Temporary Home

After Aaron picked me up from the studio, we headed to his house. His parents were gone for the weekend and his brother was out. "Do you want anything to drink?" He asked as we walked to the living room.

"No thanks."

"So, Comedy or Scary?" He asked with a smirk.

"Hmm... This could work to my advantage. Scary."

"Work to your advantage, huh? And just what do you have planned, Missy." He asked, as he went to the movie rack.

"Nothing," I said innocently as I looked around.

"How about The Ring?" He asked, holding it up.

"Sure." He popped it in the DVD player, then sat on the couch, pulling me onto his lap. As the movie went on, I have to say, it was pretty stupid. There were a few parts that you jumped at, but nothing that was really scary.

Aaron was mindlessly playing with the hem of my sweatshirt. I looked at him and smiled. I could tell he had something on his mind. I reached for the remote and paused the movie. "What's on your mind?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair. He just shook his head. "Aaron." I pulled his face up to look at me. "What're you thinking so hard about?"

He sighed, biting his lip. "How much I really want to kiss you right now."

I laughed. "Why are you thinking so hard about that? We've kissed plenty before," I said confused.

"No. I mean... Like really kiss you." I thought about it for a second, then caught on.

"Oh! Oh..." We'd kissed before, but it was mostly a peck on the cheek or lips. I could tell he was having a battle with himself, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I slowly pressed my lips to his and waited for him to respond. He was a little surprised, but didn't take long to respond. He was soft and gentle at first, until his hormones started taking over him. Who could blame him? He's a teenage boy!

When he picked me up by my waist and sat me back down so I was straddling his lap, I thought it was time to pull away. "Whoa there, not too fast," I said, slightly laughing. I was suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Sorry," he said, smiling and blushing a little.

"You're fine. I just don't want to go that fast..." I said, looking away.

"Hey." He turned my face back to his. "It's ok. I'm not one of those hormonal crazed guys that needs sex all the time. I do have morals." He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. It was quiet for a few minutes until he spoke again. "Ok, now it's my turn to ask you what's on your mind."

"Nothing," I whispered, getting off his lap.

"Kels, you know you can tell me anything," he said softly, placing his hand on mine. "Does it have to do with your past?" He knew bad things happened in my past, but never pushed me to tell him. I just nodded my head and closed my eyes. "Shh, it's ok," he whispered, taking me in his arms.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his shoulder.

"For what? Being human? Kels, you're fine... But I am here if you want to talk about it." I sat there, contemplating whether or not I should tell him.

"I don't look or ask for pity... I have a bad past, but I learned from it... Everyone says, 'Home Is Where The Heart Is', but my home was far from that. From day one, my mother regretted ever conceiving me. In her eyes, I was just a mistake. By law, she clothed, schooled and some times fed me." I took a deep breath. Aaron kept rubbing small circles on my back. "Every night was a struggle. She would bring home a new guy and sometimes... He would do things no decent man should ever do. She would call me worthless and a whore. She punished me with a belt or other things." My throat was tightening up, but I refused to cry. She wasn't worth my tears. "Sometimes when they had drugs, they would give them to me so I wouldn't remember anything. I hated the feeling of it. Finally, when I was thirteen, one of my teachers called Child Cervices and they investigated. I was taken to an orphanage and that's where I met Jeff. He was my savior. Without him... I don't think I would've made it. I owe him so much. He helped me stop cutting. He held me every night I had a bad dream. He always told me everything would be ok one day... I believed him. But, the first time I was taken to a Foster Home, it was horrible. It was like being back with my mother all over again. I went through four Foster Homes, until finally they said I wouldn't go with them anymore... The last time a came back to the orphanage, I had just turned sixteen. Jeff was still there, waiting with open arms. I wouldn't talk to anyone... I felt like I was being punished for being alive. So, one night, I just lost it. I cut too deep and ended up in the hospital. When I was released and back at the orphanage, there was a little boy there. All I could see was the hurt and pain in his eyes from a bad childhood. That's when I realized, I was meant to stay here for a reason... I had to help those who had gone through the same things I had. The little boy was Kyle, and he soon became mine and Jeff's little shadow." Aaron sat in silence, taking in everything I was telling him. He gently took my arm in his hands and rubbed his hands up and down it.

"Can I see?" He asked softly. I froze and I knew he saw the fear in my eyes. "You... You started it again, didn't you?" He whispered. I still stayed silent. He knew my answer. He slowly started pushing my sleeve up. When he saw the red lines, he ran his fingers over them, barely touching. "Kels, I want you to promise me something... Promise me that you will never feel so helpless or anything at all, that you have to resort to this. Promise me, you'll come talk to me or anyone else, if you ever think about this again. Okay?"

I nodded. "I promise," I whispered. It was hard, and I knew it was going to be hard to quit again, because old habits die hard. But, I needed to.

He took my arm and placed a soft kiss on my wrist. "You're not alone. You're far from it." My heart swelled hearing those words. Jeff had always told me that, but it was different coming from Aaron for some reason.

"Thank you," I whispered, kissing him.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, just holding each other and enjoying each others company.