If Tomorrow Never Comes | On Hold

7

In the eight months Avery had dated Kai, she'd never been as nervous around him as she was right in that moment with Aiden just a few feet away. She took a deep breath and grabbed ahold of the tray that contained their midnight snack before exiting the kitchen and heading towards the living room.

Aiden was still sitting on the couch with Autumn, who was now asleep on his lap while he absentmindedly ran his fingers across her belly. His eyes were transfixed onto the television screen, The Amazing Spider-Man was playing and Avery almost snorted.

"Marvel fan?" She asked when she was close enough. His head snapped in her direction, a subtle redness creeping up his neck. He opened his mouth. Once. Twice. Three times. "It's okay, I am too," Avery continued to save him from feeling embarrassed.

She bent down and placed the tray on the coffee table, grabbing the sandwiches she'd made and handing one to Aiden. Her eyes grew wide when she realized that she hadn't even asked him what he liked or didn't like to eat.

"I forgot to ask you what you liked in your sandwiches," she rushed out, "I'm so sorry." Aiden just looked at her with an amused expression and held his hand out, Avery gently handed over the food.

"It's ham and cheese with lettuce and tomato," she said slowly.

"I would've been happy with a bag of chips, you know. But thanks for this," he said and took a bite. Avery watched with a hint of fear as he chewed but her shoulders relaxed when she saw him close his eyes and then take another bite.

"Is it good?" She asked as she brought her own sandwich to her lips. Aiden opened his eyes and looked at her, his head nodding enthusiastically as he swallowed.

"It's fucking delicious," a small smile played on Avery's lips at his answer and she took a bite of her own food. They sat back and ate in silence and watching the movie, both of them occasionally reaching for the cups of fruit punch that Avery had brought out with the food. The silence was broken when a phone began to ring, and Avery figured it was Aiden's since she didn't recognize the ringtone.

"Sorry," he mumbled and reached into the back pocket of his jeans. He rolled his eyes when he looked at the screen and swiped his thumb across it, putting the phone to his ear.

"Kaleb," he said in a bored tone, "seriously dude?"  Avery raised an eyebrow at the annoyed look on his face and tried to hear what Kaleb was saying on the phone.

"It's already midnight ... you want me to what? ... whatever ... yeah I'll order a fucking Uber, you asshole." He let out a sigh as he hung up the phone and stuffed it back into his pocket, a small crease was forming in between his eyebrows and Avery's fingers itched to smooth it out. She shoved her hands under her thighs.

"What happened?" Her voice came out soft, the exhaustion began weighing on her now that she had eaten. Aiden shook his head and stood up, running a hand through his mess of dark hair before turning to look at her sheepishly.

"Kaleb is um- staying at your friends so I'll order a car and get out of your hair," he shrugged and rocked back and forth on his Adidas clad feet. "Thanks for the sandwich by the way," Aiden smiled slightly and swiftly turned on his heel.

For a second, Avery sat there watching him walk away. She felt something close to dread form in the pit of her stomach as she looked around the empty house, her mind screaming at her to stop him and her heart racing in her chest. She hated being in this house all by herself and even though she was used to the silent hallways and the loneliness that would creep into her veins every night before going to bed, it never got any easier.

"Wait," she called out and Aiden stopped right before turning the corner that lead to the front door. He quirked an eyebrow at her in question and watched as Avery stood up and fiddled with the ends of her hair. "It's really late and I doubt you'll find someone who isn't overcharging like crazy, why don't you just stay and I'll drive you home in the morning?"