"So I guess that wasn't so bad,huh?" Aaron gave me a small smile as I walked him outside.

"I guess not," I shrugged.

"I was on my best behaviour," Aaron joked.

I laughed, the stress leaving me.

It had gone well. There had surprisingly been minimum idiotic jokes on Aaron's part and he had acted a lot more...well,more grown up than I expected him to. So, everything had gone well.

"I'm proud of you," I joked back,nudging him.

"You should be. You have the hottest boyfriend ever." he winked.

"Well, aren't you just full of yourself."

He winked at me."There is nothing to worry about now. Right?"

"Nope. Nothing to worry about," I rubbed his arm comfortingly.

He placed a small kiss on top of my head as I put my head against his chest. I let out a satisfied sigh. I could stay like this for the rest of the night.

Though Aaron probably couldn't because he'd get hungry.

"You should get going now," I said, taking a step away from him reluctantly.

He caught my arm, pulling me into his chest. I could feel his breath fanning my face.

"I don't want to."

"I don't want you to either. But you have to," I said but made no effort to move away from him.

He slowly leaned towards me and placed his lips on mine. He kissed me, his lips moving softly against mine.

I sighed softly,kissing him back. It felt good,too good to be real. He pulled away too soon.

"Don't want your parents to see us now do we?" he winked, placing a quick kiss on my cheek before we said goodbye.

I stared at his retreating back with only one thing in mind —that I was absolutely, absolutely crazy about him.

***

The next morning I was woken up my the sound of my phone ringing.

Whoever was calling me so early in the morning was a dead person.

Opening my eyes a little, I looked around to find my phone.

Grabbing it, I quickly answered without even seeing who it was. I just wanted the stupid thing to stop blaring.

"What?" I groaned

"Ashley.He's here," he whispered.

It was Aaron. He sounded kind of scared.

I quickly sat up, all the sleepiness leaving me as worry took over.

"What? What's wrong?"

"My father."

I heaved a sigh of relief. Why had he made it sound like it was an intruder or murderer in his house when it was just his father?

He was really an idiot.

"What? When did he come?"

"I don't know. I just woke up and I can hear him talking to Joanna downstairs."

"Oh," I replied. My brain wasn't fully functional yet.

"What do you mean "oh"? Tell me what I should do. Where do I say I'm going so early in the morning?I need to get out of this house," he whispered again. I could barely hear him.

"Nowhere. Go and talk to him."

"What?No."

"Aaron, you can't keep running from him all your life. He is your father. You have talk to him at some point, you know?"

"But Ashley-"

"Aaron, it'll be fine. Go and talk to him."

He sighed."If he ends up kicking me out of the house after this conversation, you'll be the one to blame."

I chuckled. "Absolutely."

He hung up.

Aaron had never had a good relationship with his family. Well,except for Amanda.

The only reason for that was that his father and step mother had always been distant. And his mother,well, it had been a long time since she'd been around.

I was sure that if Aaron talked everything out with his parents, things could get better.

But Aaron was constantly running away from them. Whenever his father was home,Aaron never stayed around for long enough for them to have a proper conversation with him.

It was clear why their relationship was so screwed up.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep. I got about half an hour of sleep before my alarm went off.

Sighing, I got up and got ready.

I didn't expect Aaron to pick me up today. I would have to go on my own.

I bit my lip, wondering if everything went well with his his father.

"Morning," I muttered,as I made my way towards the dining table.

"Morning honey," my mother said, taking a sip of her black coffee.

I sat down on the chair opposite to her.

"Good morning," my father replied,putting away his phone to look at me.

"Where's Aaron?" my mother asked.

I guess she'd gotten used to seeing him around everyday.

"He um...got caught up with something. Can you drop me on your way?"

Mom frowned."Of course. Is everything okay ,Ashley?"

"Yeah,mom. Nothing to worry about." I smiled,trying to assure her.

"Ashley,you can tell us if he's ...in some kind of trouble,"it was my father.

I sighed,shaking my head."It's nothing. It's just his dad. He's home for a few days and Aaron doesn't exactly have a good relationship with him."

Mom nodded, understanding. "Well, you let us know if there's any sort of problem."

I gave her a small smile."I will."

I drank a glass of orange juice,feeling too anxious to eat anything. Thankfully,my mom didn't notice and I got away with it.

She dropped me off at school on her way to work. Dad had some work to do so he told mom he'd join her at work later.

I hurried inside the school building,calling Aaron as soon as I stepped inside.

"Hello?"

"Where are you, Aaron?"

"Right here?"

His voice suddenly sounded louder and before I could understand why, I felt a hand on my waist turning me around.

"Aaron!"

He chuckled, pulling me close to him."Hello there,sunshine," he planted a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Are you okay?"

"Yep," he said,giving me a small smile.

"What happened with your father?"

"Well,I-"

He was cut off by someone.

