Aria and Aubrey { A TLS} : Book Two

Chapter Nine: New Beginnings

**Aria's POV**

 As I watched Ace bleed from his face and clutch his stomach, anger welled within me. Why the fuck was Aubrey here? And who the hell were those assholes backing him up? They looked like straight up fools, thinking they looked cute beating up my baby. I ought to slap some sense into Aubrey, remind him of who the fuck I was and what he’s missing out on. I kept wiping Ace’s face off with the wet cloth that Tammy gave me, making sure to do it gently and softly. Ace was groaning, clutching his side for dear life.

“Shit bae...you lucky I love you so damn much.” Ace groaned.

I chuckled and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you baby. I’m happy you stood up for me, really, but I didn’t think he’d be rolling deep with his “fake gang”. Shit, I didn’t even know he had one.”

Ace propped himself up on his elbows, wincing as he got up off the ground. I helped him up and walked him over to his chair, trying to get people to move from our way. The party was still going on of course, but now it was even more hectic than ever. I turned to look behind me and noticed Aubrey was gone. Good, his ass doesn’t need to be here anyway...triflin’ ass nigga.

 “Do you know who the fuck those guys were with him? I swear, once I find out, I’m beating all of their asses, one by one.” Ace groaned in his seat. I shook my head and kept using the cloth to wipe his face and lips. The music was blaring and I was getting woozy. I couldn’t deal with all this mess right now...I just couldn’t. Between seeing Aubrey again, the drinks I chugged down earlier, and this fuckin’ music, I’d say I needed some time to think...and especially to  breathe. The smell of sweaty bodies grinding against one another nauseated the hell out of me.

I turned to Ace and clutched my stomach. “Babe, I need some fresh air, you mind if Tammy watches over you until I get back? When I come back, I’ll take you to the hospital, you need to get checked out after all that shit that just went down.” Ace nodded and I waved Tammy over.

“Wassup? You okay?” Tammy nodded at me.

I waved her question away. “I’m fine, just a little sick right now. I need to get some fresh air ASAP. You mind watchin’ Ace for me until I get back?”

She nodded. “Yeah sure. Go ‘head, before you start throwin’ up all over my damn floor. That shit ain’t cute.” I laughed and shook my head.

“Shut the fuck up and watch him please? I don’t want anyone else doing a surprise attack on this nigga.”

“Iight, iight bae, she said okay. Go!” Ace chuckled softly. He winced and gritted his teeth.

“Alright.” I walked away from his station and went out the front. I leaned up against the building wall and took a deep breath. This is exactly what I needed.....forreal. Everything just happened so fast...

“I-I’m sorry.” A deep voice murmured from beside me. I jumped and looked towards my left, Aubrey’s dumbass crowding my vision. I sucked my teeth and started walking towards Ace’s car. “Aria.” Aubrey called for me. I kept walking and got to the car. I tried to open the door but of course, it was locked. Fuck. I leaned up against the driver side of the car, crossing my arms together.

“Aria, listen to me. I swear, I’m sorry about beatin’ your boy’s ass...and gettin’ my guys involved.” Aubrey stood in front of me now, trying to plead his case. I just looked at him. Of course he was going to try and say sorry now, which he should, but that still doesn’t just give him the right to just put his hands on anybody. I lifted my chin at him.

“You know what Aubrey? Save it. You go ahead and do what you want to do, go run around with your little “gang” and get the hell out of my life.” Aubrey’s face turned to one of pure frustration. “Oh you mad? I thought you’d be. Like I said, I don’t give a fuck. Matter of fact, answer me this one question: Why the fuck are you here? After two years of not seeing you, all of a sudden NOW you want to pop up? I left you in Cali for a motherfuckin’ reason asshole. You know what that was?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

Aubrey rubbed his chin then put his hands in his pockets. He looked at me with a bored expression. “Nah, I don’t know what it is.” He said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes before answering. “Because you ripped my heart out and shitted on it. You promised you wouldn’t do that Aubrey. You promised a lot of things that you couldn’t keep. I don’t know if you’ve realized this by now, but uh, relationships are about keeping promises and not putting your dick in another girl’s dirty p*ssy.”

“Listen Aria. I didn’t come to Hartford to get chewed out by you, and I especially didn’t come back for your salty ass. I had business to attend to, something a girl like you would know nothing about.”

I scoffed. “Oh really Aubrey? I’m salty? You just beat the living shit out of my boyfriend and I’m the one who’s salty? Nigga, shut the fuck up. If I’m salty-like you say I am- I have the fuckin’ right to be. You?” I chuckled and cocked my head to the side. “You don’t.”

Aubrey was grinding his teeth now, the anger boiling within him. “I said, I was sorry. For everything Aria. For Nicki, for Sonya, everything. But you know what? I’m not going to sit up here and say I regret what I did, because I brought a beautiful little girl into this world because of that shit. Now you can hate me all you want to, cuss me out, hit me, slap me, whatever, but at the end of the day, all that shit that happened, it’s the past now. I’ve learned to forgive myself and let it go. I suggest you do the same.” Aubrey started to walk away, heading towards the parlor. I sighed and looked towards the ground.

“What’s her name?” I mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

 I lifted my head and stared at Aubrey. “I said, what is her name? Your daughter…”

“Ezabel.”

I nodded slightly. “That’s a beautiful name. Congratulations.” I adjusted my crossed arms and looked away. I felt Aubrey come back up to me, this time staying towards my left side.

“Listen...I’m sorry. I don’t know how many times I can tell you that and make you believe me, but I am. I’m a changed man Aria. I didn’t think I’d see you here...but now that I have, I can’t keep what I’m feeling away from you. I-I still love you, even if you hate the living shit out of me. I just...I don’t know. I figured seeing you again would be a new beginning...but I guess not. See you.” Aubrey started walking away again as I let what he said register in my mind. If he was really a changed man like he said he was, should I really take the risk of having a decent conversation with him? I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked into the night sky.

“Aubrey.” I called. He looked towards me.

“Yeah?”

“How long are you in Hartford for?” I walked towards him and stopped just a few inches from him.

“Four days...why?” He looked at me confused.

“Because...I figured it’s time to live in the present and not the past. I think I could have a decent conversation with you...maybe over some dinner or something?” Aubrey’s eyes lit up.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, sure. Here let me get your  number just so we can set everything up.” I gave him my number and then he looked at me. “I really missed you Aria. Living without you was just...I can’t even explain it.”

I shook my head. “Then don’t. I understand. Just respect that I’m in a new relationship right now okay? This isn’t a date or anything, we’re just...catching up. You know, just updates. Iight?”

Aubrey nodded. “Yeah, sure.” We stared at each other for a few minutes. I inspected his freshly shaven face, the way his deep brown eyes glanced over my facial features. I could see all of the emotions running through Aubrey’s eyes and to be honest, I wondered if he could see them in mine too. I felt almost everything under the sun for this nigga...I just hope I can control it whenever I see him again.

“Well...see you soon?” I said.

Aubrey nodded slowly. “Um, yeah. Yeah.”

I smiled and walked back towards the party. I could feel Aubrey’s eyes watching me as I made my way inside. Memories of Aubrey and I started to flood my mind and I almost smiled. Then came the bad memories...the bad emotions that made me clench my fists. I’m starting to wonder if meeting up with Aubrey was going to actually amount to something...or if it was just going to go up in flames just like everything else between us.