Gaijin No More

Cody's POV

Aiden had started spending more and more time drinking with his friends than hanging out with me. I didn't want to sound clingy but I was starting to feel ignored. I was lucky if Aiden spared one day a week for me. Sometimes he didn't even call. I rarely saw him at school anymore.

Truth to be told, since this was my first romantic relationship with anyone, I wasn't sure if this kind of behavior was normal. I knew that every relationship had some problems at some point. I had also tried to talk to Aiden about this but he just shrugged and avoided the whole thing.

Was our relationship falling apart?

No, I didn't want to think about that. There had to be some way to get through Aiden's thick skull and have this situation fixed.

Too bad Aiden liked his liquor so much and when he wasn't drunk he had a hangover. Things definitely weren't looking too good for me.

Fortunately one day at school Aiden actually came to talk to me. He even apologized for acting like a total jerk. I was on the cloud nine. My boyfriend was back, finally.

Aiden was really sweet for me for couple of days. Things were like before and I was relieved. He seemed to have finally found a perfect balance between his friends and boyfriend. It was a win – win situation for everyone. Aiden got to spend enough time with his friends to keep them happy and he also had enough time for our relationship.

Life was good.

For a while, at least.

Slowly, but surely Aiden began spending more time with his friends again. And his friends equaled alcohol.

I did not like Aiden combined with alcohol. He was an ass when drunk.

This kept going on a few weeks and I stupidly hoped things would get better if I just let them be.

I was wrong.

Every time I saw Aiden at school (which wasn't often) he looked more and more sick than before. He had lost weight and he had dark bags under his eyes. He was always surrounded by his friends and when succeeded in making eye contact, a small glimmer of happiness appeared in those blank brown eyes. But it was always erased quickly, as if Aiden remembered something.

He looked so torn over something and I couldn't put my finger on it. I just knew I didn't like this situation. I had to do something to save our relationship or then break it off for good.

Though I had no idea what to exactly do, someone else sure did.

I was walking down the hall when I was stopped by one of Aiden's friends. I vaguely remembered her name started with 'L' but I wasn't quite sure what it was. Lisa? Lori? Linda? Lauren?

That must be it, Lauren Kinnard. I wonder what did she want with me.

“You are Cody, right?” she asked. I nodded slowly in response. She was gnawing on her lip as if she was nervous about something. Did I make her nervous? Yeah right, she was at least two inches taller than me and her nails looked really sharp.

She lifted her weight from foot to foot. “Can I talk to you about something?”

I gave her a suspicious look. Why would a girl that good looking want to talk to me?

She noticed my doubting look and quickly told me what she wanted to talk about. “It's about Aiden.”

She led me to a more quiet part of our school so we could talk in peace. Once we were away from possible eavesdroppers, her face turned from nervous to serious.

“Have you noticed something different in Aiden lately?” she went straight to the point.

I was quiet for a moment before replying. “He looks tired and I can tell something is bothering him greatly. Why?”

“That's right. He has not been himself lately and we are getting worried that he might,” she stopped abruptly. Aiden might what?

I gestured her to continue. She looked around us quickly before lowering her voice. “Has he told you about his past? That he used to do drugs?”

My eyes widened. Were they worried Aiden might start doing drugs again?! No way! Aiden would never do that again, I was sure about that.

“He wouldn't,” I said and shook my head vehemently. “Why would he suddenly start taking drugs?”

Lauren gave me a sad look.

“Because he can't choose between you and us, his friends.”

That was completely unexpected comment. Why would he need to choose between us?

“I don't understand,” I said, confused beyond comprehension.

Lauren sighed. “Aiden loves his friends and obviously you are important to him too. But he can't have both. He simply doesn't have enough time for his friends and hobbies and you. It's driving him crazy and that's why he has been drinking so much lately.”

In a really weird way, that made sense.

“And because Aiden is unable to decide what is really important to him, we fear that he might want to relieve the pressure he's under by using drugs again,” she continued.

I still wasn't sure if I understood the true point of this conversation. Was Lauren telling me to keep my eyes open? To make sure Aiden stayed away from drugs?

Then came the low blow.

“That's why you have to break up with him.” she was smiling apologetically but it didn't soften the impact of those words.

My breath got caught in my throat and I looked at her disbelievingly. “W-What?” My voice sounded weak and for a moment I thought Lauren hadn't heard my small question.

“I'm sure you understand Cody, that Aiden has to give up something. And let's face it, friends are forever, whereas boyfriends hardly last. Aiden would certainly regret it if he chose you and later you two broke up. He would not have his friends or boyfriend anymore. And that's when he most likely would relapse and take the easy way out by using drugs.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, though a nagging voice in the back of my mind told me what Lauren said was true. Who knows how long Aiden and I would stay together? It was logical for him to choose his friends.

“Don't take this so hard, honey,” Lauren said and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I'm sure you had fun together but it could've never been anything serious. To Aiden this was just a phase. He's like that, always trying new things.”

It hurt so fucking much to hear those words. I had hard time trying to hold back tears.

“So, will you do it? Break up with him, I mean?” Lauren asked and I could detect a little bit of impatience in her voice. I paid no mind to that, I was too overwhelmed by our conversation.

I nodded slightly. “Yeah. I'll break up with him.”

Lauren smiled and hugged me. “I knew you were smart boy, Cody. Trust me, this is for the best.” Then she turned around and walked swiftly away.

A big, selfish part of me didn't want to lose Aiden. But I now realized that being with me would only cause Aiden pain in the long run. And I didn't want that.

I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath. The sooner I got over with the task at hand, the sooner I could forget Aiden and move on.

But oh god did it make my heart ache.