One Plus One

Chapter 8 - Emotional

Aidan's Point Of View:

"Aidan?" Jonathan says, poking my arm.
"Yeah?" I reply groggily, lying on the couch.
"When's mum getting back?" Jonathan asks, pouting slightly.
"Three weeks." I reply, sighing.
"I wish she wasn't a flight attendant." Kiefer says meekly, crossing his arms.
"Ok you two, up to bed. Crap, it's already ten o'clock." I say to them, ushering them into their shared room. The only bedroom in the house.
"We don't want to go to bed!" They argue, stomping along the hallway.
"Sorry guys. You're only 7-" I pause, looking at Kiefer, "and you're only 9." I pause again, looking at Jonathan. "You need to go to bed." I say to both of them, starting to get annoyed.
They give up on arguing and climb into bed. I wish goodnight to each of them, and turn off the light.
"Goodnight Aidan." They both chorus. I  walk back into the living room, and lie back on my place on the couch.
Settling down, I feel a tinge of guilt float around my stomach.
Every night, I felt the urge to let Anna go, and give up on the offer.
She didn't deserve to suffer under my control.
I roll over, trying to forget about it. Apparently, my mind thinks differently. I picture her face when I tell her the real reason why I offered for her to be my fake girlfriend.
She would probably never talk to me again.
Worry bubbles in my stomach, mixed with guilt. Rubbing my eyes, I fall into a nightmarish sleep.

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"Bye guys, have a good day." I wave Kiefer and Jonathan off to the school gates, and drive towards Anna's house.
I couldn't let her go without me, she'd be dead before reaching the school gates. Little did she know, people were out to get her, and without me, she'd get hurt.
Arriving in her driveway, I honk the car horn, and wait for her to open the door. After a minute of not seeing her, I climb out of my car frantically.
Had one of them finally caught her?
I knock repeatedly on the door, nearly getting a heart attack when she opens the door.
"Anna!" I say, embracing her. I suddenly realised what I was doing, and pulled away.
"Aidan?" She says questingly.
"Hi." I reply awkwardly.
"What's your problem?" She asks, and raises her eyebrows, probably confused. Not thinking straight, I reply.
"I don't have one. I'm just happy to see you."
"Aidan, we're not in public. You don't have to be my boyfriend right now." She states, flipping her hair.
"I'm just being nice Anna, don't let it get to your head." I say angrily. She didn't need to be rude about it.
"Hurry up." She says, strutting past me.
I watch her for a millisecond, and then run to my car.

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I climb out of the car, opening her door for her. She gets out, looking at me as if I was a freak. I walk next to her up to school, and try take her hand. She furrows her eyebrows, but lets me.

We walk through the gates, same as usual. Faces still look at us weirdly, but majority had gotten over the fact we were 'dating.'
I clench my fist when I catch sight of Monica and her barbies. Tomorrow, if Anna doesn't break up with me, Monica would make Anna's life a living hell.
Would she break up with me though?

When we walk past Monica, I purposely spin Anna around so that her chest was on mine. I lean down and give her a quick kiss on the lips, making sure that Monica saw. Pulling away, I lead Anna down the corridor, glancing at Monica as we walk away.
She glares at Anna, probably trying to find a way to burn her to death.
I leave Anna at her locker, after saying goodbye.
If only she knew how important it was for me to keep her.

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Anna's Point Of View:

"Bella! Hi!" I say enthusiastically when I meet her at English.
"Hey girl!" She says excitedly. "The whole school is talking about how Aidan kissed you this morning to make Monica jealous!" She squeals.
"Yeah! He also drove me to school, and when I didn't answer the door straight away, he came and literally hugged me when I did open it! It's like he thought I was gone or something." I say, confused.
"You guys are so cute together!" Bella says happily, doodling in her book.
"Yeah." I reply, kind of lying. Aidan and I weren't together by choice. He made me date him. Blackmailed.
"Has he taken you on a date yet?" She asks, looking interested.
"No." I say, bored of this topic.
"I am going to go talk to him right now about this." Bella says angrily, and gets out of her seat. She struts over to Aidan, hands on her hips. I roll my eyes, like I would want to go on a date with Aidan.
The talk for a tiny bit, both of them taking glances at me every so often. I pretend to be busy, but couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.
"I've got something planned." Aidan says to Bella.
"Better be a pretty damn good date." She replies, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Yeah, she'll like it." Aidan assures her, and with that, Bella walks back over to me. I look up at Aidan who is also looking at me, and raise my eyebrows.
"He's got something good planned." Bella tells me as the teacher walks into class.
"Ok?" I reply, worried about what he might have planned.

