*In Cheryl Blossom's voice* I'm in the mood for chaos *evil smirk*
Don't hate me, things get better from the next chapter// read the author's note at the end, i have more to say oops
***
''Aiden?!'' I almost screamed, making him lift his head from the floor to look at me, his own eyes now widening. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. I didn't know what to think, what to say or what to do in general. I was confused as ever; I couldn't figure out my own mind.
Muttering a curse under his breath, he grabbed my hand and started leading us towards the other side of the room, probably to Jagger's room.
Through the huge crowd of people, I spotted Bailey and Maya who looked at me and frowned initially but then dropped their jaws when they realized who I was with.
Finally, Aiden and I reached Jagger's room where he lead me inside, closed and locked the door. For a few seconds he stood like that, facing the door, before he actually turned around to look at me. My breathing was heavy and I was trying really hard not to cry, though my eyes were already watering. I didn't want him to know how broken I was when he left, therefore I didn't let it show. I couldn't believe what was happening; I was standing there, in a room with Aiden. My childhood best friend who I -until literally some seconds ago, had no idea I'd see again.
Aiden turned around slowly, he himself being breathless. His gray eyes captured my brown ones, making me feel like I couldn't even inhale the little oxygen I was able to receive. ''Missed me?'' he said with a smug look on his face, making me notice how deeper his voice -the voice I had missed hearing, had gotten now. He's not 15 anymore.
He definitely had gotten taller, like way taller since the last time I saw him. His hair was messy, the way he always kept it, but it suited him. He was wearing a fitting black shirt that showed off his muscles. Hello biceps, the boy has been working out. From the moment I was left alone with him I could feel his presence, stronger than ever. I took a good look at him, trying to take in his presence around me, probably because I was scared I wouldn't get to have that again. His left arm was filled with tattoos, his ears pierced in various places. He was always like that. A rebel, as cliché as that sounds.
I walked towards him, determined before trying to murder him with my own hands, hitting him in various places as he tried to get a hold of me. I kept hitting him -not that I really made a difference-, tears blurring my vision ''H-How c-could you! I-I trusted you, heck, I needed you! A-And w-what did you do? You left! You left a-and didn't say a thing for three years! Three years! A-And now you come-''
In an instant, I felt like I couldn't say a thing, my mouth hanging open as I realized what was happening. His arms were around my body, holding me tightly in his embrace. My tears turning into sobs, I let him hold me as I put my arms around him as well. I hadn't realized how much I needed this. To see him, to be in his arms, to have him soothe me and tell me that everything would be okay.
Because he'd make it okay.
''I promise you there's an explanation for this whole thing. It's going to end soon, this bullshit, I promise it will''
I couldn't hide the small smile that started forming on my lips. ''But if you need an answer for your question, seriously, did you have to come back now, I was doing just fine without you, you know'' I joked, chuckling at the end. He put a hand on his chest and gasped, faking hurt and looked at me with a disapproving look ''I thought we had a bond Eve! How could you say this'' he said, playing along, making my smile widen when he used his favorite nickname for my name.
Laughing, I went and sat on Jagger's bed, cautious, -considering I had a mild idea of what had possibly happened on it that same night, while Aiden sat on his desk chair, playing with a bouncy ball that was on the desk.
''Oh my God, is that a bouncy ball!'' I exclaimed, my eyes widening, making him laugh at my excitement. ''Oh Gosh, don't get me started with those things. I had an entire collection until you came and stole it! Do you know how much of my time I had spent collecting those?'' I said with a pout on my lips.
When me and Aiden were little, we had a special type of bond, you could say. Of course he was my best friend and no matter what I wanted he'd always be there, like a third brother, but just like any brother, he loved to pick on me on any given chance, which was is the only thing that I didn't miss while he was gone. Yeah, his pranks? They were brutal. Brutal I tell you!
''Hey, you had pushed me in the pool of the hotel we were staying in some days before that, I had to get you back''
''You had literally grabbed me and pushed us both into that pool, don't act like I'm the bad guy here''
He rolled his eyes playfully and chuckled ''Damn, you really do hate me; maybe I shouldn't've came back at all'' he playfully said, but for me, it was just a reminder of the fact that no matter how playful and relaxed we were now, we still had a lot of talking to do. I still had no idea why the hell he had left nor why he had panicked and dragged me to Jagger's room so that we could talk. On top of that, he had locked the door, making me even more suspicious.
Was he trying to hide the fact that he was with me?
Noticing how uncomfortable what he said had made me, he put down the bouncy ball and sighed, coming a little closer to me with the chair, looking down. ''I'm sorry, I- I probably shouldn't've said that'' he said and looked at me but I looked away instead, thinking about what I should tell him. I needed answers, that was obvious, but I didn't know whether or not it was a good time to ask for them right here, right now. I didn't have the courage to do it, anyway; I mean, who knows what I'll hear. He was gone for so long, and hid from me so good that I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know what was important enough to make him shut me out of his life as if I meant nothing.
''So are you enjoying the party?" he asked, obviously in an attempt to change the topic. ''Uh, yeah, I guess'' I said, fiddling with the end of my dress. Since when did talking to him become so hard? ''You don't look like you are. Everything okay?" he frowned, talking through almost gritted teeth, his jaw ticking, signaling that he was most likely angry since that's something he only did then. Was he angry? Was it because of me? Why in the Nutella sandwiches is everyone acting bipolar today?
''Uh, yeah, yeah everything's okay'' I said, looking down. ''Aiden, did I do something? I mean you're acting weird all of the sudden''
He opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by frantic knocks on the door and many different voices falling the one on top of the other. Aiden's face turned pale and he muttered a curse under his breath, looking at me with a dumbfounded but apologetic look at the same time.
''Aiden, I swear if you've managed to fuck this up you're dead. Well, you're dead either way, so you better open the damn door'' Jagger said- no wait, yelled, banging on the door. My eyes widened at his words whereas Îiden didn't seem scared at all. Annoyed, irritated, angry, yeah that's more like it. He rolled his eyes and got up, pushing the chair back, before moving to the door and grabbing the knob; not moving an inch, he froze, unsure of what to do. He turned around to look at me, a sad look on his face. I locked my eyes with his, confusion written all over my face. I hadn't moved or made a single sound the whole time.
Shaking his head he faced the door once again and unlocked it. Before he was even able to make another move, the door opened, revealing -what felt like, a crowd of people. Jagger was first, then Ivory with Bailey following close behind, red as ever and looking down. Next to her was Parker and Noah, Jagger's friends.
In an instant, Jagger grabbed Îiden by the arm and pushed him towards the corridor, earning a death glare by him. Ivory and Parker followed them and shut the door behind them but not before Ivory turned to look at me, disappointed.
''What?!'' I yelled, looking at her expectedly. I was tired, like really tired. She out of all people should know that I don't just follow orders without knowing why I should. I get that she was trying to protect me or whatever she said 'they' were trying to do but honestly I didn't feel protected at all. Instead, I felt attacked.
That action of mine made everyone in the room turn around to look at me. I don't know if it was because I hadn't spoken in a while or that I don't usually act like this but I had reached my limit. I get to see my best friend of twelve whole years and not only do I not get a chance to have a proper talk with him, but I'm also seconds away from getting reprimanded for it.
''You know what. You out of all people know what. Why the hell are you so stubborn, can you please tell me? You know what, I can't be bothered to protect you if you're like this. The world doesn't revolve around you, Evelyn. Are you that self - absorbed? No, tell me, do you think that high of yourself, do I need to bow too?!''
''Ivory!" yelled Aiden from outside the room, who seemed two seconds away from exploding, his hands curled into fists and his jaw ticking.
She turned around to look at him, equally angry before saying ''Oh, shut up, Aiden I get that you're-''
''Enough Ivory. Don't you think you've done enough today?'' Noah told her, shooting an apologizing look my way before leading her to the door.
Meanwhile, I sat there, frozen. I wasn't sure how to feel, probably because I didn't know how I should feel. I had no idea where this whole thing was coming from, really. No doubt she was acting off this past week, but this was the cherry on top.
Everyone left the room but Bailey, who shyly moved towards the bed where I had sat once again. She didn't look at me but looked down at her feet instead. It was probably the first time I'd seen her like this. One thing you should know about Bailey is that she's not scared of people. No matter what happens or what has happened, she still will find a way to confront you or comfort you depending of the situation. The one thing she will not do, is apologize for her actions to someone else. You see, she believes that everything happens for a reason and that what happens helps us move forward, either it was good or bad.
