Balance

8:Layla

Layla

I woke up on the couch. With a pair of large socked feet in my face. I shifted my body up and looked at Aidan sleeping comfortably, his arm tossed carelessly over the back of the couch and mouth slightly agape. I grinned a little because if Mother knew we had slept on her genuine full grain leather couch she would have a complete fit. If she even knew Aidan was here she would nearly kill me. I pushed those thoughts aside because she wasn't here and Aidan was and that put me in a...pleasant mood. I pushed myself off the couch as quietly as I could and I managed to catch a glance at the clock. One forty-nine. This was earlier than usual, I was normally able to sleep until between three and four. I shuffled to the kitchen and began to make myself a cup of tea. It was this terrible ginger-black tea that I absolutely hated but, she loved it so I drank it nightly. It used to be our nightly routine we'd drink tea together on those sleepless early mornings.

      "What are you thinking about?"I heard Aidan ask from the couch. I didn't bother to look up, I heard him walking towards me.

      "How utterly stupid I am for letting a strange man into my house."I whispered as the steam from my tea kissed my face soothingly. Aidan chuckled quietly and hopped on the counter next to me. I opened my mouth to chastise him but decided against it, I knew he would only ignore it.

      "Worried about your safety?"He mused in a hushed tone. I finally tore my eyes away from my tea cup and looked up at him. His face was unreadable, granted it was dark the only source of light coming from the television but I couldn't read him. His face wasn't necessarily blank but it didn't hold any emotion either.

      "No."I responded simply. "You wouldn't hurt me. At least not without reason and even then, you might not."I looked at him, and he seemed slightly shocked at my candor. I don't know why but I trusted Aidan completely at least when it came to my safety.

     "You shouldn't be so trusting Doll."Aidan responded gruffly rubbing his palms over his hands. I shook my head as I took a small sip of tea allowing the bitter liquid to burn me from the inside out.

      "I know but-

      "But what you trust me? You barely know me."Aidan interrupted looking at me with a mixture of annoyance and sadness. I stared at him for a few beats waiting to see if he was done with his little outburst.

      "I trust you not completely because that would be stupid seeing as I've known you for all of forty-eight hours. Call it naivety but I do trust you I know a decent person when I see one. Even if you are snoopy and secretive."I retorted abandoning my cup in the sink.

      "Snoopy?"He asked his forehead bunching in confusion.

      "You ask a lot of questions."I commented watching as his face relaxed; to avoid an argument I left out my knowledge of him snooping about my house. It wasn't the time. While something in me told me I could trust Aidan, there was a part of me that remained cautious because I indeed did not know him or his intentions. For all I know he could be in cahoots with Mother although that was unlikely given how he reacted to seeing the burn on my arm.

      "You're an interesting person."He countered with a lopsided grin pulling me from my thoughts. He pulled me by the sleeve of my hoodie so that I was standing caged in between his legs, resting my elbows easily on his thighs.

      "I'm really not."I whispered shaking my head. The way he analyzed my face after I spoke scared me a little. His gaze was bordering on intrusive, his eyes flitted across my face reading, searching for something. We stayed silent for a while after, both of us watching the other. He remained guarded not allowing me to read him, I on the other hand was scared. I was quite frankly terrified by how Aidan was looking at me. Like he knew all my secrets, my fears and even worse my family's secrets.

      "You're safe with me, Layla."Aidan whispered brushing a hand over the side of my face his thumb grazing my cheek. "Come on let's get some rest."He led me up the stairs I glanced back at the clock. Two seventeen. Twenty-eight minutes for me to be shaken up by someone I had only known for forty-eight hours. In those twenty-eight minutes I knew something had changed between Aidan and I. The kiss he placed on my forehead and the look he gave me before stepping into the guest room confirmed it for me. And it scared me because I had no idea what kind of change it was. 

a/n

I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I'll probably go back and edit it at some point because I'm not sure how I feel about it. I did feel like it was necessary though because I wanted to give a little more insight into Layla and use this as a base to develop her a little more because I feel like she's been kinda one note and thats not my intention. Anywho I've added some photos for the characters of Layla, Aidan, and Cecily in the first three chapters if you want to go check them out. Or just imagine them however you've been imaging them. 

Artist of this chapter is the lovely Jack Johnson. Theres no specific song but his album In Between Dreams is primarily what I listened to.