|13| my moon

Stay close to people who

Feel like sunlight

~unknown

____________

The next morning I wake up with a huge grin on my face as I recall yesterday's events and the feel of Aaron's lips on mine, my cheeks heat up at the thought and I have to take a few deep breathes to get myself together,

I've dated and been with my share of people but no one has made my body come alive and my heart sore like Aaron, just a simple smile from him and my mood escalates to pure and utter joy the day,

Before I get ready for the date that I still can't believe I'm going on, I head to the apartment next to mine that Aaron told me Henry's in, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Aaron bought Henry an apartment and got him a job,

I knock twice out of habit and hear the door unlock after a moment,

The door opens and I almost don't recognize the man behind the door, Henry's bushy beard and long overgrown hair that wasn't taken care of have been cut off and cleaned up, you can see his eyes now, he has new, clean clothing on, but the biggest change of all is the genuine smile on his face

"Good morning neighbor" I grin

"Vanessa, I was wondering when I would see you" he grins so happy that I don't recognize this man, he looks so different, so happy, it brings warmth to my heart knowing he's safe and warm.

I give him a big hug

"I can't believe we're neighbors" I grin jumping up and down a little

"Neither can I, Aaron is amazing I still can't believe he got me an apartment, that was the first time I slept in a bed in years" he sighs with a smile

My heart physically aches a little thinking about him sleeping on the streets all these years fighting for warmth and comfort, but I focus on the good side of things instead

"I'm really glad Aaron did that" I smile with a nod

"I don't I'll ever be able to repay him for his kindness...he's probably spent more money on me these past few days than I'll ever be able to make in a year" he whispers with a tear making its way down his cheek

"I think you working hard and being happy will be just enough" I pat his arm

"Are you going to go to a doctor and dentist to make sure everything is okay?" I ask worried that he hadn't had any checkups in years

"Yes Aaron scheduled me an appointment with the dentist for next week and I plan on going to the doctor today actually" he nods with a sigh

"that's good" I nod

"You should come in instead of standing at the doorway" he laughs

"Maybe some other time I should start getting ready for my date" I try hiding my smile as I stare at the wall next to Henry

"Date?" He grins

"Does this date happen to be with a certain man who helped me?" He laughs

I blush "maybe" I whisper

"I knew it! What did I tell you, I knew I saw that look in his eyes" he smiles proudly and I can tell by the look on his face that he's silently telling me I told you so

"I guess you were right" I laugh with a nod

"When did he ask you?"

"I may or may not have kissed him after you left his office when he explained he bought you a place..." I mumble covering my face with my hands in embarrassment

"Well good for you, no need to wait for a man to make the first move when you can" he nods with a smile

"Yeah then he told me he liked me for 2 years and then he asked me out" I blush looking anywhere but at henry

"Hate to say I told you so but...."

"Yeah yeah I get your point" I blush once more in embarrassment

"Well then you should probably go get ready then" he smiles warmly

"Yeah, I'll see you later Henry, I'm really happy Aaron helped you with a fresh start, you deserve it "I whisper as I hug him

"Thank you, now go have fun" he laughs as he slightly pushes me towards my apartment

____________

When I get inside my apartment I take a shower then do a natural makeup look with a red lip tint then I put on a black lacy corset type top, with black pants, along with an oversized jacket and black combat boots

By the time I'm finished getting ready I get a text from Aaron

My moon: I'm talking to henry next door, just so you know you can come over here whenever you're ready

I grin so big at the fact he's just having a conversation with Henry, I've never seen him simply just talk to someone at work unless it was business, so it's sweet that he's talking to him

I quickly put a lipstick, wallet, my phone, and some other bits in my purse and head out the door

But I took longer than I intended on finishing because when I walk out of my apartment Aaron is leaning against the wall eyes on his phone not realizing my presence

I smile taking in his outfit of black pants black button-up shirt and a black jacket

I laugh "looks like we on accident matched outfits"

His eyes shoot up from his phone and his eyes rake my outfit, he has a smirk plastered on his face as he pushes off the wall and walks over to me

He takes his finger and pulls my chin up so I meet his eyes

He gives me a small sweet kiss right on the corner of my lips making me crave more "you look beautiful"

I smile slightly breathless as I speak "you look pretty great too"

He smirks taking in my flushed face as he takes my hand

"How long did you wait out here for me?" I ask curiously as we walk out hand in hand

"Just a couple minutes, I got done talking to Henry so just decided to wait for you"

"You could've knocked and waited in my living room" I laugh

"Good to know for next time" he smirks looking at me

I blush at the fact he's already thinking of the next time

When we get outside my building Aaron opens the door to his car for me waiting until I get in and rounding the car to the driver's side,

The drive is pretty fast and we settle into a comfortable silence, it's interesting because with anyone else I would feel the need to fill the uncomfortable silence, but with Aaron there's no awkwardness, we could talk the whole ride or be in silence and it's comfortable either way,

I smile seeing a different sandwich place, we order our sandwiches and sit at a nearby table as we wait for them just talking

"What's your favorite food?" I ask curiously

He smirks "you could ask me anything and that's what you go with?"

"Oh hush...I'm starting with light questions that I feel like I need to know, it might not be important to you for me to know your favorite color and least favorite or favorite food but it is to me"

The corner of his mouth tilts up as he nods "alright...well I pretty much like everything, I grew up in a Russian family and my mother is a cook she has her own restaurant, so she was always cooking different things from different cultures and I ended up liking pretty much everything so I don't think I could pick"

I smile gently as I watch him talk, our sandwiches arrive and we continue talking in between bites

"Do you like to cook?" I ask after I finish chewing

He nods "yeah, I would help my mother with different recipes and it became a way for me to spend time with my mom and I guess to have something in common with her" he smiles as if recalling memories of him in the kitchen as he cooks with his mom

"That's sweet" I grin

He frowns "okay enough fluffy shit"

I roll my eyes "all right then, how many girls have you dated?" I watch as he smirks with a deep chuckle

I regret asking the minute it comes out of my mouth because I don't necessarily need to know how many people he's been with...I mean he's scary attractive so I shouldn't be annoyed that he's been able to get any women he wants

"3," he says taking a bite of his sandwich

My jaw is practically on the floor and my eyes are wide, I'm so stumped and confused I just watch as his jaw works as he chews

"You're telling me I have dated more people than you?" I say in disbelief

"And how many is that," he says laughing amusement spreading over his face

"5 but only 2 of them were serious," I say tilting my head to the side

"It was only serious for one for me, lasted over a year until she cheated" he nods

"I'm sorry getting cheated on is the worst...you're never able to trust that person again, as much as you may want to" I shake my head with a sigh

"Yeah...but I'm glad we're not together anymore, we weren't meant to be long term" he shakes his head with a shrug

I've never fully understood why people cheat...if you don't like the person you're with then break up with them,

Don't keep them as a backup plan in case your hookup doesn't work out, because trust me the minute you entertained the idea of cheating it means your significant other wasn't that important to you,

If you care or love someone the word cheating won't even be in your vocabulary, you won't have thoughts of having sex with someone else, or talking to others if you truly care for the person you're with,

Getting cheated on is something that stings you in the heart, it's in the moment when you realize you've been betrayed that you almost feel like your heart physically drops to the floor, time stops and you rethink every moment you had with them, thinking if any time they canceled on plans they were cheating,

And if you forgive them and give them another chance...no matter what they do, it won't be enough to get back to how you were before, because your old memories are tainted and the future ones are terrifying because whenever he or she says they need to stay late at work or go somewhere you will have that thought in the back of your mind about them betraying you again,

Cheating gives you trust issues and fear for future relationships, it makes your stomach drop any time someone new in your life says something that might even sound remotely like an excuse to cheat when they might just genuinely be busy,

But that's the thing...you won't know if they're lying or not you have to trust that they won't hurt you, but once you've been hurt before it's so hard to trust again.

"Did you date in high school?" He asks clearly wanting to forget about this horrible person who cheated on him

"Yeah 4 of the guys I dated were in high school" I laugh

"Two of them cheated, one got bored and the other one dated me for a bet, but that's high school for you" I roll my eyes

"And the last one was at the end up of high school up until college" I try ignoring my last boyfriend because of the horrible memories that man brought me

"Yeah most guys are assholes in high schools" he nods

"Did you have a girlfriend in high school?" I ask as I nod

"No, but a fair share of hookups" he shakes his head about to take another bite of the sandwich when he freezes

"Shit that makes me sound like a man whore doesn't it?" he cringes

I shrug "I won't judge you, at least your not doing it now"

I pause and realize my mistake of assuming he's stopped "you have stopped right? I mean I won't judge if you haven't but like if we're gonna date I don't like the idea of you hooking up with other people in between"

"Definitely not...And I would never cheat " he shakes his head

"You've seriously only dated 3 women?"

"Why is that so hard to believe," he asks raising a brow

"I mean yeah I have had my share of one night stands in the past but I haven't done anything in over 2 years" he shrugs

"I don't know It's just you're so good looking I would bet a lot that you dated more than 3 women" I shake my head

"Wait I'm sorry...that was rude of me to assume" I sigh

He smirks ignoring my comment "good looking" he mutters as we stand up collecting the napkins and everything on the table

"Wait, why did you stop the one-night stands?" I ask while we get up to dispose of the trash left over after we ate.

