And You Sold Me

Right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left.

Aiden took steady breaths as her feet padded along the cement below her counting each and every step carefully. Sweat was pouring down the back of her neck and her legs were almost giving out from exhaustion—but she wouldn’t stop.

No, she couldn’t go back to that girl that gave up.

Aiden took a deep breath as she took her final leap and ended at the entrance of Eric’s house. She used her key to open the door before walking into the blue paint plastered house. She threw her keys on the stand by the door before locking it behind her. She walked into the kitchen and began preparing a fruit smoothie—turning on the blender once the fruit was all cut properly.

She leaned against the counter, wiping sweat from her forehead that had accumulated gratitude of the Arizona heat. It was nearing fall but the temperature was still high enough to make your skin burn. The only good thing about her sweating more was that sweat equaled calories—and calories were bad.

Aiden poured her strawberry banana smoothie into a plastic cup and turned around to a boy entering the room. He looked at her with narrowed eyes as he stood merely in boxer briefs. “Aiden, it is seven thirty in the morning and you are using the blender. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Aiden laughed as she pushed the cool liquid to her lips, “Sorry Nicky-poo. I didn’t mean to wake you. Want some?”

Nick stared at her silently for a moment with a scowl on his lips before his expression lightened, “Oh hell yeah.”

The red head took the glass from her hands and pressed it onto his own lips and hopped onto the counter across from her. “Well, Nicholas, from what I could hear you had a very fun night last night,” Aiden laughed, adjusting the bottom of her sports bra.

Nick smirked and looked upstairs to where the girl he had brought home was still sleeping, “Yeah, you know. I thought I’d give you and Eric a taste of your own medicine—you sick freaks.”

Aiden rolled her eyes and laughed before reaching into the cabinet above the blender and handing him a yellow box. She smiled as he took it and gave her a questioning look. She gave him a small smile, “If you ever want to see her again at least make her pancakes. She’ll appreciate the gesture, trust me.”

The red head grinned at her as she walked out of the kitchen and called a simple ‘thank you!’ from behind her. Aiden laughed by herself, cleaned out her glass and walked upstairs to the bedroom Eric had so graciously allowed her to take over. She smiled at the boy who was lying in their bed. His mouth was slightly open and his hair was shoved everywhere on his head, soft snores were escaping from his lips.

Aiden smiled before climbing across the bed slowly trying not to wake the boy. She climbed into his arms, not caring that she was sweating still or possibly even smelly. Eric wouldn’t care—he loved her anyway she was. He loved her for her.

That was all she had ever wanted from a guy, and he gave it to her.

Aiden pressed her lips to her boyfriend’s neck softly, giving him butterfly kisses against his prickly skin. She felt him stirring beneath her gentle muffles escaping from his lips. She giggled as she watched goose bumps appear on his bare arms and she placed her hand on his naked chest.

“Aiden Marie Rutherford, I wish you were here to wake me up every morning,” Eric mumbled sleepily, wrapping his arms around her thin tanned waist and pulling her close.

She smiled into his neck enjoying the feel of his hot skin even though her own epidermis was ready for a cold shower from the Arizona heat. “Well, maybe someday, sweetie.”

Halvo’s arms tightened around her and pulled her tighter against him. She knew he was smiling. It made her nervous though—she wasn’t going to live in Arizona. Never again and he would want her to. He swore he would do everything for her—anything for her but she couldn’t let him.

He would move to L.A with her without a second thought but he’d be giving up so much. Eric had the perfect family she had always wanted—and she’d never ask him to leave it. But, she couldn’t come back—God, never. And if she had to choose him or her, well, she just hoped he never asked her to.

“Stop saying maybe,” Eric said simply, a tone of matter-of-fact in his voice. “You are going to be Mrs. Aiden Marie Halvorsen someday. I’ll stalk you if until you say yes.”

Aiden giggled softly, “What if I filed a restraining order—hmm?”

He seemed to ponder that for a moment before his lips pulled into a straight line, “Well, I’d obviously have to change my hair, get some glasses, and basically become a different man and just make you fall in love with him. And then, you’d marry him—because he’d be so charming, not much different than me really, and then when we’re on our honeymoon in Milan I’ll take off the wig and glasses and kidnap you. I may rape you along the way though.”

Aiden shook her head in disbelief before kissing his lips sweetly, “You can’t rape the willing.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Eric cheered softly, smiling as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. “So, did you get to sleep at all last night or were Nick and what’s her face keeping you up too?”

Aiden rolled her eyes, “I didn’t get much sleep at all. It’s like karma though. We put Nick through a lot.”

Eric yawned and sat up in the white sheets pulling her to where her back was laying against his chest, “I’ll take the punishment I suppose. It’s worth it. So, why did you have to sneak out the other night?”

Aiden bit her lip angrily, glad that he couldn’t see how red her cheeks instantly became. Her conversation with John kept flickering into her mind. She couldn’t even explain in words how much she despised him. She had never felt that kind of detest for anyone besides one man before. “Savannah was at a party I guess too and she needed a ride home. She was hammered.”

“Look at you, being all responsible,” Eric chuckled. “Was she okay?”

“Yeah, she was puking a lot but I mean—that comes with the territory. Don’t drink if you don’t want to see everything again the next morning,” Aiden shrugged.

“Did you have fun at the party I took you too? I mean, you know most of the guys, but did you like John? He’ll probably be around a lot while we’re here. We’re besties,” he replied in a faux gay tone.

She faked a laugh before racking her brain with a reply. “He was cool…I mean, we didn’t really talk much or anything, so it was whatever.”

“I think he was trying to hit on you before I got there,” Eric said with a hint of jealousy in his voice. “He better mind his place.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, honey. I’m sure he wouldn’t scam on your girl,” Aiden said simply, trying to convince her boyfriend.

She felt Eric shrug underneath her before he pressed his lips to her tan shoulder. “I mean, I’m sure he wouldn’t…we’re best friends. But, girls just fall at John’s feet.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t trust me?” Aiden asked, her body stiffening.

“Oh God, no, baby. I trust you—I just meant that he better not put the charm on you or even try. But, I mean, I’m sure you’re right and that he wouldn’t try with you. Besides, I mean I think he’s kind of with this girl right now. They’re probably just fun buddies, but still—he wouldn’t…” Eric said all at once, back pedaling and covering the accusation Aiden still felt that he was nervous about.

God, if only he knew.

*

“We need to talk to you.”

Aiden looked up at the two teenagers in front of her. They had both had guilt written all over their faces and nervousness in their eyes. She could read them right away. They were about to ask her to not tell their parents about the state she had found them in the other night. They were going to ask her to keep her mouth shut, even though she was sure their parents were both fairly aware of their children’s escapades.

Aiden followed Nathan and Savannah upstairs further into the O’Callaghan house that she had been in so many times. She followed them as she read a text from her friend back home about a photo shoot she had taken part in that day, jealously automatically coming into her veins. She wished she was back home in L.A. with her best friends again.

Aiden looked around the blank room around her nonchalantly before looking back at the two kids in front of her. “Speak,” she said simply.

Savannah aced her fingers together in front of her, “Can uh, can you not tell mom about this?”

Aiden sighed, “I wasn’t planning on it. Your secret is safe with me, but you need to promise me something, both of you.” Nathan nodded his head along with the brunette next to him as they both looked her square in the eyes, showing the fact that they were just desperate for a way out of this. “You need to be smart about your drinking, okay? Because I’m not always going to be there to rescue you guys. And maybe, just maybe, if you’re worried about your parents finding out you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Savannah rolled her eyes while Nathan just nodded his head in agreement. “We don’t need a lecture, A. Just an agreement,” Savannah snapped.

Aiden scoffed, “I won’t tell if you watch the way you speak to me.”

“Deal,” she mumbled before walking out of the room.

Aiden looked at the teenage boy in front of her. He looked so much like his brother; it was almost sickening. But Nathan—he still had a chance. Sure, he may have had the same sandy brown hair, and the same shining green eyes, hell, even the same tall, lanky body—but his heart was different. Nathan O’Callaghan cared about people and their hearts way more than his older brother would ever be able to comprehend.

“I—look, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings…or offend you in any way, Aiden, but, could you not tell John, either?” Nathan asked softly, his eyes downcast on the floor.

“He uh, he already knows actually,” Aiden replied gently, watching as alarm appeared in Nathan’s orbs.

