Gaijin No More

Aiden's POV

Cody sat rigidly next to me as I drove around without a real destination. Neither of us had said a word after we left the school. My thoughts were a mess. It seemed to be impossible for me to comprehend what had been going on during the last few days. All I knew was that this whole disaster had begun the day Cody broke up with me.

Be that as it may, it was time for me to find out the whole story. I had a feeling there was something big that I wasn't aware of. I hated being left in the dark.

We were now at the outskirts of the town. I pulled over and killed the engine. Cody seemed to stiffen even more but remained silent. We both just sat there and stared through the windshield, lost in thought.

After a few minutes, I broke the silence. “Why did you really break up with me?” I kept my eyes facing forward, though I could see from the corner of my eye how Cody glanced at me.

“It was for the best,” he mumbled. I frowned in irritation.

“For whose best, care to tell me? It sure as hell wasn't for mine,” I snapped, finally turning to look at Cody. He shrunk back on the seat, apparently trying to disappear. Tough luck, since it was not going to happen before I got all the information I needed.

“You don't understand!” Cody suddenly said, startling me. “I didn't want you to have to choose between your friends and me! I wanted to make it easy for you so I broke up with you first.”

Confusing, much?

“Wait wait wait, what?” I stopped him before he could continue. “What in seven hells made you think I 'd have to choose between you and my friends?”

“It was obvious you were torn between spending time with me and your friends. Day by day you looked more tired and by the time I decided to let you go, you looked like hell.”

I thought back at the time, understanding what Cody meant. It was true I had had some trouble with sharing my time with my friends and Cody. And I guess with all the partying I was doing with the guys I didn't get enough rest.

“You should've talked to me first,” I muttered, failing to hide the hurt in my voice. I had yet to understand why Cody ended it all so easily.

Cody gave me a disbelieving look. “Don't you think I tried? Whenever I tried to talk to you about it, you just brushed me away and changed the subject. What was I supposed to think? Besides, you rarely paid attention to me anymore so I thought you would've chosen your friends if you had been given the chance to do so.”

I stared at Cody with a dumbfounded expression. His words had made me realize how I had been acting like a total bastard to him. I remembered the time when he had tried to talk to me about something and I had snapped at him because I was so hungover. Shit, now I saw how I definitely didn't deserve the Boyfriend of the Year medal.

“Fuck Cody, I'm so sorry,” I whispered. “I didn't even realize how badly I treated you. I guess I got too carried away with catching up with my friends and stuff.”

“Don't apologize,” Cody said, “it was my fault for taking you away from them in the first place. I shouldn't have hogged so much of your time. I was being selfish.”

I shook my head vehemently at this. “No, don't you dare blame yourself. It was my decision to spend more time with you, so it was my fault that I drifted away from the others.”

We sat in silence for a moment, me trying to digest all of this. How could I be so blind I didn't notice what was happening to our relationship?

Anyway, there was still one part I didn't understand. Kirk.

“But why did you start dating Kirk?” I tried not to get mad but it was impossible since just a mere thought of that bastard made my blood boil.

Cody sighed deeply. “I was just fake dating him so you wouldn't try to get back together with me.”

Okay, that made sense. But why did it have to be Kirk?

“Understandable. But couldn't you have dated any other guy? And how did Kirk even agree to that?”

“If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have dated anyone. But Lauren and those other girls thought it would be better if I dated Kirk since you hated him. This way it would be easier for you to move on.”

My eyebrows shot up. Lauren and other girls?

“What the hell? How are Lauren, Sheila and others involved in this?” I asked, puzzled. I listened carefully as Cody told me everything how Lauren had first approached him, telling him all these lies about me starting to take drugs again (as if I'd ever again be stupid enough to fall for that shit) and how it would be better for me if Cody dumbed me.

Then he told me about the little scheme the girls had come up with to keep me from trying to get Cody back. The realization dawned me like a bucketful of ice cold water.

“Motherfucker...” I muttered and got out of the car. I needed to vent some of the rage that was building up inside me.

“Goddammit, you motherfuckers!” I cursed and kicked the tire of my car. I was so angry. All this time they pretended to be my friends so they could destroy my relationship with Cody. And I had been so blind to actually think they would accept my feelings for Cody.

I should've fucking known. I could swear Dan was the mastermind behind all this. He was the kind of guy who wanted everything to be perfect around him, no matter who would get hurt.

How dared he try to control my life like that?! I almost lost Cody for good because of him!

“Aiden?” Cody's unsure voice pierced through the cloud of anger I was currently engulfed in.

I whirled around and pulled him in my arms, placing my lips over his hungrily. God it felt like it had been years since I last time kissed him. It was so good to have him back in my arms and my lips pressed against his.

Once I could separate myself from him, I explained what I had just realized. Cody's eyes widened in disbelief as he too realized how we had been played.

After I had finished, Cody looked at the ground with a thoughtful look on his face. “They must really dislike me if they were willing to go through all that trouble to get me away from you.”

I kissed him again so he would stop thinking that him being with me was somehow a bad idea.

“I don't give a fuck what they think,” I growled against his lips. “I want to be with you. It's all that matters.” I pulled away so I could look him in the eyes. “Take me back?” I pleaded, slightly afraid that he would reject me.

The way Cody's eyes lit up made my heart skip a beat. With a dashing smile he pressed his lips against mine, hugging me so tight he almost cut off my blood circulation.

“Like you'd have to ask,” he muttered, making my heart dance with joy.