One Plus One

Chapter 13 - What A Mess

Moving so that I was facing Aidan, I put a hand under his chin, and lift his head so that he was looking at me. He looks into my eyes with a sadness that makes my heart melt.
"I thought you'd given up." I whisper, lightly picking up his bleeding hand. Looking at his injury, I try to connect the dots, but fail.
"Why did you do this?" I say, confused.
He shrugs, but I can tell the lie through his eyes.
"Bull crap. Aidan, once I get back, you had better tell me." I say, standing up. Running back to the library, I go through the front desks, and find the red box with a cross on it. I refill my drink bottle quickly, and grab a cloth from the cleaner's supplies. Running back to Aidan, I see him in the exact place I left him.
I open the lid on my drink bottle, and pour water onto the cloth quickly. Dabbing at his limp hand, I feel him wince at the contact of the cloth. I shake my head, waiting for his answer.
After cleaning his cuts and bruises, I wrap a bandage around his hand tightly. Sitting on the concrete, I take hold of Aidan's hands carefully, and decide to prod him for details.
"What's up with you Aidan?" I ask, noticing the darkness in his eyes.
"It's not that simple Anna." He tells me, tracing patterns on my hand.
"Just tell me, Aidan. I don't need it sugarcoated." I say, beginning to feel agitated.
"I don't have to tell you Anna. Why should I?" He says, spitting on the concrete. I sigh.
"You are my boyfriend and my friend. I can tell you're upset, and as your girlfriend, that upsets me. As your friend, I want to fix that. Tell me what's up, and I'll try to help." I say, watching as he lets out a tired smile. I raise my eyebrows, confused what he was smiling at.
"What?" I ask.
"You're pretty when you rant." He says, looking pleased with his response.
"Stop avoiding the topic Aidan." I say quickly.
"Anna, it's not important." Aidan replies quickly, giving me an apology in the form of a smile.
"Come on Aidan. You can't trust your girlfriend?" I say, knowing that I was pressing his buttons.
"Anna, just leave it, okay? I do not have to tell you anything. Do you even know how hard my life is? Just leave it off." Aidan shouts, glaring at me.
I put both my hands on his cheeks, and do something that Aidan hadn't expected in the least. I lean into him, and put my lips on his. It takes Aidan a few seconds to figure out what I was going for, and kisses me back.
I pull away, and leave Aidan and I inches apart from each other, breathing heavily.
"Aidan, I don't understand how hard your life is. I don't understand how you can look after two boys, and I don't understand what's going on between us. But one thing I do understand is that if you need someone, I'm here for you." I say, and with that, I leave.
Walking through the hallways, I return the supplies I borrowed for Aidan's injury, and hear footsteps behind me.
Picking up my bag from the library, I turn around to face Aidan. He looks at me with an undecided look on his face. As I brush past him I smile comfortingly. He doesn't smile back, but just stares at me as I leave the room.

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I sit on my couch, binge watching a new series on Netflix, when I hear my phone's text tone. I grumpily get off my couch, and pick up my phone. I read the message from Aidan, and smile at the simplicity of his message.
Anna?

I decide to not be too straight forward, and reply with the same simplicity.
Yes?

I get an immediate response from Aidan.
Sorry about after school. I treated you like crap. You mad?

I find his response stupid. I wasn't mad, I was overwhelmed that he has apologised.
I'm not mad (: Just remember that when u wanna tell me what's up, I'm here for you.

After not receiving a response within the next ten minutes, I begin to play my current Netflix episode when I get a text from Aidan.
Thank you Anna.

I smile that he knew I was there for him, but at the same time, I frown that he wouldn't tell me now.

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"Aidan, what will the high school boys do to me?" I ask Aidan, who was hardly focusing on the road. He looks at me and smiles.
"I don't know Anna, I really don't know." He says, tapping his hands on the steering wheel calmly. I look on my phone at the time and growl.
"Aidan, if we don't hurry up, we're going to be late." I say, struggling to picture myself being late to class.
"That's the point. Just skip class." Aidan tells me, laughing. I turn the radio on and tune it to a classical station.
"No. I will not." I say, spitting the words out. Aidan just shakes his head, and avoids my eye contact.

We arrive at the school gates. Aidan gives me a quick hug goodbye after realising that people were watching us. Walking to class, I mourn over the fact that Aidan still hasn't asked me to homecoming yet. What if he had already asked another girl?
No, Aidan wouldn't do that. Would he?

I stand at my locker, playing on my phone to fill in time before class. I begin to hear the clicking of heels, and know who was coming.
"Monica." I say as a greeting as the walks up to me with her barbies.
"Who are you going with to homecoming? Some imaginary guy?" She says. I roll my eyes, trying to ignore her. "I'm going with Aidan. He asked me the other day." Monica says. I open my mouth to say something, but instead, my throat dries up, and I stand there helpless.
"Oh, look at that! The little brat didn't realise that her boyfriend was going with someone else!" Monica laughs madly with her barbies, each of them looking at me like they rule the world. I take a deep breath to stop myself from yelling back at them, and watch as they walk away, laughing.
I walk to class, and sit in my seat. Putting my head in my hands, I let a stray tear run down my cheek. After a moment, I tell myself off mentally. Since when did I cry over boys?
At that specific moment, Aidan walks into class, laughing with his friends.
I stare, admiring him.
Damn he's hot.
I growl at myself silently for that thought, and feel myself blush madly.
Aidan, what the hell have you done to me?

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A/N

Hey everyone, thanks heaps for reading my book!
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Jennifer (: