What the hell just happened?

I grabbed a glass and poured some water in it, wondering why Aaron had come in the first place.

Joanna came in then, breaking the tension.

I quickly finished drinking the water and dashed upstairs before anything else could happen with Aaron.

I'd been having way too many awkward encounters with him lately.

I went to my room and tried doing my homework but I couldn't concentrate at all. My mind was elsewhere. And it's not that hard to guess where exactly.

I put my headphones on and turned up the music to the loudest to drown out all my thoughts.

It didn't seem to work, because even then , all I could think of was Aaron.

The way my heart started pounding at a very high rate everytime he was around, how I'd start blushing, how I reacted to him being around in general and more than that, how I felt when he wasn't around..

This was going nowhere. Aaron Woods was driving me absolutely insane.And the weirdest thing was that now he didn't even have to be around me to drive me crazy. The mere thought of him was enough.

Frustrated, I yanked the headphones off and threw them on the floor in exasperation.

"Whoa there."

I looked up to see him leaning against my door. How could someone look so perfect just standing?

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

God, I hated him at times. He was the reason why my brain refused to function properly and he was the reason why I seemed to be developing the symptoms of a heart disease.

He shouldn't affect me this much. No one should affect anyone this much.

"I just came to call you for lunch," he walked into my room and sat down on the bed.

My eyes met his hazel ones and I was a millisecond away from melting when he opened that big mouth of his."Are you on your period?" he asked, looking genuinely curious.

I wanted to hit him, I really did.

"You're annoying."

He fake frowned. "Come on now."

I didn't answer.

"Are we going to talk about what happened or?"

"What do you mean?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

There was no escaping this.

"Fine, let's talk."

"What happened earlier..."

"I wasn't avoiding you."

"I think you were."

"Aaron, I really wasn't."

"Why did you go to the kitchen?"

"To get...water."

"You already had a glass full of water on the table."

Shit.

"Get to the point," I let out a defeated sigh.

"You're hiding something."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Since when are you so observant ?"

"And now you're dodging my question," he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Aaron, what do you want?"

"I think you know."

I let out a deep breath. "It's nothing."

He stared at me for a few seconds before looking away. "Let's have lunch."

Thank God he dropped it. I really had no idea what I would've said if he had pushed further.

Lunch was uneventful. Aaron was unusually quiet. I couldn't help but blame myself for that.

Joanna got up to get something from the kitchen. Amanda had already eaten so now it was just Aaron and I.

He was not eating his food anymore, he was just staring at his plate shoving the food around with his fork.

"Aaron?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

He nodded."Just thinking."

Joanna came back , marking the end of my small conversation with Aaron.

After we'd put away all the dishes, Aaron, Amanda and I were sat on the couch, watching some lame tv show.

Amanda was pretty excited about seeing her mother. She had even dressed up for her. It was nice got see her happy after what happened with that douchebag Jake.

Aaron suddenly got up and left the room. A frown automatically made its way on to my face.

"Hey Ashley?" Amanda said.

"Yeah?" I replied turning sidewards to face her.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" she asked.

I shrugged,"Go ahead," not really thinking much into it.

"Do you like my brother or something?"

Holy shit, was it that obvious?

"N-no, not at all. Why would you think so? There's nothing like that," I let out a nervous laugh.

Wow, that totally didn't sound like I was lying right there.

To my surprise, she laughed."It's okay, you know. And frankly, if you're worried about what I'd think, I would have no issue with that. In fact, I'd probably be the happiest about it."

I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not.

Did she really know?

"I don't like-"

"-What don't you like?"

It was Aaron.

"Winter!" I blurted out.

Amanda looked beyond amused and raised an eyebrow as if to say "seriously?"

I shrugged.

Aaron gave me a weird look."You're funny."

"Thanks."

"Wasn't a compliment. "

"Well, I took it as one, what're you going to do?"

And just like that we were back to normal.

I saw Amanda roll her eyes from the corner of my eyes.

Aaron shook his head."You're a lost cause."

"Excuse you?"

"Wha-"

"Oh, shut up, you two,"Amanda groaned.

"Move over, fatass ," he said to me.

"Did you just call me a fatass?"

"Yes, I just did," he confirmed, with a smirk.

"Says the guy who eats like a pig!"

"C'mon, I'm a growing boy, what do you expect?"

"Move now," he said and I moved towards Amanda, who was engrossed in watching the show, to make room for her brother.

We were sitting side by side once again

and this time our legs were almost touching.

Why did we always have to sit like this? Why couldn't he sit on Amanda's side of the couch? Or somewhere else?

Thank God Amanda was busy watching tv, otherwise her doubts would have been confirmed if she saw us sitting so close.

Why hadn't I admitted to her that I liked him? Right, because I didn't have the guts to do that, that's why.

The door bell rang just then, making all three of us jump up.Aaron moved his head up, and I instantly missed the heat coming from him.

His jaw was clenched as he looked at Amanda.

"I'll get it," she replied with a reassuring look."Don't worry, Aaron," she gave him a small smile before getting up to open the door.

She was still limping slightly but at least she could walk on her own.

The door opened, revealing an elegant woman, in her mid-forties. She looked a lot like Amanda. She wore jeans with a beige cardigan over a white shirt, her blond hair pulled neatly into a ponytail.

She was not at all how I'd expected her to be like. I'd expected a woman in work clothes, a tight bun and a no nonsense look on her face instead of the warm and friendly smile the woman in front of me wore.

"Mom!" Amanda exclaimed, embracing her mother who hugged her back just as tightly.

"How have you been?" she asked Amanda, as she pulled back.

"Good, I missed you so much!"Amanda exclaimed.

"I missed you too, honey.Where's your brother?"

I liked how she referred to him as her brother.

"Aaron!" Amanda called, a huge smile etched on her face.

I could tell she was very fond of her mother.

Aaron glanced at me and I gave him a reassuring smile.

He slowly made his way towards them.

"Hi Welma ," Aaron greeted hesitantly.

"Hello, Aaron.How are you?" she asked warmly, giving him an awkward pat on the back.

"Good, thanks."

There was an awkward silence and Amanda broke it by calling me over to them.

"Mom,this is my friend, Ashley. Ashley,this is my lovely mom."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs.Woods," I said politely.

"Nice to meet you too, Ashley. And call me Welma."

Joanna soon joined us and we chatted for a while before Amanda took her mother to Welma's bedroom.

"She's nice," I commented , as Aaron and I sat back down on the couch.

He looked surprised , like he wasn't expecting to hear my voice."Yeah, I guess.."

I offered him a small smile. I reached for the remote at the same time he did, so that our hands touched.

Still staring at the t.v screen, he intertwined our fingers and I let it be that way.

***