"Cole" Aiden spoke first, Cole's nostrils flaring, jaw ticking and fists clenching. His anger was radiating in the space all around them. Aiden on the other end was so relaxed, cocky even, not budging when Cole spat his name through gritted teeth.
Aiden's POV
"I have something yours" Cole said and pointed to my hoodie "I see that" I replied and instead of pointing to the piece of clothing, my eyes fell on Evelyn who was standing close by, fear and shock on her face. She wasn't looking at me.
"What I don't know is why it's on your hands. Last time I checked it wasn't you I gave it to. It's too big for you to fill anyway" I spat, crossing my arms over my chest. I knew I was fucking with his temper, I could sense him losing control and I fucking loved every second of it.
"Don't push me, Black"
"That's all you could think of? Sad, people think you're tough" my gaze was falling between him and her, though I was much more interested in her. I heard about what happened at school with Lindsay and was on my way to check up on her, only hoping she wasn't in bad shape. My hopes were wrecked when I looked at her. Bruises were already starting to form on her cheeks. Her lip was busted, it had definitely bled and her eyes were blurry, their usual shine not present. Poor thing, I was sure there were more injuries hidden by her clothes. Her stance was small, defensive. I wanted to go over to her and comfort her so badly, but instead, I had to stay here and waste my time on his fool.
"You wanna see tough?" he threatened and took a step forward, his face inching close to me. Mocking him, I spoke "Don't push me, Hayes" I emphasized his last name, momentarily thinking about how shameful it was that he had the same last name as Eve.
Evelyn ran to us, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking at me pleadingly. "Please, don't" her voice was a hushed whisper. Listening to her, I took a step back. "Why do you have my shirt" I asked him again, more calm this time.
"Because she will have nothing to do with you from now on" he spoke and grabbed Evelyn by the arm, dragging her behind him, winces coming out of her mouth almost instantly. "Watch it, you're hurting her" I spat through gritted teeth. "Stay out of this, it's none of your business anyway" he replied.
"You don't get to decide that" I crossed my arms over my chest, a chuckle escaping my lips. "Oh, really? Well, get this. This is my sister and I have decided you won't be seeing her anymore" He crossed his own arms, raising his chin, thinking his words have any impact on me. "Oh, yeah? Then you get this. I don't give a fuck what you have decided" I spat back.
Cole chuckled, a smirk on his lips. "I don't think they were beating you hard enough over there, you still haven't learned shit" he fired, really thinking he did something with that.
"What? You think you can have a shot at me?" I laughed and shook my head, making him mutter something under his breath and laugh at me, before lunging forward. With no luck, of course, as I, at the same time as Eve, stopped him. I faintly heard her call for him, almost in a reprimanding manner. "Watch yourself. This isn't the place or the time for this shit" I spoke, my tone stern.
With the corners of my eyes I could see people gathering. They weren't many but with us, one was too many. "Saw that everyone? Aiden Black turned down a fight! What? You're playing civilized now? Shocker! I didn't see you do that when you were beating the shit out of your best friend!"
Evelyn's POV
People are gathering in the distance, stopping in their tracks to watch as the view of my brother fighting with Aiden was apparently far more interesting than what they had planned for the day. Cole's voice had raised dangerously and the spiteful words that were coming out of his mouth could easily be heard by anyone passing by.
"Oh, you do not wanna start this one with me, want me to remind you all the shit you've done? Like beating up kids for dr-" Aiden started but Cole cut him off before he could finish. "-Don't you dare do this in front of my sister." His tone was sharp, but Aiden's gaze was sharper. I on the other end probably looked like a helpless puppy as I tried to put the pieces together.
"So you get to speak shit on my name, repeatedly, but can't take it when I say facts? Doesn't sit right with me Cole, shouldn't have done them if you can't handle the aftermath" Aiden teased him and I watched as my brother almost fumed at the mouth.
"Guys, please, people are watching, Cole just give him his shirt and let's go home"
I chose not to speak or think of any of the things I just heard, for the time being my focus was on getting home with both of them in one piece. But it seems Aiden had other plans. "No, I'm not done yet. Your brother over here loves to make me seem like the bad guy but chickens out when I call him out with the truth. Someone needs to get their fucking act right" he replied to me, but without looking at me for even a second.