"I had a special girl on my mind so what's the point of sleeping around with other girls," he eyes me before opening the door that leads outside

I slowly turn my head to look at him, my nerves worsen as I get the courage to ask this question

"And who was this special girl?" I ask with a nervous edge to my voice I try hiding, but desperately fail to

He smirks backing me up against his car, leaning in his lips brushing mine as he talks

"I haven't had a one night stand in a little over two years, and a pretty girl comes in my office wanting an assistant job around that same time, you do the math sweetheart" his voice comes out quiet, and his hot breath hovers over my mouth making me squirm in place

I am too stunned to speak, because of not only how close we are to the point I swear I feel his body heat, but also because it's me? I was the reason he stopped sleeping with other women?

"Me?" I whisper in disbelief

He hums against my lips "you're a smart girl, " he pecks near my lips once before opening the car door for me

But I don't move, I'm standing frozen in place, realizing how oblivious I have been to everything... how has he liked me this whole time and I haven't realized one bit?

"Are you going to stand there looking pretty or get in the car?" He chuckles, his voice carrying amusement as he speaks

"Or would you like me to put you in the car myself?" He raises an eyebrow clearly keeping a smirk in when I finally look at him.

It's so damn hot outside even with the cold air I can't breath

"I'm fine" I clear my throat before getting in the car

I hear him chuckle before shutting the door

While were driving I capture a picture of him laughing as we were talking, I grin looking down at the photo

I ended up taking pictures of him at the sandwich place and he eyed me and kept taking pictures of me just to annoy me, but at least we have memories now in photos

We arrive at a mall and I give him a side look of confusion

He opens the door and we begin walking and I don't question anything, because I'm sure I'll find out in a minute the reason we're at a mall

We walk up to a build a bear and I immediately smile looking up at him to which he shakes his head and chuckles

I grab two frog stuffed animals and hand him one

He slightly smiles giving me a look I can't describe

I grin up at him "what?"

"You're cute that's all" he shrugs

I roll my eyes and grab his hand to pull him to the accessory section

"How about you pick one for me and I pick one for you" I grin

"Okay," he says

After a few minutes, I come to him and he hands me a little crown and I hand him a tie

"Awwww it's like princess and the frog" I smile looking down at the crown

"Why a tie?" He smirks

"You always wear ties to work and you look good in them and I thought your frog needs to look nice too" I wiggle my brows

"Why a crown?" I grin

"Simple Because you remind me of a princess, because not only are you unbelievably beautiful to the point it hurts my heart...you also have a heart of gold," he says quietly against my forehead as he gently lays a kiss there making my knees feel week and mind hazy

I can't stop smiling as we head to the station to fill the stuffed animals

I notice the woman at the filing station raking her eyes up and down Aaron's body, it fills me with a slight bit of anger but it completely vanishes when I see Aaron only looking at me, not even realizing the stares the woman is sending his way

His finger goes to my brow as he asks quietly, his voice husky and teasing "why are you frowning"

"Just thinking" I whisper

He hums "you look like you're thinking a little too hard there"

"We should give each other voice messages to put in the frogs" I pull my bottom lip in between my lips wanting to ignore the woman and focus on Aaron

"What should they say?" He asks continuing to run his finger over my brows and then down my cheekbones, stopping at my mouth and pulling my lip out of my mouth gently

"How about 'miss you' and then add whatever you want in the beginning of that or the end " I whisper breathlessly under his touch, I silently thank God there are no children in here right now

"But we're right next to each other" he smirks moving closer to me, I can feel the woman clearing her throat trying to get his attention but he just continues watching me closely

"Sir..." the worker says in a sickly sweet high voice that I know is fake since I just heard her speak with someone before us in a normal voice

"We're deciding what we want to say in the damn messages...be quiet" Aaron snaps with a deep frown on his face as he barely glances at the woman

"Aaron" I whisper pushing his shoulder slightly at his harshness

All he does is shrug and watch me "so you gonna answer my question?"

