Chapter 20
My eyes flutter open because of the sunlight, shining through the small glint. The rest of the room is darl, except the one golden streak on the carpet, comi g from the sun. I look down on my chest and see her.
She looks beautiful when she's asleep, hell she always looks beautiful.
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows are relaxed and her plump, pink lips are slightly apart, showing a little of her pearly white teeth.
She's wearing my black t-shirt and fuck.
I would lie of I said that the sight doesn't do things to me.
One of her hands lay on my chest, under her head while the other is wrapped around the middle of my stomach.
Her straight, brown hair falls down her back and shoulders, some strands falling beside her perfectly sculpted face, on my chest.
The argue to twirl the small brown strand, that falls alone gets the better of me. With one hand drawing patterns on her back and the other hand twirling the strand around my finger, I admire her.
This isn't good.
I'm turning soft. I've never admired a girl when she sleeps, I've never felt such strong feelings for someone like I do now, with Avery. I never felt the argue to be lip locked with a person all the time, to hold a person in my arms and never let go, to protect a person.
She's my weakness.
I can't have a weakness. Not with what I do for a living anyway. It makes her a target. But I'm too selfish to care.
I'll die before I let anything happen to her.
I admitted to myself that I had feelings for her over a year ago. But I didn't do anything about it until her birthday. I kissed her and I certainly don't regret it. It was worth it. She is worth it.
The cause of my actions was her boyfriend. When she told us she had one and when he came over for dinner. I knew I couldn't let her be with him. My blood boils at the thought of them together. If I see that pig again, the result will for sure not be a few cuts and bruises.
I shake the thoughts out of my head at the sound of her angelic voice.
"Good morning."
"Morning, princess." I kiss the top of her head and tighten my arms around her pulling her against my chest.
"Was I sleep talking?" She barely whiepsers but I catch it. My eyebrows furrow together and I look down at her. "You still talk in your sleep?" She laughs, blushing. An amazing sound, I could hear it all day.
"Sometimes, Zach said I sleep talked when I slept on the couch yesterday." She shrugs, and I chuckle at her.
When she was younger, maybe eight until she turned sixteen she used to talk in her sleep. It happened almost every night. I remember me and the guys barging into her room because we thought she had someone over.
Turns out she had a conversation with herself while sleeping.
The memory makes me smile.
"What?" She asks with a smile of her own. The cute dimple on her right cheek showing.
I shake my head, kissing her nose,"nothing." She nods and snuggles closer to me.
"You hungry?"
"Always."
I walk behind her as she leads the way to the kitchen, admiring the way she walks.
"Can you make pancakes?" She asks, taking a seat by the kitchen island.
"I would but the only thing I have is vanilla almond milk and cereal." I look at the coffee machine. "And coffee." I shrug.
I moved in to this house a week, but I didn't spend much time here so I didn't go for grocery shopping.
"Lucky charms?" She asks excitedly, knowing the answer. "Pantry." I point to the wooden door next to the kitchen counter and she scurries away.
She might be the only one knowing I'm eating lucky charms. When she was at my place a few days ago, we ate lucky charms for dinner. Ry's idea.
We eat in comfortable silence, me signing a few papers and her reading a book. She loves books. Especially on her phone.
She let out a few squeals of excitement that made me smile, turns out she read a romance novel and the guy proposed.
She grabs our empty bowls and puts them in the sink to start washing them before I stop her. "The maid will be here in half an hour, you don't need to do it." I smile at her and she shakes her head.
"It's just two bowls and two spoons." She shrugs and starts washing. Knowing it's a lost battle, I let her be. If washing dishes makes her happy, who am I to tell her no.
I let my eyes wander down her amazing body. My shirt is baggy on her, but I can see her curves everytime she moves. When she stretches, the shirt rides further up her perfectly sized tighs, making me feel things I shouldn't probably feel, not in this situation anyway.
"Want to watch a movie?" She asks once she finishes with the dishes. I look at her eyes and smile.
"Sure princess, go to the bedroom and pick a movie I'll be there soon." She nods, kissing my cheek before making her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
As promised, Aiden joined me in his room a little later, groaning at first when he saw I picked a Disney movie for us to watch.