"Guys, you're yelling, for the love of Pete let's go home!" I begged, both of them this time in hopes someone would pay the tiniest bit of attention to what I was saying. Ignoring me once again, Cole spoke. "You wanna talk about acting right, Black? Cause I know for a fact you aren't"
Whispers could be heard from neighbors that were making small circles around us in the distance. Relationship status: engaged with drama.
"You don't have the slightest idea what I'm doing so shut your mouth before I make you do so"
"Ooh's' and 'ahh's' were heard from our audience and I had had enough. Yelling this time I cut them both off "Guys! People are watching. Inside. Now" I shoved Cole and grabbed Aiden by the shirt, dragging him. Well, he was doing all the work, but for the sake of looking like I was doing something, we'll ignore that.
We got inside and I closed the door behind us, relieved that we were in the privacy of my home. I sighed and grabbed a fistful of hair, pulling on it slightly. Not a second went by and the two of them started to -once again- fight like no tomorrow. At this point I couldn't even pay attention to what they were saying, my ears were buzzing, head spinning, and stars slowly filling up my vision.
The two men behind me seemed to have no intention of slowing down and harder insults were heard in the distance. Words like 'hypocrite' and 'liar' caught my attention for a moment or so before I went nuts. Like seriously nuts. The yelling got louder and I was sure that If I didn't do anything to stop them soon, things wouldn't end well. I was going insane. I barely could fathom how everything went to hell so fast ever since Aiden got back in my life. You can be sure I didn't expect that when I thought of Aiden re-entering my day-to-day.
Soon, enough was enough and I was over their crap. "Guys" I called for them once. "Guys" I called for them twice, louder when they started shoving each other. I never understood how they always found so much shit to say to one another. "Guys!" I yelled, another desperate attempt to stop them. No luck, as the only thing that happened was both of them got more and more heated, ready to pounce at one another.
Desperate and with a fuzzy head, I did the only thing I could think in that moment. I grabbed the nearest empty glass of water and threw it to the ground, shattering it. That seemed to have caught their attention as both of them snapped their heads my way. "Can you please stop acting like three-year-olds? Just stop this already, please, I can't see you two fight anymore" I begged, myself taking a step closer to them, over the shattered glass pieces.
"You, go to your room right now, you're grounded anyway. This is none of your business, so stop butting in mine." Cole responded my words clearly not affecting him the slightest. His words on the other hand made not only myself but also Aiden, furious.
I opened my mouth to protest to what he was saying but it seems Aiden beat me to the punch "Hey, watch how the fuck you talk to her, Hayes" I felt weirdly fluttered that he defended me in such a way, but I didn't let that affect me as I myself had something for Cole.
"You're not my dad, you can't ground me, you can't control my life! You can't tell me who I can and can't see, who I can go out with and who I can't like!" words were spat out of my mouth before I could stop them, making Aiden look at me stunned, while it fueled me more, reactions out of Cole "You like him too?" he yelled.
"I don't, but what if I did? It's none of your business!" I was beyond mad by Cole's act, tired of his controlling behavior. He was gone too, after all, why does he have a say in what I do?
"You weren't like this before! This lying, manipulative criminal has affected you so much he's trying to turn you just like him" Cole replied, and that was it for our conversation, as calm wasn't exactly the theme of the day.
"You have fooled everyone in your family with your lies, so don't talk to me about honesty and morality! As for who's a criminal, don't make me open my mouth, it's not to your benefit"
Catching that last part, I turned to my brother "Lies? What lies? Cole what is he talking about?" I turned to my brother, anxiousness, curiosity, and anger taking over me. I knew I was in the dark about a lot of things, but I guess the number was bigger than I thought.
Of course Cole didn't answer my question. Instead, he dodged it, like he always seems to be doing this whole time "Are you being serious right now? You believe him?" he exclaimed and pointed towards Aiden "Him and not me? He was the one that left you and I was the one who stayed back to pick up the broken pieces and this is what I get for that?"
