Freezing Bonds that Tie our Hearts (Blood and Water #2)

22. Aiden

Staring at myself in the mirror, I contemplated changing my outfit yet another time. Maybe my usual black shirt and jeans weren’t appropriate for a first date.

I mean, our official date would not start until that night, technically, but still. I wanted to look good next to Nova knowing the whole town would be seeing us together for the first time.

“Aiden, come on! We’re gonna be late!”

Bibi’s voice pulled me back to Earth, making me glance down at where she was sitting on my bed, little legs dangling off the side.

“Remind me again why you’re coming with me?”

“Because you said I was your chicken wing.”

It was hard keeping my smile in check, “My wingwoman, Bibi.”

“Yeah, that! I’ll make friends with your girl’s sisters so that they like you and in turn Nova will like you too.” We’d agreed last night that we should take Bibi with us too. That way, my own baby sister wouldn’t feel left out.

“She actually has a sister who’s just about your age. From what I’ve heard, you’ve got a lot in common.”

“We’ll see. My friend circle is really small and I don’t know if Mr. Patchouli would like to make it bigger.” She said, referring to her stuffed teddy bear.

“Of course, we wouldn’t want to upset Mr. Patchouli.” I smirked, “Come on, bug. Let’s go.”

Deciding my outfit was just fine and that I didn’t need to change it, I turned around and grabbed my sister’s hand before we started walking down the stairs and out of the house.

I avoided looking up at the house in front of ours because I knew the guilt of living life like nothing was wrong would eat at me. As I almost ran to my car, Bianca bounced in my arms.

“Wait, Aiden! Wait!” She shrieked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where are your flowers?”

“What?” She face-palmed like I had just asked her the dumbest question ever.

“Your flowers! This is a date! How are you expecting to make her fall in love with you without flowers?”

I opened my mouth to argue but what she said actually made a lot of sense. Just because Nova didn’t want to go to some fancy place didn’t mean I had to sit down on chivalry entirely. And I knew she loved flowers, there was a fresh bouquet on her desk the day I came over, and after stalking her on social media more times than I could count, I knew that was a recurrence. She always posted her weekly set of fresh flowers on her story.

The thing was, we were already late to pick her and her sisters up as it was and there were no flower shops in this part of town. I told Bibi that and she pensively rubbed her little chin while looking up, frowning. Fucking adorable.

“Oh!” Her index finger came up comically, “We should go to Mr. Regans’ house! He always lets me pick flowers when I’m playing outside. He has tulips and petunias and peonies and horten—”

“Okay, okay, you got me convinced. Hopefully he won’t mind us borrowing a few flowers.”

It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than showing up with no bouquet.

“Don’t worry, Aiden, I’ll be there and I’m too cute to be yelled at.” I chuckled at how true this was and bit her cheek softly to which she squealed.

We made our way to his front yard. It wasn’t big by any means, the same size as any other state-appointed house in the block, but you could tell Mr. Regans really took care of his home. The front porch had two well-loved rocking chairs and a small metal table between them, where he and his wife used to sit and drink lemonade during summer.

She passed away two years ago but he kept her chair and the last comforter she had knitted sitting on top of it. There were some plants on the porch too, some potted, others hanging from the beams, but the real beauty was the flower beds that spread all around his house.

I usually didn’t give a fuck about those things, but even I couldn’t deny Mr. Regans had a beautiful garden. It used to be his wife’s but after she passed, it became his most prized possession and he took great care of it.

“Okay, what’s her favorite flower?” Bibi asked when I put her down, hands on her hips.

“Peonies.” She didn’t question how I knew that and I thanked the Lord for it. Had it been any of my other sisters, they wouldn’t have stopped until I admitted I had been stalking her through a fake foodie account for years.

As my baby sister pointed me to which flowers would look good in a peony bouquet, I got to work, carefully picking them up. We took no more than three or four of each, not wanting to overindulge.

When the rumble of a car and laughter was heard on the road right in front of the house, I closed my eyes and prayed it wasn’t—

“The fuck you doing over there, Aiden?” I could hear the amusement in Gray’s voice.

