favorite people and a great dog. There's my girlfriend who's confused on why I would be rude and my aunt who’s probably giving a wise piece of advice over dinner.