He's having his head on my lap, while I lean against the bed frame, my fingers playing with his hair.
I avert my eyes and look down at him. He seems so relaxed. His gorgeous features are all softened and the worry lines by his eyebrows are gone. His breath is even as if he's sleeping. The thought of him taking down the emotionless, business facade when he's with me brings a smile to my face.
Call me crazy, but I feel special knowing he's himself with me, just like I'm with him.
I drop my hands from his hair into the crook of his neck and look back at the TV.
Seconds later, Aiden has turned on his back, with his hand gripping my neck, bringing my head down, into a possessive kiss.
We don't get the chance to deepen the kiss. Both of us pull apart as soon as the sound of a vase breaking is heard.
"Enzo!" Shouts someone angrily. Aiden jumps out of bed and puts a black t-shirt on his bare frame, all the while I stare at his movements with wide eyes.
"Aiden?" My voice comes out a s a whisper, afraid that the person, owning the voice might hear. Aiden ignores my pleading for answers and shocks me when he pulls out a gun from the bedside table, loading it with what I assume are bullets.
He slips it into the waistband of his sweats, and turns to me.
His expression holding no emotion, for someone who might see him for the first time but I can see the worry behind his eyes.
"Stay here. I mean it. Do not come out." He says sternly and I nod.
I've learned from last time I went out of a room when told not to, hence to why I agreed to stay here.
Somoene shouts the unknown name again, making me flinch. Its not the same voice this time. I hear Aiden's fading footsteps and turn the TV on mute.
I bite my lip anoxiosly as I listen at all he shouting going on downstairs, scared that something might happen to Aiden. Those men clearly have something to do with the mafia and from the sounds of it they don't seem friendly.
My thoughts race in my head, possibilities of what might happen to him, causing me anxiety. My heart skips a beat when the sound of a colliding body reaches my ears.
In an instant, I'm off the bed and out the door. My feet padding lightly on the hardwood. Standing flat against the wall in the foyer, I trun my head slightly and hold in a gasp.
A bulky man has Aiden pinned down by his throat, squeezing the life out of him. Literally. His face is turning a lighter shade as the oxygen is cut off his system.
I notice another man, a few feet away, laying on the florr unconscious, with his head on a weird angle.
I hesitate before running back inside the room, unsure of what to do with myself. Should I act like some FBI agent? Then again this isn't a movie and I think that the FBI is against the mafia. I need to stop thinking no sense when I'm stressed.
My eyes land upon the black heel I use last night and before I can think through my actions, I'm out of the bedroom and behind the man, who's out cold as soon as I hit the heel on the back of his head.
His grip on Aiden realises, and he stands up, bending over and coughing violently, trying to catch his breath. I stand in front of him in shock, the realisation of what I did registering in my head. It was self defense, so I guess its fine.
Dear God, please don't let him be dead. I have big dreams and a murder on my record, is something I can't have.
Taking hesitant steps towards Aiden, I place my hand on his shoulder, only for him to shrug it off.
Taken aback by his reaction, I take a step back. He stands, towering over my 5'4 frame, with rage in his eyes.
"Aide-"
"Why would you come downstairs when I told you not to!? You could've gotten killed! This isn't some joke! When I tell you to do something you do as I fucking say!" He shouts at me, throwing his arms up in the air to get his point across.
I lower my head. He has never spoken to me that way."But he was chocking you." I whisper, looking at his face through my lashes.
He sighs and turns his back, taking deep breaths. I lift my head and watch him. His back is tense and his hands are in tight fists.
"Go get changed, I'm taking you to Summer's." He says lowly, his back still facing me.
"Bu-"
"Now."
Huffing, I walk back upstairs and close the door behind me. I lean against the wood taking deep breaths to calm my self and keep my unshed tears at bay.
Everything was going so good.
......
We pull up at Summer's. The whole ride here was silent. Neither of us talked and you could cut the tension with a knife. He didn't spare me a glance. I think that was what hurt the most. He didn't even seem to regret the way he spoke to me.
He's mad, but I don't get why. If I didn't walk downstairs he would probably be dead right now.
It's not that I didn't notice his voice being raspy when he spoke on the phone before we left.
I'm sure I'll be able to see bruised fingerprints on his neck if I look closely. But he has the tattoos to cover them.