The thing about growing up in North Ravenbridge was that everyone knew everyone. We basically all grew up together, even if we weren’t always friends or the same age. That was the case with Gray— Grayson James. We boxed together at the gym and I had to say he was probably the best adversary I ever had, aside from J. He always knew how to provoke me. I respected him, but he also annoyed the shit out of me. Kind of like an older brother. He used to own the only tattoo shop in town, where he taught me everything, before moving to the city.

“Hi, Gray-Gray! We’re picking up flowers for Aiden’s girlfriend!” Bibi enthusiastically told him and I groaned. I would not be hearing the end of it.

Annoyed, I muttered “She’s not my girlfriend,” under my breath.

“Oh right!” My sister murmured conspicuously to me, then, turning back to Gray she yelled, “she’s not his girlfriend yet!”

And just like that, his laughter —and the one of the guys in the car with him— echoed around us.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole neighborhood had heard.

***

Nova

“When are they cominnnnnng?” Cece slumped down on the couch like she was made of jelly and I rolled my eyes at her.

“They’re on their way.” Was my calm answer.

Although, internally, I was anything but calm.

This wouldn’t be my first date, but it would be the first that mattered. The first official one with Aiden, too, even though I’d always count the day we’d watched Pride and Prejudice in his car as our original first date.

Today would be the first time Cece met Aiden and my first time meeting his little sister, Bianca. For some reason, this was more nerve-wracking than meeting each other’s parents. More serious, too.

I wanted my sisters to love him and I wanted his to love me too. Dad would already be hard to convince, I couldn’t imagine having to persuade my sisters too. Not to mention, I wanted them on my side, I wanted them to approve of him because, deep down, I could see it last. See us last.

“But I’m boooored already. I wanna go to the fair.”

“You have to be patient.” Rory chastised her, “Good things come to those who wait.”

“Good things happen to those who don’t wait too.”

“Stop being a smartass.” Cece gasped at that, her small head whipping in my direction, her curls bouncing.

“Nova! Rory called me an ass!”

“No, I didn’t, I said smartass!”

“Just because you called my ass smart doesn’t mean it’s nice!”

“Stop saying ass!”

“You started it!”

“Okay, stop it you two!” I rarely raised my voice but they knew when I did, I was dead serious.

Both of them immediately stopped talking, pinching their lips, not doubt dying to say something back. “I need you to promise to be on your best behavior, okay? Aiden and his sister will be here shortly and I really want this day to go well so, just—please, behave yourselves.”

They grumbled an apology and Cece bounced off to her room, telling us to yell for her once they were here. I sighed and fell back against the sofa.

“It’s gonna be okay, you know. He’s crazy about you, I doubt there’s something you could do that would change his mind.”

“He’s not crazy about me.”

“But he is. He texted me three times this morning because he was unsure about his outfit.”

“He texted you? Since when do you guys talk?”

“When he walked me back home that night a week ago, after we watched the new documentary on koalas, you fell asleep in the car. I wanted to go home right away but he wanted to let you sleep a little longer,” she smirked, “he said it was because you were tired but I knew it was because he just wanted more time with you.”

I blushed, remembering perfectly what happened after I woke up and found my sister had gone back home. Aiden had let me suck him off for the first time and it was way more satisfying that I thought it would.

Movie (or, in our case, documentary) night in Aiden’s car had become like a ritual of ours. Sometimes, Rory went back home right after it ended, to give us some privacy, while others she fell asleep and Aiden carried her home, discreetly so that Dad wouldn’t hear us. It was a great thing he’d been so busy these days, whoever that huge client was, I hoped his pillow was cold on both sides every night.

“Anyways, he didn’t want me to go alone so he walked me home and gave me his number to text him when I was safely in bed.”

I couldn’t help the grin that spread on my lips at the thoughtfulness. A lot of things could be said about Aiden Walker, but his protectiveness was something no one could deny him.

“I already like him and I know Cece will, too.” She touched my hand with hers, an easy smile stretching her lips, “It’s gonna be fine.”

Just as I was about to thank her, the doorbell rang, making me gulp. I got up and straightened the pink skirt I was wearing, “How do I look?”

“You look great, Nova.” She smiled encouragingly as I walked to the door.

I took a deep breath and when I finally opened it, the first thing I saw were flowers.

