Ephemeral

Chapter 15

Edit: hello bibliophiles, I have made a few necessary changes in chapter 15 and 16, please go through them again, Sorry for the inconvenience.😅

"Since you promised, please can you tell me what has been going on between Theo and you and why you guys always hide things from me?", I asked Aaron. We were out in the garden taking a stroll in the cool night air. He stopped near a bench and sat down motioning me to sit down also. I took the seat beside him but kept my eyes on a single dandelion which had bloomed beside the bench. I could feel his eyes on me but I refused to look his way.

He sighed and said," Ok, I'll tell you everything". After a few moments of silence he took a deep breath before continuing," I'll start with tellling you all about me and then move on to tell you all about how I met Theo and what we have been doing till now, ok?". I did not respond. Seeing no reaction from me he continued," I was very young when I lost my parents in an accident. My grandparents took care of me but they weren't exactly nice to me. They never cared what I did or where I went, I dropped out of university and took up a few jobs. When I had enough money I rented myself a house and lived there. My house had a public park in front of it. That's when I noticed Theo, he used to always sit and sleep on a bench. I thought at first that he was just a passer-by but then I noticed his tattered clothes and his state. I decided to help him. At first, he was very silent and did not warm up to me but as time passed on he finally warmed up to me and told me about himself and his purpose of coming here."

"So when did you exactly meet him?", I asked interrupting him.

"I met him exactly a year ago", he said. I nodded and he continued," He told me all about you and that he had to protect you from Ryan. From then on we both dedicated ourselves to finding why Ryan wanted you. Your parents sent us some hints to why he wanted you as they themselves did not know what he wanted. From all the information we have got we concluded that he needs something from your parents and he will be using you to acquire what he wants from them and we have been hiding all this from you because we do not want you to worry...".

I finally lifted my gaze from the dandelion and stared right into his eyes. "You did not tell me something- I am not Theo's actual sister am I?", I said in a cold tone though I didn't want it to come out cold. His eyes widened at the sentence and he said,"How did you- ". I cut him off and said," It dosen't matter now, does it?".

"He told me yesterday, when I asked him, why he was hidden from Ryan and not you, that you were not his real sister and then he refused to tell me anything else even if I showered him with questions...", Aaron said while still holding my stare.

I broke the stare and looked at the dandelion again. Tears cascaded down my face as I said," You know it hurts... it hurts a lot to know that you have practically been lied to your whole life. I had been lied to about my parents, my past, my present, and now even about my brother. Jane was the only person who never lied to me no matter what and now I've lost her too...". My voice cracked as more tears streamed down my face. Aaron held me in a tight embrace as my body was racked with sobs. When I calmed down a bit he said," No matter what I will never lie to you and I'll always be ther for you when you need me".

I smiled at his words and looked up at him. He returned the smile. "Lets take a walk, it'll help you to calm down", he said in a soft voice. I nodded and stood up. We walked around the garden in silence, a comfortable one. He walked close to me. A cool breeze blowed making a shudder flow down my spine. He noticed and quickly slipped off his jacket and covered me in it. I breathed in his scent and then sat down on the grass and laid on my back. He followed suit. As I was gazing at the starry night sky I asked him," Why did you agree to tell me everything despite Theo telling you not to?"

He looked at me and answered," I did not like to see you hurt and sad. I did not want to hide anything from you in the first place as I did not want you to deal with all this alone. I wanted to be there for you...". I turned to look at him. I gazed into his glassy eyes and asked," Why?"

He just let out a soft smile.