And With A Twist Of Fate...

Chapter 9

Aiden's POV

The rest of the weekend was a little shaky.Aiden had been a bit sensitive about her not trusting him enough to actually talk to him. And Stella had been especially sensitive about Aiden being sensitive. She hadn't told him that of course, but he could just see it on her face. Whenever he'd make a snippy comment or give her a weird look she wouldn't fight back or call him out like she usually did.

It was like the night at the bowling alley, but only this time she was hurting herself instead of Aiden doing all the damage.

He could see her cursing herself and purposely forcing herself to try and be nicer. And more understanding, and ultimately more open. But that wasn't like her, and he understood that. He also understood she was actually beginning to open up. At her own pace. And Friday he was just taken so off guard by her apparent jealousy, that he got a little impatient.

Letting it show was the big mistake though. Now she was going out of her mind to please him. He'd let it go on for a couple days, but finally on Sunday he couldn't take anymore.

"I had turkey for lunch today!" She randomly stated after only 2 minutes of silence. They had been walking downtown, Aiden careful enough to steer clear of the "restaurant" and anywhere near it. He'd bought her an ice cream and she'd slipped the money back into his pocket, how things usually went when he offered her stuff. She was slurping it happily and he was texting Keith.

They'd walked in comfortable silence for all of 30 seconds before Stella started glancing his way and her facial expressions grew worried. He tried to ignore it thinking maybe she'd let it go. But she didn't and now he knew that she had turkey for lunch.

"That's nice." He didn't look up from his phone.

She looked down and studied her ice cream and sighed to herself before looking back up to him and smiling. "I think I might have a pop quiz tomorrow. I know those things are supposed to be a surprises but I can just tell."

Pop quiz? He almost laughed this was so painful. She was obviously scraping her brain for things to say. He didn't know how to reply to these random conversation starters, she usually only talked about things she actually wanted to talk about and that usually started with. "Listen," or "Doesn't this seem weird" Or ultimately his favorite. "I'm going to fucking kill you." But these conversations were forced and he was already going alittle insane in his mind.

She'd gone back to studying her ice cream cone, searching her brain and when she found something she looked up to Aiden with a smile once again, but was taken off guard by Aiden's staring eyes. He was almost sure his eyebrows were touching as he studied her, confused.

"What?" She asked blush appearing on her cheeks.

He looked her up and down a couple more times before gesturing to a nearby bench and heading over. "Come 'er."

She followed him to the bench, tossing her ice cream in a trash can on the way. She sat down slowly but he stood. Looking down at her wondering what he should tell her. She looked to be growing more and more worried as she sat there, so he had better say something.

"Stella, you gotta stop this." He started. Confusion washed over her face and she opened her mouth to say something but he waved his hand, shushing her. "You don't have to force yourself to talk to me. I want you to be comfortable with whatever you tell me. I want it to come naturally."

"But you said I don't tell you anything." She pouted and crossed her arms.

He smiled at that. She'd been trying so hard and now she just looked like a stubborn little kid. He leaned down and grabbed both sides of her face. "I dont need to know what you have for lunch everyday."