A gorgeous bouquet of pink peonies, roses and white hortensias, held by a pink ribbon tied in a beautiful bow. But the guy holding it was even more beautiful to me.

“You got me my favorite flowers.” I breathed, silently wondering if he knew or just happened to have guessed.

Because that was the thing with Aiden, he guessed a lot of things about it. My favorite breakfast, favorite color, favorite books… and he loved to surprise me with them.

“Lucky guess.” He smirked and I didn’t resist pushing up to my toes and kissing his lips.

He deepened the kiss, his free hand grasping my waist and pulling me to him. I could kiss him fore—

“Ew! You said no kissing!” Pulling away, my gaze was immediately drawn to the person I hadn’t even noticed standing there, slightly hidden behind him.

A beautiful little girl, around Cece’s age with light brown, almost golden, hair and tan skin stood there in a sage green dress and fuzzy coat. Her hair was split in the middle into two braids hanging over her shoulders but I quickly noticed only one side had a pink bow hiding the elastic at the ends. She must’ve lost the other.

Immediately, I smiled and kneeled in front of her. “Hi, you must be Bibi?”

She nodded shyly, eyeing me up and down, before eventually, she smiled too. “You’re just as pretty as Aiden said you were.” Her mouth split into a full grin when I said that and she looked at her big brother proudly.

“Well, Aidy won’t shut up about you even though he said you’re not his girlfriend yet.”

“Bibi!” He chastised.

The snort that left my body was the least ladylike sound my throat has ever made, and I immediately slammed my hand on my mouth to keep any more of these from getting out.

My misery seemed to have Bianca shed the last bits of timidity as she laughed with me.

I looked up at Aiden while biting my lip, dying to tell him all he had to do was ask if he wanted me to be his girlfriend.

Actually, we had come to a point where I wasn’t sure I’d be able to refuse him anything.

***

The whole town was here.

Screams of laughter and loud cheering could be heard all around us and a sick feeling of foreboding settled almost immediately in the pit of my stomach. I was a lover of crowds, but the Winter Fair had been one of the few exceptions up until today.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Can we go play Hook a Duck? Please, Aidy, pleaseeeee.”

“Look at all the cute teddy bears we could win! We need them, Aiden! We need them!”

My attention was brought back to the two little drama queens tugging at Aiden’s shirt while he did his best not to laugh. The scene brought a smile to my face despite the crowd and noise surrounding us.

It was no surprise for me how both girls had immediately hit it off. They’d spend the entire ride yapping and getting to know each other which could be hilarious at times. They were so much alike it was a little scary because I didn’t know if the world was ready for two Ceces.

My gaze found Aiden’s and he smiled sheepishly.

“What if we walk around a little first before we start playing?” I tried to compromise, because I could tell just from looking at him that Aiden would not be able to say no.

Cece turned towards me, ready to negotiate but the look on my face clearly dissuaded her. Her little shoulders slumped a little as she sighed dramatically and nodded, grabbing Bibi’s hand in hers. They both walked right in front of us, Aiden keeping watch of them like a hawk. He didn’t say it outright, but I knew being out in crowded areas had him on edge given what happened with Oscar.

There was still no news on that front even though he still went on searches religiously, every night, sometimes with me, sometimes with friends and often alone.

Rory was slightly ahead of us too, her frog beanie on her head, showing the girls all the different stalls and rides they’ll be able to do in a few minutes.

When I looked around us, I could tell that our little outing hadn’t gone unnoticed. Southies and Northies alike were staring at us in curiosity. Most of them had no idea we were friends, let alone something more. I felt the exact moment when Aiden realized the same thing because he tensed up next to me. Familiar faces in the crowd looked at me quizzically, probably wondering why we arrived together and why our sisters, who didn’t go to the same schools or live in the same neighborhood, were acting like best friends all of a sudden.

My hand found Aiden’s and I let my fingers interlace with his as a way to make a statement. His head turned in my direction, surprise etched on his face, and I couldn’t resist. Stepping on the tips of my toes, I pressed my lips to his in a chaste kiss.

When I pulled back, his eyes were slowly opening back up and he smiled before pushing his lips against mine again, this time more forcefully, staking his claim. I happily let him, knowing there would be no way of my dad not hearing about this, but I didn’t really care anymore.