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"Thanks for the ride Aidan." I say as I climb out of the car. He doesn't say anything, just drives off. Something tells me that he wasn't saying goodbye for the day. I collapse onto the couch, and scroll through the latest Snapchat stories for a while. Finally getting up, I decide to take a quick shower. After dressing and drying my hair, I settle back onto the couch. Suddenly, a door bell rings, and my suspicions are confirmed. Aidan stands at the door with a bunch of pink roses. He grins when I open the door.
"Hey Anna, can I ask you something?" He says slowly, smiling.
"Yeah?" I say questingly.
"On Saturday at 10am, can you meet me at the lake down the road?" He says, fidgeting with his fingers.
"Is this a date?" I say, confused.
"Yeah. You're my girlfriend, so I should take you out on a date." He replies, handing me the bunch of flowers. I stand there, shocked.
"Can I have time to think?" I ask, madly confused. Hurt flashes across his eyes, but within an instant it's gone. I begin to close the door, feeling guilty. A date with him wouldn't be that bad, right?
"Anna?" Aidan calls my name. "Are you going to dump me tomorrow?" He asks, referring to the whole Monica issue.
I stand there, shrugging. My throat dries up while I just stand at the door, speechless.
"Anna, are you ok?" Aidan asks, walking back up my driveway towards me. I make the mistake of letting one tear slide down my cheek. Aidan wraps his arms around me, and talks.
"If breaking up with me is what you want to do, then I'll just forget the offer." He says, rubbing my back. I choke on my tears, and let them run free.
"I don't want to break up with you." I say, sobbing in his arms.
Anna, did you literally just say that?
"Really?" Aidan asks back. I nod, unsure whether I meant that.
"Then I'll protect you." Aidan tells me, looking into my eyes. I roll my eyes at him.
"Aidan I know this might hurt your man pride, but you can't work miracles. Monica is gonna kill me." I stutter.
"You never know. Maybe I can." He says, taking a step away from me.
"Aidan?" I say quietly.
"Yes?" He replies, looking worried.
"Why are you protecting me?" I ask, hiccuping. He doesn't respond, but shakes his head, and walks to his car.
"Stay safe cupcake." He says, and drives off.

Holy crap, what just happened?

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Aidan's Point Of View:

I stress over Anna as I cook the boy's dinner. Would she say yes to my date?

Both boys sit on the couch, staring at the PlayStation, their eyes glued to the screen.
"Boys, come get dinner." I say.
"Aidan, five more minutes?" The plead. I shake my head, the fatherly instinct kicking in.
"You need dinner. Come on." I call to them.
We make our way to the dining table, each carrying a plate of lasagna.
"Aidan, who was that girl you talked to at the supermarket?" Jonathan asks me.
"My girlfriend." I say, poking at my food. Was she?
"She's pretty." Kiefer says, swallowing a huge mouthful of lasagna.
I look up, watching as both boys finish their dinner.
"Can we go play now?" Jonathan asks quickly.
"Yeah sure." I reply, putting my head in my hands, exhausted.
My thoughts jump back to my date with Anna on Saturday. Part of me starts to believe that she would decline my date, but I shove that feeling away. Anxious, I wait for a reply on my phone.

Anna's Point Of View:

I prepare hit the send button on the message to Aidan, but pause. I re-read over it.
Hi Aidan, sorry but I won't be able to make it to the date tomorrow. Maybe some other time?
Shaking my head, I hold my thumb over the delete button. Settling on my reply, I re-type my message, and watch it send.
I turn my lamp off, and fall into a light sleep, thoughts flying around my head as to whether I had made the right decision.

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Author's Note:

Hi guys, I was on a 3 hour road trip today so I decided to write you all a chapter in appreciation of new followers/comments and just a big thank you.
I have added in Aidan's P.O.V so I hope you like that. It was definitely hard to write!
Btw, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! (:
Thanks for all the reads,
Jennifer