I look out the window, noticing the trees at the sides of the streets turning yellow or leaving the trees almost bare. Summer's neighbors even decorated for halloween. I wonder if we will be decorating this year. It's not as of someone will see them anyway but it would be fun.
I wonder if there is some Halloween party of some short? I'm matching with Summer and Ethan if there is.
Aiden coughs awkwardly, gaining my attention.
I look at him, my hopes raising at the possibility of him apologising for his behaviour earlier, but he doesn't. My hopes die down when his next words leave his mouth.
"You should go." I raise my eyebrows, surprised.
"Uhh-" I clear my throat, grabbing hold of my purse in the process. "Yeah, uh bye." Way to be awkward Avery.
I open the door and close it softly behind me, despite the anger and dissapoinment I feel.
I knock on the door, not looking back when Aiden drives off as soon as it opens.
"Honey! I missed you!" Withley, Summer's mom greets me, piling me into her warm embrace. I breath in her familiar scent and plaster on a fake smile.
Withley is my godmother, and when mom died, she, along with Aiden's mom, Rose, took care of me and my siblings, since my dad was toobusy doing whatever he was doing.
"Hi!" I greet back and she pulls away, her hands still on my shoulders. "What's wrong?" She frowns. I swear this woman can read me like an open book.
"Nothing, everything's fine." I smile.
"Yeah, yeah, Summer and Ethan is upstairs. There's chicken sandwiches in the fridge for lunch. I would make something else but I have to catch my flight but you guys can make dinner later." She says hurriedly, as I follow behind her.
Just then do I realise her attire. Black pencil skirt with white blouse and black stilettos. Her brown hair is in a bun and her makeup is natural, except the red lipstick.
"Where to?"I ask curiously. She turns around with a wide grin."Dubai!" I laugh at her excitement and walk upstairs.
Music blasts from Summer's room. I open the door and ignore their stares as I jump face first on the bed, burying my face into the huge decorative, pink pillows that reek 9f Summer's scent.
My scream sounds muffled. I feel the bed dip on each of my sides.
"Spill," both of them say at the say time, their voices stern.
Turning around, I fold my hands on my stomach and look at the ceiling exaiming it's colour.
"We fought." I mumble.
"Why?"
"He got angry."
"Why?" I knew this was coming.
Now, this could go two ways, I say that I don't know or I tell the whole truth and tell Ethan about the mafia and probably get in trouble with my brothers and Aiden and probably the whole mafia organisation.
"I don't know." I shrug. First option it is.
"I'm sure you guys will be fine." Summer gives me a look that tells me this isn't over, making me sigh internally.
There's a long silence, none of us talking. My thoughts drift off to Aiden again.
I know I don't have to worry about seeing him until tomorrow, but still. I know there will be tension between us. I just hope my brothers don't notice.
"How about we go buy dessert? I'm in the mood for cake." She suggests and we both agree.
Pulling up at the mall, we all get out of the car and walk into Marie's pastry shop. It's a cute shop me and Summer have always gone to. The, owner, Marie, is a nice lady in her late sixties that likes baking way too much.
The bell above rings as we enter the empty shop. Baby pink colour covers the wall behind the cash register while everything else is white, with pastel coloured decoration and round, metallic, two seat tables.
"Welcome to Marie's how c-oh my god! How are you girls doing?" The short lady, dressed in a floral pink dress walks out behind the counter and pulls both me and Summer in for hugs.
"And who might this handsome young man be?" She smiles warmly at Ethan.
"I'm Ethan." He holds his hand out politely for her to shake but she catches him off guard with a hug.
"It's nice to meet you! Now, tell me what you guys would like?" She's that person who smiles and makes you give a real smile back, no matter how bad your day has been.
"Can we get two pieces for velvet and-" Ethan looks at me. "And a piece of chocolate fudge." I add.
"Of course, I'll just get the chocolate fudge, it's in the back." She says and walks into the back of the shop.
"Have you ever been here before?" I ask Ethan, noticing him looking around the shop amazed.
He shakes his head, "no, it I'll defenetly visit this place again." He walks over to the pastries. "I mean look! Rainbow coloured cupcake! This is some art gallery rather than a pastry shop!" He gushes, making me and Summer giggle.