We weren’t doing anything wrong, my sisters seemed to love Aiden and… so did I.

Just like every time the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but to feel out of breath. The only thing I regretted was that it took me three years to realize that the guy I had built all up in my head was so different from reality. I regretted not seeing Aiden for who he really was, kind, protective and oh so thoughtful.

I wanted to tell him how I felt, so badly, but deep down, I just knew it wasn’t the right time. We had only been seeing each other for a month, I didn’t want to scare him off.

More than that, I was afraid of rejection. I knew he liked me, a lot, he never shied away from admitting it, but love was different. It made everything more serious, more real.

Pulling away again, he sent me a dazzling smile, the crowd of surprised students long forgotten. Aiden started walking to follow the girls who were only a couple of feet away from us and he tugged on my hand to make me follow.

We went from stall to stall, laughing, playing and eating delicious food. Every time I tried to pay for something, a ride for the girls, snacks, drinks, anything, Aiden would send me a look that had me immediately putting my wallet back in my bag.

I liked that he insisted on paying for us, even though some part of me was worried about him spending too much. His family was way more modest than mine, and frankly I didn’t mind splitting expenses, but he insisted and I didn’t want to offend him.

The fact that he wanted to take care of me, in that way only made me feel more strongly about him.

We stole kisses while the girls played hook and duck, he won me a cute teddy bear in one of the stalls and, of course, Cece and Bibi insisted he should win one for them too, which he did. He even got one for Rory which had her blushing a little. A little green frog with a crown on its head. She hugged him tight as a thank you and it was probably the cutest thing ever.

“I didn’t know it would be possible, but I think Bibi found her match.” He said, falling in step next to me while the girls walked hand in hand in front of us, alongside Rory who was staring at her phone.

I chuckled, “You think? They’re like twins.”

“Double menace,” he smirked, putting his arm around my shoulders and bringing me closer to him. I snaked my arm around his waist and let my head fall against his chest.

“I think we should call it a day.” Biting my lip, I looked up at him to see if he’d catch my drift but he only frowned.

“Already? Is something wrong, do you—”

“No, Aiden; I think we should bring the girls home and… you know, do our own thing. Alone. Our date.”

Understanding dawned on him, his pupils dilating a little, “It’s not nighttime yet.”

“No, but I really want to thank you for the way you’ve been treating me and my sisters this afternoon,” I let my hand sneak up his shirt and caressed the skin of his waist a little, loving the way his muscles tensed under my touch, “I’ve been dying to have you in my mouth again.”

My admission was quiet and had my heart beating fast, scared that he would think I was being too forward. It wasn’t the first time I spoke so freely around him, but usually it was during a much more sexier time, while we were both alone and panting with need. Not in the middle of a crowded fair with our sisters only a few feet from us.

Aiden gulped, his eyes falling on my lips before he whipped his head in front of us, “Girls! We’re going, come on!”

I couldn’t help but giggle while our sisters groaned and complained. I squeezed his side which had him look back at me, “You’re laughing but know that I’m fighting not to get hard with so many people around us right now.”

Biting my lips, I pressed a quick kiss to his arm before untangling from him and walking towards our little tribe who had stopped in front of a jewelry stall.

Cece and Bianca were pointing at some bracelets, marveling over the colors and shapes of them, but I noticed Rory was not as enthusiastic, standing a little on the side, still looking down at her phone.

Making sure Aiden was right there with the girls, I walked up to my sister and gently touched her arm,“What’s wrong, baby?”

She looked up at me, startled, before trying to play it off with a smile, “Nothing. Just tired.”

I was about to tell her not to lie to me when my attention was brought to a group of laughing girls a few feet away from us, waiting in line for the Ferris wheel.

The girl in the middle, a tall blond with dark eyebrows, was whispering to her friends pointing at us with her chin, before they all bursted out in laughter. I felt my sister’s shoulder tensed beneath my hand and that’s when it dawned on me, they weren’t looking at us, they were looking at Rory.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” I asked through gritted teeth, “That’s the bitch who ripped off your hair.”

“Please, don’t make it a big deal.”

“Not a big deal my ass.”