"You know what at this point i'm not sure whether or not I should believe either of you! All you do is lie and lie and lie and I'm through with it!" I fought back, my voice cracking. My knees felt so weak I was sure that any moment now I would fall if I didn't sit, but my anger and frustration didn't allow so, as adrenaline was pumping through me.
"I lie to protect you" both of them said at once, a cold stare exchanged between the two when they realized so.
Well, what can I say, at least they finally agreed on something. "That's it, this is over, I can't keep going anymore. You. Out now" I pointed at Aiden who got up and angrily walked towards the doors, heavy footsteps heard as well as the sound of chains clicking on the side of his pants.
I ran to my room not even waiting for Aiden to walk out the door as I didn't want to be left alone with Cole for even a second. Halfway through, a set of words caught my attention, a set of words more powerful than anything we had said so far, enough to make me want to pass out right then and there. The moment my brother's words registered my brain, I knew I wasn't getting much sleep at night.
"Go fuck yourself, you murderer!"
Murderer. My brother had used an array of words to describe Aiden, none of them were good nor did all of them touch on reality. The word murderer though, that is something you don't just go around calling people, no matter how much you dislike them and no matter what they have done. Unless we're talking about...well... murder.
I couldn't wrap my head around it. Not in a million years could I imagine Aiden doing such a horrendous thing and the thought alone made me sick to my stomach. Fights, drugs and such; that, I could handle. But taking someone's life, no matter who they were and what they had done is something I can't just ignore.
I knew Aiden had done a lot of things when he was gone, most of them being stuff looked down on by most of society, but I didn't care. I knew who he was and what his heart was like, he wasn't a bad person. I also knew, at least according to him, a lot of the aforementioned things were done for my protection. But that horrendous name Cole called him made me think-
Was it possible for Aiden to have actually done such a thing? Do I really not know him as well as I thought? If he said he did everything to protect me, what lengths did he reach and how much did my protection really cost? Could it be a life, even?
Realizing I had zoned out and was still in the middle of the staircase, I gathered all the power I had left an ran to my room, avoiding Cole at all costs. I closed the door behind me and locked it, throwing myself on the bed, a loud groan of protest leaving my hips as the fall hurt my wounds. Damn it.
Time was passing by quicker than expected, and I realized that all I had done for the day was lie on my bed comfortably. I had tuned off my thoughts, they did no good for me anyway, and stayed in bed, blanket draped over me, securing me from the outside world. My pillow was hugged tightly under my arm and I didn't dare move a muscle.
My body was sore as ever, and I cursed myself for playing smart with Lindsay earlier, there was no way I'd win against her, why did I even try? On the other hand, I was unsure of how I'd face Aiden as I felt ultimately emparassed. He must think I'm in love with him or something, fighting his girlfriend and all. I wanted to disappear in the split of a nanosecond, I hated being here. At one point my phone started buzzing like crazy, and after a while my attempts to ignore the sound were defeated as it didn't stop for a single second. Scared but with no other option, I took it in my hands, checking the notifications. Gladly, all of them were from Bailey.
Bailey:
How are you feeling?
Cole didn't look to be in a good mood, he didn't give you too much of a handful did he?
Girl I hate to bring it to you but if someone has to, it better be me.
The fight is spreading.
Beware of Ivory's outbursts.
Ivory's outbursts? That was nothing new for me, I just couldn't understand what it had to do with this situation. My thoughts wandered around for a moment before I reached the conclusion that maybe something had happened when I was gone so I hadn't heard about it. This was about to change. I thought to myself and went through my favorites list in my contact, spotting Ivory's name and tapping on it.
Once, twice, three times it rang before I got the message 'The subscriber you have called is busy. Please call later.' She hung up on me? Realizing somehing definitely fishy was going on here, I decided to call Maya and see if she knew anything. After all, if something had happened to Ivory, I wanted to know about it. I didn't want my personal issues to overlap my friendships, if I could be there for my best friend I definitely would choose to do so. Searching through my contacts once again, I found Maya and called.
Once, twice, three times it also rang before I got the same message as I did with Ivory. Puzzled, I went to text Bailey.