I sigh slightly "we won't be together when we're at our apartments...and that way we can hear each other's voices when we miss each other" I give him a shy smile

He smiles gently whispering a "you're cute...fine we'll do that even though there is something called phones"

"You can be busy at work and can't talk" I shrug

All he does is pinch my side making me yelp slightly and causing him to smirk

"If you come with me I can lead to you the other side so you can do the messages separately and it can be a surprise" the woman smiles touching Aaron's arm

He frowns "I can walk to the other side of the store myself you can stay here," he says sternly

The worker giggles "it's nothing serious"

"It is when I'm taken...now get your damn hands off"

I'm just smiling when the woman huffs looking at me

He goes to the other side of the store and I stay at the filling station

I think a little before deciding on a simple cute message only he will understand the meaning behind

I click the button and say

"Miss you my moon" and I laugh lightly

And the end of the recording, the worker just rolls her eyes

He comes back and we do the whole rubbing the heart and kissing it "let's switch hearts" he says

"So I have yours and you have mine?" I bite my lip hiding my huge grin

He nods, not realizing how cute and romantic he is right now,

We switch them and then watch the girl stitch up the frogs then Aaron pays and steals my wallet putting it in his pocket to ensure I don't pay for anything

I pout up at him to which he smirks

We get done and walk back to the car

"Can I have my wallet now?" I huff

"After the date" he smiles

"That's unfair" I cross my arms not looking at him

He shrugs putting his hand on my thigh drawing circles

"What's unfair Is you thinking I would let you pay" he squeezes my thigh

"Whatever can we get coffee" I smile

"Yes, and you're cute when you're sassy" he causing my frown to deepen because I'm trying to be mad right now not flustered

I lightly brush my fingers over each of Aaron's fingers while we drive ignoring his comment

When we order the coffees I quickly reach into Aarons's back pocket grabbing my wallet and handing over my card over to the barista

He wraps his arms from behind me and whispers in my ear "you're gonna regret doing that"

"I don't know I don't think I do" I laugh leaning my back to his chest

He pinches my thigh to which I jump to a little "owww"

He chuckles "pay for me one more time and you will be the assistant to someone else because I won't hesitate to transfer you" he whispers in my ear kissing it slightly

"You wouldn't, I'm the best assistant" I gasp

"I very much will if you pay for me one more time," he says as he bites my ear a little

"You're an asshole" I huff and go grab my coffee seeing it's ready

He grabs his coffee and throws a twenty in the tip jar as he turns to me "again you will remain my assistant as long as you keep that money in your damn wallet"

"Why are you so adamant about only you paying?" I frown as we begin walking around the city

"It's how I was raised, my father never allowed my mother to pay...he liked treating her, he said his wife was a gift and his queen and you shouldn't expect your queen to serve you" he shrugs

That's actually pretty cute

"Don't you wanna be treated sometimes?" I ask brows knit together

He shrugs "I like treating you so it's enough for me"

I stop walking making him stop "but that's not the same thing"

He sighs caressing my jaw "let's keep walking yeah?"

"Aaron" I sigh

"Just drop it...I don't like being spoiled, but I do love spending money on you"

"Did I ever tell you that you're a pain in my ass" I whisper

He shakes his head smiling and we begin walking around the city, we sometimes stop to take some pictures, I got one of us both smiling and Aaron looks so handsome in it with his smile, I kissed his cheek for one of them smushing his cheek between my hands,

After a day of walking around, eating, talking, and taking pictures, he drives me back to my place

He walks me to my front door which I thought was just too cute

I hug him wrapping my arms around his neck "I had a really fun time thank you, Aaron"

"Me too," he says

When looking him in the face I see him smiling, I smile back

He gently caresses my face and lays a sweet gentle kiss on my forehead

"Goodnight my sunshine" he whispers against my forehead

I laugh a little "goodnight my moon"

When I get inside my apartment I immediately get ready for bed, after getting in bed I grab the frog pressing the button to hear Aaron's message

"I miss you my sunshine"

I can hear his smile as he says it and my heart melts when I realize we used each other's little nicknames

My heart bursts and I play it again just to hear his deep husky voice that I can listen to forever

I grab my phone seeing it has been 20 minutes since he dropped me off so I text him

'did you make it home?'

A minute later I get a response

My moon: yes I just got out of the shower

Well, thanks for that damn thought...

'did you listen to the message on the frog yet?'

my moon: not yet give me a second

A minute later he responds

My moon: you're cute

'how funny is it that we pretty much did the same message for each other?'

My moon: guess we're meant to be or something

I grin down at my phone

'guess so'

That night I fall asleep with a huge grin on my face and memories of today floating around in my mind making me think of him all night long.

-----notes-----

Hope this chapter was okay, I had a high fever for two in a half days as I wrote this (with bad body aches) so it was difficult to write this and it probably has many errors (more than the other chapter) but I'm too lazy to check

(Also I don't know why all my pictures in the Wattpad stories have been disappearing and instead, there's a "Wattpad" picture so I'm sorry if you see that instead of the pov banners and stuff)

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