Before I could think it through, I was stomping towards them, ignoring the people complaining about me cutting the line, they were mostly kids and only a handful of them. The Ferris wheel wasn’t the best attraction to do during the day, it was much more impressive at night when all the lights were on.

Once she saw me walk towards her, the girl stopped laughing and stood a little taller, like she was gearing up for a fight.

My body was on auto-pilot and I thought, maybe, later on, I would regret what I did, but that moment never came. Without thinking about it twice, I grabbed a handful of that girl’s hair, and pulled, hard, until her head was inches away from mine. She gasped in surprise and so did her friends, but I didn’t care.

Some part of my brain was acutely aware that she was thirteen and I was eighteen, that what I was doing was far from politically correct, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. The only thing I could see was my little sister’s teary eyes and bloody scalp as she told me about being bullied. It was enough to make me want to rip that girl’s head off.

“What the fuck! Let go of me!”

“What, you don’t like getting your hair pulled? I thought it was okay when you were the one doing the pulling?” My fingers tightened against the soft strands even when she tried clawing my hand off.

I was vaguely aware of people around me watching in horror and asking me to let go of her, but they were white noise to me. I was angry and on a mission, I wouldn’t stop until it was complete. Bringing my mouth to her ear, I spoke slowly and softly, because even though I was starting to learn that anger was okay, I was also learning that my type of anger wasn’t the screaming one.

It was much more silent and lethal.

“You listen to me, okay? Being thirteen does not make you a dumbass. You know right from wrong and you know very well that what you have been doing to my sister is wrong. If I catch wind of you annoying her again and touching her beautiful hair, you better believe I’ll fucking scalp you. Are we on the same page?”

When she nodded slightly, completely dumbfounded, I released her with a little more force than necessary and she walked back a few steps, putting as much space between us as she could. I gave her a frosty and fake smile before twirling around, making the beads at the ends of my braids slap against her and her friend’s face.

I was about to walk back to my sister when I noticed her standing there, a horrified expression on her face. I think that’s when it dawned on me, what I’d just done. Aiden and the girls were looking at me with wide eyes, too, from the stall where I’d left them.

My steps faltered as I took in the tears in Rory’s eyes, threatening to break free.

“Rory, I had to—”

“I told you to leave it alone, Nova. You said you would, that you trusted me!”

“How can you expect me to say nothing as you get bullied! I know what it’s like, it—”

“It’s not about you! It’s about me! For once, something is about me and me alone and my God you just made everything so much worse! If you think they’re not gonna give me hell for that, you’re wrong.”

“I’ll make sure they—”

“No! You’ve done enough!”

Turning around, she sped through the crowd of people, and that sinking feeling I had when we first arrived came back with a vengeance.

Quickly looking at Aiden to make sure he had an eye on both girls, I started running after my sister. I could barely see her as she sped through the crowd, only her orange beanie helping me keep track of her.

I bumped into people as I ran but I couldn’t care less, because it meant I was getting closer to her. She was fast but I was faster, and more than anything, I couldn’t afford to lose sight of her. Not when it meant leaving her alone in such a crowded area where anything could happen to her.

I almost had her, she was only a few feet away from me, when someone grabbed my arm and I was yanked back, out of nowhere. My attention was brought back to the person who had stopped me so brutally as anguish settled within me.

Mr. Kerill stood there, looking almost as frantic as I felt, both of his hands clutching my shoulders. His lips were moving but I couldn’t hear and it took me a second to understand it was because of the buzzing in my head, instilled by the panic that was rising in me.

When, finally, sound came back to me, it felt like emerging from underwater, “Nova! Have you seen her?”

I frowned, confused. He was screaming over the Fair’s noises, music, laughter, the sound of the machines and everything else made it so fucking hard to hear.

“My daughter! Have you seen my daughter, Nova?”

I shook my head, desperately trying to look over his shoulder to catch sight of an orange beanie, in vain. “I didn’t see her!”

“You need to help me find her, she was right there, then I turned around and—” My brain could barely comprehend what he’d been saying because I was too worried about my own sister getting out of my sight to care about anyone else.