“O-okay…thanks,” he said nervously before he headed for the door behind her.

Aiden touched his arm comfortingly, looking him in the eyes and telling him a lie she had been telling herself for years, “It’ll all be okay, Nate.”

The boy nodded his head before exiting the room, leaving her alone in the house she had nightmares about for years now. Friday night dinners had always been the Rutherford and O’Callaghan tradition since they were walking. They used to be fun.

The mothers would prepare a meal while the dads watched T.V, complaining about how The Patriots were over-rated or about how someday The Cardinals would get their ‘stuff’ together and win the Super Bowl. John and Aiden, well God, they were just kids. They did everything together. They would play hide-n-seek, find dirt to throw in each other’s eyes, wrestle, watch Hey Arnold re-runs, and climb the tree in the front yard’s happened to share.

But everything was different now. Mrs. O’Callaghan was tired from raising her second teenage boy and taking care of her own aging mother, while Aiden’s mom was finding ways to look younger through the medical world and sleeping with every man in Tempe in order to afford it.

Mr. O’Callaghan was trying to keep his business from going under in the terrible recession the country had found itself in—and Aiden’s father, well Hell…he went to the store when she was just a child to go grocery shopping. He promised her that he was going to buy her a big box of the Drumstick ice cream and give them to her as soon as he returned from the ‘store’. She hadn’t had a Drumstick for over fifteen years.

And as she looked around the empty walls around her, change really sunk into her bones, causing her legs to give out and her butt to be placed on the bare mattress behind her. These walls used to be covered in pictures; pictures that her and John had picked out together. They displayed dreams they shares when they were younger. When they were five John had pictures of astronauts and firefighters, while Aiden had pictures of princesses. When they were thirteen John’s pictures changed to baseball, while hers were of photography and art. When they were sixteen his were of musicians, like Tom Petty and Joe Elliot—and her pictures, well they were of him and her. They were pictures friends would take, and that was what she wanted.

“It’s weird how things change, huh,” a voice said from behind her.

Aiden kept her face at the blank white wall in front of her, trying to ignore the anger that was running into her fists. “Things don’t change, John, people change. And it’s people that make things change. They don’t just change by themselves.”

“How do you explain the weather then? It changes by itself,” John countered, a cocky smirk on his lips.

“God changes it,” Aiden said simply, standing up and trying to walk out of his room, but his arm stopped her.

“Since when do you believe in God?” He asked, genuinely interested.

She sighed, and rolled her eyes, trying to escape from under his arm, “Since everyone else walked out on me.”

Aiden began walking down the hall way but not after hearing his soft words, ‘It was you that walked out.’

She wanted to turn around and ask him why exactly she should stay—no one had ever given her a reason. Her mom was the town slut, her sister was becoming more of a brat every day, and she was her best friend’s best kept secret. What exactly was she walking out on?

Aiden walked into the kitchen where the mothers were setting the table and she offered to help just so that she could have a legitimate reason to not talk to the boy who had just made his way down the stairs a few moments after her, dressed in an outfit more appropriate for dinner. Within moments the families were sitting around the table, shoving their mouths with the angel hair pasta in front of them. Aiden picked nervously at her food eating slowly as to not over eat and make her stomach bloat.

“Aiden, I must say, you look absolutely gorgeous,” Mrs. O’Callaghan smiled gently, gesturing to the girl’s thin waist. “How much did you lose, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not at all, I actually lost about seventy pounds or so,” Aiden said softly, a proud smile on her lips as she looked down. She could feel John’s eyes on the side of her cheek but she refused to look at him—she didn’t want to see his eyes. She didn’t want to read his thoughts about her. She was too scared.

The conversation shifted to her life in Los Angeles, jobs she had been taking part in, the famous designers and photographers she had met; basically about how she was living every woman’s dream. John stayed silent and she could almost hear his judgmental thoughts just from the looks he was giving her. He didn’t approve of her lifestyle and she knew it.

Then again he wasn’t really one to talk.

Tour wasn’t exactly ‘classy’ either.

Their parents asked where Eric was and they formulated a lie. It was in both of their plans to make sure that he had no clue of their past and no matter how hard that may be—they were determined to make it happen, even if that meant he was no longer invited to family events.