Marie comes back out with a pink and white paper box, with my cake piece in it, I assume, and sets it aside as she packs for Ethan and Summer.
Thanking her and paying, we walk out of the shop and make our way to the car.
"Avery!" An all to familiar voice shouts behind me. Turning around, I'm met with the blue eyed boy who I thought I loved and who I thought loved me, only a few feet away from him.
My heart starts racing as thoughts of what happened last time we were together come back. His dirty hands all over me, the way I saw him being someone other than himself.
A longing feeling of having Aiden here with me hits me hard. I feel safe when I'm with him, no matter the situation, and now that he isn't here, my mind starts racing with all the possibilities that can happen in the next few seconds.
I snap out of my thoughts when I notice him a lot closer than he was. O turn around, only for him to grip my arm.
"We need to talk." He states. I look past him, at two of his football buddies, who scroll through their phones, not paying attention to what's going on around them.
Even if they did, I don't think they would think something other than Jason wanting to get back with me.
Wrong. Maybe right. He might want to get back together but that's not happening, not after what he did to me.
But that's not the only reason. I have Aiden now. And I wouldn't trade him for anything.
"There's nothing to talk about let me go." I say through gritted teeth.
"Let's get back together. I'm sorry, baby, please." He begs.
"Fuck off, Jason. Get your hands off her and back the fuck away." Ethan shouts from behind me.
"Shut up." Jason snaps.
"You don't want to go back to school with bruises again, now do you?" This time it's Summer talking.
Hesitantly, He let's go off my arm and backs a few feet away. Now having the expression of a long lost puppy wanting to go home.
"Please, baby. I'm sorry. I wasn't in the right state of mind." He whispers.
"Your lucky I didn't press charges now back off." I turn around and walk to the car with my friends by my side, ignoring his desperate calls of my name.
I just want to be with Aiden right now.
I sit in the back of the car. I feel suffocated. My heart starts pounding in my chest and I feel suffocated. The car seems to get smaller and I lean forward to get my breathing back to normal.
"Aves, are you okay?" Ethan notices my panting and turns around. He feels a lot closer than I think he really is, and the need to get space and breath in fresh air gets stronger.
"Stop the car!" He shouts at Summer.
Fresh air hits my face and I practically crawl out of the back seat.
Sitting down on the pavement I pull my knees to my chest and hug my legs close to me.
"Avery, we're here. Calm down. Breath with me." Summer says softly.
She breaths in and I do the same. Holding my breath for a second, the breathing out at the same time Summer does.
......
"Do not tell them anything. I mean it." I look at Summer dead in the eye. She lets her hands fall off the steering wheel and turns her body to me.
"You know it'll be good if they know." She says, looking at me sternly. I shake my head.
"Promise me you won't tell them."
"Do I have an option?" She smiles sheepishly.
"No", I hold my pinky out. She rolls her eyes in a half playful half serious manner and links our pinkies together.
When I calmed down, we went to Summer's place and no one mentioned my panic attack, which I'm thankful for. We hung out for a few hours before Ethan had to go home. Me and Summer eventually decided to head back to mine, since it is a school night and she's staying here.
My nervousness somehow dissapears when I don't see Aiden's or my older brothers' cars in the driveway. The four of them can see right through my lies which isn't good when I don't want them to know about the panic attack. They'll only urgue me to start therapy again and I really don't want that.
"No!" Ashton's voice brings me back to reality.
"Did they say when they'll be back?" I look at Summer in confusion as we both sit on the L shaped couch next to Parker.
"No, just that they'll be home late." Zach responds, his eyes on the flat screen while his fingers play with the buttons on his black controller.
"What are you talking about?" I ask.
"The guys. Who aren't here?" Ashrons says slowly, as if making it easier for me to understand. I roll my eyes.
Walking out of the living room, I barely turn around to look at them, "go to sleep soon, you all have school tomorrow."
Getting a holler of 'yes' from the guys and Summer, I head for my room. Exhausted from todays events.
I change into my pj's and climb into bed. Grabbing my phone, my hopes of getting a message from Aiden die down.
I don't even know why he got angry with me or why he still is for that matter.
I guess I'll talk to him tomorrow.
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