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Chapter 40 - new bikes

After the back and forth argument between Sophie and Juliet regarding the news of their brother, Juliet had stormed upstairs to her room. She hadn't been able to deal with the way Sophie was trying to swerve any conversation about the things that didn't make sense. She needed to take a moment to be alone to try and process what she had just found out instead.

Not knowing what to do or how to handle the situation, Sophie had turned to Aaron for support. He was a fighter himself so she was hoping that he could talk to Juliet and make some kind of break through with her. Sophie wanted her sister to see that this news didn't change anything about the Andrew she knew and that it was still possible for him to be that same loving person.

Aaron was a fighter who still managed to have a huge heart so her hope was that speaking to him would make Juliet see that this new version of Andrew wasn't all that different.

...

"Can I come in?" Aaron called as he stood the other side of Juliet's door. There were a few seconds of no answer before he heard a mumbling response on the other side.

As he walked into her room, he caught sight of her slouched back against her bed with her laptop situated on her lap. She was staring at a screen yet no sound was coming from it, suggesting she wasn't doing much at all. Instead, she sat still, staring into space and letting the thoughts and emotions consume her mind.

"Can we have a chat?"

Aaron's question caused Juliet to briefly look up at him in concern and it was then he noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Soph told me what happened."

"Of course she did." Juliet shook her head before wiping a tear that had fallen down her cheek.

As silence consumed them, Aaron made his way over to take a seat on the end of Juliet's bed. She was watching him cautiously the whole time this was occurring and she was showing no signs of being in any sort of mood to discuss this. However, he was persistent and wasn't allowing her reluctance to warn him away and instead, remained seated and determined.

"I didn't know Andrew... I was just a kid, but I know the guy who used to train him." Aaron began and he noticed his words instantly caught Juliet's attention. She didn't give her full attention but her head glimpsed up for a few seconds, clearly showing she was suddenly intrigued. "He still works at the gym I'm at and he is always saying good things."

Juliet kept her head down and her attention on the laptop screen in front of her. However, her full attention was on every word Aaron was saying. He was speaking so calmly about something Juliet had gotten so worked up about and there was something refreshing hearing these things from a fighter themselves.

"I wish I could have met your brother... he sounds like a really awesome guy."

"He was." Juliet suddenly spoke up and she even managed to surprise Aaron, as he hadn't been expecting anything back from her due to the body language she was displaying. "I was just never told he was a fighter."

"Do you think differently of him now that you know?" Aaron asked purposely. He wasn't going to be offended by her answer, he truly wanted to understand her perspective and how she felt about it all.

"I just feel like I don't know him." Juliet began and the tears were threatening to fall once again. "It's a dangerous sport. You have to have a certain mind and personality for it."

There were a few seconds of silence while Juliet was trying to deal with everything running through her head before Aaron began pulling his phone out of his pocket.