"Um, Ashley?"

It was Kayla. I tried not to let the annoyance show on my face.

"Kayla," I acknowledged her.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?Please?"

I sighed, looking at Aaron. He gave me a small nod.

"I'll see you in class," he said,placing a small kiss on my forehead before leaving.

I didn't miss the warning look he shot Kayla before he left.

I looked at Kayla, waiting for her to start talking.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I said, when she still hadn't said anything.

"I just...Can we go somewhere else? We've still got some time," she said, glancing at her watch.

"Okay." I followed her outside.

We were in the parking lot now, just the two of us.

I waited for her to speak, awkwardly shifting my weight from one foot to another.

"Ashley,I know I don't even deserve this but..." she looked down at her feet.

She slowly looked up at me again."I want to apologize."

"For what?"

She bit her lip,her eyes glistening with tears."For everything," she whispered.

A lump formed in my throat. I had never expected anything like this to happen.

"I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what came over me," she said,a tear rolling down her cheek.

This girl was my best friend for crying out loud. Well,the girl who used to be my best friend.

Up until a few months ago,we had been inseparable. And I didn't even know what to say to her now.

"Why? Why did you do it Kayla?" I asked, tears threatening to spill from my own eyes.

"I don't know," she whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek."I was so mad at you and Trent, Ashley. I went crazy. I-I don't know what. I don't-"

A loud sob cut her off. She was definitely crying now.

My head was spinning and it hurt looking at her in that condition.

Despite what she had done,she had been my best friend. A part of me still thought of her as my best friend.

Without thinking,I hugged her.She hugged me back,sobbing into my hair."I'm so sorry," she cried.

I hugged her tighter in response,tears blinding my vision.

"Ashley,I'm so sorry," she kept saying over and over again.

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't think of anything to say. Was it wrong of me to be so cold to her all this time? Or was it wrong to be good to her right now?

I didn't know. I really, really didn't know.

All I knew was that she had been my best friend and that I didn't want to see her like that.

***

After Kayla had somewhat composed herself, she went to her class after telling me that she'd come over to my house that evening.

I had said a quick yes to her, still too overwhelmed by what had happened.

Lost in my thoughts,I walked towards class. Aaron. Aaron would be there. I immediately felt a bit lighter.

"Ashy!"a voice I knew all too well whisper yelled and I turned around to see Aaron standing on the side opposite to me.

Confused, I quickly walked over to him."What are you doing here?Why aren't you in class?" I whispered,not wanting anyone to notice us there.

"Come with me," he whispered,pulling me along. We went into the library.

There were only a few people there,all busy doing their work. We went into a corner where there was no one so we could talk.

"Why weren't you in class,you idiot?" I whispered.

"Couldn't go there without you,now could I? I would be bored to death."

I smacked his arm."You are an idiot."

"So I've been told."

"So anyway,what happened?"

"What happened?You tell me what happened with Kayla. And why have you been crying? Do I need to arrange a gang of girls to beat her up?"

I chuckled."No,that won't be necessary. She apologised and then there was a lot of crying. But I guess everything's fine now."

He looked surprised."I guess it's a day of apologies then, huh."

I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion."What do you mean?"

"So,you know how my father showed up unexpectedly, right?"

I nodded.

"So after I called you we talked. We talked a lot and then he apologized and everything. Said he was sorry for not being around and basically for being a shitty father to me."

"Did you forgive him?"

"Let's just say that things got a bit...what's the word? Sentimental. So long story short, he's going to live with us permanently. Like all the time."

"Aaron, that's great!" I exclaimed,pulling him into a hug. Then,remembering that we were in the library, I lowered my voice."I'm so happy for you."

"That makes the two of us," he whispered, as his arms wrapped around me.

"What about your stepmom?" I whispered, pulling away.

He shrugged."I don't know. She has a job and she travels a lot but Dad said he'll convince her to work on being closer to home too."

I grinned. I was really happy for Aaron. He would finally have an actual family.

"I'm so glad things worked out between you and your dad," I smiled,giving his hand a squeeze.

"All because of you," he said,taking my hand in his.His hand was warm.

"I did nothing."

He suddenly pulled me close, his hand on my neck and kissed me hard.

I sighed, weaving my fingers through his hair.I kissed him back just as eagerly, our lips moving together in sync.

"You talk too much, Ashy."

I let out a shaky breath. Damn this boy.

"Why aren't you two in class?" a voice snapped,making us look up.

Oh no, it was Mr.Edwards. The teacher whose class we were supposed to be in.

"Principal's office,right now!" Mr.Edwards yelled and we both hurriedly got up.

And as we made our way to the office,we were both laughing and I couldn't care less about what was going to happen.

Because things were finally getting better,our problems seemed to be going away. But most of all, I was with the guy I was madly in love with and in that moment it was all that mattered to me.

😭