“I’m sorry, I-I can’t!” Pushing him away, I quickly side-stepped him and went back running towards the direction where Rory had disappeared. When I realized I had no visual on her and didn’t know in which direction to run, I stopped to look around me. She was nowhere in sight; there was no ugly orange beanie, no curly dark hair, no jeans overalls in sight.

A sick feeling was starting to unfurl in my gut, way too similar to the day we almost died in that closet. I pushed through, disregarding my feelings and rationalizing instead. My hands trembled, I ran to the nearest bathroom, thinking maybe that’s where Rory would have gone.

There were three restrooms in the park where the fair took place. When I entered the first one, the one closest to me, I kicked open all the stalls, but all were empty. The few girls that had been checking themselves in the mirror jumped in surprise, some of them sending me nasty looks but I paid them no mind.

When I saw I was losing my time there, I immediately hightailed it over to the next one, barely even aware of my phone ringing in my coat’s pocket. On the fourth time it rang, I decided to grab it with shaking hands, and blindly answered, pressing it to my ears.

Aiden’s voice was barely audible on the other side of the line with how much noise there was all around us.

All I managed to decipher was; “Nova! Where are you?”

“Rory disappeared!” I screamed, my throat clogging with fear, “I can’t see her, Aiden! I can’t see her! She’s nowhere I searched and there’s so many people here!” My heart was beating so fast I could literally feel it in my throat.

I heard Aiden swear on the other end of the line, just as I barged in the second bathroom which was totally empty unlike the first one where people lingered around. The silence made it a little easier to hear Aiden speak.

“I bumped into Zainab and I’m leaving the girls with her, okay? Where are you, I’m coming to find you!”

“The bathroom next to the face painting booth.” I sniffled, wiping my tears with the back of my sweater, “Aiden I’m so scared.” I clutched desperately at the walls around me, trying to get my breathing back to normal, “I lost her, Aiden, I lost her and kids are disappearing and—“

“I’m coming, baby. I’ll be there soon. I’ll be there.” The line went dead and my hands curled into fists as I did my best to regain my composure.

Aiden was with me in less than five minutes, his hands immediately clutching my face and making me look up at him.

“I didn’t think, Aiden, I didn’t think and now she’s gone and she’s mad at me and there’s so much people here, she could be anywhere, she could be hurt, I—”

“Calm down, Nova! Breathe.” I did my best to listen, slowing down, my hands coming up to grab his wrist, digging my nails into his skin as a way to anchor myself back to where we were.

Aiden didn’t seem to mind, he helped me breathe through it until I came back to my senses. Women entered the bathroom and spluttered their discontentment at seeing a man in there. He didn’t even seem to notice them, his full focus was on me.

“Better?” I nodded and he pressed a kiss to my forehead, “Good. Where did you lose sight of her?”

I racked my brain to try and find an answer, “Around the… around the hot chocolate sale,” memory came back to me as I saw the whole scene play out in my mind, “he grabbed me and I lost sight of her for a few seconds, I swear, only a few seconds and it was enough to—”

“He? Who is he, Nova?”

“What?” I looked back at him, as if his voice had brought me back to reality.

“You said he grabbed you, who is he, Nova?”

“Mr. Kerill. His daughter… oh my God! His daughter disappeared too, do you think she was taken?” I could feel myself spiral, my mind racing with the horrifying possibilities that my sister and Mr.Kerill’s daughter were at the same place right now, when suddenly, his booming voice brought me back to reality.

“Nova, stop it!” I gulped, doing my best to keep from crying, when his hands came up to cup my cheeks again, “I’m sure she’s just around here somewhere, okay? She’s here. We’ll find her, come on.”

Absent-mindedly, I nodded, and I kept nodding as we made our way outside and sped through the fair, asking around if people had seen a young black girl with a frog beanie.

People, from school and otherwise, started searching with us, and before long, the whole fair knew that something was wrong.

We searched for what felt like hours, Northies, Southies, young and older… Everyone looked for Rory, in vain.

She was nowhere to be found.

And that foreboding feeling started to make sense right then.

But it wasn’t until hours later, that the feeling exploded inside of me, making me double over in pain.

Hours later when the fair had been evacuated and the police found her phone and the frog Aiden had won for her near the side of the road, all dirty and torn.

My little sister was gone.

All hell broke loose in Ravenbridge.