Amayah sat up as fast as she could, pushing me away from her. I silently thank whoever's listening that Aaron at least came a little late, preventing him from seeing what he shouldn't. The kid stood with his brows furrowed and a deep frown, reminding me of his mom's look whenever she's mad at something. Although he was confused, I could see realization slowly showing in his face. Cooper laid down on the floor beside him.

"You and Aide, mom?" Aaron asked, his eyes moving back and forth to me and Amayah. "What is this?"

"Baby," Amayah stood up, cautiously approaching her son and kneeling in front of him to get on his level. "I... I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you but–" she cut herself off, nervousness and probably fear getting the best of her. I

"Are you two in a relationship? Since when?"

I stood in my seat, going beside Amayah to at least ease her nerves. "Aaron–"

"I'm not talking to you, Aiden," He snarled at me. My eyes widened in surprise at the sudden anger, not used to seeing such emotion from such a young age, much less Aaron who always seems to be happy and accepting.

"We are," Amayah answered weakly. "Aiden's my girlfriend, baby."

"Since when?" He asked again.

"Over a month," I answered when Amayah stayed silent, earning a glare from Aaron.

"Over a month?" He repeated, his fists clenching. Amayah and I could only stay standing in our place as Aaron walked off, climbing back up the stairs into his room. I flinched when the sound of his door slamming echoed around the suddenly quiet house.

Amayah fell to the floor and a sob broke out of her, absolutely breaking my heart. I kneeled down in front of the beauty and cradled her in my arms, winding my hand into her hair as she buried her face into the crook of my neck. I kissed her head, gently rocking our bodies as I stroked her hair. I smiled at Cooper as the dog nudged Amayah's leg, probably feeling her sadness.

"He hates me, Aide. My son hates me now," She cried, hands gripping my shirt.

I pulled away slightly from the embrace and cupped her face, staring straight into her reddening eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Aaron doesn't hate you, he's just confused right now."

"I should've told him earlier, this is all my fault–"

I stopped her self blaming. "This is not your fault, Amayah. Please don't say that. He saw us by accident and he may have been feeling betrayed but we'll talk to him, okay? Let's give him time to calm down and we could talk to him after."

"What if he doesn't want to?"

"Then we'll wait and try. So please don't cry, I hate seeing you sad," I whispered softly, wiping her tear-strained cheeks with both of my thumbs.

"Okay," she replied weakly, letting her head fall onto my shoulder.

My brows furrowed in confusion when I heard a car beeping in the driveway, guiding Amayah to sit on the couch, I went to check who it was. To my surprise, it was Tristan's car. Biting my lip in worry, I went out to let him in.

"Who is it?" Amayah asked when I came back.

"Hey," Tristan and Bianca greeted gently, making the dark-haired woman raised her head up.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Tristan cleared his throat and touched his neck. "Aaron called us to pick him up."

His answer brought another fresh set of tears to her dark-brown eyes as she looked up at me helplessly. Feeling both sorry for her situation and somewhat guilty for causing it, I wrapped my arms around her again.

Bianca spoke. "We're not here to take him home. Tris wants to talk to Aaron first. We'll try to get through him, babe."

"Please," Amayah muttered quietly.

They smiled reassuringly before entering Aaron's room, leaving us alone again. Cooper jumped on the couch to sit with us, laying his head on Amayah's lap. I sighed, kissing the top of her head as my hand continued to caress her back, hopefully soothing her nerves. After a few minutes of silence, Amayah's grip on my shirt loosened and her eyes closed as she laid her head on my chest.

Amayah sat up abruptly when the door of Aaron's room opened, but to our dismay, Tris stood with Aaron's bag in his hand. Bianca shook her head as if saying they can't get to him, muttering an 'I'm sorry' to us. I smiled slightly, still appreciating their effort of trying to help. I knew talking to him now wouldn't work, but I kind of hoped it would.

"He wants to take Cooper with him," Tristan muttered in a soft tone.

Amayah could only nod, her eyes focused on Aaron whose back is turned on us. Once they bid their goodbye, except for the kid, they left along with Cooper. And just like earlier, the beauty broke down in my arms and all I could do was stay silent and comfort her as much as I could.

"She's been avoiding you?"

I let out a dry chuckle. "You could say that."

Julius frowned. "How though? You practically live in her house."

"The only time we ever really get to see each other is at her place because obviously, we can't do that here in campus. But even then, I barely see her. She wakes up early and leaves before I get to wake up, goes home late and even if she's not, she's always busy doing her 'work'. Last weekend she stayed at Tristan's house to try and talk to Aaron. On top of all that, Amayah's replies to my messages are always short."

"Maybe she's just really busy?" Julius shrugged, trying to ease my worry.

"It's been a week," I rolled my eyes. "The last time she told me she loves me was 3 days ago."

"I'm not trying to justify her actions or anything but I get why she's acting like this. Her son is practically ignoring her existence right now and maybe subconsciously, she's avoiding the cause of it."

"Which is me?" I asked, amused, sad, guilty and mad. I'm not sure who I'm mad at though. But one thing is for sure, I am to blame.

"I'm not saying that–"

"You are saying that and I get it," I cut him off. "I am the reason why Aaron's angry and avoiding his mom."

"Did you try to talk to her?" He asked.

I nodded solemnly. "She always says she's busy. I can't force her to talk when she doesn't want to."

"How about Aaron? Did you try talking to him?"

"Everyday for the past week," I closed my eyes, leaning my head against my gym bag. "He seemed to be angrier at me."

"You know, it's usually easy to talk to kids."

"Well, Aaron's different," I stated as a matter of fact. "he's too mature for his age."

Julius sighed in defeat, running out of shit to say to try and comfort me.

"What do you plan to do now?"

I shrugged. "I think I should let them make up first, then I can talk to Aaron after."

"What about Amayah?"

"I'll give her the space she's been too afraid to ask," I answered and grabbed my phone from my bag. Julius gave me a worried look but I continued with what I wanted to do.

To my surprise, she replied not even a minute had passed.

"Damn, that's cold," The dumbass commented after seeing her reply. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the pinch I felt in my heart. She didn't even ask me why.

"

Do you think she regrets being in a relationship with me?" I asked Julius, looking down at the screen of my phone.

His blue eyes widened at my question, immediately shaking his head. "Of course not, Aiden! This is a simple misunderstanding and it isn't even between the two of you. Just give her time, I'm sure she'll come back around. Her attention is just focused on her son right now."

"I'm her girlfriend though, why isn't she letting me be there for her?"

"Some people like to be alone whenever they face problems," Julius wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "And that's what she's doing now. So be patient and focus on what you're going to say to Aaron. His feelings are the most important thing right now."

"She will come back to me right? When she's okay?" I asked, doubt seeping through my body.

"She will, Aide. I know it."

"Yeah, she will."