Me:
What happened? The girls aren't answering my calls. Help asap, need answers.
I hit send and sat back on my bed. What a hell of a day today was. Right as I was about to close my eyes and rest, I heard a door slam. The sound sounded like it had come from nearby, but at the same time the sound came muffled. Sitting up to investigate, my eyes fell on a light that was being turned on in the room across from mine. Black. I ducked under my window, picking slowly through. His frame soon popped in my sight and he seemed angry, but he wasn't alone. Lindsay followed close behind, equally as angry as he was.
"You had no right to go there in the first place! What the fuck were you thinking?" Aiden's voice boomed, coming to my ears clear as ever, as his window was open, as well as mine was, only mine was masked by the curtain I draped over it. I wasn't the one to evesedrop, I didn't want to invade his privacy, but at the same time, an unexplanable feeling was catching me off guard and I felt like I needed to know what they were saying. Her presense in the room made my insides turn, a feeling I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"No right? No right? I told you what she was saying about you, Aiden, I will not be disrespected like that! She is the one that had no right to open her mouth, unless of course you've given her one!" her annoying voice echoe'd through the four walls of the room before reaching my ears. I rolled my eyes. If she wasn't so self centered and just heard me, none of this would've happened in the first place.
Well if you leave out the fact that you did have a quite steamy make-out sesh with her boyfriend I guess you're right.
You're not helping.
I'm just stating facts, we should be glad that she doesn't actually know the truth. That would have irreversible consequences for our body.
Cutting the monologue short as it was getting a little creepy that I talked to myself as if I was more than one person, I went back to eavesdropping- I mean getting informed.
"We've talked about this already, I don't understand your need for repetition" he fired back, clearly annoyed, and I watched as he took a seat on his bed, lying on his elbows, not phased by the fit she was throwing in front of him.
"After all, I've told you multiple times, she means nothing to me other than a friend" he phrased, and the feeling I mentioned before came back, this time stronger. I still couldn't put my finger on it. A little voice in the back of my head said it was jealousy but I disagreed. I had nothing to be jealous of when it came to Aiden. I simply just did not care, when It came to his romantic life, he could do anything he wanted and I would give him my blessing too- not that he'd ask for it.
"I want her to be just nothing for you. Nothing. Not a friend, not a neighbor, nothing. All this time you've been swearing up and down that you don't give a shit about her yet she keeps getting involved in our business. I want her out. Final"
A sting of pain ran through me when her words registered in my brain. 'You don't give a shit about her' 'Our business' This time I knew what I felt. Rejection; and I had felt it again when I found out Aiden had a girlfriend- correction a life I knew nothing about. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't care that he has a girlfriend even if she's as bad as Linsday. It's his love life, he can do whatever he pleases with whoever he pleases. That's what he's done so far, anyway. I just wish I knew more about it like I used to, just to feel that he still trusts me with this stuff.
"You don't get to decide that, she's been a part of my life for much longer than you have so you need to accept her presense sooner or later; and make it sooner 'cause I won't have what happened today happen again. Am I clear?"
"Don't forget who you're talking to, Blackie, one call to my dad and this whole charade will be over before you know it. Don't make me do that now, baby you know I don't want to" her voice turned to a purr as threats rolled off her tongue, leaving unanswered questions in my head, questions that increased when Aiden went silent, letting her win. He let her win?
"Come on Aidie, I didn't mean to upset you, you know how things are. Don't make me have to remind you. Now come on, how do I make it up to you?" she purred and I gagged. Oh, no please don't go that route. I heard Aiden chuckle "You're not serious. Not after all that happened today anyway" he told her, and I could hear her scoff. "What, you don't want me?"
"I'm not going to have this conversation with you, you can't go around acting like this after what you did today" he finished and I heard him get up to close his window, before leaving the room with Lindsay following close behind.
When I realized what happened, I went into full victory-dance mode, moving around in my seat, feeling... victorious. You don't have to be afraid to put your dream in action, you're never gonna- I miss that show. Sometime along my little dance off with myself, I accidentally kicked the trash can that was sitting in front of me, making it drop to the ground as I hissed in pain, bringing my injured leg close to me.
I need a break.