''I'm sorry'' she said with a trembling voice, not turning to look at me. ''I don't want to be like her and tell you that all I was trying to do was protect you because that'd be true back when I knew what I was doing'' she said and paused as the sound of people fighting outside the room was heard. ''It started out as help but it ended up getting out of hand. She lied about wh-''
''Just don't come near her, okay? All you're going to do is hurt her again'' we heard Jagger say before opening the door. ''Party's over guys, I think it'd be better if you went home'' he said and behind him I could see Aiden storm out, angry as ever, followed by Ivory.
Visibly angry and not saying a word to anyone who tried talking to me, I got up and left his house, not realizing that I was in fact somewhere with no way to get home and would eventually have to walk there again, in the middle of the night, a scenario that I wasn't really fond of. I looked around me, almost wishing someone would pop up out of the blue, quickly realizing there was no luck in that and I just looked stupid. I sat in Jagger's front porch and waited for at least one of my friends to come out, but no one did.
I decided to get back in the house since staying outside on my own didn't really seem appealing. I reached the front door and before I could even knock, the door opened. ''Need a ride home?'' Jagger said, smiling at me. ''If it's not much to ask'' I replied, glad that I found him.
He went inside and grabbed his car keys before leading me to his car. I sat there awkwardly, looking out of the window. ''So, Aiden's back, huh?'' I asked him, already knowing that he had seen him way before I had the chance to. I saw his grip on the wheel tighten when he heard my question. He wasn't stupid, he knew I was mad.
''Look, Evelyn, I- I know what this looks like and trust me I know it looks wrong but if you want to see him again, you need to stay out of this'' he said looking forward, visibly annoyed. Oh, no honey, you don't get to be the one that's annoyed after all this.
''If I want to see him again? What is this, did I fall asleep and wake up in a telenovela or something? He's my best friend, you can't stop me from seeing him because of a reason that you refuse to tell me!'' I said, looking at him.
''Was your best friend, Evelyn. Was. There's so much that you don't about him! You don't even know why he left!''
''Oh, so you do?!" I said and heard him groan before hitting the steering wheel. ''Yes! Yes, I fucking do, are you happy now?'' he said and looked at me. I looked away, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I didn't care about what they have been doing behind my back, anymore, I was just hurt. 'There's so much that you don't know about him' I already knew that was true, considering he's been gone for three years but the way he said It, he made me feel like a complete stranger.
''Yes. Very'' I responded coldly, turning to look at him this time. The car came into a stop and I turned to leave when he grabbed my arm and stopped me. ''What?'' I said, looking down at my arm. He instantly let me go before saying ''Look, I'm sorry, okay? This came out all wrong.'' He said, sounding apologetic. ''Just forget about it. Thanks for the ride anyway.'' I said and left his car.
The lights in the house were on, surprisingly, since it was two in the morning but my mum's car wasn't in the driveway. Weird. I opened the door and slowly walked in. The lights were on but no one was home. I hadn't heard from my mum since the last time we talked, Jason was in our grandma's house and as far as I knew Cole was at college in the other side of the country.
I walked towards my room slowly, the lights turned on there too. There was definitely someone here and I wasn't sure I wanted to know why. I went back to the kitchen and grabbed a rolling pin. Yes, a rolling pin. I can't be the one to stab someone okay?
I reached my room's door and took a deep breath, holding the rolling pin in front of me. I too am aware of how ridiculous I looked. I opened the door and almost ran inside looking around the room, but didn't see anyone. Weird. I relaxed my posture and pouted. If no one was home then why were the lights-
''Heey''
The minute I heard that 'hey' I screamed and turned around, dropping the rolling pin in the process, my hands flying everywhere. My eyes widened when I heard a laugh I knew way too well.
''You have got to be kidding me''
***
D'you like it? D'you like it? Did you? Are you shister shook?
Okay, on to what i have to say. *que paragraph text your friends send you when they meet a guy, only this time we're talking bout a book so it's less exciting*
I was debating on whether or not i wanted this much drama in this chapter and if i wanted to make everyone as involved as they are in Aiden's life and his return, and for a long time i thought it was too much and i should change the plot BUT-
BUT
BuT
BUTT
*smirk* *yes you read correctly*
I've written many chapters of the book that i haven't posted -obviously- and i think i like how things are turning out -you'll find out what i'm talking bout soon enough-. I promise, things aren't as complex as they seem right now but that's about all i can say for now.
*in Sheldon's voice (from The Big Bang Theory)* NO SPOILERS
Anyway, i hope u enjoyed me ramble- I mean i hope you enjoyed seeing Evelyn fight with everyone- I mean the chapterðð