Aiden would cut her losses.

Dinner ended a while later and all the families congregated to the living room to watch an episode of ‘Friends.’ It was tradition. Aiden made it through half the episode before her phone began ringing in her pocket and she quietly excused herself. She stepped outside to take the call, a small smile on her lips.

“You are kind of a life-saver, Halvorsen.”

Eric laughed, “Dinner that bad?”

Aiden shrugged and leaned against the post behind her. She felt a breeze run across her face as she watched the chestnut tree sway in the distance. She may have left out the O’Callaghans being at her ‘family dinner’. “Yeah, you know how moms are. So many questions,” she replied quickly. She hated lying to him—she did, but she had to.

“Well, I just wanted to call and let you know that I’ll probably be late tonight, I’m at Justin’s and we’re doing some band stuff, planning out our next tour and all—so, don’t rush home. I don’t know if I want you alone there, it’s not the nicest area, and you know I would freak out of something happened to you,” Eric explained, bringing a smile to her lips.

“I understand,” she replied, “I’ll just stay here tonight and come home tomorrow.”

“I love you, I have to go, but thank you for understanding,” Halvo said speedily, signally that he was in a rush.

“I love you too, do work, baby,” she laughed, hanging up her phone and leaned against the dry wall behind her. The Arizona sun was setting and her blue eyes were adjusting to the darker lighting. She listened as the door opened behind her and she knew who it was—he was everywhere.

“Does he make you happy?” John asked simply, leaning against the door next to her.

Aiden smiled as she looked out at the silhouetted horizon in front of her, “He really does. He’s everything I’ve needed for a long time…”

John took a seat on the steps on his porch looking up at her, patting the seat next to him. She sat down apprehensively, not wanting another fight. She honestly didn’t have the energy. “How’d you meet?” He questioned, like a friend would do to another.

Aiden smiled remembering the night as she spoke, “A Rocket to the Moon came to L.A recording their album and my friend was doing a photo shoot in the suite’s next door. I was walking and texting and Eric was on the phone, carrying coffee. He ran into me—ruined a five hundred dollar dress. He offered me a new one, and then he heard the price and asked me on a date instead. I said no, so the next day he waited outside the suite for me with coffee and a Forever 21 gift card to make amends, and we just started hanging out while he was in town recording the EP and things just went from there, I guess.”

John chuckled softly, running a hand through his messy hair, “Eric was on the phone with me that day.”

Aiden wasn’t surprised at that fact—hell, she wasn’t surprised when Eric first told her where he was from. She could wish that he wasn’t friends with John but from the moment he told her of his life back home she knew he had to be, though for three years she tried to deny it. Their lives were intertwined whether she liked it or not.

“If he hurts you I’ll kill him,” John spoke after a few silent moments.

Aiden scoffed before standing up and dusting off her skirt. “He won’t John.”

“How do you know, A? I’ve known him a lot longer than you,” he argued, his green eyes showing pure jealousy.

“I know because he’s not you, John. He wouldn’t put me through something like you did—he would never hurt me,” she said confidently.

John laughed rolling his eyes, “So you think he hasn’t been with any other girls besides you in three years?”

Aiden felt her body freeze as she looked into his icy eyes. He was angry and she was suddenly nervous at his convincing words. “Eric wouldn’t do that,” she said simply, her voice noticeably wavering.

John chuckled lifelessly before putting his hand on her cheek. She was staring straight forward not letting herself meet his eyes. He spoke softly to her, “We all make mistakes, Aiden. And we all deserve to be forgiven. I suggest you go talk to your perfect little boyfriend.”

John began walking back into the house as Aiden stood in his doorway motionlessly. The things he had just told her had been her worst fears for years—was he lying? “Why would you turn in your best friend like that, John?” Aiden questioned, denial lacing her voice.

He sighed, shrugging softly, “You were my best friend first, A, even if you refuse to admit it.”

“John,” Aiden said forcefully, “It was you that wouldn’t admit it.”

He laughed before rolling his green eyes again. “You were wrong, Aiden,” he began. “People don’t change. You may think you’re this strong, confident girl now, but I see right through you. You’re just as broken as I left you.”

And with that, he was gone.